Happy New Year everyone! The Sandstorms are league champions and the Squatches finished last in a crazy turn of events. Overall, a successful tenth season for the Books Boss League!
On to the recaps!
Sandstorms earn first championship with comeback win over Avalanche, 177-115
A new champion is crowned! The Sahara Sandstorms fought off an early attack from the Avalanche and put on a show to claim their first league title in franchise history!
The Avalanche took an early and commanding lead heading into the Sunday slate of games. Breece Hall and Ceedee Lamb combined for 50 points as the Avalanche looked prime for an easy win. Sunday afternoon had a different story in mind.
On the back of Lamar Jackson (46), the Sandstorms got incredible performances from Travis Etienne (24), Isiah Pacheco (24) and the Houston defense (28) on their way to 177 points. The fantasy guru picked the right notes at the right time, as the 177 points scored were the highest of the season for the squad. It was a great finish for a team that will raise their first championship banner in franchise history.
After starting 7-2, the Sandstorms dropped five straight heading into the postseason with no momentum but proved you just need to get hot at the right time to win a title. Winners of three straight in the postseason, the Sandstorms will complete the 2023 season with a 10-7 record.
On the other side, the Avalanche cannot be disappointed with their season as a whole. Starting 0-6, an overall second place finish is nothing to hang your head about. After the 50 points from Hall and Lamb, the Avalanche had six starters score in single digits on Sunday as the other eight players combined for 65 points, giving the Avalanche the 115 point total. It was their first taste of extended postseason play, as the Avalanche will certainly build on this finish next season.
Third Place
Icecaps earn third place over GWW, 172-156
Who needs Justin Herbert? The definitely not fake #1 seed (or are they?) got plenty of solid outputs on their way to over 170 points. Seven starters scored over 18 points including Kyren Williams (29) and De’von Achane (22). After dominating the league all year, they ran into the red hot Avalanche in the semifinals but rebounded nicely in the third place matchup. The Icecaps will be back.
Generally, putting up over 155 will win you a week but that wasn’t the case this week. If you would have told this manager before week 17 that James Conner would score 29 and Harrison Butker would score 25, I guarantee you this manager thought they would cruise to a win. They did not and shockingly, they could have won. Despite having three defenses on the roster, they started the worst option which was the Eagles defense (2) when the Jaguars defense (26) could have won them the week. All things considered, this season was a great ‘get back on track’ season for this franchise.
Seventh Place
HCTM earns seventh place win over Misfits, 156-104
Finding their stride at the right time, HCTM finished the season on a high note winning the consolation bracket. There was a slight doubt heading into Sunday night but Jordan Love (34) and Jayden Reed (21) put that to bed shortly as the win brought their season record to 7-9. A tough season from the beginning, HCTM finished out the year strongly.
The Misfits made a flurry of adds and drops this week but it didn’t matter. If this squad is thankful for anything this new year, it’s that they won last week and did not have the option to finish last. The Misfits will look for a spark next season as we might see new assistant general manager Finn make some more drafting decisions.
LAST PLACE
Out of nowhere, HSG handles Squatches to avoid last place, 136-105
As the title states, HSG scored the most points they have scored in the last six weeks and shocked the Squatches by earning ninth place. Justin Fields (28) and DaVante Adams (28) led the way on a lost season after September. As noted in every single article for the past month, HSG’s fast start was short lived, losing nine out of their last ten matchups coming into this game. On any given Sunday, anything can happen and that’s exactly what happened here. They can be thankful no bacon suit is in sight.
Well, this is embarrassing. One year removed after winning a championship, the Squatches followed that up with a last place finish, basically removing any credibility this franchise had built up with the championship wins. Say what you want about scoring the third most points in the league, how do you explain this last place finish? It was a tough year for the defending champions and this did not help the case. I think this manager will have something to prove next season. Albeit, in a bacon costume.
A fond farewell
With the conclusion of the season, the Books Boss League would like to recognize the final season of one of its managers. Blake Martin announced he will be retiring after ten seasons in the BBL. Martin had this to say about retirement.
“It was a great ten years and I am honored I was able to be part of the Books Boss League, especially in 2021. Thank you.”
2021 was certainly a memorable one for Martin, who raised a championship banner with All I do is Winston. Martin exits the league after an incredible tenure, beginning in the league’s inception in 2014 and successfully completing ten seasons.
In those ten seasons, Martin went 81-77 with that aforementioned championship in 2021. Out of those ten seasons, he made the playoffs in seven of them.
The office at Books Boss League would like to thank Martin for his continued support and dedication throughout the ten years of the league. We would like to wish him the best on his future and hope retirement treats him well. Thank you Blake!
Closing
The Books Boss League will conduct a national search to find its tenth manager for the 2024 season.
Thanks to everyone for making it ten years with the BBL. Here’s to ten more! Enjoy the new year!
For one final time in the 2023 season,
Cheers!
Books Boss League 