There was a time in this league when Rich Burrier and myself were masters of this domain. Between us, we produced 11 winning seasons and 10 division titles, not to mention scoring titles and championships.

Those days seem like so long ago, don’t they?

The second decade of Robioland has been unkind for Burrier and I and this weekend we will face off for only the second time ever with both of us sitting below .500. The last time this occurred was in Burrier’s first season back in 2002. We faced off in week twelve at 5-6.

For me, rough starts are nothing new. Let’s face it…my past is well documented. Since 2001, I’m 8-20 in the first month of the season. In fact, I’ve been 0-4 twice before and both times I made the playoffs (winning the title in 2002).

For Burrier, he’s really struggled with life after LT and his current losing ways is nearly record breaking. He is currently riding a six-game losing streak dating back to last year. He’s tied for fifth for longest losing streak with Bob, Neatock (twice), Griff, Molly and three other former members. He’s three lose away from the record.

Worse yet, he’s actually dropped 10 of his last 11 games. The worst ever would be David, who dropped 13 of 14 back in 2005-2006. His one win though…was last year, against you guessed it…me.

So how did we get to this point in ’09?

For me, there have been some positives; Barber was looking good, until he got hurt and Rivers is averaging over 300 per week.

However, D. Williams has not looked like a No 1 back. He was expected to lead my team. Second, I skipped out on the big name tight ends in the draft, expecting Olsen to breakout. It may be the biggest bust of my life right now, the way he’s playing.

However, the biggest issue of course has been wide receiver, or the lack of having any. I’ve already add/dropped about a dozen and no one is stepping up into the huge hole created by Owens and Bryant.

As for Rich, his two stud backs are killing him, both averaging less than 125ppg. His receivers had a great week one, combining for over 400 points, but they’ve had more 50-point games since then, than 200 point games. He did manage to get Manningham, but his numbers have dropped steadily since that pick up.

Still, Rich has had his chances. His lost games two and three by only 108 and 2 points and he would have won last week if he didn’t bench Carson Palmer.

In the end, 0-4 doesn’t mean the season is over and getting to 1-4 is a good start to turning this ship around. It only means you have to 5-3 the rest of the way to have a shot at the playoffs (since six wins is usually the last seeds).

The loser will be 0-5 and no 0-5 team has made it to the playoffs. Although Calderon got in after a 1-5 start.

Right now, the Guru makes me a slight favorite, although three out of the four league members who voted in my poll are predicting a Rich win.