Pittsburgh Franchise Football League
2008 News & Notes 

Week Seven

PFFL EAST

Luck always seems to find a way of evening itself out over time - at least we hope it does if we had bad luck - and right now it is evening out what it did to the Rebels last year. Last year the Rebels couldn't buy a break finishing the season with the most points scored against in the entire league resulting in them missing out on the playoffs. This year they are ranked 7th in the East in points 19th overall yet sit atop the East tied with the Downtowners for the best record in the league at 6-1. How is this possible? Two one-point victories, one two-point victory, and one three-point victory. They won a game earlier in the year scoring just 91 points but the last two weeks they have averaged 126 and this week actually took a second, their first winnings of the year, so they have definitely deserved the success of late.

The Tommy Guns needed another come-from-behind win to hold onto first but stayed behind this time. Green Apple was able to hold on for a 110-104 win dropping the Guns out of first to second. The perfect lineup would have given them a one-point win but the loss of Reggie Bush to injury is what really cost them the game. They still lead the conference in points but scoring a below average 104 dropped them from the overall league lead to third. Where they didn't drop is in weekly winnings as they still lead the league in that category. When asked if he would rather be in first with hardly any weekly winnings like the Rebels or second and have the most in the league, Little Tommy had this to say: "Give me the money every time. That's what this is all about isn't it. Besides, the Rebels can have all the regular-season cheap wins they want, what counts is the playoffs." Did little Tommy actually say this? No. But if MFL can fabricate quotes in their Fantasy Recaps so can I.

I can't believe I have to do this: The T Bones won their second Team of the Week Honor this week crushing Commish East 159-95. Oh, but you already knew that unless your blind deaf and dumb. For the first time this year they didn't move up in the standings with a win but the 4VP they earned puts them in a three-way VP tie for the top spot with 20. They won their last four in a row but it's the last three where they have really come on averaging 139 in weeks 5,6, and 7; the most of any team league wide. Ok, enough with the nice stuff about the T Bones I'm getting nauseated. It can't be all good. Let me look around. . . Ok here you go: In week 3 the T Bones scored just 70 points; the worst week of any team in the East. Put that on the message board Dean!

Let's see, this is week 7 an odd week, meaning the scoring is in a down mode meaning Green Apple scored below the league average. Yes the trend continues but maybe there is another trend beginning. Last week they scored above the league average and lost; this week they score below and win. Whatever, the bottom line is they remain in the top four where they have been for the entire year. In fact they have occupied every top tier position including first at one time or another through the first seven weeks. With 18VP they are just two behind the leader and maybe more important a full 4VP ahead of fifth and the middle tier. Right now the East has the closest race for the top spot of the three.
 

PFFL CENTRAL

PFFL WEST

Yes there was one team that did win all their regular season games in the history of the PFFL but that was definitely the exception and not the norm. The Downtowners dropped their first game of the year leaving no teams unbeaten in the league. They still lead the conference in points but scoring just 101 this week dropped them to #2 league wide. If there is anyone to blame for the loss they can blame the schedule. Both their first and second round draft picks were on a bye. Last week they got 58 points from the players that were off this week. As we said last week they could have put up a zero this week and still be in first which they are by the way. Well they didn't put up a zero in points but they did in VP allowing the second-place team to come within range once again. A 3VP lead is still pretty good but it ain't 5. We all have to deal with the byes and although they don't have anything locked up, their first and second round picks won't be on a bye from here on out.

The JR's Boys have quietly put together an impressive four-game winning streak and they weren't squeakers either. They won all four in convincing fashion averaging 133.5. What's been just as impressive, and probably part of the reason for their success, is their coaching rating. With a 100% rating for week 7 they have now moved ahead of the Syndicate as the league leader in coaching efficiency. Earlier in the year they were in as low as eighth place but their 4VP this week has brought them up to second and in range of the top spot. The Downtowners still have a solid lead but it is no longer untouchable as it was a week ago. But even closer than first is sixth place at just 2VP away so the entire top tier is basically still up for grabs.

And speaking of quietly, where the hell did the Apaches come from. I'll tell you where, from the bottom tier where they resided for the first three weeks of the season. And how did they get here? On the back of the league's longest winning streak of five games. Their fifth straight win wasn't easy as French River put up the most points they had scored on them to date, 131. But for the last five weeks they have done what they had to do to win and countered the Creek's 131 with their best score of the year of 141. After an 0-2 start it took five straight wins but their fifth victory gives them a seat in the top four for the first time this year. Those of you who drafted in the West know Jim has a unique style of selecting his players. I will call it entertaining at the least. But also entertaining is Jim's sound bite heard when clicking on his icon. It sort of sounds like Dean and Kevin arguing politics after both had a little too much to drink. 

After spending the last five weeks in the top two, it's starting to slip away from MNE. By scoring just 106 points, their opponent Brookline gave them the opportunity to pick up ground on the Downtowners; something they couldn't do last week with 140 points. Opportunity knocked but MNE answered with just 102 points dropping them to their lowest position in the standings this year, fourth. You could blame the loss on not playing Ocho Stinko who had his best week of the year with 19 points. But there would be no reason for blame if Reggie Bush didn't get hurt. We spoke last week of how MNE had reason to be frustrated by the events of the previous two weeks. After adding in this week's events they have gone from first place in week 3, to challenging the Downtowners for first from the second position in weeks 4, 5, and 6, to fourth and tied in VP with the sixth position this week. Andrew you do know I was just kidding about the gun and tower thing last week don't you?
 

PFFL Information

High Week

Tommy Guns

PFFL STUFF

● Scoring: Last week the scoring was above the yearly average which means this week was below the yearly average. Yes the pattern continues. Odd weeks below and even above. This week's average posted at 114, an odd week and below this year's current average of 116.

● Waivers/Trades: A word about trading and waivers. According to the rules teams may not trade their waiver picks. What this means is you may not switch your position in the order with another team or assign your waiver pick to another team. Any trades involving players that will be picked up in waivers should not be posted until after 8:00 pm on Fridays after waivers are processed.

● Wacky East: How screwed up is the East right now? Well first of all Dean is in the East. But also the seventh-place team in total points is in first place in the standings and the seventh-place team in the standings is in second place in total points. And Dean is in the East.

● Parity: Is there parity in the PFFL this year? Early on it looked like the Tommy Guns were going to be the elite team then the Downtowners took over but lost their undefeated and top point earner status this week. Right now no one team seems to be dominating. There is a different team listed in each of the five categories on the League Leaders Board.

● Trade Voting: Although the system will automatically process trades whether they receive enough votes for either approval or rejection, it takes 48 hours without those votes. If a team does not cast a vote it will be taken as an approval at the end of the 48 hours so if you are not going to reject a trade why not just approve it when it is posted. It is a common courtesy that we all would like given to us when we post trades so why not extend it to others.

● Regular Season: Time does seem to fly when you are having fun. It seems like it just started but there are just four weeks remaining in the PFFL regular season.

PFFL Trivia Answer

Curt Warner