Ladies and Gentlemen! Please turn your attention to center stage, as the highlight of the season is about to begin! Through 15 grueling weeks, 12 teams have fought, struggled, and found a way to push even harder, but all of them ultimately failed - all but two. That's right - the AldenLeague Fantasy Bowl X is upon us, as the L.A. Ninjas take on Most Murderous in the final battle of them all! Let's take a look at the preview:#2 L.A. Ninjas (9-5) vs. #5 Most Murderous (9-6)
Team Profile: L.A. Ninjas
Mike Hartman takes his team to their first-ever Fantasy Bowl, in an effort to become the first pair of brothers to win the championship (brother Justin's Boys of Summer won the 2006 Fantasy Bowl). The Ninjas completed the regular season with not only the Westwood Division crown, but also the Most Points total. They've been led by QBs Tony Romo and Brett Favre, the 8th- and 9th- highest scoring players in AldenLeague, respectively, the highest of any players in the Fantasy Bowl. After securing a Wild Card bye due to their #2 seeding, the Ninjas survived a scare from 6th seeded The Skyns, and escaped with a 2.5-pt victory. The Ninjas have an all-time postseason record of 4-2, and enter this game on a 4-game winning streak.
Team Profile: Most Murderous
Erick Puzan's AldenLeague list of accomplishments is among the top of all franchises. As an Original Three member, the team has already claimed 2 Fantasy Bowl Championships (2000, 2005), will now be appearing in their league-record 4th Fantasy Bowl (2000, 2001, 2005, 2009), sports the most playoff wins ever (10, for another league-best post-season record of 10-4), and with a win, would tie CheektoWojo (2001, 2007, 2008) for the most Championships won. 2009 was a tumultuous season for the team, winning their first 7 games, followed by 6 consecutive losses to end the season (the first of which came at the hands of none other than the L.A. Ninjas), which was then followed by 2 straight wins in the post-season, over #4 seed BountyHunters, and then taking down #1 seed Ice Cold Bruschi's. The team rides a hot hand into the Fantasy Bowl, scoring 177.9 and 190.43 points in their 2 post-season victories. In addition, the team receives a nice Christmas present, as kicker Shaun Suisham, who had been cut by the Redskins and forcing Most Murderous to do without a kicker for the last several weeks, has been signed by the Cowboys, and will be able to contribute to the team in the Fantasy Bowl.
What we already know: 73 total yards from WR Vincent Jackson starts Most Murderous off with a 10.43-0 lead after the Friday night game.
Last Meeting: The L.A. Ninjas won 181.47-162.54 in Week 8 to mark Most Murderous's first loss of the season.
Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first playoff meeting between these franchises.
Room for Improvement: None - both teams have to play what they've got.
Injury Report: L.A. Ninjas: RB Steven Jackson has played 4 straight games without practicing, so his inability to practice this week makes for minimum concern. Reserves Reggie Bush and Hakeem Nicks both have hamstring injuries - Bush should be fine to play, while Nicks's status is unknown. Most Murderous: QB Matt Ryan is limited in practice, but should be fine to play on Sunday.
Yahoo! Projection: Most Murderous 164.19 - L.A. Ninjas 154.96
Best of luck, gentlemen, in your quest for AldenLeague supremacy!
In other games of note:
-Ice Cold Bruschi's takes on The Skyns in the battle for 3rd place, worth a cash prize of $25
-Los Petates Mexicanos opposes C-Men in the Toilet Bowl, where the winner will earn not only the #1 Draft pick in 2010, but also the rights to name Andy's Red Hots, the 12th place team, for the first half of next year.
-Boys of Summer vs. Fireseed, with the winner drafting 3rd in 2010.
Best of luck to everyone!
