1997 FFL Week 8 Newsletter
This week's high scoring team: Yuck, with 37 points, NFC Norris has captured high points for the 2nd straight week. Iguanas and Highways had 34, Beer Spillers 33, Mystics, Swords and Bone Club 30. Parity ruled.
This week's stooge: Crawling King Snakes with 7--first ever sub 10 point game for the Snakes.
What's inside:
1. Letter from the Commish
2. Transactions
3. Week 8 Recaps & Boxscores
4. The Swami Sez
5. Power Rankings
6. Schedule
7. Rosters
Letter from the Commish:
Congratulations once again go out to PMS who, for the third straight year, took time out from their annual team outing to Las Vegas to phone in their starting lineup on Sunday morning prior to Week 7.
If the Cowboys keep playing as sadly as they have been, Troy Aikman's value could soar. After all, playing from behind does wonders for a quarterback's number of attempted passes which, of course, leads to many yards. Here's hoping Aikman sets a single season team record for attempted passes.
The Iguanas are interested in some wheeling and dealing between now and the playoffs for any of you who are equally interested in making a trade. They wanted really badly to share some of their trade thoughts and possible current discussions but couldn't afford to tip their hands. Of course, the Commish has no worldly idea why that would be. It's not as if he would go off and tell GM Wassem of the Natural Mystics. After all, the Mystics already have a full roster of talent. But what can you do? This has been a public service announcement.
"If I lose to two women, I'm going to have to quit", says Coach Schmitz. He and Coach Will played PMS and April's Supercuts this weekend after each had lost in Week 6 to the female owners. Week 8, they flip flopped opponents. Schmitz won; again, Will did not.
The waiver wire was active prior to Week 7 but not until later in the week. The trend continued in Week 8 as only a few Wednesday pickups were made. With the bye weeks nearing an end, the Commish anticipates rosters becoming more stable down the stretch with the exception of trades or injuries. Keep in mind that the trading deadline is at 12:00pm kickoff on Week 12. The waiver deadline is one week later.
Coach Wassem now knows what it feels like to be in the shoes of the Bone Club and the Strange Highways. After suffering their first loss of the season, Wassem received calls of taunting from Coach Will and Coach Widtfeldt before the night was over. Wassem found it amusing that two teams with a combined 6-10 record could find the Mystics’ loss so satisfying. After all, at 7-1, the Mystics are still tied with PMS for the best record in the league. I suppose the old saying is correct: when you’re on top, there’s always someone who wants to bring you down to their level. When asked to comment, Coach Wassem chose to let Widtfeldt do all the talking. "It wouldn’t be the Mystical thing to do to get caught up in a pointless war of words," said Wassem. "We’ll just show up next Sunday for Week 9. Our aim has not changed, nor has it been derailed. The Highways were but a blip on our map to the playoffs."
Please check your point totals very carefully this week. The Commish slumbered throughout the weekend and may have missed something somewhere along the line. With the number of close games this week, he does not want to distort the standings. If you spot an error, please give him a call. Thanks.
Cayman Islands-(AP) Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the playing field, the Strange Highways show that things might not be so safe after all. The team that you love to hate, with the owner you love to hate. The Strange Ones show once again why they are the defending champions, knocking the previously unbeaten Natural Mystics from the ranks of the unbeaten. Led by newcomers Derrick Alexander and Yancy Thigpen, the Highways win 34-30. Owner and head coach Eric Widtfeldt attributed the victory to one key reason. "First and foremost, my team was inspired by the complete lack of respect shown to it by Coach Wassem" citing last week’s newsletter in which the Commish slammed the door on the Highways’ season, saying "No repeat this year for Widtfeldt’s boys" and that the Highways season was pronounced dead at 11:00pm Monday night. "Sometimes your team needs to hit rock bottom before finding its way back," said Widtfeldt after a Week 7 debacle against Hog’s Breath. While Coach Wassem tried to downplay the loss, saying "It’s only one loss, I’m still in the playoffs and I’ll be in Week 16, will you?" Well, you might just make the playoffs Coach Wassem, but will you win?? Coach Widtfeldt summed it up by saying, "This victory is for Coaches Will and Young. We all knew Wassem wanted to knock all three of us off our lofty perches since we are the only three to appear in title games." The Coach did have a parting shot for Coach Wassem, though.."In the words of Meatloaf..2 out of 3 ain’t bad Coach!!!!"
This also came through the wire over the weekend...
.
"Our release would have to do with "Bland To The Party". PMS took Coach Will’s strategy of not really needing a TE last week but throwing one on the table at the last minute. PMS didn’t really think that we needed a QB, but we threw one on at the last minute and almost had a ride on the gravy boat--not because of TD passes, but because Mr. Peete was only 10 yards short of a 300 yard game. We took Will’s strategy a bit further by using a TE for our UTIL and using a phantom WR from the Steelers--who decided to remain a phantom...without hurting the club in the least.
PMS wasn’t surprised that the "Defeated Party" missed out on points from OJ Santiago...after all last week Coach Will didn’t even know that the player was not a fragment of his imagination. Instead Coach Will decided to look Sharpe--who fell 4 yards short of even putting 2 points for yardage into the mix.
P-roperly
M-aintaining A
S-treak
Enough of Week 8. On to Week 9.
Go deep, I'll throw it! -The Commish
Mark---Stop here for reminders:
Drop/Adds begin Wednesdays at 6:00pm this year.
Wednesdays from 6:00pm-10:00pm are reserved for pickups based on low season point total.
First come/first serve drop/adds begin Wednesdays at 10:00pm.
All transactions are to be called in to 402-392-9749 and left on my voice mail for date/time stamping. This will serve as the official arbitrator of any disputes that may occur.
All lineups will be called in to 402-392-9749 for the same reasons.
To find out what lineup your opponent is using, either: call your opponent directly (remember to notify me of your starting lineups in any event-see above) or call me at 402-341-2674 after kickoff of the first weekly game.
I realize some trades are made at the last minute but, whenever possible, please notify me of any trades ASAP after they are made by leaving a voice mail at 402-392-9749.
Transactions:
10/15 Hog's Breath waive RB Rashaan Salaam and TE Ted Popson; add RB Stephen Davis and WR Willie Davis
10/15 Strange Highways waive QB Chris Chandler; add QB Kerry Collins and RB Ray Zellars
10/15 Palace of Swords waive D Buccaneers and WR Reidel Anthony; add D Chiefs and QB Elvis Grbac
10/15 Natural Mystics waive QB Tony Banks and RB George Jones; add K Scott Blanton and QB Trent Dilfer
10/16 NFC Norris waive D Lions; add D Raiders
10/16 Beer Spillers waive K Steve Christie; add TE Pat Clark
10/16 PMS waive K Kevin Butler and QB Ty Detmer; add WR Courtney Hawkins and QB Rodney Peete
10/16 Crawling King Snakes waive D Jaguars; add D Chargers
10/16 April's Supercuts waive RB Joe Aska; add D Giants
Week 8 Recap
Late TDs Secure 34-30 Upset Win For Highways
In one of the most see-saw games of the year, the Strange Highways defeated the Natural Mystics 34-30, ending the Mystics win streak at seven. The Natural Mystics, down 20-18 at one time, received 2 TD passes from QB Jeff George and a TD run on fourth down from the "Bus" to come from behind mid way through the second half. There was a Ki-Jana Carter sighting as he gave the Highways their 20-18 lead with a short TD run before George and Bettis went to work. The Mystics trailed earlier in the game but stayed close behind Terrell Owens' 2 TD catches. Owens appears to taking the role of #1 WR in San Francisco away from J.J. Stokes. He caught 6 balls for the day. Richie Cunningham scored 8 for the Highways to stake them their early edge. Yancy Thigpen added a late TD catch to keep the Highways close at 28-26. Then Derrick Alexander caught a Vinny Testaverde pass for a TD, giving the Highways the late win with 14 points in the last quarter of the game. A gracious winner always, Coach Widtfeldt made sure to call and yell on Coach Wassem’s voice mail, "I won so ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" When asked for a statement, Coach Wassem said, "Obviously, this was a big game for one of the teams out there today. No one likes to lose but we never expected to go 15-0. After eight games, the Mystics are still exactly where we want to be-playoff bound." The Strange Highways improve to 2-6, still only two games behind the Moe division leading Supercuts and Grande To The Party. The Mystics move to 7-1, still in control of the Larry division.
Natural Mystics 30 34 Strange Highways
George 08 QB 04 K Collins
Bettis 08 RB 06 K Carter
Biakabutuka 00 RB 00 Zellars
R Smith 00 WR 00 H Moore
T Brown 00 WR 06 Alexander
Wycheck 00 TE 00 Walls
Owens 12 U 08 Thigpen
Blanton 02 K 08 Cunningham
Cowboys 00 D 02 Patriots
With Starters Sitting, PMS Wins Seventh In Row
PMS came back from an early 12-0 deficit behind Keenan McCardell's 8 points and Rickey Dudley's TD catch to spank Grande To The Party 31-12. Napoleon Kaufman contributed 100 yards rushing in the first half for the PMS bunch and over 200 yards for the day. The Party was unable to take advantage of the absence of five PMS starters despite the early heroics of its backfield, Emmit Smith and Anthony Johnson. Each tallied a first half TD for Grande. It was Emmitt's first TD in, ah Christ, who can remember? PMS raises its record to 7-1, including wins in seven straight now. Grande once again fails to take advantage of opportunity within the Moe division, dropping to a mediocre 4-4, still in a first place tie with April's Supercuts and now but one game ahead of the fast charging Bone Club. Will, however, seemed unperturbed by the loss, choosing instead to call Coach Wassem and make a feeble attempt at stirring the proverbial pot after the Natural Mystics loss to the Strange Highways.
PMS 31 18 Grande To The Party
Peete 00 QB 00 Marino
Kaufman 09 RB 06 Em-mutt
Wheatley 00 RB 06 A Johnson
McCardell 08 WR 00 Bruce
Hawkins 00 WR 00 McDuffie
Dudley 06 TE 00 Sharpe
J Dunn 00 U 00 Chrebet
N Johnson 08 K 06 Blanchard
Steelers 00 D 00 Cardinals
Norris Spotted 25 Early; Barely Hold On To Win
The Greenback Iguanas spotted the NFC Norris an early 25 point lead before making a late charge behind RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s 20 point outing only to fall late to the Norris on a John Elway TD pass to Ed McCaffrey, 37-34. The importance of this game was measured in the fact that the Iguanas entered the game in possession of the wild card with the NFC Norris a game back. A Norris win would tie the teams up and give the Norris the tiebreaker by virtue of a win. The Norris jumped to an early lead behind the 14 points of Eddie George and a Ben Coates TD reception. K Adam Vinatieri chipped in for five more. A last second John Elway TD pass added four points and gave Elway 300 yards passing on the day. The Iguanas record falls to 5-3, ending a three game winning strak while the Norris go to 5-3 and gain a game on the Mystics in the Larry division standings. These two teams are now tied for the wildcard with the Norris holding the tiebreaker.
Greenback Iguanas 34 37 NFC Norris
Testaverde 06 QB 06 Elway
Jabbar 20 RB 00 J Stewart
Thomas 00 RB 14 E George
Keyshawn 00 WR 00 M Jackson
T Martin 00 WR 00 Sanders
Asher 00 TE 06 Coates
L Thomas 00 U 00 G Hill
Hanson 08 K 05 Vinatieri
Broncos 00 D 06 Raiders
Swords Show Life As Elvis Enters The Building
The Palace of Swords weren't pretty but for one day, Coach Pedersen could have kissed them nevertheless as his Swords fought out a 24-3 victory over the suddenly impotent Crawling King Snakes. The Snakes' offense has gone into sudden hibernation as they were held to a single Scott Mitchell TD pass in Week 8 after only scoring 12 points in Week 7. The Snakes' other points came from K Gary Anderson. This is the first time in league history that the King Snakes have scored less than 10 points in a game, coming one week after the feat befell April’s Supercuts. For the Swords, the story was new (starting?) QB Elvis Grbac, who entered the building and scored 14 Thursday night against the Chargers. Jamal Anderson accounted for six on a halfback pass and K Al Del Greco added four more. The Swords improve to 3-5 on the year while the King Snakes fall to 3-5 and losers of four in a row.
Crawling King Snakes 07 30 Palace of Swords
Mitchell 04 QB 14 Grbac
Faulk 00 RB 00 C Martin
B Morris 00 RB 00 A Smith
Irvin 00 WR 00 A Reed
Pickens 00 WR 06 Morton
Drayton 00 TE 00 McGee
Stokes 00 U 06 J Anderson
G Anderson 03 K 04 Del Greco
Jaguars 00 D 00 Chiefs
Bone Club Comes From Behind To Clean Breath
Bone Club fell behind early 14-2 then fought back behind Barry Sanders' 8 points, an Adran Murrell TD run and 2 Kordell Stewart touchdown passes to pull out a close one against the pesky Hog's Breath 30-28. Steve Young got Hog’s Breath out in front early with a pair of TD passes to Terrell Owens. Jimmy Smith caught a touchdown as did Ed McCaffrey with only a couple minutes left in the game to salvage the tie after the Bone Club had made their comeback from 14-2. K Olindo Mare tacked on 6 points for Hog’s Breath. The Bone Club, at 3-5, trails the leaders in the Moe division by one game with seven to play, including three division games, meaning anything can still happen for the Bone Club. Hog's Breath falls to 2-6, alone in the Larry division cellar, five games behind the front running Natural Mystics.
Hog's Breath 28 30 Bone Club
Young 08 QB 08 Stewart
S Davis 00 RB 06 Murrell
Bates 00 RB 08 B Sanders
J Smith 06 WR 00 Glenn
McCaffrey 06 WR 00 CT Jones
Brady 00 TE 00 Bjornson
J Lewis 02 U 02 Hearst
Mare 06 K 06 Hall
Eagles 00 D 00 Jets
Beer Spillers Snap Five Game Skid Behind Rison
The Beer Spillers jumped out to a 12-0 lead Thursday behind 2 Andre Rison TD receptions and never looked back, winning a 33-27 game over April's Supercuts. The Spillers got 2 TD throws from Drew Bledsoe and a Rickey Watters TD run. The Supercuts stayed close early behind Chris Boniol's 7 points and, later, with two Terrell Davis touchdowns. A Giants punt return for a TD brought the Cuts back within 32-25 late but it wasn't quite enough to bridge the gap. The Supercuts fall to 4-4 and losers of their last two. They remain tied with Grande To The Party for first place in the Moe division. The Beer Spillers stopped a league high five game losing streak and, at 3-5, continue to hold on to slim playoff hopes, four games behind PMS in the Curly division.
April's Supercuts 27 33 Beer Spillers
Moon 00 QB 08 Bledsoe
Terrell Davis 14 RB 06 Watters
Phillips 00 RB 00 Anders
Harrison 00 WR 12 Rison
Galloway 00 WR 00 Jefferson
Riemersma 00 TE 00 Clark
Way 00 U 00 Pritchard
Boniol 07 K 07 Stover
Giants 06 D 00 49ers
Swami Sez:
Natural Mystics (7-1) vs. Greenback Iguanas (5-3)
Power Rankings: Natural Mystics 2; Greenback Iguanas 2
The first place club from the Larry division squares off against the team currently tied for the wild card position in what amounts to a possible Round 1 playoff preview. The Iguanas enter the game with QB Vinny Testaverde accumulating high weekly point totals. He is offset by Mystics QB Jeff George, who is among the leaders in TD passes himself and who is facing a young Seahawk secondary. Both teams feature solid ground games; Bettis and Levens for the Mystics, Raymont Harris and Karim Abdul-Jabbar for the Iguanas. Both teams also feature strong wideouts; Tim Brown, Rod Smith, Irving Fryar and Terrell Owens for the Mystics, Tony Martin, Keyshawn Johnson for the Greenies. This game will turn on the matchups their starters will have on NFL Sunday. The Mystics lead the series 1-0.
PMS (7-1) vs. NFC Norris (5-3)
Power Rankings: PMS 1; NFC Norris 5
NFC Norris is trying to stay in the wild card hunt with its chances of winning the Larry division hanging by a thread. To stay close, Norris must find a way of overcoming the mighty two headed monster that is PMS. After fielding a "B" team Week 8, PMS finds itself almost at full strength once again, Terry Allen being the lone absentee starter as he recovers from his knee injury. That means Brad Johnson to Jake Reed returns as does Antonio Freeman. The Norris counters with John Elway at QB. James Stewart will attempt to find the endzone several more times and Ben Coates should be able to catch his share of passes. The key for the Norris is the WR tandem of Michael Jackson and Frank Sanders or Horace Copeland. Jackson has found his receptions dropping in 1997 as Jermaine Lewis has involved himself in the Raven offense. Sanders is a solid WR but has the misfortune of playing in the desert. If the Norris is to win, the team must see production from one or more of them otherwise PMS will have enough firepower to come out on top. This series is knotted at 1-1.
Palace of Swords (3-5) vs. Strange Highways (2-6)
Power Rankings: Palace of Swords 9; Strange Highways 6
This game should be for bragging rights only as the Highways, at 2-6, find themselves two games out of the Moe division lead with eight games left. However, we’re talking about the Moe division. For the Swords, this game IS for bragging rights only as they trail the front running Mystics by four games in the Larry division with eight to go. After starting QB Jeff Blake six of the first seven games, Swords coach Pete "Ditka" Pedersen turned the position over to newcomer Elvis Grbac in Week 8. Grbac repaid Pedersen's confidence in him by scoring 14 points. The Highways have been playing musical quarterback with Frerotte, Humphries and Kerry Collins after starting the year off slowly behind Dan Marino. Note: look for the Highways to be back in 1998 with a new team name and a highly drafted QB. The Highways have all starters in Week 9 with the exception of Herman Moore. The Swords starting lineup is never easy to ascertain. The Swords choose between four running backs and a buffet of wideouts. It continues to be the Swami's opinion that this has caused a lack of continuity throughout the Swords' organization. Coach Widtfeldt will be hoping this works to his benefit and allows him to garner his first two game winning streak of the season. The series is led by the Swords 3-1 over the Highways.
Hog's Breath (2-6) vs. April's Supercuts (4-4)
Power Rankings: Hog's Breath 12; April's Supercuts 11
Hog’s Breath, fresh off a 26-26 tie of the Bone Club and a win over the Strange Highways the week before, set their sights on April’s Supercuts, losers of their last two. As always, the Cuts bring prime threat Terrell Davis with them. Thus far in ‘97, other scoring has been difficult to predict for the Cuts. Hog’s Breath, too, has had problems scoring at times but find Steve Young in a groove of late and will hop on board to go as far as he’ll take them. So, expect this to be a low scoring game. As such, it’s either team’s game to win. This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Beer Spillers (3-5) vs. Bone Club (3-5)
Power Rankings: Beer Spillers 7; Bone Club 4
The Beer Spillers, fresh off their 33-27 win over April’s Supercuts take on the Bone Club. The Spillers have been snake bit more than once this season, losing several close games. However, they will try to turn that around with the arm of Drew Bledsoe, the feet of Rickey Watters and the hands of Andre Rison. The Bone Club has gotten strong performances from Kordell Stewart throughout the 1997 season as well as from its running attack, always a Bone Club positive. To win, the Bone Club needs production from its wide receivers. This will be the first time these two teams have met.
Crawling King Snakes (3-5) vs. Grande To The Party (4-4)
Power Rankings: King Snakes 10; Grande To The Party 8
The King Snakes, trying to snap a four game skid, meet Bland To The Party who continue to lose as many as they win, hovering right at .500. The Snakes have not scored many points during their losing streak. However, the Party, despite Brett Favre at the helm, also has trouble putting points on the scoreboard with consistency.
Swami went 1-5 for the week, dropping his scored on the season to 22-26.
NOTE: Bye weeks are Detroit and the Jets
Greenback Iguanas (5-3) even Natural Mystics (7-1)
PMS (7-1) -4 NFC Norris (5-3)
Strange Highways (2-6) -3 Palace of Swords (3-5)
April’s Supercuts (4-4) -1 Hog’s Breath (3-5)
Bone Club (2-6) -3 Beer Spillers (3-5)
Grande To The Party (4-4) -2 Crawling King Snakes (3-5)
Wednesday's order of pickup w/ total points scored for season to date:
1. Hog's Breath 171 7. Grande To The Party 251
2. Crawling King Snakes 214 8. NFC Norris 274
3. April’s Supercuts 217 9. Bone Club 295
4. Strange Highways 228 10. Greenback Iguanas 301
4. Beer Spillers 230 11. Natural Mystics 330
6. Palace of Swords 237 12. PMS 348