Week 9

Week 9 Match-ups

	PhatBacks (6-2) vs. Marauders (7-1)
	*Game of the Week* The Marauders face the top team in the CFL for a second week. The PhatBacks have had an amazing streak of luck, and have scored less points than any other team with a winning record, and less points than two teams with losing records. Most of their production comes from Peyton Manning who will have a tough time going up against the Marauders' Miami Defense. The Marauders will be sitting Edgerrin James this week for that reason, and be relying on Marcel Shipp to have his third straight 100 yard game.
	Chargers (4-4) vs. Assassins (6-2)
	Two teams in second place in their respective divisions and only one game behind the leader, the Assassins and Chargers go head to head trying to pick up a game on their rivals. The Chargers will have yet another dilemma as to who to start at RB as Eddie George piled on the fantasy points sitting on the bench while trade acquisition Westbrook went down with an injury. The Assassins are in good shape with their #3 RB Charlie Garner going up against the porous Detroit Defense.
	Tight Ends (5-3) vs. StiffArms (4-4)
	The Tight Ends have taken sole possession of the NFL and with a win this week and a Chargers loss could make it very difficult for any other NFL team to challenge them for the top spot in their division. Priest Holms had a huge week last week, but will be on a bye this week meaning the TE's will probably leave 3 roster spots empty (good news for the Hitmen, Chargers and StiffArms). The StiffArms have a full roster, and can expect big things out of Daunte Culpepper and the Minnesota Vikings. Hey Sean - you going to pick up the Vikings Defense* or what?*
	Hitmen (3-5) vs. Gryphons (2-6)
	After reeling for four weeks in a very tough mid-season schedule, the Hitmen head up against one of the XFL's weaker teams to take on the Gryphons. The Hitmen can finally look forward to some good production out of LaDanian Tomlinson as he goes up against the Chicago Bears defense. On the other side, the Gryphons will be without their star running back Travis Henry but get platoon RB Trung Candidate back from bye. They will also need to pick up a defense as the stellar Tennessee Defense is also on a bye.
	Rynos (6-2) vs. Quiet Storm (1-7)
	The Rynos will take on the NEW weakest team in the league after a disappointing defeat last week. They will be without their All-Pro TE Tony Gonzalez but may have Marshall Faulk back this week. Not that they need him - the Rynos have been averaging over 70 points a week since Marshall went out of the lineup. The Quiet Storm needs to win pretty much all of their remaining games to have a shot at the playoffs, but right now looks like they'll be heading into the lottery for the second year in a row. Brad Johnson will start at QB again. Brad has filled in nicely for the bust-of-the year (runner up) Rich Gannon by making himself the #3 overall QB.
	SmackDownSister (1-7) vs. Ball Ho's (3-5)
	After winning their first game of the year, SmackDownSister moves into the spoiler role, but is also not far removed from playoff contention (only 4 games back). Over the past month, Donnovan McNabb has actually posted positive fantasy production (on average). And with a healthy Jerry Porter, the receiving corps is quality. The Ball Ho's are in the middle of the pack in scoring, but like the Hitmen have had some bad luck with opponents. This week Dustin will be watching the Green Bay-Minnesota game as he will have Favre, Moss and Javon Walker playing there.

Week 9 Transactions

Marauders add Marques Tuiasosopo for $1 and waive Jeff Blake.
The Hitmen are awarded Corell Buckhalter with a $4 bid based on waiver priority. They drop the Minnesota Defense.
The Hitmen re-add Martin Gramatica for $1 and drop Gary Anderson.
Rynos add Ituli Mili-Vanili for $1 and drop the OTHER Ricky Williams
In a search for the perfect running back, the Chargers add Rudi Johnson and Brock Forsey and drop Ernie Conwell and move Brian Westbrook to IR. It's worth a visit to the Chargers team page to check out a picture of Forsey's hair cut. Man.. that's some bad hair.
The Assassins add James Jackson and drop the Indi defense.
Rynos waive Antwain Smith and activate Faulk
Phatbacks claim Antowain Smith (RB - NE) off waivers and drop Andre' Davis.
The Chargers add DeShawn Foster and move Lamar Gordon to the IR. They now have half their roster including IR as running backs (8). They say you can't have enough running backs... well - I think Rob may have just succeeded there!

The Ryno Poll

Which tandem is the best brother combination in football?
	Payton and Eli Manning (Eli will be lighting it up in a year or two)
	Obafemi and Brendon Ayanbadejo (both on the Dolphins)
	Tiki and Ronde Barber (both potential Pro Bowlers every year)
	Bill and Martin Gramatica (can't leave out a guy nicknamed automatica....or I guy who goes on the IR for celebrating)
	Fred and Gary Baxter (not sure if they are brothers but Fred and Gary are funny names)
	Kabeer and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila (Akbar...Kabeer....hahahahahahahahaahha...I just named my future kids...(which Sean will think are his))
	Ty and Koy Detmer (both still in the NFL....honest)
	All the Brown Brothers (Tim, Ray, Chad, Troy, Gilbert, Orlando, Ruben, Cornell, Eric, Kris, Fakhir, Wilbert, Courtney, Mike, Ralph, Sheldon, Milford, Antonio, Josh and Dante)

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The Commissioner's Poll

Should the Commissioner fix lineups? So far this year we've had a few games decided because lineups were not submitted. What I'm wondering is if you (the league) wants me (as commissioner) to fix those lineups. I wouldn't do this to help the negligent team as much as to protect the rest of the league. Usually this isn't a problem, but in case it happens again, should I change the lineups? Note: I'm NOT talking about picking up free agents or moving players to IR. Only activating players that are playing to play in place of a player that is on a bye. For example - if Jerry Rice is on a bye but in the lineup and Keenan McCardell is playing but on the bench, I would activate McCardell. If Corey Dillion is injured but the Bengals are playing and he is in the lineup, I would not make a change. What do you think?
	Never!
	Only in the regular season
	Only in the playoffs
	Always!

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Week 9 Results

	Marauders 67 PhatBacks 42		Chargers 51 Assassins 50		StiffArms 80 Tight Ends 41
The Marauders down the top team in the CFL for the second consecutive week by defeating the Phatbacks. The Marauders won despite losing their QB in the first quarter thanks to spectacular kicking my Mike Vanderjact and once again the great running of Ahman Green who put up almost 200 yards and one TD.		The Chargers move into a tie with the Tight Ends for first in the NFL with a win over the Assassins. Luck was with the Chargers this week as they had 3 players with under 35 yards of offense that each scored a Touchdown. The MVP on the day was the battered Patrick Ramsey who threw for almost 150 yards and two TDs.		The StiffArms move to within one game of the top spot in the CFL with a strong showing against the NFL-leading Tight Ends. It was another big game by Steve Smith (4th straight game over 5 fantasy points) and David Akers, but Dante Culpepper stole she show with over 200 passing yards, 2 passing TDs and one rushing TD.
	Hitmen 62 Gryphons 46		Quiet Storm 59 Rynos 58		Ball Ho's 62 SmackDownSister 59
The Hitmen break out of their funk and notch their first win in over a month by defeating the lowly Gryphons. Tory Holt had another spectacular day with 200 yards of receiving and a touchdown to lead all Hitmen Scoring. Thanks to the Tight Ends loss, the Hitmen are now only one game out of first in the NFL.		In an extremely close game, the Quiet Storm upset the CFL leader and moves out of the tie with SmackDownSister for worst record in the league. The Rynos did rally and came within one point of a win. Santana Moss had a HUGE game with over 130 yards and THREE touchdowns to lead the Quiet Storm in scoring.		The Ball Ho's turn in another strong performance and move to only 2 games back of the division leaders in the CFL. Both Bret Favre and Randy Moss had a decent night, but the Ravens Defense had a great day vs. the Jaguars with only 11 points allowed, 4 sacks and 3 take-aways.