- Dec 17, 2021

DEFEND YOUR MOVES 2021 - PLAYOFFS PREVIEW!!!!!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE DYM AWARDS

WHOS HOT?!?!?!

The Special Ed League is the second longest running Summit High School Alumni Fantasy League in the world today.

Although the departures of Abby and Jeff left us at only 50% SHS Alumni, the Hilltopper contingent has only rarely relinquished our rightful ownership of the league. Only one Non-Hilltopper was won a Special Ed Championship (Rob 2016). And this year will be the first Special Ed Playoff of the ten-team-era with less than 3 SHS Alumni.

The hopes and dreams of Hilltopper Nation now hang on Dave's charmed upstart Pickle Rick squad and Paul's weathered veteran Awesome Team.

Last week Pickle Ricks lost to The Commish to remain behind Tobin in 4th place. That gives them the inevitable matchup with the SCORCHING RED HOT Bring it on Home team. Back in week 10 PR was easily the hottest team in the league and BIOH were the coldest of the cold. Since then PR has lost three straight and not only have BIOH won, but they've had the highest score in the league three weeks in a row. BIOH is averaging 50 points per game more than PR over the last three.

Like PR, Tobin & the Rippers were HOT FIRE in the middle of the season, but have stumbled their way into the playoffs. The Rips are by far the ICIEST COLD team in the league this week. They've put up the league's lowest score two weeks in a row and are averaging a frigid 89.9 over the last three weeks. They'll be heavy underdogs against PAT who have taken care of business of late.

SUMMIT HILLTOPPER SPORTS TRIVIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How many Schroeders have been named SHS Football Team MVP?
Which class of '99 alumnus was inducted into the SHS Sports Hall of Fame?
How many NJ State Championships did Michael Badgley win (all sports)?
The Hilltoppers won one NJ State Championship in Fall 2021. Which sport was it?
Which elementary school did Willie Wilson attend in Summit?

FOOD BEEF VI: BURGER SUPER BOWL!!!!!!

NICKY'S FIREHOUSE vs. RIVER GRILL

BURGER SUPER BOWL GUEST JUDGES:

Doug R. Tacos
Cynthia The Wife
DYM Editor in Chief

Goddamn, Nickys Firehouse did it AGAIN!!! We dined in on Wednesday night at Nicky's. They were probably not expecting us to come in 'til Thursday or Friday, so we caught them a little bit off-guard. The burger took a reeeally long time to come out - we ate a whole pizza while we waited. But it didn't really bother us cause we love spending time with the family around the holidays. And since we know perfection can't be rushed, there are no bonus points for service in The Food Beef Playoffs.

So Nicky took his time and rolled out THE BEST burger we've had this season. It was char-grilled to perfection, the cheese was melty and bubbling, and it was piled high with crispy veggies and an extra thick schmere of Nicky's secret sauce. We gave it a 9.5 just so River would have a chance to pull off the miracle, The Wife gave it an emphatic 10 out of 10. We asked The Wife if there was any way this burger could have been better for her and she said "sesame seeds on the bun, maybe."

Imagine our surprise when The River Grille served us a burger absolutely LOADED with sesame seeds!!! Doug and the DYM Editor in Chief each had a burger with bacon and cheddar cheese. The preparation was right on par with Nicky's - very nicely cooked, melty cheese, not too greasy. But the bacon - which we thought might give River an advantage - left the edges of the burger far too salty for the judges' tastes. The center portions of the River Grille bacon cheeseburger was meaty and very tasty, but the secret Firehouse Sauce has proved itself to be THE premier burger topping in the Greater Madison Area.

DYM gave River Grille a 9 and Doug gave them an 8.75.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2021 FOOD BEEF CHAMPION -

NICKY'S FIREHOUSE!!!!!!

Nicky's showed the heart of a true champion this season. They battled their way through this year's extended playoffs, delivering us 3 spectacular burgers - each one better than the last. They TURNED UP THE HEAT on this competition and they remain our go-to FIRST RESPONDER for Pizza, Wings, AND NOW Burgers as well. And they are our local heroes. Truly Nicky's has earned the name - FIREHOUSE.

MISS CLEO'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK: PLAYOFF EDITION!!!!!

NICK CHUBB!!!!!

Miss Cleo's Prop Bet Record: 8-6

AMERICAS GAMES OF THE WEEK!!!!!

AGOTW Prediction Record: 6-8

PAULS AWESOME TEAM vs TOBIN & THE RIPPERS

Tobin was looking at a long uphill battle coming into this week with several key players injured. And initially we thought Miss Cleo pulling a PAT card was the nail in the coffin. But then Tyreek went craazzzzyyyy last night with a 30pt SMASH game. That put The Rippers right back in this one. But they will still likely have to pull a QB and maybe two flexes off the already baren waiver wire this week. Maybe it'll be a Mac Jones-Kendrick Bourne stack?? That'd be fun.

PAT have a holiday feast of great matchups on tap for their best players this week: Aaron Rodgers gets the suddenly reeling Ravens, Just Jeff gets The Bears, Deebo gets Atlanta, and Chubb gets The Raiders. But PAT are not entirely healthy either. We know they're thinking about benching Terry McLaurin even if he does play. We would be, cause we really like Van Jefferson vs Seattle (Seahawks stink right now) and Rhamondre if Damien Harris doesn't go.

This is shaping up to be a high-scoring affair, so we're definitely picking this league's all-time highest scorer:

PAULS AWESOME TEAM WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PICKLE RICKS!! vs BRING IT ON HOME

So far this week, at least 106 players went into COVID protocols. There had been 122 total in the first 14 week. DAYUM. We gotta tell you guys, this is the best year EVER to not be in the fantasy playoffs. Doug, Commish, and Rob really dodged a fuckin bullet man. No stress.

Luckily, Pickle Ricks and Bring it on Home have both remained uninfected (as of Friday afternoon), so they're both coming into this matchup pretty much at full strength. They both got a lackluster performance from a Thurs-dude, with PR taking an early a ten point lead. Going forward, BIOH are still pretty big favorites on paper, but we actually like PR's matchups A LOT better.

BIOH's only true green-light is Amari Cooper vs NYG, but Amari has only scored 20pts once since early September, and the schedule hasn't exactly been daunting. Mixon and Kamara both have actual tough matchups with Denver and Tampa. So this team's gonna need to catch lighting in a bottle again with that two-TE lineup, lotsa luck, pal.

PR has Yahoo greenlights for his QB and Mike Evans, plus Chuba vs Buffalo - who have both publicly stated and objectively proven their lack of interest in stopping the run. Those three guys could be good for 90pts this week then they still have Cooper Kupp too.

OH!! AND Pickle Ricks got Philly Defense playing against Washington who have LITERALLY NO QBs on the roster!!! HA!!!!

LETS GO HILLTOPPERS!!!!!