1997 FFL Week 10 Newsletter
This week's high scoring team: Grande To The Party, with 44 points.
This week's stooge: Greenback Iguanas with 14 points. Close behind with 16 were the Strange Highways, Palace of Swords and Hog’s Breath.
What's inside:
1. Letter from the Commish
2. Transactions
3. Week 10 Recaps & Boxscores
4. The Swami Sez
5. Schedule
6. Rosters
Letter from the Commish:
Typically, the Commish doesn’t talk about upcoming matchups as he acquiesces to the Swami in that area. However, this week is a little different. This week, the league sees its two top teams do battle for what could be the #1 seed in the playoffs and the right to play the wildcard team in round one of the league playoffs. This week, it’s the Cowboys vs. the 49ers. The matchup of the season. It comes late enough in the season to be televised nationally, even pre-empting the sad sack Chiefs for once. Yes, it’s PMS vs. Natural Mystics. Although Coach Koll has made strides in the world of trash talking, aided by her trainer MC Widtfeldt, she hasn’t talked trash this week, the ultimate compliment to the Mystics. The Mystics typically don’t talk trash as it’s not part of their inner vibes (an exception may have been made for one or two of you out there for reasons I’m sure you can guess). This one game won’t, of course, define the probable FFL title game winner as it is only one game. It will help define the playoff matchups, though, and be interesting nevertheless.
Coach Young is back on-line at long last. His e-mail address is above still. He has also signed up with netscape and, thus, can also be reached at Appaulld@ix.netcom.com. Kevin Bernadt is up now as well. He can be reached at Igsrule@aol.com (note "Iguanas Rule"). It reminds the Commish of a vanity plate! Lastly, Coach Nerz of the never-to-win-a-championship-in-this-damn-league NFC Norris is also reachable on-line although the Commish thinks he’s pirating someone else’s e-mail address judging from the address. Try him at Johnn@radiks.com and see what happens.
Speaking of Coach Nerz, he has now pulled the trigger on a small trade with who else but the Strange Highways. The Norris sent Steve "Air" McNair and his Nair legs to the Stranger All The Time Highways for Curtis Conway and Kerry Collins. To borrow a phrase, this completes a long, strange trip for Collins, who began the season with the Norris. Collins’ odyssey began when the Norris previously included him in the blockbuster 12 player deal with the Beer Spillers that netted the Norris John Elway and the Spillers Rickey Watters and Andre Rison. The Beer Spillers later included him in a trade with the Natural Mystics for Jeff Graham and the Vikings D. Terrell Owens was also involved in that trade. The Mystics waived him a week later whereupon he was picked up by the Strange Highways who used him to give the Mystics their only loss of the season before trading him back to the Norris. For anyone interested, there are still two weeks remaining before the trading deadline. Get him while he’s hot!!
Don’t look now but with the Iguanas’ two game losing streak and the Norris losers of three out of five, the Crawling King Snakes, the Bone Club and even the slumping Grande To The Party found themselves within one game of the wildcard spot entering Week 10. Even the Palace of Swords still cling to a tenous hope as they, at 3-5-1, can still catch a whiff of the wildcard aroma. The schedule down the stretch for the two front runners entering Week 10:
NFC Norris Greenback Iguanas
11- April’s Supercuts Bone Club
12- Grande To The Party Strange Highways
13- Strange Highways Grande To The Party
14- Natural Mystics PMS
15- Palace of Swords Crawling King Snakes
Both teams play 3/4 of the Moe division over the next threee weeks with Norris skipping the Bone Club and the Iguanas skipping April’s Supercuts. They even take turns playing the Strange Highways and Grande To The Party Weeks 12 & 13. In Week 14, each team plays its current division leader, the 8-1 PMS and Natural Mystics squads. Finally, in Week 15, each team plays a division team who is still in the hunt for the wildcard spot or who, by Week 15, may be playing "spoiler".
Coach Young weighed in with his first e-mail and discussed his thoughts regarding the movement afoot to revise the drop/adds (d&a) in ‘98. Let’s listen as Coach Young speaks:
"...blah, blah, blah...e on adding more d&a opportunities?!?!! if ANYTHING... d&a should get revised to ONE pick-up (based on low score) on wednesday..then the other ONE pick-up starting wed at 10pm. besides the added strain on the commish, adding d&a would make it to ez to buy back a good team. in the above scenario, coaches/owner’s would have to make better choices..actually do some homework & THINKING before they made their picks. if you wanna add more d&a...we might as well move the goal-posts to the back of the end zone."
-joe kapp
Told as only Coach Young can tell it but what the hell did he say? Anyway, once you figure it out there’s another view for everyone to consider. Does anyone else have thoughts that they wish to share on the matter?
Entering Week 10, the Commish stopped to examine some of the scoring leaders and some others who you would expect to see among the leaders but who are conspicuously absent. Michael Jackson has only 2 TD catches. Teammates Derrick Alexander has 6 and Jermaine Lewis 4. Antoine Smith has 4 touchdowns to only 1 for Thermal. The Broncos are truly a rushing team now. Terrell Davis leads the team with 9 TDs. Shannon Sharpe has only 1 (Grande backup TE, the mysterious O.J. Santiago has 2). The Colts’ leader in touchdowns has only 2 (Faulk and others). Ken Dilger has yet to score and has not even caught 15 passes for the season yet. Greg Hill has zero TDs for Kansas City but Marcus continues to be rolled out on the field to get his cheapies. Andre Rison has caught 43 balls. The #2 Chief WR has less than 12. TE Ben Coates leads New England with 5 TD catches; the Patriots’ top scoring WR is Troy Brown with 3. The leading Dolphin WR is McDuffie with only 2 touchdowns. James Jett has 8 TDs on only 22 catches for the year. The Steelers leader in TD receiving is TE Mark Bruener with 4. Yancy Thigpen surprisingly has only 2 for the year. The Chargers’ leader in TDs is Tony Martin with 3 although he is tied by CB Rodney Harrison. All of Martin’s touchdowns came in the same game. Wayne Chrebet has more catches and more yards than Keyshawn and is matching him with 3 TD catches. The leading Cardinal scorer is Rob Moore with 3 (two of which were in one game). Panther RB Anthony Johnson has only been able to score once in 1997. Tim Biakabutuka took over the starting job in Week 9 and immediately scored twice in his first game. Curtis Conway is still looking for his first TD as is Eddie Kennison. In Dallas, need the Commish say it, Emmitt has only one TD all year. Brett Favre has not rushed for a single TD nor has Steve Young. They each have been known for several QB sneaks each year. The Rams have no WR with more than one TD. Finally, Terry Allen has only 3 TD after scoring 21 in 1996.
An update on the wildcard race. With Week 10’s results, NFC Norris is now solo in the driver’s seat. For now. It’s nearing time for another five game slump, however, which should open the door for one of the following (all one game back at 5-5): Greenback Iguanas, Crawling King Snakes, April’s Supercuts, Bone Club, and Grande To The Party. Holy moly. It’s time to begin scoreboard watching and fine tuning with last second trades. For everyone’s remaining games, take a look at the schedule down the stretch. Some of the key matchups remaining include Norris-Supercuts, and Iguanas-Bone Club in Week 11; Norris-Grande, and King Snakes-Bone Club in Week 12; Iguanas-Grande, PMS-Bone Club, and Mystics-Supercuts in Week 13; Mystics-Norris, Iguanas-PMS, and Bone Club-Grande in Week 14; and King Snakes-Iguanas, Bone Club-Strange Highways, and Supercuts-Grande in Week 15.
This week’s fact: with this week’s division games in the books, the Natural Mystics are the only team left undefeated versus its division while the Strange Highways are the sole remaining team yet to win within its division. That has to be knawing at Coach Widtfeldt, given his division mates.
Enough of Week 10. On to Week 11. Go deep, I'll throw it!
-The Commish
Mark---Stop here for reminders:
Drop/Adds begin Wednesdays at 6:00pm this year.
Wednesdays from 6:00pm-10:00pm are reserved for pickups based on low season point total.
First come/first serve drop/adds begin Wednesdays at 10:00pm.
All transactions are to be called in to 402-392-9749 and left on my voice mail for date/time stamping. This will serve as the official arbitrator of any disputes that may occur.
All lineups will be called in to 402-392-9749 for the same reasons.
To find out what lineup your opponent is using, either: call your opponent directly (remember to notify me of your starting lineups in any event-see above) or call me at 402-341-2674 after kickoff of the first weekly game.
I realize some trades are made at the last minute but, whenever possible, please notify me of any trades ASAP after they are made by leaving a voice mail at 402-392-9749.
Transactions:
10/29 Grande To The Party waive K Cary Blanchard; add K Jeff Wilkins
10/30 Strange Highways trade QB Kerry Collins and WR Curtis Conway to NFC Norris for QB Steve McNair
10/30 NFC Norris waive WR Terry Mickens
11/02 Bone Club waives WR C T Jones; adds WR Tamarick Vanover
11/02 Beer Spillers waive RB Charlie Garner and TE Greg Clark; add RB Jerris McPhail and WR Rob Moore
11/02 April’s Supercuts waive TE Ken Dilger; add WR Quinn Early
11/02 Crawling King Snakes waive QB Danny Kanell; add QB Eric Kramer
Week 10 Recap
PMS Bleed Red As Snakes Bare Fangs Once More
The Crawling King Snakes, despite no production from their starting QB for a second straight week, got more than enough production from return man Eric Metcalf and beat the first place PMS 37-30 in a Curly division game. Metcalf returned two punts for touchdowns and Faulk, Irvin, and Pickens scored a TD apiece for the Snakes who snapped the PMS eight game winning streak. The last team to beat PMS was also the Snakes, in Week 1. This week’s victory gives the Snakes a season sweep and keeps them still in contention for the wildcard berth. PMS continued to see a decline in offensive production. The starting wideouts went scoreless until Courtney Hawkins scored Monday night while the backfield accounted for a modest eight points. At 8-2, PMS is still in solid control of the Curly division and even saw their magic number fall to three with the Iguanas’ loss to the Beer Spillers. The Snakes have recovered from their four game losing streak by winning their last two to pull even at 5-5, tied for second in the Curly division and one game back in the wildcard chase. All of this in spite of Coach Erickson’s pessimistic demeanor going into gameday. If Scott Mitchell can turn in two or three big performances down the stretch, the Snakes may yet be a factor in the playoff hunt. The Snakes now lead the overall series against PMS 3-1.
Crawling King Snakes 37 30 PMS
Mitchell 00 QB 04 B Johnson
Faulk 06 RB 06 Kaufman
B Morris 02 RB 02 T Allen
Irvin 06 WR 00 Freeman
Pickens 06 WR 00 Reed
Drayton 00 TE 00 Dudley
Stokes 00 U 06 Hawkins
G Anderson 05 K 12 Elam
Chargers 12 D 00 Steelers
Mystics Stab Swords 30-16; Sweep Season Series
The Natural Mystics, behind Rod Smith’s late game TD and 8 points from Ryan Longwell, defeated the Palace of Swords 30-16 in Week 10 Larry division action. The Mystics weren’t pretty on this day. However, the Swords again left some major scoring on the bench. Both Bert Emanuel (14 points) and Jeff Blake (10 points) sat this one out for the Swords. Last week, it was Chris Sanders who sat out (12 points). Coach Pedersen continues to be about a week off in his hunches, seemingly playing the hot hand AFTER they’ve been hot. And it’s a damn crying shame. The Commish knows that feeling only too well from seasons past. This week, to make matters worse, the Swords lost Elvis Grbac in the 2nd half to an injury, thereby ending any remaining hopes the Swords had of coming from behind. The Swords fall to 3-6-1 and are pretty much done for 1997. We have only to wait for the official time of death. The Mystics improve to a league best 9-1 and a three game lead in the Larry division with five to go.
Natural Mystics 30 16 Palace of Swords
George 10 QB 00 Grbac
Bettis 02 RB 02 C Martin
Levens 00 RB 08 J Anderson
R Smith 08 WR 00 A Reed
T Brown 02 WR 00 C Sanders
Wycheck 00 TE 00 McGee
Owens 00 U 00 Morton
Longwell 08 K 06 Del Greco
Cowboys 00 D 00 Chiefs
Norris Sputter And Stumble; Beat Breath 20-16
Some players will never be on the Commish’s team. That’s just how it is. And on Monday night, Marcus Allen permanently cemented his place next to Anthony Miller on that dubious honor roll as his fumble on the 3 yard line prevented Hog’s Breath from completing a comeback that would have carried them to an upset of the NFC Norris. For long time league members, Mar-cuss was the player Coach Wassem dropped mid-season in 1993 or 1994 after Allen had done nothing the first half of the year but fill up a roster spot. The very next week, he started a streak that carried him to eight TDs in the last eight games of that year. Coach Wassem would be a liar if he said he wasn’t rooting against the Norris on this day. However, Marcus again reared his ugly head. His mother in law must have come to stay after all. For the Norris, Elway threw two TD passes, Eddie George got a late gimme vs. Jax and Vinatieri managed 2 FGs despite New England’s frenzy of two-point conversions. The Breath got a TD PASS from Mar-cusss and a defensive TD to go along with 6 from Mare. Steve Young was shut out as was Chris Warren, who had a fine day otherwise. Hog’s Breath became this year’s Featherston Falcons, another subsidiary of Bone Club Inc., in being the first league team in 1997 to not phone in a lineup. At 6-4, NFC Norris is in the lead for the wildcard race and remain 3 games out of the Larry lead. Hog’s Breath, at 2-8, officially become the first team to finish under .500 for the year. The Strange Highways can duplicate that this next week if they try reealllyy hard.
Hog’s Breath 16 20 NFC Norris
Young 00 QB 08 Elway
M Allen 00 RB 06 E George
Warren 00 RB 00 J Stewart
McCaffrey 00 WR 00 M Jackson
J Smith 00 WR 00 Kennison
Glover 00 TE 00 Coates
J Lewis 00 U 00 F Sanders
Mare 06 K 06 Vinatieri
Eagles 06 D 00 Raiders
Spillers Never Threatened; Sweep Iguanas 34-14
The Beer Spillers jumped out to a quick lead with the help of two early Matt Stover field goals and a Cris Carter TD and were never threatened in taking a 34-14 victory over the suddenly slumping Greenback Iguanas. Drew Bledsoe added a pair of TD passes for the Spillers and gameday signee Rob Moore chipped in a TD late during the 3 o’clock games to provide the Iguanas with all the support they needed. The Iguanas got yet another Bronco TD, their sixth of the year. The only other Iguana points were a single Vinny Testaverde TD pass and 4 points from Jason Hanson. The 14 points is the lowest output of the season for the Iguanas, who dropped their third in a row in returning to .500 (5-5). The Igrulenot@aol.com, now Green with envy,are facing a one game deficit behind the NFC Norris for the wildcard. The Beer Spillers, at 4-6, remain within two games of the wildcard spot (a game behind what seems like half the league).
Greenback Iguanas 14 34 Beer Spillers
Testaverde 04 QB 10 Bledsoe
R Harris 00 RB 00 Watters
Jabbar 00 RB 00 McPhail
K Johnson 00 WR 00 Rison
T Martin 00 WR 08 C Carter
Asher 00 TE 00 Bruener
Engram 00 U 06 R Moore
Hanson 04 K 10 Stover
Broncos 06 D 00 49ers
Grande Drives Nails Home In Sweep of Highways
After spotting the Strange Highways an early Mike Alstott TD plunge, Grande To The Party stormed back behind Isaac Bruce’s 2 first half TD catches and 190 first half receiving yards to win going away 44-16 in Moe division action. The win puts Grande back into a first place tie with April’s Supercuts and the Bone Club at 5-5 and drops the Highways to 2-7-1, 2 1/2 games out with five to play. The Highways only other points were another Derrick Alexander TD catch and 4 points from little Richie Cunningham. Air McNair, the Highways’ 17th starting QB of the ‘97 season, flopped in his first game with the Highways after having played excellent ball the past few weeks. Doh!!!!! Bruce finished with 15 points for the Party while James Jett and the Cards’ D had 6, Favre found Brooks on a 10 point play and Jeff Wilkins booted 7. Coaches Will and Widtfedt watched the early action at Coach Wassem’s house before Sunday’s wind storm knocked power back out for several hours. The three of them left for Coach Will’s house but Coach Widtfeldt, despondent with a bottle of JD in one hand and a .380 in the other took the left hand turn on the interstate and was never seen from again. The win gives Coach Will a season sweep of the Highways and a 3-2 series lead.
Grande To The Party 44 16 Strange Highways
Favre 04 QB 00 McNair
E Smith 00 RB 00 K Carter
Dunn 00 RB 06 Alstott
Bruce 15 WR 00 Thigpen
R Brooks 06 WR 06 Alexander
Sharpe 00 TE 00 Walls
Jett 06 U 00 H Moore
Wilkins 07 K 04 Cunningham
Cardinals 06 D 00 Patriots
Boners Capture Share Of First In 39-29 Victory
The Bone Club appear to be gearing up for another playoff run if Sunday’s 39-29 victory over Paul’s Supercuts is any indication. The Bone Club took an early lead behind Leslie Shepherd’s TD catch and 13 points from K John Hall before holding off a late Supercut surge to up their record to 5-5 and catch the Supercuts for first in the Moe. The Cuts were hampered by Terrell Davis’s inability to find the endzone. Warren Moon kept the Cuts close with 3 TD tosses and a late defensive TD brought the Cuts within six. The wideouts went 0 for 3 on the day, none of them scoring. The Bone Club got 100 from Barry and TDs from Miss Glenn and Hearst before Kordell applied the icing to the cake Monday night with 4 points of his own. The Bone Club has won three in a row and five of six overall after starting the season at 0-4.
April's Supercuts 29 39 Bone Club
Moon 12 QB 04 Stewart
Terrell Davis 02 RB 00 Murrell
Phillips 06 RB 02 Sanders
Muhammad 00 WR 06 Shepherd
Galloway 00 WR 06 Glenn
Riesmersma 00 TE 00 Chmura
Early 00 U 08 Hearst
Boniol 03 K 13 Hall
Packers 06 D 00 Buccaneers
Swami Sez:
Natural Mystics (9-1) vs. PMS (8-2)
Power Rankings: Natural Mystics 2; PMS 1
These two teams enter the game with the two most productive offenses in the league so expect a high scoring affair. For PMS, the Brad Johnson-Jake Reed connection will face the Bears while, for the Mystics, the Jeff George-Tim Brown combo will meet up vs. the Saints. The Mystics ground game will feature the Bus against the Ravens and Dorsey vs. the Rams. Other Mystical matchups are Rod Smith against the Panther secondary and Terrell Owens and Irving Fryar meeting each other. PMS’s Napoleon Kaufman also gets the Saints while Terry Allen has the Lions. Antonio Freeman, like Dorsey Levens, meets the Rams and any Giant the PMS coaching staff may choose to throw out will face the Oilers. The series is tied 1-1 with the old LA Riots winning 52-42 in 1995 and PMS taking a 46-20 decision last season.
NFC Norris (6-4) vs. April’s Supercuts (5-5)
Power Rankings: NFC Norris 7; April’s Supercuts 10
This could be one of the closest games of the week. Each team has exploded at times this season and has also had difficulty scoring at other times. Both teams have two QBs, either of whom could get the start. The Norris’ Elway would face Carolina while the Cuts’ Moon would see the Chargers (or Brunell vs. KC). For Norris, the ground game is led by Eddie George. George will attempt to dent the Giant D. For the Cuts, it’s all about Terrell Davis. He’ll get what Elway doesn’t against the Panthers. Lawrence Phillips is at Green Bay, where the Packer front four has been inconsistent this season. Michael Jackson of the Norris plays at Pittsburgh and Ben Coates is at Buffalo while, for the Cuts, Joey Galloway is at San Diego and Marvin Harrison sees the Bengals. Charles Way of the Cuts is at Tennessee. This series is tied at 1-1 with NFC Norris taking a 29-24 win in Week 8 last year (their last win of the season) and the Supercuts returning the favor 48-45 in the Week 13 rematch.
Grande To The Party (5-5) vs. Palace of Swords (3-6-1)
Power Rankings: Grande To The Party 5; Palace of Swords 11
Grande To The Party needs to step up to the plate down the stretch or else the party may continue without them. To that end, they meet up with the playing-out-the-string Palace of Swords, still deadly in spite of their overall record. Any team with Curtis Martin and Robert Smith can break loose at any moment. Martin plays at Buffalo this week; Smith is home vs. Chicago. Should the Swords go with Blake at QB, he’ll see the Indy secondary. If it’s Grbac, it’s at Jacksonville. As usual, the only wideout Swami can guess with some certainty is Andre Reed (vs. NE). Other than that, it could be Chris Sanders or Lake Dawson or Bert Emanuel or.... . For Grande, it’s always Favre (vs. the Rams), Emmitt (the Cards), Warrick (Atlanta), and Sharpe (Carolina). Most likely, the wideouts will be some comination of Jett (Saints), Brooks (Rams), and Bruce (GB) or McDuffie (Jets) or Chrebet (Miami). The series is led by the Swords 2-1 with the Swords sweeping a pair from Coach Will last season, winning 61-15 in Week 4 and repeating the win 32-31 in Week 11.
Hog's Breath (2-8) vs.Beer Spillers (4-6)
Power Rankings: Hog's Breath 12; Beer Spillers 9
This is the first ever matchup between the league’s two new teams in 1997. It appears as if both teams will be spending the holidays home this year rather than holding interviews with the media prior to a first round playoff game. Be that as it may, a win is a win is a win my mother always said. The matchups for this game appear as such: for the Spillers, it’s always Bledsoe (Buffalo) and Watters (SF-Monday night). Cris Carter (Chicago) and Andre Rison (Jaguars) are locks at WR. Aside from Matt Stover (Pittsburgh), the other starters are not set in stone. Hog’s Breath will counter with Steve Young (Philly), Marcus (Jacksonville), Jimmy Smith (KC), Lewis (Pittsburgh), and McCaffrey (Carolina) or Westbrook if healthy (Lions). This is the only game this week that has absolutely no bearing on any other team or division. It’s all about themselves in this one.
Crawling King Snakes (5-5) vs. Strange Highways (2-7-1)
Power Rankings: King Snakes 6; Strange Highways 8
This matchup has always been a spirited rivalty between coaches who respect one another and are friends off the field. But on game day, it’s all about business with these two. For this year’s renewal of the rivalry, the Snakes bring QB Scott Mitchell into battle against the Skins. Other Snaky matchups include Faulk vs. Cincy and Bam at Pittsburgh against Coach Erickson’s favorite team, Pickens at Indy and Irvin at home vs. the Cards. The Highways respond with the following lineup: McNair (NYG), Alstott (ATL), Ki-Jana (Indy), H Moore (Skins), Yancy (Ravens), Alexander (Pitts) and Walls (Denver). Winner takes all in this one with the loser having little to play for except spoiling the year for an opponent. The Crawling King Snakes lead the series 3-0, including a 41-23 victory last year.
Bone Club (5-5) vs. Greenback Iguanas (5-5)
Power Rankings: Bone Club 3; Greenback Iguanas 4
The Iguanas are playing for a wildcard berth. The Bone Club has both the wildcard still within its grasp as well as a possible Moe division title. The Iguanas lineup could look a little something like this: Vinny (Pitt), Jabbar (NYJ), Raymont (Minn), Keyshawn (Mia), Tony Martin (for how much longer? It’s not 1996 anymore Toto) against Seattle and Jamie Asher vs. Detroit. The Bone Club is likely to counter with Kordell (Balt), Murrell (Miami) and Barry Sanders (Skins), Shepherd (Det), Chmura (Rams) and Garrison Hearst (Phil). Kordell and Vinny are directing facing one another this week as are Murrell and Jabbar. The team who wins these two matchups will quite likely be the winner of the ballgame. The Bone Club won the only previous meeting between these two teams, a 29-23 victory in Week 10 of the 1996 season.
Swami went 3-3 for the week, bringing his record for the season to 27-33.
PMS (8-2) -1 Natural Mystics (9-1)
April’s Supercuts (5-5) +3 NFC Norris (6-4)
Grande To The Party (5-5) -6 Palace of Swords (3-6-1)
Beer Spillers (4-6) -3 Hog’s Breath (2-8)
Strange Highways (2-7-1) +2 Crawling King Snakes (5-5)
Bone Club (5-5) -1 Greenback Iguanas (5-5)
Wednesday's order of pickup w/ total points scored for season to date:
1. Hog's Breath 204 7. NFC Norris 312
2. Strange Highways 274 8. Grande To The Party 330
3. Beer Spillers 280 9. Greenback Iguanas 345
4. Palace of Swords 283 10. Bone Club 373
4. Crawling King Snakes 289 11. Natural Mystics 397
6. April’s Supercuts 308 12. PMS 409