The Journey Begins

The kickoff to start the season is only a day away. Teams have been making their moves, working their depth charts, and practicing since the draft for this highly anticipated first game to start the Season. First weeks in the fantasy world always rack up into some high scoring matches. Already in the projections we're seeing The Unity as projected to be the highest scoring team this week with 124 points. Chris Bosh and Vegito728 are estimated to have the tightest fought game in Week one with less than 1 whole point separating them in the projections. Lets take an inside look at all the Games to look forward to here in week one.

This first pairing we see will stick vincent_valentine and phillylikwid up against each other in what looks to be a very hard fought, close battle on the gridiron. Only 7 points separating them in the projections, VV has the edge thanks to a very consistent team. Six players on his roster are slotted to rack in over 10 points each, a very respectable achievement. Philly will need a big game from Donovan McNabb who is more than capable of coming through when the chips are down.

I'm 'Whoreiffic'!..................117
Da 215 Vampirez................110

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Next up we have dastevez vs. kdmillz72. A resemblance of a Peyton Manning / Tom Brady shootout, these two superpowers will bash helmets in a 14 projected point mismatch. KD, who's roster is led by Brady, has the initial lead per Yahoo's experts in this matchup. Running over the numbers and the projections this match really looks as though it should be closer. Watch for Stevez team to be an underdog here and really show up here in week 1. A critical player to watch here will be Jamal Lewis who may return to practice today, sept 3. Lewis should be OK for this week's game however if he does not return Wednesday, this particular Mauler would be considered questionable for the team's game Sunday, Sept. 7. Without the help from this running back, this game could easily go the other way.

Kalamazoo Kittens...............105
Millz Maulers ......................119

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A highly anticipated matchup will include the likes of icegoat63 and the Unity. A very high scoring affair here, this matchup features a team who is projected to be the big scorer in week 1. When we talk about consistency there is no other team without a doubt that is as solid as the Unified Dynasty. Practically every player on this roster is projected to pull in over 10 points. A blessing or a curse as I've seen in the past. Being the hot shot high scorer has its perks but it also puts a big weight on the shoulders of a favored team. Expected to run away by 14 points, seems like 14 is the lucky number in week 1, The Unified Dynasty is simply not concerned about anything the Stampede can throw at them. Two key names in this matchup are Derek Anderson who is still a little shaken with a concussion. He is expected to start against the cowboys but it wouldnt be surprising to see him sidelined if things start to go sour. On the Goats side Bernard Berrian who has been fighting a toe injury could offer a much better game than the projections show.

Stampeding Goats...............110
The Unified Dynasty............124

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What I'm going to consider the most exciting game of the week, Vegito728 and Chris Bosh square off in the tightest match yet. A margin of only .95 seperates these two, a slight favor for the Owens but not enough to count on. This matchup will be a nail biter, the teams themselves are so well matched here in week one that a clear winner may not be evident until the final minutes of the games. If there will be a game changer its going to have to come from Plaxico Burres who played all last season on a sprained ankle but is now coming into week one after allowing that ankle to heal, he is glowing with confidence. All I can say is this match can go either way, it'll be one to watch that is for sure.

STLKnights .........................106
The Owens ........................107

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Up next we have SuiGeneris vs. Skid27. A lesser known member here, skid is actually the younger brother to the manager of the stampeding goats. Sui is looking to exploit the inexperienced team and already has a ten point lead in the projections. Skids team will be relying very heavily on its quarter back, Drew Bree's who is expected to be magnificent in week one. The colorful Chad Johnson-Ocho Cinco could be a surprise pending that questionable shoulder injury he sustained earlier. None the less Sui is not phased, even with the likes of Brandon Marshall sidelined in week one the SGB has managed to put together a wide receiver corps to rival any other in the league. Under the pressure moves like that show why SGB is the favored team in this matchup.

Skid Row ...........................104
SuiGeneris****....................115

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Finally we have the man himself Babe Ruth vs. the Burger King. Babe left the Draft day with confidence as it was his roster that showed superb promise for this season. Coming into week one, that promise is still flowing strong as he leads his opponent by a deafening 26 points. With no highlights to name off Babe Ruth's team is sitting pretty already looking into week 2. Could overconfidence here be an issue? Afraid it wont be. The burger king has already been hit hard with some injuries that will force his team into a slow start this season. Deion Branch, Steve Smith, Benjamin Watson, Vince Young, and even Antonio Gates, all experiencing trouble with injuries. You'd almost think BK drafted directly off an IR sheet with these kinds of set backs this early in the season.

Terrell Owens .....................109
BK's Fighting Whopper............83

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In a nut shell week one looks to be a very exciting season opener. There is no better way to start off a great tradition than exciting matchups and this league has not failed in that department. First games kick off tomorrow then we have a short layoff until Sunday. I look forward to following the games and wish good luck to all managers and teams participating.

I have all the confidence in the world in my team. I believe Romo will have his way with the Borwns defense. I expect big games from my Wide Receivers, especially Roy Williams against not a strong Falcons defense when it comes to corners.

My only worry for week one is Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams is listed as the started as of now, so I don't know how many carries he will get. But I still see him getting is fair share of carries and receptions.

Should be an interesting match up against Burger King, but I don't see him coming out on top.

Good job on this Ice.

I edited the title and stuck it.

Awesome write-ups, man. They were fun to read.

Thanks, the first week is a little hard to get going. From here though I lead into the matchups with how well the teams did in the previous week. I'll try to keep from being repetitive but with 12 teams there are only so many way to say "team A vs. team B"

Awesome read Goat...I cannot wait for this to start up!

Awesome job Ice. This should definitely be a fun first week.

I doubt the points will be that high.

My scoring system is heavily wted on yards and the average scores are 155-170

I think most of the scores won't even touch 100.

They are perfectly capable of reaching those numbers. Even though the yahoo predictions are nothing more than predictions.... Last year they were pretty damn accurate pending no unforeseeable injuries.

I do recall last season, the first 2 weeks were very high scoring. Then things died down and picked up a more consistent pace.

Posting here at the request of goat to avoid a double merged post.

As a sports columnist there is no easier game day to write about than that of a Rivalry between dueling teams. Since this is the first annual showing of the General Forum Fantasy League, game derived rivalries haven't had a chance to come to fruition just yet. Or have they? Here in Week Two we have not one but two heated battles upcoming.

What deeper rivalry is there than that between two competing brothers. The temperature is rising as these matchups are glowing with continuous banter back an forth, on and off the field. Babe Ruth squares off against his 1 minute younger twin Chris Bosh, while on the other end of the bout card we have Skid27 facing icegoat63. These two matchups will provide bragging rights to their respective victors until Week 13 when they meet again.

Last week we got a glimpse as to who was hot and who was not. Some teams came out on top while others struggled against what seemed to be an unstoppable surge of injuries. However the chips fell, we now have the luxury of a League Leaderboard for you're enjoyment.


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Millz Maulers ..............118
SuiGeneris****...........129

Heading into week two we'll start the preview with a game that looks extremely promising. kdmillz72 squares off against suigeneris in a game that is projected to be a very high scoring affair on both sides of the field. After a surprisingly close matchup against Skid last week Sui is looking to continue his streak with a commanding projected lead of 11 points. Something to note here is that Sui's team although only coming up as the 4th best roster directly out of the draft, has one of the most promising looks to it. Every player besides the kicker is expected to play huge here in Week two. Consistency is an art and all the players on Sui's roster have brought their brushes and are ready to make week 2 their canvas. KD on the other hand had a very up and down game where he managed to pull out a very close victory over Stevez last week after suffering the loss of his top draft pick, Tom Brady.

Fortunately for Millz his backup Aaron Rodgers, who had a big question mark next to his name in the draft, has shown he's more than capable of being a starter. This roster will be relying on Rodgers to lead them past a very intimidating opponent especially now that Brandon Marshall is expected to play. Sui managed to surpass his projected score last week, doing so again will be a task again here in Week two. KD fell short of his projections due to injuries. One of these teams will have to lose their winning streak here in Week two, with only 11 point margin separating them, as long as both teams stay healthy this should truly be a shootout.

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BK's Fighting Whopper......90
Da 215 Vampirez.............104

Next up on the list we have The burger king vs. our current league leader Phillylikwid. The story last week was how unstoppable Philly's team really was. McNabb with an unheard of 37 points to lead the 215 Vampirez through a roaring 72 point lead over Vincent Valentines team. Its not every week we get games as big as that. When these two meet again in week 11 there will be friction.

After making a few changes The Burger King is still behind in the projections by a 14 point deficit. A 12 point loss to Babe Ruths team in week 1, BK will need a big showing from Joseph Addai who left last weeks game with a head injury. With a roster that is way more solid than the team we saw in week one, BK is up against it here in Week two.

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I'm 'Whoreiffic'!...........110
The Unified Dynasty.....106

Both on a down streak coming into week 2, Vincent Valentine squares off against The Unity in this weeks most closely projected match. Both teams started off week 1 strong but ended quickly as their opponents both marched away with the W. The Unity, although projected to win last week was upset by icegoat. Valentine fell victim to Phillylikwid who provided the biggest upset after being slotted to lose but ended up winning by almost twice Valentines score. Both teams have no where but up to go from here as their lack luster performances in week one can now be forgotten.

With 4 points separating them in the projections, Vinny Valentine is the favored team this weekend. Expecting a much better week out of LT, the only issue that seemd to plague VV last week was injuries. With the Preseason rust hopefully gone now we can expect a stronger performance. The Unity will again rely strongly on his Running back corps who alone are projected to tally at least half of the teams points.

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STLKnights .....118
Kalamazoo Kittens...106

Next up Vegito728 will look to change his luck against Dastevez. Last week Stevez participated in a very very low scoring match. Between he and his opponents score they barely add up together to outnumber the single effort put up by our league leader, Phillylikwid. Three players on the Kittens roster hardly even showed up, merely a half a point to show between all three of them. With just an otherwise lackluster performance between some select players, Stevez will be more than capable of being a real contender against Vegito this week. A huge trade between he and kdmillz helped to shape the Kittens wr corps into a very well oiled machine. Any team led by Peyton Manning is one that can still have hope even in the darker times of the season.

The only thing slowing Vegito up was WR depth in week one. With a slight change up on the roster and some higher hopes from last weeks active players, Vegito leads this matchup by 12 points. However looking straight across this game looks as though it'll be a lot closer than the projections offer.

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The Owens ........107
Terrell Owens .....117

Kicking off our Spotlight games for the Week, the first matchup in the Sibling Rivalry Series puts Chris Bosh against Babe Ruth. The talk hasnt stopped the moment Week 1 ended with both of the twins leaving their respected games as the Victors in their matchups. Heading into week 2 with confidence Bosh hasnt been afraid to speak his mind, quoted earlier saying;

"I know it's only the first week, but Vegito's team wasn't a scrub team. I'm very excited to see how i'll match up with Babe Ruth this week"

We can look forward to a battle here thats for sure, as this matchup is only separated by 10 points in favor of Babe Ruth. These two teams are very even until you get to their Running back squads. Babes RB's are projected to produce 37 points to Bosh's 29. If there is one department that Bosh needs to have step up for him this week it'll be his Running Backs. As long as Babe can keep that margin the way it is he'll be looking to bring his winning streak to 2 games and run away with the bragging rights.

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Skid Row ...............99
Stampeding Goats...110

Finally the last matchup of the week and the second spotlight game in the Sibling Rivalry series has icegoat63 facing off against skid27, in a game of luck vs experience. These two have been at it since the beginning of the season, week 1 meant nothing to them as they left the draft drooling over the opportunity to go head to head in week 2. Excitement was exactly what Skid brought to the table in week one against Sui. A high scoring game that fell just out of reach but not possibility. Skid left week one with a loss but still did not lose his focus for the game this week. Icegoat on the other hand managed to pull out an upset, defeating the projections and coming ahead in week one. During the week he capitalized on Tom Brady's injury and picked up Matt Cassell, an otherwise unknown QB who now has the opportunity to lead Randy Moss and the Patriots. This move has Goat swimming in confidence

Goat is ahead in the projections by 10 points. However Skid seems to have a trick up his sleeve hoping for some luck to come from Hank Baskett, a wide out who had a great game with some help from a huge Donovan McNabb last week. With the current situation of Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis in Philadelphia, Baskett may be a surprising trick card that could change the outlook of this game. Goats roster is solid here in week 2 and skids has potential. If ever there was a game that projections just weren't enough, this is it.

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Congratulations to the winners from last week and good luck to all the contenders here in week two. I look forward to following what seems to be yet another great lineup of exciting, high scoring matchups.