Monday, March 16, 2009

2006 - Houstonians Wreak Havoc

Desperate to get 12 managers that would commit to remaining active for the entire season, Jorge raised his standards for who could be in the league. After welcoming Dinger back into the fray, he needed only three active managers to yield a truly competitive 12-team league. So he invited Joseph Harper, with whom he had watched the entire first day of the NFL draft while attending Houston Baptist University. Surely someone else who was enough of a fan to watch the draft all day would be an active fantasy player. Then Dinger suggested Aaron Diehl, another HBUer who he swore would be committed to the league. Finally, Jorge invited Jaydan Gumm to fill the last spot.

It worked. For the first time in its four years of existence, the LOTC had twelve managers who competed from start to finish. But those Houstonians.........Dinger had been enough by himself. But he was empowered by having two more of his cohorts in the league, and the trash-talking reached levels never-before seen. The competitive element of the league combined with the exponential growth in entertainment value transformed the LOTC into something to truly look forward to being a part of. To make matters worse, the new guys were dominant in their first year as members.

Final regular season standings:

Team
*Drew Brees (I Have a Bush)

W
10
L
3
T
0

Points
3104.5
*Vince Young

9 4 0
3148.5
*Deion Got Saved (Deion Found Jesus) 8 5 0
3187
*BeatUBad


7 5 1
2972.5
*Im Just Better (I'm a Texan)
7 6 0
3037
*The Undisputed

7 6 0
2998
The Hybrids

7 6 0
2994
Djiboutti Crust

6 6 1
2884.5
XCon4Christ (Jaydan Gumm - NLIL) 5 7 1
2669.5
Texas Thundermonkeys
5 7 1
2439
Dueling Brothers (Wrong Answer) 3 10 0
2686.5
Tenacious D

2 11 0
2548

The constant bickering and controversial smack-talk would prove to be too much for Jaydan, who asked not to be invited the following season. Drew Brees, who had lost their first three games of the season, took the top seed into the playoffs, therefore earning a bye along with fellow expansion team Vince Young. In the quarters, Deion Got Saved and Beatubad moved on, marking the first time (other than 2003, when only four teams made the playoffs) that the top four seeds where in the semifinals. Drew Brees proved to be too much for Beatubad, but Deion Got Saved managed to upset Vince Young to reach the title game. Despite the support from 75% of the league to pull of the upset win, Deion Got Saved couldn't outscore the overwhelming numbers from Drew Brees, as Joe received the [imaginary] trophy in his first season as a member of the LOTC.

Interesting Facts:

Drew Brees represented a variety of firsts in the league. They were the first team (and now officially, only) to win the title in their first year in the LOTC. The were also the first to make the playoffs (as well as win a championship) after losing their first three regular season games. And finally, they were the first to win 10 consecutive regular season games. This stands as the longest regular-season win streak in history. Drew Brees (now, I Have a Bush) also holds the record for most consecutive games won at 12, which he accomplished in 2006 as well.

The Undisputed became the first defending champion to make the playoffs the following season. Ironically, it was also with the closest margin in history that they made the playoffs, earning entry by scoring merely four points more than Hybrids.

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