12/27/23 - J. Jonah Jameson, Editor-in-Chief - So here we are in year 25 of the Blue Sky Leagues and just when you thought you have seen everything there is to see 2023 says to hell with that! As we look at the upcoming matchups for the title games in the BSL’s 3 leagues we want to point out something that hasn’t happened since 2008 in the Two Lost Souls League, and something as far as we can tell with the records on hand never happened before in the 25 years we have been watching these leagues. But since both these anomalies happened in the TLSL this year you will have to wait a bit to get the gist. As always we start our preview with the upcoming 25th installment of the CDL title game.

For Super Bowl 25 in the Crazy Diamond League we have a matchup of old and new. The Tanzmanian Devils, who were in the title game 6 times between 2008 and 2017, winning 5 of those appearances, make it back to the big game for the first time 6 years. The Devils, in their 8th title game appearance will face off against a 1st time participant (1 of 3 first timers this year, more on this later). The Lucky Gold Cat is making their debut this year as neither their team with its current ownership nor the previous owners had ever made the title game. The Devils come into the game with a (13-2) record and Gold Cat comes in at (9-6). On paper things look a bit lopsided but as you will see in the TLSL preview, on paper doesn’t always translate to in reality. Another factor is injuries. The Devils could be 1 of 2 top seeds that go into their championship game without their #1 QB as the Devils Trevor Lawrence, who has NEVER missed a game – in high school, college or pros – could be at risk of missing the CDL title game with a shoulder injury. We will have to see how this shakes out but this leads us to the FSDL and the OTHER top seed that could be without their top QB.

In the Four Star Daydream League, Super Bowl 20 features two teams from the best division in all of the BSL this season without question, the Halas-Noll division. This was the only division where all 4 teams were over .500 for the year. And while 3 teams made the playoffs, the 3rd place Scarlet Widows took out the 2nd place Fignastics in the Wild-Card round, and then took out the 2nd seeded Jedi Knights to reach the big game. The 1st place team in that division, the top seeded Sinister 36ers survived a HUGE scare in the semi-finals when QB Brock Purdy threw 4 INTs and scored just under 2 pts total. The 36ers won by just 3 ½ points to make it to their 3rd title game in the last 4 seasons. This is the 36ers 7th trip to the big game, coming in with a record of (3-3). The Widows are making their 6th big game appearance. The Widows and 36ers split their division series this year is VASTLY different contests. The 36ers beat the Widows in Week 3 after scoring the 4th highest point total in a single game ever, in what ended up as an 90pt blowout. However in Week 14, with their playoff chances in the balance, the Widows defeated the 36ers in the 2nd game by just 0.27 points! So we have NO IDEA what to expect in this final matchup but injuries may have something to say about it. The 36ers, like the CDL’s Devils, are a top seed that could be scrambling for a championship week QB as to add injury to insult, Purdy comes out of his disastrous Week 16 game and is questionable to play this weekend with a neck injury. Will the Devils and 36ers make moves to get some insurance? Is there anyone out there that can fill in? Their currently rostered backups don’t look like viable options so we will see how this all plays out in the coming last waiver days.

That leads us to the baby of the group and TLSL Super Bowl 18 and the answer to the tease you have been waiting for. The TLSL title game, between the Bewildered Bruins and PC Powerhouse is quite uncommon in 2 big ways. One of which we are fairly certain is a first time occurrences for the BSL. First, not since the 3rd season of the TLSL (in 2008) have we seen two teams matchup in a BSL championship game that have never appeared in a title game before. Aside from the inaugural game for all 3 leagues (of course), least 1 of the 2 teams in the title games had been there before. So it has been 15 seasons since we have seen 2 first time title game participants in the same matchup. What makes this TLSL matchup even crazier is that both of these teams finished last in their divisions last season, something we cannot find ever happening before. We have seen worst to first before but not 2 in the same title game. Also, the 2 newcomers beat the teams with the 2 best records in the TLSL this season, the #1 seeded Dawgs and the Wild-Card winning Omaha Players who were one of the hottest teams coming into their playoff schedule. So a hearty Welcome to the Bruins and Powerhouse, this is what the view from the top of the mountain looks like. No history to lay on the line, no experience, just play the game and see who comes out on top.

Well that is where we sit for the final week of the 2023 season and our championship matchups. A few readers (Sean?!) may be asking, where is all the X-Men/36ers/Avengers-centric stats?! Did we miss it? Is Sean still awake after the longest article in quite a while? Just for those people, we leave with a fun stat. This year will mark the 63rd title games the BSL has seen, 25th in CDL, 20th in FSDL and 18th in TLSL. And now with the Sinister 36ers making another title game appearance, we have this for you. The X-Men/36ers/Avengers have now appeared in 26 of those, or 41.3%. The 2nd highest title game to seasons played ratio is the aforementioned Tanzmanian Devils, 8 out of 25 in the CDL. Not that anyone is keeping track.

And since it appears not many read these things we are leaving the bonus FP trivia question in place from the last article until the end of the championship games. The Commissioner’s office sent in a Trivia Question for a Bonus Finance Point for the team that sends in the first correct answer. - The BSL started with the CDL in 1999. The first overall draft pick was QB Brett Favre, who is PlayerID 1 in the database and the reason he is used for the Free Agency placeholders during the offseason, ease of coding for player 1. Who was the 2nd player ever drafted in the CDL? - Commissioner’s note: Even I was surprised when I looked at it who PlayerID 2 is! – Good Luck!! [Email guesses to commisioner@crazydiamondleague.com please] – Oh, and by the way, the last player added to the database, WR Andrei Iosivas (CIN), is PlayerID 3944! [Updated since last article]