News to date.....

Ok, so here's the changes we know of that have directly affected the keeper designations to this point.

Matt Cassell (Wrong Answer) traded to Kansas City:

With Matt Cassell's departure from New England into the starting seat at Kansas City, Paul Ferguson is looking much wiser having spent his QB designation on the former Brady back-up. You've got to think that with the great draft the Chiefs had last year, the acquisition of Cassell and the hiring of Bellichick-baby Scott Pioli, Kansas City could be this year's Atlanta Falcons. Regardless of what it means for their real season, one thing is certain. With defenses having to respect/fear the passing game more, Larry Johnson (should he stay out of trouble) could get back to the production he once had only a couple of years ago. Furthermore, the Crust and Thundermonkeys must certainly be feeling better about having Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez, respectively, on their rosters.

Texas Thundermonkeys

JMB might have something to be happy about with Tony Gonzalez, but there's plenty to frown over among his keepers as well. TO's release (all Cowboy fans breathe relief) is a telling sign that the receiver is undoubtedly past his days as a top-10 receiver. Signing with Buffalo doesn't help much either. The Bills are a rush-first team and TO should expect 10-15 fewer pass attempts per game than what he saw in Dallas. On top of that, the Bills already have a number one receiver and a great deep threat with whom they are very happy (Lee Evans). Then comes the matter of Matt Jones, the other troubled receiver (JMB the fantasy equivalent of Jerry Jones?) on his roster. Jones was just released by the Jags last week and is unlikely to find another home before the start of the season. And even if he does manage to find a team to sign with (beware Cowboy fans), he's almost certainly facing a suspension for at least the first four games of the season, if not the entire year.

My move if I was in JMB's shoes? Part ways with Matt Jones as soon as the fantasy draft is over. And think about exercising that redshirt option with Robert Meachem, even though the Saints signed an extension with Devery Henderson.

Kellen Winslow (Deion Found Jesus) to Tampa Bay:

Despite his tremendous production in two of the last three seasons, it was definitely time for the Browns and Winslow to go separate ways. Justified or not, Winslow rubbed the wrong people the wrong way last season when he mouthed off over the failure of management to get control over the staph infection problem that seemed to hit Cleveland worse than any other team. Winslow is wildly talented and shouldn't be affected negatively by the change of scenery. Other than the questionable situation at QB (any different from what he had at the old place), he should feel right at home in TB. One guy this could hurt is Braylon Edwards, who had already dropped off majorly from a stellar season in 2007. If he was hoping to return to his old form, he's gonna have to do it without another quality receiving threat to distract the defense.

TJ Houshmandzadeh (First or Last) to Seattle

This is great news from Matt Hasselbeck's point of view. Houshmandzadeh is the best receiver Hasselbeck has ever had the luxury of throwing the ball to, so he certainly has something to look forward to in 2009. I would look for Houshmandzadeh's reception count to go down by 10-15, but yards and TDs should improve. As far as what this means for Chad Johnson (Hybrids) in terms of production, that's just a matter of wait-and-see. He's gonna miss having such a viable threat on the opposite side, but he also had several pro-bowl seasons serving as the only quality receiver on the team before the emergence of Houshmandzadeh.

Keeper Designations

Vince Young

QB - Kurt Warner - ARI
WR - Calvin Johnson - DET
WR - Kevin Curtis - PHI
RB - Adrian Peterson - MIN
TE - Chris Cooley - WAS
K/DEF - Rob Bironas - TEN
MC - Carson Palmer - QB - CIN
MC - Frank Gore - RB - SF
RS - Joe Flacco - QB - BAL

Wrong Answer

QB - Matt Cassel - NE (Traded to KC)
WR - Anquan Boldin - ARI
WR - Desean Jackson - PHI
RB - Reggie Bush - NO
TE - Dallas Clark - IND
K/DEF - Tennessee Titans
MC - Marshawn Lynch - RB - BUF
MC - Darren McFadden - RB - OAK
RS - Andre Caldwell - WR - CIN

Texas Thundermonkeys

QB - Aaron Rogers - GB
WR - Greg Jennings - GB
WR - Terrell Owens - DAL (FA to BUF)
RB - Marion Barber - DAL
TE - Tony Gonzalez - KC
K/DEF - New York Giants
MC - Brandon Jacobs - RB - NYG
MC - Matt Jones - WR - JAX (Released)
RS - Robert Meachem - WR - NO

Hybrids

QB - Donovan McNabb - PHI
WR - Wes Welker - NE
WR - Chad Johnson - CIN
RB - Bryan Westbrook - PHI
TE - Greg Olsen - CHI
K/DEF - Indianapolis Colts
MC - DeAngelo Williams - RB - CAR
MC - Clinton Portis - RB - WAS
RS - Shaun McDonald - WR - DET

Tenacious D

QB - Jay Cutler - DEN
WR - Randy Moss - NE
WR - Roddy White - ATL
RB - Stephen Jackson - STL
TE - Kevin Boss - NYG
K/DEF - Pittsburgh Steelers
MC - Thomas Jones - RB - NYJ
MC - Santana Moss - WR - WAS
RS - Early Doucet - WR - ARI

Beatubad

QB - Peyton Manning - IND
WR - Steve Smith - NYG
WR - Steve Smith - CAR
RB - Laurence Maroney - NE
TE - John Carlson - SEA
K/DEF - Ryan Longwell - MIN
MC - Eddie Royal - WR - DEN
MC - Earnest Graham - RB - TB
RS - Josh Cribbs - WR - CLE

Deion Found Jesus

QB - Tom Brady - NE
WR - Brandon Marshall - DEN
WR - Antonio Bryant - TB
RB - LaDainian Tomlinson - SD
TE - Kellen Winslow - CLE (FA to TB)
K/DEF - Stephen Gostkowski - NE
MC - Brady Quinn - QB - CLE
MC - Reggie Wayne - WR - IND
RS - Chris Perry - WR - CIN

I'm a Texan

QB - Matt Schaub - HOU
WR - Andre Johnson - HOU
WR - Ted Ginn Jr - MIA
RB - Steve Slaton - HOU
TE - Owen Daniels - HOU
K/DEF - Kris Brown - HOU
MC - Ryan Grant - RB - GB
MC - Vince Young - QB - TEN
RS - Kevin Kolb - QB - PHI

I Have a Bush

QB - Drew Brees - NO
WR - Marques Colston - NO
WR - Hines Ward - PIT
RB - Maurice Jones-Drew - JAX
TE - Jeremy Shockey - NO
K/DEF - Baltimore Ravens
MC - Lance Moore - WR - NO
MC - Willie Parker - RB - PIT
RS - Carnell Williams - RB - TB

The Undisputed

QB - Philip Rivers - SD
WR - Larry Fitzgerald - ARI
WR - Donald Driver - GB
RB - Joseph Addai - IND
TE - Jason Witten - DAL
K/DEF - Dallas Cowboys
MC - Greg Camarillo - WR - MIA
MC - Robbie Gould - K - CHI
RS - Chris Johnson - RB - TEN

Djiboutti Crust

QB - Tony Romo - DAL
WR - Roy Williams - DAL
WR - Dwayne Bowe - KC
RB - Jonathan Stewart - CAR
TE - Dustin Keller - NYJ
K/DEF - Minnesota Vikings
MC - Vincent Jackson - WR - SD
MC - Pierre Thomas - RB - NO
RS - Donnie Avery - WR - STL

First or Last

QB - Matt Ryan - ATL
WR - TJ Houshmandzadeh - CIN (FA to SEA)
WR - Plaxico Burress - NYG
RB - Michael Turner - ATL
TE - Antonio Gates - SD
K/DEF - Jason Elam - ATL
MC - Matt Forte - RB - CHI
MC - Bernard Berrian - WR - MIN
RS - James Hardy - WR - BUF

League Records

Longest Win Streak, Season - 10 - Drew Brees (2006)
Longest Losing Streak, Season - 9 - I'm a Texan (2007)
Most Points, Season - 3187 - Deion Got Saved (2006)
Least Points, Season - 1261.5 - Team Without a RB (2004)
Most Points, Week - 342 - Vince Young (2006 - Week 12)
Least Points, Week - 0 -Texas Thundermonkeys (2005 - Week 1)

300-POINT CLUB

Vince Young

• 2006 - Wk 2 - 311
• 2006 - Wk 12 - 342
• 2007 - Wk 12 - 332

The Undisputed

• 2006 - Wk 6 - 310.5

Beatubad

• 2006 - Wk 7 - 341

I Have a Bush

• 2006 - Wk 12 - 301
• 2007 - Wk 9 - 326.5

I'm a Texan

• 2006 - Wk 13 - 300.5

Texas Thundermonkeys

• 2007 - Wk 2 - 301

Deion Found Jesus

• 2007 - Wk 3 - 335.5
  

2008 - We Have Our 12

After five years of constantly-changing teams and managers, the League of the Crust became complete. Gavin Espinoza joined, creating First or Last, and committing to the newly-instituted changes. Perhaps symbolic of the monumental achievement, the league settings went through some dramatic transformations as well. The LOTC converted to a dynasty league and also instituted a redshirt designation. Draft day trades became allowable and managers (three or four of them) paid an entry fee to help Jorge upgrade the league to a PLUS.

Final regular season standings:

Team *Wrong Answer				W 10	L 3	T 0		Points 2431.5
*Texas Thundermonkeys				9	4	0		2491.5
*Vince Young				8	5	0		2540
*Hybrids				8	5	0		2445.5
*Tenacious D				7	6	0		2602
*Beatubad				7	6	0		2287.5
Deion Found Jesus				7	6	0		2102
I'm a Texan				6	7	0		2409.5
I Have a Bush				6	7	0		2360
The Undisputed				5	8	0		2224
Djiboutti Crust				3	10	0		2095
First or Last				2	11	0		2210.5

Vince Young became only the second defending champion to make the playoffs the following season, but they quickly dropped out of contention, losing their quarterfinal game to Beatubad. Tim Ferguson moved his Hybrids on to the semifinals for their first ever playoff meeting against his son's team, Wrong Answer. Dominant all season long, Wrong Answer moved on to the final with ease, but Texas Thundermonkeys failed to advance after earning a first-round bye for the second-straight season, losing to sixth seed Beatubad. In a battle of '1 vs 6', Beatubad was no match for the superior roster of Wrong Answer, as Paul Ferguson earned his first league title.

Interesting Facts:

Since the playoff field became six teams in 2005, the sixth seed had never won in the first round. Beatubad did that and more, advancing all the way to the championship before finally losing. If Beatubad had won, Ben Weiss would have become the first manager to win two league titles. Instead, the LOTC yielded its sixth first-time champion.

No team won more than four consecutive games in the entire season. Vince Young won four in a row once and Wrong Answer did it twice. The longest win streak in the previous seasons were 8, 6, 9, 10 and 8.

Additionally (and probably indirectly correlated), First or Last had the longest losing streak of the season, with six. This was the shortest long-streak since the first season in 2003, when The Regulators did the same.

2007 - The Alphabet Creates Riot

Looking to fill the twelfth vacancy left by Jaydan, Jorge reached out to the original league champion, Phil Massine. Phil was adequately involved, though not enough to satisfy Jorge's tastes. Furthermore, he was wildly uncompetitive.

But it was posts written by Dinger that included 'acronyms' like FU, WTF and LMAO that were the non-football highlight of the season, as the Houstonians became defiant and Commissioner Jorge took his role too seriously.

On the fantasy field, Vince Young picked up where he left off last season, determined to not lose another opportunity to play for the title.

Final regular season standings:

Team *Texas Thundermonkeys				W 11	L 2	T 0		Points 3094.5
*Deion Got Saved (Deion Found Jesus)				9	4	0		3060.5
*Vince Young				9	4	0		3055
*Tenacious D				8	5	0		2857.5
*Wrong Answer				8	5	0		2741.5
*Djiboutti Crust				8	5	0		2710
The Hybrids				6	7	0		2700.5
Beatubad				6	7	0		2503
The Undisputed				5	8	0		2835
I Really Have A Bush (I Have a Bush)				3	10	0		2465.5
Brain Trust (Phil Massine - NLIL)				3	10	0		2452
I'm a Texan				2	11	0		2222

Keeping with the times, the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals yet again, as Vince Young and Tenacious D won their quarterfinal games. Playing in the semis, Texas Thundermonkeys and Deion Got Saved weren't able to take advantage of their byes, allowing VY and TEN to meet in the championship. In the 16th week, Vince Young kept his begin-of-season promise to bring the trophy home to his fantasy children.

Interesting Facts:

Things went back to normal in 2007, as I Have a Bush became the third of four defending champions to miss the playoffs only one season after winning their championship.

Texas Thundermonkeys became the first team to have the longest win-streak in the season AND score the most points in the league.