First, congratulations to our two National Champions, Jim Becker and Ken Patten. Both owners have been with BoxScore Baseball nearly since our inception (though Jim just returned this year from a short hiatus). Ken became a three-time National Championship as he won back in 2000 and also as a co-owner last season. Jim became a first-time National Champion proving that persistence pays off.

Next congratulations to all of our league pennant winners. In our Annual and Continuous Leagues those winners were Les Travis (twice), David Silberman, Brian Oost, Travis Pennington, and David Przybylski. In the Megabucks League it was Jim Becker. In the Super Megabucks Leagues it was Les Travis (twice). And in the Ultimate Leagues it was Tony Nosis (twice), Les Travis, and Ken Patten.

One owner, David Przybylski, won his league despite never winning a single monthly prize. And another owner, who shall remain nameless, won his league despite going to jail during the season and being forced to run his team from his cell. Wow!

But the biggest kudos of all must go to Les Travis who became the first owner in the history of BoxScore Baseball to win over $5,000 in a single season. And he didn’t just barely surpass that mark. He went way over $5,000 by winning $6,725. Les ran 6 teams in 6 different leagues and won 5 pennants with those teams. That included him winning the brand new Ultimate League 3 and BOTH Super Megabucks Leagues! Phenominal. Way to go, Les!!!

Prize money, BoxScore bucks, financial statements, and renewal forms will be mailed out at about the same time the World Series ends. Also, keep in mind that the Mid Season contest for Survival Game Football will begin Sunday, October 23. Entries for that contest are being accepted online right now.

Enjoy the Playoffs and Go Tigers!

At the time of this writing the 6 division leaders are the Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Giants. Let’s look at each of these divisions one by one:

AL EAST: The Bosox are currently on a 9-game winning streak and are the hottest team in baseball. They have survived a horrendous start and are now rolling. Yes, the Yankees and Rays can be formidable, but I just don’t see either of them ending up in front of the Red Sox.

AL CENTRAL: I will concede that none of the 5 teams in this league are out of it yet–not even the last place Twins. But I think the Tigers will prevail. Maybe it’s the “homer” in me. I’ve been rooting for the Tigers since Willie Horton and Norm Cash. But their offense is on fire, Verlander and Scherzer offer a good one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and their pen has been solid.

AL WEST: The Rangers has withstood injuries to Hamilton and Cruz and still sit atop their division. Now healthy, this team will only get better. I don’t see any of the team in the AL West catching them or even making it close.

NL EAST: The Phillies are the cream of the crop in the NL. The defending champs have unparalleled starting pitching. The Braves and Marlins have nice teams, but with Utley back now no one is catching the Phillies.

NL CENTRAL: The Brewers are the class of this division. A starting rotation of Gallardo, Greinke and Marcum; Braun and Fielder raking in the middle of their batting order; they just look too tough this year for the Cardinals or Reds to overtake them.

NL WEST: This division is the most wide open of them all. I will concede I am not confident that the Giants can hang on with their miserable batting order. But the teams chasing them each have so many holes of their own that the defending World Champions have as good of a chance as any of them.

So enjoy the pennant races. I know I surely will. But when it’s all over later in early October, don’t be surprised if we are still right back where we started on June 14.

Simply select one team each week (Monday through Sunday). If your team wins AT LEAST half of their games, you will move on to the following week. If not, you are eliminated. You can only select each team once.

WINNING THE POOL
To join Survival Game Baseball you will first need to visit OfficeFootballPool.com. If you are not already registered on this site it is very easy to do so–takes less than one minute. Link = http://www.officefootballpool.com/pools.cfm?p=2&poolid=58401&pwd=4s2uc3 Poolid = 58401. Password = 4s2uc3.

ENTRY FEE
The entry fee is $50 for one entry or $90 for two. You may enter as many times as you wish. If you are a member of BoxScore Baseball or Survival Game Football with a valid credit card on file, you may pay that way. Or you may pay online by going through the signup process for Survival Game Baseball at http://www.boxscorebaseball.com.

PRIZES
Survival Game Baseball is a one-winner take-all competition. In our first season, Harlan Elhuis won $832.00. Tell your friends. Tell your co-workers. The more entries we receive the larger our payout will be.

RULES
Complete rules are posted on the website under the heading of Survival Game Baseball Rules.

At a minimum, at least we knew they were running a reputable game, and that’s important. Speaking personally, I always enjoyed the Fanball/CDM contests–especially back in 1993 when I was fortunate enough to win their Mid Season Baseball Challenge.

For the thousands of newly-orphaned Fanball members who are now searching for a new contest to join, please consider BoxScore Baseball for 2011. Now entering our 22nd season of reliable service, BoxScore Baseball is large enough to offer you thousands of $$$ in league prizes, yet small enough to offer you a legitimate chance to win. We have expansion teams for sale for as little as $79. Also, for a limited time only we are offering a $15 discount for any new owner who reports that he played fantasy baseball with Fanball.com in 2010. Check out our leagues!

While I recognize it may not be the ideal to have the Playoffs not include the best 12 teams (record-wise), I do not have a huge problem with Seattle getting in ahead of other NFC teams with better records. In the NFL we have divisions. We don’t just have all 16 teams lumped together. In the NFL we have unbalanced schedules. We don’t have everyone facing identical opponents. The rules are spelled out. If you want to make the Playoffs, win your division. Do I have huge sympathy for the Giants and the Buccaneers or any other teams with better records than the Seahawks? Not really. If those teams had won their divisions, they would have made the Playoffs. They did not, so they are out.

As far as the Saints being forced to play on the road against the Seahawks despite having a far superior record, do I have huge sympathy for them? Not really. Once again, the rules are spelled out for you. If you want to host a home Playoff game, you need to win your division. If the Saints had kicked a stinking chip-shot field goal against the Falcons earlier in the year, perhaps they would have won their division, but they didn’t. You don’t win the division, you don’t host a home Playoff game. Again, I see the Saints having no one to blame but themselves.

Then there is Green Bay. Is it fair to the Packers that they must face the top-seeded Falcons in the second round of the Playoffs while the Seahawks get to face the second seeded Bears, despite the fact that the Packers had a much better record than the Seahawks? Worst still, if both teams win, it is the Seahawks who would be hosting the Packers in the NFC Championship game. Is that fair? Again, by the same logic I have used throughout, I don’t have a major issue with this. The Packers did not win their division. To me, the blame rests at their own doorstep.

However, there is one team who is punished by this current system who did nothing wrong. There is one team that could have done nothing to avoid this unfairness even if they had gone undefeated. The one team that is being treated totally unfairly and is the reason there needs to be a change in the Playoff seedings is the Atlanta Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons did win their division. Not only that, but they earned the number one seed in the NFC ahead of the Chicago Bears. And what is their reward for this? They get to host a Playoff game against the mighty Packers while the Bears host a Playoff game against the below .500 Seahawks. How is that fair? The Falcons have done everything they were supposed to do and have effectively been punished for finishing ahead of the Bears. Pure and simple, the Falcons are getting a raw deal.

I don’t know how the Playoff games are going to turn out this weekend. Maybe the Falcons will win by 4 touchdowns and maybe the Seahawks will also trounce the Bears. That doesn’t really matter when making a theoretical argument.

The fact is, the top-seeded team in the Playoffs should ALWAYS host the weakest remaining opponent.

Any other changes to the Playoff seedings we can continue debate, but this is one change I think we can all agree can and should be made.

Congratulations to our league pennant winners. In our Annual and Continuous Leagues they were: Rob Ducharme, Gregg Janoff (twice), Doug Freeland, Bill Philp, Vernon Fong, and John Thell. In our Ultimate Leagues they were Bob Wilfore, Lance Smith, and Gregg Janoff. In our Megabucks League he was rookie owner Kevin Ringgenberg. And in our Super Megabucks Leagues they were Les Travis and Tim Grand/Ken Patten.

Last but not least, congratulations to the monthly winners for the months of August and September. The $50 winners were Paul Soehnlein (twice), Scott Nadler (three times), Dan Victor, Robert Ellis, John Thell (twice), Gregg Janoff (three times), Thomas Bonds (twice), Gord Keating, Doug Freeland, Steve Pumper, Terri Tucker, William Blais, and Joe Mack. The $100 winners were Doug Vogt and Keith Nosis. The $125 winners were Thomas Bonds/Lance Smith and Tim Grand/Keith Taylor. And the $150 winners were Mike Yoder and Bryan Doto.

ULTIMATE NEWS
Owners in Ultimate League 2 should please submit their votes on whether or not they with to redraft prior to next season. A yes vote indicates you wish to redraft and a no vote indicates that you wish for the league to continue for at least another 5 years.

We are also in the process of creating a brand new highly competitive Ultimate League by invitation only. This league will most likely use the standard 5×5 scoring categories. If you are interested in being considered for this league please contact the commissioner’s office.

SUPER PENNANT RACE
We must make mention of the fabulous pennant race this season in Super Megabucks League 1. There were literally 4 teams within 4 points of first place with only one week to go. Congratulations to Les Travis who won the $2,500 first place prize and to Bryan Doto who won the $1,000 second place prize. The standings were not decided until the very last day, possibly even the very last at bats. With $4,000 in postseason prize money at stake, this was perhaps the most exciting pennant race in the history of BoxScore Baseball.

MID SEASON SURVIVAL GAME FOOTBALL
Survival Game Football is now accepting members for its Mid Season contest. The deadline to sign up is Saturday, Oct. 9. The contest begins Week 5! We have also added a new twist this year. The last 3 weeks of the season, survivors must successfully pick the winners of TWO NFL games rather than just one. This should reduce the chances of us having multiple owners advance all the way to end. The Mid Season competition is a one-winner take-all contest! To join or for more information, simply go to http://www.boxscorebaseball.com and click on the sign up tab. The entry fee is $50 for one and $90 for two.

LOOKING AHEAD
Financial statements will be emailed this week to those with a past due amount. Renewal forms, prize checks, BoxScore bucks, and a complete list of all prizewinners will be mailed out prior to the end of the World Series. Also, remember that owners in Ultimate and Continuous Leagues are permitted to make trades with one another until mid December.

BOXSCORE BASEBALL SAYS THANK YOU
Thanks to many of you, BoxScore Baseball has enjoyed a long, rich history. 2011 will mark our 22nd season. It will mark our 2nd season with Survival Game Baseball, our 8th season with BoxScore Football, our 9th season with Super Megabucks Leagues, our 11th season with Survival Game Football, and our 16th season with Ultimate Leagues. Time sure flies!