RFL'01 Year in Review |
Steamroller Trophy: Brooding Unicorn Blithe Elephant, GM David Wang
Aglione Bowl XII Champion: Dude, GM Clark Goebel
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Final 01-02 Standings
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Team | W | L | GB | PF | PA | STK | Pre. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooding Unicorn Blithe Elephant | 15 | 2 | - | 778 | 582 | W2 | 12, 7 |
Mahatma's Minions | 13 | 4 | 2 | 838 | 518 | L1 | 3, 1 |
Having a Hard Time | 11 | 6 | 4 | 686 | 642 | W1 | 5, 2 |
Dude | 11 | 6 | 4 | 717 | 616 | W3 | 4, 8 |
Boobies! | 9 | 8 | 6 | 692 | 679 | W1 | 13, 5 |
Uffdalators | 9 | 8 | 6 | 687 | 646 | L1 | 10, 14 |
Cleveland Steamers | 9 | 8 | 6 | 695 | 567 | W2 | 11, 4 |
Everyone Go Deep | 8 | 9 | 7 | 590 | 642 | L2 | 2, 12 |
Jersey Juggernauts | 8 | 9 | 7 | 563 | 593 | L2 | 9, 11 |
Invasive Species | 8 | 9 | 7 | 549 | 686 | L1 | 14, 15 |
Fighting Poopy Diapers | 8 | 9 | 7 | 619 | 607 | W3 | 6, 13 |
Short-Changed Bastards of Persia | 7 | 10 | 8 | 558 | 602 | L3 | 15, 9 |
Black Knight of the Charles | 6 | 11 | 9 | 548 | 714 | L3 | 7, 3 |
Blue Collar Workers | 5 | 12 | 10 | 528 | 623 | L1 | 16, 16 |
Pimps de la Nast | 5 | 12 | 10 | 585 | 712 | W1 | 1, 6 |
Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids | 4 | 13 | 11 | 517 | 719 | W1 | 8, 10 |
Tie at 11-6:
Having a Hard Time beat Dude head-to-head.
3-way tie at 9-8:
Boobies! beat Uffdalators and Cleveland Steamers.
Uffdalators beat Cleveland Steamers.
4-way tie at 8-9:
Fighting Poopy Diapers lost to the other 3 teams once each.
Everyone Go Deep, Jersey Juggernauts and Invasive Species went 1-1 against each other (EGD beat IS, IS beat JJ, JJ beat EGD).
Tie between EGD, JJ and IS broken by total pts scored.
Tie at 5-12:
Blue Collar Workers beat Pimps de la Nast head-to-head.
Pre: 16, 16; Reg Sea Rec: 14th, Overall PPG: 15th, Post Sea Place: 10th
Key Moment of Season: When Wally didn't pay his RFL2k dues or submit a roster of Draft leftovers.
Richard vouched for Brad, and a star was born.
Comments: The stats have been noted already... most wins (5) for a scrub team, avoided the total pts scored cellar, properly active in free agent pickups (19.6% of total number; 45/230), record-setting number of trades (8 with 6 different GMs: Adam!, Richard, Ali, Wang, Clark and Stan). Brad wasn't rolling over for anybody - and he didn't take any email crap from the League Elders either. The regular season win over Jersey Juggernauts cost John a spot in the Playoffs. And regular season wins over Pimps de la Nast and Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids firmly established BCW's position in the standings ahead of those 2 squads. BCW also was the League's top-scoring team in 2 different weeks (58 in Week 10, 70 in 1st week of postseason). Brad converted a Week 1 starting lineup of Jon Kitna, Moe Williams, Richie Anderson, Riedel Anthony, Tai Streets, Ken Dilger and Jose Cortez to an end of season roster boasting Kordell, Lamar Smith, Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Kevin Johnson, Hines Ward and Marvcus Pollard.
Pre: 3, 1; Reg Sea Rec: 2nd, Overall PPG: 1st, Post Sea Place: 2nd
Key Moment of Season: When Wally was not able to show up for the Draft, Joebob had Marshall Faulk fall into his lap.
Comments: Had Wally been able to draft a team, Joebob would have had a much different roster to run with. Instead of the star-studded lineup of MFaulk, RodSmith, IBruce, MBrunell and JElam, RFL's crack statisticians project Joebob drafting Edgerrin, IBruce, EMcCaffrey, vINTy and James Allen! That Minion club most likely would not have made the Playoffs! However... 7 weeks into the season, Mahatma's Minions showed no sign of any vulnerability (even with an injury forcing Faulk to sit out Weeks 6 and 7). But in Week 8 - with Minions Faulk, Canidate and IBruce sitting out their bye... Baby Brodz' Fighting Poopy Diapers showed everyone how to beat the Minions. Losses to BUBE and JJ followed in Weeks 10 and 12. And after romping their way through the quarters and semis, the Minions were all whooped out by the time Aglione Bowl XII came around. Clark's Dude was able to avenge a Week 2 dismantling (63-27) at Joebob's hands and snatch the Ags Bowl from the Minions (Joebob's 2nd consecutive Aglione Bowl defeat).
Pre: 5, 2; Reg Sea Rec: 3rd, Overall PPG: 7th, Post Sea Place: 3rd
Key Moment of Season: When Brad traded Priest Holmes back to Richard (for Kevin Johnson and Marvcus Pollard). Priest scored 81 pts over the last 7 weeks to help Richard get over Edgerrin's injury - and finish 3rd (in the regular season and postseason).
Comments: After finishing last and 8th in RFL2k in RB and WR pts respectively, Richard switched his point of emphasis this season - finishing 3rd and last. CEnis and NKaufman toted the rock for TET. HaHT's RBs were Edgerrin, Priest and LaDainian. RMoss and Keyshawn caught the rock for TET. MWestbrook, CBradford and OGadsden got the most WR starts for HaHT. Richard's interesting Draft strategy was to pick 2 QBs (BFavre and RGannon) in the first 3 rounds. When Edgerrin got hurt, Richard was able to get LaDainian from Wang for Gannon. But by waiting until round 6 to start grabbing WRs (JJStokes in 6, JGalloway in 8, JMorton in 9), Richard was never able to recover at that position. Getting Priest in round 4 (after CGarner and TWheatley) was quite a find. Richard also nabbed 2nd-team all-RFL TE MPollard in round 11 (but kind of wasted 5th round on FWycheck - when JRice, DJackson and JThrash were available).
Pre: 13, 5; Reg Sea Rec: 5th, Overall PPG: 5th, Post Sea Place: 7th
Key Moment of Season: Having DCulpepper get hurt in Week 12. Boobies! had been somewhat of a contender until that point, but became pretenders overnight.
Comments: The 2nd key moment in Cals' season was the decision to go with TPinkston as GCrowell's replacement - starting from Week 6. Crowell scored 15 pts in his last 2 starts. From Week 6 through Week 13, Pinkston went scoreless in 8 starts. After teasing with 12 pts in Weeks 14 and 15, Pinkston resumed putting up goose-eggs in the last 2 weeks. Cals' starters coming out of the Draft (DCulpepper, GHearst, TAllen, THolt, GCrowell, BFranks and DAkers) looked quite strong - especially with GHearst running well and Bubba blossoming into a fine, TD scoring machine TE. MAlstott filled in well at RB #2 when TAllen went down. But... as was mentioned above, Cals was not able to find adequate replacements for Culpepper and Crowell. Boobies! got off to a 3-5 start, but finished the regular season 5-1 to nab the #5 seed. Unfortunately for Cals, the #4 seed (quarterfinal opponent) was the Aglione Bowl-destined Dude. Cals then suffered his 1st-ever loss to Wang in the losers' bracket - before recovering to beat Ali in Week 17.
Pre: 7, 3; Reg Sea Rec: 12th, Overall PPG: 14th, Post Sea Place: 16th
Key Moment of Season: The morning after the Draft. When JoePa did not experience a ''Groundhog Day''-type effect (giving him a chance at a Draft do-over), JoePa was stuck with the bed he'd made.
Comments: 3rd rounder Aaron Brooks showed flashes of brilliance - making him the latest in the line of ''athletic'' QBs-of-the-future. 6th rounder JWilkins finished the season as the 1st team All-RFL PK. 11th rounder BSchroeder showed signs that he will be a top-notch WR next season. Then there's the litany of Draft Day underachievers: FTaylor (1), MBennett (2), MMuhammad (4), MWestbrook (5), TBiakabutuka (7). Using 5 of your top 7 picks for so little production will doom you. JoePa seems to have developed a yearly ability to pick out which players will have their seasons completely disrupted due to nagging injuries and disgruntledness. The season got off to the expected start (a 55-35 scrub loss to Dude), and before you could say ''groin and hammies''... BKotC were 1-5. At 3-6, King JoePa sent in his final depth chart of Knights of African descent. After dropping further to 3-8, the BKs jousted their way back to respectability by winning the last 3 of the regular season. However... 3 straight losses in the postseason left JoePa 1 win shy of tying ''Bear'' Carroll on the all-time wins list. How do you finish last in RB pts? By getting 19 0's out of your 34 starting RB spots.
Pre: 4, 8; Reg Sea Rec: 4th, Overall PPG: 3rd, Post Sea Place: 1st
Key Moment of Season: Week 14 when the Dallas Cowboys broke Ricky Watters' ankle. Dude lost their 4th game in-a-row in Week 14, but Watters' misfortune meant Dude getting Shaun Alexander back into the starting lineup - just in time for the Playoffs.
Comments: Ahhh... the ironies of RFL! When early season injuries struck Dudes EMcCaffrey, EGeorge and DStaley, Clark lamented to the Commish that his season was doomed. It seemed only fitting that Dude would win Clark's first-ever Aglione Bowl thanks to an injury to someone else's RB - causing SAlexander to be reinserted into Dude's playoff starting lineup, and following up the regular season-ending 4-game skid with 3 wins in-a-row when it mattered most. The season started out relatively well for Clark (despite all the bangs and bruises) - as Dude checked in at 4-1 and 8-2 after 5 and 10 weeks. But after averaging 44.3 ppg through 10 weeks, Dude averaged a mere 28 ppg from Weeks 11-14 - as the QB position (1.5 ppg), EGeorge (21 pts in 4 starts), MBooker (3 pts in 3 starts), the TE position (0 pts) and Seabass (22 pts in 4 starts) all hit down cycles simultaneously. The postseason turnaround was dramatic. The KCollins/JFiedler QB rotation (9 ppg), SMack (30 pts in 2 starts over EGeorge), and #2 WRs (39 pts in 3 CConway/DJackson starts) picked up the slack for EGeorge (3 pts in 1 start), MBooker (9 pts in 3 starts), and the Seabass/RLindell PK duo (4 ppg).
Pre: 15, 9; Reg Sea Rec: 7th, Overall PPG: 12th, Post Sea Place: 8th
Key Moment of Season: After 4 RBs and Ali's Aglione Bowl XI-winning QB (DCulpepper) went in the first 5 picks of the Draft, Ali plunged headfirst into the twisted dementia that is being Randy Moss. So much talent, so much money, so little conscience.
Comments: Although Ali was able to bring a new QB to blossom (DMcNabb), SCBoP was doomed when their Draft Day gimp-RB-backups gambit failed. Counting on Shiv's poor track record in picking RBs (Terrell Davis and Tyrone Wheatley this year), Ali followed up TDavis' pick in the 2nd by picking Mike Anderson in the 3rd. And then 2 spots after Shiv took Wheatley in the 4th, Ali countered with his CGarner pick. TDavis was able to stay healthy enough (8 full games) to severly cramp MAnderson's style. And even though Wheatley sat out long stretches of the season, CGarner was only able to score 1 TD rushing (3 total). SCBoP's inability to bring in any established RB talent resulted in SCBoP getting 12 0's out of their 34 starting RB spots for the season. Ali also finished last in TE pts - as StAlexander, DJones and KBrady combined for a grand total of 9 pts. Despite all these negatives, Ali was able to pull his club into the Playoffs with the #7 seed. But Moss, TPrentice and KBrady got shutout in the quarters - as Joebob drubbed his Aglione Bowl XI conqueror 53-14.
Pre: 6, 13; Reg Sea Rec: 13th, Overall PPG: 8th, Post Sea Place: 9th
Key Moment of Season: Brodz handing over the reins to Baby Brodz right after the Draft.
Comments: With Baby Brodz getting his ''Baptism by fire,'' FPD got off to an expected poor start (2-5) through the 1st half of the season. 1st round pick Stephen Davis only had 24 pts through 7 starts (CDillon had 72 pts with the same # of starts). 3rd rounder Joe ''Sucks'' Horn only had 9 pts through the first 6 weeks of the season. Revolving doors existed at RB #2 (KBarlow, CBuckhalter, MPittman) and WR #2 (KRobinson, JPathon, JJurevicius, TTaylor, JGraham). Once settling on a more stable lineup for the 2nd half of the season, FPD still managed only a modest improvement (3-4). But the Diapers peaked at the right time - winning their final 3 games of the season - to claim the Scrub Bowl. 2nd rounder TGonzalez never quite shook a season-long slump - though he still made 1st team All-RFL (2nd year in-a-row). 4th rounder EGrbac basically set the ''Mendoza Line'' for lowest ppg for an ''every week'' QB (5.57 ppg in 14 starts; even TGreen averaged 5.8 ppg in 10 starts). But the postseason wins over JoePa, Shiv and Brad served as a most dire warning for the beginning of a 2-headed Brodzilla dynasty starting next season.
Pre: 1, 6; Reg Sea Rec: 16th, Overall PPG: 10th, Post Sea Place: 11th
Key Moment of Season: Terrell Davis goes down in Weeks 1 and 9.
Comments: '01-'02 was a most tumultuous season for Shiv and his Pimps de la Nast. After a relatively strong Draft (Foge #1, Cals #6), the young and impetuous Shiv made the most selfless offer of handing his top-ranked roster over to Wally. Cooler heads prevailed and such drastic (yet noble) measures were not necessary. But once the season started... Shiv was not rewarded by the RFL Gods. Through 9 weeks, Pimps de la Nast stood at 0-9! And only 1 of the losses was of the scrub variety (Week 3 61-59 loss to Cals). 1st round pick K Warner was indeed his outstanding self during this stretch - and 7th rounder R Longwell was PKing adequately. However, picks #2 through #6 (TDavis, CCarter, TWheatley, WChrebet and CLewis) were floundering miserably. When healthy, TDavis was running well... but he wasn't taking it to the house. TWheatley was injured and basically lost his touches to CGarner. CCarter and WChrebet were inexplicably unproductive. CLewis didn't blossom as many expected. Shiv never really solved his WR problems, but Jamel White and CLewis came alive down the stretch just enough to help Shiv finish 4-1 over the last 5 weeks.
Pre: 2, 12; Reg Sea Rec: 8th, Overall PPG: 9th, Post Sea Place: 4th
Key Moment of Season: Outdibsing Stan following Week 7 for Dominic Rhodes.
Comments: After 2 nondescript seasons since joining RFL, Gary was finally able to make a mark in the League. Thanks to the free agent callup of little-known Edgerrin backup Dominic and a revised playoff seeding tiebreaker rule, Gary was not only able to nab a postseason berth for the 1st time... he guided EGD to a stunning victory over Steamroller champion BUBE in the quarterfinals. Coming out of the Draft, Foge marveled at how Gary was able to get 2 strong RBs (JStewart and RWatters) after going QB (PManning) in the 1st round. As seems to be usually the case, Foge was wrong about the RBs. JStewart finished tied with the likes of MPittman and Maurice Smith at #21. RWatters was much worse - managing only 9 total pts in 3 starts. But thanks to the steady production of Manning, the callup of DRhodes (11th among RBs with only 10 starts), some timely production from the underachieving WR trio (AFreeman, IHilliard and KMcCardell), and average kicking from Nedney... Gary managed to finish the regular season at 7-7 (after 2-12 and 6-8 regular seasons in his 1st 2 tries) - and setup the #8 over #1 quarterfinal upset that has happened in 4 of the last 5 seasons.
Pre: 10, 14; Reg Sea Rec: 6th, Overall PPG: 6th, Post Sea Place: 6th
Key Moment of Season: Waiting until Round 9 to draft an ineffective MHasselbeck as the #1 QB - backed up by 12th rounder QCarter.
Comments: Could have had Kordell or ''The Snake'' in round 9, but Kevin has a valid point: Commish Wang should not have caved in to Former Commish Cals and his band of subversive followers regarding changing the QB bonus pt rule minutes before the Draft. Commish Wang tried to explain that some might have prepared for the Draft with the old QB pts rule embedded in their calculations (as Kevin apparently did), but no one stood their ground with Wang as he got overrun by the masses. Regardless of the rule change (and Kevin's horrendous start at QB - 9 goose-eggs in the first 12 games), Uffdalators got off to a terrific 8-3 start. Losses to HaHT, Pimps and EGD dropped Kevin to 8-6 and the #6 seed - where Uffdalators fell to HaHT in the quarterfinals. CDillon and RWilliams ran well for Kevin - forming the Honorable Mention All-RFL RB tandem. Tim Brown had a strong year overall, but faded badly down the stretch (6 pts in last 4 starts). AToomer also went downhill on Kevin, but Plaxico came on right about the same time. SSharpe and JCarney were average at their positions - leaving Kevin's last place finish in QB pts the primary culprit for a 9-8 season.
Pre: 9, 11; Reg Sea Rec: 10th, Overall PPG: 11th, Post Sea Place: 12th
Key Moment of Season: Losing 32-27 to Shiv's Pimps in Week 14. The loss cost John a Playoff berth (#7 seed) in his rookie season.
Comments: In John's rookie season, the Jersey Juggernauts experienced many of the highs (73 pts in 1 game; 3-0 scrub record) and lows (12 pts in 1st-ever game; 2 losses to Brad; repeatedly failing to surpass 30-pt plateau) it takes normal RFL GMs 3 or 4 seasons to encounter. The primary reason for these wild performance swings was the picking of the volatile MHarrison (2nd WR after Moss) with pick 11 of Round 1. John also picked scorching-hot/icy-cold JThrash in Round 6 - further adding to the combustion level of his squad. The WDunn pick in Round 2 seemed sound at the time, but clearly CDillon (picked by Kevin immediately after Dunn) ended up being the better performer (150 to 63 pts). Having Bettis fall into his lap in Round 4 was nice, but picking TGreen and vINTy in rounds 3 and 5 turned out to be most not-so-clever. Fueled by the WR duo, JJ scored 46+ pts 4 times (including the 2nd highest pt total of the season in a Week 9 73-30 crushing of HaHT). But also hindered by the WR duo, JJ also failed to score more than 22 pts 6 times! In the end, John's 8-9 finish was basically where Foge and Cals predicted he would be. Perhaps John also learned the lesson of sticking with an awful PK.
Pre: 8, 10; Reg Sea Rec: 15th, Overall PPG: 16th, Post Sea Place: 15th
Key Moment of Season: Silence in Draft HQs when Adam picked Jamal Lewis in Round 2. Perhaps someone could have immediately suggested that the clearly unprepared Adam take the season off.
Comments: Despite the fact that Adam drafted Jamal Lewis (2nd round) and Sylvester Morris (9) - 2 players well-known to be out for the season heading into the Draft, the Rappin' Rabbis still had enough of a core group of quality players (JGarcia, TBarber, MRobinson, EMoulds, FJones, OMare) to merit consideration as a playoff contender. Yes, we all understood that Adam was drafting on a cell phone while driving from DC to Leominster. But we knew that once he replaced JLewis and SMorris with free agents, he could very well hold his own. But once Adam moved to Israel, got married and went on his honeymoon - while neglecting to fix up his roster... RRR was destined for a bad end. While others were picking up the likes of DRhodes and KevJohnson, RRR was starting DChapman, TPrentice and MGreen at RB - and Az-Zahir Hakim at WR. JGarcia, Tiki and Mare could only do so much. By managing to beat HaHT, SCBoP and Pimps during the regular season, Adam avoided last place. And a win over JoePa in the avoid 16th place postseason game meant RRR finished last only in ppg.
Pre: 11, 4; Reg Sea Rec: 9th, Overall PPG: 4th, Post Sea Place: 13th
Key Moment of Season: 4-game bender from Week 2 through Week 5 (losses to Kevin, Ali, Joebob, Gary). Vesh's 1-4 start was too deep of a hole from which to recover.
Comments: Vesh tied Joebob for most Highest Scoring Team of the Week honors - as the Steamers ''won'' Weeks 1, 8 and 17. Vesh's 68 pt outburst in Week 1 seemed to indicate that Cals more so than Foge had Vesh's club pegged correctly. However, Vesh had quite a few weeks where he scored below the League average - demonstrating that while the Steamers were quite an explosive team... on average, this was a .500 team. 1st rounder BGriese was rendered mostly useless thanks to injuries to McCaffrey and RSmith. 2nd rounder Ahman tied for 3rd in RB scoring this season, but the #2 RB position was inadequately addressed with JJackson and Emmitt. When the WR duo of JSmith and TrBrown combined for 10+ pts, Vesh usually won. When they were contained, CS usually lost. EConwell was the free agent pickup who started 16 games for Vesh - and actually finished 6th in TE pts. 8th rounder Stover was usually reliable for at least 1 FG every week. The Steamers' season was the definition of the new playoff seed tiebreaker rule. At #4 in overall ppg (and with the 2nd stingiest D), you would have thought that Vesh contended for the Steamroller and the Aglione Bowl. But by floundering around between the white lines and finishing the regular season at 7-7, the Steamers failed to prove themselves worthy of a shot at any title (other than biggest underachiever).
Pre: 14, 15; Reg Sea Rec: 11th, Overall PPG: 13th, Post Sea Place: 14th
Key Moment of Season: 44-18 Week 10 loss to HaHT. Stan had just erased an 0-3 start with 6 straight wins. The loss to Richard was the start of a 2nd 3-game skid, Stan finished at 7-7, and missed the Playoffs.
Comments: Stan got off to his usual bad start (0-3 this year), but quickly turned his season around with 6 straight wins. However, once Jamal Anderson went down for the season (and JAllen lost his starting job to ATrain)... Stan went into every duel 2 slugs short of a full round. JamalA's understudy, Maurice Smith, was slightly below average for a 2nd RB, but Stan had Maurice as RB #1. The 2nd spot was manned by the likes of JRRedmond, NGoings, OGary, DMcAllister, LWarren, RDroughns, RAnderson, LCenters and BChristian. The list of #2 WRs was nearly equally appalling: DAlexander, BStokley, RGardner, JGalloway and TGlenn. DFlutie was not a QB capable of leading IS to the Playoffs - barely eclipsing EGrbac by averaging 5.6 ppg in 16 starts. The lone shining star for Invasive Species... TO. The 3rd WR taken in the Draft (2nd pick of Round 2)... TO outscored RMoss 159 to 105. And we still don't know why Stan didn't get TO the damn ball MORE! Stan's 1-4 finish to the regular season dropped IS from 5th to 11th - as IS finished 5th in the 5-way tie at 7-7. The Week 14 loss to Vesh so devastated IS that BCW drubbed the clearly hungover Species 70-22 in the quarters of the Scrub Bowl tourney.
Pre: 12, 7; Reg Sea Rec: 1st, Overall PPG: 2nd, Post Sea Place: 5th
Key Moment of Season: Correctly predicting in WIR 14 that Keyshawn vs. Alge would be the key to BUBE's quarterfinal contest against EGD. Unfortunately for Wang... Alge bested Keyshawn, and BUBE's run at a 16-1 season was kaput.
Comments: Although BUBE fell to EGD in the quarters, their additional below-average performances in Weeks 16 and 17 clearly showed that Wang had driven his squad too hard in winning their 13 regular season games. BUBE didn't have enough left to seriously contend with Dude or MM in the Playoffs. But thanks to claiming his first-ever Steamroller (and winning the last 2 postseason games), Wang was able to win the most RFL bucks. The keys for BUBE's strong season: drafting CMartin (1), DBoston (4), LTomlinson (6) and ATrain (11). LSmith (2) was kind of a bust, but Wang was able to deal him for not-as-much-of-a-bust DStaley. Keyshawn (3) had a terrific season catches and yardage-wise, but 1 TD?!? SMcNair (5) came on quite strong late, but he was long gone from Wang's roster by then. MGramatica (7) was a disappointment. BChamberlain (8) lived up to his preseason hype catch-wise, but Viking TD receptions were down across-the-board. Where the hell did JGeorge (9) go?!? Wang had to trade LaDainian for Gannon to shore up the QB position. Kevin Johnson (10) had the bounce back season Wang expected, but was part of the trade to sabotage HaHT's lineup in Week 7's matchup. And BGramatica (12)... the description ''clown'' comes to mind. Overall... a nice season, but nothing that compared to the Heirs to the Ayatollah of last year.
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RFL COMMISHES' FIRESIDE CHAT: Patrick Callery and David Wang
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League Founder, Commish #1, 3-Time Steamroller Champion, 3-Time Aglione Bowl Champion and most revered and beloved Guru-of-the-People Patrick Callery: Last year's ''Fireside Chat'' turned out embarassingly similar to a one-way interview. Let's foster a little better effort at interactive dialogue this year... fill in your blanks with some mindless chit-chat please!
Commish #2, 1-Time Steamroller Champion and 1-Time Aglione bowl Champion David Wang: Easy, Cals! You don't want to alienate your followers by being so overtly aloof! Question #1: What is your assessment of your new QB bonus points rule?
#1: I'd say the points rule has worked out with stunning success. Look at the SPL, the top QBs are up there with the top RBs where they belong. The value of a top-flight QB can no longer be misunderstood. Surely you, originally a doubter (and a stifler and obstructor of democracy), can see the wisdom of implementing that rule.
#2: Hindsight being 20-20, I would have to admit that the lowered bar for QBs helped keep overall RFL scoring from totally crashing this season. But this Greenspanning cannot continue every offseason - I think we've gone about as low as we should. Philosophically speaking... once we began rewarding RBs with 3 pts for hitting 50 yds, I suppose there was no reason to withhold 3 pts from QBs who hit the 200 yd mark. But ''stifler'' and ''obstructor''?!? Perhaps the same could be said of a stern - but loving and caring - father fostering the properly fair and disciplined environment in which his 15 young'uns can thrive. Do you have any rule changes in mind for next year?
#1: Next mission in the pursuit of RFL equity: 1 point per yard for tight ends. That should put an end to your rotisserie tight end league. Pick a guy and stick with him!
#2: Quite the contrary... TE scoring was up at an all-time high this year. You should know this best by hitting the jackpot with Booba Franks. And the emergence of TE studs like MPollard, CLewis, DClark, EConwell and BChamberlain - to join the ranks of TGonzalez, WWalls, SSharpe, FJones and JRiemersma - has virtually put to rest the past gripes about phasing out TEs. What do you think of the option to start a 3rd WR instead of a 2nd RB?
#1: I know there's some gathering sentiment for a rule like that. Philosophically I'm not opposed, but it seems like it could add to the Commissioner's weekly headaches. I'd probably vote no, but would stage no formal protest if it passed.
#2: Yes, allowing the start of a 3rd WR over a 2nd RB would add complexities to our weekly depth charts, but perhaps this added complexity would further benefit the ''more clever'' and ''not-as-lazy'' GMs of RFL.
#1: One protest I would have raised, had I known your cruel intentions, was that little barb with the playoff tiebreakers. I believe my position on that rule was made clear on the email discussion forum. I'd like to launch a campaign to rescind that amendment.
#2: Having a 5-way tie at 7-7 for the last 2 playoff spots was quite quirky, but the tiebreaker implementation (mirroring the NFL's established algorithm and published in black-and-white prior to the actual ''blessed event'') seemed to provide the most appropriate result - even though BUBE would have beaten SCBoP (instead of losing to EGD) in their quarterfinal game had last year's tiebreaker rules still been in place. Head-to-head is so much more relevant than total pts scored. If we want to base RFL purely on scoring pts, we could go without head-to-head matchups each week. The top 8 scoring teams would get wins; the bottom 8 each week would get a loss. I remember Gary playing in a league where you got a head-to-head matchup each week AND another win or loss based upon whether you finished in the top or bottom half in each week's scoring.
#1: What other legislative trickery do you have up your sleeve for next year?
#2: It should go without saying that the Commish's Office would prefer not to ever project an image of being ''tricky,'' but controversies inevitably crop up on a yearly basis. The prime directive of the Commish's Office is clear: ''Rule with an iron fist - and a cuticle of fairness.'' How about a ''homefield advantage'' for higher seeds in the playoffs (i.e., 1 pt per difference in seed. e.g., #2 Minions would have had a 2-pt advantage over #4 Dude in the Ags Bowl)?
#1: All RFL games have historically been played at neutral sites. No need to throw in yet another wrench! I see such a rule may have allowed you to win your scrub semi game against Boobies! outright, instead of leaving that big ugly bench points asterisk.
#2: Now that the barn door is open, I foresee a long history of house dominance for Wang over Callery - ''homefield advantage'' or not; asterisk or not. How did you feel after losing to me for the first time ever?
#1: Dave, that was a pretty scrappy victory. If I played ''Wang-style'' offense and cut all my scrubs (and my roster is STACKED with scrubs) and replaced them with kickers, I would have obliterated you on the bench points. But I didn't, so that's life. Congratulations on your bittersweet consolation.
#2: Someone *else* sounds like the Mr. Bitterman here! And I take offense to the remark about filling my roster with PKs. I never had more than 2 PKs on my roster for any game this season. But if you want to keep DCulpepper (out for the season), TPinkston (*bad*), FSanders (worse) and Scotty Anderson (absolute zero) on your roster... I think the RFL Gods did you a favor in pointing out that this ''strategy'' cost you a game. Speaking of bad strategies... what happened to the Vikes this year?
#1: Two words: Re Building. Emphasis on ''Re.'' Do you know the Vikes were in the playoffs 8 of the last 9 years, and never had a losing record? Best damn team of the 90's. The reason they never won a title is because of that lousy defense. Denny Green is a good coach/overlord, but he never focused on defense. You can't win with Orlando Thomas taking nosedives in the general vicinity of open-field ball carriers. We need to bring back Tony Dungy.
#2: I thought the Team of the 90's was the Steamrollers of Aglione and Snehal. Then again... the DALLAS COWBOYS did win the most Super Bowls (3) in the 90's. All I know is... if I had Randy Moss on my team, his only complaint would be having too many balls thrown his way! Speaking of Mr. Moss (and I don't mean Santana)... plus or minus?
#1: Moss is a plus. Sure he's a baby, and a pouter, and a half-ass effort, and he's certainly no team leader. Just let him do his thing and don't allow the young, impressionable players to be distracted by his fussing. You just need a guy like Carter to keep the rest of the team focused. Enough about the Vikings. I'm not hearing anyone so eager to shout out the joys of Dallas Cowboy fandom these days, you know.
#2: Ahhh... my beloved 'Boys. Yes, Dallas is in the midst of reconstructing. Any sane person would have expected the Cowboys to have a legitimate shot at going winless this past season. For the Cowboys to win 5 (including wins over WA, NYG and SF) was a most pleasant surprise - and a testament to the effort they put out (on most weeks). We'll try to get Emmitt his rushing yardage record next season, we'll rebuild around QCarter and RLeaf (because you know you need 2 *quality* QBs to win in the NFL), and we'll win our record-setting 6th Super Bowl by the end of this decade. But enough about my 'Boys, Todd Pinkston... please explain.
#1: Hey, cut some slack on Pinkston. It's not too much different than having Keenan Ivory-McCardell or Ike Hilliard in the starting lineup every week. Honestly though, Dave, I fear I am becoming your nemesis in terms of roster management. I had a weakness at WR and couldn't seem to muster the effort to probe the ranks for an adequate replacement. Do you think RFL is losing truly dedicated GMs as we grow old and gray, or is it just me?
#2: Yes, I was quite disappointed in your inability to upgrade your non-THolt WRs. You could have picked up Plaxico Burress instead of FSanders. You could have picked up JJ Stokes to replace SAnderson. 9/11 was the day you replaced MHatchette with TPinkston... Kevin Johnson and Marty Booker were available right around that time. Why were you unable to pickup better WRs? Perhaps we could all look to Brad as an example... successful career, great wife and 3 kids, solid athlete, committed RFL GM. Perhaps we should all aim to lead such balanced lives. Aside from GMs with ADD, what is the biggest problem in RFL now?
#1: Dissention in the ranks! What's this about splitting the league? All these new ''Wang recruits'' of recent years.... Gary, JoePa, John P, Brad... at least we know Richard exists. But then again he may just be a pawn of your mental regime of terror. I think the rest of them are your family of schizophrenic alter-egos, vying to keep the whole league nice and tidy within your own imagination. The ultimate ''fantasy'' football. Come on, it's true, isn't it?!?!
#2: Wow! I didn't know you had that magnitude of deductive reasoning power
in you, Cals! Yes... Gary, JoePa, John and Brad (and Tim, too) are all alter egos
of mine. We essentially played this past season with 12 GMs. I was running
EGD, BKotC, JJ and BCW - as well as BUBE.
Regarding EGD... I always wanted to try picking a QB in Round 1 (PManning).
Picking JStewart in Round 2 must have given me away. And then when the Playoffs
came around, I figured my chances were better with EGD... so I had BUBE take a dive.
Regarding BKotC... that was the Mississippi riverboat gambler in me - picking FTaylor,
MBennett and Aaron Brooks in the 1st 3 rounds. The picks that must've given me
away were MWestbrook, TBiakabutuka and JRiemersma. I was having flashbacks to that
Buffs-Wolverines game we attended. If only Rashaan Salaam was still in the League!
The JJ... not my best Draft work. Picking 2 mediocre QBs (TGreen, 3rd and vINTy, 5th)
in the 1st 5 rounds was admittedly ridiculous. And I couldn't resist nabbing my protege
JThrash in Round 6.
Last, but certainly not least... the BCW. I always wanted to see if I could surpass
Vesh's Draft leftover team from '97. And seeing as how no one will trade with me, I figured
(correctly!) that people would trade with ''Brad.''
Regarding splitting the League in 2, quite frankly... the less-than-committed effort
from a segment of GMs really bums me out at times. At a minimum, I would appreciate a d
chart email each week from each GM (even if it's simply to confirm that the d chart is staying the same). Having each GM attach a witty and/or
insightful comment to the weekly d chart (for all GMs to read and enjoy) would make me ecstatic.
Obviously, we're not seeing anything even close to those low
expectations. Maybe the new guys are intimidated by the established old school. Maybe
the old guys are overly resentful towards the young guns. Whatever it
is... the system is on the verge of breaking. And some have said it
before, ''Wang is usually the 1st rat off a sinking ship.'' I see a
gleaming new ship wrapping up construction in dry dock. I see myself
helming that ship - with a crew dynamic more conducive to uninhibited
communication. We'll see what happens this offseason. If our pool of GMs
grows to 24+, perhaps we'll be able to split into 2 leagues. If we don't have
enough GMs for 2 leagues, how many current GMs would I need to cut out
- in the ''Spirit of RFL'' - to get us back down to 16?
************************************************************
RFL'01 Weekly High Scorers
Week 1: Vesh (CS) - 68
Week 2: Joebob (MM) - 63
Week 3: Wang (BUBE) - 64
Week 4: Kevin (Uffda) - 55
Week 5: Cals (Boobs) - 71
Week 6: Stan (IS) - 54
Week 7: Kevin (Uffda) - 64
Week 8: Vesh (CS) - 56
Week 9: John (JJ) - 73
Week 10: Brad (BCW) - 58
Week 11: Adam (RRR) - 52
Week 12: Wang (BUBE) - 58
Week 13: Richard (HaHT) - 60
Week 14: Joebob (MM) - 65
Week 15: Brad (BCW) - 70
Week 16: Joebob (MM) - 74
Week 17: Vesh (CS) - 67
Who Scored What?
Below is one numerical representation of the scoring in the
01-02 RFL season - broken down by position (RFL2k, RFL'99 numbers in
parentheses).
QBs: 34 guys, 1952 pts /16 /17 = 7.18 ppg per QB (5.85, 5.15)
RBs: 58 guys, 3171 pts /32 /17 = 5.83 ppg per RB slot (7.01, 3.84)
WRs: 58 guys, 2608 pts /32 /17 = 4.79 ppg per WR slot (4.99, 2.97)
TEs: 23 guys, 637 pts /16 /17 = 2.34 ppg per TE (1.85, 1.29)
PKs: 29 guys, 1782 pts /16 /17 = 6.55 ppg per PK (7.02, 7.02)
Clearly, QB pts made the expected jump following the last minute rule change rewarding them for hitting the 200-yd mark.
The dip in RB pts is kind of hard to understand. There was no sense that this year's GMs were any less attentive to their RB situations compared to the past, so there must've been a similar overall dropoff in the NFL.
If RMoss had performed as ''expected,'' there would not have been this minor dip in WR pts.
The TEs (other than TGonzalez) came on this year.
It was a bad year for PKs.
QB1 = 187 pts k warner (167, 121)
QB16 = 33 pts c batch (39, 33)
.........154 pt diff (128, 88)
warner outscored y2k leader (d culpepper) by 20 pts, and there was a steep dropoff between QB #14 (tgreen) and #15 (tbrady) - leading to the much wider gap between #1 and #16.
RB1 = 242 pts m faulk (265, 153)
RB16 = 75 pts l smith (111, 54)
.........167 pt diff (154, 99)
faulk was off 23 pts from last season, and there was a bigger dropoff (36 pts) between the #16 RBs from last season to this. it was a bad season regarding getting consistent production from the top RBs.
RB17 = 63 pts w dunn (111, 51)
RB32 = 36 pts t wheatley (33, 18)
..........27 78 pt diff (78, 33)
the 2nd tier of RBs were much more equally horrendous this season.
WR1 = 159 pts t owens rmoss (155, 110)
WR16 = 63 pts c carter keyjohnson (75, 36)
..........96 pt diff (80, 74)
TO breaks RMoss' 1-year-old record for WR pts.
WR17 = 63 pts b schroeder jhorn (72, 33)
WR32 = 27 pts m westbrook jgreen (24, 18)
..........36 pt diff (48, 15)
the 2nd tier of WRs was pretty equally subpar this season - and people would rather start a 3rd WR over a 2nd RB?!?
TE1 = 71 pts t gonzalez (99, 72)
TE16 = 18 pts d sloan (6, 6)
.........53 pt diff (93, 66)
TonyG scored 28 less than last year, but overall TE scoring was up - and more balanced.
PK1 = 127 pts j wilkins mstover (135, 145)
PK16 = 59 pts j hall dbrien (65, 73)
..........68 pt diff (70, 72)
PK production inexplicably dropped over 100 pts this year (from 1909, 1910 in RFL2k and RFL'99).
Below is the ranking of each franchise in terms of overall scoring by
position.
QB | RB | WR | TE | PK |
---|---|---|---|---|
shiv 196 | joebob 344 | john 240 | brodz 71 | joebob 132 |
adam 172 | wang 303 | stan 207 | brad 63 | joepa 131 |
gary 164 | rich 290 | joebob 206 | cals 54 | cals 126 |
joepa 148 | kevin 285 | ali 198 | rich 48 | rich 125 |
cals 140 | clark 270 | kevin 195 | stan 48 | kevin 117 |
wang 136 | cals 237 | vesh 195 | joebob 42 | vesh 115 |
ali 132 | vesh 237 | clark 192 | clark 42 | brad 114 |
rich 130 | brodz 191 | wang 189 | shiv 42 | clark 114 |
joebob 114 | gary 174 | brodz 165 | kevin 39 | shiv 113 |
vesh 109 | john 144 | joepa 149 | vesh 39 | gary 113 |
brad 105 | brad 138 | cals 135 | wang 39 | wang 111 |
clark 99 | ali 131 | gary 121 | adam 33 | adam 104 |
brodz 90 | shiv 123 | shiv 111 | joepa 30 | brodz 102 |
stan 90 | stan 110 | brad 108 | john 20 | stan 94 |
john 76 | adam 104 | adam 104 | gary 18 | ali 88 |
kevin 51 | joepa 90 | rich 93 | ali 9 | john 83 |
QB | KURT WARNER (Pimps de la Nast, GM Shivan Desai) | 187 |
RB | MARSHALL FAULK (Mahatma's Minions, GM Joseph Pynadath) | 242 |
SHAUN ALEXANDER (Dude, GM Clark Goebel) | 171 | |
WR | TERRELL OWENS (Invasive Species, GM Stan Wilson) | 159 |
MARVIN HARRISON (Jersey Juggernauts, GM John Park) | 153 | |
TE | TONY GONZALEZ (Fighting Poopy Diapers, GM Dave Brodkin - who else?) | 71 |
PK | JEFF WILKINS (Black Knights of the Charles, GM Joe Parker) | 127 |
QB | JEFF GARCIA (Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids, GM Adam Marlin) | 172 |
RB | PRIEST HOLMES (Having a Hard Time, GM Richard Aguilera) | 162 |
AHMAN GREEN (Cleveland Steamers, GM Joshua Veshia) | 162 | |
WR | ROD SMITH (Mahatma's Minions, GM Joseph Pynadath) | 128 |
DAVID BOSTON (Brooding Unicorn Blithe Elephant, GM David Wang) | 120 | |
TE | MARCUS POLLARD (Blue Collar Workers, GM Brad Nall) | 63 |
PK | MIKE VANDERJAGT (Having a Hard Time, GM Richard Aguilera) | 125 |
QB | PEYTON MANNING (Everyone Go Deep, GM Gary Eigen) | 161 |
RB | COREY DILLON (Uffdalators, GM Kevin Archibald) | 150 |
RICKY WILLIAMS (Uffdalators, GM Kevin Archibald) | 123 | |
WR | RANDY MOSS (Short-Changed Bastards of Persia, GM Ali Eslambolchi) | 105 |
TIM BROWN (Uffdalators, GM Kevin Archibald) | 105 | |
TE | BUBBA FRANKS (Boobies!, GM Patrick Callery) | 54 |
PK | JASON ELAM (Mahatma's Minions, GM Joseph Pynadath) | 124 |
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 | ||
#3 HaHT 32 | ||
#6 Uffda 24 |
I hope everyone enjoyed the 01-02 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 2002 season!
-#2
©1999-2002 RFL Inc.
All rights reserved.
Revised: January 23, 2002