Jesus Christ week 7 was nerve wracking. In both leagues, just about every game was competitive until the end.
Only one game ended up with a score over 7, and that one came down Sunday baseball, easily could have gone the other way. Highlights from Sunday's games include the Hammies impressive comeback against the division leading Moonschatz, the Killer Pandas falling to the Time Consumers due to a Jordan Hicks meltdown, and the Pez Sox just narrowly edging it out over the Ducks.
We're a few games past a quarter way through the season and parity can really be seen in both leagues. The furthest back any team is from a playoff berth right now is only 3 games (don't fact check that, as I didn't go through all tie breakers - writing this article is enough work) - easily obtainable with so much left in the season. That said, there are clearly some teams who are in tiers above the bottom of the league. Just for fun, here's a ranking of the top 5 teams in all of Wombat. This is not based off just the breakdown, but my personal (correct) opinions.
Killer Pandas
Time Consumers
Moonschatz
Pez Sox
Ham Sandwiches
Enjoy your kiss of death, Killer Pandas!
Dong of the Week:
There's only been 5 dongs to ever be hit into the Allegheny River. Josh Bell has done it twice, THIS MONTH.
Transaction of the Week:
5/22/19 3:49 PM ET
Killer Pandas
Scott Oberg RP | COL - Added
Junior Guerra SP | MIL - Dropped
A good bit of fantasy baseball has turned into who can be the fastest to get info, and capitalize on it. Jon was the first to the draw when word got out that Wade Davis was injured, and he managed to get what looks like his replacement in Oberg. Solid pick up.
By no means though am I advocating for a true waiver wire - that shit is stupid. Instead, opening up another roster spot or two would allow us to handcuff better, or stash prospects, keep guys who are on the IL, etc. Just saying...
Weekly MVP's:
Through 8 weeks and we have yet to see a batter win MVP and hit less than .400. This week both MVP's come from teams that have been struggling, but might be turning things around. Nunez has been a solid player the Megas, and Dean couldn't ask for more since Yandy Diaz went down. Rizzo meanwhile is showing there's a reason why he fetched such a high price on the trade market.
AWL:
Week 1: Mike Clevinger - Kingslayers - 12 INN, 2 HA, 4 BBI, 22 K, 0.500 WHIP, W
Week 2: Austin Meadows - Ham Sandwiches - 12-22, 0.545 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 6 R, SB, 5 BB
Week 3: Joey Gallo - Kingslayers - 11-23, 0.478 BA, 2 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 8 R, BB
Week 4: Jose Abreu - Kev Bombs - 12-21, 0.571 BA, 2 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB
Week 5: Michael Chavis - Kingslayers - 11-27, 0.407 BA, 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, SB, 5 BB
Week 6: George Springer - Cold Notes - 14-27, 0.519 BA, 2 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 10 R, 3 BB
Week 7: Chris Sale - Kev Bombs - 12.1 INN, 7 HA, 5 BBI, 27 K, 5 ER, 3.649 ERA, 0.973 WHIP
Week 8: Renato Nunez - Megalomaniacs - 10-25, 0.400 BA, 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB
NWL:
Week 1: Cody Bellinger - Time Consumers - 20-44, 0.455 BA, 2 2B, 3B, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 17 R, SB, 3 BB, CS
Week 2: Ronald Acuña - Fuzzy Kiwis - 12-22, 0.545 BA, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, SB, 4 BB
Week 3: Christian Yelich - Killer Pandas - 10-24, 0.417 BA, 8 HR, 16 RBI, 9 R, 6 BB
Week 4: Trevor Story - Killer Pandas - 10-25, 0.400 BA, 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 8 R, SB, 2 BB
Week 5: Ryan Braun - Time Consumers - 12-26, 0.462 BA, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, SB, BB
Week 6: Hyun-Jin Ryu - Schatzy Turtles - 17 INN, 5 HA, BBI, 15 K, 0.353 WHIP, 2 W
Week 7: Josh Bell - Kaiden's Krew - 11-27, 0.407 BA, 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, 4 BB
Week 8: Anthony Rizzo - Power Bolts - 14-28, 0.500 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, SB, 2 BB
Dan's Culture Recommendation of the Week:
I'm going to recommend myself this week, and give you all my personal top 5 single "scenes" in Game of Thrones.
When I say "scene", I mean like the true definition - "A sequence of continuous action...". So while the Sept of Baelor going up in flames is a scene, that entire first 20 minutes of the episode is a serious of scenes in a larger portion of the episode. Otherwise, this list would look very different.
It's not perfect, lore wise there are some issues for sure. That said...good lord was that fun to watch. The sword work of Ser Arthur Dayne in the episode is mesmerizing to watch, they absolutely nailed our ideas of what the best swordman who ever lived would look like in action. Funny enough, the guy who played the Night King was the choreographer for that scene.
Most of my list is just stuff to please the eye, absolute carnage on screen or cool visuals. This Jaime and Brienne moment shows though that when Thrones was on it's game, it was more than just action. The dialogue in this scene is great, the acting is downright amazing, and it's shot beautiful. It helps GRRM wrote it, but still gotta give credit to the show for such a great visual representation.
Yes, the Night King and the army of wights ended up pretty inconsequential and lame, but at the time, this scene was chilling to watch at the time. We knew the dead would come back to life, but seeing how it happens, and how cold the Night King was when doing it was great to watch. It left the living absolutely hopeless as they fled, and left us as viewers to wonder how the hell the producers would write a way to stop the Night King that made sense (spoiler: they didn't!)
It'd be cheating to call the entire Field of Fire 2.0 one single "scene", so I'll go with the very start of it. Seeing the Dothraki emerge from the horizon, in an endless amount, was terrifying. Bobby Baratheon's greatest fear, come to life. Top it off with Drogon, at that point the size of a fucking 747, and the Lannister army was ready to get wrecked. The look on Jaime's face when Drogon arrives is pure joy for viewers.
Emelia Clarke's use of High Valyarian in this scene is absolutely breathtaking- the words coming out just sound brutal, a woman on the path to war. Ignore the subtitles and give it a watch, it's like a weird form of war ASMR.
Games of the Week:
AWL: Kev Bombs @ Moonschatz
The Kev Bombs were looking a little rough for a minute, but a big win against the Kingslayers and a look at their breakdown shows that they're clearly in the AWL West race still. Taking on the Moonschatz will be tough, who themselves are now out for blood after a tough loss.
NWL: Time Consumers @ Power Bolts
2 wins in a row on the books, the Power Bolts look to jump back into the race in the NWL East. It's a major uphill battle, but there's plenty of season left. Taking down the division leader would be huge for Rizzo and crew.