Here are some wildlife photos from Australia. The underwater ones were taken by one of the snorkeling tour guides, since I left my underwater camera at home. I took the other ones in the wild. Australia has a reputation for all these deadly creatures there but I didn't really run into any snakes or jellyfish or spiders. It's actually harder than you think to come across them.
So I'm giving a Sprit animal for each team in order of Cuteness factor, not power. You may think differently about your Aussie spirit animal's cuteness. As usual, click on photo to enlargen.
10. Kevin - Giant Clam
Yes, that looks like a female anatomical part. They're actually cool to see because they are kind of sensitive to light and if you wave your hand to cover the light, it'll close. This one would have been about three feet wide.
Kevin is resting on the laurels of his fifth championship (or is it fourth, I've lost count). I was shocked he actually did a transaction this past week. Keeping Mixon has been a mistake and Tyreek Hill injury has been really bad since Kevin's #1 WR doesn't even want to be on his RL team.
9. Donny - Saltwater Crocodile
Got really fortunate to watch the male 15-footer on the left mate with the 11-foot female on the right. You'd think an alpha male like that would take a while to do the dirty. You would be wrong. It was over quickly in like 3 seconds. It's also a bit intimidating to see that male 15-footer disappear beneath the waters in like 5 seconds from shore. Crikey!
Donny is the other disappointing team from last year's championship. 0-4 pretty much means he's eliminated from the playoffs. Biggest reasons have been disappointing RB play and Hopkins underperforming. Trade for Nick Chubbs may help earn some wins going forward, but Donny is playing for next season.
8. PJ - Brush Turkey
These things were between the size of a chicken and a turkey. Head of a vulture with the shape of a turkey. Saw quite a few of them in the rain forest and waterfalls. Very disappointed I didn't get to see its bigger and meaner cousin the Cassowary.
PJ's has underperformed once again despite an early draft position. Mostly due to underachieving Keepers and lack of a stud QB and DST.
7. Tuna - Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
These were pretty large parrots. Okay, they're not really parrots. UPDATE: Cockatoos are indeed parrots. Sorry. They're also pretty intelligent and will get on your shoulder to beg for food. Just be careful feeding them, they will bite your finger. Very common in southern Australia, they're easily spotted on the Great Ocean Road Drive.
In past years, Tuna was usually a pretty efficient manager. Not this year. He's ranked #8 in efficiency after week 4, and that may even get worse after this week since he benched the Seattle offence. Also, Antonio Brown screwed him over, like AB did to these condo lawyers.
6. Victor - Platypus
On my last full day in Queensland, I drove 1 hour down to Cairns then took a windy 1 and 1/2 hour drive to the TableLand highlands through some pretty remote farmlands. Was it worth it? You bet! Got to see the Platypus, the oddest mammal in the world. It has a duck beak, a beaver tail, lays eggs, and is the only venomous mammal in the world (males have a stinger in their rear leg). They're usually a bit shy but one of them put on a show for me (video here).
Victor's 2 losses have been due to amazingly 2 bad managing decisions: Starting Broncos D over Rams D in Week 2 and Starting McCoy over Chubb in Week 4. Trade for Mahomes was more to lessen RB choices and improve efficiency than anything. Which means expect Phil Lindsay to get 25 points while Shady gets 6 this week.
5. Justin - Australia King Parrot
Also found along eastern Australia, the Australian King Parrot's colors are different for the male and female. The male is actually the more colorful one, with the red head and green wing combo as shown above. Like Justin, the male has to work harder to attract the females.
Justin has done well record-wise, but the loss of Saquon for the next few weeks kind of puts pressure on Justin's record. WR depth also an area of concern. Surprised he isn't starting Winston, who's been a different beast under the direction of Bruce Arians.
4. Byron - Kookabura
Speaking of Kook, I don't know what to make of Byron. Dude drops ODB and then proceeds to crush Donny while ODB scores like 2 points for Hai. But the Combo of Zeke and Pats D is foolproof. Plus if Houston's passing game gets going, Byron will be hard to stop.
3. Matt - Clown Fish (aka Nemo)
During my snorkeling tour, all these tourists were swimming (or rather floating) around trying to chase or spot sea turtles. Been there, done that with much much bigger ones. I was more happy to float in one place observing the clown fish in its sea anemone home. Did you know that the female is much bigger than the 2-3 males in the colony? If the female dies, one of the males then undergoes a sex change to become female, then takes leadership of the colony. Finding Nemo would have been a much different movie if Pixar actually followed Nature's rules.
Matt's best decision this season was to not trade for Antonio Brown pre-draft. While Matt's picks haven't been spectacular, at least he wouldn't have wasted a starting slot for AB. Aaron Rodgers is back to doing Aaron Rodgers things, and Matt can compete each week.
2. Vu - Eastern Gray Kangaroo
I walked about 2 miles on a recovering ankle to search for these guys, only to find out that if my ride dropped me off by the park's entrance, it would have been only like 200 yards to see the whole mob of them. Yes, Kangaroo herds are called mobs. Very gangsta. They're like deer here in DC, but not as nervous around humans.
Vu's record of 1-3 really underplays this team. Vu has scored over 80 points each week, but has had the toughest schedule so far. You could tell management is bullish on this stock, there has been more than 10 transactions so far from Vu, last year he had like about 4-5 total.
1. Hai - Koala
Also lesson learned - you can never have enough RBs to keep and going all-in on your favorite team's passing offense can sometimes pay off (See Katy 2010, 2004, and 2000). Cowboys offense plus Christian McCaffrey = 4-0. Then in a case of rich getting richer, Hai was able to pick up ODB on the waivers because everyone else had used the waiver earlier. Even though ODB only scored 2 points in week 4, that's not going to last. What will last is Hai's stranglehold on the Asian division unless a couple of key injuries hit.
If you wish to see more nature photos from my Australia trip, here are some links for your viewing:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/J1UTSLrWZ9ecPggc7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FvfL4cMABdz9e8pm8
https://www.amazon.com/photos/album/A3JZ4IJZAI85CE:ZLeK4hc4RsqDKWCA0pu2qg
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