Viva Murillo!

The fantasy championship is a day of anxiety and excitement. It can be full of joy, stress and lasting memories. It's like Christmas Eve!

Technically, it is on Christmas Eve this year, with a few titles being determined on Christmas night as well. It's the holiday season for friends, family and fantasy. It's also time to put the weekly rituals to rest. Now that there's just one game left, there's really nothing left to do.

At this point, you probably know who you're starting. You know who your opponent is starting. There are no more trades to consider or waiver wire pickups worth picking up. So how do you prepare for the biggest game of the fantasy season? Enjoy it; that's all. By week 16, whatever skill goes into this game has been revealed and rewarded. Now Lady Luck -- a big presence in every league -- takes center stage and will play a major role in crowning a new champion. All you can really do is watch her hold court and enjoy the ceremony.

You saw it happen last week as well. How many fantasy hopes were dashed by the Sun, rotating on it axis and burning more than 90 million miles away? That same sun that caught the eyes of one Hakeem Nicks at just the wrong time, turning a 54-yard touchdown into another embarrassing moment in an embarrassing game for the Giants? What if the ball had a slightly-different trajectory, or Nicks had looked up an instant later, or a cloud had popped up in the New Jersey sky? Different owners would be competing this coming weekend, and some of them would have won that last game, too. Instead of champions, they're one-and-done. And those teams who won their game as a result? Some of them will become champs, and that moment will just be another step on the path to victory.

What will it be this week? A holding penalty away from the play that wipes out a score? A catch that the coaches didn't think was worth risking a challenge? A last-minute interception in a blowout that could have been replaced by simple handoff? A coach icing his own kicker (okay, we saw that a few weeks ago)? We don't know what it will be, but we can be pretty confident something will happen that impacts fantasy championships that are the result of chance or mean almost nothing on the field. That's part of the game. Not their game; ours.

So this week, don't worry about strategy too much. If you know who to start, just relax. Your part is done. You can probably over think your entire lineup if you want, but that time has past. Just start your best players and tend to the holiday season. Be happy that you made it this far, and recognize that detrimental plays can affect your opponent as much as you. Maybe they'll be the one cursing a phantom roughing call that kept a drive alive that resulted in an extra reception that cost them the game. Maybe you'll be the one celebrating when a normally reliable kicker shanks an extra point, preventing a tie that would have resulted in more stats for the other offense. But whatever happens, there are 10 other owners who would like to be in your place this weekend, so appreciate your position, enjoy the holiday and hope for the best. Good luck this week.

Do you have any special championship preparations? Share your thoughts below.

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