Rubber Meets Road Today in Pro Playoff Poker

Wild Card weekend is but a memory and the stage is now set for four playoff games which will go a long way to determining SmackJabber's inaugural Pro Playoff Poker Champion. Today at 4:30, the AFC Divisional Round gets under way as the Steelers host the Ravens, who are coming off of a 30-7 road demolishment of upstart Kansas City. And tonight at 8, Green Bay also looks for a 2nd straight road playoff win as the Packers travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. The conference title matchups will be finalized tomorrow when the Bears host the surprising Seahawks (1pm) and Super Bowl favorite New England welcomes the Jets (4:30pm).

The Jets and Seahawks dashed many a contestants' dreams last week, not the least of which were aarnn, dmurph and kenscrx, who sit with just 2 points overall and a dreaded Queen in danger of advancing from every divisional round game. On the opposite end of the spectrum, lifted99 and patdownes lead the pack with 14 points.

Looking forward, the only result this weekend that matters to lifted99 (whose maximum score stands at 32) is a New England win over the Jets. From there, he will continue to root for an AA Super Bowl, with Pats either facing the Falcons or getting a re-match of Super Bowl XXXI (when Brett Favre grabbed his only championship ring at the expense of the Parcells-led Pats). Chicagoland native patdownes has a heck of a lot riding on the Bears game tomorrow. A Seahawks win would leave him with a maximum of only 28 points, likely dooming his championship aspirations - the best patdownes can do now is a couple AK conference championship showdowns, netting 4 additional points this weekend leaving open the possibility of 15 more if Chicago reaches the Super Bowl and faces one of Pittsburgh or Baltimore (this would net him his current max of 33).

Sitting in third and fourth place currently are dwfiresound (12 points) and Bowl Game Blackjack champion popchaunce (11). Each assigned Queens to both Chicago and the upstart Seahawks, guaranteeing them a Queen in their NFC title matchup and leaving them with a narrow path to the PPP money. For dwfiresound, it's simple - he will post his max score of 33 if Green Bay reaches the Super Bowl and the Jets lose to the Patriots tomorrow. Even the best case scenario for popchaunce is not so rosy. He cannot score more than 28 points under any scenario.

Here are the outlooks for the six teams currently sitting just outside the money with 10 points:

LuckyPierre (31 max) guaranteed himself pocket rockets in the AFC title game, correctly predicting the Jets (Ace) defeat of the Colts and the Ravens (Ace) over the Chiefs. He needs all chalk on the NFC side though, and will therefore be a big Falcons (King) and Bears (King) fan tonight and tomorrow, respectively. LP will then support the AFC (with the particular team he'll root on depending on which other contestants remain in contention).

Matt (31 max) need not concern himself with today's games; he need only root against the Jets (Queen) and Seahawks (Queen). Assuming those underdogs' hopes are extinguished tomorrow, Matt becomes an NFC fan the rest of the way, as any such Super Bowl champ would earn him his potential (but which NFC team represents the conference in the Super Bowl should matter greatly to him; e.g., he may need to root against the Bears in order to outshine patdownes).

Yours truly (thalernd, 31 max) put too much faith in Peyton Manning last week, and will therefore be among the many PPP Patriots (Ace) fans, tomorrow afternoon (as well those who will root thusly with a finger down their throats). In fact, I will have the same rooting interests as Matt this weekend, with the possible addition of a Packers win over Atlanta, which would bring a welcome detriment to opponents, such as LuckyPierre, who failed to see the potential of Aaron Rogers & company). From there, Matt and I will become natural enemies as I take up the AFC banner.

nschell (29 max), parhangelsky's (28 max), bob (28 max) appear to be long shots at the moment.

Other contestants with a chance to notch 30+ points:

32 Max:
SmackJabber PTB, quazflawless (32 max) would have some serious scratch on the line this weekend if he was not a site admin because he is one of only four remaining contestants with a chance to line up nothing but bullets (AA) the rest of the way. If chalk prevails in the AFC (NE and PIT) this weekend and the Packers and Bears play for the NFC's crown, quaz will be assured of 32 points, and at least a top 3 finish - it appears that an AFC Super Bowl win and/or a Bears NFC title under these circumstances would give quaz the PPP championship.

31 Max:
-SaraReinthaler (31 max) will root for Chicago and Baltimore generally, and needs the Packers to lose tonight.
-nnaislteys (31 max) needs AFC chalk this weekend, followed by a Green Bay run to the Super Bowl to cash.
-thepudge (31 max), another team who can matchup up all four Aces in the conference championships needs chalk in all four games this weekend (NE, PIT, ATL, CHI) to make it happen. His guaranteed 31 points will be most effective if the Steelers (A spades) or Falcons (A hearts) win the Lombardi Trophy.
-custybri (31 max) also has a shot at the 4-Ace Monte, but his magic numbers are riding on the Jets, Steelers, Packers and Bears.


30 Max:
-lbeck needs the Jets to lose tomorrow, Atlanta to win it all, and the Falcons to face Chicago in the NFC title game. And it probably wouldn't hurt her if the Ravens were the AFC Super Bowl rep.
-Becked is another Falcons/Bears fan and could tie lbeck with 30 if he achieves his optimal results (Becked's Ace of Diamonds on the Falcons would trump lbeck's Ace of Clubs on the Dirty Birds should that scenario play out).
-dnoyd07 needs AFC chalk this weekend, along with a Packers or Falcons title run to contend for a prize.
JohnAurora (30 max) prefers the Falcons version of the dnoyd07 scenario, above. Various other tiebreak implications exist.
-TigerLillyLisa (30 max) is likely in need of Ravens Super Bowl title, and would probably prefer Green Bay as their opponent.
-D0LeM1Te (30 max) is the final contestant eligible to Ace out the rest of the game and, like thepudge, looks for all of the favorites (NE, PIT, ATL and CHI) to win their games this weekend. A repeat of Super Bowl XX (Bears over Pats) is likely his best possible outcome.

Good luck to everyone! Enjoy the games!

VOSJ: Brewers Ace Gallardo Robbed at Gunpoint

In the "things that make us go, 'hmmm'" category, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this morning that Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo and a clubhouse attendant were robbed at gunpoint at 2:35 a.m. (CDT) Friday. A team spokesman told the newspaper that Gallardo was not injured, but that attendant Alex Sanchez was struck in the head with the butt of handgun. Thankfully, according to another member of the organization, both men were “doing fine.”

Gallardo had pitched in a loss to the Dodgers Thursday night, a game that began around 7 p.m. local time and ended just after 10. What was Gallardo was doing hanging out with a clubhouse attendant more than four hours after the game, you ask? According to the article, Gallardo said that he and Sanchez were "just going out and getting a bite to eat before heading home and trying to stay out of trouble ... Unfortunately trouble finds us.” Hmmm...

Now at first, I figured the context of the reporters' questions (perhaps something akin to my inquiry, above) would explain the pitcher's defensive explanation of the attack. But according to The Green Bay Press Gazette, which reported the story yesterday, Gallardo did not take any questions after briefly discussing the incident outside the team clubhouse. Without any information about a potentially provocative question from reporters, methinks Yovani doth protest too much. Then again, maybe he’s just a tad crabby at being pistol whipped worse than the clubhouse boy lately. In eight starts since coming off the DL (strained oblique muscle) in mid-July, Gallardo has tossed just 37 1/3 innings and posted an ERA of 6.27 with a WHIP ratio of 1.61. Gallardo was selected to his first All-Star game earlier this season.

VOSJ: Clemens' Indictment Afterthought

No matter one's personal opinion of Roger Clemens, fandom or animus aside, the way people view these types of stories is more a function of the times in which we're living than the principles or morals of the viewer. Before 24-hour cable news, the internet, Twitter and, yes, the blogoshere, the circus surrounding Major League Baseball's steroid scandal would not have been possible. And without it, we all might have a very different perception of the people at the center of the story.

No one that I've read or heard has captured this truth as well as New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat, in his Aug. 22 piece, "What Roger Clemens Wants."

The Voice of SmackJabber

I have decided to use my SmackJabber debut to ask you, humble reader, for some advice. As many of us slide toward fantasy football draft, er, auction day, I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on the strategic implications of various rule variations on an otherwise standard 12-team fantasy auction.

My only fantasy football league, an integration of players and concepts from the wildly successful Scotch & Donuts auction-based fantasy baseball keeper league and the now defunct (at least for all I care) WP's Finest draft-based fantasy football league (my condolences to Lee and Josh), is entering its inaugural season. The league, which shall hereafter be dubbed Starkbierzeit (first non-league member to correctly nail the reference gets... well, I don't have Yankee tickets to give away at the moment, but let's just say we'll come up with something!), employs a roster structure with only 1 starting QB. The remainder of the roster in somewhat standard - 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 K and 1 D/ST.

If you buy into the theory that there are 7 Tier 1 QBs (depending on the status of he who shall remain nameless until reporting for camp), but only 4 "elites" - Brees, Rodgers, Manning and Brady - how should one attack the bidding when trying to land the right field general?

How much of my budget should I spend on QB1 when there is no QB2?

-Brian