Week 8

I post this quickly, so I won’t get snippy comments about the recap being late from one owner who shall remain unnamed. Who, if I remember correctly, was none to speedy w/his recap neither.

But, I come to bury Week8, and not Caesar, so here we go:

Mission Manhandlers 110 def Scavages 104

First off, congratulations to both teams in being involved in the only game this year where both teams broke into triple digits. The extra dollop of congratulations goes to the Dead Schmoos for overcoming the negative 6 points from the defense and still winning. She did this w/a solid performance up and down her lineup, w/6 players in double digits. Now there are those who are going to point out that the Scavages could’ve won if Kevin would’ve played Eddie “I’m not dead yet” Kennison, Kevin “It’s all in the name” Jones or Jake “I’m not related to that fat chef” Delhomme, but I’m hard pressed to say I’d have done anything different.

Game ball: Although it’s hard to pass up Steve Smith’s 33pt performance. I’m gonna do it, and award it to Feely the kicker: 5 FG, w/4 of them 39yds or longer! And 3 XP’s. Steve “Don’t call me Jimmy or Antwoin” Smith has and I’m sure will continue to get his share of game balls in the following weeks.

Joe’s Mother Tuckers 67 def SF Sluts 59

After a brief visit to the win column that had all the pundits scratching their heads, the Sluts are back to familiar territory--flat on their backs, losing listlessly. As much as I hate to say it, Brett is getting a bit long in the tooth and he has no one to throw to. Which makes the Brett over Ben decision eminently Chump-worthy. I’d also like to go against the usual sparing of winning coaches the dubious COTW honors, and nominate Joe. Jake “Not the Roto-Rooter” Plummer had 31 pts on the bench compared on Drew “I’m done bleeding” Bledsoe’s 9.

Game ball: Plummer 31pts.

Juggs 119 def ‘Rollers 59

This was the tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Juggs were on a 2 game winning streak and the ‘Rollers were one a 3 game losing streak. And like the America of today, the Winning got more winning and the losing got more losing. A balanced attack, w/an eye-popping performance by Antonio “I should make Bill money” Gates w/35. The Rollers only excuse was a bye-heavy lineup which required creative lineup management. As is usually the case, creative management = crappy management, w/only Tony Fisher doing anything. Rest assured, the rest of this motley crew is destined for the Waiver heap in short order. To be replaced by the next batch to be scrapped the following week. The only faint glimmer of hope for the defending champs was the performance of one Marion Barber w/25pts on the bench. But being two games below 500 in week 8 is a tough spot to make the playoffs.

Game Ball: Gates 35pts

Blackouts 95 def Beatles 52

It was truly a pyrrhic victory for the Blackouts losing their Culpepper this week. It was also an unusual victory in that the Blackouts actually scored over 70 points. The Blackouts have the lowest point total of any team in the league, yet they are tied for the 2^nd best record! But back to this week’s game. Culpepper wasn’t able to do much, but Tiki and the Dallas D kept the torches bright for the Blackouts. For the Beatles, well, they’re lucky that they had a truly pathetic performance by the Chimps to save them from the ignominy of the lowest point total. A year or two back, I proposed a general rule of thumb (or Sei’s Plastic Pearl): If your Defense leads your scoring, you’re in trouble. Although this year’s D scoring seems a bit high, the rule still holds. Like in this game.

Game Ball: Tiki 27pts

Bobcats 89 def Chimps 28

28! As was mentioned previously, it’s not a new record (26 by the Titans), but it’s damn close. The observation here is you live by the Brunell/Moss combination and you die by the Brunell/Moss combination. The flea-bitten primates had no one in double figures, and probably more damning is that they had over twice as many points on the bench than starters. Now if you take out the two players on byes, that means the Chimps 6 bench players more than doubled the output of the 8 starters. That makes this Chimp very Chump-worthy.

As for the Bobcats, here’s an example of why the previous pearl was plastic: The D led in scoring and they won. Which in my mind points to the D scoring being out of whack. But that’s another tirade for another time.

Game Ball: Giants D

Wild Things 102 def Surf Riders 74

It was a good week for the PA heavy Wild Things, who got solid efforts from TO and Heath “Not Cliff” Miller. A resurgent effort by Eric “I just needed a non-Losman QB” Moulds couldn’t overcome the 4pt effort by the once-might Priest. Although the OBSR’s had lots of points on the bench, there was no lineup that could’ve beat the RRWT’s total. Which, of course does not mean that they should be spared the COTW honors.

Game Ball: TO

One final observation: At the slightly past the midway point of the season, there seems to be a changing of the guard at the top of the standings. The teams that are leading the three divisions are the Bobcats, Chimps, and Blackouts. In the history of the league, I believe these teams are a combined 0-3 in the playoffs. This means they’ve made it to the playoffs only 3 times, and have lost in the first round each time. I guess if Sox of all colors can win the World Series, there’s no reason why these teams can’t win the MMFL. Or maybe this is yet another sign of the impending apocalypse.