Week Four Power Rankings

Three weeks in and only one team remains unblemished. This will be the fourth week in a row that a team from Annandale will top our weekly power rankings. Will they be able to hold on to the top spot this week in the battle of the Annandale teams or will the new second place team, the Short Bus Bullies move up in next weeks power poll? Who cares? :) Let's move on to this week's rankings.

1. Annandale Sunshine - Yup. Still undefeated. Still number one. But for how long? The Sunshine looks quite beatable this week, and the Pumas look poised to strike. Look for a new number one next week.
   
2. Short Bus Bullies - Ok. I said last week, score 150+ and they'd move up. Well, good lord they did and they've shot up into number two! I am however skeptical of their starting lineup this week, and think they could vulnerable to the Runners who've made some moves to improve themselves this week.
3. Rocky Runners - Moving into number three, the Runners look strong after making some moves to improve themselves at wide receiver and rumors of a trade for a running back in the works. Look for the runners to beat the Bullies this week in a close game.
   
4. Annandale Pumas - The Pumas rebounded nicely from the loss to the Hand in week two with a close win over Sixteen In The Clip in week three. A solid enough win to move them into the four spot this week.
   
5. Black Hand - Dropping two spots this week after having their first loss handed to them by the Red Dogs, the Hand draw the Amish this week. Look for a close game here, considering Hand's big names are running into some big time defenses.
6. Sixteen In The Clip - How the mighty have fallen. A loss last week to the Pumas and the soon to be decreased reps for ADP combined with what already looks like a weak lineup could be disastrous for the Clip against the giant killing Red Dogs.
   
7. Centreville Red Dogs - Was the win against the Hand a fluke or have the Dogs started coming into their own? They made a crafty move to steal away the currently under-performing Lee Evans away from the bottom feeding Space for Rent so they could be on the road to improvement, but still don't expect a lot from them yet, especially with Rudi Johnson out on Sunday.
   
8. Green Helmets - Another week, another loss for the Helmets. Facing Space for Rent this week, they may have a shot to pull off their first win, but only if Boldin can go this Sunday. Otherwise look for the Helmets to drop to 0-4.
   
9. Angry Amish - The Amish only lost by 2 points last week facing the third ranked Runners. This week they draw the ire of the Black Hand. Don't look for much here, considering they have to start Brandon Stokley at wideout.
   
10. Space for Rent - Anyone who has Frank Gore, LT and Marc Bulger on their team, and has a good shot to drop to 0-4 deserves the basement slot. Win a game this week, and they'll move up....but not much.
    

League Parity And The Great Running Back Hype

Parity. Interesting word. It's often used to describe the NFL. Webster defines the word parity as the quality or state of being equal or equivalent. It neatly sums up our league three weeks into the season as well. Six of the ten teams are sitting at 2-1. Three of those six teams are completely deadlocked with 319 points and the difference between fourth and seventh place is eight points. Only The Sunshine is left standing undefeated, and they're truly lucky to be in that spot (see last week's record low scoring matchup vs. Space for rent). Even our three winless teams could all have a win or two on the books.

It's interesting to note, that in the world of fantasy football, where the running back is king, that the three teams in our league without a win had four of the top five ranked running backs coming into the season. The Green Helmets have Stephen Jackson, the Amish have Larry Johnson and Space for rent doesn't have just one, but two in Frank Gore and LaDainian Tomlinson and is currently the lowest scorer in the league!

On the other hand, our top teams are making the difference in their games, not through their running backs, but from the wide receiver slot. You call BS? Check these numerals:

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Black Hand	Chad Johnson - 15 pts, Amani Toomer - 13 pts	Chad Johnson - 38 pts, Braylon Edwards - 32 pts	Chad Johnson - 20 pts, Braylon Edwards - 14 pts
	28 pts	70 pts	34 pts	132
Short Bus Bullies	Steve Smith - 25 pts, T.J. Houshmanzadeh - 17 pts	Steve Smith - 38 pts, T.J. Houshmanzadeh - 23 pts	T.J. Houshmanzadeh - 28 pts, Deion Branch - 15 pts
	42 pts	61 pts	43 pts	146
Annandale Sunshine	Reggie Wayne - 27 pts, Andre Johnson - 23 pts	Andre Johnson - 30 pts, Issac Bruce - 20 pts	Reggie Wayne - 8 pts, Issac Bruce - 3 pts
	50 pts	50 pts	11 pts	111
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Green Helmets	Maurice Jones-Drew - 3 pts, Stephen Jackson - (-1) pts	Maurice Jones-Drew - 2 pts, Stephen Jackson - 7 pts	LaMont Jordan - 15 pts, Stephen Jackson - 9 pts
	2 pts	9 pts	24 pts	35
Angry Amish	Larry Johnson - 11 pts, Marshawn Lynch - 12 pts	Larry Johnson - 6 pts, Marshawn Lynch - 5 pts	Larry Johnson - 3 pts, Marshawn Lynch - 11 pts
	23 pts	11 pts	14 pts	48
Space For Rent	LaDainian Tomlinson - 22 pts, Frank Gore - 10 pts	LaDainian Tomlinson - 6 pts, Frank Gore - 18 pts	LaDainian Tomlinson - 13 pts, Frank Gore - 3 pts
	32 pt	24 pts	16 pts	72

Numbers don't lie. The Bullies top scoring WR's over the last three weeks have scored over half of what Space For Rent's entire team has scored for the past three weeks. So does this mean that the top running backs are having a down year? Kind of, but thats not the real issue. The real key is that the VFFL scoring system is slanted in the favor of wide receivers! (and anyone else who catches the ball regularly) For instance, did you know that every reception is worth 1 fantasy point? That could easily be up to seven to eight extra points a game from your wide outs alone! Figure in the high percentage tight end receptions and teams could be picking up some real extra points easily!

Of course this doesn't mean that the winless teams are screwed and its time for a running back fire sale. Its still early in the year and the wide receivers can't keep blowing up and the running backs can't keep laying an egg....can they?

Week Three Power Rankings

With two weeks in the books, the VIFFL season has been a surprising one to date, and accordingly people are making hectic roster moves to try and get themselves in a better place. This week's power rankings have a lot of movement in them, including a new number one, and a little respect for some 2-0 teams that most thought would be 0-2. So, let's get to it (and let the hate mail roll!)

1. Annandale Sunshine - There's a new top dog in town this week, but it's still a team from Annandale. The good news? They've done it without hardly ANY production from the QB spot, where they actually have the most depth (Brees and McNabb). The bad news? Andre Johnson won't put up 30 this week (out to a sprained knee), and may not play for another five weeks. They've got Space For Rent this week, which will be closer than the records indicate.
2. Sixteen In The Clip - With a revitalized Rothelisberger at the helm, Roy Williams reaping the benefits of a Mike Martz offense, Marques Colston picking up where he left off last year and some nice showings from rookie Adrian Peterson and Willis McGahee looking good, SxC is looking like a world beater right now. Oh yeah, they've got Matt Schaub on the bench too. Look for them to go to 3-0 against the Pumas this week.
3. Black Hand - Up into the third spot comes a team that gets no respect and seems to be punishing their opponents for it. The combination of Tony Romo, Chad Johnson and Braylon Edwards has been spectacular for the Hand, but could be less productive in the coming weeks (see this week's earlier post for my analysis). If Romo carves up the Bears, look for the Black Hand to go 3-0, otherwise the Red Dogs just might hand them their first loss this year.
4. Rocky Runners - Holding steady in the four spot, the Runners are one of the few teams who didn't change positions this week. With a dominating victory over the Red Dogs in last week's Household Bowl the Runners are continuing their quest for back to back playoff appearances. Drawing the Amish this week should give them a chance to land their second win.
   
5. Annandale Pumas - The loss to the upstart Black Hand last week plummeted the Pumas down to the fifth spot in the power rankings, but they still have a ton of firepower in their starting lineup. But with L.J. Smith out for this week at a minimum (with no serviceable backup) and SxC's lineup drawing the better match ups this week, don't be surprised to see the Pumas lose two in a row.
6. Short Bus Bullies - Another drop for the bullies? But they won last week! They scored 156 points last week! Yeah, but ya know what? I still think the Pumas are a better team. And their only win is against a weak Amish team. Give me another week like that and they'll shoot up.
7. Centreville Red Dogs - A loss this week to the Runners showed that the Red Dogs still aren't playoff ready, and could get killed this week by the Hand.
8. Space for Rent - Easily an 0-2 team almost all of us would take any day. How can someone have Marc Bulger, LT and Frank Gore and still lose? Who knows but the Sunshine want them to do it again!
9. Green Helmets - A playoff team a year ago, 0-2 now and it looks like they've already started the rebuilding for next year. They offloaded MoJo Drew to the Red Dogs for Cadillac Williams and have been hitting the free agent pile almost everyday. Can they still save this year? Possibly. Will they? Probably not. They've got a HARD schedule, and could possibly be 0-5 before they pick up their first win.
10. Angry Amish - The Amish should be better than this. And they could win this week. It would be a huge coup if they upset the highly favored Runners. Look for Larry Johnson to finally have the 30 point game all his owners have been dying for and pull off a victory this week....if they DON'T start Alex Smith again.

On the road to victory.....

Blogging at 60 mph with an obnoxious Eagles fan (Space for rent, not west Philadelphia born and raised) isn't much fun, but at least he's dropped to 0-2 now and with another shocking upset victory, and the loss for the Pumas, does this mean SxC is a top three team? The power rankings aren't out yet, but I'd have to say, as things sit right now the Sunshine have to be our new number one, with SxC coming in at the two slot and thanks to two weeks of dumb luck, the Black Hand has probably sprung into the third spot. But is it dumb luck or very clever roster management on the Hand's part? Let's examine their roster and then you can decide:

The Hand has two of the top scorers so far this year in Tony Romo (55 total fantasy points) and Chad Johnson (53 total points), pretty nice. Throw in Braylon Edwards (35 points) and those three guys have almost outscored the Amish by themselves this year. (For the mathematically challenged, Hand's big three have 143 points, the Amish as a team have 156) Let's go back and examine those numbers though, shall we?

In week one, Romo put up 39 points on a very suspect NY Giant's defense that ranks 29th in overall defense and is dead last in pass defense. Then, last week Ocho-Cinco and Edwards both blew up, in a game versus each other, going for 38 and 32 points respectively. Let's be honest here, we all know shootouts like the 51-45 Cleveland/Cincy game just aren't going to keep happening. Still the truth is much deeper than the past two weeks, its in strength of schedule and roster depth.

Let's start with strength of schedule. Romo in the coming weeks will face: Chicago, St. Louis, Buffalo and then New England. Only one of those teams (Buffalo) is not a top ten defense currently and of those three only Chicago's offense is weak, meaning the 'boys and Romo could be playing from behind a lot. Johnson fares better with his next four games, but only because he has a bye week. He gets to face Seattle, New England, a bye week and then Kansas City. So, two of 85's next four weeks are against top ten defenses and a bye week. Braylon draws Oakland, Baltimore, New England and then Miami, two out of four ain't bad? No, it's still bad.

Look at it this way: I've laid out a chart to show when the Hand's top players will be going against the best defenses for the next four weeks. According to which, this week will be his best chance to score points, because next week they all are playing top tier D's, week 5 Ocho is out and Edwards plays N.E. and then in week 6 Braylon is the only guy going against a less-than top ten D.

	Romo	Ocho	Braylo
Week 3	Chicago	Seattle	Oakland
Week 4	St. Louis	New England	Baltimore
Week 5	Buffalo	BYE	New England
Week 6	New England	Kansas City	Miami

And by the way, in case you didn't notice, Oakland and Miami are generally thought to have a good defense thats off to a rough start, so the only chump I see is a Buffalo D that got raped of their star linebackers over the off season. (I bet Takeo Spikes wishes he had stayed put right about now)

So, what can the Hand do? Look to his bench? Let's check it out. Behind Romo sits last year's Offensive Rookie of The Year, Mr. Vince Young. VY has a nice draw playing New Orleans this week on Monday Night, but then he's on a bye the next week and Romo is a good play for week 5 and then go back to VY for week 6. The real issue is the lack of a good bench WR. When Amani Toomer and Kevin Curtis are the big names on your bench, depth is an issue. So, right now to handle the situation optimally, Hand will probably play their Big Three when possible and settle when he has to. Probably something like this:

	Optimal QB		Optimal WR 1		Optimal WR 2
Week 3	VY v NO		Ocho v Seattle		Braylon v Oak
Week 4	Romo v Rams		Ocho v NE		Braylon v Baltimore
Week 5	Romo v Bills		Toomer v Jets		Braylon v NE
Week 6	VY v NE		Ocho v Cheifs		Braylon v Miami

And let's not forget the number of players the Hand has on bye Week 5, including the only tight end on their roster, Chris Cooley.

So, overall, while I think the Hand has a better chance at making the playoffs this year than earlier thought, they are still not a major player for the Vandelay Cup this year.

At least the trip ended well for me. There's nothing quite like watching Iggles fans abandon ship before the end of the 3rd quarter and cry all the way home.

Hail to the Redskins!

Week Two Power Rankings

Oh you know you really like reading this stuff, so go ahead, scroll down and see where I think you belong and then bitch, moan and cry all you want!

1. Annadale Pumas - Still on top, but only through the grace of God and a horseshoe up their wazoo. Fortunately for them, they play the lesser equipped Black Hand this week and their not going to lose that one either. Remember, for these rankings, you have to get knocked off the top to drop. (I only consider that for the #1 slot though)
   
2. Annandale Sunshine - Strong, strong showing last week for a team whose QB put up a -2 points, and still scored 138 for the highest score this week. 39 of that though came from a Minnesota D that won't have that kind of day again.
   
3. Space For Rent - They had to drop because they lost to the 9th ranked team last week, but they've still got a potent lineup and probably won't have another week like that. They have to get bigger numbers from some key players though to stay this high next week. SFR could get upset two weeks in a row if they aren't careful!
   
4. Rocky Runners - The Runners moved up a place this week with a tough loss to the Pumas. They look like a better team than I originally thought, but they must take care of a glaring weakness at RB
5. Short Bus Bullies - The Bullies dropped out of the top 3 this week after a lackluster performance against the Sunshine. Look for them to bounce back this week against the Amish, but it's still going to be tight.
   
6. Centreville Red Dogs - A convincing win over the Amish have moved the Red Dogs into the sixth spot, but they won't see another performance from Plaxico Burress like that again this year, esp. if Manning doesn't come back soon.
7. Sixteen In The Clip - This week's big movers looked like they may be for real with a smack you in the face win over The Green Helmets. The key for them this week is the fact that their starters are playing weak defenses. Quite possible they could upset Space For Rent.
   
8. Black Hand - Moves up one spot this week for their upset victory over the feared lineup of LT and Frank Gore for Space For Rent. Playing the Pumas this week, Chad Johnson needs to have a huge game against the Browns for the Hand to upset again. We may be calling them giant killers come Tuesday morning though.
   
9. Green Helmets - A huge drop for a team with huge upside, but they have to win first. Stephen Jackson and MoJo Drew won't stay down for long and neither will the Helmets.
   
10. Angry Amish - The Amish have a good team, but their favorable match ups aren't in their favor this week and they could easily fall to 0-2 if things don't go their way.
    

Week In Review

Thank you. That's all I can say. Thanks so much for all the love and support everyone showed by writing to let me know how valuable you found my writings last week. You've given me inspiration to continue on! So, without further ado, here are my top ten observations on how our fantasy week broke down:

1. SxC may be better than anyone gave them credit for.
1. There were some good looking QBs on this roster this week with Roethlisberger and Eli going for big numbers, and Matt Schaub didn't look too shabby either.
2. Figure in good production from Roy Williams, Laveraneus Coles and ADP and they put together a winner....this week.
1. SxC may be in more trouble than they give themselves credit for.
1. Eli went down, and it sounds like it might be for a while
2. Roethlisberger was playing the Browns.
3. Schaub was playing the weak 'D' Chiefs.
2. Black Hand landed a major upset last week, but don't look for a repeat this week as I think the Pumas lineup will prove to be too powerful for the upstart Hand.
1. The Hand did show some life this week though, which is more than I figured they would. Good for them.
2. Chad Johnson is not going to ever make it to the Hall of Fame, but he'll look like he should against the pitiful Cleveland defense.
   
3. The Sunshine aren't as good as they looked last week.
1. Minnesota's 'D' won't have another 39 point day.
2. Not to mention I don't have high hopes that any of their players from the state of Texas will be scoring like that consistently.
4. The Runners looked solid against a weaker looking Pumas team.
1. If The Runners had started Pittsburgh's D over Chicago's D (A tough choice to make), I'd be talking about that upset too.
2. Again, the only real question mark in their lineup is the RB position, and it's early enough in the season make a move and get a solid replacement/backup for Cedric Benson.
5. The Amish are still a good team, no matter what the final score of Week One (112-67, go Red Dogs!) was.
1. Philip Rivers is going to have better weeks, but not next week either. New England is going to crush him, the Amish will be better off starting Alex Smith. Yeah, its that bad.
2. Same thing goes for Larry Johnson, who is facing the Chicago D, that last week smacked LT in the mouth. The only reason LT scored was the TD pass he threw to take away potential points from......Philip Rivers.
3. Todd Heap on the other hand, should have a much better week against a weak Jets defense, if he can hold onto the ball and not get screwed by the refs.
6. The Short Bus Bullies took it hard because of under-performing role players.
1. Deion Branch, Laurence Maroney and the Dallas defense lost that game for the Bullies, who otherwise looked strong. They'll need to keep a careful eye on those guys and be ready to yank them if they don't start showing up.
7. The Green Helmets will not have another showing like that again.
1. MoJo Drew and Stephen Jackson are just too damn good to do that again, and with Jon Kitna getting new life infused to him through the creator of the 'Greatest Show On Turf' look for the helmets to score some huge numbers.
8. Space For Rent could be worse than we thought.
1. Yeah, even with Frank Gore and L.T. they went down, and its due in a large part to a lucky week for The Black Hand, but also due to poor performances from his big names.
2. With Matt Leinhert throwing to Larry Fitzgerald, he may really underachieve this year.
3. Same goes for J.P. Losman to Lee Evans.
4. And Dallas Clark just doesn't get the big numbers.
9. The Pumas are still the best team, but only by the skin of their teeth
1. And yes, that's because I still believe they'll have to be knocked off first.
2. And no, that's not happening this week.
3. But L.J. Smith and Reggie Brown are going to hurt them, especially when (not if) Donovan McNabb goes down for the season.
10. The Red Dogs are still pretenders....
1. But them against The Runners will be the matchup of the week. Its going to be a nail biter, so watch it closely.

Coming soon: Week Two's Featured Match Up and Power Rankings

Week One Power Rankings

Because everyone seemed to love my blog so much yesterday, I felt compelled to post again and cover all the teams in the league, in my first weekly power ranking.

Those of you familiar with ESPN know what power rankings are, but for the uninitiated power rankings are basically a list of all teams, and how they stack up against each other. Who's stock is rising and who's ship has sailed etc. So, without further ado here we go:

1. Annadale Pumas - I'm a believer of the old adage, you're number one until someone knocks you off. So, for now at least the Pumas are the king of the hill. And if you take a look at their starting lineup its hard to argue against them. Peyton at QB, T.O. catching the rock and Joesph Addai running it they have some serious weapons. Watch out for durability issues with Ronnie Brown, L.J. Smith and Randy Moss.
2. Space For Rent - Ladainian Tomlinson, Frank Gore, Marc Bulger and Larry Fitzgerald? Yeah, SFR could easily be number one, but they're not. Mainly because the Pumas won last year, but also because SFR has no real depth. After the starting lineup everyone is either unproven or a handcuff so compared to the Pumas depth I'm not sure SFR is quite ready for #1.
3. Short Bus Bullies - The SBB have some major offensive weapons for an 'expansion' team. Steve Smith, Brian Westbrook, Antonio Gates and Laurence Maroney to name a few. Their depth is decent, but an upgrade at QB over Hasslebeck needs to happen to become an elite team.
4. Annandale Sunshine - The Sunshine are always perennial contenders and this year is no different. With QBs Donovan McNabb and Drew Brees and WR Reggie Wayne they can challenge again. RB Shaun Alexander is still a top tier runner, but could be injury prone. An upgrade at RB is almost a must for the Sunshine to move up.
5. Rocky Runners - Last year's playoff surprise is back and looks poised to make another run this year. With Carson Palmer at QB, and the combo of Hines Ward and Tory Holt at WR in addition to two awesome defenses in Chicago and Pittsburgh, the Runners narrowly beat out the Green Helmets for the five spot.
6. Green Helmets - The running back combination of Maurice Jones-Drew and Stephen Jackson is enough to make the Helmets a fantasy stud, but with Jon Kitna at QB, a weak bench and good but not great WRs, the Helmets lose a place to the Runners.
7. Angry Amish - Larry Johnson is a stud and Todd Heap is still a good tight end, but they aren't enough to make up for weakness and injuries everywhere else in their lineup. The Amish must upgrade somewhere in order to make this year's playoffs. (And maybe start Dante Stallworth? WTF?)
   
8. Centreville Red Dogs - Entering their third year, the Red Dogs still have never made the playoffs and there's not a lot of hope for them this year either unless they make some good moves. Tom Brady, Willie Parker and Rudi Johnson are all good weapons and looking at the lineup on the surface might make you think they have a shot at the playoffs. But, Marvin Harrison is getting older and the rumor is that Reggie Wayne will become Manning's primary target this year. There's also a serious lack of depth at WR and QB.
9. Black Hand - What happened to the Vandelay Cup champion of two years ago? Oh how the mighty have fallen. With the only real weapons on this team being Ocho-Cinco and Vince Young don't look for much out of the Hand again this year.
10. Sixteen In The Clip - Marques Colston could have another amazing year, but its still not going to make up for the lack of talent on this roster. SxC is in desperate need of a top tier running back and a couple more serviceable wide receivers and maybe they could make a push. They need to start making plans for next year's first overall pick.
    

Sunshine vs Short Bus Bullies, a breakdown

To really understand my prediction in my earlier post, lets breakdown the match up between the Sunshine and the SBB:

QB

Advantage: Short Bus Bullies
This is clearly the Sunshine's strongest position overall and in a normal week, she would win this going away. The problem is, she's starting the wrong QB this week. Brees will be calling signals in the season opener against Indy. While Indy's defense isn't that strong, look for Peyton and company to dominate with ball control, keeping Brees off the field. Starting McNabb against a decent Green Bay defense may not be a much better option but he'll have better numbers this week for sure. On the other hand, look for Hassleback to have a field day against the Bucs defense, which was one of the worst in the league last year.

WR

Advantage: Sunshine
Why doesn't anyone realize that Marvin Harrison is no longer the man in Indy's offense? True, he's still spectacular, especially for his age, but have no doubt that Reggie Wayne will be the man this year, and this match up over Steve Smith will prove it. Smith will get his, but with two shaky QBs throwing him the ball, don't look for him to have another lights out season like two years ago.

RB

Advantage: Short Bus Bullies
Brian Westbrook and Laurence Maroney vs. Shaun Alexander and ....Deuce McAllister??? Look, obviously Alexander is still a great back and Deuce is a weapon but Reggie Bush is going to continue to take away his touches, and with the Sunshine's best next option being LenDale White don't look for a ton of running production from the Sunshine this year.

TE

Advantage: Short Bus Bullies
Antonio Gates vs. Ben Watson. If I have to explain that then you should call me immediately about trade options.

K

Advantage: Sunshine
Neil Rackers will win out in a close battle versus Nate Kaeding. Kaeding will score a lot because he'll be kicking LT's extra points, but Rackers will ultimately win because he'll be kicking field goals because of Matt Leinhart's dropped TD passes and Edge's inability to overcome a crappy o-line and punch it in.

Defense/ST

Advantage: Tie
Neither team has an amazing defense with Minnesota and Dallas, so its not much to consider.

Wildcards:

If the Sunshine could find the guts to start McNabb over Brees, they could swing a close game in their favor this week. McNabb traditionally has a field day against the Packers, throwing for over a 100 QB rating the last two times he's faced them, including a 5 touchdown performance in 2004. Her starter, Brees, traditionally throws picks against Indy. Every time he's played the Colts in his career he's thrown an interception, including a 2 interception performance in 2005.

Conversely, If the SBB would slip T.J. Houshmandzadeh into the starting lineup this week, he could REALLY be a difference maker. Historically, in 9 career games versus Baltimore, Housh has 5 touchdowns and scored in both games against Ray Lewis et al last year including a 10 catch, 100+ yard performance last November. Bench Mike Furrey, who is going up against one of the league's most underrated defenses in Oakland and start a guy with a proven track record against another top D.

Week One's Featured Match Up

Week One's featured match up is between perennial playoff team and Vandelay Cup contender The Annandale Sunshine and the expansion Short Bus Bullies.

Since the leagues inception two years ago, The Sunshine, led by Sara 'The Greek' Ruckman have always been a powerhouse, with great depth at QB featuring Drew Brees and Donovan McNabb. Add Reggie Wayne at the WR slot and The Sunshine has the ability to throw up a ton of points at any time.

The SBB, led by Jason 'Mavis' Hanna are a virtual unknown. Hanna inherited one of last year's playoff teams, Travis Kelley's Antarctica Anteaters and was allowed to keep 3 of the team and take the first free agent in the draft. This has enabled him to turn a weak playoff team into what could be a Vandelay Cup contender. With pure money players such as Steve Smith at WR, Brian Westbrook at RB and Antonio Gates at TE, The SBB are going to score at will this year, provided they stay healthy.

But that's really going to be the down side for both teams, health. For the Sunshine, the QB tandem of Brees and McNabb could be a scary one health wise. With McNabb recently announcing that he's still not 100% and Brees only a year removed from a season ending shoulder injury don't be surprised to see one of these guys being moved early on to find a healthier, younger backup.

The injury outlook doesn't get better either when you look at the running back slot for the Sunshine. With Shaun Alexander as their only proven starter, and given his recent injury bug (thanks Madden!) this author thinks the Sunshine may be looking for a reliable RB soon.

For the SBB, Westbrook and Smith are constantly banged up, but the are generally more durable than the Sunshine's current crips. Hanna's only other shortcoming maybe the QB position. With Hassleback as his starter (again, injured a good part of last year only playing in 12 games) and back up Jake Delhomme publicly in risk of losing his starting job to former Texans disappointment David Carr, the Bullies are not invincible either.

Currently, Yahoo predicts The Bullies to win out over the The Sunshine 104-87, but I predict a much closer game due to two of the Bullies starters going against the Chicago defense and none of the Sunshine's starters facing a top tier 'D'. Final score: SBB 89, Sunshine 85.

Other notable match ups for week 1:

• None.

All of the other games this week suck. They'll either be between non-contenders (see Red Dogs vs. Amish) or blow outs (see Space for rent vs. Black Hand).

It's ON!

What's up fellow Vandelay Industries teams? I've decided to create a blog for our league this year as well, as to allow us to rant and rave and do other fun things! One of the fun things I think I'm going to do is pick a game each week as our 'Game Of The Week' and review each team and pick a winner! Please feel free to comment and leave your opinions on my opinions as well!