1. (0) Amsterdam Smugglers 7-0
Another day, another crushing victory for Zeta's best team. They didn't let up against the outclassed Mammoths as they cruised to a 86-14 victory, their biggest margin of victory since week 2. They'll have a chance to pad their stats in their next 5 games as they face off against the bottom 5 teams of the conference. I am sure plenty of Smugglers players will highlight the pro-bowl ballot as they fill up the stat sheets and look unbeatable through 7 weeks.
2. (0) Barcelona Blaze 6-1
The week 8 match-up between the number 2 and 3 teams in the power rankings are the kind of games you look forward to all season. The Blaze and the Matadors look even on paper and have both put together strong seasons to this point. Both teams will be looking to put some distance between themselves and the other team in the race for the number 2 seed in the playoffs. The Blaze boast the number one overall offense and the fourth ranked defense. A defense that is especially good against the run and that will be a key for them in this game. A win here gives Barcelona some serious bragging rights in the conference as well as great position in the playoff race.
3. (0) Madrid Matadors 6-1
Junior's Matadors has been playing good football up to this point. The split their two tests so far this season. Picking up a win in week 1 against a tough Alpha opponent was nice and then they lost a tough one to Amsterdam in week 3. Here is their third big test of the season. The Blaze are a tough opponent that does a lot of things well. There is no one angle to take against them in this chess match. This game is one of the biggest in franchise history though as it will go a long way in determining their eventual playoff seeding. Be sure to check this games score in 2 days.
4. (0) Mannheim Sharks 6-1
The Sharks won comfortably on the road against Nashua and are eager to remind the rest of the league that it is not a 3 team race for the conference championship. They didn't fair well against the Smugglers but have made steady improvements since. They are a game behind the Matadors in scheduling so they will face the Blaze in the following week in what will prove to be a pivotal game for this club. In week 8 though, they have the recently turned CPU Scorpions to beat up on. The Sharks have the talent so it will be interesting to see how they put it all together in two weeks.
5. (+1) Indianapolis Stampede 5-2
The Stampede wrapped up their two game cake-walk against the two worst teams in WE BBB #14 in impressive fashion. They also made a nice pick-up of recently turned CPU Zagreb's pro bowl tackle to bolster their O-line. They have done a nice job shoring up their own deficiencies in the early going and are looking to propel themselves into the race for a home playoff spot. They could still use a big play WR, but look strong in other areas. Their game against the Pride this week will show exactly how much better they have gotten. They have yet to pull away from any decent team and this game could be a chance for them to make a statement against the sinking Pride.
6. (+1) Western Roman Empire 5-2
Their week 8 opponent won't put up much more of a fight than their week 7 opponent, so WRE will cruise to the mid-point of the season without breaking a sweat. They look down at a second half that includes the Pride, Metalheads, Matadors, Blaze, Stampede and Sharks. Luckily they have Zagreb and Paris sandwiched in there as well, so it isn't all bad. I stand by my prediction that the Empire will be playoff bound as I feel that they will take at least 4 out of their final 9 games to go 9-7 in the worst case scenario. It all starts in week 9 and according to members of their staff, they already have that date circled on their calender.
7. (-2) Jersey Mammoths 5-2
It may be seen as unfair to penalize a team for losing to the team that is head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, but it was the Smugglers biggest win since their week 2 game against the Elves. Their also has to be penalties in the rankings for a loss no matter who it is against. So the Mammoths fall to number 7 but much like the Sharks, they have to have their sights set on a home playoff berth with a strong second half showing. Luckily they have 2 cheap wins ahead of them before they enter the tough stretch against the top half of the conference. Either way, the Smugglers game showed them exactly how much more work they need to do.
8. (+1) Lexington Metalheads 4-3
The Heads make their return to the top 8 in the conference on the strength of a nice win against Natal but more because of a loss by Nashua. Their own loss to the Pride is looking worse and worse as Nashua fails to compete with other contending teams in the conference. Luckily you always have another shot to get yourself back in the map in GLB and Lexington's comes in week 9 with a big game against the Matadors. After they beat Paris, they will have a shot at reminding people why they were considered a preseason contender. Reports of trouble in the locker room are disturbing but we haven't even hit the midway mark yet, so there is plenty of time to turn it around.
9. (-1) Nashua Pride 3-4
Their win against the Metalheads seems like a long time ago as they open up the most important 5 game stretch of the season by posting two big losses. They have a chance at redemption in their next three games with the Stampede, Empire and Mammoths due up. After that they have an easy final 6 games with the exception of the Smugglers. No, Nashua's playoff fate will be decided in the next 3 games and if they go 0-3, they'll finish 8-8 and find themselves on the outside looking in for a second straight season. It is now or never for the Pride so we will see what they are made of starting this week against the Stampede.
10. (0) Paris Elves 4-3
Well the Elves continue to do what is expected of them. They are crushed by the playoff teams and hold off the bad teams. With the teams directly ahead of them not living up to expectation or consistently defying my predictions, it is kind of nice to have the dependable Elves delivering exactly what you would expect. For example, they will lose this week to the Metalheads with a score is around 83-10. I can safely say they won't disappoint that prediction.
11. (+1) Liverpool Warriors 2-5
Don't look now but Liverpool has strung together a 2 game win streak. It is meaningless at this point but Budapest losing to an entirely CPU team is a sad comment on the direction of that franchise. Liverpool is the toughest of the bad teams, but they shouldn't be beating a team made up entirely of human controlled players. I wouldn't be surprised to see Budapest go CPU controlled in the near future and join Zagreb in that area.
12. (-1) Zagreb Scorpions 2-5
The owner has sold the Scorpions back and they will have difficulty getting back into the winning column. I still can't get over my feeling of disappointment that this team took such a sharp turn for the worse in the second half of last season. They had a lot going for them but failed to capitalize on it. Well at least someone else will have a chance to resurrect this franchise as it's previous owner failed its players as well as its fan base. That's the business end of this whole process though, it doesn't always work out.
The Defeateds
Budapest
Porto Thunder
LAZER LIGERS
Natal Hellboys
We have one 9 game losing streak, two 10 game losing streaks and one mind boggling 23 game losing streak that reaches back to the teams inception. These guys are only going to get out of the L column against each other. Who will be the last one standing?
Another day, another crushing victory for Zeta's best team. They didn't let up against the outclassed Mammoths as they cruised to a 86-14 victory, their biggest margin of victory since week 2. They'll have a chance to pad their stats in their next 5 games as they face off against the bottom 5 teams of the conference. I am sure plenty of Smugglers players will highlight the pro-bowl ballot as they fill up the stat sheets and look unbeatable through 7 weeks.
2. (0) Barcelona Blaze 6-1
The week 8 match-up between the number 2 and 3 teams in the power rankings are the kind of games you look forward to all season. The Blaze and the Matadors look even on paper and have both put together strong seasons to this point. Both teams will be looking to put some distance between themselves and the other team in the race for the number 2 seed in the playoffs. The Blaze boast the number one overall offense and the fourth ranked defense. A defense that is especially good against the run and that will be a key for them in this game. A win here gives Barcelona some serious bragging rights in the conference as well as great position in the playoff race.
3. (0) Madrid Matadors 6-1
Junior's Matadors has been playing good football up to this point. The split their two tests so far this season. Picking up a win in week 1 against a tough Alpha opponent was nice and then they lost a tough one to Amsterdam in week 3. Here is their third big test of the season. The Blaze are a tough opponent that does a lot of things well. There is no one angle to take against them in this chess match. This game is one of the biggest in franchise history though as it will go a long way in determining their eventual playoff seeding. Be sure to check this games score in 2 days.
4. (0) Mannheim Sharks 6-1
The Sharks won comfortably on the road against Nashua and are eager to remind the rest of the league that it is not a 3 team race for the conference championship. They didn't fair well against the Smugglers but have made steady improvements since. They are a game behind the Matadors in scheduling so they will face the Blaze in the following week in what will prove to be a pivotal game for this club. In week 8 though, they have the recently turned CPU Scorpions to beat up on. The Sharks have the talent so it will be interesting to see how they put it all together in two weeks.
5. (+1) Indianapolis Stampede 5-2
The Stampede wrapped up their two game cake-walk against the two worst teams in WE BBB #14 in impressive fashion. They also made a nice pick-up of recently turned CPU Zagreb's pro bowl tackle to bolster their O-line. They have done a nice job shoring up their own deficiencies in the early going and are looking to propel themselves into the race for a home playoff spot. They could still use a big play WR, but look strong in other areas. Their game against the Pride this week will show exactly how much better they have gotten. They have yet to pull away from any decent team and this game could be a chance for them to make a statement against the sinking Pride.
6. (+1) Western Roman Empire 5-2
Their week 8 opponent won't put up much more of a fight than their week 7 opponent, so WRE will cruise to the mid-point of the season without breaking a sweat. They look down at a second half that includes the Pride, Metalheads, Matadors, Blaze, Stampede and Sharks. Luckily they have Zagreb and Paris sandwiched in there as well, so it isn't all bad. I stand by my prediction that the Empire will be playoff bound as I feel that they will take at least 4 out of their final 9 games to go 9-7 in the worst case scenario. It all starts in week 9 and according to members of their staff, they already have that date circled on their calender.
7. (-2) Jersey Mammoths 5-2
It may be seen as unfair to penalize a team for losing to the team that is head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, but it was the Smugglers biggest win since their week 2 game against the Elves. Their also has to be penalties in the rankings for a loss no matter who it is against. So the Mammoths fall to number 7 but much like the Sharks, they have to have their sights set on a home playoff berth with a strong second half showing. Luckily they have 2 cheap wins ahead of them before they enter the tough stretch against the top half of the conference. Either way, the Smugglers game showed them exactly how much more work they need to do.
8. (+1) Lexington Metalheads 4-3
The Heads make their return to the top 8 in the conference on the strength of a nice win against Natal but more because of a loss by Nashua. Their own loss to the Pride is looking worse and worse as Nashua fails to compete with other contending teams in the conference. Luckily you always have another shot to get yourself back in the map in GLB and Lexington's comes in week 9 with a big game against the Matadors. After they beat Paris, they will have a shot at reminding people why they were considered a preseason contender. Reports of trouble in the locker room are disturbing but we haven't even hit the midway mark yet, so there is plenty of time to turn it around.
9. (-1) Nashua Pride 3-4
Their win against the Metalheads seems like a long time ago as they open up the most important 5 game stretch of the season by posting two big losses. They have a chance at redemption in their next three games with the Stampede, Empire and Mammoths due up. After that they have an easy final 6 games with the exception of the Smugglers. No, Nashua's playoff fate will be decided in the next 3 games and if they go 0-3, they'll finish 8-8 and find themselves on the outside looking in for a second straight season. It is now or never for the Pride so we will see what they are made of starting this week against the Stampede.
10. (0) Paris Elves 4-3
Well the Elves continue to do what is expected of them. They are crushed by the playoff teams and hold off the bad teams. With the teams directly ahead of them not living up to expectation or consistently defying my predictions, it is kind of nice to have the dependable Elves delivering exactly what you would expect. For example, they will lose this week to the Metalheads with a score is around 83-10. I can safely say they won't disappoint that prediction.
11. (+1) Liverpool Warriors 2-5
Don't look now but Liverpool has strung together a 2 game win streak. It is meaningless at this point but Budapest losing to an entirely CPU team is a sad comment on the direction of that franchise. Liverpool is the toughest of the bad teams, but they shouldn't be beating a team made up entirely of human controlled players. I wouldn't be surprised to see Budapest go CPU controlled in the near future and join Zagreb in that area.
12. (-1) Zagreb Scorpions 2-5
The owner has sold the Scorpions back and they will have difficulty getting back into the winning column. I still can't get over my feeling of disappointment that this team took such a sharp turn for the worse in the second half of last season. They had a lot going for them but failed to capitalize on it. Well at least someone else will have a chance to resurrect this franchise as it's previous owner failed its players as well as its fan base. That's the business end of this whole process though, it doesn't always work out.
The Defeateds
Budapest
Porto Thunder
LAZER LIGERS
Natal Hellboys
We have one 9 game losing streak, two 10 game losing streaks and one mind boggling 23 game losing streak that reaches back to the teams inception. These guys are only going to get out of the L column against each other. Who will be the last one standing?
Last edited Jan 14, 2009 11:30:43
