Week VII Newsletter

The Revenge entered Week 7 at a disappointing 2-4 and 1 1/2 games behind the surging, yet injury plagued, Bearded Clams. The Clams entered the day still minus starting QB Steve Young as well as WR Michael Irvin. Unfortunately, the Revenge had to play this must game without three starters (O'Donnell, Thigpen, Wycheck) due to bye weeks when they were needed the most.

The Clams opened the scoring on a Troy Aikman TD pass for a 4-0 Clams lead. An Emmitt Smith TD made it 10-0 before Jason Hanson's PAT put the Revenge on the scoreboard and his FG made the score 10-4. Cory Dillon was bottled up in the 1st half, gainined 7 yards on 6 carries. Tim Biakabutuka left the game in the 1st half with an ankle injury, severely impeding the Retreads's running game. After the half, he returned and Hanson added his 5th point of the contest but Aikman threw his 2nd TD pass and Marshall Faulk scored on an exciting 33 yard run, putting the Clams ahead 20-5. Troy Aikman then did the honors himself for the Clams to put the exclamation point on a game that the Clams were putting away at this point. Marshall finished with 100. Ken Dilger caught a TD pass for the Revenge as they tried to come back late. The score stood 28-12 entering the 3pm games. The Revenge had Gannon, Keyshawn and Sean Dawkins still playing while the Clams had Tim Brown, Chrebet and Longwell. But four Ryan Longwell PATs and Tim Brown's 1 TD and 100 yards receiving put the spread at 28. Brown's TD came from Rich Gannon of the Revenge. At this point, the only thing left was the time on the clock. The Clams improve to 4-2-1 and play the 3-4 Stanley Steamers next week. The Revenge, now 2-5 and 0-1 lifetime vs. the Clams, face a must win situation next week against PMS, a team they'll be favored to defeat handily.

In the 2nd Dewey matchup, the NFC Norris took on the winless King of Dogs. The Norris themselves were playing inconsistently over the past several weeks, epitomized by their league high point total in Week 5 followed up by their league low point total in Week 6. A win was not required by the Norris to stay in the race but would be extremely helpful. Meanwhile, Coach Rady entered the game continuing to make changes on the roster and in the starting lineup in an effort to secure his team's 1st victory. All in all, this could be known as the Snorrus Bowl.

The Dogs' bad luck continued when starting WR Terrell Owens was declared inactive for the game due to a ankle injury. Gary Anderson put the Norris on the board first with a FG and 5 PATs for a 8-0 Norris lead. Ricky Williams ran for 100 yards making it a 10-0 game. Entering the 3pm games, the Dogs had scored no points from 5 players. They had Kordell, Kaufman, Kris Brown and their D still left but the Norris countered with Favre, Mean and Watters to go along with the Chargers defense. Favre scored first with a 7 yd. TD pass and followed it up with a 6 yarder and 3 yarder later. Seven Kris Brown kicking points averted the shutout but not the loss. The Dogs sink to 0-7 and must play the Retreads while the Norris ups its record to 4-3 heading into next week's game against Grande To The Party and is now 1-1 lifetime vs. Coach Rady.

Prior to Week 7, the Swords consummated a deal with the Greenback Iguanas giving the Swords the starting QB they've been lacking. With Jeff George, once again, the Swords found themselves hopping onto the Viking gravy train. The only question being asked around the league was whether or not George would hold on to the position for the remainder of the season. PMS started the day at 1-4-1 and quickly taking on the look of spoiler. With that in mind, Week 7 certainly qualified.

The Swords took a fast 8-0 lead behind Leroy Hoard's 1 yard TD scamper and a pair of PATs by Jeff Wilkins. Jason Elam's FG for PMS made it 8-3 but Jeff George threw an 80 yard TD bomb and Wilkins hit his 3rd PAT for a 13-3 Swords lead. Shortly after, George tossed his 2nd TD of the game, making it 17-4. Jason Elam made it 17-7 with his 2nd FG of the game. The kickers continued to add points, Elam with a PAT and Wilkings with a FG. Jeff George add to the Swords lead with his 3rd TD pass for a 25-8 Swords bulge. Jeff Wilkins increased the Swords lead to 20 on his 2nd FG of the game. Elam increased his point total, and his team's, to 11 with his 3rd FG. Randy Moss was held to a single catch for 24 yards for PMS. Dorsey Levens scored on a 6 yd run for Coach Pedersen and fellow Packer Bill Schroeder caught a 6 yarder for a 42-11 lead. Terrance Mathis capped the Swords performance with 8 points on MNF for a 50-11 lead. That's how the game ended. The Swords improve to 2-3 lifetime vs. PMS and to 4-3 on the year and will play the Strange Highways while the 1-5-1 PMS will meet Montezuma's Revenge next week.

It might have been Week 7 on the schedule but it felt as though the first six weeks mattered little to the Greenback Iguanas, who were spouting smack through their forked tongues for the better part of the week, drooling at the thought of playing Grande To The Party for the 1st time in 1999. The Iguanas had reason to feel good, leading the Cheatem division by two full games through Week 6 and standing with a league best 5-1 record. With a win in Week 7, the Iguanas would be five games over .500 for only the 2nd time in their franchise history-they last did it in 1998 when they won in Week 15 to finish the regular season at 10-5. For his part, Coach Will was more subdued although he did responde publicly to the Iguanas at one point near game time when he took umbrage to some Iguana comments. Nevertheless, the Party entered the game 3-3 and a loss would put the Party under .500 for the 1st time since they were 0-1 to start the 1998 season (the last time they were 2 games under was after Week 14 in 1997 when they were 6-8 yet won Week 15 and advanced all the way to the FFL title game). To makes matters more interesting, the two QBs were actually facing off on Sunday for the Broncos and Patriots, respectively.

The game begun quickly for the Iguanas with a pair of TDs from newly acquired TE Tony Gonzalez who came over in the Jeff George trade with the Palace of Swords. Trailing 12-0, the Party got a late Thursday night TD from Errict Rhett to halve the score to 12-6 entering the Sunday portion of the games. Five points from kicker Richie Cunningham brought the Party within a point then Brian Griese fired a 12 yd TD pass to Rod Smith for a 15-12 Party lead. A Brian Griese TD run and a Cris Carter catch for a TD put the Party up 28-12. The Party busted the game right open on a 70 yard punt return by Deion Sanders. Brian Griese finished with 316 yards for the Party while Ed McCaffrey had 111 catching, good for 2 points apiece.. Olandis Gary had 90 yards on the ground for the Iguanas. A Michael Husted FG made it 40-15. Three more Husted points was too little, much too late. The Iguanas fall to 5-2, 3-3 lifetime against Coach Will, but maintain a one game edge in the Cheatem division heading into next week's game against the Natural Mystics. The Party improves to 4-3 and will play the NFC Norris next week.

The big Howe division game was between the Natural Mystics and the Retreads. Prior to gametime, Coach Detwiler tried employing some psychology against Coach Wassem when he asserted that the Mystics coach was purposely selling his players short. Coach Wassem countered by saying that Coach Detwiler obviously had a short memory if he couldn't recall back to draft day when Coach Wassem's original comments were aired. With this game shaping up into a grudge match, there were other marbles to play for. With a win, the Mystics would ensure themselves of holding onto the division lead regardless of how the Strange Highways played this week and they'd also have the satisfaction of not only defeating the Retreads after the pre-game free psychological advice from the Retreads but they'd also push the Retreads three full games back in the standings and slow down their recent surge.

The Mystics got the scoring started quickly on a 56 yard TD pass from Manning to Harrison after dodging a potential Bong Morris score on Thursday night. The Retreads immediately countered with a short 1 yard Kurt Warner TD toss. However, it was to TE Roland Williams who was just waived this past week in favor of TE Marcus Pollard. The score was now 10-4. After the Mystics failed to score, Warner threw his 2nd TD ball, bringing the Retreads to within 10-8. A PAT and a 27 yard FG by Adam Vinatieri put the Mystics ahead by six before Kurt Warner threw his 3rd TD pass, his 2nd to Williams, and Edgerrin James finally scored a TD to put the Retreads ahead for the 1st time, 18-14. Marvin Harrison got 2 points when he passed 100 yards catching then another Vinatieri PAT made it 18-17 before Edgerrin scored his 2nd TD of the game, giving Coach Freudwiler's team a 24-17 lead. A 2nd Manning to Harrison was called back on a penalty just before halftime, costing the Mystics 10 points. Albert Connell busted the game open with a TD catch. Meanwhile, Terry Allen was scoring 14 points for the Mystics--had they started him. Unfortunately, like Bam Morris, he was on the bench this week. Cecil Collins finished with 97 yards for the Mystics, narrowly missing the 100. Manning did likewise with 287, just short of the 300 mark. Peyton Manning's 2nd TD pass closed the gap to 8. After John Carney's FG, Antonio brought the Mystics to within three, at 33-28, on a short 3 yd. TD catch from Brett Favre but that was it. The Mystics fall to 5-2, tied with the Strange Highways for 1st in the Howe and will play the 5-2 Iguanas next week. The Retreads improve to to 4-3 on the year, 2-0 against the Mystics lifetime and pull within one game of the lead in the tight division race heading into next week's game against the winless King of Dogs.

The Highways entered Week 7 one game behind in the Howe division standings and talking as though they were the leader. Maybe the leader of the free world, in fact to hear Coach Eric "Ichabod Crane" Widtfeldt tell it. The Steamers, the ever silent Steamers, were 3-3 and still a threat to be reckoned with. Further, they were coming off the knowledge of having swept the Highways in 1998 including a 22-0 shutout in Week 6.

The Highways quickly ended any thoughts of another shutout when Isaac Bruce caught a 4 yd. touchdown pass and Mike Vanderjagt kicked 2 PATs for an 8-0 lead. Brad Johnson's TD toss made it 12-0 Highways. Five more Vanderjagt points offset an Amani Toomer TD catch for a 17-6 Highways lead. A David Sloan TD reception and Brad Johnson's 2nd TD pass offset Charlie Batch's 2 TD throws, keeping the Highways up by 13. The Steames closed to within 10 late and had a shot on Monday night with Jerome Bettis but he went scoreless and the Highways walked away with a win. At 5-2, the Highways take 1st in the Howe division entering next week's game against the Palace of Swords while the Steamers fall to 3-4 going into their game with the Bearded Clams.

Week 7 Entries Into the League Record Book:

• The King of Dogs' losing streak has now reached 7. The record is 11.
• The Palace of Swords hit 50 points for the 7th time ever. It was the 6th occurance in the league this year.
• The King of Dogs scored only 8 points, the 2nd time this season they've failed to top 10 points in a game. It's also their 3rd time as a franchise. The record for one team is 5 times in history.
• PMS allowed 50 points for the 8th time in their history. The most ever for one team is 10 times by the Palace of Swords.

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