December 30, 2008  Firecats hang-on for the'08 Title - Captain Orange gave it a run but the lead was a little too much to overcome and the Firecats prevail for the 2008 Championship! The Cats join C.O. and Moon's Dogs as two-time winners. Captain Orange won for the week, secured the runners-up share and made the Firecats sweat a little later in the day (thanks to the Tony Romo anihilation by the Birds). Jake Dog fell back to third and had to hold off a last surge from the T-Men as Cutler came up a little short in the night cap. The Osprey was in the money from Week 2 through Week 13 but when he fell down, he couldn't get up and settled for 5th Place. The Fishkiller does get some benefit from the Kurt Warner trade by winning the last $10 of the season. D&Z Express finished off the top half of the standings for 2008.

It may be time to re-christen the "Battle for the Barrel" to simply "Buddha's Barrel" as the Bandits complete the three-peat and will be purchasing the piwo again at the 2009 Draft. It was a spirited fight until the end but the Freeland Foo Fighters were no match for the experienced ineptitude of Buddha. The Matt Cassel juggernaut got derailed in the Buffalo wind and blew away any chance of a happy ending. Hopefully all the girls of the Pazdon house will comfort Buddha at this low popint in his fantasy career. If not, go to the ballet!

Payouts will be posted when I get the info from the Treasurer. The History and Scoring tabs have been updated with this season's stats. Some interesting facts:

1) 2008 was only the second time that all money winners had > 900 points.

2) Draft position #4 is a charm. For the third time in five years, that team has won the title (2nd and 6th won the other two). Only once in the seven years I saved data has a team in the lower half won (#11 in '03).

3) JB Rex had the 1st and 3rd highest scoring QB's. Trading is allowed!

4) Of the Top 10 at each position, there are very few repeaters from 2007 but those that were, are fantasy stalwarts:

QB: Only 4 of 10 the same as '07. P. Manning in Top 10 7 of last 7 and Drew Brees 5 of 5 (Romo and Favre the others).

RB: 3 of 10 but all money backs. Tomlinson 7 of 7, Westbrook 5 of 6 and Jones-Drew all 3 years in the league.

REC: Again only 4 of 10 with Moss 5 of 6, Owens 5 of 7 and Fitzgerald 3 of 4 (Jennings was the fourth repeater).

DEF: More reliability here with 5 of 10. Da Bears are 4 of last 5 with Tennessee and San Diego at 3 in a row (Green Bay and Minnesota were the other two).

Hope you had a good year playing. Obviously more rewarding for me this year with the title but I always have fun. Also was a good year for league members favorite teams with the Phillies and Giants winning championships, the Cougars going far in the post season again and now a great playoff line-up as the Vikes, Eagles and Giants are all on a collision course (sorry Jets and Cowboys - blecch). Should be fun. Thanks again to the Webmaster for keeping things (within her control) running smoothly. She's already looking for a more reliable hosting site. As always, suggestions for site improvements are welcome. Have a Happy New Year and cheer on PSU on Jan 1.

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December 9, 2008  D&Z Express's relief at Week 14 win - D&Z Express posted a big number Sunday afternoon that was just enough to survive an unexpectedly high scoring Monday Night affair. The T-Men and Jake Dog chased him down with their Panthers but the WHHS Cross-Country great was able to outlast them at the finish line. D&Z's balanced attack (which would have been even better with a Thursday Night Jackson play) led him to his first cash of the year. An astute DEF change by the T-Men to Arizona netted him half of the high scoring player money. The $10 was shared with Moon's Dogs' Westbrook, who had > 30 again at the expense of the G-Men. The boys can buy each other a beer between games at Hershey. If Pierce left the nightclub as slow as he ran after Westbrook, Burress would have bled to death.

A little shake-up in the standings with some teams laboring. The Firecats are starting to suck wind down the stretch but still hold onto a shrinking lead. The surging T-Men are trying to repeat like the Giants and have passed Captain Orange for the second spot. With a mere four points between them, should make for an interesting Sunday of scoreboard watching at M&T Bank Stadium. The Osprey may be out of gas as he crapped the bed for the second time in three weeks and has been left behind by Jake Dog with D&Z and MoonDog closing in fast. Big Daddy might want to pop a few of them Veevaron's to get that last surge of energy at the end. Still a lot to be decided.

The other West Hazleton Harrier legend remains in the basement. Buddha's Bandits is now chasing the Jetson as the Foo Fighter has gained some separation with a fifth place finish this week. Last year at this time, Buddha had an 82 point hold on last, so it will be a little more interesting this year with only two TD's to make up.

This week the Drop/Add curse jumped to the T-Men as his Peyton Hillis investment went the way of Enron before the end of the first half.

Besides the tied high scorers, only one other player broke 20 points (the mailgned Phillip Rivers).

Hopefully the beat down by the Birds on the Giants will only be a wake-up call and not an omen. When New York loses this year, they really don't mess around and get crushed soundly.

Looking forward to Penn State versus USC. Should be a closer and more exciting game than Oregon State. I couldn't picture the spread of the Beavers but it was probably going to be wide (don't laugh at me, laugh at Kosler).

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December 2, 2008  Moon's Dogs get a shot in the arm (thigh?) in Week 13 - It was merely a flesh wound (name the movie) but it ended up giving Moon's Dogs the weekly prize. There was such a stink about Packin' Plaxico Burress that even Moonie heard about it. He uncharacteristically changed his line-up and got 9 points from Reverend Bruce which was enough to shade the Ospreys and Jetsons by 1 measly point. The Dog was able to sweep the cash (only 5th time that has happened this season) with the annual Brian Westbrook one week scoring feast. Hope he got it out of his system and takes it easy on the G-Men. Scoring was way down due to the weather as Moonie's total would have gotten him 8th Place last week (but the money still spends).

Despite a Captain Orangesque Turkey Day point total, the Firecats were only able to hang near the top of the pack at week's end. This was enough for the Cats to distance themselves a little further from the turmoil in the chase pack. Captain Orange maintains second place but the Canadian Angling Society (Heavyweight Division) are trying to reel him in. The Osprey leapfrogged back ahead of the T-Men (how's your back?) as both made up ground on C.O. Still within striking distance are the Dogs, Jake and Moon but it's getting late for D&Z Express and JB Rex.

In the basement, the inevitable has occured with Buddha's Bandits assuming his rightful place in the standings. Even though it looks like the Jetson has packed it in, his lack of a line-up change got him a 2nd place weekly finish and a jump to 10th Place. It's still a three team race with the Freeland Foo Fighters in the mix but we all know when it comes to having the heaviest of weights on top of you, Joe will always end up on the bottom in love (at the shore) and fantasy football.

Beware whoever Captain Orange picks-up this week: You are destined for an immediate crippling injury. First Ryan Torain, then Felix Jones and now Derek Anderson. Please don't bid on Hixon!!

Last week fourteen, this week six players with > 20 points. Stat to remember: Bad weather not necessarily good for the DEF/ST. Highest scoring Dee this week was 17 points. Last week, six had more than that.

Got a kick out of Al Michaels trying to defend the crappy refereeing in the Bears-Vikes game by extolling the head ref as working in the Super Bowl. Then he said it was Pittsburgh-Seattle which was the single most horribly officiated game of all time. Hope Al isn't a character witness for Plaxico or he'll end up on death row.

I am hopeful that the Giants do to the Eagles what the Phillies have done to the Mets the last two years: Slap them back into reality and put them out of their misery. Followed in a week by knocking those arrogant-again bastard Cowboys around. Then take a nice vacation, you deserve it.

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November 25, 2008  Winning Week 12 was anything but a Snap(per) - As we approach Thanksgiving, the downtrodden should be shown our sympathy and kindness. In the ACFFL World, that means the Snappers get to win their first cash of the season. It wasn't easy as that well known party pooper Captain Orange, (having a need to start buying diapers again for other poop) tried to steal all the cash with Drew Brees. After an unfathomable Saints two point conversion call failed, the Snapper had enough for the one point victory. C.O. had to settle for the $10 (for the third time) with Brees, taking it out of the pocket of fellow Hoser Buddha's Bandits and his wise Matt Cassell play. Here's hoping that the Snapper has the same luck in the woods come early next week.

Good scoring to go with the record setting points week of the NFL. That is, all but last week's juggernaut the Ospreys. Seven teams broke 60 points (pretty sure that's a record), fourteen players had > 20 points (another record?) but last week's winner was turned upside down with a paltry 15 total. The Firecats hold onto the top spot for the eighth straight week. The Captain's Big Monday makes him the prime chaser followed by the surging 2007 Champion T-Men. Big Daddy's stumble drops him just behind Big Uncle with a pack of wannabees about 40 points out of the dollars, led by Jake Dog.

Big happenings at the bottom. There is a new tenant in the basement as the Jetsons continue to flounder at the low end of the weekly standings. The Freeland Foo Fighters say "Screw you, I'm outta here" with 66 points and jump to 10th Place, also ahead of Buddha. I'm guessing that if Jimmy was asked if he would trade the last place barrel buying for the J-E-T-S in the Super Bowl, he would have went for it. Well, he might be halfway there.

After hardly winning any weekly cash on the way to the championship last year, the T-Men have climbed to third without any winnings. The only others are the previously mentioned empty handed Buddha and D&Z Express (who was part of a three-way in Week 4 and forfeited his paltry winnings).

I use to just yell at the TV when the Giants or Penn State was playing but now with the lousy refereeing, I was screaming during the stinkin' Colts-Chargers. I can't believe how poor the refs are and I'm starting to recognize the real bad ones (like that #24 Head Linesman in the Colts game. First pass interference from the other side of the field and then a mark that was at least a yard wrong. Must be Peyton's uncle. Hope he does the Giants game this week).

PSU looked fantastic. Shame, shame, shame that they let that Iowa game get away. Would have been a fun party.

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