Chris loving role as the underdog

Ask Chris and he won't deny it: He didn't expect to be in the championship a few weeks ago.

Sure he wanted to be here, but no way in hell did he think he'd be in this spot. All year he complained about his team. In fact, he called his one-time undefeated squad the "worst 4-0 team in fantasy history."

At various points this season, Chris was talking about the enjoyment of getting a high draft pick and the chance to win Albert Pujols.

That was then, this is now.


"(I'm) definitely happy to be here," Chris said. "(I) had the hardest path to reach the finals and have my toughest matchup upcoming."

Even Bob was surprised that Chris made it this far.

"Chris has a good team, but I honestly thought that Hal would make it to the finals," Bob said. "But we all know that winning in the playoffs is all about getting hot at the right time and being a good manager. Chris had Hal's number in both categories this past week."

Chris cited "managing ... (and) picking up players at the right time," as his top reasons for making it to this point.

We've already seen some of that with recent pickup David Murphy going 5-for-5 in the first night of action. The Los Macironis have talented players such as Adrian Gonzalez and Robinson Cano, and they need them to have a good two weeks.

Chris thinks he will win because "my players have stepped up these past few weeks and are used to being the underdogs."

That is correct. Chris is the first No. 6 seed to reach the finals. He has championship-game experience, a loss to Joe two years ago. Back then, though, he was a division winner and expected to make it that far.

Now, he's trying to pull off an unprecedented feat.