Playoffs start this week.  Click the Superbowl link for the schedule

A look back at the regular season:

Well, our third regular season has come to an end, and a number of new records were set this year, making this a banner year. The following

records were set & broken:

• Best Record - Marauders - 12-2 (beats SmackDownSister & the Chargers' 11-3 record set in 2002)
• Fewest Points by a Franchise - SmackDownSister - 663 ("edges out" the Gryphons 687 set last year)
• Fewest Points Scored Against - Marauders - 683 (beats SmackDownSister's 780 set last year by a mile)
• Most Points by a WR - Ball Ho's Randy Moss - 145 (beats out Terrell Owens' 143 from 2002)
• Most Points by a TE - Ryno's Tony Gonzalez - 83 (beats out Tony's last record of 73 set last year)
• Most Points by a K - Marauders' Mike Vanderjact - 145 (beats out 2002 Jason Elam and 2001 David Akers 121)
• Most Points by a Franchise in one week: Rynos, 123 on week 13, breaking the old record of 119 set by the Ball Ho's on Week 2, 2002)
• Most Points by a RB in one week - StiffArms Clinton Portis, 43 (beats Priest Holms' 33 points set last year)

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce a NEW OWNER of the Tight Ends who will be managing he team through the playoffs and on. Matt Ruscica (formerly of Matt's Mambas) will be taking over the franchise. Matt was unable to make our initial draft and lost the opportunity to get into the pool. Everyone knows Matt from the Baseball pool, and he's a welcome addition to the league.

Based on the final standings, next year's divisions have been determined.  They will be:

Playoffs Round 1

Superbowl Bracket
	Chargers (10-4) vs. Assassins (8-6)
	The NFL Champion Chargers won the last meeting with the Assassins by only one point (51-50) are averaging 62/week. They will have their star Duce McCalister up against the New York Giant Defense (ranked #20). The Assassins have been hot lately averaging 76 points per month over the past three months, and have some good match-ups with Jamal Lewis running against the Oakland defense (ranked #31) and the New England Defense going up against the turnover-happy Jacksonville Jaguars (9th worst in the league).
	Marauders (12-2) vs. Rynos  (10-4)
	The Marauders were the #1 team throughout the season thanks to great scoring and a lucky schedule (lowest points scored against). This week, the schedule is promising again as the key offensive players (Trent Green, Ahman Green, Terrell Owens and Edgerrin James) are going up against Detroit, Cincinnati, San Diego and Atlanta (ranked #19, #24, #30, #32 overall). The Rynos are looking for revenge after they lost their last meeting by 5 points but will have an easy TV schedule since Marshal Faulk is going up against Shaun Alexander on Sunday.
Draft Pick Bracket
	StiffArms (9-5) vs. Tight Ends (6-8)
	The StiffArms are one of the hottest teams in the league over the past six weeks averaging 78 points. With some key divisional games coming up, Daunte Cullpepper will probably have a big day vs. Chicago while Clinton Portis will be running against the mediocre Cleveland defense. The Tight Ends are under new management, and are now starting their better players. Priest Holms will be up against the lousy Detroit Lions, but those Lions have shut down quality running backs Ahman Green and LaDanian Tomlinson recently (average 91 yards allowed to those two teams).
	Ball Ho's (7-7) vs. PhatBacks (7-7)
	The Ball Ho's had an up and down season, never stringing more than 3 wins back to back, but also never losing more than 2 in a row. This will be a hard week for them, as they have possibly lost Domanick Davis for a second week and even if he is in the game, the Texans are facing Tampa Bay. The PhatBacks are hoping to get through this game. They have not won a divisional game this year, and have a chance of playing 2 divisional opponents AGAIN in the playoffs. On the bright side, Peyton Manning will be up against the league's worst defense - the Atlanta Falcons.
Lottery Bracket
	Hitmen (6-8) vs. SmackDownSister (3-11)
	The Hitmen end a disappointing season as the top seed in the ballot bracket. Unfortunately for them, they go up against SmackDownSister who has defeated them twice this year already and has outscored the Hitmen by a total of 4 points over the two games. The Hitmen have had a very productive team lately, but came up short of the Assassins in the wildcard race. Matt Hasselbeck has been the best QB over the past month, and Torry Holt has been the 2nd best receiver in the league this year. By dropping Anthony Thomas, Sister is left with the running tandem of Jerome Bettis and Chris Brown - a pair that averages 6 fantasy points a week combined.
	Gryphons (4-10) vs. Quiet Storm (3-11)
	Half of the Gryphons wins this season came over the Quiet Storm, defeating them by an average score of 61-50. This will be a hard week for the Gryphons with their running corps going up against tough defenses (Dallas and Tennessee). The Quiet Storm will get one last chance to beat the Gryphons and with Garrison Hearst injured, will finally have two starting running backs since Kevan Barlow will get the start.

Post Season Week 1 Transactions

• Chargers move Ramsey to IR and sign Anthony Thomas with a $22 bid.

• PhatBacks waive Anthony Becht and sign Plaxico Burress on a $17 bid.

• SmackDownSister adds Jamel White and moves Jeremy Shockey to the IR.

• The Assassins add William Green and move James Jackson to the IR.

Regular Season MVP Award

The criteria I used for this poll is:

1. Must have played for a team in the top playoff bracket
2. Must be among the top 5 players at his position
3. Must have been one of the top scoring players for his team
4. Must have played on the team for the majority of the year

Results of Playoffs - round 1.

	Assassins 93 Chargers 61		Rynos 83 Marauders 73
The Assassins win in convincing fashion as they knock off the NFL champs. The Chargers had a great start to the day with a 2 touchdown performance by Marvin Harrison, but goose-eggs by Marcus Robinson and the failure of Duce McCalister to find the end-zone depressed their score.  The Assassins were actually down as of Sunday evening, but came back thanks to Joe Horn's 133 yards and FOUR touchdowns on the Sunday night game.  Those 30.7 fantasy points destroy the previous record held by Derrick Mason set earlier this year (with 27).		The Rynos defeat the playoff favorite Marauders in a close game that came down to Monday night performance of the Dolphins Defense where the fins went into their traditional December crash and blew up against the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Marauders had a chance to move on, but some blow outs resulted in both Edgerin James and Trent Green (21+ fantasy points combined) sitting in the 4th quarter of their games.  The Rynos MVP - Tony Gonzalez once again earned his money with almost 100 yards and two touchdowns to lead his team with 16.7 fantasy points.
	Tight Ends 84 StiffArms 64		PhatBacks 50 Ball Ho's 46
Responding to the new management, the Tight Ends drop the StiffArms.  The StiffArms had a let-down in the first round of the playoffs with only one player making double-digit points as Clinton Portis rumbled for almost 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the fantasy stud in the league Priest Holms once again went off with close to 150 yards and three touchdowns while Jeff Garcia also came back to life  and threw for close to 350 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.		What a shocker - the PhatBacks actually won against a division rival. defeating the Ball Ho's by four points.  It came down to management, and the Ball Ho's failed miserably leaving 31 points and the win on the bench.  The bright spot for the Ball Ho's was Mr. Dependable Brett Favre who threw 4 TDs and had over 275 yards of passing in his win over SD.  The PhatBacks star was Peyton Manning who came via trade before the season started.  Peyton had five touchdowns and almost 300 yards of passing before he was pulled in the 4th quarter.
	Hitmen 98 SmackDownSister 52		Gryphons 45 Quiet Storm 35
The Hitmen finally defeat SmackDownSister and humiliate him by more than doubling his score.  Sister failed to have any player break single digit points, and the free agent pickup Lavernious Coles actually had negative points for his team.  Conversely, the Hitmen had one of their best weeks of the year as Super-Stud LaDanian Tomlinson had almost 200 yards of offense and scored two touchdowns to lead the Hitmen in scoring.		The Gryphons sweep the Quiet Storm 3-0 over the season and advance to the top rung of the lottery bracket.  The QS had some highs and lows with double-digit performances by Kevan Barlow and Jeff Wilkins, and zero (or negative) performances by Chad Pennington, Bubba Franks and the 49er defense.  The Gryphons got lucky on this one as they did not have a standout fantasy player, but Jon Kitna  was their top scorer with almost 200 yards of offense and 2 touchdowns.