Poking the Postal Bear
In 1996, his second year in the league, Jimmy's Jammers won the Paul Ott Carruth Bowl. Now, a decade and two name changes later (remember The Clavins?), "Newman" added the AWFL championship trophy to his mantle (he also won the POC in 2003). Jim joins Burly, Herm, the now defunct BananaSlugs, and Fred as owners that have won both the Carruth and the AWFL titles (Steve, you have to be in the Paul Ott Carruth if you want to join this elite group).
"Newman" climbed to the title on the back of Peyton Manning, finally paying off for protecting the QB for so many years. TO and Galloway each scored 11 in week 17 in helping trounce the Back Fat. Marvin Harrison had gotten Burly this far with spectacular games weeks 15 and 16, but his slip in production, combined with McGahee and McAllister not showing up severly hurt the BF chances.
In the third place game, Steven Jackson proved to be the money player, scoring 30 points for the Blowfish. Fred's league leading squad, the only one over 1000 points on the season, or higher than 30 (34.58) on the power rankings, barely showed up week 17, leaving the Biters out of any of the tournament money. Roy Williams also threw up 17 points for Steve.
The Devil's Rejects easily cruised to victory in the losers' bracket consolation title game, as Dude's inability to take any time out from his rich, fulfilling real life to attend to his fantasy duties finally caught up to him. RBs Frank, Chester and Leon combined for 23 points in a balanced effort. And yes, this was two points lower than the Linguists backfield scored, but, oh, by the way, my TE and defense also had TDs, while, well...
In the Toilet Bowl, the upstart A-towners, who went 8-2 after an 0-4 start to the season, finally got a playoff win. LJ bested Fast Willie, 24-18, but it was the Packer defense and their 18 points that vaulted this team to victory. The Griffins, meanwhile, who marched through the season to the Daryl title, join POC participant Stars on 64 as the 0-3 teams this playoff season.
Speaking of the Carruth, the War Pigs won their unprecedented THIRD Paul Ott title in league history. Of course, Troy's probably been in it more than anyone, but that should not diminish the feat. Tiki saved his best for last, scoring 29 points in his fantasy farewell, and Troy may have found the protected player to replace him in LaDell Betts, who scored 11 in the week 17 game. The yellow snow used a balanced attack to upend the Sanchezes and at least get a win in the final game of the season. Unfortunately, this is the one game this weekend that doesn't result in money for the winner.
Finally, in the NFL Pool Picks, I was able to climb nine slots in six weeks to claim the prize in our inaugural website contest. Sure, Burly and Herm each fell off because of the silly submit button, but I had to leapfrog the rest of you peckers to be in position for when the leaders failed to click the right buttons.
Also, I think our transition to a totally web based league went rather smoothly. I was excited to see all of the participation on the message board and in the polls, and look forward to more of the same next season and beyond.
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