Season 5 ended on one of the most improbable championship runs we've ever seen, as Matt's solid but average team was able to do the unthinkable and narrowly edge Mayra's undefeated squad, who had destroyed everybody in her path all season en route to the championship game. Last season was the introduction of traded draft picks, and though that was only a 1 year deal (draft picks cannot be traded anymore) it'll be interesting to see the aftermath of those teams who gave up early and hoarded draft picks, and also those who sacrificed the future for a chance at the title. I think for the first time, there are no changes in the participants, everyone from last season it's back. So without further introduction, here are the participants for Year #6 of the Wane McGarity Bowl!
The Players and Teams
The Reigning Wane McGarity Bowl Champion
Matt Gonzales (Dr. Light's Robots)
6th Season
# of Playoff Appearances-3
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2010
9th in 2011
4th in 2012
8th in 2013
# of Playoff Appearances-3
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2010
9th in 2011
4th in 2012
8th in 2013
1st in 2014
Thanks to Odell Beckham Jr's emergence, Matt stunned the world and took home the Wane McGarity Bowl championship by defeating Mayra's heavily favored undefeated team in what was a nail biter championship match that came down to the final player (Emmanuel Sanders) on a Monday Night Game. The good thing about Matt's run is that he also basically kept his draft picks in tact as he only made one trade for a draft pick (an 8th rounder for Ben Roethlisberger) so he won't be depleted like other playoff teams might be. Even with that being said, it's gonna be real difficult to repeat, with the non playoff teams having a draft pick advantage. Still, if Matt ends up keeping Beckham and Jamaal Charles, there's no doubt that's a combination that will keep him in the thick of things and a chance for title #2.
Mayra Lopez (Bigger Balls)
4th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-2
Previous Season Finishes- 10th in 2012
5th in 2013
4th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-2
Previous Season Finishes- 10th in 2012
5th in 2013
2nd in 2014
Well, what was a dream season for Mayra came to a nightmarish end after losing her 1st game in the most important game of the season. Bitter ending aside, it was a very successful year, and thanks to excellent drafting, and also taking advantage of the trading draft pick rule, Mayra built a dream team that destroyed all competition. She broke all kinds of records (which will probably never be broken) and 2nd place isn't all that too shabby. Mayra has a deep roster to chose her keepers from, so despite losing a 3rd and 5th round pick, she should still be very competitive in her quest to climb the mountain and this time win it all this time around.
Eugene Lawrence (Rocket Man)
3rd Season
# of Playoff Appearances-1
Previous Season Finishes- 7th in 2013
# of Playoff Appearances-1
Previous Season Finishes- 7th in 2013
3rd in 2014
Though finishing 3rd place is a great accomplishment, it's got to be a disappointment considering the team Eugene built. Eugene traded multiple picks away in order to field a super competitive team and many felt he was the only team that could come close to competing with Mayra. He had his shot, but got destroyed like everyone else and now his 3rd season looks a little murkier than others. By keeping the right players, and smart drafting though, Eugene can still have a shot at fielding a competitive playoff team.
Albert Rodriguez (Channel 4 News Team)
6th Season
Playoff Appearances-4
Previous Season Finishes- 1st in 2010
1st in 2011
2nd in 2012
12th in 2013
6th Season
Playoff Appearances-4
Previous Season Finishes- 1st in 2010
1st in 2011
2nd in 2012
12th in 2013
4th in 2014
Albert's run so far has been fairly impressive. 3 straight finals, 2 championships and after a disappointing last place finish in 2013, Albert was as close as one can get in securing a 4th trip to the Wane McGarity Bowl. He ended up tying Matt in the semifinal and lost via a heartbreaking tie breaker. He then lost to Eugene in the 3rd place game and because of a 0 pt Sidney Moncrief performance against Matt, cost him any shot at winning money. Like others who made the playoffs, Albert sacrificed a couple picks to try and win last season, so it'll be interesting to see who he choses to keep and how he drafts.
Alex Kronberger (Winter is Over)
2nd Season
Playoff Appearences-1
Previous Season Finishes- 5th in the 2014
Alex's first season has to be deemed a success as he made the playoffs in his debut season. He fielded a real competitive team, that looked like a real dark horse to make a nice run. Unfortunately, his first round opponent was Eugene, who that week was just to strong to overcome. Again, draft pick trading will affect his season, but he has a multitude of players to chose to keep at his disposal, so no doubt he'll have a strong foundation to build on.
Andrew Mata (Sons Of The Harpy)
5th Season
Playoff Appearances- 2
Previous Finishes: 2nd in 2010
DNP in 2011
8th in 2012
10th in 2013
5th Season
Playoff Appearances- 2
Previous Finishes: 2nd in 2010
DNP in 2011
8th in 2012
10th in 2013
6th in 2014
Drew actually benefited from trading a draft pick to secure a keeper in Demaryius Thomas, and though it was kind of obvious he wasn't a frontrunner last season, he only traded one pick away, and with a full season of Adrian Peterson and also Demaryius Thomas, Drew has an intriguing foundation to build on last year's playoff disappointment. Drew actually tanked to avoid Mayra's bracket, but ended losing anyways to Matt. If Peterson comes back in MVP form, this will definitely be a team to reckon with.
Robert Puente (The Bad Robofies)
5th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-3
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2011
6th in 2012
3rd in 2013
Robert Puente (The Bad Robofies)
5th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-3
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2011
6th in 2012
3rd in 2013
9th in 2014
Dad was the only team who traded his 3rd round pick and didn't make the playoffs. After three straight playoff appearances in his first three seasons, Dad's team unfortunately fizzled out at the end of the season. Not having a 3rd round pick hurts, and unfortunately Brandon Marshall not only was a disappointment, but he's even in a worse situation now with the Jets, making him pretty much unkeepable. This will be Dad's toughest test yet, as he'll have a huge mountain to climb to make an impact this season.
Kenny Bybee (Woe Is Me)
6th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-2
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2010
6th in 2011
7th in 2012
2nd in 2013
7th in 2014
After making the Finals in 2013 while also securing the keeper rights to Calvin Johnson, most had Kenny as the heavy favorite to win it all last season, with his dangerous Calvin/Demaryius Thomas combo. Things couldn't have worked out any worse for him. Demaryius's slow start and Calvin's injury cost Kenny early in the season and he was one of the first to punch out early and play for the upcoming season. Once again, he'll be the heavy favorite as he'll have the benefit of a staggering 3 3rd round picks after trading both Calvin and Demaryius away. This could be Kenny's best chance at his first Wane McGarity Bowl Championship.
Hoosier Daddy (Ryan McKinnis)
6th Season
Playoff Appearances-2
Previous Season Finishes- 8th in 2010
3rd in 2011
3rd in 2012
11th in 2013
8th in 2014
I'd have to say Ryan has the 2nd best chance on paper to be a favorite to win it all, as he too decided to cash in on some picks as he traded away Alshon Jeffrey and Eddie Lacy away for an extra 3rd and 4th respectively. After consecutive 3rd place finishes in 2011 and 2012, Ryan's missed the playoffs the last two seasons. This is a chance for him to bounce back in a big way and contend for a championship.
Mark Freeman (Shock The Monkey)
3rd Season
# of Playoff Appearances-1
Previous Season Finshes- 6th in 2013
10th in 2014
Mark was the first one to cash in and open up the draft pick trade floodgates when he traded his away his only keepable player in Matt Forte to Mayra for a 3rd round pick. The rest of his team was pretty disappointing but that was last season and now Mark gets an extra 3rd round pick to help him have a leg up on a lot of the competition. If he drafts well and uses that 3rd rounder wisely, he'll be one of the favorites to win it all.
Leland Lawrence (No Soup For You)
5th Season
Playoff Appearances-2
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2011
1st in 2012
9th in 2013
11th in 2014
It seems like Leland hasn't been able to get out of a funk since winning the whole thing in 2012. The C.J. Spiller pick doomed him in 2013, and last season was just another season of guys who were disappointments. Here's something that'll help Leland though, he acquired a keepable player (thanks to me) in LeSean Mccoy without even giving up a draft pick, and he picked up an extra 6th for Mike Evans. You can never sleep on a former champion, and Leland will look to regain that championship glory this season.
Chris Puente (Kumamon Express)
6th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-3
Previous Finishes-3rd in 2010
2nd in 2011
9th in 2012
1st in 2013
12th in 2014
And then there's me. You would've never guessed I was the defending champion after the way my team pathetically played all season. It was the worst season I've ever had by far in any sport. My team underachieved to unimaginable heights. I've been waiting for the new season for a lonnnnnng time, because I played a lot of damn irrelevant football last season. An extra 3rd and 5th will help me along the way, but I have no keepers anymore, so I'll be starting from scratch. All I want is to be competitive, and if history shows anything, I usually bounce back strong after hitting rock bottom. There's no excuse for me to finish dead last again. Here's hoping to rise back up to the cream of the crop.
It should be an exciting and interesting season to say the least. We'll see just how much the draft pick trading really affects teams this year. We also have a couple new rule changes for the season.
Fractional Point Scoring- This is being implemented to avoid ties as much as possible. It had to suck for Albert to miss the finals because of a tie breaker. Fractional points solves this problem
5 Pts per TD Pass- QB scoring as gone up 1 pt per TD Pass as well.
It's crazy to think it's almost here, but the next step will be Draft Lottery!
Dad was the only team who traded his 3rd round pick and didn't make the playoffs. After three straight playoff appearances in his first three seasons, Dad's team unfortunately fizzled out at the end of the season. Not having a 3rd round pick hurts, and unfortunately Brandon Marshall not only was a disappointment, but he's even in a worse situation now with the Jets, making him pretty much unkeepable. This will be Dad's toughest test yet, as he'll have a huge mountain to climb to make an impact this season.
Kenny Bybee (Woe Is Me)
6th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-2
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2010
6th in 2011
7th in 2012
2nd in 2013
7th in 2014
After making the Finals in 2013 while also securing the keeper rights to Calvin Johnson, most had Kenny as the heavy favorite to win it all last season, with his dangerous Calvin/Demaryius Thomas combo. Things couldn't have worked out any worse for him. Demaryius's slow start and Calvin's injury cost Kenny early in the season and he was one of the first to punch out early and play for the upcoming season. Once again, he'll be the heavy favorite as he'll have the benefit of a staggering 3 3rd round picks after trading both Calvin and Demaryius away. This could be Kenny's best chance at his first Wane McGarity Bowl Championship.
Hoosier Daddy (Ryan McKinnis)
6th Season
Playoff Appearances-2
Previous Season Finishes- 8th in 2010
3rd in 2011
3rd in 2012
11th in 2013
8th in 2014
I'd have to say Ryan has the 2nd best chance on paper to be a favorite to win it all, as he too decided to cash in on some picks as he traded away Alshon Jeffrey and Eddie Lacy away for an extra 3rd and 4th respectively. After consecutive 3rd place finishes in 2011 and 2012, Ryan's missed the playoffs the last two seasons. This is a chance for him to bounce back in a big way and contend for a championship.
Mark Freeman (Shock The Monkey)
3rd Season
# of Playoff Appearances-1
Previous Season Finshes- 6th in 2013
10th in 2014
Mark was the first one to cash in and open up the draft pick trade floodgates when he traded his away his only keepable player in Matt Forte to Mayra for a 3rd round pick. The rest of his team was pretty disappointing but that was last season and now Mark gets an extra 3rd round pick to help him have a leg up on a lot of the competition. If he drafts well and uses that 3rd rounder wisely, he'll be one of the favorites to win it all.
Leland Lawrence (No Soup For You)
5th Season
Playoff Appearances-2
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2011
1st in 2012
9th in 2013
11th in 2014
It seems like Leland hasn't been able to get out of a funk since winning the whole thing in 2012. The C.J. Spiller pick doomed him in 2013, and last season was just another season of guys who were disappointments. Here's something that'll help Leland though, he acquired a keepable player (thanks to me) in LeSean Mccoy without even giving up a draft pick, and he picked up an extra 6th for Mike Evans. You can never sleep on a former champion, and Leland will look to regain that championship glory this season.
Chris Puente (Kumamon Express)
6th Season
# of Playoff Appearences-3
Previous Finishes-3rd in 2010
2nd in 2011
9th in 2012
1st in 2013
12th in 2014
And then there's me. You would've never guessed I was the defending champion after the way my team pathetically played all season. It was the worst season I've ever had by far in any sport. My team underachieved to unimaginable heights. I've been waiting for the new season for a lonnnnnng time, because I played a lot of damn irrelevant football last season. An extra 3rd and 5th will help me along the way, but I have no keepers anymore, so I'll be starting from scratch. All I want is to be competitive, and if history shows anything, I usually bounce back strong after hitting rock bottom. There's no excuse for me to finish dead last again. Here's hoping to rise back up to the cream of the crop.
It should be an exciting and interesting season to say the least. We'll see just how much the draft pick trading really affects teams this year. We also have a couple new rule changes for the season.
Fractional Point Scoring- This is being implemented to avoid ties as much as possible. It had to suck for Albert to miss the finals because of a tie breaker. Fractional points solves this problem
5 Pts per TD Pass- QB scoring as gone up 1 pt per TD Pass as well.
It's crazy to think it's almost here, but the next step will be Draft Lottery!
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