Week 15 Newsletter

Letter from the Commish:

In preparing this year’s edition of the league record book, the Commish uncovered a new and, in his mind, interesting statistic. Only four teams in league history have accumulated 100 or more points in a season from four different positions. Of the four, two became league champions that year. The list of four, with the positions and point totals are:

1995 Bone Club (QB 145, RB 208, WR 110, K 122)

1996 Strange Highways (QB 126, RB 104, WR 158, K 133)

1997 PMS (QB 108, RB 139, WR 134, K 124)

1998 Palace of Swords (QB 147, RB 133, WR 146, K 119)

Additionally, the 1997 Natural Mystics and 1998 Montezuma’s Revenge were near misses as the Mystic QBs accounted for 98 points to go along with RB 168, WR 186, K 103). The Revenge totals were QB 95, RB 106, WR 134, TE 12, K 113 and D 4.

The Commish also uncovered another interesting tidbit. As anyone who has been around the league for very long knows, winning and losing really comes down to match ups as much as anything. In comparing the schedules of the Strange Highways to that of Grand To The Party, the Commish discovered that by taking their exact weekly point totals but switching their schedules around with each other, Grande To The Party would be sitting at 12-2 entering Week 15 while the Highways would be a dismal 4-10. This just goes to show that the ’98 Highways are possibly the biggest fluke since the ’96 Bone Club mustered its way into the championship game despite having more total points than only two teams in the entire league.

The playoffs are set and we have an entirely new field in ’98. It’s the first ever appearance for both the Greenback Iguanas and the Retreads. The Highways are making their 4^th appearance. They are 5-1 all time in the playoffs with 2 championships and one title game defeat. The Palace of Swords are making their 3^rd appearance we believe. That would be counting an appearance in 1994 but, as has been documented before, records from that year are sketchy at best. What we do know is that the Swords fielded a playoff team in 1996 but were ousted in the first round. If they did make the 1994 playoffs, they lost in the first round that year as well. That much can be confirmed. So, the only team of the four to have ever won a playoff game is the Highways. The exact first round match ups are:

#1 Retreads (12-3) vs. #4 Palace of Swords (9-5-1)

#2 Greenback Iguanas (10-5) vs. #3 Strange Highways (8-6-1)

The 2^nd annual Shotgun Tournament is this week and next. It’s a two week affair open to anyone in the league who wishes to participate. You must do two things to enter: send a $15 check to Lisa Meyer (e-mail her for her address if you don’t still have it) and submit your starting two week lineup to me before the start of the first game. By the way, there are two Saturday games this week. So don’t forget. Your lineup must consist of the normal FFL starting lineup criteria (QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, U, K, D) but can include any NFL players---not just those of your own teams. Yes, there will be some overlap I’m sure but no two teams have ever been identical and since this is a two week tournament, few teams are ever out of the running after the first week.

There will not be a newsletter next week. The final newsletter will be published at the conclusion of the playoffs. It will include summaries and boxscores for the playoff games, dollar payouts to all teams that have money coming, final Shotgun Tournament information, the All Pro 1^st team and 2^nd team and the final Top 25 regular season scoring leaders.

This was just intercepted by league officials. It was a communique from the Iguana front office to the Highway management. Check it out:

Perched on their heat rock high above the rocky gravel ones, the Mighty Iguana is poised to pounce and take the early Christmas gift the Whoway’s received by making it to the playoffs. As the dominent species and indubitably deserving Iguana’s, we shall take all your WhoFavre’s and WhoRIce’s and drag them back to our lair on our way to the Big Dance.

Then, while picking the remainders of your flesh from our razor sharp teeth, we shall relish the victory while pitying those poor little Whoway’s who will be beaten out of the real Christmas.

It will indeed be a GREEN X-mas this year for the Iguana’s.

The Mighty Iguana

Go deep, I’ll throw it!

-The Commish 

Iguanas Sharpen Claws For Playoffs With 40-28 W

The Greenback Iguanas charged to an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Bone Club 40-28. The victory gave the Iguanas a franchise best-ever 10-5 record and confidence entering the playoffs where a date with the Strange Highways awaits. The Bone Club dropped their all-time league worst 11^th game in a row, finishing the 1998 season at 2-12-1, better than only the 1996 Featherson Falcons which finished 2-13. Marshall Faulk and Ryan Longwell led the Iguanas with 14 points each while Jason Elam scored 10 for the Bone Club and three others had 6 points each. Word has it that the trash talking has already begun between the verbose Highways and the equally loquacious Iguanas with Coach (Sl)-EZ E Widtfeldt firing off the first volley in what promises to be a week’s worth of cannon fodder. Wesley Walls left the game for the Iguanas with an ankle injury, something to keep an eye on for this coming Sunday.

Bone Club 28 40 Greenback Iguanas

Moon 00 QB 04 Testaverde

Watters 06 RB 00 Sanders

Vardell 00 RB 14 Faulk

Carter 06 WR 02 J Smith

Pickens 06 WR 00 D Scott

Glover 00 TE 00 Walls

McCaffrey 00 U 06 A Smith

Elam 10 K 14 Longwell

Chiefs 00 D 00 Falcons 

Dogs Smell Blood; Finish 1^st FFL Season At 8-7

Surprise starters Dan Marino (6 points) and O.J. McDuffie (8 points) were the difference in a King of Dogs 33-23 victory over PMS in the season’s final week. Terrell Owens put the finishing touches on with a MNF TD and PMS dropped to a season ending 5-10 after earning a playoff berth in ’97 with an11-4 record. PMS was led by Doug Flutie and Wayne Chrebet with 8 points while Rob Moore contributed 8 points for the Dogs.

King of Dogs 33 23 PMS

Marino 06 QB 08 Flutie

Avery 00 RB 00 Bettis

Murrell 02 RB 00 Bates

Owens 06 WR 00 Morton

McDuffie 08 WR 00 Moulds

Sharpe 00 TE 00 Bruener

R Moore 08 U 08 Chrebet

N Johnson 03 K 07 Hollis

Steelers 00 D 00 Patriots 

Revenge Smell Something Spoiling; Mystics Take Out Trash Once Again To Win Fifth Out Of Six

The Natural Mystics continued their strong late season play in knocking off Montezuma’s Revenge 44-17. The win was the 5^th in the last six games for the Mystics and ruined any hopes the Revenge had of sneaking into the playoffs. This was one week after the Mystics opened the door for the Revenge by defeating the Highways and coming close to spoiling their season. Back in Week 11, the Mystics helped ruin the season for the Party by defeating them 66-21. In this game, they were aided by 2 defensive TDs. Coach Wassem’s squad has a history of playing strong down the stretch. Over the past four seasons, they’ve compiled a cumulative record of 15-5. Yet only one of those teams was a playoff team. If they could ever figure out how to win more games in September, they could actually be a force to be reckoned with in the league. The Revenge got 6 points each from Terrell Fletcher and Randy Moss. The Revenge’s season ended at 7-7-1 while the Mystics finished at 6-9.

Natural Mystics 44 17 Montezuma’s Revenge

T Green 08 QB 00 Elway

E Smith 06 RB 00 Lane

J Anderson 02 RB 06 Fletcher

Ismail 00 WR 06 Moss

Gadsden 00 WR 00 McCardell

Dudley 06 TE 00 McGee

Levens 02 U 00 Glenn

Vanderjagt 08 K 05 Cunningham

Ravens 12 D 00 49ers

Highways Still Under Construction; Back Way Into Playoffs After Loss To Steamers With Mystical Aid

The Natural Mystics, league doormats through the first ten weeks of the season, became the sun around which Grande To The Party, Montezuma’s Revenge and the Strange Highways all revolved down the stretch. To the Highways’ delight, the Mystics were the reason they made the playoffs despite a 28-15 loss to the equally upstart Stanley Steamers. The Steamers proved to be giant killers twice down the stretch after knocking off the Retreads two weeks ago. Yet, stormclouds linger in the land of the highway. After starting 4-0, they finished the regular season campaign at 7-7-1. Only last season’s Grande To The Party team has entered the playoffs with a worse record. The Steamers were helped by a Panthers defensive score. Garrison Hearst led them with 8 points while Brett Favre had 8 for the Highways, who also got a defensive TD. The Steamers finish at 7-8.

Strange Highways 15 28 Stanley Steamers

Favre 08 QB 00 Brunell

Jabbar 00 RB 08 Hearst

Dunn 00 RB 06 Alstott

Rice 00 WR 06 H Moore

Irvin 00 WR 00 Brooks

Ty Davis 00 TE 00 F Jones

Alexander 00 U 00 Bruce

Hanson 01 K 02 Stover

Raiders 06 D 06 Panthers 

Retreads Tune Up For Playoffs By Leaving Tire Tracks All Across Coach Grande’s Back, 72-35

The Retreads continued to shatter league scoring records en route to defeating Grande To The Party 72-35 in Week 15 action. The loss ended the Party’s season at 8-6-1 after they sat at 8-2 five weeks ago. The Retreads finished at 12-3, tying a league mark set twice before. For the second consecutive week, the Retreads had points from every starting position except TE. The Seahawk defense unbelievably accounted for yet two more scores and K Steve Christie scored 14 points as did Terrance Mathis. For the Party, K Adam Vinatieri had 13 points and Steve Young finished his comeback season with another 10 points.

Retreads 72 35 Grande To The Party

Bledsoe 04 QB 10 Young

T Davis 08 RB 06 C Martin

Taylor 06 RB 00 E George

Mathis 14 WR 00 Stokes

Galloway 06 WR 00 K Johnson

Cleeland 00 TE 06 Chmura

Staley 08 U 00 Emanuel

Christie 14 K 13 Vinatieri

Seahawks 12 D 00 Cowboys 

Swords End Draught In Time For ’98 Playoff Bid

The Palace of Swords ended a 2^nd half slump in the nick of time to salvage the wild card bid with a 38-32 victory over the NFC Norris. Several big guns for the Norris had quiet days while the Swords saw the return of WR Antonio Freeman give them the necessary margin of victory. At 9-5-1, the Swords will play the Retreads in a first round game this week and hope to see the return of WR Jermaine Lewis and TE Ben Coates in time for the game. They were led in scoring with 10 points by Randall Cunningham and Al Del Greco while K Gary Anderson scored a huge 20 points for the Norris. The Norris finished under .500 for the 3^rd year in a row following up back to back 7-8 campaigns with a 6-8-1 season.

NFC Norris 32 38 Palace of Swords

Plummer 04 QB 10 Cunningham

Dillon 00 RB 08 Morris

R Edwards 02 RB 00 Holmes

T Brown 06 WR 08 Freeman

R Smith 00 WR 02 Martin

Drayton 00 TE 00 McWilliams

Hoard 00 U 00 M Edwards

G Anderson 20 K 10 Del Greco

Broncos 00 D 00 Packers 

This week’s additions to the FFL Record Book:

• League scoring increased significantly over the last half of the season. The final league average was 33.6 points per game per team, a new league record.
• The Bone Club dropped its 11^th straight game, adding to its league record. Assuming Coach Young returns for his 6^th season in ’99, this streak will continue into next September.
• The Retreads scored 714 points, a new league record for a season. The Swords scored 654 and the Party 634. Those marks are the 2^nd and 3^rd highest totals ever.
• The Swords (631) and the Party (600) became the 1^st two teams to surrender over 600 points in a season, ranking one and two all-time now. The NFC Norris allowed 590 to rank 3^rd all time while the Bone Club gave up 537, ranking 9^th all-time. This is the 2^nd year in a row the Bone Club gave up a point total that ranks in the top ten. Ouch!
• PMS (370) and the Stanley Steamers (383) cracked the list of teams scoring the fewest points in a season, at 5^th and 8^th, respectively.
• The Greenack Iguanas (394) allowed the 4^th fewest points in league history.
• The Party (196), the Swords (157) and the Highways (123) finished 1^st, 2^nd and 8^th all-time in QB points by a team in a season.
• The Bone Club (64), King of Dogs (69), Natural Mystics (73) and Retreads (76) finished 5^th, 7^th, 8^th and 10^th in fewest QB points for the season by a team.
• The Retreads (297) and the NFC Norris (176) finished 1^st and 10^th all time in RB points for a season.
• The Strange Highways (36) and PMS (64) finished 3^rd and 7^th in fewest RB points ever for a season.
• The Party (180), the Bone Club (157) and the Swords (156) finished 2^nd, 7^th, and 8^th in all time WR points for a team in a season.
• The Stanley Steamers (48) scored the 2^nd fewest WR points in a season by a team.
• The King of Dogs (48), the Swords (38) and Iguanas (36) finished 4^th, 7^th and 9^th in all time TE points for a season.
• The NFC Norris set the mark of fewest TE points in a year with 00.
• The NFC Norris scored 148 points kicking, 1^st all time for a season. The Swords (129) finished 4^th, the Retreads (127), 5^th, and the Bone Club and Iguanas (117 each) finished 9^th all time.
• The Stanley Steamers (76) and the Natural Mystics (87) finished 4^th and 10^th in fewest K points all time for a season.
• The Retreads (76) and the Swords (32) finished 1^st and tied for 8^th all time in D points scored.
• After finishing with 0 D points in ’97, the Bone Club followed that up with 2 points in ’98. The Revenge scored 4, PMS 6, Grande To The Party 8 and the NFC Norris 14 to finish in the top ten list for a season. Contrast that with the 76 points scored by the Retreads defense.
• The Retreads set the record for most 50+ point games in a season with 8.
• The most games giving up 50+ points in a season now stands at 5 as the Party allowed 72 to the Retreads.
• Steve Young scored 173 points, the most ever for a player in a season. Brett Favre (123) and Randall Cunningham (121) cracked the top ten list for QBs. Terrell Davis (153) became the top scoring RB in a season while Jamal Anderson (100) and Fred Taylor (92) cracked the top ten RB list.
• Randy Moss (88), Terrell Owens (78), Joey Galloway (74) and Antonio Freeman (72) all cracked the top ten list for points scored in a season by a WR.
• Shannon Sharpe (48), Rickey Dudley (34), Wesley Walls (30) and Ben Coates (30) cracked the top ten list for TE points in a season.
• Gary Anderson (140) and Al Del Greco (121) finished 1^st and 2^nd in the all time single season scoring list for a K. Jason Elam (115), Jason Hanson (106) and Ryan Longwell (105) also finished in the top ten.
• The Seahawks (76) finished with the most ever points in a season by a D. The Packers (32) finished in the top ten.

Swami Sez:

The Swami closed out the regular season with a mark of 3-3 for the week, amounting to a 50-38-2 overall record. That is his best ever. There wasn’t a lot of parity in the early going although things got somewhat interesting in the final month of the season. Turning toward the playoffs, the Swami sees a powerhouse, a solid contender, a beat up unit and a pretender to the throne. Yet, the Swami has seen enough over the years to caution that anything may still occur in this second season. Let us knot forget that only last year, the two top teams were both defeated in the first round, leaving us with a championship game pitting an 8-7 team against a 7-8 team. However, he just doesn’t see such things in this year’s crystal ball.

The Retreads (12-3) vs. Palace of Swords (9-5-1)

Oh, Coach Pedersen’s kingdom for a fully healthy team. To see James Stewart rumbling around the corner with two strong knees, relegating rookie Fred Taylor to the bench. To witness Antonio Freeman and Jermaine Lewis each at 100%. To be secure in the knowledge that Ben Coates isn’t mourning the loss of his mother or contemplating his upcoming court appearance rather than keeping his mind on football. Coach P has been dealt less than a stellar hand. His only reward is a playoff date against the formidable Retreads with their wave after wave of running backs, their amazing knack of picking the right starting lineups and their fortune at other teams’ injuries. The Retreads should win this game.

Greenback Iguanas (10-5) vs. Strange Highways (7-7-1)

The Highways are just itching for a second chance at the Green ones. But with their anemic play since Week 5 and their inability to score points, how can the Schwam see fit to take them? He can’t. Look for the Iguanas to secure a first ever date to the big ball.

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