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Welcome to week 1 of the Red Zone Wrap-Up!

As discussed previously, the Red Zone is the ESPN Fantasy Football League (FFL) that I’m in. Every Tuesday or so, I’m going to try to write a brief summary of the previous weekend’s action.

Jeff H’s Houston Inferno led all scorers this week with a 121-74 drubbing of Charlie G’s Peoria OrangeCrush. The Inferno got 31 points from Donovan McNabb (who I had last year but didn’t keep ) on top of 20 or better points from both his kicker and defense. (I wouldn’t count on that happening every week, Jeff. )

The closest game this week was decided by a single point, 95-94. Jack P’s Shelbyville Outkasts knocked off the P’burg PrairiePride managed by Bob P. Head coaching made the difference in this game. Jack’s head coach won his NFL game, while Bob’s lost. That meant a 2-point swing and a loss for the PrairiePride.

My Spooky Boogeymen came back from an early 30 point deficit against Mike N’s Batavia Bulldogs to win 91-80. My stud keeper from last season, Shaun Alexander had a slow start to the season (putting it kindly) for only 3 points. Luckily, Donte Stallworth took up the slack with a surprising 23 points. I’m hoping for continued success from Donte throughout the rest of the season…

Alan P’s Springfield Bullhawks took advantage of a low-scoring week from Elizabeth P’s Petersburg Powerpuff Girls to win 84-59. Unfortunately for the Powerpuffs, superstar wide receiver Steve Smith didn’t play last weekend due to injury and is still listed as questionable.

Bret D’s Kentucky Mad Max beat Ben D’s Foreign Bodies 72-53. A -3 point performance from starting quarterback Jake Plummer, didn’t help the Bodies’ cause.

So, after one week, the Inferno, Outkasts, Boogeymen, and Bullhawks all share a 1-0 record and a tie for the Norris Division lead. The Mad Max are the only Long Division team to earn a win last week for sole possession of that division’s lead.

Good luck to everyone next week (except for Alan of course ).

Finally!!!

Football season is here! Yay!! I’m flipping between the Cincy/KC and Seattle/Detroit games right now.

I didn’t realize that James Brown had left the Fox NFL pre-game show to move to the same position at CBS, but Joe Buck was named to replace him so I think it will all work out OK. (Now if we could just get Joe Theismann off ESPN’s new Monday Night Football, NFL TV coverage would be just about perfect.)

Anyway, the point of this blog entry isn’t specifically about the start of the NFL season. It’s about the kick-off of the FFL season! This my tenth year participating in ESPN’s online Fantasy Football League (FFL). For those of you who aren’t familiar with fantasy football, owners like me draft actual NFL players to play on our teams. The stats that each of those players earn equate to points for the FFL team. For example, quarterbacks earn 6 points for a touchdown, but also receive 1 point for every 10 yards passing. Head-to-head match-ups between FFL teams determine overall win-loss records, and the best teams make it to the play-offs. Games might be a blowout, or they might come down to one NFL player gaining one extra yard that puts his FFL team over the top. FFL certainly makes watching football on Sundays more interesting, because an otherwise boring game might feature players from your FFL team, or even your opponent’s.

My teams over the years have taken on a few different names, but for the past two seasons I’ve been managing the Spooky Boogeymen (helmet design pictured above) of the Red Zone keeper league. What makes it even more fun is that the other league teams are owned by friends and family. Good luck to all my opposing FFL owners/managers (except Alan ).

Unfortunately in my decade of competition, I’ve never been FFL league champion. Two seasons ago, I made it to the championship game, but couldn’t quite win it. Last year, I started off pretty strong but faded badly when my franchise players were out because of injuries and suspension. Clearly, I’m due.

I’ll keep you updated as the season’s progresses…