RFL2k2 YEAR IN REVIEW March 26, 2003 Steamroller Trophy: AC Milan, GM Clark Goebel Aglione Bowl XIII Champion: Fat Bastards, GM Zach Abad Final RFL2k2 Standings Team W L T GB PF PA STK Pre. 1 AC Milan 14 2 1 - 1014 724 L1 12, 7, 12 2 Fat Bastards 11 6 0 3.5 850 745 W6 13, 4, 6 3 Furious Gefilte Fish 10 7 0 4.5 791 827 L2 14, 1, 7 4 Repulsive Punk Asses 10 7 0 4.5 787 735 W1 11, 15, 16 5 Las Ranas De Mayan 9 8 0 5.5 908 850 W2 2, 13, 2 6 Cleveland Steamers 9 8 0 5.5 752 795 W1 1, 14, 1 7 Chinks in the Armor 8 8 1 6 881 815 W2 5, 9, 10 8 Ghetto Fab Bindys 8 9 0 6.5 853 827 L1 9, 16, 4 9 The Kavir Dwellers 8 9 0 6.5 830 865 L1 16, 12, 5 10 Everyone Go Deep 8 9 0 6.5 792 806 L2 10, 3, 15 11 Raider Hater 7 9 1 7 755 916 W3 6, 10, 13 12 Golden Years 7 9 1 7 724 785 L3 4, 8, 3 13 Samurai Sumos 7 10 0 7.5 789 776 W1 3, 6, 11 14 Junior Mints 7 10 0 7.5 739 781 L1 8, 5, 9 15 TheFreakinBlackHawks 7 10 0 7.5 724 822 L3 7, 2, 8 16 Spitz34 4 13 0 10.5 750 870 W1 15, 11, 14 * The "Pre" column is not a tribute to the Oregonian middle distance runner of yore. It is the Preseason Poll rankings (Foge, Clark, Cals), as requested, to compare how your team turned out with how the gurus thought it would prior to Week 1. Enjoy! ------------------ TEAM BY TEAM RECAP ------------------ 1. Golden Years (GM Patrick Callery) 7-9-1, 42.6 ppg Pre: 4, 8, 3; Reg Sea Rec: 6th, Overall PPG: T-15th, Post Sea Place: 8th Key Moment of Season: Marshall hurt his neck in Week 3 - and then got hurt more seriously in Week 10. Comments: Cals was doing well through 10 weeks (6-3-1), but then lost 3 straight before a stunning upset over Stan in Week 14 to save Golden Years' spot in the Playoffs. Marshall totalled 2 starts (5 pts) over the last 7 weeks, and Cals suffered through an 0-3 postseason. Foge predicted that the key to Cals' season would be the production from his QB slot. BJohnson and TCouch (and 1 start for MHasselbeck) combined to total 128 pts - good for 15th out of 16 teams (Brodz' 125 came in last). Clearly 2nd rounder Tim Brown added to the downfall of the Golden Years season. Foge thought that Tim and IBruce would form a strong WR pairing. There were very few bright spots for Cals: Morten Andersen was probably the brightest - as Cals rescued Mort from the PK scrapheap. And Emmitt didn't suck as much as most expected - finishing tied for 25th among RBs. Cals advised us "not to bet against a bunch of gray-hairs" in his preview. Who's reaching for the Grecian formula now?!? 2. Chinks in the Armor (GM David Wang) 8-8-1, 51.8 ppg Pre: 5, 9, 10; Reg Sea Rec: 11th, Overall PPG: 3rd, Post Sea Place: 13th Key Moment of Season: When Mike or Ali picked Wang to have the 2nd pick in the Draft. Comments: Everyone knew Marshall had to go #1. Wang did not know that Priest should have been picked #2. Ahman Green certainly proved unworthy of the 2nd pick - finishing 11th among RBs. 2nd rounder Keyshawn finished a lowly 20th among WRs (affirming Cals' "all keyshawn does is catch non-touchdowns" prediction). 3rd rounder Moulds turned out well - and 4th rounder Vick sort of panned out (as long as he wasn't facing the Bucs). Foge thought Chinks in the Armor had a high ceiling, and Chinks were indeed able to lead the League in scoring 3 different weeks - finishing 3rd overall for the season. But it was the 5 weeks that Chinks dipped into the 30s (0-5 in those games) that doomed this team to what would be considered a failure of a campaign. Foge correctly predicted that RB#2 would be the key. In the first 10 weeks before WGreen came around, CitA went 3-6-1. Once WGreen got rolling, Wang went 5-2. Neither TCanidate nor DLevens got many touches. Throw in some poor judgment of TEs, and the fat lady was singing immediately after a Week 1 68-58 scrub loss. 3. Ghetto Fab Bindys (GM Shivan Desai) 8-9, 50.2 ppg Pre: 9, 16, 4; Reg Sea Rec: 12th, Overall PPG: 4th, Post Sea Place: 10th Key Moment of Season: 60-47 GOTW loss to TheFreakinBlackHawks in Week 14 Comments: That Week 14 loss knocked Shiv out of the Playoffs. Ghetto Fab Bindys went 2-6 over the last 8 weeks of the regular season - depriving themselves of a deserved shot at the Ags Bowl. RGannon, Shaun Alexander and Jamal Lewis formed a most formidable backfield for Shivan, but repeated benchings of the wrong WR (out of DMason, MBooker and JPorter) down the stretch - practically reserving a permanent WR spot on BENCH TEAM for GFB - led to the poor finish for Shiv. After the Draft, Foge correctly identified DMason and CLewis as the keys to Shiv's season. DMason (28th in WR pts) certainly did not justify his selection in the 3rd round. And 6th rounder CLewis (8th in TE pts) certainly didn't strike fear into any opponents' hearts with 39 pts in 16 starts. In fact... Shiv could have called it a night after the 5th round of the Draft - as picks 6-12 (CLewis, A-ZHakim, JAllen, AVinatieri, IHilliard, DWeurffel and RLindell) could have easily been replaced with undrafted free agents the morning after. Well... Vinatieri did at least finish tied for 7th. 4. Repulsive Punk Asses (GM Richard Aguilera) 10-7, 46.3 ppg Pre: 11, 15, 16; Reg Sea Rec: 5th, Overall PPG: 10th, Post Sea Place: 3rd Key Moment of Season: There were many key moments for Richard - all involving Brad. Richard had Brad draft for him, and Richard caved in to Brad's numerous (tenacious) trade requests. Comments: Richard failed to name his own team for the 2nd straight year, and the RFL gods punished him by giving him a Playoff team capable of winning the championship - but... no. Had the Punk Asses been the #6 seed (instead of #5), Richard would have won Ags Bowl XIII. On Draft night, Brad did Richard no favor in picking KWarner with the 4th overall pick - with Ricky Williams and Priest Holmes still on the board. In fact... Richard's entire draft (thanks to Brad) was essentially a wash - except (and this is a HUGE exception) for CPortis in Round 3. Actually... Brad initially picked DBledsoe for Richard in Round 3, but then quickly changed to Portis after noticing that he'd already picked Warner for Richard in the 1st. CPortis ended up being the 3rd highest scoring RB on the season - and the highest overall scorer in the postseason. From Week 1 to Week 17, only Portis stayed constant in Richard's lineup. MPollard did start and finish the season with Richard, but spent 5 weeks in the middle with Brad. MMuhammad (after being drafted by Brad for Richard) also spent time "in the middle" with Brad. And Brad also traded QB ABrooks, WR HWard and PK JNedney to Richard. Richard's GMing effort was essentially limited to picking up RBs SMack and KBarlow off waivers. 5. The Kavir Dwellers (GM Ali Eslambolchi) 8-9, 48.8 ppg Pre: 16, 12, 5; Reg Sea Rec: 8th, Overall PPG: 6th, Post Sea Place: 6th Key Moment of Season: When PHolmes showed up for AC Milan's quarterfinal matchup with Ali's Kavir Dwellers. Comments: The Kavir Dwellers were able to hurt Priest in that quarterfinal game against the #1 seed AC Milan, but Priest's mere presence was able to carry AC Milan to victory. Foge really didn't like the job Ali did on Draft day. Foge's primary issue was with 4th rounder JThrash. Although Thrash managed to finish a respectable 17th among WRs, he had as many 0s (3) as double-digit performances - averaging 5.25 ppg. Foge correctly noted that Ali should have gone with his own former prospect (Laveranues Coles) over Thrash in Round 4. Foge also pointed out the question marks picked by Ali in rounds 2 and 3 (Antowain Smith and Air McNair). Despite all this nitpicking (and despite not managing his team for the first 7 weeks of the season), The Kavir Dwellers got off to a 3-4 start. Most of Ali's key players' bye weeks came during the Week 6 and Week 7 losses. Once Ali touched his starting lineup before Week 8, he lost 3 more games - falling to 3-7. But once Ali got the hang of things again, a 4-game winning streak got his ass back into the Playoffs. 6. SPITZ34 (GM Brad Nall) 4-13, 44.1 ppg Pre: 15, 11, 14; Reg Sea Rec: 16th, Overall PPG: 13th, Post Sea Place: 15th Key Moment of Season: First six weeks of the season Comments: Brad's team scored no fewer than 42 pts in each of their first 6 games (including 56 in Week 3), but lost all 6. Brad managed wins in the next 3 games, but then went on a 7 game losing streak. After guiding his team of Draft leftovers (Blue Collar Workers) to a 5-12 record in 2001, the drafted SPITZ34 squad checked in at an awful 4-13 this year. Brad drafted studs in Round 2 (Aaron Brooks) and Round 6 (Heinz Ward), but those 2 guys ended up starring for Richard. Brad picked 3 RBs early (Edgerrin in 1st, Pittman in 3rd, Deshaun Foster in 4th), but all 3 ended up combining for 137 pts - that's merely 5 pts more than 4th rounder Jamal Lewis. Brad's other Draft picks were QIsmail, EConwell, JGaffney, TPeterson, ARandle-El, QCarter and JChandler - total scrubs all. But aside from Brad's Draft shortcomings... this 2nd- year GM did show some decent skills in picking up CPennington - and also in trading for Plaxico, FTaylor, and Smith WRs Jimmy and Rod. I guess the only question that remains is... What the hell does SPITZ34 mean?!? 7. AC Milan (GM Clark Goebel) 14-2-1, 59.6 ppg Pre: 12, 7, 12; Reg Sea Rec: 1st, Overall PPG: 1st, Post Sea Place: 2nd Key Moment of Season: Taking excruciatingly long to make his 1st round pick Comments: Clark refused to be rushed in making his 1st round pick (7th overall) - violating all Draft regulations while soaking in all the dramatic attention. But his strategy paid off in the landing of RKL2k2's MVP, Priest Holmes. 2k2 will be remembered as the year when Marshall became a mortal - and when Priest became the Marshall. With Holmes carrying the load, AC Milan breezed to the Steamroller with a 12-1-1 record. Unfortunately for Clark... Ali's Kavir Dwellers took out Priest in AC Milan's quarterfinal game. Although AC Milan was still able to win it's semifinal game off Priest's fumes, Clark's club ran out of gas in Ags Bowl 13 - in a 50-33 defeat at the hands of Fat Bastards. In sharp contrast with some of the other teams' Draft Day blunders noted above, Clark molded his ass-kicking team right from the start. After Priest came JHorn (tied-6th overall in WR pts), Tiki (8th RB), QB TGreen, and PPrice (9th WR). Add in 8th rounder MGramatica, and Clark essentially rode this core of players all year long. A few decent pickups along the way were TE R McMichael and QB T Maddox. Foge considered Tiki to be 1 of the 2 keys, and boy did Tiki ever come through for Clark. Foge also deemed KDilger a weakness, but Clark quickly corrected this issue with McMichael and (later) JStevens. 8. Furious Gefilte Fish (GM David Brodkin) 10-7, 46.5 ppg Pre: 14, 1, 7; Reg Sea Rec: 2nd, Overall PPG: 8th, Post Sea Place: 4th Key Moment of Season: 32-31 scrub win over Gary in Week 1 Comments: Brodz scrubbed his way (4 SCRUB WINS!) to a 9-5 regular season record! Factor in the 1 scrub loss, and Furious Gefilte Fish deserved to be sitting on the postseason sidelines at 6-8 - rather than being the #2 seed heading into the Playoffs. On Draft Day, Brodz was clearly the first GM to embrace the new rule to have the option to start a 3rd WR over a 2nd RB. Brodz nabbed TO, THolt, BGriese and EMcCaffrey in the first 4 rounds - the Greasy pick being a change-of-mind one after initially blurting out BC Eagle William Green. The fact that those in Draft HQs continually forgot to call Brodz with ample time before each of his picks clearly had Brodz off his RB game - as the Furious Fish swam away from their war-room with only KBarlow, AZereoue, THambrick and ZCrockett in the backfield. When McCaffrey slumped to a 42 pt season, Brodz had to scramble to use all his remaining GM powers to bring in the likes of Marcel Shipp (Louis Lipps sinks Shipps) and Koren to finish the regular season strong - and to crush Stan with a 73-57 shootout win for the Fish in the quarterfinals. 9. Samurai Sumos (GM Mike Schassberger) 7-10, 46.4 ppg Pre: 3, 6, 11; Reg Sea Rec: 14th, Overall PPG: 9th, Post Sea Place: 11th Key Moment of Season: Picking RMoss with the 9th overall pick Comments: While finishing 5th overall in WR pts isn't too bad, MHarrison (5 picks later) scored 45 more pts than Moss - and even AToomer (5th round) finished with 1 more pt than a Moss who made all 16 starts. Almost like Brad's 0-6 start, Rookie GM Mike got off to an 0-5 start. But after going 4-1 in his next 5 games (and with 2nd round pick DMcNabb challenging PHolmes for MVP honors), Samurai Sumos looked like they might slash their way into the Playoffs. But then McNabb got hurt in Week 11, and a 1- 3 finish to the regular season left Mike at 5-9. Foge really liked Mike's team coming out of the Draft, but correctly pointed out perhaps the 2nd biggest key to Mike's season: PBurress. Foge, like many, felt this was the season for Plaxico to bust out. But after Plax dudded out of the gate with 2 0s, Mike lost patience and shipped him off to Brad for QIsmail. Ouch! Mike did manage to overcome his most glaring potential weakness (only drafting 2 RBs, Bettis and Hearst), by dealing away both for a stud-in- the-making (LaDainian) and filler paper (MPittman). If only Mike hadn't given up on Burress so quickly... 10. TheFreakinBlackHawks (GM Joe Parker) 7-10, 42.6 ppg Pre: 7, 2, 8; Reg Sea Rec: 10th, Overall PPG: T-15th, Post Sea Place: 16th Key Moment of Season: Scrubby Week 9 33-28 loss to Cals' Golden Years Comments: Despite a most uneven initial 8 weeks of the season (72 pts in Week 1, 19 pts in Week 3, all points in between over the other 6 weeks), TheFreakinBlackHawks were sitting pretty at 5-3. Then came the fugly loss to Cals - followed by 2 more losses to drop JoePa to 5-6. TheFreakinBlackHawks fought bravely in Weeks 12 and 14 (67 and 60 pts respectively), but a Week 13 loss and low overall offensive output denied JoePa an invite to the humongous hoedown. Foge really hit the nail on the head when he identified JoePa's WRs as having ''a high potential for floppage.'' JMorton (17 pts for a 4th round pick?!?) finished 54th among WRs. PBurress was still available. 5th rounder RGardner was much more respectable, but still didn't come close to expectations (in the end, how could he have with those Redskin QBs he had flinging the ball around?). The blindingly bright spot for JoePa was the development of 3rd rounder THenry. Henry finished 7th in RB pts (all 6 ahead of him were indeed drafted before him). Those drafted ahead of him who finished with fewer pts: Marshall, Ahman, Edgerrin, CDillon, CMartin, EGeorge, AThomas, SDavis, ASmith, FTaylor, MPittman, Tiki and JBettis! Other nice draft picks were 8th rounder THeap (but ended up on Brodz' team) and 12th TPinky. 11. Raider Hater (GM Drew Reeder) 7-9-1, 44.4 ppg Pre: 6, 10, 13; Reg Sea Rec: 15th, Overall PPG: 11th, Post Sea Place: 9th Key Moment of Season: 78-49 loss to Shiv's Ghetto Fab Bindys in Week 5 Comments: Rookie GM Drew had gotten off to a decent WLWL start in his first 4 weeks, but thanks to Shiv's 78 pt outburst in Week 5, Drew's anticipated dubya became an el - and Raider Hater was on their way to a 4-game losing streak. An 0-3 finish to the regular season made sure Drew - at 4-9-1 was merely an observer come Playoff time. However... Raider Hater swept JoePa, Mike and Shiv to claim the Scrub Bowl Championship. Foge was pretty high on Drew's team at the conclusion of the Draft. But while PManning basically posted numbers worthy of a 1st rounder... DBoston (2nd) was a bust, MBennett (3rd) blossomed later than expected, CChambers (4th) didn't quite get as untracked as expected, DStaley (5th) was supposed to've had the kind of year Tiki had. Foge also correctly pointed out that TDilfer, JGalloway and TJDuckett formed an ineffective bench. To Drew's credit, the rookie GM waited until Round 12 to pick a TE - and struck gold with Algae. Drew also nabbed Donte Stallworth in the 11th round. Improve performance in the 1st half of the Draft and the regular season, and Drew could be a contender... as long as he focuses more on the loving - rather than the hating. 12. Las Ranas De Mayan (GM Stan Wilson) 9-8, 53.4 ppg Pre: 2, 13, 2; Reg Sea Rec: 7th, Overall PPG: 2nd, Post Sea Place: 5th Key Moment of Season: 87-67 scrub loss to Shiv's Ghetto Fab Bindys in Week 4 Comments: Stan is well-known for his slow starts of late in the regular season. When Las Ranas De Mayan shot out of the gate at 3-0, the world was tangibly off kilter. The scrub loss in Week 4 was a (subtle?) foreshadowing of things to come. Stan tried his best to fight the RFL gods with 2 more wins in Weeks 5 and 6 (to reach 5-1 on the season). But then 2 more scrub losses came, and then 2 ''normal'' losses. Stan had fallen to 5-5. But then 2 more wins virtually locked up a Playoff spot. Those wins were indeed followed by a 4th scrub loss and another normal loss. Thanks to some prolific scoring during the regular season, Stan made it into the Playoffs at 7-7 - with the 7th seed. But of course the expected scrub loss reared its ugly head again for Stan in the quarterfinals. With what must be a record 1-5 scrub record, Stan ''deserved'' a record of 13-4, not 9-8. Stan's team was led by 2nd rounder DCulpepper. CDillon (1st), TGonzalez (4th), JStewart (5th), CConway (6th) and WDunn (7th) were steady, but not spectacular. TonyG did finish 1st among TEs, but throw out his 1 game over 11 pts... and he averaged a mere 3.8 ppg. Kevin Johnson was quite the bust of a 3rd rounder. But waiting until the last round to pick his 1st PK (JFeeley - who finished 1st overall in PK pts) was most clever. 13. Junior Mints (GM Joe Pynadath) 7-10, 43.5 ppg Pre: 8, 5, 9; Reg Sea Rec: 13th, Overall PPG: 14th, Post Sea Place: 14th Key Moment of Season: First round pick of Curtis Martin, 13th overall Comments: The pick appeared fine at the time, but everyone's favorite Martian ended up with an inexplicably horrendous season (114 pts in 15 starts) - rather pedestrian numbers for an RB everyone figured would *thrive* with the new pt scoring system for yardage. Joebob recovered nicely with the Deuce McAllister pick in Round 2, but the Junior Mints' WR duo of Darrell Jackson (3rd round) and TGlenn (4th) combined for a measly 81 pts in 24 combined starts. Even a decidedly hamstrung Rod Smith outscored Joebob's WR pairing. Junior Mints got off to an 0-2 start - and things never really got better. Junior Mints was 1-2, 2-4, 3-6 and 4-8 before winning 2 to close the regular season at 6-8. Foge kind of liked Joebob's team post-Draft, but (quite incorrectly) was impressed with CMartin, DJackson and TGlenn. Foge knew that KCollins was not going to get the job done, but Joebob stuck with her for all 16 starts. Kerry's 8.4 ppg average was quite the handicap (added on top of CMartian and the WRs) for the other Mints to overcome. Deuce and Booba simply couldn't pick up all that slack. 14. Everyone Go Deep (GM Gary Eigen) 8-9, 46.6 ppg Pre: 10, 3, 15; Reg Sea Rec: 9th, Overall PPG: 7th, Post Sea Place: 12th Key Moment of Season: 68-41 drubbing at the hands of Zach in Week 14 Comments: A win or tie against Zach would have gotten Gary into the Playoffs, but the Bus and M Harrison came up way short. If only Jerome and Marvin had only scored 16 and 22 respectively (like they did in Week 15), Gary would have won this crucial Week 14 showdown - and the drop in Zach's seed would have prevented Fat Bastards from winning their quarterfinal game (not to mention the Ags Bowl). Gary's team went through the entire 2k2 season never more than 1 game above or below .500. In fact... after back- to-back wins in Weeks 2 and 3 (to go 2-1), Gary alternated single Ls and Ws for the balance of the season. Gary appeared to've fared adequately in the Draft, but Foge still placed him 10th. Foge correctly identified 4th rounder Troy Brown as a severe liability. Foge also correctly projected Laveranues to be the better option at RB2/WR3 over Lamar Smith. Gary was unlucky with his 2nd round A Train pick. AThomas performed so well in 2k1, but came up so lame in 2k2 (2 pts less than Kevan Barlow!). Gary was also unlucky with his 6th round BChamberlain pick. Clearly both ATrain and Chamberlain were distraught over being dumped by Wang after the 2k1 season. But on the positive side... Gary did well to nab QBs DBledsoe (3rd round) and TBrady (9th). Brady surprised everyone in proving that he deserved to be an every-week RFL starting QB. 15. Fat Bastards (GM Zach Abad) 11-6, 50.0 ppg Pre: 13, 4, 6; Reg Sea Rec: 3rd, Overall PPG: 5th, Post Sea Place: 1st Key Moment of Season: 68-41 thrashing of Gary in Week 14 Comments: By beating Gary in Week 14, Zach secured the 3rd seed in the Playoffs. Only Fat Bastards' 6th seeded opponent (Cals' Golden Years) scored fewer points than Zach in the quarterfinals. Had Zach faced any other team in Week 15 (even the teams that didn't make the Playoffs!), the rookie GM's magical championship run would have come to an crashing halt in the 1st game. Zach essentially lived every RFL GM's dream during the 2k2 season. Zach loaded up on players from his favorite team (the RAY-duhs) in the Draft - and then started CGarner, JRice and SJanikowski 16 times each to win Aglione Bowl XIII. Basically... Fat Bastards ran themselves! In what must be a record for a team that actually went an entire season without an ''empty'' starting spot, Zach only started 17 different players all season long: 2 QBs, 2 RBs, 7 WRs, 4 TEs, 2 PKs. Foge commented on Zach's lack of depth coming out of the Draft - turns out Zach didn't need any depth! Foge also was a bit hesitant to endorse Zach's strategy of starting 3 players from the same team. And indeed when the Raiders had their bye in Week 3, Zach lost. And when the Raiders dropped 4 straight (to go from 4-0 to 4-4), Zach lost 4 straight (to go from 4-1 to 4-5). But once the Raiders got things cranking again, Zach finished the season with a 7-1 flourish. 16. Cleveland Steamers (GM Joshua Veshia) 9-8, 44.2 ppg Pre: 1, 14, 1; Reg Sea Rec: 4th, Overall PPG: 12th, Post Sea Place: 7th Key Moment of Season: 2nd no-show on Draft Day in 6 years led to Joebob and Wang drafting an incredibly strong collection of talent (as witnessed by preseason polls from #1 and #2) for Vesh Comments: But then came the tinkering... and the dismantling... and the scrapping... and the reassembly... and the horribly disfigured result. One must credit Vesh for not resting on the laurels of the work Joebob and Wang did for him. Vesh should be applauded for his effort to put his own ''stamp'' on his team. But everyone knows that the end result was quite the abomination. Vesh started out the season scoring at a steady pace (61 in Week 1, high scorer of the week with 76 in Week 7, 70 in Week 10) - but then closed the season with 4 weeks of output (33, 39, 26, 31 pts) that can only be described as putrid. Vesh was handed 3 superstars in LaDainian, Jimmy Smith and Rod Smith. Vesh closed the season with GHearst, Chad Johnson and QMorgan. Vesh traded for the most ineffective Edgerrin. If he hadn't clung to draft picks SSharpe and RLongwell, Vesh's club could very have sunk to depths not seen since bonus points were awarded for yardage levels lower than 300 (for QBs) and 100 (RBs/WRs/TEs). The 2 good moves for Vesh... acquiring TBrady to replace KStewart and JFiedler - and vulturing Wang's discarded WR, Chad Johnson. Thanks to Joebob and Wang's initial effort, Vesh got off to a 6-3 start. But once Vesh's stamp had been imprinted, his team finished off the season 3-5. ************************************************************ RFL COMMISHES' FIRESIDE CHAT: Patrick Callery and David Wang ************************************************************ Commish #2, 1-Time Steamroller Champion and 1-Time Aglione bowl Champion David Wang: What are your overall impressions of the 2k2 season? League Founder, Commish #1, 3-Time Steamroller Champion, 3-Time Aglione Bowl Champion and most revered and beloved Guru-of-the-People Patrick Callery: Trash talk and overall participation seemed to be down this year. It could be a sign of the steadily increasing League GM mean age, as we all generally move on towards senility. Do you think we can get more infants and juveniles like Isaac Brodkin and Shivan Desai involved next year? Wang: On the contrary... it seems the masses want fewer GMs next year - and that means less room for fresh, young "meat." But I must say I was happy with the effort of this season's 3 rookie GMs - although they were a little too quiet for my tastes. But... the real question is... any plans for a Cals Jr to join the fray anytime soon? Cals: I can tentatively estimate that at some point in the indeterminate future, there may be a remote possibility of the potential for preliminary discussions regarding the prospect for the chance that perhaps such a consideration might be pondered. Or not. Wang: Understood. :-) What did you think of the yahoo effect on the 2k2 season in particular? Cals: Dave, I personally think yahoo was a smashing success. I can only imagine how much easier yahoo has made your life as Commissioner this year. When we look back on the history of the League 45 years from now, we will look at the introduction of yahoo stats and roster management as the factor that saved RFL. Wouldn't you agree? Wang: Although it's true that yahoo did a brilliant job of handling things, I do not know if it could be called "the factor that saved RFL." It would have been difficult managing things the old way from England - no doubt. Certainly my "trouble" updating my website from here would've needed addressing. But I have the will - so we know there would've been a way. But I must admit that yahoo *did* have plenty of positives - and we can all thank Clark for his hand in getting Phase 2 of RFL's online presence up and running. How about the new yardage levels? Cals: The League Office made a big mistake in assigning yardage levels this year... in trying to stick to our old standard of "6pts for 100yds", we committed two greivous errors: (1) using an odd number like 17 actually requires us to think when mentally adding up scores in front of the tube (and requiring Brad to get out his calculator), and (2) we didn't consider all the additional points awarded by using a smaller increment (changing bonus levels from 3pt increments to 1pt increments). Next year I will move that we go to 20 or 25 yards per bonus point. Wang: I'll have to go on record as being in support of the 17 yard levels. We all now have added 17s to our mental multiplication tables. If anything... I might change the level to 16 or 18 next season. Any mental exercise is good to fight off the impending mental infirmity for us geezers, right? Cals: I envision a pre-Draft vote on this one. You realize if you would have come up with this ingenious 102 yard milestone a few years back, you could have prevented the Bam Morris Contraversy! Wang: True, but where's the fun in *avoiding* controversies?!? How apparent was it that I was out of the country for most of the season? Cals: The only time I noticed was when I detected a slight Belgian accent to some of your sentence structures in the WIR. You know I have 12.5% Belgian blood? I can smell these things. So really, how long were you gone for? Wang: Ouch! I'm only in the States for 2 weekends during the entire season and no one misses me! What about the 3 guest WIRs (2 from Stan, 1 from the rookie GMs) this season? Cals: Stan is not just a blossoming journalistic talent, I do dare suggest he embodies the voice of tomorrow's RFL (old fart that he is). The rookies' edition eerily brought to mind old Beavis and Butthead episodes. But you know what I think, everyone in the League should take their shot at at least 1 WIR. I have maintained this stance for several years now. Moving the editorial reigns around from week to week makes the reading more interesting. Wang: Your thought is most noble, but there isn't exactly a stampede whenever I ask for WIR volunteers. Why didn't you pen a WIR this year? Cals: Dave, you know I'm way past my quota. I should be due for another WIR in 2027. I think you're due a few years after that. After all these years I'm surprised you still have the capacity to write them. How are you holding up against the inevitable WIR burnout? Wang: There's nothing like blowing off work for all of Monday (and part of Tuesday) to slave away over the hot RFL WIR presses. I don't think I could ever burnout. But not being able to see any games really hurts when it comes to trying to write wittingly insightful game summaries. What is going on in Cals HQs these days? Why did Golden Years (like Tim Brown and Emmitt) fade so badly this season? Cals: Dave, I somehow missed the boat on this new RFL age. My team this year was the embodiment of my pining for the old dynasty days when drafting a championship RFL team was easy. These days you're almost required to actually do research in order to compete. RFL salary caps and parity have destroyed my traditional advantage. Now I have a hard time just keeping my teams at a mediocre level of competitiveness. I am impressed, however, at how you've been able to keep up. I think you had a fairly good team this year, your record was a mere aberration. How do you do it? Wang: Why, thank you! [wipes lipstick from right butt cheek] When you have an eye for talent like I do (Keyshawn, PWarrick and JGeorge reprising roles for my franchise this season), you can't go wrong. But another year or 2 here in the UK - without the ability to see any NFL (or college) games, and I might have to carry RFL into the fantasy *REST OF THE WORLD* football league age! Can you tell me which American GKs play for Tottenham Spurs and Blackburn Rovers?!? How were you able to foresee such a strong season from Morten Andersen (on pace for All-RFL honors before getting hurt in Week 14) this season? Cals: He's over 40, so he fit my team profile perfectly. I'm still bitter I didn't get Jerry Rice. You seem to be more in touch with the youngsters than I am these days. Wang: Perhaps you should invest more time in listening to Mel Kiper, Jr. on the NFL's Draft weekend! Your best week of the season was a Week 7 70-57 victory over my Chinks in the Armor. What gives?!? Cals: Just like I always lose to Joebob, you will always lose to me. It's a fact of RFL. Wang: Breakdown your beloved Vikes for us ...6-10 this past season. What will they do next year? Cals: The Vikes will go 10-6 next year and lose in the first round wildcard. How about your 'boys? Will Emmitt return? He's high on my draft chart. Wang: Clearly... shelling out the bucks for the Tuna should help down the road. But I've got to admit that the offensive cupboard is very nearly bare. As much of an Emmitt lover as I was in the past... I will never forgive him for his scrubby y2k season on my beloved Fire in the Hole club. The decent 2k2 performance of the Dallas D reeks of smoke and mirrors, so... I wouldn't mind seeing the 'boys go 1-15 in '03, grab Eli Manning with the first pick in the '04 Draft, and then win that season's Super Bowl! What do you think of paring the League down to 10 GMs? And going with bigger rosters - and more starters? Cals: Dave, that idea is ludicrous. I am in favor of reduced League headcount, but don't try to make me all dizzy by expanding the lineups. This is RFL, not rotisserie baseball, or rotisserie chicken, or whatever. Wang: No need for name-calling... *your* ideas are ludicrous! If you were to've voted on best team names of the season, how would your vote have gone? Cals: This was a disappointing year, at best, for League names. I gave my #1 vote to a previously discarded team name, perm735. Wang: Where should we have the Draft this August - seeing as how the odds are 50-50 that I'll be in Basingstoke, UK or Austin, TX around that time? If I am in Austin, clearly Stan and I will form the new power base of the League there. Cals: Aren't there enough Sony guys left to snag the multimedia conference room? Although I suppose they may not have enough pull around the company to arrange for the catered sandwich tray. If they can't get the sandwiches lined up I'll just draft from my computer. Wang: At the rate we're going... perhaps Mike Schassberger will be the only Sony-SJ GM remaining in RFL next season. What is your favorite fight song or cheer? "Hail to the Victors"? "Go, BU"? Something for the Golden Gophers? Cals: I was thinking more of something to strike the fear of god into your opponents, like "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Holst's Symphony of the Planets, or that cool Darth Vader theme. But if you want something with words, I have to go with the good old Cretin Raider Rouser. I'm sure Chris Weinke can recite it for you. Wang: Chris who?!? Is he a high school band director or something? What do you foresee us having to look forward to in the 2003 season? A controversy that shakes the very foundation of RFL? A TE scoring 200 pts? Your team (with 3 Viking starters) taking the Steamroller and Ags Bowl?!? Cals: The way it's going, I fear we will lose more RFL founding fathers, only to be replaced by more Droids. What kind of motivational clinics do you have planned for our mutually graying RFL brethren in the off-season? Wang: If founding fathers aren't pulling their weight (performance between the white lines-wise, trash talking-wise, giving back to the RFL community-wise), then my stance has already been established years ago... "we're better off without them!" I'll take 3 rookie GMs like Drew, Mike and Zach over 3 deadbeat, "tradition" GMs every single time. ************************************************************ Starting a 3rd WR: Cals 0-2 Wang 3-4-1 Shiv 1-0 Rich 2-0 Ali 0-0 Brad 1-7 Clark 1-0 Brodz 9-3 Mike 1-5 JoePa 1-1 Drew 2-3 Stan 0-1 Joebob 0-2 Gary 2-3 Zach 0-2 Vesh 0-0 23-33-1 overall... I guess each of us can draw our own conclusions. ************************************************************ RFL2k2 Weekly High Scorers Week 1: JoePa (TFBH) - 72 Week 2: Stan (LRDM) - 80 Week 3: Clark (ACM) - 85 Week 4: Shiv (GFB) - 87 Week 5: Shiv (GFB) - 78 Week 6: Wang (CitA) - 68 Week 7: Vesh (CS) - 76 Week 8: Clark (ACM) - 72 Week 9: Clark (ACM) - 69 Week 10: Shiv (GFB) - 80 Week 11: Ali (TKD) - 65 Week 12: Clark (ACM) - 75 Week 13: Wang (CitA) - 74 Week 14: Ali (TKD) - 70 Week 15: Brodz (FGF) - 73 Week 16: Stan (LRDM) - 64 Week 17: Wang (CitA) - 72 Who Scored What? Below is one numerical representation of the scoring in the RFL2k2 season - broken down by position (RFL2k1, RFL2k, RFL'99 numbers in parentheses respectively). QBs: 37 guys, 2661 pts /16 /17 = 9.78 ppg per QB (7.18, 5.85, 5.15) RBs: 51 guys, 4191 pts /487 slots = 8.61 ppg per RB slot (5.83, 7.01, 3.84) WRs: 74 guys, 3447 pts /601 slots = 5.74 ppg per WR slot (4.79, 4.99, 2.97) TEs: 29 guys, 717 pts /16 /17 = 2.64 ppg per TE (2.34, 1.85, 1.29) PKs: 28 guys, 1923 pts /16 /17 = 7.07 ppg per PK (6.55, 7.02, 7.02) Clearly... pts were up across the board for non-PKs - thanks to the lowered yardage bonus point levels. By allowing a 3rd WR to be started over 2nd RBs, it would appear that quality of RBs ruled over quantity of WRs. RB production jumped a whopping 48%. QB production jumped 36%. TEs were just as lame as ever. PKs indicated that 2k1 was an anomaly. WRs were only up 20%. QB1 = 212 pts d culpepper (187, 167, 121) QB16 = 80 pts t green (33, 39, 33) .........132 pt diff (154, 128, 88) Culpepper set the new record for QB pts. Production for the #16 QB really shot up this season - which is a good sign. The gap from #1 to #16 was still pretty large. RB1 = 265 pts p holmes (242, 265, 153) RB16 = 116 pts g hearst (75, 111, 54) .........149 pt diff (167, 154, 99) Priest tied the record for most pts. As was the case with the QBs... it's nice to see that the scoring of the 16th RB was noticably up. RB17 = 114 pts c martin (63, 111, 51) RB32 = 41 pts w dunn (36, 33, 18) ..........73 pt diff (27, 78, 33) Even with fewer RBs getting starts (due to 3rd WRs), production was up for the 2nd set of 16 RBs. WR1 = 162 pts m harrison (159, 155, 110) WR16 = 87 pts m booker (63, 75, 36) ..........75 pt diff (96, 80, 74) Marvin breaks TO's record for WR pts (last year TO broke RMoss' record). Scoring of the 16th WR also up. WR17 = 84 pts j thrash (63, 72, 33) WR32 = 41 pts k robinson (27, 24, 18) ..........43 pt diff (36, 48, 15) The 2nd tier of WRs was much more relevant this year. TE1 = 83 pts t gonzalez (71, 99, 72) TE16 = 15 pts k brady (18, 6, 6) .........68 pt diff (53, 93, 66) TEs make the world go 'round. PK1 = 138 pts j feely (127, 135, 145) PK16 = 51 pts p edinger (59, 65, 73) ..........87 pt diff (68, 70, 72) PKs are what they are. Below is the ranking of each franchise in terms of overall scoring by position. QB RB WR TE PK stan 219 clark 454 brodz 336 stan 83 stan 141 wang 216 shiv 323 gary 297 vesh 69 cals 138 mike 204 ali 323 wang 262 zach 66 mike 136 shiv 193 zach 317 brad 254 brodz 65 zach 134 brad 193 joebob 301 clark 251 joebob 65 ali 133 drew 184 rich 288 stan 229 drew 50 wang 131 gary 176 joepa 272 rich 218 clark 47 vesh 131 joepa 157 cals 246 ali 202 shiv 39 shiv 122 zach 153 wang 238 mike 202 brad 38 clark 122 ali 146 stan 236 drew 187 rich 37 drew 118 vesh 144 vesh 234 joepa 185 wang 34 joebob 118 rich 142 mike 218 cals 180 cals 32 brad 105 joebob 141 drew 216 zach 180 gary 31 joepa 104 clark 140 gary 197 shiv 176 mike 29 rich 102 cals 128 brodz 168 vesh 174 ali 26 brodz 97 brodz 125 brad 160 joebob 114 joepa 6 gary 91 ************************************************************ All-RFL Teams: ***** **** FIRST TEAM ***** **** QB DAUNTE CULPEPPER (Las Ranas De Mayan, GM Stan Wilson) 212 RB PRIEST HOLMES (AC Milan, GM Clark Goebel) 265 RICKY WILLIAMS (The Kavir Dwellers, GM Ali Eslambolchi) 216 WR MARVIN HARRISON (Everyone Go Deep, GM Gary Eigen) 162 TERRELL OWENS (Furious Gefilte Fish, GM Dave Brodkin) 157 TE TONY GONZALEZ (Las Ranas De Mayan, GM Stan Wilson) 83 PK JAY FEELY (Las Ranas De Mayan, GM Stan Wilson) 138 ====== ==== SECOND TEAM ====== ==== QB RICH GANNON (Ghetto Fab Bindys, GM Shivan Desai) 189 RB CLINTON PORTIS (Repulsive Punk Asses, GM Richard Aguilera) 203 LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (Samurai Sumos, GM Mike Schassberger) 201 WR HINES WARD (Repulsive Punk Asses, GM Richard Aguilera) 143 AMANI TOOMER (The Kavir Dwellers, GM Ali Eslambolchi) 118 TE TODD HEAP (Furious Gefilte Fish, GM Dave Brodkin) 65 PK DAVID AKERS (The Kavir Dwellers, GM Ali Eslambolchi) 133 --------- ------- HONORABLE MENTION --------- ------- QB PEYTON MANNING (Raider Hater, GM Drew Reeder) 177 RB SHAUN ALEXANDER (Ghetto Fab Bindys, GM Shivan Desai) 189 DEUCE MCALLISTER (Junior Mints, GM Joe Pynadath) 186 WR RANDY MOSS (Samuari Sumos, GM Mike Schassberger) 117 ERIC MOULDS* (Chinks in the Armor, GM David Wang) 114 TE BUBBA FRANKS (Junior Mints, GM Joe Pynadath) 64 PK SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI** (Fat Bastards, GM Zach Abad) 128 *J Horn (AC Milan, Clark Goebel) also had 114 pts, but E Moulds had 1 fewer start. **R Longwell (Cleveland Steamers, Josh Veshia) also had 128 pts in the same number of starts, but Seabass scored more in the postseason - and now wears an Aglione Bowl ring. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RFL AWARDS ********** Panel of Voters: Gary, Mike, Shiv, Drew, Clark, Zach, JoePa, Stan, Cals, Wang, Ali PLAYOFFS MVP: (PLAYER, TEAM, 1st PLACE VOTES, TOTAL) 1. Clinton Portis, Repulsive Punk Asses (5), 24 2. Eddie George, Fat Bastards (4), 22 3. Tiki Barber, AC Milan (2), 18 4. Daunte Culpepper, Las Ranas De Mayan 2 Comment: #2: Voted for Eddie (high-scorer on championship team), Portis (highest overall scorer, and team won twice) and Daunte (2nd highest scorer, and team won twice). Why didn't all the rest of you use the same logic?!? What's wrong with you people?!? RFL MVP: 1. Priest Holmes, AC Milan (11), 33 2. Terrell Owens, Furious Gefilte Fish 14 3. Donovan McNabb, Samurai Sumos 8 4. Rich Gannon, Ghetto Fab Bindys 3 5. Daunte Culpepper, Las Ranas De Mayan 2 6. Hines Ward, Repulsive Punk Asses 2 7. Ricky Williams, The Kavir Dwellers 2 8. Marvin Harrison, Everyone Go Deep 1 9. Clinton Portis, Repulsive Punk Asses 1 Comments: #2: Voted for Priest (everyone did), McNabb (more pts than TO after 14 weeks) and TO (but Culpepper and Gannon were also worthy of consideration) Cals: [write-in for 2nd] Hines Ward (when big points come from such an unexpected source, it's a major coup for the lucky GM. How else do you explain RPA's performance?) Cals: [write-in for 3rd] Clinton Portis (see above) STEAL OF THE DRAFT: 1. Tom Brady, Everyone Go Deep (5), 22 2. Jay Feely, Las Ranas De Mayan (3), 15 3. Donte Stallworth, Raider Hater (1), 11 4. Alge Crumpler, Raider Hater (1), 10 5. Todd Pinkston, TheFreakinBlackHawks (1), 7 Comments: #2: voted for Feely (getting #1 PK in 12th round should revolutionize Draft next season?), Brady (was a doubter before the season) and Donte (a rookie WR finally breaks through - first since RMoss in '98) Cals: There has to be an actual QUALITY player drafted slightly higher that performed way beyond expectations. These guys (above) are all SCRUBS and undeserving of recognition (except Pink) BUST OF THE DRAFT: 1. Edgerrin James, SPITZ34 (4), 20 2. Kurt Warner, Repulsive Punk Asses (4), 18 3. David Boston, Raider Hater (3), 12 4. Anthony Thomas, Everyone Go Deep 9 5. Tim Brown, Golden Years 4 6. Tony Gonzalez, Las Ranas De Mayan 2 7. Kevin Johnson, Las Ranas De Mayan 1 Comment: #2: voted for Edgerrin (he *seemed* to've recovered, but where were the TDs?!?), Tim Brown (what happened?!?) and Warner (if not for injuries, would have been less sympathetic) PICKUP OF THE YEAR: 1. Donald Driver, Las Ranas De Mayan (6), 22 2. Chad Pennington, SPITZ34 (2), 15 3. Tommy Maddox, AC Milan (1), 13 4. Chad Johnson, Cleveland Steamers 5 5. Doug Jolley, Golden Years (1), 4 6. Todd Heap, Furious Gefilte Fish 4 7. Jerry Porter, Ghetto Fab Bindys (1), 3 Comment: #2: voted for Driver (great, mostly reliable production), Pennington (didn't think he had it in him) and Heap (why'd the Ravens even bother with Sharpe in 2k1?) GM OF THE YEAR: 1. Clark Goebel, AC Milan (8), 30 2. Zach Abad, Fat Bastards (3), 18 3. Stan Wilson, Las Ranas De Mayan 13 4. Ali Eslambolchi, The Kavir Dwellers 2 5. Richard Aguilera, Repulsive Punk Asses 1 6. Shivan Desai, Ghetto Fab Bindys 1 Comments: #2: voted for Clark (solid draft, 2nd consecutive year of solid performance), Stan (always on top of things, just unlucky this year with 2nd highest scoring team) and Zach (won Ags Bowl, but didn't really give impression of control) Ali (vote for himself): ''Ali Eslambolchi for leading the Dwellers (projected to finish 16th) to a 6th place finish in the face of adversity'' COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 1. Eddie George, Fat Bastards (3), 22 2. Eric Moulds, Chinks in the Armor (3), 19 3. Hines Ward, Repulsive Punk Asses (5), 18 4. Morten Andersen, Golden Years 5 5. Jerry Rice, Fat Bastards 1 Comment: #2: voted for Moulds (maybe not as deserving as Eddie, but he's my guy), Eddie (quite a dip in 2k1 - between 2k and 2k2) and Mort (didn't anticipate this sort of resurrection at all). As i wrote on the ballot... Hines had never really had a "fall from grace," so it's hard to vote for him as a "comeback" player. Additional Comments: TEAM NAME OF THE YEAR: Cals: 1st - perm735 (should have kept the name!) 2nd - Kavir Dwellers (any name that makes the WIR staff use the Al Qaeda translator deserves consideration 3rd - Golden Years (a wistful throwback to RFL's glorious past) Mike: 1st - Chinks in the Armor 2nd - Ghetto Fab Bindys 3rd - Fat Bastards... Big fan of Austin Powers. I got a crap on deck that could choke a donkey!!! ************************************************************ Playoffs Bracket Quarters Semis Aglione Bowl XIII #1 AC Milan 52 #8 The Kavir Dwellers 41 AC Milan 52 #4 Cleveland Steamers 39 Repulsive Punk Asses 39 #5 Repulsive Punk Asses 68 AC Milan 33 Fat Bastards 50 #2 Furious Gefilte Fish 73 #7 Las Ranas De Mayan 57 Furious Gefilte Fish 25 Fat Bastards 49 #3 Fat Bastards 26 #6 Golden Years 23 I hope everyone enjoyed the 2k2 season, and I hope all of you are looking forward to getting Steamrolled AND Aglioned by a powerhouse from Camp Wang (or Camp Brodkin) in the 2003 season! -#2