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THE EIGHTH ANNUAL GENERAL MANAGER AWARDS

THE "RUBBERBAND MAN" AWARD
STEVE

A quick review of recent history:

2002 - Super Bowl Winner
2003 - Super Bowl Winner
2004 - Last place in total points..........

2005 - Super Bowl Winner

Has anybody ever fallen so low,
only to bounce back so high???

THE "SALT AND CULPEPPER" AWARD
T / J

Adding injury to insult, not only did Daunte Culpepper look lost this year,
he goes and gets injured in Week 8, and ends up missing the rest of the season!!

And need we say anything about Ahman Green????
Its hard to be competitive when you lose your first two draft picks!

THE "WELL, THE RED SOX DIDN'T REPEAT EITHER" AWARD
PATRICK

In 2004, the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino,
and won their first World Series since 1918,
and Patrick won his first IOFFL Super Bowl Title!

In 2005, the Red Sox were swept in the first round of the playoffs,
and Patrick's hope for a repeat IOFFL title are dashed when Donovan McNabb goes out for the season!
(or did that happen when the low card was drawn???)

THE "ALEXANDER THE GREAT" AWARD
CHRIS Q

Cavalry commander at the age of 18, king at the age of 20,
conqueror of the Persian Empire at the age of 26.

OK, pretty impressive.......
BUT, did he ever score rushing TD's as prolificly as Shaun the Great did????
Did anybody ever have him on their fantasy team???

THE "MUST HAVE BEEN THINKING OF ERIC HEIDEN" AWARD
JIM

In 1980, Eric Heiden becomes the only Olympian to ever win FIVE individual Gold Medals.

In the first waiver wire, Jim has the first pick.......and chooses Steve Heiden, a Cleveland tight end.
Maybe he thought they were related????

But Rudi Johnson's 2nd half TD splurge helped make up for the lack of Heiden gold!!

THE "GOTTA CATCH 'EM, TOO" AWARD
C / R

With Edgerrin James and Tiki Barbers rushing them in (25 TDs combined),
and Michael Vick doing everything he does (#6 in the QB scoring),
C/R was looking pretty tough to beat.

But those receivers couldn't catch a cold this year!! (Or stay off the injury lists!)
And just miss tying the IOFFL record for fewest points from receivers!

(But we saw Chris at the 2005 draft, and that makes it a good year!)

THE "SIGN THIS FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER" AWARD
M / F / D

Peyton throws 49 TD's in 2004, and M/F/D takes him with the 5th pick of the 2005 draft,
hoping there's lightning in the bottle again.

But in 2005, Indy HC Tony Dungy decides that Indy will win with running and defense.

Turns out he's right, as Indy goes 13-0 before losing a game!

But that leaves Peyton with a pedestrian (for him) 28 TD passes in 2005,
barely more than little brother Eli's 25!!

THE "RUN, PASS, AND CATCH" AWARD
J / R / T

Was there anything LaDanian Tomlinson didn't do this year?

Ran for more touchdowns than anybody not named Shaun Alexander,
Threw for more touchdowns than first NFL draft pick Alex Smith on the Niners,
And caught a couple of touchdown passes, too!

THE "GLORY DAYS" AWARD
T / E

Glory Days, Yeah, they'll pass you by....
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye....

Yeah, that's what Brett Favre must have been thinking in 2005......
That, and who the hell are these guys?????!!!!
Samkon Gado??? Noah Herron???? And what happened to my o-line????

Still, he started off well, but really crashed in the last third of the season......
Just one TD pass from Brett Favre in Week 15 - and T/E would have been in the IOFFL Super Bowl!!!

Not bad for rookies!!!

THE "HAIRY PALMER" AWARD
P / J

Yeah, we all know the saying about hairy palms.
But what happens when the first two guys in your line-up go Palmer, Johnson???

Well, your fantasy football team does pretty damn well, that's for sure!!!

And that's not even counting the Rack man........Neil Rackers.
Undrafted kicker ends up hitting 31 FG's in a row before missing one,
and sets an NFL record for FG's in a season!

So combine Palmer, Johnson, and the Rack, and you might win a points title too!!

THE "CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH JOHNSONS???" AWARD
B / G

Loading up their team with Johnson's - Chad, Andre, and Keyshawn -
and none of them lived up to expectations.

Now is there anything sadder than a Johnson not rising to expectation????

Well, having a Willie who comes out of nowhere and rushes for an 80 yard TD
could soften the blow!!

THE "WHERE'S THE EPISCOPALIANS?" AWARD
FRANK

The Priest - Priest Holmes - goes on IR in the 9th week of the season.
T.O. gets suspended from the Eagles for being a dickhead - in the 9th week of the season.

Kevin Jones didn't live up to pre-season hype,
Cadillac Williams was more like a Yugo most of the time.

Enough to make a person want to convert!!!

AND NOW FOR THE SERIOUS PART......

Once again, THANKS to all the players in the IOFFL!!
As always, it has been a lot of fun!

We have a great bunch of guys in this league,
and I'm looking forward to having everybody back
for our 9th season in 2006!!

Just nine months til the 2006 Draft!!
'(If you're feeling signs of fantasy football withdrawal, check the Countdown page!)