Week 3 Game of the Week
New York Griffons vs. Wisconsin Cheeseheads

The two-time champion Cheeseheads face the three-time runnerup Griffons in FFF’s game of the week. The Cheeseheads will have Steve Young back at quarterback this week, and they catch the Griffons without Carl Pickens and without Keenan McCardell. New York has won 7 of their last 8 games. That one loss, however, was in Fantasy Bowl V.

Another interesting matchup will pit winless Newport Beach against winless Carolina. The last time these two teams met was in the final week of the 1996 season, when their unlikely 25-25 tie knocked them both out of the consolation playoffs and allowed Wisconsin to sneak into said playoffs.

 

Pachyderms packing for LA
Hessler to helm franchise in Orange County

In a surprise move this week, David Lieberman transferred the ownership of his team to Ross Hessler of Mission Viejo, CA. Hessler and his wife, Helen Zajac, bring a second team back to the Southern California region after the off-season move of the Riot! franchise.

Lieberman cited several reasons for his decision — being a new father and having a new job are pretty time-consuming priorities. Lieberman said he doesn’t have the time it takes to manage the team. The Pachyderms, behind a stellar year from QB Brett Favre, won a division championship in 1996.

But the Pachyderms were questioned for off-season moves, including the release of running backs Robert Smith and Lawrence Phillips. And the criticism picked up after impressive performances by both Smith and Phillips during Week 1 action.

Many observers also speculated that the Pachyderms would start to see an eroding fan base with the new NIKEtown franchise parked on the other side of the city.

No official word yet from Hessler on where the team would play and what the new name of the team will be.

… more to come

 

Week Two Wrapups

The Cowboys, Packers and the Jets all proved they aren’t as good as they looked in Week 1. The Steelers proved they aren’t as bad as they looked in Week 1.

Similarly, the Fantasy Football League scores in Week 2 weren’t nearly as dramatic as they were in Week 1. The defending champions — the NIKEtown Knights — scored less than half the points they tallied last week, but moved their record to 2-0 by beating Mercer 43-27.

Miami posted the highest score on the weekend, checking in with 71 points thanks to big points from the running back stable of Eddie George, Natrone Means and Jerome Bettis. The Muffdivers clobbered New Denver 71-33. Defending point champ New York moved it’s record to 2-0 with a 43-28 win over Newport Beach.

Both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania found the throttle this week. The two teams combined for a total of 38 points last week. This week, both teams topped 50. The Cheeseheads handed Richmond it’s first loss by a 58-24 count. The Wildcats weathered a late, furious charge by Andre Rison in the Monday Night game and held on for a 53-51 win over Dallas.

Syracuse, with a big Monday night game from Tim Brown, held off Pittsburgh 40-29. The final game, which was the predicted Game of the Week by FFF, had the Keystone Longfellows pulling off the come-from-behind victory over Carolina by a 41-36 count. Elvis Grbac’s 300+ yard game with 2 TDs proved to be the difference for Keystone, which sweeps the back-to-back series with Carolina and moves their record to 2-0.

NIKEtown’s Drew Bledsoe was the top point producer for the week, with a 21-point performance. PA Wildcat kicker Mike Hollis was the second-highest producer of the week with 18 points. It took Pennsylvania kickers 5 weeks in 1996 to score a team total of 18 points.

 

 

Backlash in the Knight

Several league owners have expressed disappointment, frustration, and downright disdain for the team formerly known as the LA Riot!, now called the NIKEtown Knights.

While financial terms have not been disclosed of the marketing deal between the shoe giant and the defending FFL champions, many owners expressed their concern about the over-commercialization of the league.

Syracuse Blizzard owner Doug Weaver lashed out at Knights owner Sam McClain. “Sam had the chance to play for the home crowd but he sold out and went for the money,” Weaver said. “It makes me very sad.”

Newport Beach owner Dan Callahan took the criticism of McClain a step further. “We can not allow the gross commercialization that is occuring to continue,” Callahan said. “The NFL has jerry jones now we have Sam.”

Callahan has called for a boycott on commercial sponsors of the Knights franchise.