Super Bowl II

The DIRTeByRDeeZ have finally captured their first fantasy championship of the modern era. After years of perseverance, hard work and ingenius roster moves, the Birds finally had a dream season and took the championship trophy home. With a dominating regular season (10 wins, 9 consecutive), the Birds were heavily favored to take the crown. Faced with a tough divisional final game versus the Jammers, the Birds pulled out a 112-97 victory, based largely on the strength of WRs Marvin Harrison and Plaxico Burress. The Jammers were hobbled by a season ending injury to Priest Holmes and a weak performance from their other superstar Ricky Williams.

As if the planets were not aligned perfectly yet, the next week the Birds faced a Flaming Shrapnel squad missing superstar Terrell Owens. Despite some curious lineup changes, the Birds cruised to a 96-75 victory in one of the uglier Super Bowls to be played. Still, in the end, the Birds started out 1-3, and finished the season out 12-3. How you like them apples?

The Birds this year put together a monster team and a monster season. QB Michael Vick emerged as the name of the future while RBs Ahman Green and Corey Dillon had solid seasons. The WR corps was too deep to sleep, with a record breaking season by Marvin Harrison and stellar numbers by Plaxico Burress and Jerry Rice. Emerging threats Koren Robinson and Chad Johnson barely cracked the starting lineup, despite supernova-like second halves.

Disgruntled Dirty Bird stars, Corey Dillon and Plaxico Burress were wondering why they were left sitting on the bench in the most important game of the year, and played "what if" on the sidelines. As in, "what if the Birds had lost because Coach Yang sat down two of his premiere players?" Luckily, we will never know the answer to that question. For now, the Birds are planning a celebratory RV trailer park cruise around Iraq and Iran as a reward for their successful season and championship status.

Setup for the Super Bowl

For nearly an hour after yesterday's SMG Divisional Championship game, Shrapnel's General Manger, Eric-L, patiently answered questions as hordes of reporters and media analysts swarmed around his podium during the post game media conference. At times, Liao just nodded and smiled ... amazingly serene for a GM that just won his divisional championship game. Regardless, his team is now one step away from completing one of the most astonishing franchise turnarounds in CTDB history.

After suffering through a horrible 2001 season with a 3-10 record, the Shrapnel team has seemingly come back from the dead and has been the hottest thing since Mike Vick. Led by supplemental first round pick, Aaron Brooks, GM Liao's high octane passing offense eventually proved too much for the Philadelphia Phreaks in the championship game. "That was a rough one," admitted Ping Shen, GM of the Philadelphia Phreaks. "[Clinton] Portis was a rockstar for us but you have to hand out props where its due. Eric has done a hell of a job. Their team has so many offensive options, it was just a bit too much. As good as the DIRTeByRDeeZ have been this year, I think this will be one hell of a matchup. I expect to see plenty of fireworks. It's gonna be a good game."

Down the 101, the Birds lived up to their billing once again, steamrolling yet another team. With a ten game win streak on the line, the Birds have momentum if anything. According to Birds' GM, Jon Yang, "We've been pretty hard to stop once we get rolling. Our guys are just playing so well, I wish we had additional starting positions because its been hard to sit guys like Chad (Johnson) and Koren (Robinson). Eric has put together a damn good team over there and this will be a great SuperBowl. Its good for our league, its good for the game, and a win would be damn good for our franchise."

CTDB Guru, Evan, analyzed the matchup in yesterday's conference call. "Sources familiar with the Shrapnel franchise indicate that their leading receiver, Owens, will likely be held out of this weeks game with a sore gluteus maximus muscle. Surgery has been discussed as a possible option. This is huge for the Birdeez as Owens has been one of the elite receivers this year. Regardless, this game will feature two of the most mobile quarterbacks in the league with Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks. We're going to see a lot of 8 man fronts and a lot of frantic linebackers. In terms of the running game, you'll see a lot of hard physical running.

My guess is that we'll see a standard 3 wide 2 back set out of the Birds this game. Green, despite the injuries, will be back in the starting lineup with Corey Dillon. These two have been relatively quiet this year but are as explosive as ever. On the other side of the field, Tiki Barber and Eddie George have been the anchor of the Shrapnel team, providing stability and putting up consistent points week in week out. With the lightning quick Tiki and the bruising Eddie George in the backfield, the Shrapnel has one of the best change of pace running games in the league. The key to this game, however, will be the passing game. With only 3 active receivers on the roster, an injured Terrell Owens will leave a huge gap in the Shrapnel passing game. Liao will be scouring the free agent wire but with the quality of the remaining talent so low, it will be very difficult for him to fill TO's shoes.

On the otherhand, the Birds are stacked in their passing attack. With Rice and Plastico playing so well, the talented duo of Chad Johnson and Koren Robinson have had a tough time finding playing time. Hitting a gold mine with the strong armed Mike Vick and the fact that the Birds have receivers coming out of their ears, I expect to see a lot deep bombs and deep crossing patterns out of this offense. But if I had to put my money on one team, the best play of the week would have to be them dirty dirty Birds. Their offense has been huge and I see no reason that that will change this week."