Is This the Year?
As the old saying goes, poop in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up faster. If Smitty had been trying this out to see if he could wish his way into a championship, he would be left with a lot of poop in his hands. His playoff woes have already been established. This is a look at his team and if they can actually get there this year, or if we will be seeing the same old one and done Playoff Smitty.
Unbeknownest to most owners in the League!, Smitty has quietly been getting better and better over the years. It took him a little while to get going in the beginning but once he got his fateful C group boarding assignment and changed his name to #planesmash, he has never missed the playoffs. He has even gone as far as finishing the regular season in third place in three of the last four seasons.
His stats reflect his sudden rise to the top of the standings as he has managed to put up the second most points per game with 133.96. The odd part about that stat is that while has put up that many points, his winning percentage is still only .500. A lot of this can be attributed to his first two seasons where he finished 4-9-0 and 3-10-0. Beyond those two season, he has had a winning record almost every year, with the exception of two 6-7-0 finishes.
If there was any year he was going to get there it probably should have been 2019. Smitty came into the draft that year with one 1st round pick, three 2nd round picks, a 3rd round pick, and two 4th round picks. While some teams were only on their second overall picks, Smitty had his entire starting lineup drafted by the fourth round. He was rightfully awarded Best Draft and started the season the heavy favorite at +170 to win the bobblehead. He went on to win three weekly high points that year in weeks 6, 8, and 9, and was awarded his first 200 point club outing with 201.24 points in week 6. He ended the regular season in third place with an 8-5-0 record and just narrowly missed a first round playoff bye to Hans who also had an 8-5-0 record by 59.66 points. Had he been able to get that first round bye, he would have made it to his first League! championship.
Still he remains one of only four managers that has not been able to win The League!. He certainly has the most promise of those four and looks to be next man up if he can make a deeper playoff run. Coming off a tough 2019, Smitty looks to rebound with a standard round of draft picks and a schedule that is less than favorable. He is scheduled to go against his longtime rival Sweets twice, who is tied for third in the League! power rankings and Herriott, who is tied for first in the League! power rankings. The silver lining is that his matchups against Herriott will be in weeks 1 and 13. Herriott may stumble out of the gates this year as he is going into the draft without his 2nd and 3rd round picks. That should help lighten the load from what would otherwise be a daunting schedule.
The optimism is high around The League! about what Smitty could do this year. He has strung together half a decade of playoff appearances that have all flirted with the idea of hoisting his first bobblehead trophy. If he can put together a solid draft and make some moves during the Winter Meetings, he may end up with more than just a hand full of poop this year.