Week 2 Hype - 2020 Season

 

Win Some, Lose More 

There's an episode of the classic sitcom I Love Lucy from 1952 where, after being scolded by their husbands about their excessive spending, Ethel and Lucy get jobs at the local candy factory to maintain their independence by retaining their consumerist power. As we know, what ensues is one of the classic slapstick moments of the show, where the candy "boss" orders Ethel and Lucy to not let a chocolate on the line go by unwrapped or they will lose their jobs. As the belt moves faster and faster, Ethel and Lucy are forced to pull chocolates off the line, stashing them in their clothing and, ultimately, stuffing them in their mouths in order to keep their paychecks to freedom. "I think we're fighting a losing game" says Lucy to Ethel, and, as usual Lucille, you're more right than we mostly know. The bittersweet irony here, as I see it, is that in order to maintain the only power they (think they) have—consumerism—Lucy and Ethel are forced to consume more in a kind of "eat or be eaten" capitalist logic, where the only seeming answer to the problems precipitated by capitalist drive is more capitalism. To wit, just as Colin Kaepernick tweeted about the NFL running propaganda "about how they care about Black life" while still "blackballing Eric Reid for fighting for the Black community," Nike's new black-on-black-on-black "Icon 2.0" Kaepernick Jersey sold out in less than a minute. All, it seems, from a CFO's perspective is a "win-win" and you can now virtually enjoy Kaepernick's return to the NFL as he has just recently been added to the 2021 Madden video game, with his signature move being the "black power fist." And so we have it, our mouthful of candy sweet, Kaepernick (not really) back in the NFL, and everything the bitter and brutal same.   In the virtual cyclone that is our very own SBRFFFL, our own first week of action seemed to show how everything changes and everything stays the same. After taking their second SBRFFFL Super Bowl Championship in fourteen years—since the league's inception—the Los Angeles River of LO started this fifteenth fantasy season right where they left off: at the top of the heap. Not only did the River's 115-point output take home the high-score trophy on the week—the George Blanda—but their Saints' D/ST throttling of the Tom Brady Buccaneers reeled in the Jack Tatum with 16pts. What seems to have changed, however, is having the SBRFFFL's 'most-winningest' franchise, 3rd Avenue Schmutz, scraping the bottom of the ranks. But if memory serves, a 2-10-1 record last season brought the first pick of Ezekiel Elliott into the mix and, though Zeke paid off with a 24-point performance matched by Matt Ryan, those headliners were left hanging by a James Conner ankle injury and a floundering defense and kicking game. Of course, we've only just kissed fifteen for the first week my friends. More than anything, it's good to be back in the pixels with you all. You are there aren't you?      W1 Ranks 1.  Los Angeles River of LO 2.  Wea ver  3.  Vick's Dog Sitter 4.  Argentina17 Big Boss 5.  Low_nass 6.  Santa Barbara Fokkers 7.  Nacho's Cheese 8.  Andover Waddlers 9.  The Golden Receivers 10. Koepke's Cupcakes 11. Brooklyn Milk 12. Potrero Hillbillies 13. 3rd Avenue Schmutz 14. newO SWAMP W1 Trophies George Blanda - River (115) Ken Stabler - Fokkers (Rodgers 32) Jack Tatum - River (Saints 16) Tom Cable -  Swamp (43) JaMarcus Russell - Cheese (Vikings -7) W1 Active Position Leaders QB - Wilson - Fokkers (30) RB - Jacobs - Sitter (31) WR - Adams - Weaver (27) TE - Andrews - Sitter (17)  D/ST - Saints - River (16) K - Three Tied (12) W2 Matchups  #1 River vs. #14 Swamp #2 Weaver vs. #7 Cheese                 #3 Sitter vs. #8 Waddlers #4 Big Boss vs. #9 Receivers #5 Low_nass vs. #6 Fokkers #10 Cupcakes vs. #13 Schmutz #11 Milk vs. #12 Hillbillies                                      All best, Rick