Very nice win for my Lions this week against NB Nasties. The enthusiasm advantage turned into overkill, but would have been necessary if we didn't injure the SG and some rested starters due to the cup. There are really only 2 teams we can't hang with and that is just fine as we aren't quite ready for DII. In fact, we have the lowest salary in the league after Johns Creek's recent purchase.
Unfortunately for me, it seems that all my conference mates had nice games as well. The only lost games were expected. Lions are holding tough to a playoff spot, but the hold is tenuous with 3 teams only 3 games behind. I think we could win a relegation series if pushed to that, though, so I'm not getting too worked up.
As the season progresses, it seems that Rik Smits and Deronimo are the clear favorites for title contention. However, neither is unbeatable and there may be piles of money waiting to be spent by contenders yet.
First of all, yes, a very nice win for you and one that I appreciated highly.
With the new promotion spaces opening up, I think finishing first in the conference is that much more important since I don't think you can make it out in the bonus promotion if you're not first in your conference.
On your second paragraph, if a loss by Cal to me was expected, you're either far more prescient than I am or you're a horrible judge of talent that just got lucky. ;) I went into the game thinking I had a decent chance of winning, mind you, but expecting to beat a team like that on the road is pretty ambitious - heck, I shifted training this week because I didn't think I had a chance at anything less than full strength.
I'd want to argue that I'm not one of the favorites for contention but I guess at some point you are what your record says you are. I am fortunate that I've already had my road games against NB and tetra, plus Yeet as well, so my final third schedule is much more manageable than the first third. Getting by Cal on the road was huge, but of course the road game with Deronimo is the next major hurdle. And considering I've never won there except in scrimmages or games he was tanking, that's not an easy challenge at all. Thankfully I get your team in my stadium, so I don't quite have all four of the team Blue playoff teams as road games.
I think more than anything, I'm happy that my team actually shot almost as many threes as twos on Saturday.