What makes a great game? Great teams, importance, scoring, rivalry, and most importantly, just because I say so. In reality, because we don’t typically have close game and we don’t keep track of individual performances, what matters the most is importance, especially in a historical sense. Here are my top-10 greatest games from the first decade of Robioland.
10. Don Vozzola over Robio Murray, 1,617-844 – 2006 Finals By the time the 2006 playoffs rolled around, upsets were becoming a common thing. In fact, when Masterson beat Burrier in the 2006 quarters, it was the third time in four years the No 8 seed beat the No 1 seed in the first round. Hell, No 7 seeds were becoming down-right dangerous, winning in the quarters in four out of the last five years, with Jeff/Colby actually making it to the finals in 2005. However, winning a playoff game or two and winning a title were two different things. In fact, in our first six years, the champion was only a three seed or higher. Griff broke that streak in 2005, winning it as the No 4 seed, but he was the scoring champ, so it was no real upset. Yet, no one saw what was going to happen in the 2006 Finals.
Don struggled throughout the year; first losing his first-round keeper (Davis) to a season ending injury, before the season even started. He tried quitting after two weeks, as he was forced to go three-wide all year long. Despite the set backs, he still managed to win seven games, but again, he wasn’t a real threat as the No 7 seed. He was only 9th in scoring, failing to break 1,000 three of his last four games. Yet, what we always teach in Robioland is, “just get to the playoffs and win three in a row.” That’s exactly what Don did. He produced three-straight W’s, finishing his run off by becoming the first 7th seed to win the title, beating me (the No 3 seed). While the game itself wasn’t a classic, since it was truly a blowout, the win was significant, as a top-four seed hasn’t won a title since.
9. Robio Murray over Griff Coomer, 1,872-1,234 – 1999 Finals This one is more nostalgic than anything else. It certainly wasn’t a close game, however, it is to this day, the only game that truly featured the two best teams that season (based on the numbers). Rob and Griff were both the top two seeds, as well as the top two scorers in the league. While we’ve had the No 1 and No 2 teams face off once more (in 2005), it’s the only time the two title game opponents were the top seeds and top scorers.
8. David Hightower over Robio Murray, 1,984-1,823 – 2000, Week Eight The first non-playoff game on the list. While you could put this game on the list purely for the upset storyline, this week eight game earns the 8th spot on the greatest games list because it was the most points scored by a losing team…ever. First, some quick history. I was the king of the league, I was 20-4 in the league heading to my match up with David, with thirteen 1,500-point games. Dave was 10-12, with only two 1,500-point games. In fact, both those games came in Dave’s first two weeks of the first season in Robioland. He had gone 20-straight games without scoring 1,500 points. Oh well, Dave would produce his career high, beating me 1,984-1,823.
7. Molly Coomer over Don Vozzola, 494-263 – 2003, Week Three Yes, in Robioland, even bad games make the greatest games list. That’s how we roll and wait, did I say bad game? I meant an awful game. Don had one of the worse starts in fantasy sports history, scoring a solid 1,371 points in his first three games combined. Read that last line again; scoring a solid 1,371 points in his first three games COMBINED, becoming the only person to start the season with three-straight weekly low scores. Yet, it was the final game that gets him on this list, with the help of Molly of course. The game features three record low marks, including the lowest single score (Don 263), the lowest points for a winning team (Molly 494) and the lowest combined score (757). Three records that will be tough to ever break.
6. Richard Calderon over Colby Hall, 1,511-1,510 – 2004, Week One Sadly, because CBS doesn’t keep single game records beyond that season and neither do I, we’ll never know the details of this game, although I still might get to the bottom of it one day. We won’t know exactly when the game was decided, but we do know this was the highest scoring one-point game in league history. Think about it for one moment, in other leagues where games are typically decided in the 130-90 point range, you should see a handful of one-point games. Our scoring takes us into the thousands, yet we’ve produced three one-point games; one in 1999, another in 2000, but the last one was this Calderon vs Jeff/Colby classic in 2004. Both teams broke 1,500 for the game, which would set a trend for both teams, but for the Pounders, it would also set another trend…lack of luck. While Rich would break 1,500 a total of five times that year, the Pounders would do it a total of eight times, but they would only go 5-3 in those games, finishing 6-8 on the season.
5. David Hightower over Robio Murray, 1,539-1,476 – 2000 Semi-Finals At the time, in the first half of the decade, it was simply the greatest upset ever. Heading into the semis, I was the two-time defending champ. I was an amazing 37-12, including 7-0 in the post-season. David was 22-23 in his career, winning his first playoff game the week before in the quarters. This was suppose to be easy. I entered the game winning ten out of my last eleven after a 0-4 start. I was going to win easily, setting up what would have been the greatest title game match up ever against No 1 seed Jason. Yet, it wasn’t meant to be. Dave knocked me off, 1,539-1,476. David had scored over 1,500 only four times in the last two years, but two of those times were in wins over me.
4. Rob Masterson over Molly Coomer, 2,501-1,319 – 2003 Quarter-Finals This one is easy. Rob’s 2,501 total points was the most ever scored in a single game, crushing the previous high by 180 points. Think about how many points this is. You would have to have all your players average 313 points each to break this mark. Sadly for Masterson, this would be the high mark for the decade. It would all be down hill from here. It would be his last playoff victory of the decade, finishing up 9-18 after scoring that 2,500-point game. Oddly enough, for Molly, despite scoring a decent 1,319 points, the total was the third worst score of the four playoff games that week. Four teams broke 1,500 in the quarters in a oddly high scoring week.
3. David Hightower over Eric Vozzola, 1,424-1,188 – 2007, Week Six Again, great games aren’t necessarily great because of anything that happened in that game, but rather, they are important by what was going on prior to that game. Prior to this week six match up, both David and Eric simply refused to lose. Both entered the game undefeated at 5-0 and since no team had ever started the season 6-0, someone was going to break a record. That person would be David, 1,424-1,188. He would go on the win three more, giving him a league record, 9-0 start. Despite the loss, Eric would rebound and sit at 8-2 with ten weeks gone by.
2. Rich Calderon over Robio Murray, 1,953-1,535 – 2003 Quarter-Finals While I don’t officially call it the greatest upset ever, it was the league’s first No 8 seed upset over the No 1 seed, shaking the very foundation of Robioland for the back half of the decade. Entering the quarters, both Calderon and I had to overcome rough starts just to make it here. I started the season 0-4 for the second time in three years, but rebounded to win nine of my final ten, taking the scoring title and earning the top seed. For Rich, his rebound took a little longer, which just made it more dramatic. He started the season 1-5, but rallied to win five of his last seven. In fact, he needed multiple miracles in the final week just to get in, but thanks to some solid scoring, he won the tiebreakers over three other teams to take the final seed.
Prior to the 2003 season, being No 1 meant winning. In fact, the top seed was 4-0 in the quarters, but this was no ordinary No 8 seed. Previously, the last seed was last (’99), sixth (’00), 11th (’01) and eighth (’02) in scoring. However, while I was the scoring champ as the top seed, Calderon was a solid third in scoring. Heading into the post-season, he was hot, breaking 1,400 six times in his last seven games, 1,500 four times, 1,600 three times, including one 1,900-point game. Sadly for me, he produced a second, beating me 1,953-1,535. Like I said before, the upset would be a trend setter. From 1999-2002, the top seed was 9-2 in the post-season. From 2003-2008, the top seed was only 4-6, including three first-round exits. It’s also where my dynasty officially came to a close. While I remand the scoring champ over the last five years of the decade, I was 56-24, five division titles and three championships heading into my match up with Rich. Since then, I am only 36-38, with one division title, twice missing the playoffs, twice losing in the finals.
1. Bob Castrone over Griff Coomer, 1,216-1,169 – 2005 Finals Luckily for me, I basically blogged this game and posted it right after it was over (thankfully, the site saves every post from August, 2000) and we can relive this game over and over and over again. Here’s the set up, championship game: 3rd seeded Bob facing 5th seed Griff. Each team’s players were done by the end of the 4pm games on Sunday.
At a little after seven, Bob held a 91-pt lead, 1110-1019. Bob had the Bucs’ kicker and Eddie Kennison (KC receiver). Griff had a struggling Trent Green (KC QB) against SD and Shaun Alexander facing Atlanta. The Falcons, down by eight, score a late TD. All they need is a two-point conversion to tie the game and send it into overtime (possibly giving Alexander more carries). However, Warrick Dunn is stopped at the one-inch line (Griff suddenly has flashbacks to the FSU/Virginia game from Dunn’s college days). No overtime! No more carries for Alexander! No more points for Griff from him. No more field goals for Bob’s kicker.
It comes down to Trent Green and Eddie Kennison. Bob still leads by 91 points. KC is getting their butt kicks, losing to San Diego by a bunch, but with under two to play, the Chiefs are still passing. Trent quickly comes alive and takes them down the field, but two of the passes go to Kennison, helping out Bob a little. The Chiefs find themselves on the 2-yard line, Griff is down 16 points now, all he needs is a TD, but nooooooo, they hand it to Larry Johnson; touchdown!! I run to the bathroom. The Chiefs try an onside kick…it works! Holy FUCK! Here’s my play-by-play replay from that day:
– Bob 1,216 Griff 1,201…Trent Green throws to Gonzalez; incomplete! (-2 points) – Bob 1,216 Griff 1,199…Trent Green throws to Gonzalez…incomplete! (-2 points) – Bob 1,216 Griff 1,197…Third down! Trent Green throws to Gonzalez…complete for 21 yards!!! (21 points) – Griff 1,218 Bob 1,216 (Griff’s in the lead! Griff’s in the lead!!! Trent Green spikes the ball. Incomplete (-2 points) – Griff 1,216 Bob 1,216 (TIE GAME! TIE GAME! TIE GAME!) Less than ten seconds to go. Trent Green throws to Daute Hall…INTERCEPTED! -47 points for Griff (-2 for incomplete, -45 for INT)
GAME OVER!!! GAME OVER!! BOB WINS, BOB WINS, 1,216-1,169…THE REPUBLICANS WIN!!!THE 2004 FANTASY FOOTBALL CHAMPION IS BOB CASTRONE (The Republicans).
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