2007 FIRST Fantasy Football

[Koko Ed]

The FIRST Robotics League

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	5-1-0 	.833 	411.00 	W-2 	1 	+2
2. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	5-1-0 	.833 	408.00 	W-2 	2 	±0
3. 	Amazin' Blue 	        5-1-0 	.833 	358.00 	W-5 	4 	+1
4. 	stantheman 	        5-1-0 	.833 	347.00 	L-1 	7 	-3
5. 	T-Hawks 	        4-2-0 	.667 	353.00 	W-2 	5 	+4
6. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-2-0 	.667 	339.00 	W-1 	8 	+1
7. 	FIRST Force 	        3-2-1 	.583 	337.00 	W-1 	10 	+3
8. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	3-3-0 	.500 	406.00 	L-2 	3 	-3
9. 	Eat My Shorts 	        3-3-0 	.500 	348.00 	W-2 	6 	+2
10. 	Silver Lobos 	        3-3-0 	.500 	338.00 	L-1 	9 	-4
11. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        3-3-0 	.500 	329.00 	L-1 	11 	-3
12. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-3-0 	.500 	301.00 	W-3 	13 	+1
13. 	Meatball Artists 	3-3-0 	.500 	279.00 	W-3 	17 	+3
14. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-3-1 	.417 	321.00 	W-1 	12 	+3
15. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-4-0 	.333 	300.00 	L-3 	14 	±0
16. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-4-0 	.333 	292.00 	L-3 	15 	-2
17. 	RPI10 	                2-4-0 	.333 	291.00 	L-4 	16 	-5
18. 	{} 	                1-5-0 	.167 	264.00 	L-2 	18 	±0
19. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	1-5-0 	.167 	251.00 	L-2 	19 	±0
20. 	sigmakittens 	        0-6-0 	.000 	236.00 	L-6 	20 	±0

T-Hawks (4-2) vs. Koko's X-Cats (3-3)
The X-Cats relaince lies in the fading Drew Bledsoe and the disapointing Larry Johnson facing the toughest defense in the NFL. The T-Hawks have Philip Rivers and Steve Smith on their side and their prospects look much more inviting.

Rhode Island Dynamic (3-3) vs. RPI10 (2-4)
Another battle of the Manning brothers. Peyton has no running game so for his team to survive he has to suceed. Against the Redskins slacking D his chances are pretty good which is probably the Dynamics best shot at winning because JJ Arrington isn't going to cut it.. Manning faces a pretty tough Cowboys defense but has Rudi Johnson on his side (at least in fantasy football on RP110) and that could make all the difference.

Nor Cal Crushers (5-1) vs. Cooney Quest (2-4)
Against a tough opponent like the Crushers you want to bring all of your guns to the party. So leaving a blank roster spot is a good way to garuntee a loss.

Eat My Shorts (3-3) vs. Cromer Smash! (2-3-1)
Both teams are sportng blanks on the roster so it's even. Thomlinson looks to be in line for another big day for Eat My Shorts but no one else stnds out so he may not be enough. The Smash are hoping for more of the same from Pennington and Parker but Parker may find the Falcons defense is much harder to pentrate.

FIRST Force (3-2-1) vs.Evil Trav's Minions (5-1)
FIRST Force neglects thier roster. The Minons sgo 6-1. Ho hum.

Indiana Ironmen (4-2) vs. Silver Lobos (3-3)
Jerious Norwood is your team's starting running back but isn't the starting running back on his own team. That's a really bad sign for the Ironmen. Their next best bet is Tom Brady and the struggling Chad Johnson. The Lobos aren't faring much better with the equally struggling Carson Palmer (if Chad Johnson is struggling then obviously Palmer is). The best player could be Marvin Harrison.


Stevies Scapegoats (2-4)vs. The Very Fast Blitz (1-5)
The sins of non roster managment has caimed another victim. Witness the Very Fast Blitz. Now everyone give them your sympathy followed by stern dissaproval.

Amazin' Blue (5-1) vs. {} (1-5)
Amazin' Blue has a good thing goin gso far and are looking to screw it all up by forgetting to replace their players on a bye. Thank God their opponent is equally careless.

Boilers 1529 (2-4) vs.sigmakittens (0-6)
For the kitties to break through they need something (preferably good) from Jake Plummer since Boilers 1529 doesn't have a quarterback. Boilers have the better running game with Warrick Dunn and Carnell Willaims while the kitties have Willis McGahee and Lamont Jordan who have yet to priduced.

Meatball Artists (3-3) vs. stantheman (5-1)
Nevemind who's playing. It's who's not playing. The MEatball Artist are missing two players and stantheman is missing four. Who's gonna win? Who cares.

[EddieMcD]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Rhode Island Dynamic (3-3) vs. RPI10 (2-4)
Another battle of the Manning brothers. Peyton has no running game so for his team to survive he has to suceed. Against the Redskins slacking D his chances are pretty good which is probably the Dynamics best shot at winning because JJ Arrington isn't going to cut it.. Manning faces a pretty tough Cowboys defense but has Rudi Johnson on his side (at least in fantasy football on RP110) and that could make all the difference.

Underlining mine.

That's why I put Dillon back in. Two TDs. And Reggie Wayne with 122 yards and a TD on my bench...

[Koko Ed]

The combined ineptitude of Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo cost me in both leagues.

[EddieMcD]

Ugh, Reggie Wayne with a 13 from my bench...

Rhode Island Dynamic (3-3) d. RPI10 (2-4)
85-48
“Another battle of the Manning brothers. Peyton has no running game so for his team to survive he has to succeed. Against the Redskins slacking D his chances are pretty good which is probably the Dynamics best shot at winning…” If the Peyton/Eli battle was any indication, Rhode Island absolutely creamed RPI. The Manning battle went to Peyton 23-9. Corey Dillon/Rudi Johnson also went to the Dynamic 14-6. Then Rhode Island took the receiving game. Then they took the kicking game. Then they took defense. Then they dominated the battle of the benches. It was all Rhode Island this week in a much-needed win.

T-Hawks (4-2) d. Koko's X-Cats (3-3)
71-69
Now THIS is how Monday-nighters should decide games (not like last week’s disaster). In this case, it was Dallas’s (well, mostly Tony Romo’s) ability to throw interceptions, letting the Giants DEF get 19 points for the T-Hawks. You see, the X-Cats had a decent lead after Sunday, mostly thanks to Larry Johnson’s 20. But they also had Drew Bledsoe on Monday, who only got 6. Now, we don’t know for sure if the X-Cats still would’ve won had the Tuna kept Bledsoe in (for all we know, it could’ve been worse), but it’s this analyst’s opinion that the X-Cat’s got shafted. Not to take anything away from the T-Hawks, who fought back tenaciously on Monday to win.

Nor Cal Crushers (5-1) d. Cooney Quest (2-4)
73-62
Props to Cooney for holding to the same conglomeration it had last week (all but two players cleared 4). They even had a solid 18 from Michael Vick to lead them. Their problem was that they were facing the Crushers. Nor Cal somehow got 12 from David Carr, and when that happens, you know they can just do no wrong. Darrell Jackson added 14, Kevin Jones also had 12, and their three Ds combined for 28. So while Cooney played their best game of the season, the Crushers were better this week.

Eat My Shorts (3-3) d. Cromer Smash! (2-3-1)
29-28
Holy close games! Yes, I’m overselling the excitement on this game. Actually, this one was rather dramatic, even if it was pitifully low-scoring. In fact, had this game been all positive points, the Smash would’ve won. They had 10 from Gerald Hayes, 8 from Janikowski, and 5 from Pennington. EMS only had Tomlinson’s 13 and Brad Johnson’s 7. Here comes the drama: Washington had -2 points. That cost Cromer the win. Ed pinpointed the rest accurately: “[Willie] Parker may find the Falcons defense is much harder to penetrate.” A fumble and low yardage gave Cromer a -1 from him. That gave them the loss.

Evil Trav's Minions (5-1) d. FIRST Force (3-2-1)
89-54
Both teams looked like they were playing the same game here: get as many high scores as possible. This is great for the Minions, as it’s essentially their game. Though I do give credit to the Force for trying. On offense, they had a Harrington 15 and a Randy Moss 13. I could also count the rest of the offensive scoring on one hand. Their defense was also decent with a combined 23. But back comes the Minions and their big scores, including Ronde Barber getting 27 and winning the defensive battle on his own. The offense seemed lackluster in comparison, and that’s counting McNabb’s 16, Furrey’s 12, Andersen’s 10 (go, Morten!), and Gabriel’s 8. Okay, I could also count the rest of their offense on one had, but I’m essentially grasping at straws here, as the Minions won this shortly after I said McNabb.

Silver Lobos (3-3) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-2)
85-44
You’d figure with Tom Brady scoring 11 for the Ironmen that their stock was looking good this week (Brady, believe it or not, usually doesn’t provide high fantasy points; great leader, not-so-great stats). Unfortunately, that was their only score worth mentioning. Meanwhile, the Lobos were playing hard and scoring big. Their scores worth mentioning included (but not limited to) Marvin Harrison’s 15, triple 12s from Palmer, Vinatieri, and Andre Johnson, a 10 from Cato June, and Maurice Jones-Drew’s 9. Both teams now stand at 4-3.

The Very Fast Blitz (1-5) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-4)
65-47
“The sins of non roster management have claimed another victim. Witness the Very Fast Blitz. Now everyone give them your sympathy followed by stern disapproval.” I tried giving them my sympathy and pity, but it turns out, they didn’t need it (though for the record, I’m fairly certain we’re in ‘non playing team’ territory here). The Blitz’s DEF, Minnesota, pulled in 14. Westbrook, Brunell, and Owens combined for 45. The Scapegoats were also too busy showing pity for the Blitz, because other than Denver’s 12 and Huard’s 9, they forgot to score. The Blitz had a combination a few high scores and an underplaying opponent to get to their second win.

Amazin' Blue (5-1) d. {} (1-5)
31-21
And we once again get to learn of the woes that are Murphy’s Mathletes. Losman gave them an unceremonious -5. Roethlisberger had 13, but was on the bench. Had the Mathletes switched QBs, they’d have won. Misnomer, perhaps? Irony, at the least. And even worse, Roethlisberger may be hurt and lose some playing time. I’m prettymuch eating up space here, because there isn’t anything else to talk about. Amazin’ Blue had 9 from Houshmandzadeh and their K, and an 8 from Justin Miller. It was enough to beat the Mathletes, and I guess that W is what counts.

sigmakittens (0-6) d. Boilers 1529 (2-4)
86-41
Did the Sigmakittens just score 86? They had Alge Crumpler, you say. He had 24? Okay then. Being a completist, I should also mention the combined 41 from their three Ds (Woodson, Rossum, and Trotter). The Boilers had 10 each from Dunn and Feely, but that was half their score. It was the Sigmakittens moment to win (as opposed to last week), and they took it.

stantheman (5-1) d. Meatball Artists (3-3)
62-31
The only reason this game looks exciting is because of Hines Ward’s 27 for STM. But beyond that, there wasn’t much. The Artists had New England’s 11 and Cartwright’s 8. STM had Ward’s albeit impressive 27, plus two 9s from Gates and Sims. It’s obvious who won this match, even if it was quite dull.

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	6-1-0 	.857 	497.00 	W-3 	1 	+1
2. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	6-1-0 	.857 	484.00 	W-3 	3 	-1
3. 	stantheman 	        6-1-0 	.857 	409.00 	W-1 	6 	+1
4. 	Amazin' Blue 	        6-1-0 	.857 	389.00 	W-6 	9 	-1
5. 	T-Hawks 	        5-2-0 	.714 	424.00 	W-3 	4 	±0
6. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	4-3-0 	.571 	491.00 	W-1 	2 	+2
7. 	Silver Lobos 	        4-3-0 	.571 	423.00 	W-1 	5 	+3
8. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-3-0 	.571 	383.00 	L-1 	10 	-2
9. 	Eat My Shorts 	        4-3-0 	.571 	377.00 	W-3 	11 	±0
10. 	FIRST Force 	        3-3-1 	.500 	391.00 	L-1 	8 	-3
11. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        3-4-0 	.429 	398.00 	L-2 	7 	±0
12. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-4-0 	.429 	342.00 	L-1 	15 	±0
13. 	Meatball Artists 	3-4-0 	.429 	310.00 	L-1 	19 	±0
14. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-4-1 	.357 	349.00 	L-1 	13 	±0
15. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-5-0 	.286 	354.00 	L-4 	12 	+1
16. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-5-0 	.286 	347.00 	L-4 	14 	-1
17. 	RPI10 	                2-5-0 	.286 	339.00 	L-5 	16 	±0
18. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	2-5-0 	.286 	316.00 	W-1 	18 	+1
19. 	sigmakittens 	        1-6-0 	.143 	322.00 	W-1 	17 	+1
20. 	{} 	                1-6-0 	.143 	285.00 	L-3 	20 	-2

Wow, not much jumping this week. Anyway, I'll have the first half analysis and awards in the next couple days, so stay tuned.

[EddieMcD]

And we’re back! After an interesting first half, we now have our best-of-the-best list.


Most Valuable QB

Donovan McNabb (Evil Trav’s Minions)
How can this not go to him? He’s the highest scoring player in the league on the highest scoring team in the league. My job has never been simpler.

Honorable Mention: Peyton Manning
Any other season, the Rhode Island Dynamic’s star would be up top. But right now, he’s the second highest scoring player in the league on the second highest scoring team in the league. My job: still simple.


Best Running Game

Clinton Portis, Kevin Jones, & Chester Taylor (Nor Cal Crushers)
A lot of teams are lucky to get two solid running backs. Nor Cal’s THREE backs are not only solid, but are all in the top fifteen among fantasy points for RBs. Talk about your nasty trios.

Honorable Mention: LaDainian Tomlinson & Deuce McAllister
Eat My Shorts (ew) is on a three-game winning streak thanks mostly to these two. Tomlinson is the highest scoring RB right now, and McAllister provides solid points as the thirteenth highest.


Best Receiving Game

Reggie Brown, Wes Welker, Reggie Wayne, & Dante Hall (Rhode Island Dynamic)
Perhaps four receivers is overkill. Brown and Welker are top five receivers. That alone would probably only get them an honorable mention. But both Wayne and Hall are solid scorers, giving Rhode Island that extra oomph in both fantasy points and in receiving overall.

Honorable Mention: Darrell Jackson & Anquan Boldin
Nothing against the Nor Cal Crushers: they have two receivers who are only slightly behind Rhode Island’s top two, and they are 6-1. But the rest of their scoring is up in the running game, so they just get the honorable mention here.


Most Valuable Kicker

Nate Kaeding (Indiana Ironmen)
The Indiana Ironmen are only 4-3, but I can swear that every time I’m typing up a postgame review on them, Kaeding’s name pops up. He’s the second best kicker in the league right now, and has only missed two FGs (both 40+ yards).

Honorable Mention: Robbie Gould
The kicking game is the only thing {} has going for them. Gould is easily the top scoring kicker in the league, and it’d be a shame not to give him mention.

Honorable Mention: Jeff Wilkins
The kicking game is the only thing {} has going for them. Wilkins is the third best kicker in the league (only a point behind Kaeding), and it’d be a shame not to give him mention.


Most Productive Offense

Nor Cal Crushers
Nor Cal is 6-1. How did they do that? Well, all five non-QBs are listed already (Portis, Jackson, Jones, Boldin, and Taylor), but we can also add David Carr to that list, who is doing surprisingly well in the fantasy stats this season. He’s also how the Crushers have five guys in the top 30 overall. Nor Cal’s only fault is that they have too many good players, and not enough spots for them. And really, is that such a bad thing?

Honorable Mention: Silver Lobos
This one was tough due to all the decent offenses out there. But let's look at the Lobos’ offense. They have a well-balanced offense, with a couple QBs they can choose from depending on their opponent, plus a kicker who’s good when not hurt (Vinatieri). None of their scorers are big, but they have a larger amount of moderate scorers, as well as a winning record, earning them this mention.


Most Dominating Defense

FIRST Force
Choosing defenses was difficult, because most of the defensive scoring has been even. But FIRST Force has just enough all around to give them this award. Adrian Wilson, Lance Briggs, and Chris Carr do their D scoring, while San Diego picks up the rest. They’re also at .500, which while not great, could be worse.

Honorable Mention: Stevies Scapegoats
I had to at least give them an honorable mention. Their defense is actually pretty good, and they have Denver. It’s their offense’s fault they’ve lost five games.

Honorable Mention: Silver Lobos
I’m starting to see why they’re 4-3; their defense is exactly like their offense. While they have no top scorers, they have a bunch of moderate ones. The Lobos have five players to choose from that have scored at least 37 points each, and while Cincinnati isn’t the greatest defense in the world, with how even DEFs are this year, it could be much worse.

Honorable Mention: Nor Cal Crushers
McGee gets most of his points from returning (though 35 tackles makes him eligible for placement) and they’re stuck with Jacksonville, but Fletcher adds enough to make this an honorable mention.

Honorable Mention: Rhode Island Dynamic
I hesitated giving this one out, but this defense is just as good as the other three honorable mentions (plus if I gave Nor Cal one, I had to give Rhode Island one). Vilma and Thomas provide high scores, and Bailey contributes when need be.

Four honorable mentions… that’s gotta be a record.


Playoff Picture

Teams won’t start clinching or being eliminated for another month at least, but it’s never too early to give predictions.

The Minions and Crushers, barring about fifteen broken legs, look great. STM and the Blue are the lower scoring of the top bracket, but with only moderately difficult schedules, they’ll probably be fine. The T-Hawks have a tougher second half schedule, so if anybody in the top five slips, it’ll probably be them.

Rhode Island has a very high fantasy score and they only have two challenging games left, so the five-team basement trip on their schedule should get them in. The Lobos have an even easier schedule, so I like their chances as well. All the Ironmen’s wins are against sub-.500 teams, and their second half is loaded with teams floating above or very near that mark. This means they could be in trouble late. EMS has four good teams left, but they’ve shown that they can win against them, so they’re at least in the fight. And the lone .500 team has only an okay schedule; FIRST force will still have to fight to make it.

All the X-Cats losses have been close enough for me to say that with their schedule, they’ll at least be in the hunt. The Boilers though, are the exact opposite, and I don’t like their chances. It’s the same with the Artists, who had a three-game streak, but that was against teams in the basement. I wouldn’t expect to see them in. Cromer has a schedule where, with enough close wins, they may very well be fighting for a playoff spot.

Cooney’s second half should be better than their first, and their fantasy score should at least give them hope. The Scapegoats, if they tune their offense, could also be fighting in Week XIV. RPI has lost five straight, and their schedule won’t help that, so count them out. Count out the Blitz as well. The Kittens have pulled their team together finally, but their terrible first half may very well cost them in the end. And what can I say about {}? The rest of their schedule inhales audibly, and they seem to have extremely bad luck. While I don’t like their chances, their bad luck in the first half was so improbable that they could have just as improbable of a good-luck streak in the second half. Stranger things have happened.

But I go back to my first sentence here: nobody is out of the playoff picture, and nobody is guaranteed in yet. Last season, we had a team in 17th place after Week X, and they came back to make it into the playoffs and eventually, the finals. So I say this again: nobody is out. Not even Murphy.

I’ll be back next week, where probably all my predictions will be proven wrong.

[xzvrw2]

OH YEAH BABY I GOT A HONORABLE MENTION HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

[EddieMcD]

The only football I watched this weekend was the second half of the Colts/Broncos game. I think I made a good choice.

Rhode Island Dynamic (4-3) d. Evil Trav's Minions (6-1)
78-51
With the exception of four plays, this game was actually pretty lackluster considering that the top two teams in fantasy scores were playing. Those four plays were Manning to Wayne for a 12 yard TD, Manning to Wayne for a 5 yard TD, Manning to Wayne for a 19 yard TD, and that TD’s resulting Manning to Wayne two-point conversion. Not counting the yardage, that was 38 points right there for Rhode Island. Reggie Wayne finished with 29, and Peyton Manning finished with 23. The Minions lacked high scores this week, with only Morten Andersen’s 11 being notable for them. I don’t have much else to say because nothing else happened.

Koko's X-Cats (3-4) d. RPI10 (2-5)
74-50
It’s about time Larry Johnson lived up to all his hype this season. The X-Cats’ (quoth Ed) season was on the line, and LJ came through for them with 33. But let’s not discount McNair’s 18 in the Superdome, doing what no other QB has done there this season. RPI put up 10 from Burress and 11 from Graham, and while the rest of the offense was decent, their defense came up short, allowing the X-Cats to take this one.

T-Hawks (5-2) vs. Cooney Quest (2-5)
draw
65-65
Poor Cooney. They’ve been playing very well the last three weeks, but haven’t amassed a win since Week III. They finally win a game come Tuesday morning, only to have Kansas City gain a single point for a sack for the T-Hawks on Thursday (so if I was actually on time with these postgame reviews, this game would be reported inaccurately). Anyhow, Cooney played really well this week, including a 20 from Michael Vick, a 13 from Thomas Jones, and 10 from Ken Hamlin. Let’s be fair though, the T-Hawks stayed even. They had 14 from Marion Barber III, 10 from Ray Lewis, and 11 from Vrabel on Monday (which, added to their extra point they got on Thursday, is the reason they survived for the tie). Great game by both teams, but sadly, we have another one sullied by Yahoo’s scorekeeping (or lack thereof).

Eat My Shorts (4-3) d. Nor Cal Crushers (6-1)
56-41
Some weeks, you have it. Other’s, you don’t. Nor Cal fell into the “don’t” category this week. Nor Cal played decent on defense with a combined 25 from three players, and even got a bit of offensive support with Darrell Jackson’s 10. But when you have a -6 in the QB spot from Carr and an extremely lucky opponent, that won’t be enough. I say “extremely lucky” because EMS only had two scorers: LaDanian Tomlinson with 30, and Oakland with 20. Everything else is countable on one six-fingered hand. But they got the win against a very tough opponent, so all is good in the land of shorts.

stantheman (6-1) d. Cromer Smash! (2-4-1)
50-38
I really just said “land of shorts”, didn’t I? Sorry, I’m still in that last review. There really wasn’t much to this game anyway. Whatever Cromer did, STM did it better. Cromer got a -2 in the QB spot, STM got a +2. Cromer gets 11 from Willie Parker, STM gets 13 from Chicago. And STM’s auxiliary scores were just plain better. While not a flashy win by any means, STM is able to retake first place.

Indiana Ironmen (4-3) d. FIRST Force (3-3-1)
104-56
You know what? FIRST Force played a pretty good game. This review won’t be about them (sorry). What this review will be about is the first team this season to break into triple digits. We’ll start low here: four 8s from Heap, Kaeding, Brackett, and Pierce, and a 9 from the grammatically incorrect Ocho Cinco. Then we go higher: 17 from Baltimore, 19 from Ahman Green (about time), and 22 from Tom Brady. The good news for FIRST Force is that their acquiring of Tony Romo seems like a good move for the future, as he got them 12 this week. Of course, nobody had a chance against the Ironmen this week. THIS was a flashy win.

Silver Lobos (4-3) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-5)
54-41
The week after I give them an honorable mention in the defensive awards, the Scapegoats get a -3 from Denver. So is the woes of the Scapegoats. While Damon Huard has done a remarkable job filling in for Trent Green (this week he had 12) and Edgerrin James stepped onto the scoreboard with 11, they got no more help from their offense, and their defense (the Scapegoats one good thing), as you can tell by the first thing I said, didn’t come through either. The Lobos played better all around with a better offense (led by both Carson Palmer’s and Andre Johnson’s 11s), better defense, and Adam Vinatieri taking advantage of the Manning/Wayne connection mentioned in the RI/Minions game (not to mention the Scapegoat’s Denver DEF) for 14 fantasy points. The Lobos win their second straight.

{} (1-6) d. The Very Fast Blitz (2-5)
82-37
Bad News: Murphy’s Braces (yes, they’re called braces) only got 3 from Roethlisberger. Good news: Just about everything else. First off, they were facing the Blitz, who I’ll just say have problems, and move on. Secondly, the Braces had Marques Colston scoring 21 (who?) and Mike Bell scoring 19. Third, they had support from Droughns and his 14, and top-of-the-line kicker Gould’s 11. So we learn that the Braces can win, and do it pretty well. Now if only they could get their quarterback problems settled…

Amazin' Blue (6-1) d. sigmakittens (1-6)
62-38
Well, easy come, easy go. The Sigmakittens were right back to their losing ways. Plummer did well with 12 in a losing effort and Crumpler added 9, but that was all that was left from the kittens’ awesome charge last week. Amazin’ Blue had an off week last week (despite winning), but came back this week with 18 from Justin Miller, 10 from Michael Turner (who?), and 9 from Pittsburgh. So we had a complete reversal for both teams compared to last week, and Amazin’ Blue wins their seventh straight.

Meatball Artists (3-4) d. Boilers 1529 (3-4)
79-58
This was a surprisingly good game from two 3-4 teams. QBs were even at 15, and defenses were dead even. Where the Artists took this game was at running; Julius Jones, Fred Taylor, and Steven Jackson combined for 34. The Boilers had nothing of the sort, and even their receiving game was lacking enough for the Artists to pull away for the victory.

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	stantheman 	        7-1-0 	.875 	459.00 	W-2 	8 	+2
2. 	Amazin' Blue 	        7-1-0 	.875 	451.00 	W-7 	9 	+2
3. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	6-2-0 	.750 	548.00 	L-1 	2 	-2
4. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	6-2-0 	.750 	525.00 	L-1 	3 	-2
5. 	T-Hawks 	        5-2-1 	.688 	489.00 	T-1 	4 	±0
6. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	5-3-0 	.625 	569.00 	W-2 	1 	±0
7. 	Indiana Ironmen 	5-3-0 	.625 	487.00 	W-1 	5 	+1
8. 	Silver Lobos 	        5-3-0 	.625 	477.00 	W-2 	6 	-1
9. 	Eat My Shorts 	        5-3-0 	.625 	433.00 	W-4 	11 	±0
10. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        4-4-0 	.500 	472.00 	W-1 	7 	+1
11. 	Meatball Artists 	4-4-0 	.500 	391.00 	W-1 	14 	+2
12. 	FIRST Force 	        3-4-1 	.438 	444.00 	L-2 	10 	-2
13. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-5-0 	.375 	400.00 	L-2 	13 	-1
14. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-5-1 	.313 	419.00 	T-1 	12 	+1
15. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-5-1 	.313 	387.00 	L-2 	17 	-1
16. 	RPI10 	                2-6-0 	.250 	389.00 	L-6 	15 	+1
17. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-6-0 	.250 	388.00 	L-5 	16 	-1
18. 	{} 	                2-6-0 	.250 	367.00 	W-1 	18 	+2
19. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	2-6-0 	.250 	353.00 	L-1 	20 	-1
20. 	sigmakittens 	        1-7-0 	.125 	360.00 	L-1 	19 	-1

Playoff Picture: Just the basics right now. STM and Blue can clinch by winning 4; Minions and Crushers' magic number is 5; and Hawks, Dynamic, Ironmen, Lobos, and EMS will be in the playoffs if they win out (the Dynamic/Ironmen game in Week IX allows this). That's about as far as I dare to go right now, as this will all change by next week.

And seeing as how I've been working at this analysis on-and-off all day, I really need some sleep. See you next week.

[Koko Ed]

The FIRST Robotics League

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	stantheman 	        7-1-0 	.875 	459.00 	W-2 	8 	+2
2. 	Amazin' Blue 	        7-1-0 	.875 	451.00 	W-7 	9 	+2
3. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	6-2-0 	.750 	548.00 	L-1 	2 	-2
4. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	6-2-0 	.750 	525.00 	L-1 	3 	-2
5. 	T-Hawks 	        5-2-1 	.688 	489.00 	T-1 	4 	±0
6. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	5-3-0 	.625 	569.00 	W-2 	1 	±0
7. 	Indiana Ironmen 	5-3-0 	.625 	487.00 	W-1 	5 	+1
8. 	Silver Lobos 	        5-3-0 	.625 	477.00 	W-2 	6 	-1
9. 	Eat My Shorts 	        5-3-0 	.625 	433.00 	W-4 	11 	±0
10. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        4-4-0 	.500 	472.00 	W-1 	7 	+1
11. 	Meatball Artists 	4-4-0 	.500 	391.00 	W-1 	14 	+2
12. 	FIRST Force 	        3-4-1 	.438 	444.00 	L-2 	10 	-2
13. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-5-0 	.375 	400.00 	L-2 	13 	-1
14. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-5-1 	.313 	419.00 	T-1 	12 	+1
15. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-5-1 	.313 	387.00 	L-2 	17 	-1
16. 	RPI10 	                2-6-0 	.250 	389.00 	L-6 	15 	+1
17. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-6-0 	.250 	388.00 	L-5 	16 	-1
18. 	{} 	                2-6-0 	.250 	367.00 	W-1 	18 	+2
19. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	2-6-0 	.250 	353.00 	L-1 	20 	-1
20. 	sigmakittens 	        1-7-0 	.125 	360.00 	L-1 	19 	-1

Koko's X-Cats (4-4) vs. Evil Trav's Minions (6-2)
It's the tale of two running backs as Fantasy Football studs Larry Johnson of the X-Cats and Tiki Barber of the Minons go head to head and both are in line for good days but what could really settle the matter is what the starting quarterbacks (the X-Cats Steve McNair and the Minions Jon Kitna) do.

Rhode Island Dynamic (5-3) vs. Indiana Ironmen (5-3)
Manning and Brady face off in the game of the year in FOxboro and face off in virtual terms here for the Dynamic (who have Manning) and the Ironmen (who have Brady). Ironically the player who may go furthert in settling the matter on the field is playing for the Dynamic. He's Corey Dillon. But the Ironmen's Ahman Green is facing a pretty awful run defense in Buffalo as well.

RPI10 (2-6) vs. Cooney Quest (2-5-1)
The Quest have to be pretty excitied seeing Micheal Vick blossom into an NFL quarterback. ANd having Brandon Jacobs clean up at the goal line for the Giants and Thomas Jones at home against the demoralized Dolphins has them looking pretty. RPI10 has the other Manning who will get to roll up points on the hapless Texans and Cedric Benson who will eventually get his shot at points for the Bears but Rudi Johnson could be in for a struggle today agianst the Ravens.

Eat My Shorts (5-3) vs. T-Hawks (5-2-1)
Eat My Shorts is going to ride LaDanian Thomlinson til he drops dead from exuahstion. The question is are they going to get anything from anyone else? Duece McCallister should do some damage today. The T-Hawks have Thomlinson's quarterback who benefits from his presence and takes advantage of it. Jeremey Shockey could be brutal today.

Nor Cal Crushers (6-2) vs. Cromer Smash! (2-5-1)
Looks like Alex is on schedule for his annual meltdown.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-6) vs. FIRST Force (3-4-1)
Both quarterbacks are enigmas. Brett Farve for the SCapegoats and Tony Romo for the FIRST Force. Both could be big but both are gunslingers and can hurt you as well. The running backs have potential but are not top flight backs so if the Scapgoats Travis Henry or FIRST Force's Dominic Rhodes may just decide this matter.

Silver Lobos (5-3) vs. {} (2-6)
The Silver Lobos got Rex Grossman who lives off of weak opponents at home. Does he need any one else? {} has JP Losman and who knows what JP will do week to week? Their top scoring threat could be Robbie Gould.

sigmakittens (1-7) vs. The Very Fast Blitz (2-6)
The Very Fast Blitz are now under league control (a move I heartily appove) but the results could be the same. Marc Brunnel, Josheph Addai and Samkon Gado need to step up huge to make it happen. Watch out for Willis McGahee for the kitties today.

Amazin' Blue (7-1) vs. Meatball Artists (4-4)
Man! Did Amazin' Blue screw this week up! Their in second place and left their roster in disarray. What's up with that?

stantheman (7-1) vs. Boilers 1529 (3-5)
Laurency Maroney and the Chicago Bears defense could go a long way in keeping stantheman at the top. Boilers 1529 need Warrick Dunn to run wild and Drew Brees to regain his forum.

[EddieMcD]

Yay, Ed’s back!

Rhode Island Dynamic (5-3) d. Indiana Ironmen (5-3)
73-36
All I’m going to say is that Manning/Brady should’ve been better. But it was completely one-sided in favor of the Dynamic’s Peyton Maning with a fantasy score of 13, which is 17 more than Brady (with -4) had for the Ironmen. And here’s the irony: the only Patriot to hit the end zone (Corey Dillon; he did it twice) was on Rhode Island’s roster giving them another 11 points. Add Wes Welker’s 10 (for those of us who aren’t my biased self, I ask: who? ) and Champ Bailey’s 15 from the defense, and Rhode Island easily wins this one.

Koko's X-Cats (4-4) d. Evil Trav's Minions (6-2)
72-52
“It's the tale of two running backs as Fantasy Football studs Larry Johnson of the X-Cats and Tiki Barber of the Minions go head to head and both are in line for good days…” 15 and 14, respectively. In fact, the only edge the Minions got in this game was the QB battle, with Kitna of all people scoring 10. Everything else was either even, or widely skewed in favor of the X-Cats. The two biggest discrepancies were in the kicker spot (Stover had 14) and on defense (led by Rashean Mathis’s 12, the X-Cats’ defense combined for 35), allowing the X-Cats to take their second straight.

RPI10 (2-6) d. Cooney Quest (2-5-1)
59-54
It’s official: Cooney Quest just can’t catch a break. The one week Michael Vick underperforms is the one week Cooney really needed an extra five points. Though to be fair, the only reason the game was so close anyway was because of a 19 from Phil Dawson. Which was equaled by RPI’s Miami marching into Soldier Field and out-Bearing the Bears. Other good things for RPI included 10 from Graham, 9 from Rudi Johnson, and 8 from Rashied Davis. They were smaller scores, but large enough for RPI to finally break their six-game losing streak.

T-Hawks (5-2-1) d. Eat My Shorts (5-3)
53-44
“Eat My Shorts is going to ride LaDanian Tomlinson til he drops dead from exhaustion. The question is, are they going to get anything from anyone else? Deuce McAllister should do some damage today.” If this doesn’t get Ed a psychic point, nothing will. LT gave EMS 28 points, and that “some damage” from McAllister equaled 7 points. But, to answer Ed’s question, they didn’t get anything from anybody else. Brad Johnson even took away six points from EMS’s total. “The T-Hawks have Tomlinson’s quarterback who benefits from his presence and takes advantage of it.” Phillip Rivers scored 8. “Jeremy Shockey could be brutal today.” He had 9. Not quite brutal, but a nice contribution nonetheless. The rest of the T-Hawks victory came from Hanson’s 12 and EMS’s lack of defense.

Nor Cal Crushers (6-2) d. Cromer Smash! (2-5-1)
108-43
You know what? Even if Cromer had backups for their three byes, they still would’ve gotten their butts kicked, bruised, and handed back to them on a platter. I’ll just mention their 18 points from Willie Parker going to waste, and move on. And what we’re moving onto is the second team to hit triple digits in the same number of weeks. Nor Cal’s defense was simply amazing, with Fletcher, McGee, and Jacksonville combining for 44. Their offense was just as amazing, with Kevin Jones, Josh Scobee, Clinton Portis, and David Carr combining for 52. So I’m reasonably sure the appropriately named Crushers won.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-6) d. FIRST Force (3-4-1)
75-43
After five straight losses, the Scapegoats were looking to stop the bleeding against FIRST Force, who has been struggling as of late. FIRST Force’s struggling was only exacerbated by having no running game and a receiving game not likely to induce fear in anyone. They won the QB battle with Romo, but said receiving game was dominated by the Scapegoats’ Joey Galloway and Roy Williams combining for 29. While defense wasn’t quite as lopsided, the Scapegoats’ also got some insurance scoring from Denver (16) and DeMeco Ryans (10). The Scapegoats needed this game badly, and they won it.

{} (2-6) d. Silver Lobos (5-3)
67-64
“The Silver Lobos have Rex Grossman who lives off of weak opponents at home. Does he need any one else?” Apparently so, because as early in the review as this is, the -1 at the QB spot was easily the difference in this game. Murphy’s Streakers (ew) incorrect QB decision only cost them 1 point this week (Losman had 6). I’ll be fair: the Lobos played well, with impressive scores coming from Marvin Harrison (20, in the process of helping Peyton Manning kick both the Patriots’ and Ironmen’s collective butts), Darrent Williams (15), and Cato June (11). But the Streakers (ew) got a lot of that defensive scoring back with a combined score of 26. Their offensive scores were slightly better too, including two receivers who combined for 23. In a game that could’ve gone either way, it all comes back to Grossman not doing his job, and the Streakers (ew) having a QB contribute enough points to give them their first winning streak of the season.

The Very Fast Blitz (2-6) d. sigmakittens (1-7)
57-47
Truth be told, this game wasn’t very exciting. The Sigmakittens’ best score was Jake Plummer’s 16 while the Blitz had Tony Gonzalez with 15. But here is what the league takeover added to the Blitz: an actual defense. Not a great one (it only combined for 17), but one that took advantage of a Tampa Bay -3 and a bye from their opponents’ defense. With the rest of the game even (and not in a good way), defenses were the factor in the Blitz’s third win.

Meatball Artists (4-4) d. Amazin' Blue (7-1)
47-23
“Man! Did Amazin' Blue screw this week up! They’re in second place and left their roster in disarray. What's up with that?” Actually, while they could’ve replaced one of their defensive players on a bye, they still weren’t looking too good. And when your best score is T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 9, it’s time to call it a day. The Artist’s roster was in less disarray. It even had Stephen Jackson’s 14 and Marc Bulger’s 9. For the first time this season, the Artists have a winning record.

stantheman (7-1) vs. Boilers 1529 (3-5)
88-63
The Boilers had two faults this week. The first is that two of their players were on byes (one even had a backup they could’ve put in). They had good scores such as Brees’s 19, Muhammad and Ayodele’s matching 10s, and Dunn’s 9. Then you see those two goose eggs from byes, and it hurts your eyes to see. Their second fault was not actually their fault, but it hurt them nonetheless. It was facing the "not quite dominant, but wins when they need to" STM. And didn’t Javon Walker’s 28 for STM look pretty? Of course, that wasn’t all. They also had Garrard’s 15 (Leftwich who?) and a pair of 10s from Maroney and Urlacher. STM, as usual, remains in first place.

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	stantheman 	        8-1-0 	.889 	547.00 	W-3 	4 	±0
2. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	7-2-0 	.778 	633.00 	W-1 	2 	+2
3. 	Amazin' Blue 	        7-2-0 	.778 	474.00 	L-1 	11 	-1
4. 	T-Hawks 	        6-2-1 	.722 	542.00 	W-1 	6 	+1
5. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	6-3-0 	.667 	642.00 	W-3 	1 	+1
6. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	6-3-0 	.667 	600.00 	L-2 	3 	-3
7. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        5-4-0 	.556 	544.00 	W-2 	5 	+3
8. 	Silver Lobos 	        5-4-0 	.556 	541.00 	L-1 	7 	±0
9. 	Indiana Ironmen 	5-4-0 	.556 	523.00 	L-1 	8 	-2
10. 	Eat My Shorts 	        5-4-0 	.556 	477.00 	L-1 	10 	-1
11. 	Meatball Artists 	5-4-0 	.556 	438.00 	W-2 	16 	±0
12. 	FIRST Force 	        3-5-1 	.389 	486.00 	L-3 	9 	±0
13. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	3-6-0 	.333 	463.00 	W-1 	13 	+4
13. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-6-0 	.333 	463.00 	L-3 	13 	±0
15. 	RPI10 	                3-6-0 	.333 	448.00 	W-1 	15 	+1
16. 	{} 	                3-6-0 	.333 	434.00 	W-2 	17 	+2
17. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	3-6-0 	.333 	410.00 	W-1 	19 	+2
18. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-6-1 	.278 	473.00 	L-1 	12 	-4
19. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-6-1 	.278 	430.00 	L-3 	18 	-4
20. 	sigmakittens 	        1-8-0 	.111 	407.00 	L-2 	20 	±0

Two teams tied at 13th, both with the 13th highest fantasy scores. What are the odds?

Playoff Picture: We're still in magic number territory here. STM will clinch with 3 wins, Crushers, Blue, and Hawks will clinch with 4 wins, and Dynamic and Minions will clinch with five wins (i.e., winning out). I know, there are a zillion other possibilities and permutations to the playoff picture right now, but what do I look like, Supernerd? Uh, don't answer that.

Well, I'll see you all next week.

[Koko Ed]

The FIRST Robotics League

Rank  	   	Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	stantheman 	        8-1-0 	.889 	547.00 	W-3 	4 	±0
2. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	7-2-0 	.778 	633.00 	W-1 	2 	+2
3. 	Amazin' Blue 	        7-2-0 	.778 	474.00 	L-1 	11 	-1
4. 	T-Hawks 	        6-2-1 	.722 	542.00 	W-1 	6 	+1
5. 	Rhode Island Dynamic 	6-3-0 	.667 	642.00 	W-3 	1 	+1
6. 	Evil Trav's Minions 	6-3-0 	.667 	600.00 	L-2 	3 	-3
7. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        5-4-0 	.556 	544.00 	W-2 	5 	+3
8. 	Silver Lobos 	        5-4-0 	.556 	541.00 	L-1 	7 	±0
9. 	Indiana Ironmen 	5-4-0 	.556 	523.00 	L-1 	8 	-2
10. 	Eat My Shorts 	        5-4-0 	.556 	477.00 	L-1 	10 	-1
11. 	Meatball Artists 	5-4-0 	.556 	438.00 	W-2 	16 	±0
12. 	FIRST Force 	        3-5-1 	.389 	486.00 	L-3 	9 	±0
13. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	3-6-0 	.333 	463.00 	W-1 	13 	+4
13. 	Boilers 1529 	        3-6-0 	.333 	463.00 	L-3 	13 	±0
15. 	RPI10 	                3-6-0 	.333 	448.00 	W-1 	15 	+1
16. 	{} 	                3-6-0 	.333 	434.00 	W-2 	17 	+2
17. 	The Very Fast Blitz 	3-6-0 	.333 	410.00 	W-1 	19 	+2
18. 	Cooney Quest 	        2-6-1 	.278 	473.00 	L-1 	12 	-4
19. 	Cromer Smash! 	        2-6-1 	.278 	430.00 	L-3 	18 	-4
20. 	sigmakittens 	        1-8-0 	.111 	407.00 	L-2 	20 	±0

Koko's X-Cats (5-4) vs. Indiana Ironmen (5-4)
The X-Cats of course rely on Larry Johnson but now have a revenge minded Steve McNair going up against his old team. The wildcard for the Ironmen could be the Ravens defense. Tom Brady will do his damage against the Jets but Ahman Green will be hard pressed to get results agaisnt the Vikings very tough run D.

Stevies Scapegoats (3-6) vs. Rhode Island Dynamic (6-3)
The Dynamic is standing tall with a high performing Peyton Manning and Corey Dillon is due for a big day as well. The SCapegoats are going to be hard pressed for points with Brett Farve regressing to his turnover prone ways and Edgerrin James being a non entity this season. Their best bet is the Broncos defense who get to beat down the Raiders offense.

Evil Trav's Minions (6-3)vs. Cooney Quest (2-6-1)
The Minons are relying on a desperate to rebound Donovan McNabb and Tiki Barber who will have to sludge through the tough Bears defense but on the other side is his teammate Brandon Jacobs who can syphon points away from him with end zone carries and take them to the Quest. Mciheal Vick is also looking to continue his new passing prowess at home.

RPI10 (3-6) vs. Eat My Shorts (5-4)
Eat My Shorts will ride LaDanian Thomlinson obviously but the catalys of vicotry may come from what Duece McAllister does in Pittsburgh and what Brad Johnson does at home against the Packers. RPI10 has Thomlinson's opposite Rudi Johnson who will be hard pressed for yards against the tough Chargers run defense. They really need Eli Manning to come through against the Bears to get the win.

T-Hawks (6-2-1) vs. Cromer Smash! (2-6-1)
Well outside of the idiotic drama happening with the Smash the actual game features Jake Dellohme and Willie Parker leading the Smash while the T-Hawks have Phillip Rivers and ironically Delhommes recievers Smith and Johnson thus pretty much negating his points.

Nor Cal Crushers (7-2)vs.stantheman (8-1)
Game of the week!
Niether team has quarterbacks that inspire tremendous confidence (David Carr for the Crushers. David Garrard for stantheman) but the Crushers have a three headed hydra at running back with Clinton Portis, Kevin Jones and Chester Taylor to stanthemans one running back Laurence Maroney. Maroney is good but he can't overcome three good backs production all by himself. stantheman needs the Bears defense to be their big play selves tonight to get the win.

{} (3-6) vs. FIRST Force (3-5-1)
{} has a problem. First they are depending on the undependable JP Losman for points at the quarterback. Secondly JP's favorite target is on FIRST Forces roster. Not good. Reuben Droughns and Mike Bell have to somehow make up the point deficency. FIRST Force hopes to get something good out of Tony Romo and Dominic Rhodes in his limited touches.


Silver Lobos (5-4) vs. sigmakittens (1-8)
Only the kitties could have players missing after the byes are over (no Willis McGahee). I doubt Jamal Lewis can carry this team alone to victory (I've given up on Lamont Jordna making anything happen). The Silver Lobos are seeking positve production from Carson Palmer and Deshaun Foster. Both have been hit or miss so this one could be closre than the records indicate.

Meatball Artists (5-4) vs. The Very Fast Blitz (3-6)
The Meatball Artist look for Marc Bulger to continue his efficent play and Julius Jones and Steven Jackson to counter Jospeh Addai and Brian Westbrook of the Very Fast Blitz. Not sure how much the Blitz can expect from Marc Brunell. Terell Owens could be a big factor for them.

Amazin' Blue (7-2)vs. Boilers 1529 (3-6)
For a 7-2 team Amazin' Blue's roster does nto seem all that scary. Tatum Bell is the top threat this week unless Torry Holts blows up again (recivers are up and down in fantasy football). Boilers 1529 has a worse record but better looking players in Drew Brees and Warrick Dunn and if they perform as advertised they could steal this one.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Nor Cal Crushers (7-2)vs.stantheman (8-1)
Game of the week!
Niether team has quarterbacks that inspire tremendous confidence (David Carr for the Crushers. David Garrard for stantheman) but the Crushers have a three headed hydra at running back with Clinton Portis, Kevin Jones and Chester Taylor to stanthemans one running back Laurence Maroney. Maroney is good but he can't overcome three good backs production all by himself. stantheman needs the Bears defense to be their big play selves tonight to get the win.

It's always a good week when two of the guys ahead of you in the standings are playing each other muahahahaha.