Oh, and unlike last week, there will be no hopeful wishes for players on other teams to succumb to season-ending injuries in order to salvage my season.

 

Sound like fun?

 

OK, first, let's give props to Weapons of Mass Destruction, who may not have played their most prolific QB, but who would've noticed? Patrick Ramsey led a

balanced attack, with Keith getting solid performances top-to-bottom in his lineup. Perhaps his only true disappointment was that this stellar 109 point performance was wasted in a head-to-head matchup with the Lancaster Raiders, who managed a whopping 41 points for the week. Still, his score put him right on the edge of the money, with the leaders now well within site.

 

The Glazed Fasnachts established themselves as the leader of the second division with an outstanding 103-point week. He had the pleasure of defeating current points leader Cloning Scott Baio, who was poised for a down week with the absence of Priest Holmes, Trent Green and Morten Andersen. Still, 82 points while playing Jeff Blake and Shawn Bryson in your lineup is still decent, and it was enough to keep

him in the overall lead, albeit by a scant two points. And yes, Rick is still agonizing over his bonehead decision to drop Marcel Shipp three days before Emmitt Smith

suffered a season-ending injury, thus giving Andy the opportunity to snatch him up and use him to beat on Rick a little.

 

Fantasy gadfly Grandpa's Meat must have tasted more than a little taint-ed to Todd and his once mighty Turd Burglars. Meat feasted on the hapless Burglars, who've been slipping in their performance the past few weeks and are definitely looking vulnerable. Will Todd's announcement that Marc Bulger is available find any

takers? Will it rescue or doom his season? While Steve place third overall, his squad suffered a setback in the overall standings, as the WMD juggernaut hurtled past

him in the overall standings, and doesn't look like its ready to relinquish its newfound position. Oh, and expect to get a call from Mr. Seeber to see what you'll

give him for this week's standout performer, Santana Moss. League experts predict that he will stay a Meat man, and return to his 6-point ways.

 

The Nic-Rae Mystery Machine continued to roll along with another victory, this time over the Brickyard Bullied, as they are more likely to be called since they've become the league's answer to a bye week victory. It was actually Dave's strongest week in awhile, but at 65 points, he still fell further behind the pack, hopeful that Marshall Faulk can come back soon and help him salvage some dignity. Meanwhile the Machine sits two points out of first place overall, making for a compelling showdown for the top slot.

 

The close call of the week went to Tom and Bruce, who were separated by a mere 7 points. It's the type of score that makes you look at the Actual vs. Best board and

say "Damn, why didn't I play Kerry Collins and Dorsey Levens instead of Donovan McNabb and Amos Zereoue"; or "Thank God I didn't play Jerome Bettis instead of Charlie Garner." Either of which would've changed the outcome. While Tom gets the win, he's still having a tough time in the overall standings, as was unable to make up any ground on the leaders, and let two other teams close the gap from behind. Can he hang on until Vick returns? Can Bennett be his savior?

 

*****

 

Well there's that. Now, let's take a look at how everyone is doing based on their pre-season projections, based upon their draft.

 

1. Tom Tran - All of us put him in contention, and most in the money, with his lowest ranking a 6th place bid. While it seems ungrateful to be disappointed at a 4th

place position entering week 10, Tom definitely had higher prospects. But Tommy Maddox's struggles have hurt him somewhat. Still, Tom has amazing strength at

RB, and the return of Bennett and Vick as well. If Tom sits tight with this team, he may waste his depth and cost himself some points he could really use.

 

2. Rick Reitz - Votes ranged from 1st to 7th, putting him right behind Tom in the preseason. He's held pretty close to those projections, currently sitting in first place,

though by a negligible amount. Vulnerable? You bet. His success still rests on the shoulders of the two most potent members of the Chief's offense. If they hit a

slump, he's in trouble. Fortunately, they don't seem to have any problem scoring points, so if you have to be heavily invested in a team, that's the one. Depth a RB is

a bit of a concern, and his 3rd round pick of Kurt Warner is likely the biggest bust of 2003. But he's got among the top WRs, TE and DEF, which should keep his team

balanced and strong through the remainder of the season.

 

3. Todd Ruth - So far the league's nailed this one, as he's currently sitting in 3rd place overall, proving that drafting 12th is not a handicap when you know what you're doing. Still deservedly proud of his snatching of Marc Bulger in the 16th round, he's now entertaining the possibility of trading him. Depending upon what he

gets in return should that happen, it'll likely have an impact on this team. Probably wishing now he passed on Corey Dillon, he doesn't have much to pull from to fill

his slot should Dillon get the bench, although Dillon's backup could get some serious playing time.

 

4. Eric Kilhefner - So far, not living up to pre-season expectations. Well, except for Steve, who rightly placed his ol' pal in 8th place, where he currently rests. Still,

he's in first place in his division, so his prospects for some booty at the end of the season are very real. And once again, his activity on the transaction wire not only

boosts the pot, but it's built him a decent team, especially if Griese holds on to the Dolphins QB job. Snatching the Chiefs defense when he did was smart. Eric just might put together a second half surprise.

 

4. Dave Garner - Not even close, fellas. Well, much of the projections were arguably accurate, as the consensus was that Dave put together a decent starting lineup, but had no depth. Guess what? He needed that depth. Losing Marshall Faulk (pick 1) has been particularly devastating, Rich Gannon (pick 2, dumped) was anything but a return to MVP form, and Peerless Price has been marked down and priced to sell. When dropping Gannon to pick up Dennis Northcutt is a way to improve your team, you're in serious trouble.

 

6. Troy Sheaffer - Troy's starting lineup has some really good players (Manning, Alexander, Crumpler) and some really bad ones (Wheatley, Taylor). What he doesn't have is a sixth place team. His team is wallowing in 10th place right now, with little hope of climbing much higher than that at this point. He may be the best prospect for a trade to Todd for Bulger, putting him in a great spot for 2004.

 

7. Nick Bradley - The league's great "swing-and-a-miss." Not only is he exceeding this projection, but he has the most realistic shot at winning the trifecta - First Place Overall, LEAF Bowl Champion and LEAF MVP - a full 55% of the pot. It's never been done before. No real weaknesses here, though perhaps a little lax on QB depth. Shouldn't slip too much folks, so if you want to pass him, you're gonna have to do more than just submit your lineup and hope for the best.

 

8. Andy Fasnacht - He's doing a little better than this, sitting in 7th place overall, with a real shot at the playoffs in head-to-head. With Culpepper , Pennington and Brad Johnson, Andy now has some serious depth at QB. Trade one of those guys to strengthen up a weaker area, and you may see a serious late contender here. Especially if Tomlinson develops more consistency with the inconsistent Chargers offense. He's been the master of free agent pick ups, grabbing cast-offs Marcel Shipp, Chad Pennington and the Eagles Defense. Not bad for a rookie.

 

9. Keith Schweigert - If Edgerrin James finds his game, and if one of Keith's QBs would step up with consistency, he should still pose a real threat. He's certainly doing much better than his pre-season projection, as he's right now on the outside of the money in 5th place, but 12 points from 4th. His lineup is one you don't want to face in the playoffs. The reigning LEAF Bowl champs are for real.

 

10. Brendan McAnally - A rookie's struggles aren't unexpected. And certainly, Brendan's current 11th place position matches that. But the real surprise is that

Brendan is getting some real breaks in his head-to-head, putting him in position to qualify for the playoffs. If he were to do that and remain in 11th, that would be unprecedented. With the playoffs a possiblity, it's unlikely Brendan will sponsor a fire sale, but may want to trade in order to strengthen his chances at postseason glory. Perhaps his luck won't run out, but it'll take more than a Saints revival to keep his hopes alive.

 

11. Steve Seeber - Well, he's doing much better than this, but most people still feel his draft wasn't as good as it could've been. But in 6th place, Steve's right in the thick of things, as he so often is. While he drafted for QB strength, it's actually looking like his RB situation is more enviable, and his QB depth undesirable. No matterwhat, Steve will do what he can to make this interesting. And he won't be finishing in 11th place, that's for sure.

 

12. Bruce Morgan - The consensus was that Bruce's draft sucked. But that's the consensus every year. Truth is, Bruce didn't do as bad as everyone thought. Still, he

didn't do very well. Taking McNabb over Jamal Lewis still has to sting, and while he took crap for when he snatched a relatively productive Garrison Hearst, his follow-up selection of Amos Zereoue has been a disaster. After a strong start his team started to slide, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

 

Well, that be all. Have a great rest of the week!

 

*****

 

Rick Reitz is responsible for Cloning Scott Baio. His "LEAF Pile" column appears every three weeks.

 

Next week: Keith Schweigert's "Mop Up" provides his analysis of Week 10 in this space.

 

In two weeks: Steve Seeber chimes in with his "Butcher Shop" thoughts on the league in Week 11.

 

This column is written on alternating weeks by Keith, Steve and Rick.

 

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