Week 3 Recap

Week 3 Record: 3-2

Cumulative Record: 7-3

What the hell is going on in the league? Tomlinson and Johnson are sucking hind teat, and now Jackson is out for at least this week. Perenial superstars each, they are NOT performing (along with others, of course) and are wreaking havoc in fantasy leagues across the land.

And let me be the first to point out that Tony Romo is NOT a good quarterback. No, not even close to being good. He has, ladies and gentlemen, transcended into a GREAT quarterback. I’ve always said you can tell a lot about a person’s character by the way they handle themselves during adversity. Any normal person would have ran away and hid from the masses had we dropped the snap of a potential game winning field goal (ala Tony Romo last year). But this guy has not only placed that behind him, he has moved past that into being discussed in the same sentences as Brady and Manning (you know which one). I mean, to basically dismantle a defense like the Bears the way he did the other night is a testament that what we have seen of him is only a sign of things to come. Now, on to the re-cap.

I had to wait a day before doing this because so many games were close after Sunday that last night’s outcome between the Titans and Saints played a role in three of our five games. And man, did it ever come down to the wire for our game of the week between the Revolution and the Hogs of Wart.

I spoke to the coach of the Revolution on Sunday and we both felt like going into Monday with a 13 + point lead was good enough to cruise into their first victory. Besides, we thought, the Hogs had only the TE from the Titans playing. With the TE being someone other than Gonzalez, Gates, or Winslow, 13 points was a shoe in for the Revolution.

But it just goes to show you what I know. Scaife scored an incredible 10 points for the Hogs to bring the final margin down to a measly 2.3 points. But let’s give credit where credit is due. I predicted that if the Revolution kept things the way they were, they would win by 10. If they changed, it would be in the 20 point range. I advised to bench McNabb, for example. On the heels of his “black quarterback” comments on Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, this guy, whom I predicted would be benched or released at the end of the year, lights it up for 40 points. Curry didn’t have the 20+ I predicted but he came away with 14. But what really hurt the Revolution, if anything did, was the lack of production from Larry Johnson.

As predicted, Maurice Jones-Drew continues to suck. But I have also said that Ronnie Brown was being under utilized, yet look for Miami to start using him out of the backfield for short yardage receptions. The result? Larry Johnson 4.5, Ronnie Brown 38.5. It’s time for the glamour and fashionable picks of Tomlinson and Johnson to be benched until the get back on track.

So deep, heart felt congratulations for the Revolution getting their first win of the season.
Niners vs. the Jakesters: The Jakesters, as noted last week, has a new coach. The coach has abruptly changed the name of her team to the Elvi, named after THE most overrated performer of all time, Elvis “The King” Presley. It’s bad enough I have to sit in my office and see that big ass, wall hugging velvet Elvis on her wall, but now I have to live with a team named the Elvi? Anway……………….

I predicted a big time win for the Niners in a 30 + point blow out. Man, was I ever wrong. The Niners had single digit performances from their TQB (St. Louis) and Steve Smith. Chad Johnson still had his 15 points, but the coach fell into what a lot of fantasy owners fall into: a mistaken belief that one week’s performance is going to be repeated each week. As you know, Smith and Johnson combined for over 70 points the previous week. This week = 16.

But let’s give credit. The Broncos TQB came alive for the Elvi. Joseph Adai performed as planned. But lo and behold Westbrook in Philly did his best McNabb impersonation and rambled for an incredible 37.5 point performance. Again, it just shows you how much I really know because I was leading the calls for benching anyone associated with Philadelphia.

So even though the Elvi finally notched one in the win column, I hope the team’s short lived success isn’t tampered with too much by Elvis’ biggest fan and Elvi coach, Queen Ralphy. Lord only knows how “man” screws things up once he starts meddling.

Gnus vs. Team Smith: in another nail biter (2.5 points), team Smith came from a predicted insurmountable lead after Sunday and beat the Gnus on the heels of the performance of Vince Young. Man, this Team Smith is something else. But just as Steelers heavy as they are, the Gnus are Redskins heavy. That hurts worse than wiping you ass with sandpaper. The only thing Redskins heavy I have in my house is the mounds of Redskins toilet paper that I use religiously.

BadAss Bills vs. Syrens: so here I was last week blasting the Syrens for handing the bailbonds a victory by not playing a team defense. So what does the coach do? Picks up the chiefs defense. And what happens? They score 23.5 points to give the Bills a scare. Even though the bills had -1 points between the TE and the Coach, they once again rode the heels of Brady and Palmer to the tune of 59 points. That was the only difference. Mark my word: the Syrens aren’t finished.

Jimmy Peppers vs. BailBonds: in a week 1 rematch, the bailbonds handed the Jimmy peppers their first loss of the season on the strength of Dallas TQB and Anquon Boldin. But the biggest differences and the game deciding players were the team defenses and head coaches. The Jimmy Peppers got a total of 3.1 points between the two, where the BailBonds received a whopping 21.9.

Week 3 Predictions

Record: 3-1

I’ve asked my mother for advice only once in my life. Her response to my problem was, “Follow your heart. Your heart never lies.” Now I am kicking myself in the ass because I didn’t heed that advice during this year’s league draft. My heart was telling me to draft Shaun Alexander, but I took the glamorous choice in LaDanian Tomlinson.

I also should have taken the advice of Commissioner Hughes who, by the way, drank most of my beer the night of the draft. But anyway…….when Norv Turner was hired as San Diego’s coach, he told me very bluntly that he didn’t understand that hiring because Norv Turner was going to “ruin that offense.” How right he was.

After two weeks, two things are very prevalent in the world of the NFL: 1) Norv Turner is well on his way to ruining a great team and 2) New Orleans is adding credence to my year long NFL conspiracy theory during 2006. They were “America’s Pick” because of hurricane Katrina. The NFL LET them have the year they had, but the conspiracy to get Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy their first Super Bowls was even more enticing. Thus, New Orleans lost during the playoffs. And now? New Orleans is leading the way in football futility as they are very quickly going back to whence they came: the cellar. Drew Breese is not living up to his pre-fantasy #3 ranking (maybe his being traded to New Orleans is now justified?), Reggie Bush is finding out exactly what Archie Manning found out years ago: one person can’t save a franchise, especially going through the “sophomore jinx,” and where the hell is Colston, the rookie sensation from 2006? It looks like New Orleans is the Sacremento Kings of the NFL: a career ending, going no-where team. Don’t expect the up and coming superstars in Bush and Colston to stick around any longer than they have to.

Whew! Now that I have THAT off my chest, let me take a step down from my high horse and shell out predictions for Week 3. Wait! One more thing. There are only three undefeated teams left. How appropriate that they are all part of THE BROTHERHOOD! It just goes to show that Blood is thicker than Fantasy Football Leagues!

GAME OF THE WEEK: Warthogs vs. the Revolution
Man, this following the heart shit is getting tough. My heart is telling me to pick the Peppers vs. the Bailbonds or the BadAss Bills vs. the Syrens. But the Bailbonds didn’t come close to living up to Week 2 expectations and I am not sure the Syrens are even paying attention. The Gnus and Team Smith should be another sleeper, and the Niners should beat up on the Jakesters pretty badly. Besides, I want to save the Peppers and the BadAss Bills for their week four power house showdown.

The Wart on the Hogs are going to struggle mightily this week. Their top two ball-touchers, Chargers TQB and Reggie Bush are averaging only 8 points a piece. For two people who touch the ball as much as they do, this hurts real bad. They both are struggling and they both are facing formidable teams in GB and Tennessee. So don’t expect too much more out of them, especially Bush. Vince Young will keep the Tennessee offense on the field for long periods of time, reducing the number of chances Bush has to make a big play. Because of these limited chances, he will press too hard. And we all know that when Reggie Bush presses, he screws something up. So I would probably start the Jaguars TQB and Jamal Lewis, who is having a great resurgent year for Cleveland. Couple that with the fact that he is facing a next to nothing Oakland defense and the pickings will be ripe for Lewis to break 20 points. I would probably also try to pick up Donald Lee, the GB TE, since he is averaging 8.5 points and is facing a defunct Chargers Defense. If nothing else, he will more than double L.J. Smith’s (Philly) point production. With the way McNabb is struggling, you couldn’t pay me enough to have any of Philly’s offensive players. By the way, expect McNabb to be benched before the season ends, then released or traded. It’s sad that, at 30, he will spend the rest of his career as a backup.

Anyway…….throw in Who’s-Your-Momma being “probable” and Cato June basically sucking wind, and the Hogs will be lucky to break 130 points. The only mainstays on this team are Holt, Galloway, Ravens Defense, and the Colts players. So the Hogs should be lucky that none of these have a bye week this week or his team would be in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

During the four years the Mike Shula was the coach at Alabama, his teams NEVER had a 4th quarter, come-from-behind win. In 2006, his team led Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, and Auburn in the 4th quarter. AS usual, Shula didn’t use the balls the good Lord gave him, went conservative and lost each of those games, amongst others. He also lost his job. He said in every press conference that his team was “close” to playing to their potential. Close, as you know, only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. But, what does this have to do with the Virginia Revolution?

While I don’t think the coach will lose his job, I do think he is “close” to breaking loose and having a dominating performance. It’s nice to see that he has used the throat the Lord has given him and swallowed his pride and benched Jones-Drew. Just like Rick Ashtley with “Never Gonna Give You Up,” Jones-Drew was a one hit wonder.

However, I didn’t expect the Revolution to act so quickly and make such drastic moves to the point where now, they appear to be on their way to a top-3 ranking in their division if his gambles pay off. Even though he has the Eagles TQB starting with an average of 14.5 points a game, the Eagles are facing a 2-0 resurgent and hungry Lions team who have the most dangerous trait a team could have: BELIEF. They now believe they can win because they have faith and talent. As crappy as McNabb looked against a so-so Redskins team, the Lions D will have their way and will shut both McNabb and Westbrook (listed as “questionable due to an MRI) down. Andy Reid should be looking at his young Quarterback and get him ready for the departure of McNabb at the end of this season. So bench McNabb, put either of your OP TQBs as the starter, then move Curry up to the OP position. Why?

Cleveland shocked the sports world last weekend by scoring 51 points with a shootout with the Bengals. That just goes to show you that if you live right, miracles can and DO happen. Don’t expect this to happen this week, even though Oakland is a much worse team than the Bengals. However, after seeing how the Bengals receivers had their way with the Cleveland defense, I expect Curry to have a similar day Sunday, possibly even eclipsing the point total he scored the first week. He may not score as many as Chad Johnson did last week against Cleveland, but a good 20-25 points is a conservative bet. I would also look at getting a better Head Coach. The “preferred” pick would be the Texans HC, but with them playing Indianapolis, they will lose their first game. Larry Johnson, of course, is having an “off” year averaging only 9.5 points a game. But with them facing the Vikings, this might be the game where he gets back on track.

Prediction: So where does all of this leave us? It leaves us with an exciting game that could come down to the wire or could be a tie. However, I can’t help but love what the coach of the Revolution has done to rebuild his team. The Hogs’ coach is distracted by three other leagues and I am not sure just how much he “cares” about this league. Plus, he is suffering from a sever case of the “burning ass” after eating 20+ Nuclear Wings at Beef O’Brady’s the other day. But, you would think that as much smack as I talk to him this league would be his “first love.” I am not so sure. Regardless, the Revolution get on track and spank the Warts. If they leave the team as it is, then the spanking is by 10 points. If they make the changes I suggested above, it could get a little ugly being in the 25-30 point range.

Niners vs. The Jakesters: The Jakesters have a new coach, but too little too late. The Niners by 36.5.

The Gnus vs. Team Smith: The Gnus are still riding the Manning/Wayne train in hopes that THAT engine will lead them to victory. But an engine needs more power to pull several cars plus a Caboose. As a result, Team Smith’s Steelers riddled team cake walks by 23.

BadAss Bills vs. The Syrens: unless the Syrens pull their heads out of their asses, they will continue to be nothing more than a weekly punching bag for the rest of the league. They practically handed the Bailbonds a victory last week by not playing a team defense. But, even if they did play one this week, it wouldn’t matter. The BadAss Bills are looking at this as a practice squad tune up for a Week 4 meeting with the Jimmy Peppers, and sing to the tune of an 89 point victory.

Peppers vs. The Bailbonds: in a rematch of Week 1 Titans, the Bailbonds are coming off of a win given to them on a silver platter. As predicted, they were looking past the Syrens to this week’s rematch. In a game that will be hotly contested, just as Week 1’s game was, the Peppers still come out on top by a hair at 21.5 points.

So there you have it. My predictions for Week three with a little help from Ms. Sapphire. Let the Games begin!

Week 2 Re-Cap

I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I know there are just certain things you don’t do in life. Like advice. You don’t ignore advice if 1) the advice comes from a relative and 2) if the advice was meant for something good, like win a fantasy football game. But more on that later. You also don’t count out winners. In fact, you should relish winners and bathe in the confidence they ooze in hopes that some of what they have will seep onto you. That’s why, during my week two predictions, I said what I said about Tom Brady. As if the Patriots need something to motivate them, they played this weekend like it was them against the world because of all of so called “distractions” from last week. With all of that said, let’s get to the Week 2 re-cap.

Virginia Revolution vs. BadAss Bills: Game of the Week
Back to the advice thing. Friday while doing some last minute checking on the teams before heading off for the weekend, I noticed that the Virginia Revolution was starting Maurice Jones-Drew. This kid is a one year wonder who made fantasy owners very happy last year. But this is a new year and he is pressing and pressing hard. So I text messaged the coach of the Revolution. By the way, the coach of the Revolution DID take my advice from the previous week’s re-cap and picked up Ronald Curry. But anyway, I texted him and told him he should play either Curry or the Texan’s TQB as one of his OP’s instead of Jones-Drew. I felt if he did this, he could possibly have a shot at beating the BadAss Bills, regardless of how long the shot was.

The result? Jones-Drew lit up the field by scoring a whopping 2.5 points, while Curry didn’t do much better at 5 points. But the Texans TQB scored 27 points. It’s time, league owners, to start playing a TQB at one or both of your OP’s. Think about it, which player on the field touches the ball more than anyone? The QB. So why wouldn’t you play as many as you can?

Anyway, picture this. I’m in the truck hauling ass across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. I have the Future of Alabama Football with me. We are on our way to camping for the weekend for his birthday. My cell phone rings; it’s the coach of the Revolution. He tells me that he was looking at the “matchups” for this weekend and was going to play Jones-Drew since he was playing Atlanta. “Ok.” I said. “That might not be a bad match up.” But inside, I knew I was right in what I said in the text message. So I let it go.

Now, here we sit on a Monday morning and the Revolution find themselves in a 69 point hole going into tonight with the Eagles TQB and a Redskins LB yet to play. Hang it up. I predicted a 59.5 point win for the Bills, and it looks like they are going to get it. The Bills started the Patriots, Giants and Bengals’ TQB for a combined total of 93 points. As predicted, Seattle’s defense let the Bills down, as did Marshawn Lynch. But when you have just three players score almost as many points as a single team did, well, listen closely, because the fat lady is STILL singing. I said it would be ugly, and man was it.

Team Smith vs. HorHey’s Niners
I predicted last week that in order for the Niners to have a chance that Chad Johnson was going to have to have a big day. Boy did he. In a shoot out with the Browns, Johnson had a breakout game with 35 points. I also predicted that Adrian Peterson and the Patriots defense would suffer some let down from week 1. I was only partially right. Peterson dropped down to 10.5 points but the Patriots basically stuffed an “on paper” potent offense in San Diego. In a stunning upset, the Niners took it to Team Smith. I had predicted a 33 point win, but the win was by only 30.4 and it was the Niners over Team Smith. One of the fundamental rules of fantasy football is to not let your home town sentiment govern your draft choices. When you are heavy with players from one team, it is bound to come back and bite you. That’s exactly what happened to Team Smith this week. He is very Steelers heavy and had one score zero points and another 8 points. The Niners scored 68 points between Chad Johnson and Steve Smith that put them over the edge. This could have been a much closer game, but I honestly think this was a sign of things to come from the Niners.

Gnus vs. Warthogs
I won’t necessarily say the Hogs are back, but the Wart may have been refilled. I predicted a 36.5 win for the Warthogs and going into tonight, they are ahead by a whopping 65.5 points. However, the GNUS do have three players tonight vs. one for the Hogs. Doesn’t matter. The dynamic duo of Galloway and Who’s Your Momma built a strong enough lead to cover anything that happens tonight. As predicted, this was almost as exciting as the Michigan/ND game this weekend.

Syrens vs. Bailbonds
I predicted that if the Bailbonds looked past the Syrens to a week three match up with the Jimmy Peppers that they could be in for a grave let down during week two. How right I was……..sort of. In what equates to missing home plate after a home run trot and being called out, the Syrens neglected playing a team defense and lost to the Bailbonds by a measly 11.6 points. In what I thought would be a blowout victory for the Bailbonds, they suffered from several key players not performing at the level one would expect. Had the Syrens played a team defense, this would have been an even bigger upset that the Niners over Team Smith.

Jimmy Peppers vs. The Jakesters
Prediction: 91 point victory for the Peppers.
Actual: 60.3 point margin for the Peppers going into tonight.
‘Nuff Said.

Week 2 Predictions

Aaaah. My favorite time of the week. The players reported back to their respective camps today, which gives us an initial analysis of where they will stand in the upcoming week. I love Wednesdays and Fridays because that is when teams determine who is or isn’t going to play on Sunday and what they plan to do. So let the projections begin.

Game of the Week: Virginia Revolution vs. The Badass Bills
MQ warned me before the season started that she was going to be mad at me if I beat her brother, who just happens to be the coach of the Virginia Revolution. Comissioner Hughes did a good job of 1) placing him in a different bracket than me and 2) not putting him on my schedule. So….I won’t have to whip his ass weekly…………I’ll leave that up to his opponents. This week is going to be no exception.

I sort of feel sorry for the guy, but then again, this IS his second year playing. It’s just unfortunate that this week he goes up against the powerhouse Badass Bills. What hurt the revolution in the first week was Dante Stallworth and Denver’s head coach scoring only 1 point. It also didn’t help that Larry Johnson wasn’t utilized more, diminishing his point total. While the coach of the Revolution commmented on the Week 1 Update blog that he didn’t know one could play a team quarterback at the offensive player position and that he wouldn’t make that mistake again, I do admit that had he done so in Week 1 he would have scored an extra 40 some odd points. Considering he lost by only 18, this was a huuuuuuuuuuge mistake. It pays to know the rules.

The Badass Bills, on the other hand, didn’t have anyone score below 4. The Bone road the Patriots QB to a whopping 37 points, but now that seems miniscule compared to the accusations being tossed at the Patriots. Hell, I could score 37 points if I knew what my opponent’s defense was doing too! But don’t count Tom Brady out. I mean, this is a guy who was a mid round draft pick out of michigan. His senior year in the bowl game, he led michigan back from a 24-0 deficit to beat The Crimson Tide 27-24 and broke my heart. I drink more because of him. This guy is a winner and is absolutely no joke. Expect more points out of Marshawn Lynch, but don’t expect Seattle’s Defense to score as many as they did last week. Arizona’s offense is too explosive to keep down.

Prediction: the key to a Revolution win is hope that KC gives LJ the ball more. If they do, and if he can hold up against a very stout Chicago defense, he could score in the double digits. If I were the Revolution, I would pick up Ronald Curry out of Oakland, who is finally coming into his own. He scored a whopping 22 points last week and could do it again against a sluggish Denver Defense. But hell, any of the top 10 remaining WRs are worth getting because 1) they all scored double-digits and 2) they all scored more than one point. Stallworth is done, especially with the resurgence of Randy Moss.

But let’s say that LJ DOES get his 20-25 carries and the Revolution DOES pick up a better reciever than Dante Stallworth. I don’t think it will be enough to overcome the Badass Bills. Coach E-bone has learned the secret about starting offenisve players. Thus, he has the Patriots, Bengals, and Giants TQBs starting. Together, those three scored a whopping 95 points in week 1, which is MORE than the Revolution scored in week one as a TEAM. Unless the Revolution do some creative maneuvering, this is going be ugly…..very ugly. Almost as ugly as that girl……….well, never mind. The Badass Bills storm to 2-0 as they push the 180-point envelope in week two with a 179.5 -120 point win over the Revolution.

Other Predictions
Team Smith vs. The Hor-Hey Niners: This was almost my game of the week because this is going to be one of the better matchups in week two. Team Smith road the Plaxico Burress/Steelers Defense Train to a victory over the Jakesters. The Niners, on the other hand, had solid performances from Adrian Peterson in MIN and the Patriots Defense. Expect drop offs in points from both as Peterson meets Detroit and the Patriots go up against the Chargers. Chad Johnson may save them with a breakout performance against Cleveland, but I don’t think it will be enough. Team Smith goes to 2-0 with a 140 – 107 victory over the Niners.

The NewportNewsGnus vs. the Warthogs: this is one of those games you will never see on TV because it isn’t worth the network’s time to show it. Neither coach really has an idea. The Warthogs was the biggest let down in week one, but they shouldn’t fret. This will be like the Michigan-Notre Dame game this week: one HAS to win, even though they suck, because they are playing each other. Expect the Gnus to ride the Manning/Wayne train to high double digit points. But don’t expect much else unless Rudi Johnson and the Cadillac get off their asses and start performing. And GET RID OF COREY DILLON! The guy scored you ZERO points! Go pick up Chris Brown (titans) or Justin Griffith out of Oakland. The Hogs are literally loaded with superstars who underperformed in week one. In fact, expect the Hogs to make a strong come back an end up in the top 3 at the end of the season. The only concern I have for week two is the Chargers TQB playing against the Patriots. Other than that, the Hogs have Reggie Bush against Tampa Bay, Holt vs. SanFran, Who’s-Your-Momma against Cleveland, McGahee against the Jets, and Urlacher against KC. If any one of those has a good week, it will more than make up for the lackluster performance of the SD QB. However, expect them ALL to get back on track as the Hogs WAX the Gnus in a strong statement to the validity of their team, 146.5 – 110.

Bailbonds over the Syrens, 154-120: Bailbonds scored the second most points in week one and didn’t win because they played the team that scored themost. The syrens’ coach has been in and out of town and hasn’t really paid too much attention to the team. Thus, the Bailbonds score the third highest point total, but win this week in a tune up for another showdown with the Peppers in week three. However, if the Bailbonds look past the Syrens to week three, they could be in for a major, major letdown.

Red Hot Jimmy Peppers over the Jakesters, 201 – 110. The Peppers take the Jakesters behind the wood shed for an old fashioned Deliverance beat down and break the 200 point total. Riding the coat tails of several key acquisitions this week, plus taking advantage of the Jakesters still being coachless, the Peppers will make a VERY STRONG statement in their quest to re-claim the league championship.

Well. There you have it, folks. Predictions for Week 2. Let the debates begin. Oh by the way, League power rankings will be unveiled after week two.

Week 1 Re-Cap

Building up to the week one debut of several good teams within the league, it was the veteran teams that mainly came out on top in week one. While all of the teams have at least one “player” playing tonight in one of the games, I’m pretty sure these games are in the wraps. The only exception is the Virginia Revolution vs. The Gnus. That game is tighter than a pair of skivvies.

It’s definitely no surprise that team Smith waxed the Jakesters. The Jakesters have been in a state of turmoil since draft night when it was found out that the owner wasn’t going to participate. Thus, this team is playing with no owner. What was a surprise about this game is the fact that Team Smith racked up so many points (144.4) as it did. And the team still has Larry Fitzgerald from the cardinals tonight while the Jakesters have Todd Heap, the TE from Baltimore. No contest. If Matt Leinert catches fire tonight, expect Fitzgerald to add at least 16 points to Team Smith for a final, rousing 50+ point drumming of the Jakesters. Coachless or not, Team Smith has made an early statement.

Defending champions, the Bad Ass Bills, will end up with one of the highest first week team scores after tonight’s games. The Bills have let it be known that they will not give up their title quickly, as they ran roughshod over perennial power the Syrens. With the Bengals Team QB and the Arizona kicker still left, the Bills could easily push the envelope to 180+ points. The Syrens, in my book, didn’t show up. They started three running backs that didn’t crack 5 points! Jerious Norwood: why he was started, I don’t know. Every damn fantasy guru in the nation preached loudly last week that he should be benched for week 1. he proved them right, winning only 4.5 points. Why anyone would start a NE running back like the Syrens did with Maroney is beyond me. With new found weapons in Randy Moss and Donte Stalworth, the NE passing attack is alive and well, which means the running back will see sparodic carries; just enough to set up the play action pass. Total points for week 1: 4.5. Finally, the days of platooning the Deuce and Reggie Bush (like we saw last year) are over. Deuce will continue to see his playing time diminish each week with the growth of Bush. Don’t start him. Points for week 1: 3.5. So unless the Syrens buckle down, make some roster moves (they lead the league in roster moves last season), and get it together, it will be a long season for the Syrens as they provide the rest of the league a team to be used as a “whipping boy.”

What do Chris Cooley, Corey Dillon, LeRon Landry, and the Redskins HC have in common? They scored a total of 3 points for the Gnus against the Revolution. Corey Dillon, another NE running back had ZERO!!!!! Even with that, the Gnus hold a very slim 3-point lead over the Revolution going into tonight’s games. With the Gnus having Matt Stover and Rudi Johnson left to play tonight, this game is in the wraps. The Revolution has NO players playing tonight. These two teams combined points will probably not equal the Jimmy Peppers’ points for week 1. I was expecting more from the Revolution….maybe they will come around in future weeks.

My game of the week pitted the Warthogs against the Hor-Hey niners. Even though Steven Jackson scored -2 points, the two defensive players for the Niners scored a totatl of 24.2 points. Here’s a hint, folks: if you have defensive players scoring that much, you will win. Of course, it helps that Steve Smith scored 20, Adrian Peterson (the rookie) scores 21.5, and your defense (patriots) score 23.2. With four players left to play tonight vs. two for the Warthogs, this game is in the bag for the Niners. Another strong showing from one of the new teams. Not sure what happened to the Hogs. Maybe the Wart bursted?

Of course, no review can be complete without a review of the 2005 champions, Red Hot Jimmy Peppers. Going into tonight with one player left, the Peppers have already scored 181+ points in a first week drubbing of the Bailbonds. What makes this so sweet for the peppers is that the Bailbonds coach was bragging how he is in four leagues, two paying leagues, blah blah blah. Even sweeter, he drafts like a girl. Wait a minute. A girl actually DID his draft!!!! Regardless, I have to give some kudos where they are deserved. They actually scored the second highest first week point total. In any other game, the bailbonds would have waxed ass. Look for them to make a statement later down the road. They just have to get past the first three weeks, where they play the Peppers in weeks 1 and 3. The Peppers road the Tomlinson/Owens/Moss train to high 20-point scores from each. The Peppers have one player tonight vs. two for the Bailbonds, I am hoping that a 38+ point lead will be enough for the Peppers to hold them off.

All in all, it was an exciting week 1 with more to come. Watch the storylines throughout the season. Predictions for Week 2 will be online late Wednesday/early Thursday. Until next week…………