RFL'01 Week 17 in Review |
| River Flowing Lazily | Week 17 | January 8, 2002 |
| **** RFL WEEK IN REVIEW **** | ||
Mark Brunell gave Joebob the early 6-3 lead over Clark's Eddie George. At 1pm (CA time) the drama began. Marshall Faulk started piling up yardage pts for Joebob. Then Darrell Jackson scored 2 TDs for Clark - while Shaun Alexander went back to the locker room for x-rays. Faulk then scored a TD for Joebob. Things looked grim for Clark. But then Shaun limped back onto the field and broke off a 44-yd TD run. And Jay Fiedler (!) hit for a TD pass and a TD run for Clark. Faulk then broke loose for a 53-yd gain, but was tackled short of making things interesting again. Victory was Clark's! The RFL masses cheered!
Highest scoring team: Mahatma's Minions - 49.3 ppg
Lowest scoring team: Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids - 30.4 ppg
Toughest defense: Mahatma's Minions - 30.5 ppg
Softest defense: Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids - 42.3 ppg
League scoring average: 37.3 ppg (last year 38.7)
Getting to the bloody point... on to WIR #17!
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**** AGLIONE BOWL XII ****
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#2 Mahatma's Minions 31
#4 Dude 45
With the backing of the entire RFL community, Clark's Dude won one for
the people in claiming his first-ever Aglione Bowl championship. After
surviving the devastating Week 1 injury to Ed McCaffrey; subsequent
injuries to DStaley, EGeorge, CCleeland and SJanikowski; virtually no
production from the KCollins/JFiedler QB rotation (Dude ranked 12th in
QB pts - 99 compared to Shiv's 196); and a 4-game losing streak to close
the regular season... Dude capitalized on a RWatters broken foot and
clutch performances from SAlexander, SMack, CConway, DJackson and the
gritty QB duo to outscore even the mighty Minions in the postseason
(162-158).
You hate to 2nd guess a self-proclaimed guru like Joebob, but a source
inside the Minion compound (his initials are ''W'' and ''G'') came
forward to the WIR Editorial Staff with the following comments:
''When Joebob came to me with his plan to start both Ram RBs, I objected
most vehemently. It was clear that the Bears would beat the Jags in the
early game, so clearly Marshall would be the only Ram RB deserving a
start in the Ags Bowl. Starting Trung Canidate (0 pts) over Richard
Huntley (9 pts) and Ron Dayne (11 pts) obviously put a very low ceiling
on the number of pts we could score in the game. But then to also insist
on going with the #3 Panther TE... I was simply at a loss. Starting
Wesley Walls is one thing - but then to dip below #2 Casey Crawford to
start Kris Mangum... I couldn't help but notice the demoralizing effect
this move had on the team prior to exiting the locker room for the game.
Earlier in the week, ample opportunities existed to bring in a much more
qualified TE. Agents for Jermaine Wiggins, Roland Williams and David
Sloan all phoned in to offer the services of their scoring clients. We
even heard from Walter Rasby and Mikhael Ricks. If we'd gone with any of
those 5 TEs and Huntley or Dayne, we'd be celebrating our 2nd Ags Bowl
championship right now,'' lamented a dejected WG.
brunell 6 mfaulk 18 trung 0 rod 3 isaac 0 mangum 0 elam 4
fiddler 9 egeorge 3 shaun 15 booker 0 djax 15 becht 0 lindell 3
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Other games:
Having a Hard Time 53
Everyone Go Deep 30
In the all important battle for the difference between 50 and 25 playoff RFL bucks, MVanderjagt went 5-for-5 from 3-pt land and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to lead Richard's HaHT to victory with 17. Brett also chipped in a dozen (but gave up a most despicable ''sack'' to MStrahan in garbage time against the Gints). And when TWilkins (the youngest brother of DWilkins and GWilkins) and OGadsden refused to get in the game... Richard turned to CBradford for another 12. Gary's EGD clearly peaked during their Week 14 and quarterfinal wins (to get into the playoffs and to knock off #1 seed BUBE). DRhodes has elevated himself to OGary/MAnderson status for next year's Draft. AFreeman has lowered himself to Yancey Thigpen's level. Who knew that Priest would win the NFL rushing title this year?!? Who knew that Edgerrin James would prove to be merely a product of the Colts offensive system?!?
favre 12 priest 9 jallen 0 b'ford 12 w'brook 3 wycheck 0 v'jagt 17
peyton 6 jstew 3 dominic 9 keenan 9 freeman 0 alge 0 nedney 3
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Brooding Unicorn Blithe Elephant 44
Uffdalators 27
BUBE finished the season 15-2 - tying Ali's 2000 Heirs to the Ayatollah (and possibly Drew's 1991 Dancing Clowns?) for the best season records in RFL history. After challenging Joebob for the scoring title through most of the season, BUBE fell badly off the pace over the last 4 weeks - as even the non-Keyshawn BUBEs forgot how to get into the endzone. After giving the appearance of a serious contender through 11 weeks of the season (8-3), Kevin's Uffdalators went 1-5 to close out the season on a very Randy Moss-esque note. After taking a 51-45 scrub loss to HaHT in Week 12, Uffdalators failed to score more than 37 over the last 5 weeks. Kevin's Draft Day gamble in waiting until round 9 to pick his 1st QB (MHasselbeck) proved to be his undoing. Uffdalators finished dead last in QB pts - as Hasselbeck, TDilfer, JMiller and AVanPelt totaled just 51 pts for the entire season (7 pts less than what Trent Green scored in only 10 starts).
gannon 6 cmartin 3 atrain 15 boston 3 joey 3 sloan 6 cortez 8
miller 3 rw''ms 0 dillon 18 tibrown 3 plaxico 0 sharpe 3 cahney 0
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Boobies! 20
Short-Changed Bastards of Persia 12
21 pts in 13 starts... the Year of Todd Pinkston (AKA Cals' Year of TP) has come to a sad close. Also sad were the fizzling outs of CWeinke, GHearst and Booba - but at least Hearst and Booba will merit high rankings in Draft prep lists this August. Cals' #1 find was unquestionably Antowain. The A Towain finished 9th in RB scoring - 4 pts ahead of Stephen Davis! Ali's Draft strategy of picking the backups of injury-prone RBs (Mike Anderson and Charlie Garner) did not quite pan out. Terrell Davis managed to gimp his way through 8 full games - and actually rushed for more yds than Anderson. Tyrone Wheatley did manage to let Garner take his starting job, but Zack Crockett (6), Wheatley (5) and Rich Gannon (2) all rushed for more TDs than Garner. And then there was Ali's 1st round pick Randy Moss... getting shutout in 5 starts (including all 3 postseason games!), scoring only 3 pts in 4 other starts, failing to crack double-digits in 12 of 16 starts... this sort of production is most unbecoming the highest paid player in RFL!
weinke 0 hearst 3 asmith 9 tholt 3 pinky 0 bubba 0 akers 5
mcnabb 0 mand'son 0 garner 6 rmoss 0 rice 3 kbrady 0 hanson 3
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Fighting Poopy Diapers 35
Blue Collar Workers 28
Ahhh... the riddle that is Lamar Smith. After basically flat-lining it with 27 pts in 7 starts for BCW, Brad was seduced by the misinformation surrounding the potential switch to TMinor heading into the Dolphins' playoff run. Who knew that Lamar's ass would finally feel the heat and inspire him to a 15-pt performance? This week's misstep notwithstanding... Brad's tremendous effort resulted in what must be considered a successful season for a team starting with Draft leftovers. BCW won 5 games and finished ahead of the JGarcia-TikiBarber led RRR in overall pts scored. Vesh's undrafted Romanians of '97 managed only 3 wins - and finished 78 pts behind Clark's scoring-challenged Big City Blade Runners. By going 4-1 over the last 5 weeks of the season (the lone loss being of the scrub variety), Baby Brodz demonstrated a clear understanding of the complexities of RFL - signalling the arrival of one more GM contender from the Brodz clan next season.
elvis 0 sdavis 17 pittman 0 j'vicius 3 horn 0 tonyg 0 edinger 15
dilfert 9 fu 12 minor 0 ch'bers 0 kevj'son 3 pollard 0 hilbert 4
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Jersey Juggernauts 22
Pimps de la Nast 40
After starting the season 0-9 (and sitting at 1-11 after 12 weeks), Shiv did well to finish the season on a 4-1 note. So much more was expected of this Pimps squad, though. With a passing attack of KWarner (1st team All-RFL for the 2nd time in 3 seasons), CCarter, WChrebet and CLewis, Shiv was expected to bludgeon everyone else through the air. The RB duo of TDavis and TWheatley were expected to enable the Pimps to hold their own against nearly every other club's backfield. However... aside from KWarner, all of the other components of Shiv's projected scoring machine ground to a virtual halt. Old Man River filled in for Chad as the Pimp tight end. John's Juggernauts finished roughly where they were expected (Foge's 9th) in their inaugural season. But an inexplicable loss to Shiv's Pimps in Week 14 knocked the Juggernauts out of a Playoff spot. MHarrison and JThrash were too hot and cold, WDunn and JBettis underwhelmed, and the TGreen/vINTy QB rotation was even worse than Clark's JFiedler/KCollins pairing!
green 4 obafemi 0 gay 0 snoop 0 mhar'son 18 ej'son 0 hollis 0
warner 12 jamel 9 td 3 chrebet 3 cris 3 OldMan X l'well 10
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Cleveland Steamers 67
Invasive Species 31
Had RFL's playoff positioning tiebreaker rules been the same as last season, Vesh's Steamers would have finished 7th (no RFL bucks). In their quarterfinal matchup, the Steamers would have lost to Joebob's Minions 53-40. In their Week 16 contest in the playoffs losers' bracket, the Steamers would have lost to Uffdalators 37-34. And then in the current week, CS would have beaten SCBoP for 7th in the Playoffs (again, no RFL bucks). According to last year's playoff positioning rules, Clark still would have beaten Joebob in the Ags Bowl (Richard would have beaten Wang for 3rd, and Kevin would have beaten Cals for 5th). The Steamers finished as the 4th highest scoring team - and had the 2nd stingiest D. These rankings normally indicate a much better record than the 9-8 Vesh actually checked in with. Stan finished 13th in total scoring and 13th pts allowed. The mystery of how Invasive Species finished 8-9 with those numbers ranks right up there with the crop circles.
greasy 3 emmitt 9 ahman 18 jsmith 9 trbrown 6 conwell 9 stover 13
wynn 0 maurice 0 tallen 6 to 18 dalex'er 0 dclark 6 dawson 1
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Black Knights of the Charles 22
Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids 40
Adam wrapped up his 2nd season with a nice win - as JGarcia and Tiki (who else?!?) led the rest of the Rappin' Rabbis to the promised land. The ''Grand Experiment'' of taking RFL international must be noted as an utter failure - as RRR failed to field a competitive team most weeks (despite having 3 excellent foundation players - Garcia, Tiki, PK) and finished with the League's worst record. EMoulds and FJones were adequate starters, also. So... the failure came down to making moves solidifying 1 RB spot and 1 WR spot. JoePa's poor postseason performance was a bit surprising. The Black Knights finished the regular season with 3-straight wins (scoring 53, 42 and 40 pts). But JoePa only scored 20, 21 and 22 pts in his 3 postseason games - remaining 1 win shy of ''Bear'' Pansuria on the all-time RFL career wins list.
brooks 0 bennett 3 kfaulk 0 sch'der 12 qadry 0 riemer 0 wilkins 7
jgarcia 15 tiki 12 chapman 0 hakim 0 moulds 3 kinney 0 mare 10
Playoff Bracket:
| Quarters | Semis | Aglione Bowl XII |
|---|---|---|
| #1 BUBE 36 | ||
| #8 EGD 43 | ||
| EGD 35 | ||
| #4 Dude 67 | Dude 50 | |
| #5 Boobs 48 | Dude 45 | |
| MM 31 | ||
| #2 MM 53 | ||
| #7 SCBoP 14 | MM 74 | |
| HaHT 23 | 3rd Place | |
| #3 HaHT 32 | ********* | |
| #6 Uffda 24 | Consolation | EGD 30 |
| *********** | HaHT 53 | |
| BUBE 45 (0+) | ||
| Boobs 45 (0) | 5th Place | |
| ********* | ||
| SCBoP 33 | BUBE 44 | |
| Uffda 37 | Uffda 27 | |
| 7th Place | ||
| ********* | ||
| Boobs 20 | ||
| SCBoP 12 |
anti-playoff Bracket:
| Quarters | Semis | Scrub Bowl |
|---|---|---|
| #9 CS 40 | ||
| #16 Pimps 42 | ||
| Pimps 39 | ||
| #12 BKotC 20 | FPD 45 | |
| #13 FPD 44 | FPD 35 | |
| BCW 28 | ||
| #10 JJ 42 | ||
| #15 RRR 25 | JJ 36 | |
| BCW 43 | 11th Place | |
| #11 IS 22 | ********* | |
| #14 BCW 70 | Consolation | Pimps 40 |
| *********** | JJ 22 | |
| CS 34 | ||
| BKotC 21 | 13th Place | |
| ********* | ||
| RRR 29 | CS 67 | |
| IS 35 | IS 31 | |
| Last Place | ||
| ********* | ||
| BKotC 22 | ||
| RRR 40 |
FINAL STANDINGS
|
|
Divisional notes:
1) The Ganges (38) finished with the most team wins. The Minions and
HaHT led the way - while BCW chipped in with a solid effort. The
Mississippi (36) came in 2nd - dragged down by the underachieving CS and
RRR. The Charles (32) and the Hudson (30) brought up the rear.
2) The Charles division was home to the Ags Bowl champ, the Scrub Bowl champ, the losingest team of the playoff tournament, and the losingest team of the non-playoff tournament.
RFL BUCKS WINNINGS
++++++++++++++++++
(regular season + playoffs)
BUBE 175 + 25 = 200
MM 100 + 75 = 175
HaHT 75 + 50 = 125
Dude 50 + 125 = 175
Boobies! 30 + 0 = 30
Uffda 20 + 0 = 20
EGD 0 + 25 = 25
RB
242 Marshall Faulk (Mahatma's Minions)
171 Shaun Alexander (Dude)
162 Priest Holmes (Having a Hard Time)
162 Ahman Green (Cleveland Steamers)
150 Corey Dillon (Uffdalators)
123 Ricky Williams (Uffdalators)
WR
159 Terrell Owens (Invasive Species)
153 Marvin Harrison (Jersey Juggernauts)
128 Rod Smith (Mahatma's Minions)
120 David Boston (Brooding Unicorn Blithe Elephant)
105 Randy Moss (Short-Changed Bastards of Persia)
105 Tim Brown (Uffdalators)
TE
71 Tony Gonzalez (Fighting Poopy Diapers)
63 Marcus Pollard (Blue Collar Workers)
54 Bubba Franks (Boobies!)
PK
127 Jeff Wilkins (Black Knights of the Charles)
125 Mike Vanderjagt (Having a Hard Time)
124 Jason Elam (Mahatma's Minions)
be sure to check:
The Season Points Leaders Page
...for a more complete listing of scoring leaders.
©1999-2002 RFL Inc.
All rights reserved.
Revised: January 8, 2002