factfiction053

1) UNCLE JED'S POCKET WATCH IS THE MOST DISSAPOINTING TEAM OF ALL TIME

2) SHELLEY GOODPASTOR SHOOTING A SOLO HOMER WITH HER TEAM DOWN BY 5 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH WAS ONE OF THE SADDEST MOMENTS IN SBL HISTORY

3) PJ NESPOR IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER ON PJ & THE LADIES

4) TERRY SHERNISKY WILL BE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

5) MATT MCCLELLAND IS THE BEST PLAYER ON TEAM KOOPA TROOPA

6) NO TEAM WILL WIN MORE THAN 15 GAMES THIS SEASON

7) JON BIDDLE AND BILLY WEISBERG WILL NOT MAKE THEIR RESPECTIVE ALL-STAR TEAMS

kip: FACT. i don't know how else to put it. we should be good, but we're not. at all. except for shelley, she's doing awesome. you might not notice it very much because the rest of us suck so much.

kip: FACT. see #1.

kip: FACT. although he is a key player, and he greatly increases their chances of winning, i still think nate could win by himself if he put his mind to it.

kip: FACT. all of the other rookies suck, or i don't like them... wait, does jeff knight count as a rookie?

kip: i'm on the fence here. looking at the stats, either frankovich or o'malley have a chance to beat him out. but i think mac is a more solid everyday player than either of them, so i say FACT.

kip: FICTION. only team koopa troopa and pj & the ladies have a chance. i think pj&l win more than 15 games, they can still lose two and do it.

kip: FACTION. billy might not, but i think biddle still has a good chance.

ben: FACT. how a team with shelley, dank, k-unit, kip and lee can be 3-7 is beyond me. i thought my team was underachieving (at least until last week), but this is much worse. there just doesn't seem to be much chemistry. i think they'll do better and end up close to .500. they might catch the fupalooters, but unless a miracle happens, they're not going to finish in first as many people expected.

ben: FICTION. shelley probably just felt like she needed something to spark her team, and it didn't hurt that she didn't miss from that range at all last week. i think what's sad is that shelley has to hit 9 homers in a game just to keep her team in it. as someone who might have done the same thing, you can't criticize someone who had already hit 8 homers for shooting one more, even if it was a solo shot. you have to shoot what you feel you are going to make, and the rest will follow.

ben: FICTION. nate tomko is the most important player on pj & the ladies. as one might expect, nate is leading the league in homers, rbi's, and average, and is also tied for first in assists and double plays. he's on pace for a stat line that reads: 64 homers, a .740 average, 184 rbi, 8 assists, and 76 d.p.'s. even though the ladies are undefeated with pj in their lineup, without tomko, they wouldn't be 8-2. on the other hand, for a team that has humped more people and had more penalty innings than wins in it's existence, you have to throw stats out the window. there would be no pj & the ladies without pj. you would just have a bunch of "ladies" who aren't really ladies. (except for aryn christman... and billy weisberg, too) i'm pulling a john kerry and changing my answer to FACT.

ben: FACT. not only does he lead all rookies in nearly every stat, he's having a solid year for anybody. add in the fact that he's pretty much carrying the weenises this season, it would be hard to argue against mr. katie kelly for the tark trophy. you might see a strong push from jeff knight or pat o'mahoney during the second half of the season, but i expect that terry's going to be ROTY. however, don't expect terry to show up at a bonfire. he lies:)

ben: FICTION. yes, mac may end up with better numbers than he had in his 2004 POY campaign, but i can't come right out and say that he's the best player on that team. not to say that anybody on koopa troopa is better, but with some of the other players they have (lackey, o'mahoney, frankovich), it's hard to say who is the best. they're all having great years.

ben: FACT. there is no non-jukebox team that is much better or worse than any other. it seems that anyone can beat anyone on any given day. there are a couple of teams who might be a little better than the rest, but they aren't good enough to avoid 3-4 more losses for the rest of the season. sure, pj&l and koopa troopa are both on pace for 16 wins, but i just don't see either of those teams getting there. 15 wins, probably, for at least one of those two teams. not 16.

ben: FACT. no disrespect to either of them, but as it looks right now, you can name five world players better than biddle and five sharon players better than mr. weisberg. i would love to see both of these guys turn it around and become all-stars, but with the level of play in the league this year, i don't know that it will happen. if given the choice to which of these two is more likely to make thier all-star team, i would say billy, due to the fact that the world squad is much more stacked than sharon's.

pres 2005

nate: FACT. in terms of wins and losses after 10 games, i'd have to say yes. shelley has been on winning, and usually dominating teams her whole career. dank elly is coming off a rookie of the year season, lee nespor is a former homerun derby champ, kip corbett is a perennial all-star and .500 hitter, and k-unit has all the tools to be a player of the year. this is a classic example of a team being less than the sum of their parts.

nate: FACT. here's what i took from shelley's record breaking homer attempt: either A) she had come to the conclusion that her team was out of the game because they were behind and down to their final out, a mindset no team with one of the greatest offensive players in the sbl should ever find themselves in OR B) shelley cared more about the record than the win. personally, i'm hoping it was A, but either way, that was a dark moment in sbl history.

nate: FACT. i'm going to come to nearly every game and put up some decent numbers, that's a given. however, this isn't the same sbl that could be beaten by one good player as it was a few seasons ago. with all of the talent in the league now, games really can't be won by one dominant player.
pj nespor is the most important player on the ladies because he's provided the second part of the 1-2 combo a baseketball team needs to win. it's pretty common knowledge that the ladies are 7-0 with pj, 1-2 without him. the reason for that is because, thus far, he's having the best season of his life. if he can continue to bat .600, i can hit him in and the ladies can score enough runs to let their stellar defense carry them to wins.

nate: FACT. jeff knight has been a beast over the past couple of weeks to turn the 2-man race we've had all season into a menage. sherry, however, is still the man to beat. he's the most complete rookie in the league, and it's scary to think that he really hasn't played anywhere near his potential. plus, he's practically drug his pathetic team on his back most of the year. (did i mention he won twice last week with only danielle hennon, will willamson and paul radkowski as his running mates?) sorry, o'mahoney and baby daddy, the tark's going to nash.

nate: FICTION. i believe mcclelland is the more consistent, reliable player, but i don't think he's the best. the best player on that team is bryan frankovich. mac will give you a .600 average, a handful of rbi's and a double play or two every single time out, but he's not one to break a game open. frankovich has it all; he can go off for a 13 hit, 6 homer, 15 rbi, 6 double play line at any time... he's certainly the more frightening player as an opponent. unless it's in a scrum. then it's mac.

nate: FACT. obviously, the ladies and koopa are the only two with a legitimate shot here. i'm into reality, and AGT, the weenises and the tots are going to lose again, let's face it. pj&l have the schedule in their favor (a trifecta versus jukebox and a pair with 3-7 jed remaining with all three with AGT already in the books), but they'll likely tire with this rule-abiding stuff as the season drags on and piss at least 3 easy wins away. koopa's schedule is pretty tough from here out... the ladies have 2 cracks for revenge at them, plus they have to face the red-hot tots twice and get a visit from analisa goodthing. they'll drop 3 more.

nate: FICTION. honestly, i think billy has already locked up a spot in the crowd as a spectator for this year's all-star game, which would be a first for the hall of famer. he hasn't done anything to warrant a spot yet, he doesn't seem to have anything in the tank for a push, and he isn't on a team that will enable him to get that stats to put him on even if he did (tomko gobbles up all the ribbies and the double plays get divided too evenly). not even the nostalgia vote will get him a spot... or at least it shouldn't unless he seriously turns things around. biddle, on the other hand, will sneak on. he's played like poop for the most part in 2005, but we got a glimpse of the old bidd last week. i was skeptical after week 4, but i'm now convinced biddle will lead the league in double plays, which alone should be enough to earn him a berth.