1997 FFL Week 1 Newsletter
This week’s high scoring team: The Natural Mystics with 56. Coach Wassem is $15 richer today.
What’s inside:
1. Letter from the Commish
2. Transactions
3. Box scores
4. Week 1 news & notes
5. The Swami sez
6. Rosters
7. Schedule
Letter from the Commish:
After weeks of anticipation, the FFL season has finally begun. Although Week 1 by itself gives little indication of things to come, certain trends may already be evident. Among several noted by yours truly:
Coach Young is already having trouble keeping his multiple teams straight as proven during his lineup call on Sunday morning when he announced his starting TE of ....uh.... uh...... shuffle..... uh......just a minute......shuffle, shuffle....Mark Chmura then promptly ran head on into the 20 point day of Lawrence Phillips (#12973298 on his record but #1 in our hearts)
Coach Mark (hyper boy) Will already changing team names before even a down had been played in 1997. Henceforth, the Will entry is known as Grande To The Party. You will see that your rosters and schedules have been changed to reflect this. Yet, to Will’s credit, it appears as though he may have continued his long and storied league tradition of being more lucky than good on draft day as Ki-Jana Carter and Anthony Johnson both had excellent week ones. Carter scored twice after appearing to be knocked out of the game and Johnson kept Tim Biakabutuka relegated to the sidelines pouring Gatorade while rushing for over 100 yards in a Panthers loss. In fact, Biakabutuka was the #3 RB for Carolina behind rookie Frank Lane out of Lane College. Also, I enjoyed this quote from the SF Chronicle: "George did attempt one bomb to James Jett in the 4th quarter, which was batted away by Marcus Robertson at the last moment, but Raider observers know that only averted a 49-yard drop by Jett. The truth is, the Raiders have wasted far too much time trying to develop Jett instead of working with other receivers, and now they’re stuck."
Either Erric Rhett was hurt or Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott appear to be the new starting backfield in Tampa Bay. Like Biakabutuka, Rhett did not see the ball except in warmups. Chris T Jones also did not catch a ball. J.J. Stokes had one ball thrown in his direction. It bounced off his shoulder pad and was picked off by Tyrone Legette. Tyrone Wheatley appears to be 3rd string.
Speaking of the 49ers, yours truly had the pleasure of reading the SF Chronicle on my flight back from Frisco this morning. Although the writers are not scathing yet, it’s openly being discussed whether Steve Young can still stay healthy enough to play after suffering his third concussion in 44 weeks. Sunday marked the 10th time in the last 18 games that Young has missed all or part of a ballgame. He’s listed as probable for next week’s game vs. the Rams while backup Jeff Brohm is listed as questionable after suffering a bruised hip in the 3rd quarter. The 49ers made a conscious decision to re-tool the offensive line in the off season, switching from a quicker, more nimble lineman to the bigger variety in an effort to better protect Steve Young. Kevin Gogan specifically was brought aboard to help with this. Against Tampa Bay, the offensive line was beaten up the middle and around the ends by the Buccaneer’s potent blend of strength and speed. Warren Sapp lined up against the 49ers’ two 300 lb. guards Gogan and Ray Brown. Sapp is listed at 276 but only weighs that on the moon. He ended up with 11 tackles (including the tackles that knocked both Yound and Moon out of the game) and 2 1/2 sacks for the day. Shante Carver hasn’t done that for his career.
Perhaps of larger concern is the knee injury to Jerry Rice. With Rice missing the year, that will, in William Floyd’s words, negate 80% of the 49er offense. J.J. Stokes continues to be a disappointment and Terrell Owens is still rounding into shape from off season foot surgery that kept him out of action until just this week. That leaves Iheanyi Uwaezuoke and 5th WR Mark Harris. Harris was on the inactive list for Week 1.
I also noticed, while picking up lineups Sunday afternoon, that everyone called in remarkably early this week. The Pinheads, Grande To The Party and the Natural Mystics all had theirs in by Friday and all other teams were done submitting lineups by 11:46 local time on Sunday. First a quick draft and now early lineups. What’s this league coming to??
The Moe Divison appears as though it may be a wild one. The Swami’s pre-season #1 and #2 teams (not to mention last year’s title game contestants) both took a tumble in week 1. In the Curly Division, the King Snakes appear to be continuing a trend. In ‘95, Coach Erickson had too many QBs, in ‘96 it was RBs that he stockpiled. This year, the Snakes are deep at WR but may see little production at RB barring trades or waiver moves. Meanwhile, the Beer Spillers left John Elway on the bench but scored 18 points from Drew Bledsoe. Look for the Highways to try moving Marshall Faulk while his value is still high for either a WR (King Snakes?) or QB (Beer Spillers?). The Iguanas, too, could be looking for a WR with Rice’s injury as bad as it is. In the Larry Division, the Pinheads have to be wondering if Steve Young will make for a roller coaster season. Troy Aikman dazzled in week 1 but I have to think the Cowboys are still predominently a rushing team. The NFC Norris have started hot but a short look back to 1996 proves that it means little for Coach Nerz’s squad at this point.
To the Pinheads, feel free to come up with a different team name if you like. I needed something to plug in initially and it seemed the obvious choice. Or stay with it if you like.
To anyone whose phone number or e-mail address I do not have, please notify me of the information and I will include it in the future newsletters.
Go deep, I’ll throw it! -The Commish
Stop here for reminders:
One more reminder for those of us trying to leave voicemails on Sunday at 6:01pm attempting to drop/add Stan Humphries for Rob Johnson.....(you know who you are and so does anyone else who scans the rosters)
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If you have not paid your $65 dues, please do so as soon as possible. Paul Young is once again the FFL Treasurer emeritas. He can be reached at 420-2808 in Lincoln or you can mail a check directly to him at 2830 Jameson N. #15, Lincoln NE 68516. Please get him your money as soon as possible. People who owe plus the amounts:
Eric Widtfeldt $30 Paul Nerz $25
Chris McCormick $30 Mark Will $65
Dave Schmitz $65
(Please notify me when payment has been made so that I can delete your name from this list)
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Transactions:
8/18 Strange Highways waive TE Kyle Brady; add WR Will Blackwell.
8/22 Strange Highways waive K Matt Stover; add WR Sean Dawkins.
8/29 Natural Mystics waive K Brett Conway; add K Gary Anderson.
The waiver wire has been fairly quiet thus far. How long will it last?
The Pinheads 17 Palace of Swords 24 Beer Spillers 46
QB- Young 00 Blake 05 Bledsoe 18
RB- Warren 00 CMartin 00 Centers 06
RB- Salaam 00 JAnderson 06 Hill 00
WR- TMartin 00 Morton 00 Carter 14
WR- JSmith 14 Sanders 06 Kennison 00
TE- Popson 00 McGee 02 Jones 00
U- McCaffrey 00 Biakabutuka 00 Scott 00
K- Peterson 03 MAnderson 05 Wilkins 08
D- Eagles 00 Buccaneers 00 49ers 00
NFC Norris 45 Natural Mystics 56 Iguanas 30
QB- McNair 04 Banks 08 Testaverde 14
RB- George 10 Bettis 00 Jabbar 06
RB- Watters 06 Levens 08 Means 06
WR- Jackson 08 Brown 20 Rice 00
WR- Rison 00 Fryar 00 K Johnson 00
TE- Coates 06 Wycheck 00 Asher 00
U- Rhett 00 Graham 14 T Thomas 00
K- Vinatieri 11 G Anderson 06 Hanson 04
D- Raiders 00 Cowboys 00 Broncos 00
===================================================================
PMS 42 Bone Club 16 Highways 22
QB- B Johnson 08 Stewart 04 Marino 00
RB- T Allen 14 B Sanders 00 E Smith 00
RB- Kaufman 00 Murrell 02 Faulk 00
WR- Freeman 00 Glenn 06 Bruce 00
WR- J Reed 00 CT Jones 00 McDuffie 00
TE- Dudley 00 Chmura 00 Walls 06
U- Barber 06 Hearst 00 S Dawkins 00
K- Elam 14 Hollis 04 Del Greco 10
D- Steelers 00 Rams 00 Giants 06
King Snakes 53 April’s Supercuts 39 Grande 33
QB- Mitchell 08 Harbaugh 00 Favre 09
RB- McElroy 06 Trl Davis 08 A Johnson 02
RB- Stewart 00 Phillips 20 K Carter 12
WR- Pickens 06 Galloway 00 R Brooks 06
WR- H Moore 14 Harrison 00 Alexander 00
TE- Drayton 00 Dilger 00 Sharpe 00
U- Irvin 14 Try Davis 00 Jett 00
K- Kasay 05 Boniol 05 Blanchard 04
D- Panthers 00 Packers 06 Seahawks 00
Week 1 was division week. In the Larry Division, the NFC Norris got off to another hot start in 1997 with a 45-17 victory over the Pinheads. The Pinheads lost Steve Young in the 1st quarter and never recovered. Chris Warren, Rashaan Salaam and Tony Martin were all shut out and on the losing end of blowouts. The lone bright spot was Jimmy Smith’s 2 TD catches and 100 yards receiving. The Norris got 216 yards rushing from Eddie George and balanced scoring elsewhere.
In the other Larry game, the Natural Mystics laid the hammer down on the Palace of Swords 56-24. The Mystics were fortunate in that Curtis Martin went scoreless and Jeff Blake was held to 5 pts. For the Mystics, Tim Brown had 20 and Jeff Graham 14. The Mystics scored their 56 points without any assistance from Jerome Bettis who was held scoreless by the Dallas Cowboys.
The Beer Spillers made their FFL debut a successful one as they defeated the Greenback Iguanas in a 46-30 Curly Division matchup. The Iguanas suffered the double indignity of losing #1 pick Jerry Rice for the season with both an ACL and a MCL injury. One Iguana bright spot was Vinny Testaverde’s 14 points and a TD apiece from Jabbar and Means. The Spillers blew the game open early, however, with 4 TD passes in the first half by Drew Bledsoe. Two TD catches by Cris Carter provided extra cushion. However, on an ominous note, the KC Chiefs waited until the 2nd half before getting the ball in Greg Hill’s hands. Although he still finished with 92 yards on 7 carries, it was once again 63 year old Marcus Allen who was given the ball near the goal line. Regardless of who the Chiefs bring in to run their so-called West Coast offense, as long as Marty Schottenheimer is the coach, the offense will continue to be only vanilla ice cream in a world of 31 flavors.
In the other Curly game, PMS was this week’s hard luck loser, dropping a 53-42 game at the hands of the Crawling King Snakes. The Snakes appear to be the same team they’ve been the past two years, getting off to another fast start but again showing areas of weakness within its armor. This year it’s the running game that could prove troublesome. On this day, however, the Snakes got 34 points from the WR group to outscore PMS. PMS got 14 from Terry Allen (who also broke his thumb), 14 from Jason Elam, 8 from Brad Johnson and 6 from rookie RB Tiki Barber of the NY Giants. Jake Reed and Rickey Dudley were each held to one catch. Kaufman was shut down by the Oilers and Freeman was quiet.
Over in the Moe division, the Supercuts got off a 1-0 start behind Lawrence Phillip’s 20 points in a 39-16 win over the Bone Club. Terrell Davis had 8 and the Packer D scored a late TD to run up the score. The Bone Club got a TD catch from Terry Glenn and a toss by Kordell and little else. Barry Sanders and Garrison Hearst were shut out although Hearst had a good day and may yet prove a solid mid-round selection. The same should be said for TE Mark Chmura although Chmura left the game with an sprained ankle (or knee) and was seen on the sidelines with crutches. He’s expected to be out 4-6 weeks.
Grande To The Party had something to celebrate with its late 33-22 win over Strange Highways behind Brett Favre’s 2 TD tosses, one to Robert Brooks. Ki-Jana Carter awoke from a deep sleep with 2 TD runs for the Party The Highways have been snakebit early on this season, losing Curtis Conway in pre-season and losing backup QB Stan Humphries on Sunday with a separated shoulder. He’s day to day. Additionally, Isaac Bruce did not play although he was in the Highway starting lineup and Coach Widtfeldt, who has historically made few bad personnel decisions, left Raymont Harris on the bench and watched him score 2 TDs and run for 122 yards on Monday night. The Highway points came from TE Wall (6), K Del Greco (10) and D Giants (6). Emmit was held scoreless and Faulk had 94 yards but could not find his way into the endzone. Marino, too, was scoreless and talk centered on the possibility of his being benched by Jimmy Johnson in Miami.
Although unpublished, the Swami went 2-4 in week one, hitting on the NFC Norris and Grande’s To The Party. Week 2 shapes up like this:
NFC Norris over Strange Highways
Swords over Beer Spillers
Supercuts over Natural Mystics
King Snakes over Pinheads
Bone Club over PMS
Grande over Greenback Iguanas
Swami sees the Highways as coming off a flat performance in week 1 in anticipation of its showdown with designated rival NFC Norris. But Norris may stymie the Highways once again. The Swords have too much firepower to be held to 24 points again while the Spillers have holes at RB. The Supercuts have players who did not meet potential in week 1 while the Mystics cannot expect another 56 point day. The Snakes have the best WR corp in the league while the Pinheads have questions at QB. The Bone Club will be out to show they’re better than their week one performance and PMS is 1-3 lifetime against the Club. The Iguanas could suffer a letdown from the Rice injury, allowing Grande’s To The Party to sneak out with another W.
Wednesday’s order of pickup:
1. Bone Club 7. April’s Supercuts
2. Pinheads 8. PMS
3. Strange Highways 9. NFC Norris
4. Palace of Swords 10. Beer Spillers
5. Greenback Iguanas 11. Crawling King Snakes
6. Grande To The Party 12. Natural Mystics