SCHUYLKILL FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

    The Schuylkill Fantasy Football League (SFFL) was founded in 1994 by Shannon Tietsworth.  The SFFL has just completed its 4th season of play.  The league was originally comprised of 6 teams, and has risen to as many as 8 teams in 1997.   In 1993, two franchise owners, Tietsworth and Randy Corcoran, both of whom are still active members, started a new league after participating in their first league in 1993.  This league was originally know as the FRACKVILLE FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE (FFFL)  This league operated out of Frackville, Pa. for 2 years before converting to the current SFFL, in an effort to expand team ownership outside of the Frackville area.  Several new owners were brought in for the inaugural season in 1994.  Most of them were friends of current owners, and the league had total of 6 teams starting the 1994 season.  The inaugural season draft was held in Frackville at Tietsworth's residence.  The draft was by far the most exciting part of the season, and still is to this day.  The inaugural season spanned 13 weeks with an additional 3 weeks of playoffs.  The first 2 seasons saw the franchise with the best record earn a bye to the championship game, allowing the other 4 teams fight it out to see who would advance.  This format was later changed to make the league more competitive even in the playoffs with each team needing to perform well to advance and earn a spot in the Fantasy Bowl.
    In 1995, the league saw a franchise owned by Missy and Dave take the best record and earn a birth in FANTASY BOWL I, eventually taking the first ever FANTASY BOWL title home.   The first season was as exciting as expected, and saw all the owners eager for another chance at a championship.
   1996 saw some different owners also.  The usual owners though, Pat Troup, Randy Corcoran, and Shannon Tietsworth were still there.  The league contained 6 teams and was very competitive.  The playoffs saw the  Hegins Torch, coached by league commissioner Tietsworth, finish with the best record at 10-2-1 take their first championship in FANTASY BOWL II.
    1997 saw 8-teams for the first time in league history. The league headquarters was now based in Hegins.  The best-record rule was dropped and was replaced with a tournament type playoffs with teams being seeded #1 through #4.    Many owners from the previous season returned, including owners from Scranton and Valley View.  With 8 teams,  tracking the league became very difficult, especially since a spin-off league, the BEER LEAGUE, founded by commissioner Tietsworth, also contained 6 teams, although the scoring was a little different, with a more touchdown-based system with minimal yardage bonus points awarded.  The league was as competitive as any since it started.  No one team ran away from the pack and the playoff teams battled it out to see who earned a birth in  FBIII.  FANTASY BOWL III saw the defending champion Hegins Torch return to defend their title successfully and take their second league championship in a row.
    1998 saw the league return to 6-teams.  The team owners, Randy Corcoran-5th season overall, Pat Troup-4th season in league, Todd Techmanski-2nd season, and Vince McDonald and Rahn Richards, both 2nd-year owners.  The BEER LEAGUE ownership was handed over to Rahn Richards, who handled all the aspects of the league.  The league encountered some problems in its 4th season, and they will be addressed in next years league.  The playoff system and league setup will all be changed, as well as some basic rules problems.  But overall, the league and season went well.  Once again, the Hegins Torch showed it was a force to be reckoned with.  But, the Scranton Storm and Hegins Thunder, owner by Techamnski and Troup respectively, showed that no one was going down without a fight.  The playoffs pitted the explosive Scranton Storm and its' trio of superstar receivers against the division champion Hegins Torch and their super passing and kicking game.  The other division saw the surprise division champion Hegins Thunder square off against the Valley Beermen.  As fate would have it, the Apartment 6 Fanatsy Bowl matchup was in place, Hegins Thunder vs. Hegins Torch in FANTASY BOWL IV.  The game came down to the last game of the week, on Monday night with Mare needing 9 or more points to give the Hegins Thunder their first championship.  Well, sometime during the game, Mare missed a chip-shot 28 yarder that proved to be the deciding factor.  Hegins Torch-48, Hegins Thunder-46.  Needless to say, Troup was infuriated and the Torch were celebrating the 3rd consecutive league championship.
  The 1999 fantasy football season got underway with 8 teams making up 2 separate divisions. Only 7 teams drafted players, and the V.V. Vipers came in as the 8th team, picking up the left over players after the draft. Back for the 1999 season were Pat Troup, Randy Corcoran, Vince Mcdonald, Shannon Tietsworth, Todd Techmanski, Rahn Richards, and newcomer's Craig Coleman and Helene Putalonis. All the owners were confident after the draft, and the season was underway. No Barry Sanders this year, Elway is gone, new head coaches and a hopeful crop of rookies filled the season with doubt. The 3-time champ Hegins Torch got off to a fast start, although losing starting QB Testaverde early, and having to rely on Jon Kitna. Stephen Davis and Marvin Harrison quickly set the team on fire and on to a 7-2 record after week 9. Culley's Heroes also had the high powered offense, with Brad Johnson and Edgerrin James putting on a show. The Dragons let their talented QB's and WR's take them into the postseason. After picking up the hot Kurt Warner, the Hegins Thunder wiped away a horrible 3-6 start to come back and finish 7-7, just barely beating out the surprising Whipmasters, who fell short at 6-8 at the end. Poppa's Pimp's finished the season with the best record at 10-4, using Jeff George and his WR's and a resurgent Emmitt Smith, to win the division. The week 15 playoffs pitted the 10-4 Pimps against the 8-6 Dragons, and the 9-5 Torch against last years runnerup, the Thunder, at 7-7. The result: Pimps 48 - Dragons 35 and Torch 45 - Thunder 37. This set up Fantasy Bowl V, Pimp's and Torch. Alot of trash talking and 86 points later, a champion was crowned. The last pick in the draft, the Jaguars defense, gave the Torch a 44-42 victory over the Pimps, and a 4th consecutive title. Wow!!. Ready for Y2K baby!!!
The 2000 SFFL season contained 10 teams battling it out for the title, including newcomer Adam Franke and his Franke Finest team. The defending champs welcomed a son into the world, Justin Taylor (JT) Tietsworth. They also saw there title run come to an end. 6 teams entered the playoffs this year, with the Hegins Thunder enjoying their finest season at 10-3, winning there division. But they lost and the Wolfpack met the Valley Beermen. The beermen lost their 2nd straight championship 43-57 to Tim Tietsworth and his Wolfpack, led by All-Pro Daunte Culpepper, capturing Fantasy Bowl VI !

                                                                          -  the Commish
 
 

Thanks to all my friends and fellow coaches for making this league so successful and fun.
 

VIEW MY GUESTBOOK SIGN MY GUESTBOOK

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws