Rob made a valiant effort (the best ever by a losing Blingaleague team), but nothing was going to prevent a Blingabowl between the two teams that dominated the 2009 season. Rabbit will meet Matt for the Sanderson Cup.

Blingabowl III Preview

Did we all want it any other way? Rabbit had the best record during the regular season; Matt had the second-best. Matt scored the most points during the regular season; Rabbit scored the second-most. Matt started 7-1; Rabbit started 6-2. No other team made a serious challenge to grab one of the first-round byes.

Pretty much basically, Rabbit and Matt were the two best teams in the Blingaleague this season. And now they'll meet for possession of the beatiful Sanderson Cup.

Each team has a stud running back: MJD for Rabbit, Steven Jackson for Matt. Each team is strong at quarterback: Matt kept Aaron Rodgers, Rabbit has a superb Romo-Roethelisberger duo. Neither team has a weakness. Jackson has a somewhat tough matchup (Arizona) for Matt; neither of Rabbit's quarterbacks (Romo vs. Washington, Roethelisberger vs. Baltimore) has a good one.

This is the first Blingabowl to match up the #1 and #2 teams from the regular season. It doesn't look to disappoint, and is sure to deliver the third distinct Blingaleague champion in three years.

Weekly Recap

Rabbit def. Derrek, 132.40-89.44: Derrek had a rather disappointing week, with no player scoring more than 20 points, and only two with more than 15, while Rabbit had an excellent week.

Matt def. Rob, 148.98-133.50: Rob is a new Blingaleague record-holder; his 133.50 points in the most points scored by a losing team in Blingaleauge history. Until now, only three time had a team scored at least 120 points and lost: week 11 of 2007, when Ed lost 159.85-129.42 to Kate; week 2 of 2007, when Dave lost 165.16-123.89 to Allen; and Blingabowl II (2008), when Rob lost 125.76-122.95 to Pulley.

Kevin def. Ed, 99.36-89.32: Kevin claims the fifth-place prize (pride) in a rather boring game.

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums (Top Score): Harrison Hammers scored a sublime 148.98 points.

Slapped Heartbeat (Low Score): Once again, all six teams posted respectable scores this week. Boystown Brawlers (Ed) had the lowest score at 89.32, only 0.12 points behind D.

Start of the Week: Beanie Wells scored 18.73 points for Rob, who sat Willis McGahee and his 2.63.

Misplay of the Week: Rob tried lobbying to get this award as well, for his benching of Mike Wallace's 22.53 points, but I can't punish him for sitting a #3 receiver against a top pass defense. Instead, I'll give myself this dubious honor, as I passed on playing Vince Young and his first-ever three-touchdown day, worth 22.20 points, in favor of Jay Cutler, who posted -1.00 points.

Upcoming Week

BLINGABOWL III:

(1)Rabbit v. (2)Matt

THIRD-PLACE GAME

(3)Rob v. (5)Derrek

Season Summaries

Rob Gross (Roundhouse Rush), 8-5, 1290.93 points:

Positives: Andre Johnson proved to be a worthy keeper, especially during the playoffs. DeSean Jackson was also a top-tier WR.

Negatives: Steve Slaton battled fumblitis and injury, and wound up getting cut by Rob. His top RB, Ronnie Brown, went on IR midseason, leaving him with a sub-optimal stable of Beanie Wells, Fred Jackson, Willis McGahee, and Chester Taylor. It's a testament to good plays (and his WRs) that Rob made it to the semifinals.

Derrek Drenckpohl (Last Place Italians), 7-6, 1316.34 points:

Positives: Despite playing from thousands of miles away, Derrek made the playoffs for the second time in three years. Frank Gore and Brent Celek were among the top scorers at their respective positions. Roddy White had a solid year. Rashard Mendenhall and Sidney Rice rewarded Derrek's Illini and Viking fandom with surprising years.

Negatives: Antonio Gates had a relatively disappointing season. Ditto David Garrard. Matt Cassel was a disaster.

Closing Thoughts

Even more errata: The ACTUAL second-highest point total of all-time in the Blingaleague belongs to Mike, who scored 177.23 points in week 2 of 2007.

Once again, here are the odds for each non-playoff team for receiving the first pick in next year's draft:

Adam Pulley => 27.73%

Dave Fultz => 18.15%

Mike Romor => 17.28%

Mark Babel => 17.06%

Pat Gawne => 10.16%

Allen Clark => 9.62%

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday season!

BLANGUMS!

-Ed

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