fantasy schmantisy

league 1: 7-4, 3rd place (out of 12), $10 buy in.
this team continues to surprise me.  i've basically been playing the last 7 or 8 weeks without my 1st and 3rd round picks (andre johnson and peyton hillis).  yet somehow this team has pulled it together and managed to rack up wins.  players like demarco murray and jabar gaffney have really helped in the clutch.  2 games separate 2nd place from 10th, so this will be a wild finish.  top 8 make playoffs, so i'm confident (at this point) that i'll be a part of it.

league 2: 5-6, 7th place (out of 12), $25 buy in.
this team is so frustrating.  i have the 3rd most points in this league and have over 100 more points than some of the other teams currently projected to make the playoffs.  i absolutely love this lineup, especially in a TD-heavy league.  i've just been getting outscored in high shootouts, totally disappointing.  the top 6 make the playoffs in this league and we have 6 teams that are all within one game of each other for 3rd-6th place.  so a LOT will be determined in the coming weeks.  unlike other leagues, this league pays a majority of its money based on regular season standings.  so i have an outside chance at 3rd place and thus an outside chance at $50.  i just want to make the playoffs because i know my team has been putting up big enough numbers to win the playoffs.  playoff winner also gets $50, so i have a small (but possible) chance at $100.  in week 12 i play the number one team in the league who has an absolutely ridiculous team.  god help me.

league 3: 6-5, 5th place (out of 12), $10 buy in.
this team has been storming back in recent weeks.  the injury bug really got me early in the year (hillis, nicks, the law firm, and others) and some of my picks (i.e. mike williams) that i thought would turn out just haven't.  a few weeks ago i bid a huge chunk of my FAAB on demarco murray, and that really panned out for me.  when you couple that with the emergence of AJ green and stellar play for a few weeks from players like pierre garcon, matt ryan, and the weekly dominance of ray rice, this team has surged up the standings.  only the top 4 make the playoffs in this league.  5 teams are separated by 1 game for 2nd-6th place.  here's to hoping miracles really do come true.

league 4: 5-6, 9th place (out of 12), $50 buy in.
i say this every time i update my fantasy standings, but this team has just been depressing.  when you spend over 25% of your budget on one player and he goes down in week 4 (and is only coming back THIS WEEK IN WEEK 12!!!) it really hurts.  the top 8 make the playoffs and i've been trying as hard as i can to get back into playoff contention.  that being said, it doesn't help when you have dwayne bowe and find out that matt cassel got hurt so now freaking tyler palko is throwing to him.  it also doesn't help that your other stud receiver, jeremy maclin, went down with shoulder and hamstring injuries in week 11.  woof.  that being said, there are literally 10 teams within 2 games of each other from 1st-10th place.  there is an insane logjam as 5 teams are 7-4 (the best record in the league) 1 team is 6-5, and 4 teams are 5-6.  this week i play the team in 8th place, so it has HUGE playoff implications.  we also do a "power matchup" so the final week of the regular season, week 13, 1st place plays 2nd, 3rd plays 4th, and so on.  considering that there is such a huge logjam, i'm pretty sure that even if i lose this week i'll still have an outside shot at the playoffs if i win in week 13.  but i need a lot of help to get there.