eSFL Insider Week 14, 2010

eSFL Insider Week 14, 2010

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First rounds of the Ballistic Bowl playoff and Gunner Cup



By: Josh Perdew, eSFL Correspondent



Welcome to the first round of the playoffs and the first round of the Gunner Cup. The brackets are set and some owners fired up. I have personally spoken to a couple of other owners over the last few days. Coach Bruce Fields, of the Fields Fanatix, said that he is geared up and ready to go. He seems to think his team is the favorite to win the Appalachian and the Ballistic Bowl. Coach Ron Kavanaugh of the Kavanators is not so happy with his draw in the Gunner Cup. He likely has the toughest road ahead to get his entry fee back. As for myself, I am happy that my squad was able to finish above the cut line and make the playoffs, but I have a tough road ahead of me as well. It’s never easy when you face one the league’s most recognized and most accomplished teams in league history.



I was looking back before I started this article at my preseason projections, final standings, playoff projections, and championship picks. I had a couple of team’s records fairly close, nailing Appalachian team Kavanators with a 7-7 record and Global team D Crownholders with a 3-11 record. I had Fields at 9-5 but he was able to grab an extra win and finish 10-4. I really whiffed on GMAN, as I projected him to win the Appalachian with a 10-4 record, yet he struggled all season long to an embarrassing 3-11. Vial’s Vigilantes were the garbage that we thought, but he squeaked out a win in week 12 to avoid league history as the only team to go winless. Whitmore and Texan Bruisers overachieved this season as I thought they both might not make the playoffs and made a liar out of me, and Perdew barely made it in despite the fact that I thought during preseason that he could be a favorite in the Appalachian division. As for the Global division, Temp lost a few more than I though and I also expected Boot Hill to be a little better than where they finished, but I was pretty much on target with McKinney and Pardue. Zima was the shocker with a nice run down the stretch winning 8 of their last 10 and capturing a playoff spot that I thought Frost would end up with. I had the Ballistic Bowl set up for Pardue and Perdew to meet and the Pardue Bruisermakers taking their first title. My projection for the championship game is still alive, but you will need to keep reading and tune in for another couple weeks to see if it comes true.



Enough with the flashbacks, so let us move into this week’s action.

I will start off with the Gunner Cup.

The top matchup in the Gunner Cup has to be Frost vs Kav. These two teams narrowly missed the playoffs and have squads very capable of taking the Gunner Cup title. Kav was knocked out of the Ballistic Bowl bracket in the final regular season game and he placed a lot of blame on his star wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. Bowe was one of the hottest players through the mid weeks of the season and had many other owners in this league talking about Kav making a deep run in the playoffs. Bowe had other plans for the Kavanators, and laid the golden goose egg in week 13 when coach Kav needed him the most. Coach Ron Kavanaugh had one quote in an interview earlier today, stating “Bowe’s goose egg was hard to swallow.” Frost was unavailable for comment, but like any other coach in this league, Frost will be ready to step up to the challenge that Kav will bring to the table.

GMAN, with a 3-11 record, will face the other 3-11 team, in the defending Ballistic Bowl Champion, D Crownholders. GMAN was in fact this year’s biggest disappointment after some folks had him atop the Appalachian Division. His wide receivers never got it together and his young running backs were beyond garbage. Throw in a quarterback injury, and this team was ruined. DCrownholders were projected to be near the bottom of the barrel in the Global Division as the defending champs drafted poorly and never really clicked all year. This team has been known to ruin a few other owners in years past, so keep your eye on this bunch as they might be spoilers in the Gunner Cup.

Boot Hill Balut will face the Vigilantes in their first round game of the Gunner Cup. Coach Ryan Rhodes made a few questionable calls as the new head coach last week and it cost his old man’s team some much needed momentum. Viall was beat down by the Pulverizers as his squad was coming off his 1st win of the season. Coach Ryan Rhodes is looking for his first win and just might get it as he got in my opinion the easiest Gunner Cup draw.







My projections for the Gunner Cup first round games are:



Kavanators will knock off Frost with a stellar rebound performance from Dwayne Bowe. Frost will get a nice 30 points from Adrian Peterson, but fall to Kav. Kav 159 Frost 144



DCrownholders will once again be on spoiler alert with a victory over GMAN. Gman will finally get the game from Chris Johnson that he was looking for all year. Johnson will gash Indy for 45 but the Jet trio that Dcrown has will be enough for a win. DCrown 153 GMAN 133



Boot Hill and Vial will be the lowest scoring game in the first round with two clubs that can’t find solid performances from their leaders. Boot Hill will win this game, but the score won’t be high enough to move to the next round. Boot Hill 148 Vial 98

Ballistic Bowl Bracket, 2010

Made possible by:

This is where things get real interesting in this league. This is the cream of the crop in the eSFL. This looks to be some of the toughest matchups of the season. None of these teams want to walk away this week with a loss and have to drop down into the Gunner Cup. The regular season division champs have selected their first round opponents and the remaining teams are set.

In the Global Division, Coach Ron Pardue of the Bruisermakers, has selected McKinney Rednecks in the first round. I would have to say that Pardue is very ballsy selecting a team that finished second in the division and beat Pardue head to head in both meetings. Pardue has some late season injuries that could bury him. McKinney is led by Arian Foster and Michael Turner. Pardue is led by Michael Vick and Roddy White. Neither of these teams have a title under their belt, but McKinney did play for the title back in 2005 but fell short to Temps Texas Boys. These teams are tied at 3-3 in head to head record all time.

The other Global division game has Zima Ruskies taking on Temps Texas Boys. Zima has a title from 2004 and Temp has a couple of titles from 2005 and 2006. Zima won both games in the regular season with Temp putting up his two worst performances of the year in those games. It is nearly impossible to beat a team three times in one season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens here. Temp is led by the Peyton’s (Manning and Hillis) and Zima is led by Drew Brees. Temp has the all time head to head lead with an 7-5 record versus Zima coached teams.

In the Appalachian Division, top seed Texan Bruisers have selected Whitmore Workhorses. The Bruisers won both meetings in the regular season versus Whitmore and will try to accomplish the tough task of knocking off a team three times in one season. The Texans are led by Andre Johnson and Eli Manning. Whit is led by Joe Flacco and Steven Jackson. Both of these teams are seeking their first Ballistic Bowl title. The Texan Bruisers have split 2-2 head to head versus Whitmore, but more importantly, the Bruisers ended Whit’s playoff run last season in the first round.

In the other Appalachian division game, Fields Fanatix will take on their rival Perdew Pulverizers. Perdew has owned the regular season matchups against Fields with a career 5-1 record over the past three seasons. Fields has won the only postseason matchup in 2008 when he went on to the Ballistic Bowl but fell to the Boot Hill Balut in the title game. Fields has been the big dance 3 times in the past 7 years, but has failed to win one. The Pulverizers will be the only test for Fields in this year’s bracket. This rivalry will be producing the game of the week. I suspect that the winner of this contest will represent the Appalachian in the Ballistic Bowl and the loser of this game will capture the Gunner Cup.

Ballistic Bowl Projections:



I think Pardue has made a critical mistake by choosing McKinney in round one and I think this choice will once again doom this Pardue team into another disappointment and a first round exit of this year’s bracket. McKinney will move on to the Global Division Championship game. McKinney 167 Pardue 148



I must give Zima some credit with the best play of the year. In week 10, in dire needs of a quarterback, Zima played a quarterback that touched the ball 10 times all season and had not attempted a pass! The guy scored 2 touchdowns and got him 14 points. It was enough points that week to win his game and continue a nice win streak that eventually got him to this point. He will be in need of another miracle play like that this week to knock off Temp in round one. Temp has a 7-7 team that many believe are mediocre at best. Temp needs to make a statement this week and show that he belongs in the bracket. Temps Texas Boys will knock Zima into the Gunner Cup bracket with a rebound performance from Peyton Manning and take on McKinney in round two. Temp 159 Zima 138



Texan Bruisers and Whitmore have been the biggest overachievers in the league this year. Both of these teams have won games that they had no business being in. I have mentioned that it is nearly impossible to knock off one team three times in this league and the decision to take on Whit in round one will haunt the Bruisers for weeks to come. The Whitmore squad will make the Bruisers pay for that mistake and move on to round two. Whit 153 Bruisers 140



Fields and Perdew will be the game of the week. This rivalry will continue for years to come. The winner of this game will be the Fields Fanatix. I believe this is the year the Fanatix break the hex that has nearly forced coach Fields to quit. He continues to dominate the Pulverizers in postseason play when the pressure is on. Fields moves on to take on Whitmore in round two. Fields 168 Perdew 137

2010 Gunner Cup Seed Draw

Gunner Cup Seed 2010- Broadcast your self LIVE

The 2010 eSFL Gunner Cup seed drawing was held on Monday 7 Dec at 0700. Watch the draw that ws recorded.

eSFL Insider Week 13-2010, Supplemental

TRhodes felt that it was necessary to write a supplemental edition to his week 13 eSFL Insider. So instead of writing it I video taped it.


eSFL Week 13, Supplementa - Broadcast your self LIVE

eSFL Insider Week 13, 2010

By TRhodes, eSFL commissioner

The 11th eSFL season comes to it's final week and there are still a couple of playoff spots up for grabs. In this weeks article I will discuss playoff possibilities, look back at the season as a whole, and more.

 First of all, congratulations to the Viall Vigilante on their first win of the season last week. Folks, take it from someone who has lost a group of games in a season, it isn't pleasant. Every single owner in the league could have been in the same situation as the Viall team was this season. Looking back at his teams performances, he honestly should have at least 5 wins going into the final week. With a little good luck, his team could have won a couple of games in which he scored low, such as 121, and that would put him at 6 or 7 wins, and that's playoff contention folks. So, what I am trying to point out here is that just because a team wins doesn't make them unbeatable or invincible. Every team in this league could have easily have been a loser or a winner, it all came down to good and bad luck. With that said, let's not under value those who have had a playoff team this season. Each and every owner has earned their record, whether it be 1-13 or 13-1. Even though I often am critical of the leagues head to head type layout, I believe it is the most exciting and enjoyable format there is. The reason is simple, even though your players are not performing well in a given week, you usually can enjoy the weekends games knowing you still could pull off a lucky win because your opponent is doing poorly as well. I don't believe the best team has always won the Ballistic Bowl however, and this is where my disdain of the head to head layout resides. We will make minor changes to the league each year, but I can say with almost 100 percent certainty that this league will always be a head to head format, regardless of my dislike for the teams with the most points scored losing week in week out.

 The next thing I would like to write about here is the season as a whole. When the draft was complete every owner based the success of the other teams on the players that was obtained in that draft. Articles were written about who was going to be the best teams, radio stations discussed how it was possible that an owner bypassed a certain player for another, and so on. As I have stated before, the Ballistic Bowl is not won on draft day, never has been, never will be. Now, I at this point I do not know who is going to win the Ballistic Bowl this year, but I will guarantee they didn't win it because of who they drafted. Every owner that drafted a team had the EXACT amount of quality players on their roster as the others when the draft was complete. Sure, some draft picks were a bust, some were a surprise, but when it was all said and done everyone had the same amount of skilled players as the other. The Ballistic Bowl is won by the team who had the best two-a-days, restricted free agents, trades, and free agent pickups throughout the season. I am not going to elaborate, but I truly believe that, and have for the past 8 years. So, next year when your draft day doesn't turn out as you expected, stick to it, buckle down and be the first to get those unexpected hot players, they will lead you to the Ballistic Bowl title game, trust me.

 Now let's take a look at the playoff possibilities:

This seasons Global Division was dominated by the Pardue Bruisermakers and McKinney Rednecks.  The Rednecks beat the Pardue team twice this season and has a shot to win the division crown in week 13. If Pardue loses in week 13 and McKinney wins, The Rednecks will be the Global Division champions and get to select who their first round opponent will be in the playoffs. On the other hand, if Pardue wins he gets that title and selection, regardless what McKinney does this week. The Zima Ruskies have surprised many with a solid second half of the season, winning 7 of his last 9 to become playoff qualified. His team is in and will wait and see who he plays in the first round, week 14. The Temp's Texas boys will round out the Global division playoff teams with at least 7 wins.  After a 5 game mid-season losing streak the Texas Boy's ran off 3 wins in a row to clinch the final spot in the division. So, in the Global division the teams are, Pardue, McKinney, Zima, and Temp.

 The Appalachian Division has turned out to be the most exciting division, with three teams fighing for two playoff spots. If in week 14, the Perdew and Kav teams win, they both qualify for the playoffs and Whitmore is out. If Perdew and Whitmore win, they are both in and Kav is eliminated. If  Perdew LOSES then Kav and Whitmore are in regardless what they do. OK, you got the idea right, it's complicated, and I might even be wrong, so don't be writing me saying I am wrong because when the season is over we will look at the records and figure it out. So in the Appalachian we will have Fields, Texan, and whoever.

Now that we all know the playoff situation, lets look at the format. Each division winner selects their first round opponent (week 14) from their division, and the remaining two will meet in week 14 as well. In week 15 the winners from 14 advance and will meet in the division championships. The winners in week 15 advance to the Ballistic Bowl in week 16. That's easy. But the Gunner Cup, now that's not so easy. And I am not going to discuss it in length here. What I am going to point out is that the format has changed from the one that is currently posted on the website. The image below reflects that change. The change is that the losers in the division championships in week 15 WILL NOT drop down into the Gunner Cup tourney. That will leave two teams to meet in week 16 for the Gunner Cup title. Week 17 will pit the winner of the Gunner Cup against the Ballistic Bowl winner, this is known as the Pro Bowl. There is no prize for winning the Pro Bowl. The two losers in week 15's division championship will meet in week 17 for Turkey Bowl 4. There is no prize for winning a Turkey Bowl, however wagers between the two owners is not discouraged, actually it's highly encouraged.

Finally, I invite everyone to join Josh Perdew and I in the upcoming eStandout Radio programs. All programs are live, easy to access and call in, easy to participate in, and free.

The program schedule is:

Josh Perdew Variety Hour-Every Wed 10 PM ET


eSFL Insider Live- Every Friday at 9 PM ET

eSFL Now-Every Saturday at 8 PM ET

eSFL Audibles-Every Sunday at 11 AM ET

eSFL Postgame-Every Sunday at 8 PM ET

To visit the eStandout Radio showpage, go here:


http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/90576
 Once there simply dial the number listed, enter the show ID (90576), and hit 1#.
Your in. You can call on your cell phone or use any VOIP service. If you do not wish to call in, you can simply enter the room by hitting the join this show button. Then you can listen and type chat.

So far this season we have had callers from our league, Frost, Temp, Kav, Josh, Fields, J. Kizima. Also, we have had unknown callers such as Pat from Fla, and a few others requesting fantasy advice. Don't be shy, join the show, theres only a few weeks left.

Thanks to everyone this year for a great season and making it easy on the commissioner. Remember to check out the official site around the end of June next year for draft day details for the 2011 season.

This weeks big games are:

brought to you by:

 Perdew 7-6 vs Viall 1-12

Perdew won only contest between these teams in week 4: 121.32-128.24

Head coach Viall (Big D and Vigilante) leads lifetime series 2-1 against Josh Perdew

OK folks, you have made fun of the Viall team all season, now let's see who talks shit in week 13. My guess is it won't be Josh Perdew, because if there was ever a ripe apple ready for pick'en, it's his ass this week. The Vigilante just improved their running game 100 fold with the injury to Frank Gore, meaning his guy, yeah, Brian Westbrook, you know, the one certain people made fun of him for picking up, and the same one the same people made fun of on public radio for still having on his roster in week 9. Oh, shit, it's time to keep your blow hole shut if you play the Vigilante this week. Not only have they improved their running game, but they are coming off their first win of the season. And, yeah, there is more good shit for Viall, his team has averaged 137 points a game over the last 8 weeks, to include a 144, 151, 150, 173, and 149 in the mix. With Brian Westbrook no longer standing on the sidelines this team just became a Gunner Cup contender, and sorry Josh Perdew, but it looks like they also just became the team that makes you a Gunner Cup contender. I see all the futility of the Viall team behind them, and not a moment to soon, because they can enjoy knocking someone on their ass and running for the Gunner Cup. This week the poor old pathetic excuse for a team, the Viall Vigilante, raise their middle finger high in the air and tell everyone in the league to kiss their pathetic little no good asses, because you dudes ain't as smart as you thought you were all season.

Viall 159
Perdew 136

Whitmore 8-5  vs Kavanators 7-6

Only a few weeks ago it looked like Whitmore had a playoff spot clinched and a chance at a division crown. And it looked like Ron Kavavaugh was on his way to another punch him in the stomach type of season. Well Whitmore is fighting for his playoff life and Kav has been blessed with someone not letting him make another one of his stupid trades. It is possible both these teams make the playoffs regardless who wins, if Perdew loses. The Kav team has really turned it on the second half of the season, posting a wonderfull 5-2 record over his past seven games to rebound from an ugly 2-4 start. Wideout D. Bowe has been a monster, albeit one ownership did not really wish to keep on their roster. Additionally, this team boast a nice running game with Ray Rice and ......well no one. I have been a Kav team promoter most  all this season, but this week I think Whitmore continues his hot streak against the so called better teams. On the good news side for Kav, he will back into the playoffs as he sits back and enjoys the Vigilante taking down his arch enemy Josh Perdew and the Pulverizers.

Whitmore 179
Kav 165

Good luck to everyone in the playoffs!

Rhodes Resigns as Boot Hill Head Coach

T. Rhodes, the winningest head coach in eSFL history announced his resignation from the Boot Hill Balut effective immediately after the conclusion of week 12 in the league.

Rhodes led the Balut to a Ballistic Bowl title in 2008 as the team went 10-3 and 3-0 in the postseason. However, the team has failed to win more than 5 games in a season since, going 3-10 and 5-6 thus far this season. Rhodes announced at the press conference that he will be the new head coach/general manager of the Rhodes Runners in 2011, a team he founded and coached in 2000.

Defensive coordinator in training Ryan Rhodes was named as the Balut head coach for the remainder of this season to include the Gunner Cup. Ryan has no previous fantasy football experience.


Rhodes Resigns From Balut- Broadcast your self LIVE


Watch the press conference at:
http://www.blogtv.com/Shows/1958661/ZeNvY2TEZWFDbm3HYeT&pos=ancr