Lets get in the time machine and go back about 8 weeks.  Okay, are you there?  Now, that we are back in late October I am going to tell you something.  You are going to make your fantasy league championship game, and you will be going up against this lineup:

Alex Smith
Jerome Harrison
Jason Snelling
Robert Meachem
Miles Austin
Josh Morgan
Jermicheal Finley

Do you like your chances in that game?  Of course you do.  You laugh in my face at the very notion.  But that was then and this is now, and this team which you could have built entirely off the waiver wire in most leagues would look pretty damn good going into a championship game.  It just goes to show you, keeps your legs turning until you hit the ground. 

It happens every season.  I remember with particular fondness a championship I won in 2004 on the backs of Drew Bennett,  Billy Volek, and Nick Goings.  Nothing draws the ire of your league more than pulling a stunt like that.  The only thing better than drafting a killer team and mashing your competition, is creating a killer team off the waiver wire and mashing the draftmaster.       

Along those same lines, I am here to report that my long-suffering dynasty team whose history has been painfully documented here in the blog will be in the championship game this weekend.  Interesting story here involving the team I am playing against.  When I joined the league, there was one team that stood out.  It was a monster.  Filled with numerous players that were being drafted in the 1st and 2nd round of re-drafts that season (and since).  I was amazed that someone was able to build such a dominant team in a league full of experienced players.  It was quite simply the best fantasy team I had ever seen or played against. 

But three seasons have passed, and that monster of a team has lost in the championship game three years in a row.

Guess who gets a chance to make it four in a row?  Yeah, It’s not a plane, nor bird, nor even a frog.  It’s just little old me, Underdog.

Here is the lineup I am going up against:

Peyton Manning
Adrian Peterson
Steven Jackson
Ladanian Tomlinson
Andre Johnson
Anquan Boldin
Steve Smith (CAR)
Kellen Winslow

Obviously, this team doesn’t look quite as formidable as it has in years past.  I did seed higher than this team this season.  And that’s all well and good,  but means little when you consider that this team put up a near league record 200+ points last week while routing the #1 seed.   But just look at it.  Reading the names alone send shivers down your spine.

While I have spent a lot of time commiserating over my team, this guy has been suffering possibly an even worse fate than the tar-pit time I have spent in this league.  The dude built one of the greatest 12 team league fantasy teams in the history of mankind, and he doesn’t have a single championship to show for it.  Even I don’t recall being tortured to that extent. 

I almost feel sorry for him.   But not sorry enough that I won’t be rooting for my rag-tag little David team to slay Goliath.  I’m ready for my Christmas miracle.  I’ve got my 2007 waiver wire aquisition Matt Schaub at quarterback.  Considering the different situations between Manning and Schaub this week I have to love my chances to win this battle.  I have Ryan Grant and Jerome Harrison at running back.  On paper this might look horrible for me matched up against his legendary trio at running back.  Yet, as I look at the match-ups I’m not so sure I don’t have the drop on him here as well.   And the stars of my show are the stud wide receving crew of Welker, Colston, Austin, Ward.  This will probably be the key to my game.  When things go right these 4 are a PPR nightmare.  They should cover his similarly impressive WR crew.

And last but not least, the rock, Antonio Gates.  Gates was my first major aquisition in this league.  I don’t remember who I traded for him, but it was worth every penny.  If this game comes down to Gates v. Winslow, I have to feel pretty good about that.

But really, this game will probably come down to Jerome Harrison.  You are going to hear all kinds of differing opinions on Harrison this week.  Some are buying, some aren’t.  I am buying.  I bought long ago.

Folks, Jerome Harrison is not just some flash in the pan.   Before this season a major fantasy publication listed him as the #1 “prospect” running back in the NFL.   I was not surprised.  I have had my eye on this guy.  And more importantly on his stats.  Virtually every time he has gotten the opportunity he has produced.  He had a nice 2 game stretch earlier in the season, then was benched.  He had a nice game in week 13 and was virtually unused in week 14.  He got back on the field against an unmotivated defense and he shredded them in week 15.   

None of this surprises me.  I stashed Harrison on my roster before the season started when his previous owner dropped him for the rookie draft.  I thought this kid had “something,” and I wanted to hang on to him and see what developed.   What does surprise me is that Mangini wasted almost the entire season with the lumbering Jamal Lewis.  Mangini I have huge questions about.  Harrison I have few questions about.  He is a player.   And hopefully Mangini will give Harrison the chance to show that, while crushing my opponent into a fine dust in the process. 

And that friends, is my Christmas wish.  To inflict a soul crushing defeat to “the team” with the likes of Jerome Harrison and Miles Austin.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.  Well, except that Drew Bennett, Billy Volek thing.  That was epic.  Here’s hoping you all get yours!