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THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MANAGER AWARDS

THE "NO SHIRT? NO PROBLEM" AWARD
STEVE

Or.......... How I Spent My Bye Week, by Ron Gronkowski

Ron Gronkowski, all-world tight end for the Patriots, spent his bye week with porn star BiBi Jones.
BiBi tweeted a picture of herself and Gronkowski - her wearing his jersey, and him shirtless.
Shoulda been the other way around, but that's just me.

Posing with Ms. Jones didn't seem to impede Tom Brady's favorite target one bit.
Gronkowski - The Gronk - finished the year with 15 receiving TD's, and was also credited
with a rushing TD on a lateral - setting a new NFL record for TD's by tight ends.

Still - I wonder what The Gronk would consider his favorite moment of 2011.
Steve can think of 16 favorite moments.

THE "TIS BUT A SCRATCH" AWARD
T / J

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, during a sword fight with King Arthur,
the Black Knight's arm is severed but he insists its just a scratch.

Payton Manning has neck surgery before the season,
but the reports are he'll "maybe" miss one game.

Worked out about the same for the Black Knight and Payton.
At least Payton kept all his limbs.

THE "FULL NELSON" AWARD
BILL

Some teams collect Johnsons. Others collect Williams. Still others collect Smiths.
Bill collected Nelsons. Two of them. Jordy and Don.

And Jordy Nelson - what kind of a name is Jordy anyway - ends up as the #1 receiver this year.

In fact, if Bill had not put Jordy and his 3 TD's / 12 points on the bench on Week 17,
he'd be holding aloft that elusive IOFFL Super Bowl Trophy right now!

THE "IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED" AWARD
CHRIS Q

Then try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try (12 times try) again.
And if that doesn't work, find out if there's a prize for losing.

Chris sets a new IOFFL record for consecutive losses (11),
and ties the record for losses in one season (12).

All the world loves a good loser.
Chris is well-loved!

THE "SUM IS GREATER THAN THE PARTS" AWARD
S / R

What a great year for S/R.
They win the IOFFL Super Bowl.
And the overall points championship.

But - amazingly - they didn't win a single Weekly!!
They finish the season one of only three teams without at least a piece of a weekly!

For the record, a points champion has never NOT won a weekly before S/R did that this year!
But the Super Bowl and Points championships? All of us would take that.

THE "NEWTON'S LAW" AWARD
C / R

C/R took a gamble - albeit a small one - drafting Cam Newton as their third qb.
Boy did that gamble pay off!

Newton finishes the year as the number two qb, setting all kinds of NFL records:
Most rushing TD's by any QB. Most passing yards by a rookie QB.
Most yards in 2 consecutive games by any QB (until Tom Brady broke that a couple of hours later),
and one of only five rookie QB's ever to throw 20 or more TD passes in a season!

The only question for next year is:
Will it be true that what goes up must come down?

THE "I WANT MY JOHNSON BACK" AWARD
M / F

Desparately needing a RB, in Week 14 M/F trades Calvin Johnson to Mary for Reggie Bush.

Over the last 3 weeks of the season - our playoffs - Johnson outscores Bush, 15 - 12,
including 3-0 in Week 16.

Turns out, M/F loses to Bill by just one point in Week 16 and misses the Super Bowl.
And then, misses out on the points championship to S/R by just two points.

Moral of the story: when faced with a choice between a Johnson and a Bush,
go with the Johnson.

Yes, we're still talking only Fantasy Football here.

THE "LION IN WAIT" AWARD
R / J / L

Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions. R/J/L's #2 QB behind Matt Schaub.

Stafford quickly proved he would not wait long,
and very soon became R/J/L's QB of choice.

Stafford rewards R/J/L with an injury-free year (mostly) and ends up 5th in QB scoring!

Of course it helped that he had a big Johnson (Calvin) to throw to!

THE "RIVERS IS WIDE" AWARD
JOE B

Unfortunately, its not very deep.

Prior to the season, Philip Rivers was considered a top tier QB.
With a talented pass catch crew to throw to, and an explosive offense to play in,
it looked like Rivers was poised for a breakout year.

But he barely ends up among the top ten QB's,
and his Chargers fail to make the playoffs.

Nor does Joe B.

THE "LITTLE BREASTON" AWARD
PETE Q

In Weeks 8 and 11, Pete had both Greg Little and Steve Breaston at receiver in his line-up.

Little and Breaston.
Not so good in the fantasy football world, either.

Luckily Pete had a cool Brees and the law firm - Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis - to pick up the slack
and lead him to 1 game from the Super Bowl.

THE "BUSH AND JOHNSON" AWARD
MARY

Bush and Johnson - they make the world go round.

In Week 13, Mary trades her Bush - a Reggie - for M/F's Johnson - a Calvin.

And as in most Bush for Johnson trades,
it looks like both participants have to be pleased with the outcome!

Well - maybe the Johnson did a little better.
See M/F above.

THE "JUST CRUZ'AN" AWARD
FRANK

My season was looking disastrous at the start of the year.

Jamaal Charles tears an ACL, Antonio Gates has a toe thing,
and there's few points coming from anywhere.

Then I picked up Victor Cruz in a waiver.

Cruz saved my season - scoring himself, often from a distance,
and doubled up those points with my QB, Eli Manning.

He also saved the Giants season - most yards in a season for a Giant ever.
In a year when every other GIant receiver missed playing time due to injuries.

Let's go Cruz'an!

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

Once again, THANKS to all the players in the IOFFL!!
As in years past, its been another great season!
And Chris M - I'll miss your weekly line-ups! Always entertaining! :-)