1998 Week 2 Newsletter 9/15/98

This week’s high scoring team: The Greenback Iguanas capture high points for the week with 57 and, with it, the $15. For the 2^nd straight week, the Retreads are runner up, this week with 52 points.

This week’s stooge: The Stanley Steamers, with 11 points bring up the rear. A late Garrison Hearst TD allowed them to stay out of the sub 10 point club, however. PMS was a close 2^nd with 17 points.

  Letter from the Commish:

As the league web site continues to be developed, the Commish would like to ask for your help. The Commish has made plans to create a home page within the web site for each and every league team. The site, though still in the developmental stage, will consist of such features as a team logo, team city, team colors, fight song, motto, team records and anything else that you feel you would like to see on your individual page. The Commish has already received submissions from the Greenback Iguanas, Grande To The Party and the Natural Mystics. For a flavor of what the Commish is looking for, a file has been added to this week's newsletter with the information provided from the Greenie twins. Open it up at your convenience and take a look. Then be creative and send in your team’s personal info. The items that the Commish wants to receive from everyone is team location, team colors and a logo. For your logo, search the web or any other source that works for you then send it as a .bmp file if possible or just provide the web address where it can be found and it’ll be pulled from there. Any other pertinent info that you wish to provide is welcome. For example, Grande To The Party, the Commish has learned, plays their home games at Grande Central Station nicknamed the Party House. Since last week, rosters, a links page and the Week 1 newsletter have been added. The league record book will be there shortly if it isn’t already there by press time. If you have ideas for the site, let me know those as well and I’ll see what I can do.

After two weeks, the Commish has noticed several early season trends from around the league. While early, it appears that PMS is in the running for the worst record in ’98. After two games, PMS has combined for a meager 23 points. Other trends:

• The Retreads appear to have the offensive firepower to contend for the Howe division title as predicted by the Commish after the draft. The Greenback Iguanas would also appear to have the spark necessary to be a contender in the Dewey division. The Strange Highways currently hold down the fort in the Cheatem division but haven’t wowed the socks off the league in doing so. Both the Stanley Steamers and Montezuma’s Revenge have the look of teams capable of competing here. Look for the Cheatem division to be this year’s Moe division (remember ’97).
• The Howe division already has two teams with over 100 points plus a third with 95. The Palace of Swords have gone from feast to famine though, following up its 81 points from Week 1 with only 19 this past Sunday.
• The Commish has always believed that teams that give up few points are often teams of destiny. Look at last season’s Natural Mystics for an example. Using that logic, the Greenback Iguanas (38), the Strange Highways (29) and the Retreads (40) would appear to be facing teams while they’re down and benefiting from it. Moreover, they are the 1^st, 4^th and 5^th highest scoring teams thus far. Funny how that works sometimes.
• Conversely, who’s getting opponents’ best shots early on? The NFC Norris have already surrendered 115 points with Grande To The Party right behind at 114 points allowed. The Palace of Swords have ceded 97 and then there’s a big dropoff to 74. The Swords and the Party have been fortunate to score enough points of their own to salvage a 1-1 start but the Norris has not been so fortunate at 0-2 at 59 points scored.
• The Natural Mystics stole a game away from the Bone Club in Week 2 but black clouds surround the locker room. Already reeling from the Week 1 loss of QBs Elvis Grbac and Rob Johnson and WR Andre Rison, the Mystics suffered the loss of 1^st round pick Dorsey Levens to a broken leg in Week 2. He will be out for possibly six weeks.
• The Dewey division looks as though it may be the Little Sisters of the Poor in ’98. While the Iguanas stand 2-0, the Bone Club have scored 36 and 28 (decent but not impressive) in starting 1-1. The King of Dogs and PMS are each 0-2 and need victories quickly to keep from falling too far behind early.
• The 49ers appear explosive. Gotta love Young, Hearst, Rice, J.J. and Owens. Even Marc Edwards and Irv Smith are contributing. Green Bay was there as well but, with the loss of Levens, expect a running game by committee with no one back having too much value. Raymont, Jervey and the rookie Blair (?) will all be a three headed monster. This could increase the value of the Green Bay wideouts and, of course, Brett Favre. Denver also appears to be a team with everything clicking at the moment.
• Who among is will dip their toe into the pool known as Mushin Muhammad? Coming off a nine catch, 192 yard performance, he could be the next LaShon Johnson (picked up after a huge performance two years ago but ultimately seldom heard from since). The Panthers simply don’t have the offensive firepower for Muhammad to be reliable on a weekly basis.
• Who’s idea was it for PMS to make James Jett a 3^rd round draft pick? This pick has to rank up there with the all-time worst picks. Jett, coming off a career season with 12 TD catches or so, is in no way going to match that total this season or probably ever. To add insult to injury, the minds in the PMS front office benched Natrone Means this past week in favor of Ahman Green, he of the 6 carry 100 yard day in Week 1 as a backup. Sorry but, barring injury, Rickey Watters is not losing his starting position.
• The Commish likes Keyshawn in ’98.
• Who had the bigger holes in Week 2: Barry Sanders, Robert Smith, or the Cowboys’ front four?
• Six undefeated teams became three over the weekend as the Stanley Steamers, Bone Club and Palace of Swords each fell. That leaves the Highways, Iguanas and Retreads as the sole unbeaten teams entering Week 3.

Several front offices have mentioned that it’s high time that we get around to making a plaque to be given on a rotating basis to the league champ or perhaps a trophy to be handed out and kept each year. The Commish fully supports this idea and will investigate costs for instituting something along those lines. Grande To The Party office personnel may have no need to contribute to whatever fund the other teams may ante up. This is because we all fully recognize the Party’s ability in getting to the big enchilada but not being able to fully digest it once at the dinner table.

The Commish is very pleased to announce that all league members have paid their $75 entry fees. This marks the quickest that the league has paid in full. Thanks to everyone for being prompt this year. Provided that the league treasurer hasn’t transferred the money into stocks, bonds or other income raising capital that prevents payouts until January, February or next August, we’ll consider the league financial books a success for ’98.

Go deep, I'll throw it!

-The Commish

Transactions:

9/09 Stanley Steamers waive TE O.J. Santiago; add WR Bryan Still

9/09 Palace of Swords waive QB Jim Harbaugh; add RB Harvey Williams

9/09 NFC Norris waive RB Ki-Jana Carter; add QB Tony Banks

9/09 Natural Mystics waive RB Rodney Hampton; add QB Danny Kanell

9/09 King of Dogs trade QB Jake Plummer and RB Leroy Hoard to NFC Norris for QB Dan Marino and RB Adrian Murrell

09/13 Natural Mystics waive WR Ricky Proehl; add K Todd Peterson

 Retreads Steamroll In Battle of Unbeatens, 52-13

In a game that failed to live up to the hype generated from their Week 1 performances, the Retreads ran away early from the Stanley Steamers by a 52-13 count. Terrell Davis, with 20, and the Seahawks defense, with 12, were the big guns for the Retreads. Stoyanovich added 10, Eric Green had 6 and Drew Bledsoe tallied a TD pass for the Coach Detwiler’s team. The Steamers, fresh off a 41-20 Week 1 win, could muster only 13 points, 8 of them by Garrison Hearst. Marc Brunell had a TD pass and Michael Husted added a solo PAT. Lamar Smith had a decent day but found himself sharing the load with Ray Zellars while Mike Alstott found no running room. The Retreads up their mark to 2-0 and will next face PMS, the league’s worst team to date. The Steamers play the 1-1 Grande To The Party (#2 in the Power Rankings).

Stanley Steamers 13 52 The Retreads

Brunell 04 QB 04 Bledsoe

Hearst 08 RB 20 T Davis

Alstott 00 RB 00 Abdul-Jabbar

H Moore 00 WR 00 McCardell

R Brooks 00 WR 00 Thigpen

F Jones 00 TE 06 E Green

L Smith 00 U 00 Mathis

Husted 01 K 10 Stoyanovich

Redskins 00 D 12 Seahawks 

 Explosive Young Leads Party To Comeback Win

Steve Young accounted for 20 of Grande To The Party’s 38 points in catapulting the Party to a huge come from behind 38-33 win over the King of Dogs on Monday night. Young’s 20 points (3 TD passes, 1 TD run, 300 yards) tied him for 4^th place on the all-time single game scoring record by a QB, tying Bernie Kosar of the LA Riots (1995), Drew Bledsoe of Featherston’s Falcons (1996), John Elway of Two Turntables & A Microphone (1996) and Brett Favre of Grande To The Party (1997) for the feat. Keyshawn Johnson had another TD this week and Adam Vinatieri was responsible for putting the game in position for Young to decide it. Shannon Sharpe caught a pair of TD passes to give the Dogs an early lead through the Sunday 3:00 games. Newcomer Adrian Murrell had a TD in his 1^st game with the Doggies while Terrell Owens caught a TD, Kordell Stewart threw for one and Norm Johnson scored 5 points. The Party gets its first win of the season prior to facing the Stanley Steamers next week. Meanwhile, the King of Dogs must face the 2-0 Strange Highways.

Grande To The Party 38 33 King of Dogs

S Young 20 QB 04 Stewart

C Martin 00 RB 00 J Avery

E George 00 RB 06 Murrell

C Johnson 00 WR 00 R Moore

K Johnson 06 WR 06 T Owens

Chmura 00 TE 12 Sharpe

Stokes 00 U 00 F Sanders

Vinatieri 12 K 05 N Johnson

Jets 00 D 00 Panthers

 Highways Leave PMS With Bloated Feeling, 32-17

The Strange Highways and PMS renewed with rivalry but, on this day, the event lacked the appropriate excitement as the Strange Highways drove to an early lead behind Brett Favre and Duce Staley and never looked back as they defeated PMS 32-17 to improve their record to 2-0. PMS fell to 0-2 and looks as though 1998 could be a very long season. On the year, PMS has combined for 23 points in two games. The Highways broke the game open with Jaquez Green’s 95 yard punt return for a TD. Joey Galloway added a TD for the 2^nd straight game. The only PMS scoring came from Jeff George (6 pts.) and Jerome Bettis (8 pts), a couple of former Natural Mystics who have been verbal in their displeasure over the PMS offense, intimating that a trade back to Montego Bay would be welcomed. Mike Hollis rounded out the PMS scoring with 3 points. The Highways now lead the overall head to head series 3-2-1. The Highways next face the King of Dogs while the road traveled for PMS doesn’t look as bad as the road about to be traveled. They next face the 2-0 Retreads before a divisional game against the Bone Club.

Strange Highways 32 17 PMS

Favre 08 QB 06 George

Staley 06 RB 08 Bettis

F Lane 02 RB 00 A Green

J Rice 00 WR 00 Jett

Galloway 06 WR 00 Morton

Dudley 00 TE 00 Bruener

B Davis 00 U 00 Chrebet

J Hanson 04 K 03 Hollis

Buccaneers 06 D 00 Steelers 

 Club Pulls A Boner In Narrow 30-28 Mystic Win

Coach Young made all the wrong starting lineup decisions and it cost him and his squad as the Natural Mystics eeked out a narrow 30-28 win over the Bone Club in Week 2 action. The Mystics, playing without injured starters Elvis Grback and Andre Rison, turned to the combination of Danny Kanell and Ike Hilliard for production. Kanell threw 2 TD passes, including one to Hilliard. Emmitt Smith and Nap Kaufman each had TDs and Kaufman also tallied the 100. John Kasay closed out the Mystic scoring with 2 points. For the Bone Boys, Warren Moon was the logical starter but Neal O’Donnell was worth an extra 2 points on the bench.

Both RB Kimble Anders and RB Tommy Vardell left TDs on the bench as did Eddie Kennison at WR. Among the starters, Moon had 8, Cris Carter, Andrew Glover and Jason Elam had 6 each and Rickey Watters had 2 for a 100 yard game. At 1-1, the Mystics are off to face the Greenback Iguanas while the Bone Club, also 1-1, next meet the Palace of Swords. The Mystics are 2-0 lifetime versus the Greenies. The Bone Club is 2-1 career against the Palace of Swords. 

Natural Mystics 30 28 Bone Club

Kanell 08 QB 08 Moon

Levens 00 RB 02 Watters

E Smith 06 RB 00 Rhett

R Smith 00 WR 06 C Carter

Hilliard 06 WR 00 Pickens

T Gonzalez 00 TE 06 Glover

Kaufman 08 U 00 M Jackson

Kasay 02 K 06 Elam

Cardinals 00 D 00 Chiefs 

Norris Left With Green Feeling As Sanders Romps

Barry Sanders tallied 20 points on 3 TD runs and 100+ yards rushing and the Greenback Iguanas rolled over the NFC "Early Season" Bore-us 57-32, piling up high points for the week, en route to beginning the FFL season 2-0 for the 1^st time in franchise history. The expansion Iguanas began the 1996 season 0-3 before defeating North Dallas 40 and the Strange Highways back to back. Last season, they lost in Week 1 to the Beer Spillers before defeating Grande To The Party and April’s Supercuts in Weeks 2 and 3. With a 2-0 start, they have sole possession of 1^st place in the Dewey division after just two games. In addition to Sanders’ theatrics, Darnay Scott caught a pair TD passes and had 100 yards receiving, Ryan Longwell booted 11 points, Jimmy Smith scored on a corner pattern and Glenn Foley fired one TD pass. Marshall Faulk failed to find the endzone but scurried for a 100 yard day of his own. The Norris, 0-2 after starting off 2-0 and 3-0 the past two years, were never really in the game. Late points from Jake Plummer (4) and Tim Brown (8) made the score somewhat respectable. Cory Dillon scored 6 for the Norris in between stints on the bench nursing his bad knee. Jamal Anderson also had a TD while Gary Anderson scored 8 points with his foot. The Iguanas now lead the head to head series 2-1. 

Greenback Iguanas 57 32 NFC Norris

Foley 04 QB 04 Plummer

Sanders 20 RB 06 Dillon

A Smith 00 RB 06 J Anderson

J Smith 06 WR 08 T Brown

D Scott 14 WR 00 M Irvin

W Walls 00 TE 00 Drayton

M Faulk 02 U 00 M Harrison

Longwell 11 K 08 G Anderson

Vikings 00 D 00 Broncos 

Sharp Swords Break Up Party In Offensive Show

After exploding for 81 points in Week 1, the Palace of Swords committed hari kari in a 40-19 defeat at the hands of Montezuma’s Revenge. The win was the 1^st ever for Coach Unger and the Revenge in their first year of FFL action. For the Swords, the day had to be humbling in light of their Week 1 showing. QB Brad Johnson threw for one TD before leaving the game with an injury to his leg. It’s expected that he will miss 2-3 weeks. James Stewart had a TD and the 100 yards while Antonio Freeman caught a TD for the Swords. TE Ben Coates did not suit up in Week 2 but was in the Swords’ starting lineup. All Revenge scoring came from John Elway (14), Robert Smith (14) and Richie Cunningham (12). The Revenge WRs continue to be quiet. Each team moves to 1-1. The Swords play the Bone Club in Week 3 while Montezuma’s Revenge plays the NFC Norris.

Montezuma’s Revenge 40 19 Palace of Swords

Elway 14 QB 04 B Johnson

R Smith 14 RB 08 J Stewart

T Allen 00 RB 00 D Bennett

R Moss 00 WR 06 Freeman

T Glenn 00 WR 00 T Martin

McGee 00 TE 00 Coates

Dunn 00 U 00 C Way

Cunningham 12 K 01 Del Greco

49ers 00 D 00 Packers  

Swami Sez:

The Swami is off to perhaps his best ever start, following up Week 1’s 5-1 mark with a 4-2 mark for Week 2. This puts the Swami squarely at 9-3 to date. Throwing caution to the wind, the Swam likes 5 of the 6 favorites in Week 3.

King of Dogs (0-2) vs. Strange Highways (2-0)

Power Rankings: King of Dogs 6; Strange Highways 4

King of Dogs showed signs of life in Week 2. Highways have shown more. Terrell Owens has a bye and running game is anemic thus far. For Dogs to win, Kordell and Sharpe must play huge. Favre, with Levens out, will become fantasy god for the next month. Rice’s bye cancels Owens’ but Highways have better balance. Expect the double TE from the Highways barring a transaction of some sort this week by Coach Widtfeldt. Highways over the Dogs.

PMS (0-2) vs. The Retreads (2-0)

Power Rankings: PMS 12; The Retreads 1

Based solely on the average points scored through two games, the Swami would have to insert the Retreads as 43 point favorites, probably the largest point spread in FFL history. These two teams are 1^st and last in scoring. These two teams are 1^st and last in the power ranking. This gives an indication of the disparity with which these two teams of begun the year. The only byes facing PMS in Week 3 are William Floyd, who has yet to start, and John Becksvoort, who has yet to make an NFL roster! Enough said. The bye week of Terrance Mathis will not slow down the Retreads. It’s a fast track in the old stadium with this one. Retreads over PMS.

Greenback Iguanas (2-0) vs. Natural Mystics (1-1)

Power Rankings: Greenback Iguanas 3; Natural Mystics 11

The Iguanas have everything in their favor. They’re off to a quick 2-0 start. They lead perhaps the weakest division in the league this year. They are missing only Wesley Walls and backup Rae Carruth for Week 3. And they face the Natural Disasters, er, Mystics who will be without Elvis Grbac and Dorsey Levens; and possibly Andre Rison. Put your money where your mouth is for this one. Iguanas over Mystics.

Bone Club (1-1) vs. Palace of Swords (1-1)

Power Rankings: Bone Club 9; Palace of Swords 5

A battle of the old guard. The Bone Club has the look of a team scrambling to find itself in the early going. The Swords have yet to forge an identify after two games where they played at opposite ends of the talent scale. The Bone Club is at full strength for this matchup. The Swords will be without Marc Edwards and Tony Martin due to byes. Further, the Swords only drafted one QB. That’s Brad Johnson. As in Brad Johnson of the broken bone for at least the next 2-3 weeks. Guess what action item is on Coach Pedersen’s "To Do" list this week? At 100 points for the year, will Randall Cunningham slip that far? Doubtful. Bone Club over the Swords.

Stanley Steamers (1-1) vs. Grande To The Party (1-1)

Power Rankings: Stanley Steamers 10; Grande To The Party 2

The Steamers quickly learned what life is like in the real FFL after making it look easy in Week 1. The Party sweated out a tense Week 2 victory on MNF. With Hearst and Lamar Smith out due to byes, look for the Steamers to go with the 3 wideouts this week. Grande won on the arm and legs of Steve Young. This much is sure: it won’t happen again in Week 3. Young has a bye. So does J.J. Stokes. Don’t look for much rushing from either side. While it may not be pretty…..Steamers over Grande To The Party.

Montezuma’s Revenge (1-1) vs. NFC Norris (0-2)

Power Rankings: Revenge 7; NFC Norris 8

Typically, the NFC Norris starts the year off like FFL title contenders and ends up as title pretenders. This season, however, it appears as though Coach Nerz has dispensed with the preliminaries. At 0-2, the Norris can ill afford to drop a third straight. However, that’s exactly what’s about to happen. Jamal Anderson has a bye. Cory Dillon’s knee will fall off sometime in the next few weeks and no Norris QB has shown the leadership qualities to take the team to the playoffs. Is the Norris FFL’s very own version of the young Tampa Bay Bucs, circa 1976-1996? The Revenge over the Norris.

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