Letter From The Commish

Eleven weeks down, only four to go. The Commish apologizes for not getting a letter out Week 10. Coach Wassem's team must have lost that week. No wait. They spanked the Highways, strangely enough. Oh well, so much for the theory that the Letter From The Commish only gets published after Mystical victories. Due to the short week this week, yours truly will keep this brief. Let's get right to the beef and digest the division races and the remaining games to be played.

Dewey Division: The Bearded Clams clearly control their own destiny in this division. However, they are banged up and find themselves in the midst of the toughest part of their schedule, a schedule that includes games against the Retreads, the Iguanas and Mystics. Those teams have a combined record of 25-8. They close out with games against the Revenge and Norris, their two nearest challengers. Theoretically, they could lose their next two and still win the division by winning in Weeks 14 and 15. Given that neither the Norris nor the Revenge are likely to win out, the division is clearly the Clams' to lose. The Revenge, coming off a Week 11 loss to the Mystics, still must face the 8-3 Party and 8-3 Retreads before playing the Clams in Week 14. At 4-7, there's no margin for error. The sleeper here is the Norris. Their next three games are against teams with a combined record of 6-26-1 prior to a Week 15 game against the Clams. If the Clams can hold serve over the next couple weeks, they should find a playoff spot with their name on it. However if they slip up, the Norris could be the team to benefit and sneak into the playoffs. Wait, we're talking about the Norris here. Start printing those playoff tickets now. One thing is for sure: the wildcard spot will not come out of this division.

• Bearded Clams: Greenback Iguanas (9-2), Natural Mystics (8-3), Montezuma's Revenge (4-7), NFC Norris (5-6)

• Montezuma's Revenge (one loss combined with one Clam victory eliminates the Revenge): Grande To The Party (8-3), Retreads (8-3), Bearded Clams (6-4-1), King of Dogs (0-11)

• NFC Norris: Stanley Steamers (3-8), PMS (3-7-1), King of Dogs (0-11), Bearded Clams (6-4-1)

Cheatem Division: This race has boiled down to a two horse race between the Greenback Iguanas and Grande To The Party. The Party has won their last five games. The Iguanas have held serve, however, by winning their last four games. The Party won the first contest against the Iguanas. It's beginning to appear as though they'll need to win the 2nd game as well. The Party's earlier loss to PMS still looms large. It's possible for the Iguanas to defeat the Party but still finish tied with them. In that case, they would likely have the better division record. It's also possible that the Party could defeat the Iguanas. In that case, if both teams finished tied, the Party would be declared division champ on the basis of sweeping the Iguanas 2-0. Each team's remaining games:

• Greenback Iguanas: Bearded Clams (6-4-1), Stanley Steamers (3-8), Grande To The Party (8-3), PMS (3-7-1)

• Grande To The Party: Montezuma's Revenge (4-7), Strange Highways (6-5), Greenback Iguanas (9-2), Palace of Swords (5-6)

Howe Division: While Coach Widtfeldt might argue the point, this race has evolved over the past two weeks from a three team race into a two teamer as the Highways have dropped their last three games after being an overrated 6-2. For the Highways to still qualify for the playoffs as division champs, both the Retreads and Mystics would have to embark on losing streaks. To even qualify as the wildcard, the Highways still must leapfrog one Howe team AND catch one of the two Cheatem teams. Here's the kicker: the Highways split with the Mystics. The Mystics have the edge with points while the Highways have the edge in division record. But the Highways lost to the Party and would need to beat them in the rematch. They also lost in Week 11 to the Iguanas. Long story short, it's time for them to pull the old Tug McGraw expression out of mothballs: Ya Gotta Believe!. The Commish doesn't. The Retreads and Mystics are tied. The Retreads won the 1st time they played but the two teams meet in Week 14 in what may be a very important game not only in the Howe division but also in the Cheatem division. The remaining games:

• Retreads: Palace of Swords (5-6), Montezuma's Revenge (4-7), Natural Mystics (8-3), Strange Highways (6-5)

• Natural Mystics: PMS (3-7-1), Bearded Clams (6-4-1), Retreads (8-3), Stanley Steamers (3-8).

Remember to get your lineups in on Thursday this week. Remember also that the trading deadline is Thanksgiving and next week is the last week for transactions.

Upcoming dates of importance worth noting and remembering:

• Trading deadline is at kickoff for Week 12 (November 25), otherwise known as Thanksgiving Day @ 11:40am.

• Transactions (pickups/waivers) deadline is at kickoff for Week 13 (December 2).

• Upcoming Thursday games are Weeks 12,13 and 14.

• Week 15 begins on a Saturday

• Week 16 begins on Friday December 24 and, yes, there's also a Saturday game on Christmas Day.

Go deep, I'll throw it!

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