I may be stepping on some people’s toes with the content of this week’s column, but I think I’ve earned the right to
write whatever I want.
Playoff Prediction
Finals matchup: Nomads vs. Nose
Favorite: Nomads – good luck this week big guy.
Sleeper: propaganda – last time Nick sneaked into the playoffs with a week 13 victory was in 2003. That year, he
defeated a team that was #1 throughout the year (Rich) on his way to a championship title. Could it happen again?
He catches Scott at a good time. No Bulger, no Westbrook (btw, Scott must hate me, b/c I keep picking up the
backup to his injured players).
Hope 2005 Edition:
Jason: The toilet bowl award winner has had a rough few weeks. But there is reason to have hope. He has a couple
of decent keeper prospects in Cedric Benson, Willie Parker, Kevin Jones, and even Javon Walker (who should be
back by the beginning of next year. But beware, it usually takes a year and a half to recover from a torn ACL). Plus,
he gets to pick from LDT and Shaun Alexander.
One other reason to be optimistic. Last year’s worst team and #1 draft holder, Dave Allocco, made a dramatic
turnaround this year and is the #5 seed in this years playoffs.
Coincidentally, 2003’s TB winner, Marc Epstein also made the playoffs the following year as none other than the #5
seed.
Rich: The man down under had a tough year as well. A bad draft weekend (not b/c of the draft) was a sign of things
to come. He has arguably two of the best keepers for next year in Eli and Cadillac. Coming off the heels of having
Donovan and Ahman for 3 years, the man will again have a deadly QB/RB combo. Add to that, he gets whichever
top RB Jason doesn’t take. This man does not care for WR’s people.
Rich could follow in the footsteps of his good friend and 2004 #2 draft pick holder, Chris Brockman. That means
playoffs in 2005.
Marc: The commish is looking at one of those up and down streaks, where you have one good year mixed in
between two bad ones. But he has a decent pair of wideouts to keep in Santana Moss and Roy Williams, if he
decides to go that route. He could also keep the ageless wonder, Curtis Martin (if he doesn’t retire) or even Todd
Heap. He’ll have a tough choice to make at the 3rd pick. Maybe Edge will join the tools again for 3 more years. Or
maybe Peyton. How about Reggie Bush?
Marc could replicate last year’s #3 pick, Colt 45’s. A playoff run, combined with a wedding? Hey, you never know.
Parker: You have to feel for Parker. Too years in row, he feel short of the playoffs, just missing out in the final
week. This time was worse, by a mere .18. However, through a wise draft selection and a smooth trade, Parker has
two of the best WR in the game. Marvin Harrison and Larry Fitzgerald. He’ll select a RB with his #4 pick. Possibly,
the man at the heart of this year’s scandal, Deuce McAllister.
The man with the #4 pick this year was the now league veteran, Jarrett. Jarrett also made the playoffs this year and
is one of the favorites to win it all. Parker wouldn’t mind having that kind of success in 2006. In addition, the last
person to fail to make the playoffs in two consecutive years was Nick Serrano and he made the playoffs this year.
Look for Parker’s playoff drought to end in 2006.
MwR: The #5 selection failed to make the playoffs for the first time after two extremely successful seasons. He has a
few options at keeper to help him return to the playoffs in 2006. He has McGahee for another year. Thomas Jones
has played so well, Benson may have to wait another year. He could also consider Plaxico or Dominic Rhodes, who
could be next year’s Lamont Jordan (depending on what happens to Edge). With all those options at RB, look for
MwR to look for a WR with his first round draft pick. T.O? Holt?
Parker had the 2005 #5 draft pick and I’m sure the 2006 #5 draft pick holder will hope to not follow in his footsteps.
Jay: The 2004 champ has failed to make the playoffs for the first time in his franchise’s storied history. Jay went into
the season playing for this year only. Losing LDT will hurt, but not as much as not having a viable keeper option for
2006. After the comeback year Galloway had, look for Jay to keep him again. Braylon could be another option, if he
recovers from his injury in time. But with Jay’s track record on keeping/drafting WR’s, he may just stay away. Tatum
Bell and Byron Leftwich are another option.
Last year’s most bitter man was another ROFFL champion. Nick returned to the playoffs this year and Jay would like
nothing more than to follow that same path.
Fantasy vs. Reality – Final season edition
2005 Season Awards: (My opinion only)
MVP – LDT
Comeback Player – Drew Bledsoe
Sleeper of the Year – Kevin Curtis
First Team:
QB – Carson Palmer
RB – LaDanian Tomlinson
RB – Shaun Alexander
WR – Steve Smith
WR – Larry Fitzgerald
WR – Joey Galloway
TE – Antonio Gates
K – Neil Rackers
DEF – Chicago Bears
Second Team:
QB – Peyton Manning
RB – Edgerrin James
RB – Larry Johnson
WR – Chad Johnson
WR – Hines Ward
WR – Marvin Harrison
TE – Jeremy Shockey
K – Jay Feely
DEF – Indianapolis Colts
Third Team:
QB – Tom Brady
RB – Lamont Jordan
RB – Tiki Barber
WR – Anquan Boldin
WR – Santana Moss
WR – Terry Glenn
TE – Chris Cooley
K – Shayne Graham
DEF – New York Giants
All Bust Team
QB – Daunte Culpepper (wasn’t good before he was injured)
RB – Willis McGahee
RB – Julius Jones
WR – Nate Burleson
WR – Randy Moss
WR – Laverneous Coles
TE – Dallas Clark
K – Mike Nugent
DEF – Philadelphia Eagles
All Injury Team
QB – Donovan McNabb
RB – Deuce McAllister
RB – Ahman Green
WR – Javon Walker
WR – Darrell Jackson
WR – Joe Horn
TE – Eric Johnson
K – David Akers
DEF – Baltimore Ravens
All Sleeper Team
QB – Mark Brunell
RB – Willie Parker
RB – Samkon Gado
WR – Kevin Curtis
WR – Joe Jurevicious
WR – Ernest Wilford
TE – Heath Miller
K – Neil Rackers
DEF – Chicago Bear
Highlights of the Year
Best games:
Week 13 in general.
NJJ vs. Brock’s Bandits (week one)
Brock’s Bandits vs. Blade Brown (week two)
BW&T vs. 5SS (week four)
Best posts:
Any of Parkers’
Best smack talk:
Nick (To Navid - Your lineup is the funniest thing posted all year)
Brock (Randy McMichael)
Highlights of the Website:
“Owner of the week” addition
“Team pages” (Jay top 10 lists)
Jay and Marc’s consistency in writing their columns
Scott’s playoff preview
Chris letter to Randy McMichael
Another great season everyone. I personally wanted to thank everyone who wrote columns and posts for everyone
else’s enjoyment, especially mine.
Lastly, I leave you with a few snippets from Jim Valvano’s moving speech:
“There are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh.
You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is,
you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think,
and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have
something special.”
“What's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started; where you are; and where you're gonna
be. Those are the three things that I try and do every day.”
“It's so important to know where you are. And I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to
where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And
you have to be willing to work for it.”
“I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend
each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and
[as] Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm" -- to keep your dreams
alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to
become a reality.”
"Don't give up, don't ever give up."
write whatever I want.
Playoff Prediction
Finals matchup: Nomads vs. Nose
Favorite: Nomads – good luck this week big guy.
Sleeper: propaganda – last time Nick sneaked into the playoffs with a week 13 victory was in 2003. That year, he
defeated a team that was #1 throughout the year (Rich) on his way to a championship title. Could it happen again?
He catches Scott at a good time. No Bulger, no Westbrook (btw, Scott must hate me, b/c I keep picking up the
backup to his injured players).
Hope 2005 Edition:
Jason: The toilet bowl award winner has had a rough few weeks. But there is reason to have hope. He has a couple
of decent keeper prospects in Cedric Benson, Willie Parker, Kevin Jones, and even Javon Walker (who should be
back by the beginning of next year. But beware, it usually takes a year and a half to recover from a torn ACL). Plus,
he gets to pick from LDT and Shaun Alexander.
One other reason to be optimistic. Last year’s worst team and #1 draft holder, Dave Allocco, made a dramatic
turnaround this year and is the #5 seed in this years playoffs.
Coincidentally, 2003’s TB winner, Marc Epstein also made the playoffs the following year as none other than the #5
seed.
Rich: The man down under had a tough year as well. A bad draft weekend (not b/c of the draft) was a sign of things
to come. He has arguably two of the best keepers for next year in Eli and Cadillac. Coming off the heels of having
Donovan and Ahman for 3 years, the man will again have a deadly QB/RB combo. Add to that, he gets whichever
top RB Jason doesn’t take. This man does not care for WR’s people.
Rich could follow in the footsteps of his good friend and 2004 #2 draft pick holder, Chris Brockman. That means
playoffs in 2005.
Marc: The commish is looking at one of those up and down streaks, where you have one good year mixed in
between two bad ones. But he has a decent pair of wideouts to keep in Santana Moss and Roy Williams, if he
decides to go that route. He could also keep the ageless wonder, Curtis Martin (if he doesn’t retire) or even Todd
Heap. He’ll have a tough choice to make at the 3rd pick. Maybe Edge will join the tools again for 3 more years. Or
maybe Peyton. How about Reggie Bush?
Marc could replicate last year’s #3 pick, Colt 45’s. A playoff run, combined with a wedding? Hey, you never know.
Parker: You have to feel for Parker. Too years in row, he feel short of the playoffs, just missing out in the final
week. This time was worse, by a mere .18. However, through a wise draft selection and a smooth trade, Parker has
two of the best WR in the game. Marvin Harrison and Larry Fitzgerald. He’ll select a RB with his #4 pick. Possibly,
the man at the heart of this year’s scandal, Deuce McAllister.
The man with the #4 pick this year was the now league veteran, Jarrett. Jarrett also made the playoffs this year and
is one of the favorites to win it all. Parker wouldn’t mind having that kind of success in 2006. In addition, the last
person to fail to make the playoffs in two consecutive years was Nick Serrano and he made the playoffs this year.
Look for Parker’s playoff drought to end in 2006.
MwR: The #5 selection failed to make the playoffs for the first time after two extremely successful seasons. He has a
few options at keeper to help him return to the playoffs in 2006. He has McGahee for another year. Thomas Jones
has played so well, Benson may have to wait another year. He could also consider Plaxico or Dominic Rhodes, who
could be next year’s Lamont Jordan (depending on what happens to Edge). With all those options at RB, look for
MwR to look for a WR with his first round draft pick. T.O? Holt?
Parker had the 2005 #5 draft pick and I’m sure the 2006 #5 draft pick holder will hope to not follow in his footsteps.
Jay: The 2004 champ has failed to make the playoffs for the first time in his franchise’s storied history. Jay went into
the season playing for this year only. Losing LDT will hurt, but not as much as not having a viable keeper option for
2006. After the comeback year Galloway had, look for Jay to keep him again. Braylon could be another option, if he
recovers from his injury in time. But with Jay’s track record on keeping/drafting WR’s, he may just stay away. Tatum
Bell and Byron Leftwich are another option.
Last year’s most bitter man was another ROFFL champion. Nick returned to the playoffs this year and Jay would like
nothing more than to follow that same path.
Fantasy vs. Reality – Final season edition
- Scott – Indy (Both were simply dominant through the season)
- Navid – Denver (The clear cut #2 team in the league. Very balanced offense and defense, with a QB that can
manage the game.) - Chris – Seattle (A high scoring offense, but there are question marks on whether the team can win the big
one) - Jarrett – Cincy (Another high scoring and balanced team, but can he beat the big dogs)
- Dave – New York Giants (A quality team, but not consistent. Possibly another year away from the
championship, but making huge strides after a horrible 2004) - Gregg – Carolina (Some bad losses, but still manages to win the important ones. The team will rarely blow
you out, but they’ll keep it close) - Me – Minnesota (Both have no business being in the playoffs, but somehow find themselves with a glimmer of
hope) - Nick – New England (Despite all the adversity and criticisms, both just manage to win)
- Jay – San Diego (High hopes, tough close losses. Would have been dangerous if they made the playoffs)
- MwR – Washington (Looked like a playoff team early on, but in the end, fell just short. Have a good team
base for 2006) - Parker – Philly (High expectations coming into the season, but injuries and some bad luck resulted in a sub
par year) - Marc – Arizona (Again, high expectations coming into the season. Both put points on the board, but just
couldn’t win the games) - Rich – New Orleans (Both have had to deal with Katrina and couldn’t quite overcome it)
- Jason – Green Bay (After so many years of being an elite team, the talent and off-season moves just weren’t
right this year. The rebuilding period begins.)
2005 Season Awards: (My opinion only)
MVP – LDT
Comeback Player – Drew Bledsoe
Sleeper of the Year – Kevin Curtis
First Team:
QB – Carson Palmer
RB – LaDanian Tomlinson
RB – Shaun Alexander
WR – Steve Smith
WR – Larry Fitzgerald
WR – Joey Galloway
TE – Antonio Gates
K – Neil Rackers
DEF – Chicago Bears
Second Team:
QB – Peyton Manning
RB – Edgerrin James
RB – Larry Johnson
WR – Chad Johnson
WR – Hines Ward
WR – Marvin Harrison
TE – Jeremy Shockey
K – Jay Feely
DEF – Indianapolis Colts
Third Team:
QB – Tom Brady
RB – Lamont Jordan
RB – Tiki Barber
WR – Anquan Boldin
WR – Santana Moss
WR – Terry Glenn
TE – Chris Cooley
K – Shayne Graham
DEF – New York Giants
All Bust Team
QB – Daunte Culpepper (wasn’t good before he was injured)
RB – Willis McGahee
RB – Julius Jones
WR – Nate Burleson
WR – Randy Moss
WR – Laverneous Coles
TE – Dallas Clark
K – Mike Nugent
DEF – Philadelphia Eagles
All Injury Team
QB – Donovan McNabb
RB – Deuce McAllister
RB – Ahman Green
WR – Javon Walker
WR – Darrell Jackson
WR – Joe Horn
TE – Eric Johnson
K – David Akers
DEF – Baltimore Ravens
All Sleeper Team
QB – Mark Brunell
RB – Willie Parker
RB – Samkon Gado
WR – Kevin Curtis
WR – Joe Jurevicious
WR – Ernest Wilford
TE – Heath Miller
K – Neil Rackers
DEF – Chicago Bear
Highlights of the Year
Best games:
Week 13 in general.
NJJ vs. Brock’s Bandits (week one)
Brock’s Bandits vs. Blade Brown (week two)
BW&T vs. 5SS (week four)
Best posts:
Any of Parkers’
Best smack talk:
Nick (To Navid - Your lineup is the funniest thing posted all year)
Brock (Randy McMichael)
Highlights of the Website:
“Owner of the week” addition
“Team pages” (Jay top 10 lists)
Jay and Marc’s consistency in writing their columns
Scott’s playoff preview
Chris letter to Randy McMichael
Another great season everyone. I personally wanted to thank everyone who wrote columns and posts for everyone
else’s enjoyment, especially mine.
Lastly, I leave you with a few snippets from Jim Valvano’s moving speech:
“There are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh.
You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is,
you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think,
and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have
something special.”
“What's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started; where you are; and where you're gonna
be. Those are the three things that I try and do every day.”
“It's so important to know where you are. And I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to
where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And
you have to be willing to work for it.”
“I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend
each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and
[as] Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm" -- to keep your dreams
alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to
become a reality.”
"Don't give up, don't ever give up."
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