Halftime Show - Week 11 - An Interview with Erick Puzan, Owner of Most Murderous

Recently I sat down with Erick Puzan, Owner of Most Murderous. Most Murderous is off to a fast start in the 2009 season, not an unexpected thing for the 2000 and 2005 AldenLeague Champion. A member of the founding Original Three, Puzan's AldenLeague exploits include a season played while based in Iraq during his time in the United States Marine Corps, a constant and physical threat in AldenLeague football games, and an undeniable presence on the league's message board. We met for the interview in the basement of a Mexican restaurant in South Buffalo, a dark place he seemed familiar with. He was polite but forcefully blunt, and often seemed on the verge of anger

AL: So, what's been going on in your life these days?
EP: A few things actually just bought a house working on trying to close on it, that has been a nightmare and a half but getting very close. Aside from that mostly just working, still at LG fixing TV's and appliances. Along with raising the baby (Lukas) hes getting big fast, at least i didn't screw up like Synrod and have a girl. Lastly I've just been trying to stay active and in shape playing roller hockey on Saturday nights, floor hockey on Tuesdays and Co-Ed touch football on Saturday mornings, and of course our football teams will be playing in the league championship on Saturday. A peak into the fantasy football world? Just maybe.

AL: Besides yourself, who do you think has the best team in the league this year?
EP: As good as Hank and Dan have been I would have to say that Mummery gives me my biggest worry.

AL: This is AldenLeague's 10th year anniversary. You, along with Synrod and Todd, are a member of the Original Three, and have been a part of every single season in the league's existence. Any thoughts on that?
EP: I think its great, I wish there were more of us but there were a few members that needed to be gone. I do enjoy the mix of the original 3 the few multi-year guys and the few latest expansion teams. So far with the group of guys that we have I can't say I have any complaints. Well I guess one that I have is that as a league were geographically so spread out that the Thanksgiving Extravaganza games seemed to have disappeared. I think we all enjoyed trampling Hoskyns when he would try to tackle anyone.

AL: In the league's first season, 2000-01, you won the first-ever Fantasy Bowl.
EP: I remember it all started in a Go-Fish chat room. And obviously none of us knew much about fantasy football at the time otherwise it would have been much more competitive. Oh how far we have come.

AL: How many players can you name from your team that year?
EP: Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, and Robert Smith, I can't really recall anyone else.

AL: Who are some of your favorite fantasy players that you've hard on your teams from over the years?
EP: Of course T.O. in his prime, Adrian Peterson who everyone laughed at being a rookie RB the following year went in the top 5 after the keeper rule was abolished, Drew Brees, and Randy Moss.

AL: Your opposition of Dan and Mexicans is well documented. That being said, which team in the league gives you the most satisfaction to beat?
EP: Well it's basically it would be Fireseed and SynCity gotta love beating the other 2 founders.

AL: There is some conversation on the message boards about a change to the scoring system for next year, to reduce the value of kick- and punt-returners. What are your thoughts on the subject?
EP: I have a few thoughts on few point system changes defiantly with return yards, I love the return yardage aspect making our league unique and providing much needed depth in a league that is our size. I also think we need to take a step back a look at the entire point system in particular with QB's but that is an off-season discussion that needs to be a league wide vote. Basically I think there needs to be a reduction on some parts of the scoring

AL: What is your favorite moment from any AldenLeague football game?
EP: I wouldn't say favorite but the most memorable to me was me .77 point loss to Adam in the championship with me having the best Defense in the NFL that year getting me a unacceptable -1 point that week.

AL: What would you do to fix the Bills?
EP: Well they took the first step today with firing Jauron. However, it goes deeper than that if I were Ralph keeping in mind that i wouldn't be living on borrowed time. I would clean house bring in Dungy as an advisor similar to Parcels position in Miami. Revamp the offensive line and bring in a QB who can run for his life until the O-Line can mesh together Mike Vick maybe... and draft someone to mold while hes running for his life and the O-line is learning. When the O-line is ready ship Vick and bring in the future of the team. Whoever that might be let's let Dungy make that call.

AL: Without looking - who are the current NFL leaders in yards passing, rushing, and receiving?
EP: Um... let's see Passing either Drew Brees or Peyton Manning. Rushing has to be Chris Johnson. Receiving Vincent Jackson or Randy Moss maybe. [Editor's note: Manning, Johnson and Moss are the respective league leaders at the time of this interview]

AL: Name something you'd like to see happen with AldenLeague going forward.
EP: I would like a geographical division restructuring. A few point changes nothing major just something to make it a bit more competitive. And of course finishing the damn website and consistent articles and updates.

AL: You're currently sitting at 7-3 - tied for the best record in AldenLeague with Crittenden Division rival Ice Cold Bruschi's, and you also have the 2nd most points scored in the league. What are your thoughts on this season?
EP: I think this season is defiantly going better than I had expected, I wasn't overly impressed with my draft but all in all it seemed to work out thus far. This 3 week downward spiral is a bit concerning but the ride has to end at some point, better to get the losing out of the system now instead playoff time.

AL: What is your best win in fantasy football? Which one means the most to you?
EP: That would have to be the total domination in the first ever league championship, there can only be one first ever champion. Making me the Vince Lombardi of our league. LOL.