Boy, would Joe, Jack and Dave like to switch divisions with Rick.
Why, you ask? Rick is in last place in the Elin Nordegren Division with a 5-8-2 record. He is only 2.5 games out of first place. Jack and Joe (6-8-1) and Dave (5-8-2) are in the Tiger Woods Division and 4 and 4.5 games out, respectively.
Amazingly, Rick still has a shot to win his division. And he said he thinks he still has a shot, as well.
"No matter what division we are in, we are going to play hard and try to make the playoffs," Rick said. "It's just a lucky break that we can be in last place in the division and still compete."
All six teams are packed together like riders during a Tour de France stage. No one at the top seems to want to take control. Andy and Hal can't seem to win anymore, Chris has more name changes than victories lately, and Shea has been too inconsistent. Even Ken couldn't take advantage of an opportunity last week.
"It's an extremely competitive and exciting division," Shea said. "It'll be a race to the end."
There's two ways to look at this. One - managers can feel like a loss is not so much a blown opportunity because everyone else in the division is just average. Or, two, managers can get frustrated that they're not taking advantage of other team's mediocrity.
The latter was how Shea felt after a bad week vs. Bob.
"My team cannot afford to flop and lose like we did (last) week," Shea said shortly after Sunday's matchups ended. "It was a pathetic performance, and we missed a key opportunity to take down one of the top teams in the league. We aren't looking to sneak into the playoffs. We should be in first place right now."
Meanwhile, in the other division, Bob and Adam are fighting it out for a title. Adding to the drama even further is that they play each other in Week 22, the final week. As long as there is no more than a one-game separation, that matchup will decide the division title.
Both Adam and Bob have 10 wins, and 11 is usually the benchmark to making the playoffs. Only three teams (Chris in 2009, Dave/Joe in 2007) have missed the playoffs with 11 wins.
It'd take a heck of a double-meltdown to have anyone other than one of these teams win the Tiger Woods Division. Joe, Jack, Dave, and even Mike certainly have as good a shot as anyone to make the playoffs as a wild-card team. But, unlike the other division, the division title is far away.
Last year was the only time four teams from one division have made the playoffs. There's a chance that could happen this year. But, of course, there's still seven weeks left and plenty of time for things to change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment