| Our History |
| The PTFFL owns a very colorful history. The events which shaped the current league can be described as turbulent, but necessary. An individual in Moorhead, MN started a league called the Internet Fantasy Football League in the fall of 1997. He started with 16 teams of owners across the nation. The IFFL had a very rough first season. One of the owners who stepped in to take over an abandoned team was Jason Reichert of neighboring Fargo, ND. The leadership duties were handed to Reichert as he was on vacation, out of town, etc. Among the other owners who were recruited to take over teams were current PTFFL owners Matthew Natale and Kirk Raymond (both of Northern Virginia); Brad Utley (Reichert's roommate in Fargo); and Johnny Davidson (of northwest Georgia). The IFFL struggled to the end of its first season. The original commissioner brought in some of his friends to fill in more vacancies. Reichert by this time had a leadership role, but was at odds with one of the commish's friends who also was given a large voice in the league. The conflict grew large as Reichert's decision-making abilities were eroded and he eventually became a person who was working without influence. On May 20, 1998 Reichert left the IFFL. What happened next was certainly unusual. The next day, another IFFL owner offered to join Reichert to form another league. Thus the PTFFL was born. Five other IFFL owners offered to join the new league. Natale offered another unusual suggestion--that the IFFL owners be allowed to take their franchise rosters with them into the PTFFL. In effect, what happened was that 12 of the rosters from the IFFL were taken to the PTFFL. Seven owners already had their teams, and Reichert set about the process of finding owners to take the other five teams. Somehow it got done. In September, 1998 the PTFFL embarked on its new journey. Year One was a booming success. Davidson's team, the Georgia VolCav, defeated Dave Lippke's Austin Jackals for our first championship. All but one owner signed up to return in 1999. Also, the IFFL folded after the 1998 season. This in effect made the PTFFL the successor league to the IFFL, with rosters intact for the most part. Reichert moved to Minneapolis very late in the 1998 season. The league's operations continued unabated other than the fact the PTFFL's other co-founder was found guilty of manipulating league funds. He was stripped of his franchise as well as his leadership position. Dave Lippke assumed responsibility as Reichert's right-hand man for the 1999 season. Year Two was even better than Year One, at least in Reichert's mind--his Twin Cities Dynamite won the title in a miracle playoff run reminiscent of his Denver Broncos winning a Super Bowl as a wild-card team that year. He beat Carlos Dube's El Paso Monkeydogs, the one franchise with a new owner that year. After 1999, the league wrestled with expansion. This subject is usually a sore one for keeper leagues since the better teams want to keep their teams intact and the less fortunate ones would like to start over. Reichert bumped heads with the ownership, then teamed up to come up with another novel idea. Create a new 12 team conference with the same rules and regulations as the current PTFFL. Allow the original group of 12 teams to continue as if nothing had happened. Have the champions of both groups play each other at season's end, but at no other time during the year. Thus, the Frontier Conference was born. The original PTFFL teams were named the Pioneer Conference. Year Three would be the first with the new group. Tim White (Milwaukee Maulers) assumed responsibility for the new conference, as well as recruiting most of its owners. Lippke became the head of the new group, and the office of Vice Commissioner was created for both conferences. Reichert had several distractions thorughout the year that kept him from writing the league's news articles most of the time. White and Lippke stepped in admirably, and the PTFFL's culture was preserved. The 2000 season brought the first-ever Prime Time Bowl between the conferences, with Mike Crowell's New Berlin Blitzkrieg carrying the day for the Frontier Conference. They beat Matthew Natale's Virginia Yankees in a classic thriller. Year Four brought even more excitement, and the Frontier Conference established itself as the stronger conference (for now). Chad Kneedler assumed leadership of the Pioneer Conference, and White kept the FC. In fact, White did such a good job with the FC that Reichert could become simply an overseer. Steve Kummer's Great Bend Prairie Dawgs swept through the playoffs in efficient fashion to claim the second ever FC championship. Meanwhile, Chuck Ramage's Pittsburgh Pierogi capped a stunning rebuilding job that only took two seasons by claiming their first-ever Pioneer title. The champion vs. champion game that occurred in previous years was replaced by the Commissioner's Cup, which pitted all 12 teams in one conference against their counterpart (in terms of record and seeding) in the other conference. The Frontier Confernce won the first Cup, 8 games to 4, and Great Bend took the overall PTFFL title in beating Pittsburgh, even though the Cup is considered an exhibition. The Frontier Conference spun off into its own league after the 2003 season, with Tim White assuming the reins there. In 2004 the PTFFL became a quieter league with Johnny Davidson's VolCav winning the title for a second time. After the 2004 season things became curiously interesting again with Matt Natale and Tim White being engaged in a verbal war of sorts, with White as the antagonizer. White left during this offseason, but after his departure (and when cooler heads prevailed) it became clear that his saber-rattling was intended to cause his departure, even though Tim could have left in a quieter fashion if he so chose. In addition, Treasurer Doug Hogan left the league (Montana Grizzlies owner) much more quietly and in a very honorable fashion. While this was chaotic, it provided a huge opportunity...one that hadn't happened in the previous five years. The PTFFL now had a chance to recruit two new owners. Enter Andre Coleman and Matt Steele, two people connected with the commish in an online community. Coleman took the former Montana team, renamed it the Los Angeles Excelsiors, and promptly took the once-average franchise to within one game of the Fajita Bowl. However, this feat was topped by Chad's Nashville Dark Knights, who shocked the PTFFL with a stirring run to the championship by running the table after a 2-5 start. Meanwhile, Matt Steele was not as fortunate as his injury ravaged Ann Arbor Annihilators would finish 4-9. We have endured some large-scale events over the years, but those who are in the PTFFL would agree that this is a very special league. The incredibly low owner turnover reflects a soundly run league, but the strength has always been the quality people who have played in the PTFFL. There are very few, if any, quiet owners in the PTFFL. When recruiting new owners, the leadership takes it very seriously. Not just anyone has been able to join--they have to know their stuff and be willing to be vocal and active. We look forward to many more prosperous years to come in the PTFFL family. |