WK13 - Die a Hero, or...

Wise words, Mr. Nolan.

I will always make references to the Dark Knight Trilogy each year; I can't help it. Most of the time I'll bring up themes or ideas from the Dark Knight movie, but I am working on expanding my referencing in order to give the Trilogy it's full respect.

"I'm cool with the Dark Knight references," said Burgundy. "That Joker/Batman interrogation scene was mind-blowing; possibly one of the greatest movie scenes I've ever seen --- Except for my glass case of emotion scene in Anchorman. That might be slightly better."

"Don't talk like one of them, you're not. Even if you'd like to be.
To them, you're a freak. Like me. They just need you now.
But as soon as they don't they'll cast you out. Like a leper."

I'm not sure I agree, but both scenes are classics. But why am I bringing up the reference today? Well, over the holiday break (seems like ages ago now, eh?) I was privileged to have spent extended time with Burgundy and Sitch, both of whom remained relatively stagnant over Christmas. Dick Burns and Tree Bone were out and about, hopping around from city to city so their time was limited. Anyway, the subject of great movie quotes came up and we shared our favourites. A few from our list include:

Spoken by Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting (1997)

"Mediocrities everywhere - I absolve you."
Spoken by Salieri, Amadeus (1984)

Spoken by Vito Corleone, The Godfather (1972)

Spoken by Michael Corleone, The Godfather Part II (1974)

If any of you haven't seen the following movies, you are a disgrace to society and I recommend you do yourself a favour and watch them now. NOW! (Especially Amadeus, but that's just because I love that movie to no end.)

"I would also like to add," said Dick Burns, "That the Mission is also a fantastic movie and I highly recommend all select-GM's to watch that."

With WK13 having the 'unlucky 13' associated with it, I thought it would be of interest to investigate the Dark Knight quote/concept. While it may not be an easy quote to remember like the ones listed above, the concept is genius and I see it happening all the time. In the world of professional sports, it rings especially true: look at reputation of Eugene Melnyk, LeBron James, Brian Burke, Dany Heatley, etc. All were juggernaut heroes at one point before being deemed the villain.

"I don't like where this is going," said Sitch.

Can we say the same is happening for Sitch? Arguably the most annoying, loud, meat-filled (I'm talking in the head, not in the bone-zone), obnoxious and unintelligent, he's been crowned Champion for two straight years and is successfully gunning (or crunching?) for a third title. While every select-GM could be considered a hero or a villain, has the target become so enormous on Sitch's meaty back that he's become the most hated man in the Randy Leagues?

"Yes, I can agree to that," said Burgundy, raising is glass full of scotch.

Let's get into the week's statistics, courtesy of the stats machine, before we start throwing our drinks.

Sitch was this week's top bread earner, banking 161.80 fantasy points. Burgundy was a close second with 157.10 fantasy points. Safari misfired this week, ending with a League-low 78.45 fantasy points.

"I was poached," said Safari.

"Pun!" applauded Dick.

With the sizeable point accumulation from Burgundy, he's been able to retake second position, leaping over Safari. Sitch still remains atop the rankings, and has tied Safari for most consecutive weeks at number one (four weeks in a row).

Sitch still leads PPGP, and increased his PPGP from 3.62 to 3.65, mostly due to good goaltending stats he earned this week. Burgundy was able to increase his PPGP as well, from 3.38 to 3.41, and is now second overall in PPGP. Dick Burns's PPGP is equal to the League average of 3.35, whereas Safari has dipped below the League average and now clocks in at 3.29. Tree Bone's PPGP has dropped to 3.05.

Adds McGuire: The separation is the goalie stats. Look at Sitch's win %. Over 70%? Are you kidding me? When has this ever happened? Anything over 60% is considered high in my books, let alone 70%. It's the result of drafting Crawford who's been solid on a strong Blackhawks team, as well as Rinne who is having a renaissance year with the Predators.

"He's not a villain in my books," said Safari. "Hate the game, not the player. Or in this case, hate the pool, not the select-GM. We've all had equal opportunity and he hasn't done anything illegal, other than the occasional disturbance of the peace (i.e. going shirtless)."

"You can't hate the guy!" said Tree Bone. "He just got engaged! Who can hate a guy who just got engaged?"

"I hate him! I hate him!" cried Burgundy. "Sitch, I hate you more than you hate shirtless bro's loitering in public!"

"Just look at it this way, Burgs," said Dick. "It'll make dethroning him all the sweeter."

Wise words, Dick. Happy WK13 everyone.

PS - GM's Quarterly II coming soon...