The Larkspur Bowl

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Welcome to Larkspur Bowl X

The Larkspur Bowl has been renewed for its TENTH season.

Changes are coming!
But for now, I'd just like to gauge everyone's interest in returning for 2018.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

The Larkspur Football League sees one of its all time legends retire: Linebacker Paul Posluszny is calling it a career after 878 solo tackles, 332 assists, 51 PDs, 45 TFLs, 16 sacks, 15 interceptions, 8 forced fumbles, 3 recovered, and one defensive touchdown. That's over 1,949 fantasy points spread over the duration of the Larkspur Bowl's history. He was on the 'All-Larkspur' team in 2013 with Toronto LTP and 2015 with the Revis Islanders and will also be remembered for an epic performance with the Binghamton Snipers in 2017, when he stepped up in a must-win week 13 game to deliver 27.5 points, tallying 14 tackles, 2 TFL, and a sack and a half to clinch a playoff spot. Posluszny was never able to hoist the silver chalice as a Larkspur Bowl Champion, twice finishing in third (2010 with the Orgrimmar Horde and 2012 with the Phoenix Uprising) in nine years. The 2018 season will be the first year of Larkspur football that Posluszny doesn't impact. IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Entering Year X

Next season will mark a decade of Larkspur Bowl action, with an 'original six' managers still active, three of whom have won it all at least once in the first nine years- and one who has won it all four times, but that's neither here nor there!

The league was not always so consistent, with plenty of turnover in the early years. Sixteen teams lasted two years or less in the league, though since 2013 (the advent of this blog) we've seen some remarkable longevity. While a few owners persist on moving locales every year (or couple of years) we have had the good fortune of having a stable fourteen mostly competitive teams on an annual basis. Observe, the evolution of the league's roster:

CURRENT TEAMS:

PHOENIX UPRISING
NEW YORK'S FINEST
HILL VALLEY McFLYS
SAVANNAH PETES
PHILADELPHIA RUM HAM
HCM LEAD FARMERS
PAWNEE PRIDE
MAR-A-LAGO GRABBERS
DEPUTY VAN HALENS
BINGHAMTON SNIPERS
TORONTO LES TRES PETITES
SOUTH PARK COWS
OAKWOOD DRIVERS
MANITOBA MOOSECREW

TEAMS ON HIATUS:

REVIS ISLANDERS
ORGRIMMAR HORDE

CURRENT TEAMS' FORMER LOCALES:

MANHATTANVILLE PARROTS (SAV)
CHICAGO POLAR BEARS (SAV)
SASKATOON SASQUATCH (RUM)
ATLANTA RAGE (RUM)
LEVEE G-MEN (HCM)
MALIBU DEADBEATS (MAL)
LIBERAL HEAD TRAUMA (MAL)
ONIONTOWN MASSACRE (MAL)
BRISTOL EXECUTIONERS (MAL)
ARIAN FOSTER NATION (MAL)
INDIANA TURBANATORS (DVH)
SILVER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB (DVH)

DEFUNCT TEAMS:

FLINT ARISTOCRATS
TEAMVILLE PLAYERS
NEBRASKA HOLY WARRIORS
VERMONT RAMS
SAN ANTONIO SLASH
HOUSTON SPOILERS
KENT GREEN MACHINE
ROCHESTER HUSTLERS
OKLAHOMA KALSU CLUB
WIETERVILLE WIETERS
CHERRY HILL STORM
SAN FRANCISCO UGLIES
ALABAMA GREEN GANG
CAROLINA CARNAGE
PHILADELPHIA PHLAC
DC STRANGLERS

I intend to spend some time over the offseason updating the site's layout, to better portray the league's long history along with streamlining incongruities. Hoping to make year ten the best yet, and that our first decade of play is just the first of many spirited bouts of competition amongst friends. I hope you're all looking forward to maintaining an immersive fantasy football lineage with me! CHEERS.

Monday, January 1, 2018

X: 2018 Draft Order

The 2018 Order is Set:

Sunday, December 31, 2017

2017 Phoenix Uprising

Team: Phoenix Uprising
Owner: Kevin Grimes
2017 Synopsis: Oops, I did it again... for the fourth time in eight years

Final Roster:
QB: Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins
RB: Adrian Peterson, Kenyan Drake, Samaje Perine, Ameer Abdullah, Jamaal Williams, Kerwynn Williams
WR: Brandin Cooks, Dez Bryant, Amari Cooper, Davante Parker, Josh Gordon, Dede Westbrook, Jordan Matthews
TE: Jimmy Graham, Coby Fleener, Ricky Seals-Jones
DL: Khalil Mack, Jason Pierre-Paul, Michael Brockers
LB: Ryan Shazier, Navorro Bowman, Deone Bucannon, Preston Brown, Lawrence Timmons, Derrick Johnson
CB: Jalen Ramsey, Marcus Peters, Xavier Rhodes, Desmond Trufant, Stephon Gilmore
SS: Reshad Jones, Keanu Neal, Kenny Vaccaro, Kam Chancellor
PK: Chris Boswell

Trades:

Season Analysis:
After a pair of bad losses and a heart breaker to Pawnee in week three, the 0-3 Uprising's ambition to extend their streak of medal stand appearances to eight years running seemed imperiled. Instead, Phoenix won eleven of twelve en route to the team's fourth Larkspur Bowl title, their first since 2013. Twice the runner up in the intervening years, the Uprising were dominant through the middle weeks, and despite some November toil were able to clinch the two seed and a bye, never dropping below 182 points. Catching their second wind, the team ousted the surging Savannah Petes and then outlasted a HCM team that was coming off some overwhelming production; Over the course of the season Phoenix's roster saw significant changes, with their 99 moves pacing the league. The team saw an incredible nine different QBs take snaps over the course of fifteen games: Andy Dalton, Alex Smith, Carson Palmer, Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, and Nick Foles all having a turn. You know what? It worked.

TOTW Awards:

WK1 DL K MACK (13.5)
WK1 CB T JOHNSON (26.95)
WK4 DL K MACK (25.5)
WK4 LB R SHAZIER (33.6)
WK5 QB D WATSON (37.04)
WK5 CB J RAMSEY (29.25)
WK5 S R JONES (28.9)
WK7 WR A COOPER (46.2)
WK8 CB M PETERS (27.7)
WK10 TE J GRAHAM (18.3)
WK11 TE J GRAHAM (18.8)
WK12 S R JONES (25.7)
WK15 CB M PETERS (32.2)
WK16 S R JONES (26.5)

Playoff Breakdown:

Power Rankings:

All-Larkspur Team:

S RESHAD JONES (216.85 pts)

2017 HCM City Lead Farmers

Team: HCM City Lead Farmers
Owner: Pete Persampieri
2017 Synopsis: The culmination of several seasons of progress stalls out at silver

Final Roster:
QB: Dak Prescott, Josh McCown
RB: Leveon Bell, Lamar Miller, Buck Allen, Chris Ivory, Peyton Barber
WR: Tyreek Hill, Golden Tate, Desean Jackson, Danny Amendola, Chris Godwin, Malcolm Mitchell
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten, Ben Watson
DL: Melvin Ingram, Deforest Buckner, Chris Jones
LB: Alec Ogletree, Wesley Woodyard, Christian Kirksey, Terrell Suggs, Mason Foster
CB: Kyle Fuller, Demarious Randall, Marcus Cooper, Rashard Robinson, Malcolm Butler
SS: Malcolm Jenkins, Sean Davis, Tavon Wilson
PK: Matt Prater

Trades:

NONE

Season Analysis:

For three years in a row, the Lead Farmers have scored well enough to be a playoff team, finishing 6th in overall points each time- but the record has lagged behind. Armed with the top overall pick (Le'Veon Bell) HCM put together a stellar roster through the draft and got off to a 5-1 start. There were a couple of hiccups in the second half of the year, as the team hit a lull (scoring 40 points under their average in back to back game wk 7 & 8) but got it back together down the stretch, dropping 243 in wk 13 and 262 in wk 14 to eliminate NYF, before scoring 'only' 215 (sans Gronk) to drop top seeded Deputy. Favored headed into Larkspur Bowl IX, HCM was let down by QB Dak Prescott who scored a -.16 as well as defensive captain Melvin Ingram who scratched out 2 points. A disappointing end in a game that was within reach- but still an incredibly successful season for the Lead Farmers, who finally cross the threshold and enter the promised land. They'll have to do it next year from a vastly inferior draft slot, but don't bet against them again.

TOTW Awards:

WK2 TE R GRONKOWSKI (25.1)
WK3 TE R GRONKOWSKI (27.4)
WK5 DL M INGRAM (25)
WK6 TE R GRONKOWSKI (24.5)
WK7 QB D PRESCOTT (34.18)
WK7 CB M BUTLER (15)
WK13 RB L BELL (31.6)
WK13 WR T HILL (43.3)
WK13 CB K FULLER (23)
WK14 RB L BELL (36.7)
WK14 S S DAVIS (30.75)
WK15 RB L BELL (29.4)
WK16 RB L BELL (20.4)

Playoff Breakdown:

Power Rankings:

All-Larkspur Team:

RB LE'VEON BELL (357.2 pts)
WR TYREEK HILL (252.6 pts)
TE ROB GRONKOWSKI (220.5 pts)

2017 Savannah Petes

Team: Savannah Petes
Owner: Steve Grimes
2017 Synopsis: Almost good enough for gold, they'll settle for a franchise best bronze

Final Roster:
QB: Alex Smith, Eli Manning
RB: Christian Mccaffrey, Frank Gore, Joe Mixon, Lagarrette Blount, Shane Vereen
WR: Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffery, Robert Woods, Tyrell Williams, Mike Wallace, Jaron Brown, Breshad Perriman
TE: Eric Ebron, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins
DL: Aaron Donald, Jerry Hughes, Michael Johnson
LB: Luke Kuechly, Von Miller, Bernardrick McKinney, Tahir Whitehead, Clay Matthews
CB: Darius Slay, Casey Hayward, Janoris Jenkins, Aqib Talib
SS: Harrison Smith, Tyrann Mathieu, Jeff Heath
PK: Justin Tucker

Trades:

Season Analysis:
After a failure to launch in week one, the Petes banged out four straight wins despite uneven efforts. They lost the next two, but then rounded into form, steadily building into a formidable force. Their fourth loss of the season was to top seed Deputy by only a three point margin. The next week they put up 262 on LTP, the second best score of the year. With their roster in great shape, they outlasted Binghamton in the first round, winning a low scoring matchup and then heading to Phoenix for the semifinal. There, they came within ten points of their first Larkspur Bowl appearance- but that was it. In the third place game they dropped Deputy with a championship caliber performance, the best of week 16. It was a great season for the Savannah squad, and one they'll have to replicate in 2018 drafting of their own accord from the 11th spot.

TOTW Awards: