RICH CALDERON
Est. 2003
LAST SEASON
Heading into 2023, if Calderon could reach the playoffs, while Bob failed, he could tie him as the best at reaching the playoffs. This looked great early on, as Rich won his first three contests, which included a 2,096-point weekly high score win over Colby in week three. Of course, he followed that up by failing to score 2,096 in his next two games combined, losing to Masterson and Michael. From that point on, Calderon was an inconsistent mess, producing a single two-game winning streak, but also never losing two in a row. His spot in the playoffs was never in doubt, as he finished 5-4 down the stretch. He earned the five seed with an 8-6 record, finishing seventh in scoring. In the quarterfinals though, he was dominated, as 4-seed Jeff crushed him, 1,975-875.
CAREER
In a sport where everyone appears to hit a wall at some point and get sucked into an inconsistent mess they can’t crawl out of, Calderon is one of the exceptions to that rule (except in his own fantasy league). Fact is, he’s just as successful at reaching the postseason as Bob and avoiding losing seasons is his norm. Oddly enough, his first season with us was a losing season. Rich went 6-8, but he became the first 8-seed to knockoff a 1-seed in our quarterfinals that year (losing in the semifinals). Having said that, Rich’s first four campaigns were average at best. He produced only one winning season and two trips to the playoffs.
The Calderon we know today really got things kicking in 2007. Since that season, Rich has missed the plays just two times. That 2007 team was actually the fourth team in five years to finish below .500 (6-7), but the 7-seed Calderon took down both the two seed (Don) and one seed (David) to reach his first finals, where he fell to Neatock.
Over the next five seasons, Rich would deliver four winning seasons, including a 10-win affair in 2012. Three times during this five-year span he earned the 2-seed. The problem was, he couldn’t win as a two-seed in the playoffs. Three times (2008, 2010, 2012) he lost to the 7-seed in the quarterfinals.
In 2012 though, he finally got his act together. He delivered a second straight 10-win season, earning the two-seed, but this time he rolled over the competition, eventually taking down Griff to earn his first ever championship. He followed that up with a hangover, producing two straight losing seasons, one that still resulted in a postseason trip as an 8-seed (but quarterfinals defeat).
In 2016, he returned to the top, winning nine games. Behind a career high four weekly high scores, Rich earned a second career scoring crown and earned the two-seed for fourth time and easily dispatched Eric, Bob and Jeff for his second career title. In four seasons, Calderon had won two titles and now belong in the “greatness” conversation.
Over the next four seasons, Calderon again delivered wins. He produced three winning seasons, including the league’s second 12-1 record and then followed that up with ten wins, going 22-4 over the span of two regular seasons, becoming the second person to earn back-to-back top seeds. He also went 4-0 in the quarterfinals and reached two title games, losing to Matt in 2018 and me in 2019.
The last three years though, we’ve seen a little dip in production. He’s only had one winning season in his last three seasons, going 22-20 overall in the regular season. His quarterfinals magic also ran out, as he’s been eliminated in the quarterfinals the last two years. Having said that, he’s riding a eight-year playoff run, which is the second longest active streak; one behind Eric.
Overall, for his career, Calderon has two scoring crowns, two top seeds, five trips to the finals and two championships. His overall record is 178-132. His .574 winning percentage is second only to Bob. He averages 1,352 points per game, which is fourth best in the league. His average finish in the standings is 5.05, which is second best. His average finish in points is 5.24, which is third best.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
Rich has produced four of the top-20 highest scoring regular seasons, led by his 2019 squad. They averaged 1,550 points that year, which is the 8th most. If you add in the postseason, Rich has three of the top-nine highest scoring full seasons (regular/post). His 2016 championship team averaged 1,577 points, which is the fourth most in league history.
He’s made it to the playoffs in 17 of his 21 seasons in Robioland. That’s 81% and tied with Bob for the most. In the postseason, he’s 17-15 with a .531 win percentage (7th best), averaging 1,378 points per game (also 7th). Unfortunately his foes average 1,407 in the playoffs, which is the third most. In the quarterfinals, Rich is 10-7 for his career, 5-5 in the semifinals and 2-3 in the finals.
The most points he’s ever scored in a playoff game was in 2003 as the 8-seed, when he scored 1,953 in a win over me. He’s produced four of the top-40 scoring games in our postseason history. On the flip side, Calderon is known for his playoff flops. He has six of the bottom 40 lowest scoring games in the postseason, led by his 716 points he scored in a 2010 quarterfinals defeat to Don. Worse yet, of the top six ass-kickings in playoff history, Rich is the victim of three of them. He lost to Bob in the 2014 quarterfinals by 1,162 (2nd most), he fell to Jeff in last year’s quarterfinals by 1,100 and in the 2009 semifinals, Matt beat him by 1,072 points. Rich’s largest margin of victory in the postseason was a 770-point win over Don in the 2004 quarterfinals.
When it comes to combined points, Rich was involved with two of the top-8 combined scores. In a 2014 quarterfinals defeat to Bob, they combined for 3,504 points, although most of that was Bob in his 2,333 – 1,171 victory. In Rich’s 2003 upset over me in 2003, he won that game 1,953 – 1,535. Our combined 3,488 points remains the 8th most combined points score in a playoff game. And the last thing regarding playoffs, Rich’s 2016 championship team scored a total of 5,312 points. That’s the sixth most points scored in the playoffs. On top of that, in 2018, Rich didn’t win it all, but still scored 5,017 points. That’s the most points scored in the postseason by a team that didn’t win the championship.
Overall, Rich has played in 310 games in this league. He’s scored over 1,500 in 30.97% of his games, which is fourth best. His foes top 1,500 in only 23.55% of his games. That’s the lowest in the league. As for failing to hit a grand, Rich has only done that in 10.97% of his contests. That’s the third lowest. Meanwhile, his opponents have failed in 14.19% of his games, which is the 6th lowest.
In regard to highs and lows, Rich has produced 29 career weekly high scores. That’s 10.43% of his games and the second best percentage in the league’s history. His opponents have done it 7.55% of the time, which is 7th most. Best yet, no one is better at avoiding the weekly low score. He’s only done it 13 times, which is 4.68% of his games; the best in the league. His opponents do it in 8.63% of his games, which is the 5th most.
Speaking of impressive stats in weekly highs and lows. Rich once went 80 weeks without a weekly low score (2003-2009). That is the longest streak in the league. Bob was within one of tying it this past season, but produced a weekly low in the final week of the season and was stuck with 79 weeks. The closest active person is Colby, but he can’t catch Rich until week 9 of the 2026 season. Also, just for fun, Rich currently has a 48-week streak without a weekly low score, which is the 8th longest. On the flip side, he once went 25 weeks without a weekly high score, which is tied for the 34th longest streak without a high score. He also went 16 weeks (2011-2012) without scoring 1,500. That’s tied for the 22nd longest streak.
Rich once won nine straight games to begin a season. That’s tied for the best start to a season in league history. That nine-game win streak (2019) is tied for 8th longest overall. Between 2017-2021, Rich went 62 weeks without dipping below 1,000. That’s the longest streak without falling below a grand. Colby has the longest active streak and he sits 27 games back. Five times Rich has had a 1,250-point streak of eight or better. His longest, 12 straight (2018-2019) is tied for the 5th longest 1,250-pt streak.
When it comes to single game performances, Rich has topped 2,000 a total of nine times. That’s second to me, but Rich has four less seasons under his belt. His highest scoring performance was 2,258 points against Michael in 2021. That’s the 8th most points scored in a game. The most points Rich has ever scored in defeat was 1,687 in a loss to Bob in 2018.
When it comes to combined scores, Rich’s win over Matt in 2014 is up there with the best. He won the game 2,162 – 1,644. The combine score of 3,806 points was the 10th most combined points scored in a game. When it comes to ass-kicking, Rich has been on the wrong side of three of the top-20 ass-kickings in the league’s history. His worst was in 2014. Bob beat him 2,179 – 650. The 1,529-point difference was the second larges ass-kicking in league history. On the flip side of that, Calderon became the first person in league history to score over 1,500 and win by a single point, when in 2003, he defeated Jeff, 1,51 -1,510.
And finally, like I said, Rich is pretty good about avoiding weekly low scores. Well, it helps when you suck, your opponent sucks more. In 2007, Rich scored only 652 points, but still won because Colby scored only 617. Their 1,269 combined points is the fourth lowest in the league.