Week 9 finds the first implementation of the dreaded tie-breaker rule. Unlike my partner I'd rather have the tie. Oh well. There are some teams off this week, so make sure you check. If you can live with the web version or if you want to try and receive these notes by e-mail, let me know. It is cheaper and also much quicker. The league's url is http://swffl.50megs.com .

Key Matchups to watch this Week

  The Jelly Beans will try to sweep the Good Fellas as this Family Feud gets fired up again in Week 10. The Fellas are fresh off a helmet and they know how the Beans have been when running up against helmet teams. The Black Revenge will try to avenge their week 1 loss to the Body Shop. The Shop is coming off a cardiac win last week, and the Revenge lost to an old time rival. The Black & Blue Attack will try to avenge one of its 2 first half losses against the M. Takers. This is a battle of current Elite teams and as always has the former partners backdrop to play on. The Dream Team will try to avenge their 1-point loss to the Bull Dogs in week 1. The Dogs are in a free-fall and the Dream Team is trying to get over the events of Monday night. The Quiet Storm would like to keep those championship hopes alive with a repeat of their week 1 drubbing of the Sharks. The Sharks continue to hover just under the Elite Line.

  Spock was 3/5 this week, making him 27/40 (68%) on the season and he retains top billing. Norm was 3/5 on the week, making him 16/40 (40%) on the season. His lines appear below:

  There were 2 games that were technically over by Sunday. Two games were all but over. One other was most definitely up in the air on Monday.

  The Jelly Beans soundly defeated the Quiet Storm. The Beans ground game put up 42 points and Akers did what he does every week. Donovan had an off game, but Faulk and Barber picked up his slack big time. The Storm's RB and WR's disappeared. The Storm also mad a decent acquisition in Pennington. Of course the better move would have been to stand pat and throw Johnson against that thing they are trying to pass off as a defense in Minnesota. Fortunately for the Storm, Barber's late 15 point run made the starting QB a moot point.

  The Black & Blue Attack eked out a 'W' in a close one against the Sharks. The Attack secured the victory on Sunday, mainly due to a breakout game by Keys Johnson, and still had Driver in reserve on Monday. The Sharks made a couple of shrewd moves with Watson and Anderson, but came up a bit short.

  The Good Fellas put a whipping on the former partner Bull Dogs as Favre, Williams and Glenn could not overcome a 62 point lead. The Fellas finally got a decent game out of their QB and sprinkled in some scoring elsewhere but lost their first helmet of the year on Monday. The Dogs 1-point performance on Sunday, killed the morale of the troops still coming on Monday.

  The M. Takers ousted the Black Revenge from their Elite position and jumped up to take their place. The Takers were blanked at the QB spot, but Antwoin Smith sort had a mini-breakout game to carry the day for the Takers. The Takers WR's continue to put up consistent numbers and every now and then they even get spectacular performances. The Revenge, hurt a bit by the BYE, had to rely on Jake the Snake. The CARDS have been relying on him for years with pretty much the same result. I know it is only one loss, but I know at least one Revenge owner considers this a big game. The fact that this is the only meeting this year, makes the 'L' all the more bitter.

  The "Game of the Week" honors go to the contest between the Dream Team and the Body Shop. The defending Champs took on the "George Foreman" of Fantasy Football. The Current commish takes on the former commish. The game was all tied after the 1:00 games with only 2 PKs and a WR and a RB to go. The teams were all tied at 18. The Dream Team PK and WR tacked on 23 on Sunday, leaving the Shop down 23 with Ahman Green and Mare on Monday night. Green put up an early 17 and then it was just waiting out Mare. Half way through the 4th quarter the DOLPHINS bogged down and kicked a 46 yard FG. That looked like it might be it, but the FINS scored a TD with less than 2 minutes left and the extra-point triggered the first ever use of the tie-breaker system and the Shop wins 41-41.

CHATTERBOX:(Get Quotes in by Monday Night)
Dream Team (Norm): "First Tie - I'd rather have the loss than the tie."
Body Shop (Casey): "NOW, I remember why I retired from fantasy football. That was way too much pressure for me to handle. My head is throbbing. I won and it is still going to take me weeks to recover."
Bull Dogs (John T.): "My team blows. I am looking for a life preserver."

BEST & WORST OF WEEK 9

MVP: Tom Brady (33) Good Fellas       Best on Bench: Brad Johnson (36) Quiet Storm      Low Scorers: Bull Dogs (7)    Coaching Efficiency: High: Jelly Beans (91%) Low: Bull Dogs (25%)

Top Rostered Players By Position (Rostered Players Only)
QB - Gannon(161),Bledsoe(159),Brady(156),McNabb(144)
RB - Holmes(137),McAllister,Tomlinson(108),Faulk(89)
WR - Price,Owens(75),Moulds,Conway(60)
PK - Hollis(90),Gramatica(88),Feely,Andersen(87)
ST - BUCCANEERS(57),JETS(32),BROWNS(25),PACKERS(21)