1. Rick Mullin, 2000 RECORD: 11-3-0 POINTS 1,478 (1st) SEED: #1 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Griff in the Semis, 1,398-1,313 THOUGHTS: And number one on the list is….Mr. Mullin. It’s simple, 11 wins, nearly 1,500-point average, 6-0 in the division. He rolled into the post-season on a six-game winning streak that included five 1,500-point games, one 2,094-point game and two weekly high scores. After scoring the high score in his quarterfinals victory, a trip to the finals agianst the No 2 seed (Robio) seem like a sure thing. Griff though, had other ideas. Coomer become the first team to knock out a scoring champ and top seed.
2. Robio Murray, 2008 RECORD: 7-6-0 POINTS: 1,464 (1st) SEED: #5 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Don in the Finals, 1,216-1,041 THOUGHTS: Ugh, do I really need to talk about this again? Overall, the resume isn’t as impressive as Rick’s below, but my second half was the best ever; 6-3 record, seven 1,500-point games and a record six weekly high scores. Just for fun, I scored 2,100 in the final week. There was no way I was going to collapse…unless…we’ll get to that in a moment. In the first two rounds of the playoffs, nobody could trip me up. I scored 1,641 and 1,760. I was getting better as the post-season went along…unless of course I did something to screw it up. I did. I made some lineup changes and that was that, Don was a two-time champion.
3. Robio Murray, 2003 RECORD: 9-5-0 POINTS: 1,456 (1st) SEED: #1 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Rich C. in the Quarters, 1,953-1,535 THOUGHTS: Now the fun begins, the first team on the list to be the top seed and the scoring champ. I won nine of my last ten, finishing the season with the sixth best scoring season of all-time. However, I just got unlucky, forced to face the next hottest team. Calderon had rallied to win six of his final eight, finishing third in scoring. In fact, Rich’s 1,396ppg was the 17th best single season in league history. Sometimes, life isn’t fair. I scored well in the quarters, but Rich scored a lot better.
4. David Hightower, 2007 RECORD: 11-2-0 POINTS: 1,400 (2nd) SEED: #1 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Rich C. in the Semis, 1,067-965 THOUGHTS: Yeah, it’s a little weird seeing Dave on this list. Yet, after 14 games (thirteen regular season games, one post-season game), he had 12 wins, the most ever after 14 weeks. While there was some luck involved (his opponents were last in scoring), Dave was second in scoring, four 1,500-point games and two weekly high scores. He also had Tom Brady, at the tail end of the greatest fantasy season ever. Yet, a week after Calderon knocked off the scoring champ, he took out the top seed, David. Of course Hightower assisted him, by failing to hit 1,000 for the sixth time in 13 playoff games.
5. Molly Coomer, 2006 RECORD: 10-3-0 POINTS: 1,356 (1st) SEED: #2 POINTS: Lost to Don in the Quarters, 1,499-,1296 THOUGHTS: It doesn’t happen a lot, the scoring champ also winning 10 games. It shouldn’t be rare, but it is. It happened three times in the league’s first three years, but when Molly did it in 2006, it was the only time in the last seven years. If Molly was going to break her three-game playoff losing streak, this was the season. Uh, no. Don took care of business and sent the last scoring champ w/double-digit wins packing.
6. Griff Coomer, 2004 RECORD: 10-4-0 POINTS: 1,401 (4th) SEED: #1 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Bob in the Semis, 1,216-1,169 THOUGHTS: The third and final team from 2004. Griff led the league in wins and his 1,401ppg was the 15th most points in a single season. Heading into the post-season, he won three straight and landed in the finals after back-to-back 1,300-point games. Yet, it wasn’t enough to beat Bob in the finals, the one team even hotter than him in 2004.
7. Rich Calderon, 2004 RECORD: 9-5-0 POINTS: 1,425 (3rd) SEED: #4 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Bob in the Semis, 1,239-965 THOUGHTS: The first non-division winner on the list. Calderon won nine games, but lost the division thanks to a 0-2 record against Burrier. Despite his lack of wins against the other Rich, Calderon did finish 3rd in scoring. In fact, his 1,425ppg was the 11th most points scored in a season. In the quarters, he looked downright dangerous after scoring over 1,800 that week. However, in the semis, he barely scored half that amount, falling to eventual champ, Bob.
8. Robio Murray, 2006 RECORD: 7-6-0 POINTS: 1,327 (2nd) SEED: #3 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Don in the Finals, 1,617-844 THOUGHTS: Like so many other times before, I spent most of the season digging myself out of a hole. After a 3-5 start, I got hot, winning four out of my last five, including three-straight weekly high scores. I won my division, taking the third seed. I rolled through my first two playoff opponents until I reached the title game, where I decided to produce my first playoff game below 1,000 points.
9. Richard Burrier, 2004 RECORD: 9-5-0 POINTS: 1,427 (2nd) SEED: #3 PLAYOFFS: Lost to David in Quarters, 1,274-1,190 THOUGHTS: Surprisingly, this is the only time Burrier lands on this list. You would expect to see him more considering how many times he won the division, then went on to lose in the frist round. Burrier started the 2004 season 2-4, but dominated down the stretch, winning seven of his last eight. He won a tough division, missing the scoring title by 239 points. However, in the quarters, only two weeks after Rich had back-to-back 1,900-point games, he crashed against David. The first-round exit would become a bad habit, as Rich would not win a single playoff game the rest of the decade.
10. Molly Coomer, 2002 RECORD: 10-4-0 POINTS: 1,354 (3rd) SEED: #1 PLAYOFFS: Lost to Robio in Finals, 1,841-1,112 THOUGHTS: Unlike a lot of teams on this list, Molly at least reached the title game. In fact, only one other No 1 seed has made it to the title game, since Molly accomplished it back in 2002. While she led the league in wins, you could argue she lost to a better team; she was 4th in scoring, while I was 2nd in scoring.
Comments