Emmanuel Classic - Semifinal Recap

We were able to bring in some notable sideline reporters to do some post-game interviews following our two playoff games this week.

(1) Punch in the Face, 118.50 over (4) Millburn Mustangs, 105.54

PUNCH IN THE FACE COACH STEVE LEE (sideline interview by Andrea Kremer)

Kremer: Coach Lee, tough win but your guys pulled it out. What does it say about the character of the team that you've been able to gut out yet another victory?

Lee: It was down to the wire and I'm proud of how my players responded to a must-win situation. Athough I have to admit after the first half of the Philly-San Fran game, our team was glum and had packed our bags for the off-season. The team didn't learn until the next day that there was still a chance to eke out a victory. The team leadership made two last-minute decisions that turned out to be correct. We sat Clint Session in favor of London Fletcher and sat Quinton Ganther in favor of Laurence Maroney. It was tough to make those decisions especially after 2 TDs from Ganther last week, but these tough calls worked out for us in the end. We've already made some hard decisions for this championship week, some of which we've already made in the line-up, others of which we're going to make at the last-minute to surprise Beginner's Luck before we play.

Kremer: As you know, there are teams that have crumbled under the pressure of perfection, most recently with the 2007 Patriots. You're coming up against a hot Beginner's Luck team. What does your team need to do to win?

Lee: I knew you'd bring up the 2007 Patriots, Andrea. That game was won if Asante Samuel just caught that interception. But anyway, Beginner's Luck is clearly the favorite in this game. Ansky made that clear a few weeks ago and Beginner's Luck has been on everyone's radar screen for a while - we're just going to have to win as the scrappy underdog. However, from paying attention to his team over the past few weeks, I've noticed a series of decisions that Beginner's Luck has made over the past few weeks that Punch in the Face may be able to take advantage of in the championship game. But it's an uphill climb for us, Beginner's Luck had a great auto-draft and he "Beginner's Luck'ed" into a bunch of great players that the computer picked.

Kremer: You were asked this last week, but I need to ask this again. Is there any chance that you'll send someone off the bench to spell an obviously hurting Tom Brady?

Lee: It would be a lie to say team leadership hasn't thought about it -- we have. I'm also sure that there will be a lot of "check and refresh" on the websites for the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and ESPN Boston for the up-to-the-minute medical update on Brady, but here it is -- Tom Brady will be my quarterback on Sunday. Our own medical people have signed off. There's no chance he sits on the bench during the championship game. Trust me, Vince Young or Matt Moore will not be playing this Sunday… or will they?

Kremer (laughs): Good luck in the Charlie Cup, Coach.

(7) Beginner's Luck?, 128.12 over (3) ANSKY, 99.42

BEGINNER'S LUCK? COACH RICHARD KWON (sideline interview by Chris Myers)

Myers: You're going to the Charlie Cup, Coach Kwon. How does it feel?

Kwon: It feels great. When I joined this league as an expansion team, it was simply to get a better understanding of this American "football". When I beat the Baptists back in September with C Johnson going nuts, my goal changed from being competitive to playing to win. I re-vamped my entire defense, made some decent pick-ups in Collie and Berrian (although I dropped Miles Austin) and came up with a pretty good team that peaked at the right time. I am going against Punch, the only player whom I would hate to lose to in this entire league. For once, I am truly excited about what's going to happen this Sunday.

Myers: Last week, Coach Lee of Punch in the Face called out your team's defense of being "awful" and clearly thinks that it can be your Achilles heel. Any thoughts?

Kwon: My defense is weak, no doubt about it. But if Punch is observant about other teams at all, which it hasn't shown throughout this season, my defense really stepped up last week and played a major role in defeating ANSKY. So it could go either way. But I understand...Punch suffers from the “Belairchick” syndrome--after too much success, he thinks he knows it all. Of course, I am simply trying to play a role of the NY Giants in the Super Bowl XLII as well as the Colts going against that fourth down call earlier this season. But I digress...I'll touch on that later in our interview.

Myers: You came in as a rookie manager and now you're playing for the championship. There are some, namely a bitter Coach Cheng, that think that this invalidates Fantasy Football in of itself. Your thoughts?

Kwon: That is the beauty of playing sports, including fantasy sports. Look--if those who make 73-79 moves (and counting) are going to always win the league trophy, what would be the point--rewarding the most active players? While these players should have an advantage (well, you'd hope) for their hard work, what makes sports great is unpredictability. I hate this cliche, but any team can win on any given Sunday. For those who want to believe that my success invalidates FF, they should play Madden by themselves.

Once again, I am a serious underdog. But if the NY Giants in 2007-2008 taught us anything, if (Urg, I hate this team) the 2004 Red Sox taught us anything, it is not that the best team always wins. So here's what I toast to: let's just have some fun.

Uh, by the way, Chris--who should I start as QB?

Myers (looking at the camera nervously): Uh, I’d say Kurt Warner against that awful St. Louis defense. Anyway, thanks for your time, Coach Kwon. Good luck next week! Now back up to the studio.

Bob Costas: Thanks, Chris. We have already teed up a couple of the other Coaches in the Emmanuel Classic to give their breakdowns of the Charlie Cup matchup. Pablo’s Paul Huang and Cooler than Baptists’ Will Fehringer will now give their take.

PABLO COACH PAUL HUANG’S CHARLIE CUP BREAKDOWN

QB: Even. Brady vs. Jax (allowed 24 passing TDs) and Warner vs. Rams (allowed 19 passing TDs). This is essentially a wash where you have 2 great QBs that can put up big yards on 2 porous defenses.

WR: Advantage Punch. With a healthy Ward, the advantage would definitely go to Punch but news of a hamstring injury leaves the matchup of Boldin/Meachem vs. Marshall/Collie (forget about Berian) is close though I predict Meachem will go off against Tampa. Their defense allowed a league high 25 TDs.

RB: Advantage Beginner. There's no doubt here that Rich has the advantage

Kicker: Even.

Defense: Even.

In the end, I predict Steve will may actually reverse the curse of Belichick and go undefeated. Rich's troops will have put up a good fight but will fall short. I take Steve and the 0.06pts.

COOLER THAN BAPTISTS COACH WILL FEHRINGER CHARLIE CUP BREAKDOWN

The Upstart versus the Golden Child? I'll tell you what I think - I don't trust either quarterback. Warner cost me the championship last year. In Dungeons and Dragons terms, he and the rest of my team rolled a 'One' in that matchup, and we all remember what happened to Brady the last time he was in this situation. The lofty fall not because they are flawed, but because they are lofty. That's why I'm giving the edge to Beginner's Luck.

COMING UP - EMMANUEL CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP, THE CHARLIE CUP: Punch in the Face vs. Beginner's Luck?