Week 1

The 2008 season opened with a few huge injuries and some promising breakout players. Since this league is so new, trash talking has been kept to an absolute minimum. Why antagonize someone you don't know? Wait, why the hell not?

In an effort to promote some solidarity and thus trash talking, here's a short recap of the games from Week One, highlighted by two very close contests.

Feel free to contribute articles, recaps, analysis, or anything that floats your boat. I'll whip out an email with the login info. Good luck ladies.

Babel Sharks vs Dirty Birds (94.28 - 87.76)
This was it, a WK1 faceoff of epic proportions. Commissioner Mike vs Commissioner Jon (albeit not a commissioner of this particular league). Childhood battles waged over board games, over ahem, Magic, over chess, over video games, and over so many other things had now distilled down to this arena: fantasy football.

Soon after the draft, Mike had mocked Jon's selection of QB Jay Cutler. Monday night, he was sweating bullets as Cutler almost led the Birds to a great comeback against the Babel Sharks. Alas, they fell a bit short as their passing game fizzled (L. Fitzgerald, M.Colston, D. Bowe, H.Miller combined for just over 30 pts). RB Reggie Bush stepped up to the plate with 23.30 pts but that wasn't enough to offset the Sharks' balanced attack.

Sharks' QB Kurt Warner aired it out to Randy Moss (16.60) and Antonio Gates (10.10) while the running game churned up the yards behind possible gem Thomas Jones (17.30) and rookie Kevin Smith (14.00). Mike pulled out the close victory and still had WR Hines Ward on the bench (19.60), perhaps believing that Mr Half-Korean could no longer hack it. One thing the Sharks can't be excited about is the poor play of RB Laurence Maroney, who shared carries with Sammy Morris for the Patriots. Then again, with Tom Brady out, perhaps Maroney's role will increase. Either way, the Sharks started off the season on a high note and dispatched their longtime nemesis with a thrilling performance.

What a birthday present for Jon, thanks a lot Mike!

NAACHOOO! vs los cacahuetes (85.68 - 83.06)
I have no idea who the manager of NAACHOOO! is but when I saw him take TE Dallas Clark at the top of the third round during the draft, I was convinced it was Hong since he loves his tight ends. And I mean that in the most ungay gay way possible. How appropriate it was then that these two lovers of the tight ends faced off to open the season.

For Nacho, their first two picks provided fuel early, with QB Ben Roethlisberger (16.18) and RB Brian Westbrook (21.20) leading the way. Edgerrin James and the Patriots defense added double digit scores each but that didn't seem enough as los cacahuetes came on strong behind the immortal Brett Favre (16.46), Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress (14.30), and the strong running of Marion Barber (22.10).

As the two teams chased each other up and down the scoreboard -- and perhaps other places -- over the weekend, fans started getting antsy on both sides. los cacahuetes K Robbie Gould dropped in a cool ten points for the lead. Nacho's fourth round pick, WR Greg Jennings, caught a deep pass late and pushed Nacho to a last second victory by the slimmest of margins, just a 2.62 point win.

The good news is that "The Peanuts" won the battle of the TEs, with Jeremy Shockey posting 5.40 points against Dallas Clark's 0.80 points (Clark was hurt in the second quarter).

Other Games of Note:
Oopeikralc earned first place by setting the standard for winning by scoring 113.54 points behind a strong passing attack led by QB Donovan McNabb's 34.74 points. WRs Terrell Owens, Andre Johnson, and Roy Williams combined for 37.60 points and made their case as the best receiver corps in the league.

Those three alone almost could have beat MJD Fanclub, who totaled a paltry 37.64 points for WK1. Adding injury to insult, QB Tom Brady was lost for the season and now it's up to either JaMarcus Russell and/or Damon Huard to lead the charge. Uh-oh... Oh yeah, MJD Fanclub lost WK1, obviously.