Week 6 Rankings

Who the hell is Arian Foster? The one person that Mario would leave his fiancee for.

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1. New Jersey Crushers: (5-1): Another week, another win. The Crushers have established themselves as the clear-cut favorite in this race.

2. One Shot Bro (4-2): A week filled with upsets and telling outcomes enabled One Shot Bro to take its victory over LaDainian Bacon Tomlinson and turn that into the second slot in this week’s poll.

3. Denville Bulls (4-2): Owner Jerry Fitzsimmons made headlines this week when he stated, “We stink” when speaking to reporters. However, the Bulls continue to find ways to win.

4. Chasing Amy (3-3): A bad loss to the last-place team set Chasing Amy back, for sure. However, in a league filled with parity and .500 teams, a spot in the playoffs is still likely.

5. Brain Hemorrhages (3-3): What was that song Tom Petty sang? Oh yeah, free fallin’.

6. LaDainian Bacon Tomlinson (3-3): Two straight games against teams with losing records should erase this current two-game losing skid.

7. Eli’s Bloody Forehead (2-4): Suddenly, Eli’s Bloody Forehead is on the ropes. Limping into this week with a two-game losing streak, the team will have to face the Bulls, Tomlinson, and Crushers over the next three weeks. Those teams are 12-6 combined.

8. Sweet Lou’s Sweet Crew (2-4): Like mentioned last week, the Sweet Crew is staring at a road paved for them to succeed, as they don’t face a team with a winning record until Week 10. This team needs to find a way to score.

9. Let’s Party (2-4): Ending a four-game skid against Eli’s Bloody Forehead is nice, but a game against the Brain Hemorrhages – in desperate need of a win – could knock this team off the right track once again.

10. Rumblin Bumblin Stumblin (2-4): Two straight wins and a huge upset of Chasing Amy didn’t push this team up in the polls, but things are starting to look up.

Week 5 Rankings

1. New Jersey Crushers: My, how things have been shaken up. It seems like just days ago that we were talking about this week’s game being between two undefeated juggernauts. Instead, the Crushers (4-1) are limping into Week Six coming off a dud against Denville, and the Brain Hemorrhages have dropped two straight. The Crushers - who welcome back Big Ben (above) this week - remain in our top spot, nonetheless. For now.

2. Chasing Amy: The highest-scoring team in the league deserves the top honors, but this system encompasses the body of work over an entire season – not the last two or three weeks. If that’s the case, there’s no doubt this club is the most dangerous. The Amy’s face the Crushers in Week Seven. We’ll find out what this team is made of then.

3. One Shot Bro: This team might not strike fear in the hearts of opponents, but it gets the job done thanks to the top quarterback in the league, two top-10 runners, and a bevy of potent receivers. Two straight wins with 95-plus points scored gives this team the nod for the third slot.

4. Brain Hemorrhages: A second straight loss bumped this team from the second slot down to the fourth. What happened? Two weeks ago this team was thinking championship. Things don’t get any easier, either, as the Hemorrhages face our top dog this weekend.

5. LaDainian Bacon Tomlinson: The Tomlinsons continue to stick around as one of the playoff-hunting teams, but a loss to the dreadful Rumblin Bumblin Stumblins? Really? A big win over One Shot Bro this weekend has playoff implications and would serve as a nice bounce-back victory.

6. Eli’s Bloody Forehead: Greg Yannalfo’s club continues to lug around a perplexing record that doesn’t match its production. Despite averaging 89.9 points per week, Eli’s Bloody Forehead has fallen to the Crushers, the Amys and One Shot Bro – all playoff-hunting teams. A lay-up against Let’s Party – coincidentally owned by the elder Yannalfo – looms this weekend.

7. Denville Bulls: After winning three of four, this club has established itself as a contender and not a doormat. A win over the Crushers this past weekend will back that statement up.

8. Sweet Lou’s Sweet Crew: If there’s an overlooked team on the cusp of catching fire, it’s this one. Sweet Lou didn’t look too sweet in losing two straight in Week Two and Three, but the potential of this club shined in this past weekend’s win over One Shot Bro. In addition, it’s hard to see a team with Aaron Rodgers, and Brandon Lloyd and Hakeems Nicks – the top two receivers – struggle much longer. Watch out.

9. Rumblin Bumblin Stumblin: They’re out of the basement! A win over LaDainian Bacon Tomlinson ended the losing streak and gave this ailing team a clean slate. Let’s see if they can get back into this race.

10. Let’s Party!: After defeating Rumblin Bumblin Stumblin – a team that can’t get out of its own way – in Week One, this club has absorbed four straight losses by an average of 22 points. Ouch.

More Love for QBs?

It's worth mentioning seven of the top 10 overall scoring leaders in fantasy football this season are quarterbacks. Something to think about..

Peyton Manning*
Arian Foster
Philip Rivers*
Michael Vick*
Aaron Rodgers*
Kyle Orton*
Antonio Gates
Drew Brees*
Austin Collie
Tom Brady*

Bulletin Board

Some quotes that were posted on my team's locker room wall before the game:

No one goes 0-4 except for you in 2003, when you were 0-13. ..watch out. im making a prediction...fru is the only 4-0 team in the league!

Mark my words, the chips will fall into place - starting this week.

RBS steamrolls the Crushers, ending the quest of a perfect season. That's right, Rumblin Bumblin Stumblin is back. And we're comin for you, Crushers.

And finally, the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place for my Week 4 bulldozing of the Rumblin' Bumblin' Stumblin's, the newest addition to the Crushers, added simply to have a nice conversation with about his former team:

Ready for the Cold Handshake?

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. -- This is the one everyone is already buzzing about, not because the New Jersey Crushers can continue to open some eyes with an unblemished start or because Rumblin Bumblin Stumblin can finally put a band-aid on its bleeding campaign.

This is about the two coaches, the ones who started talking at the beginning of the week and haven't stopped since. Simply put, two general managers are at war, but only one can win this round.

Plenty of haymakers have been thrown. Neither owner has fallen into the ropes - not until Sunday afternoon, at least.

RBS will travel to the the Crushers' new posh stadium this weekend (Sunday & Monday, 1 p.m. ESPN) with hopes of backing up their talk. There's been plenty of it.

RBS owner Brian Fitzsimmons, the architect of the 2006 championship team, and Crushers' leader Mario Mergola have dented their relationship with this week's banter. In fact, it's triggering memories of Eric Mangini and Bill Belichick - old friends, now foes.

Perhaps the handshake at the end of the weekend will be just as cold, too.

"Will I shake his hand? Sure, why not?" Fitzsimmons said. "But I have nothing to say to him, win or lose. We know we're the better team and we're about to prove it. I'll show my respect, but I'm not going to embrace the guy or by any means congratulate him on a 4-0 start if it gets to that point. Why crown him? He's done nothing. This year or in years past."

Mergola spoke to reporters yesterday, recalling the days of he and Fitzsimmons sharing memories together as fifth-graders. Fitzsimmons declined to comment on his rival's most recent press conference.

This weekend's game features two teams seemingly going in opposite directions. The Crushers have rattled off three straight wins, while RBS has looked sluggish and slow in their 0-3 start to 2010.

Losing running back Ryan Grant to injury after Week One was a huge blow to the team, but Fitzsimmons isn't ready to throw in the towel; you could have inferred that with his outrageous comments earlier in the week, promising victory.

"I don't retract my comments about winning," he told ESPN's John Clayton in an interview that aired on Friday's SportsCenter. "I said what I said, for a number of reasons - the biggest being I believe in my team and our goal of getting back in the race here."

Oddly enough, Fitzsimmons could be right. After all, it's hard to imagine Michael Turner, Tony Romo and Steve Smith floundering for an entire campaign.

Nevertheless, the soured relationship of Mergola and Fitzsimmons stole headlines all week, as the war of words have taken on a life of their own.

Haymakers at every which angle. Which owner will survive in the ring?

Stay tuned.

To Illustrate My Point

Click the Pic

For Further Reading on the Subject, click here.