|
Tomlinson Returns Well Rested
CHARLESTON, WV--Apparently a week off was all he needed.
After being publicly criticized by his coach and bench in last week's loss, LaDainian Tomlinson returned to the Mennonites lineup, reminding the league
90
|
West Coast Mennonites | Pts | |
Drew Bledsoe |
24 | |
LaDainian Tomlinson |
32 | |
Stephen Davis |
3 | |
Tai Streets |
11 | |
Chris Chambers |
8 | |
Amani Toomer |
7 | |
Alge Crumpler |
4 | |
Adam Vinatieri |
7 | |
Saints |
16 |
| 
49
|
West Virginia Woolfs | Pts | |
Patrick Ramsey |
9 | |
Priest Holmes |
25 | |
Ahman Green |
16 | |
Laveranues Coles |
5 | |
Darrell Jackson |
4 | |
Curtis Conway |
1 | |
Mikhael Ricks |
0 | |
Jay Feely |
5 | |
Panthers |
6 |
|
he hadn't really gone anywhere.
"L.T. had a bad game and now he's ready to play again," coach Mike Ditka acknowledged, refusing to call the criticism and benching a mistake. "If nothing else, it sends a message to the rest of these guys if you don't practice hard, plan hard, play hard, you're going to pay the consequences, whether you're a super star or a bench warmer."
Tomlinson's 200 yard rushing effort outshone Priest Holmes and Ahman Green's individual efforts, but, unlike the Woolfs' tandem, was fortunate enough to get some support from the rest of his teammates.
Patrick Ramsey, acquired to replace Tom Brady and Donovan McNabb who both were major disappointments under center for the Woolfs, broke his hand in his BFL debut, leaving the passing game in ruins.
"What Holmes and Green are able to accomplish when you consider every defense knows their getting the ball 90% of the time makes it even more amazing," Ramsey grimaced. "I just wish I could have made the difference in shifting that balance away from them."
7th Heaven
LAS VEGAS--Typically, seven wins is all it takes to get into the playoffs. If that holds up, Las Vegas can start printing the post season tickets now and beat the rush. "I don't know what it takes to stop them," sighed Mayberry quarterback Aaron Brooks following one of the best days of his career.
His 352 yard, 3 TD day earned Brooks Player of the Week honors, but wasn't enough to get his team a win. "We moved through their defense so easily, I was waiting for the catch. I knew it couldn't be this easy." It wasn't. The catch was the Grift-Os moved just as easily through the Fife defense when they had the ball.
"Watching the game tape, I'm sure it will be hard to believe this was a matchup of the league's top two defenses," laughed Grift-O coach Marv Levy. The Buccaneers and Ravens have shut down opponents most of the season, but neither was effective today.
"We didn't hold up our end of the bargain," growled Fun City linebacker and defensive captain Ray Lewis. "It's nice to have guys like Santana and Chad and Deuce to pull our butts out of the fire when we need it. I can guaran-damn-tee you they won't have to save us next week."
109
Mayberry
Fifes | Pts | |
Aaron Brooks |
54 | |
Tiki Barber |
13 | |
Olandis Gary |
3 | |
Torry Holt |
21 | |
Rod Gardner |
10 | |
Eric Parker |
3 | |
Bubba Franks |
5 | |
Billy Cundiff |
8 | |
Buccaneers |
10 |
| 
121
Fun City
Grift-Os | Pts | |
Steve McNair |
26 | |
Deuce McAllister |
24 | |
T.J. Duckett |
4 | |
Chad Johnson |
21 | |
Santana Moss |
19 | |
Donald Driver |
7 | |
Todd Heap |
19 | |
Jeff Wilkins |
11 | |
Ravens |
8 |
|
|
No Cakewalk for Mounties
MOOSE RIVER--Last year, the Killah Bees ruined Mountie co-owner Trent Lindstrom's birthday party, smashing his cake following their victory in Moose River. This year's rematch didn't coincide with the younger Lindstrom's birthday, but the results wound up very similar.
"It's kind of a tradition," quarterback Marc Bulger explained, trying to make sense of why Ernie Conwell missed the majority of the game baking and decorating a seven layered sheet cake only to watch it smashed before Mountie ownership. Bulger admitted, however, the "tradition" was less than a year old, had only been exercised once, and was a fairly stupid waste of a perfectly good cake.
"I like cake," grumbled defensive lineman Jason Taylor, wiping away a tear as he watched the grounds crew hosing the remnants from the sidelines.
The Mounties' second straight loss let East Coast close within one game of the division lead after Moose River's hot start seemed to put them out of reach.
111
East Coast
Killah Bees | Pts | |
Marc Bulger |
36 | |
Shaun Alexander |
28 | |
Ricky Williams |
11 | |
Terrell Owens |
24 | |
Jerry Rice |
9 | |
Kevin Johnson |
8 | |
Ernie Conwell |
4 | |
John Carney |
10 | |
Dolphins |
13 |
| 
77
Moose River
Mounties | Pts | |
Brad Johnson |
19 | |
Moe Williams |
19 | |
Jamal Lewis |
11 | |
Randy Moss |
20 | |
Andre Johnson |
7 | |
Joey Galloway |
0 | |
Jeremy Shockey |
9 | |
Morton Andersen |
5 | |
Patriots |
19 |
|
|
From Fire Sale to Fired Up
BOSTON--Toledo management pulled the plug on this season and is already planning for 2004, but apparently no one told the players. "Fire sale, 'playing for next year,' whatever you want to call it, I say it's bull," said quarterback Brett Favre. "We're getting paid to play 13 games, not three."
In beating Boston, the Neanderthal moved ahead of West Virginia--the team who took advantage of the Toledo fire sale to pick up Marvin Harrison--and is only a game out of a playoff berth.
Boston maintained its tenuous grip on a playoff seed despite losing five of its first seven games. "I suppose that's the silver lining," growled Lagers coach Bill Parcells, "but there's a helluva lotta clouds around here and we can't ignore them."
"We did this last year too," quarterback Jeff Garcia calmly explained, referring to last season's 0-5 start. The Lagers went on to win seven of their final eight games. "It's not the best way to go about things, but it seems we're a second half team. At least, we better hope we are."
82
Toledo
Neanderthal | Pts | |
Brett Favre |
36 | |
Domanick Davis |
25 | |
William Green |
7 | |
Troy Brown |
22 | |
Peter Warrick |
12 | |
Ashley Lelie |
5 | |
Randy McMichael |
14 | |
David Akers |
2 | |
Browns |
16 |
| 
65
Boston
Lagers | Pts | |
Kerry Collins |
24 | |
Clinton Portis |
22 | |
Corey Dillon |
12 | |
Peerless Price |
5 | |
Derrick Mason |
4 | |
David Boston |
2 | |
Tony Gonzalez |
8 | |
Sebastian Janikowski |
4 | |
Cowboys |
41 |
|
|
New Players Steal Spotlight
BAKERSFIELD, VT--For a third straight week, Bakersfield added new talent in the hours leading up to kickoff, and for a third straight week that talent delivered a win. A trade made on Thursday between Bakersfield and West Virginia didn't come to light until Sunday morning when the Circus Bears discovered all phone lines in Bakersfield had been down for three days.
"You have to understand," general manager Robert Baker shrugged. "We're really not that popular so if the phone doesn't ring for a week, it doesn't really raise any red flags." Baker admitted he'd tried to use the phone to check movie times Friday afternoon, but since it was such a nice day he just decided to go to the park instead when he didn't get a dial tone. "I just figured maybe a wire was loose and planned to fix it later if it didn't fix itself. Oh, well."
The resulting confussion left many wondering who would play for both teams and was only cleared up when Travis Henry and Tom Brady ran on the field wearing Circus Bear uniforms during the national anthem.
39
Chambersburg
Chameleons | Pts | |
Rich Gannon |
0 | |
Charlie Garner |
15 | |
Lamar Gordon |
2 | |
Keenan McCardell |
18 | |
Keyshawn Johnson |
1 | |
Rod Smith |
1 | |
Doug Jolley |
1 | |
Jason Elam |
10 | |
Titans |
33 |
| 
70
Bakersfield
Circus Bears | Pts | |
Tom Brady |
40 | |
Travis henry |
29 | |
Trung Canidate |
0 | |
Isaac Bruce |
17 | |
Koren Robinson |
4 | |
James Thrash |
0 | |
Shannon Sharpe |
12 | |
Martin Gramatica |
1 | |
Jets |
9 |
|
|
|
Aaron Brooks
Mayberry Fifes
|
Week Seven Team |
Pts | |
Aaron Brooks, MAY |
54 | |
LaDainian Tomlinson, WC |
32 | |
Travis Henry, BAK |
29 | |
Terrell Owens, EAST |
24 | |
Troy Brown, TOL |
22 |
Torry Holt, MAY
Chad Johnson, FUN |
21 | |
Todd Heap, FUN |
19 | |
Jeff Wilkins, FUN |
11 | |
Cowboys, BOS |
41 |
|
Disappointment of the Week |
Rich Gannon
Chambersburg Chameleons
|
All-Dissappointment Team |
Pts | |
Rich Gannon, CHAM |
0 | |
Trung Canidate, BAK |
0 | |
Lamar Gordon, CHAM |
2 | |
Joey Galloway, MOOS |
0 | |
James Thrash, BAK |
0 | |
Three tied with |
1 | |
Mikhael Ricks, WV |
0 | |
Martin Gramatica, BAK |
1 | |
Panthers, WV |
6 |
|
