FUSN -- TATA Show CFFL
Playoffs
Hello fantasy sports fans, welcome to the TATA show. This is our special playoff edition, starring
our intrepid fantasy analysts Fauxatooney Pill and
Shy Shipwreck. Take it away, Fauxy and Shy …
Shy
What a season! The
playoffs wrote an exciting finale to an incredibly competitive season.
Fauxy
This year's Novak Cup Champions are Philip Quanz and his Thunder squad. They held on to defeat the dominant
Gunslingers in the championship game 47 - 42, in what was one of the most
competitive championship games in CFFL history.
Shy
That's so true, Fauxy. The 'Slingers had a shot going into Monday
night's games but Westbrook didn't score for them. Tomlinson also went scoreless, so their big
guns misfired at the right time for Thunder to make noise.
Fauxy
This season was a tale of two teams, with several other
interesting sub-plots. The Gunslingers
dominated all season long. They ranked
on top of the CFFL Power Poll for the last half of the season, and ended up in
the top 20 in the International Rankings, the highest final ranking ever for a
CFFL franchise.
Shy
The Gunslingers' foray into the International Rankings
didn't end there, Fauxy. They accepted an invitation to the post
season tournament and made it all the way to the final four before losing. All previous CFFL entries into the
International post-season tournament lost in the first round. The James Gang represented the CFFL well, falling
just short of both an International championship and the Novak Cup trophy.
In the semi-finals, the 'Slingers broke the league scoring
record held by the Crosstown Patriots since week 15
of the 2002 season. The Slingers scored
74 points, besting the Patriots 71. The 2004 Creatures still own the regular
season scoring mark at 68, third best overall.
Fauxy
The Young Guns weren't the only team with a storybook
season. Philip Quanz'
Thunder started off the season with a bang and a roar, winning their first six
games of the season before falling to the Panthers. They finished the regular season at 10-6, the
best record in Thunder franchise history, winning their first Bradshaw title in
the process.
Shy
And they didn't stop there. In the first round of the playoffs, they
faced the Panthers, a team that had beaten them twice in the regular
season. They made sure it wouldn't
happen again, running up 48 points to ensure their victory and advance to round
two. They met the BioHazards
next and held on for a slender 22-19 victory over a tough 'Hazard bunch. That win put them in the title game where
they prevailed over the Gunslingers in a wild one.
So Thunder is the Novak Cup Champion for 2006. Congratulations to Philip Quanz
for a job well done.
Fauxy
Philip also won the championship of our sister league, the
If You Dare Fantasy Football League. His
Norsemen defeated the defending champion Roughnecks in the title game. Those two championships were a long time
coming. I'm sure there will be many
more.
Shy
Well, we know the rest of the 2007 draft order now. The first eight picks were determined at the
end of the season. They are:
1. Orphans
2. Muddoggs
3. Chronic
Complainers
4. Savage
Scorpions
5. Dawg Pound
6. Alzheimers
7. Thinkers
8. Green
Ghosts
The next eight are determined by their week of exit from
the playoffs. Here is the rest of the draft
order:
9.
Kingdons
10.
Panthers
11.
Creatures
12.
Patriots
13.
Bada Bing!
Rebels
14.
BioHazards
15.
Gunslingers
16.
Thunder
This draft order is, of course, before any trades.
Fauxy
Before we go, we have some awards to hand out, don't we,
Shy?
Shy
That we do, Fauxy. We have to announce the first and second team
All-CFFL players, the General Manager of the Year and the Coach of the
year. Why don't you give us the second
team All-CFFL?
Fauxy
Okay. Second team Defense goes to the Baltimore Ravens. Down the stretch, the Ravens contributed to
the Bada Bing! Rebels drive to gain the
playoffs, providing the difference in the Rebels' win over the KingDons.
Second
team Kicker goes to Nate Kaeding (Chargers).
Kaeding was easily the MVP for the Orphans, single handedly winning
several games for the punchless Waifs.
Second team receivers are:
Darrell
Jackson (Seahawks). Jackson demonstrated
consistency, scoring in 8 of the 13 games CFFL regular season games (including
all three double-header weeks), giving the Green Ghosts a performer they could
count upon.
Reggie
Wayne (Indy Colts). After a
slow start, Wayne
scored in weeks 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12.
He exploded for 20 points in week 8 and was a big contributor to the Crosstown Patriots' Staubach
Division Championship.
Marvin
Harrison (Indy Colts). Marvelous
Marvin had two critical double touchdown games in weeks 7 and 9 and was a
stellar performer on the Gunlingers as they dominated the season.
Second Team Running Backs
Marion
Barber (Cowboys). Barber
paced the Panthers' run to the
playoffs and was instrumental in their regular season wins over Thunder.
Willie
Parker (Steelers). The Thinkers
took advantage of every point Parker scored this season and almost road his
back into the playoffs.
Second Team
Quarterback
Carson Palmer (Bengals). By NFL
performance, this should have gone to Drew Brees, but
the Complainers didn't figure out that he was on an MVP performance until the
season was half over. The KingDons took advantage of all 104 of Palmer's
points and he was a major contributor to their return to the CFFL playoffs.
Okay, Shy. Tell us who's on the first team All-CFFL team.
Shy
First Team
Defense:
Chicago Bears Defense. The
Bears Defense represented the Crosstown Patriots
scoring a league defensive record 56 points for the season, including three
games in double figures. In several games they provided the margin of victory
for the Patriots. Ironically, they were
a mistake first round selection this year, which miffed the General all season.
However, they justified their lofty selection by outscoring all of the rookie
running backs on the General's list.
First Team Kicker:
Robbie
Gould (Bears). Robbie was pure
gold for Thunder, pacing their
incredible six game winning streak to start the
season. Robbie was a key contributor all season in the Thunderous Championship
run.
First Team
Receivers:
Torry Holt (Rams). The Thinkers relied on Holt's consistency and missed the playoffs when
he ran into a dry spell. Still, Torry tied for the
third best season performance by a receiver and the Thinkers were thoughtful
enough to take advantage of every point.
Plaxico Burress (Giants). Plaxico scored in 8
of the 11 CFFL regular season games he played in and provided the Creatures with the spark they needed to
win the Tarkenton Division.
Terrell
Owens (Cowboys). Sure, TO talked a lot and was a side-show all
season, but he also produced points, scoring in 7 of the 12 CFFL regular season
games he played in. The Kalamazoo Kingdons needed that kind of performance from more of
their stars, but Owens helped them achieve the playoffs.
First Team Running
Backs
Ladainian Tomlinson (Chargers). The Gunslingers won the bidding war for
Tomlinson in the 2006 Auction, and it paid off handsomely. L.T. turned in a record-setting year. His 194 CFFL points was more than twice that
of the second best RB and was 52 points better than the second place season
scorer. L.T. was the main weapon in the James Gang's dominating 12-4 regular
season record.
Larry
Johnson (Chiefs). Johnson made a major contribution to the Crosstown Patriots' highly successful season,
scoring in nine of the twelve CFFL regular season games. Four of his games were
multi-touchdown performances. The General captured every one of Johnson's 96
points.
First Team Quarter
Back
Peyton
Manning (Indy Colts). The Savage
Scorpions took advantage of every point Peyton scored this season, but,
alas, it wasn't enough to salvage a winning season this year. It's incredible when we look at 136 points
and say it was an "off year" for a player, but Peyton's off-year is
better than anyone else's best.
Hey, Fauxy, who were our Rookies-of-the-Year?
Fauxy
Rookie Receiver of
the Year
The Rookie Receiver of the Year is Marques Colston (Saints). The rookie surprised everyone and the Alzheimers
captured this prize as a week 2 free agent pickup. Unfortunately, they only
started him for half of his 48 points, but his 2006 performance was the best of
the rookie receivers.
Rookie Running
Back of the Year
Maurice
Jones-Drew (Jaguars) is the easy choice here. Thunder
owns his services, taking him in the Taxi-Squad draft (15.01 - second round of
the Taxi Supplemental draft). Jones-Drew scored 90 points and was a key
performer in the playoffs for Philip's Thunder.
Rookie Quarterback
of the Year
Vince
Young (Titans). The Panthers
took advantage of Young's emergence and made it into the playoffs. The Titans are hoping for the same thing in
the NFL. Young ranks #10 in the CFFL QB performance for this year. Big O
grabbed Young in the second round of the CFFL draft (#25 overall), and that
selection paid off this year, making the future look bright for the Panthers.
Finally, this year's Most Valuable Player is … Ladainian Tomlinson. His performance in the CFFL and in the NFL
was from another realm. Drew Brees had an incredible NFL season, but Tomlinson's season
was a world apart from anything we've seen before. We may not see it's
equal for some time to come. The Gunslingers
have to decide if his salary is worth Franchising him
for next year.
Tell us about the General Manager of the Year and Coach of
the Year, Shy.
Shy
Thanks, Fauxy. For General Manager of the year, we have
three nominations.
James
Jackson, Gunslingers. James came
on the scene just prior to the Auction in June.
He gathered information and plunged in, juggling his salary cap and
negotiating trades. In the process, he
assembled a formidable franchise that generated the best regular season record
for 2006.
Eric
Weiner, BioHazards. Eric returned to the league after a
three-year absence and picked up a franchise that has suffered double digit
losses for the past three years. He
accepted the challenge just before the draft and rebuilt the BioHazard franchise into a competitive playoff
contender. A two-time CFFL Champion,
Eric suffered the first CFFL playoff loss of his illustrious career in the
second round to eventual champion Thunder.
Philip Quanz, Thunder. Philip has steadily and diligently built a
long down-trodden team into a winner.
Two years ago he began building his championship run by taking Eli
Manning in the second round of the CFFL draft. Then, in 2005, he won Joe Horn
in the auction and worked some trades to improve Thunder. In this year's draft
he continued to look at the future, picking up LenDale
White, Vernon Davis, Chad Jackson, Jay Cutler, and Maurice Jones-Drew. Thunder
may be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
So, Fauxy, here's the
envelope. Open it and tell us who the
CFFL General Manager of the Year for 2006 is.
Fauxy
Thank you, Shy. The
2006 CFFL General Manager of the Year is … James Jackson of the Gunslingers for assembling the most
feared CFFL team in 2006.
Shy
Congratulations, James, for a job well done.
Now, for our Coach of the Year honors. Here are the three nominees:
General
Washington (a.k.a. Chris Harper), Crosstown
Patriots. The General's strategy this year produced another winning
season. And what was this incredible
strategy? The General set his line-up for week one and didn't change it until
late in the season. Now, this was mostly
out of protest for not showing up for the draft, but it was an effective
strategy that took his team into post season playoffs for a record 8th straight
year. The General has made more post
season appearances and played in more post season games than anyone else in
league history.
Fred Obando, Savage Scorpions. Twelve
CFFL teams had higher Power Poll rankings than the Scorpions, yet Coach FredO got an incredible 84% efficiency out of his team and
turned in a 7-9 record. This nomination is for getting the most out of the
least in the league this year.
Philip Quanz, Thunder. The pre-season forecast for Thunder was that
they would improve and pull off some surprises.
Did they ever improve and were they ever a surprise. This was a coaching masterpiece as adjustments
were made during the season to start the right players at the right time. Robbie Gould was a big factor and Maurice
Drew-Jones contributed once he began starting for Thunder. That's what a good fantasy coach does … make
lineup adjustments based on his players' season performance. No one did that better
than Philip with his Thunder this year.
I can't wait, Fauxy. Open the envelope and tell us who wins.
Fauxy
Okay, <sound of ripping paper>. The 2006 CFFL Coach of the Year is … Philip Quanz, Thunder for
making the coaching decisions that led his team to the Novak Cup
Championship! Wow, way to go, Philip.
Shy
Congratulations to all our winners. This was a great season, a fun season, and
another challenging season in the Challenge Fantasy Football League. I hope everyone returns for the TENTH CFFL season
next year.
Fauxy
Well, we'll be signing off for the season, but remember,
trading opens after week 17's NFL games.
Everyone has until the NFL Draft ends to name their Franchise Player for
2007. More news on that front will be
coming from the League Office shortly. Until next year, thanks for your participation and your support. Let us know how YOU liked the season. We'll see you next summer to kick off the
2007 championship chase.
Until then, I'm Fauxatooney Pill
…
Shy
… and I'm Shy Shipwreck, wishing
you a happy, safe, and prosperous 2007 and hoping all your fantasies come
true.
