Week 9 finds a 7 place tie for first place. I do not think we have ever had that many teams tied for first this late in the season. Also, the 8th place team is only 1 game out and the 9th & 10th place teams are only 2 games out. A couple of weeks ago there was (I think) a reasonable request to change the waiver period to 24 hours and to start the waiver clock on all "bulletin board" transaction at 8:00 AM on Tuesday. All the reactions I have seen have been positive, but I really need to see 100% agreement to change a rule mid-season, so let me know what you think.

  The old web (http://swffl.50megs.com) has updated archives and historical records. I will also add some web-exclusive. Send any ideas to me and I will see what I can do.

Key Matchups to watch this Week

  The Bishops of Battle will try to hold on to that top spot against the equally high-scoring Young Gunz. The Fightin' Irish will try to hold on to that last Money Spot with a win against the Good Fellas. The Roxborough Wranglers and Money Takers will try to make a strong second half start against each other. The Jelly Beans will look to replace the Black & Blue Attack in the Money by beating them in their only meeting this year. The "Draft Day Traders" (Dream Team and Body Shop) will meet for the only time this week.

  Norm (my estimates) was 3 of 5 last week making him 21/35 (60%). He retains top billing. Spock was 2 of 5 last week making him 14/35 (40%) on the season. His locks appear below:

  Monday night had some Monday night madness in three games (mainly one). The rest of the week 9 schedule was decided on Sunday.

  The Young Gunz defeated the Bishops of Battle and helped cause the whole 7 way tie for first place. The Gunz were led by Fitzmagic, Allen and a big game out of the BEARS. Despite co-creating the big logjam, the, the Gunz lead the league in points but are still a game out of the logjam. The Bishops were led but Wilson and Howard in the loss. This game featured 45 ST points (my guess is that is a record) and 0 bench points (also a record) by the Gunz. A Ryan and Cook start would have kept the Bishops a game ahead of that log jam at the top.

  The Jelly Beans defeated the Black & Blue Attack in their only meeting this year. The beans were led by Brees, Gordon and Cooks as they climbed into that logjam at 5-4 and incidentally knocked the Attack into that logjam as well. The Attack was led by White and the TEXAN double-bubble in the loss. The Attack had some help on the bench but not nearly enough to make a difference in the outcome of the game.

  The Money Takers carried a 84.4 point lead into Monday night against the Roxborough Wranglers and Corey Davis. Davis had a nice night, but nowhere near enough to overcome that lead. The Takers scored their 2nd helmet after spending a couple of weeks as the bottom of the scoreboard. The Takers big bounce back was due in large part by Cam, Kamara, Kupp and an MVP performance by Thomas. The Wranglers were led by McCaffrey in the loss.

  The Dream Team carried a 67.5 point lead into Monday night against the Body Shop and Zeke. This would have been the perfect payback if Zeke (one of the draft day traded players) came back and neat the Dream Team. The Dream Team was led by Rodgers, Coleman and Ridley as they too helped cause and climbed into the logjam at the top. The Shop was led by Mahomes in the loss that dropped them back into that logjam. The Shop left some bullets on the bench, but even their roster total would have come up short.

  The "Game of the Week" honors go to the contest between the Fightin' Irish and the Good Fellas. The Irish were trailing by 5.2 points going into Monday night with Cooper. Cooper did not lead his new NFL team to a "W", he quickly led the Irish to the win. The Irish were led by Bug Ben, Hunt and Julio (who finally found the end zone). The Fellas were led by the Terminator, Flash and Kelce (ok no pop-culture reference here) in the loss. The Fellas did not start their best lineup (pretty close) but even their best lineup would have come up short.

CHATTERBOX:(Get Quotes in by Monday Night)
Dream Team (Norm): Suspiciously Absent

BEST & WORST OF WEEK 9

MVP: Michael Thomas (45.1) Money Takers       Best on Bench: Matt Ryan (44.6) Bishops-Battle      Low Scorers: Body Shop (94.7)    Coaching Efficiency: High: Young Gunz (100%) Low: Body Shop (80%)

Top Rostered Players By Position (Rostered Players Only)
QB - Mahomes(320.2),Ryan(252.8),Goff(245.7),Cousins(216.5)
RB - Gurley(242.5),Barkley(202.6),Kamara(198.2),Hunt(198.0)
WR - Thielen(222.7),Hopkins(197.4),Thomas(194.0),Hill(188.5)
TE - Kelce(161.1),Ertz(143.4),Kittle(136.2),Ebron(117.4)
PK - Lutz(99),Crosby(96),Tucker,Gostkowski(92)
ST - BEARS(94),RAMS(84),VIKINGS(80),CHIEFS(73)