Reckless.Bacon Fantasy.Football

Reckless Bacon began as a 14-team keeper league on Sandbox.com. Organized by original commissioner Jamie Campbell, it is a 3 keeper, performance league with individual defensive players. Overall the league got off to a good start, however we decided to ditch Sandbox and replace some of the inactive owners in 2001.

2001

After winning the 2000 regular-season championship (led by Marshall Faulk and Daunte Culpepper, his USA Fast Guys posted a 14-2 record), Trevor Johnson took over as commissioner in 2001 and moved the league to Yahoo. 2001 was a highly-competitive season and very close at the top. Led by Terrell Owens’ 7.1 ppg, Tom Constantino’s Tark’s Rebels overcame an 0-2 absentee start to finish tied with three teams for first place at 9-4. Then, spearheaded by defensive backs Ronde Barber and Nate Clements, the Rebels dominated three playoff contests to win Bacon Bowl I, culminating with a 98-77 victory over Campbell's Gators.

2002

By 2002, "parity" had become an adjective synonymous with the NFL, but there was even more parity in Reckless Bacon. No team won more than 8 games, no team lost fewer than 3, and there were 3 ties during the regular season. The Lost Sailors squeaked into the 8^th seed with a 6-6-1 record, after scoring the second-most points in the league. Fittingly, the championship pitted two teams that went 7-4-2: The Gators and Jason Rajtar's Team Spuden. Peyton Manning was on fire throughout the playoffs and didn't disappoint in the final, scoring 26 in a 100-68 Gator victory. Bacon Bowl II MVP was Amani Toomer with 31 points.

2003

The Fast Guys and Deke Hatley's Clovis Skullkrushers dominated the regular season, with records of 11-2 and 10-3, respectively. But a former Fast Guy stole the show in the playoffs. Kevan Barlow finally got the start, and paid off in a big way for Noah Gustafson’s Thundering Skies, scoring 14, 15, and 25 points. Tim Nichols' red-hot team, "Ike for President!!!" tanked in the finale, barely doubling Barlow's score, as the Skies triumphed in Bacon Bowl III, 83-55. It was a stunning coup for the Skies, who barely snuck into the playoffs at 7-6, thanks mostly to Marvin Harrison. But their good fortune quickly turned in the offseason as star halfback Ricky Williams retired from the league. In the offseason, another major departure shook the league, as Box Manglers owner Dan Pillera left the league, turning over his team to Chris Vincent, who christened his squad the Dark Knights.

2004

In '04, the Gators returned with a vengeance, setting league records with 1361.42 points and 12 wins, thanks to Peyton Manning's record setting season (43 touchdowns during the Bacon regular season). Ike got over his presidential hangover as well, riding Donovan McNabb's career year to 1355.95 points and a 10-3 record. But as league experts might have expected, both regular season dynamos were dispatched in the postseason. Instead, the defending champion Skies met Team Spuden in Bacon Bowl IV. It turned out to be the most exciting title game yet, as Team Spuden went to the bench to pull out an impressive 114.14 to 104.96 victory. Warrick Dunn and Nick Goings combined for 305 yards and a TD to compliment Daunte Culpepper, who capped off a year rivalling Manning's with 306 combined yards, 3 TDs, and no picks.

2005

The offseason saw significant turnover. The Thundering Skies were taken over by Brett’s brother Russ, and at Brett’s request renamed the Bunny Slippers. The Redmond Reign were taken over by Robert Wright (who had run the Valley Ranchers back in 2000), and renamed the Prosaic Attack. And Maestro’s Minions were handed off to Matt Z to become The Omnipotence. The new owners each made several trades before the season begaon, and an immediate impact. The Prosaic shocked the world with a 4-0 start which would carry them to the playoffs. The Omnipotence had no winning or losing streak shorter than four games. But it was the Bunny Slippers who had the most up-and-down season and ultimately made the most noise. They roared back from a 5-6 record to claim the 8^th seed in the playoffs, knocked off Todd Williams’ #1 seed Team Mom, who had led the league in scoring and won 8 straight, and made it all the way to the finals, dropping a total of over 267 points in the first two rounds. But it was Chris Vincent’s Dark Knights, who had near the top of the standings most of the year, who kicked off the Slippers. League MVP Shaun Alexander’s record-tying 27^th rushing touchdown of the season gave him 27.7 points on the day and put the championship game just out of reach. Another exciting Bacon Bowl ended 107.602 to 101.821. Solid performances as usual from the defense and QB Jake Plummer also highlighted the Knights’ victory.

2006

Two changes in ownership… Tark’s Rebels were turned over to Clint Cherney and renamed the Slutbugs… And the Dark Knights ended their successful 2-year run in the league and became the mcnuggets, owned by Chris H, brother-in-law of Brett and Russ. (Later renamed earthquakephil.) LaDainian Tomlinson, a 4^th-round pick in 2001 when he and this league were both rookies, was dominant from start to finish. LT accounted for 33 total touchdowns and over 2200 yards from scrimmage, leading Brett’s Bloodlust to a scoring title, and their first Bacon Bowl title as well. But as good as Tomlinson, and complimentary back Marion Barber (15 TDs) were, winning did not come without a challenge for Bloodlust. The Gators claimed the regular season title with an 11-2 record, beating Bloodlust head-to-head by a score of 115.871 to 115.501. Tim’s Ike for President campaign was a hit with pollsters, overcoming major injuries to Donovan McNabb and Clinton Portis to finish 3^rd in the race. Team Spuden had a down year, but Jason made it two for two winning the annual pick ‘em side contest. Come playoff time, no one knew quite what to expect, with four 7-6 teams and a 6-7 team qualifying. 8^th-seeded Team Mom (a high scoring team, but also the 2006 League Bitch) knocked off the 1^st-seeded Gators. The revitalized Omnipotence reached the semifinals after a 7-6 season, and Omnipotent DB Chris Hope did his best (in vain) trying to get them one step further (9 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD). In the end, the Clovis Skullkrushers provided the final obstacle for Bloodlust, with both teams making their first Bacon Bowl appearance. Alas, the Krushers completely ran out of steam, getting less than 10 points from a rushing attack that had been prolific all year, and coming up on the short side of an ugly 60.232-44.445 title game.

2007

Dumbledores Army PIK had a whirlwind offseason, making 5 trades involving 19 draft picks and 6 players. On the field, Tom Brady was the big story, setting all kinds of records for the Slutbags. With no running game whatsoever, he carried the team to the playoffs with a 6-7 record. It was a rough year for returning champion Bloodlust, who lost their final 3 games of the regular season to also finish 6-7. They recovered in time to upset 2^nd-seeded Spuden in the first round, but then lost a heartbreaker to their archrivals, the BoneCrushers. The defending regular season champs, the Gators, had another strong season, led by Randy Moss catching all those touchdown passes from Brady, but again met disappointment in the playoffs, being knocked off by PIK in a 4-point first-round loss. The team story of the year however turned out to be the Fast Guys. Mired in mediocrity for so long, coming off a 6-7 season, they dropped their first two games but then put together an unprecedented run. With a balanced attack featuring four second-year studs at RB/WR, they won 11 straight to finish the regular season, edged Slutbags and PIK in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and then faced super rookie Adrian Peterson and BoneCrushers in the final. BoneCrushers got a terrific 17 point effort from Dallas Clark, but little from their star running beast. USA got a found a surprise hero in backup RB Aaron Stecker, picked up to replace the injured Reggie Bush. Stecker led all scorers with 17.6 points and the Fast Guys won Bacon Bowl VII, 103.568 – 96.362.

2008

The league got a makeover as AOL discontinued their league manager service and Reckless Bacon was moved to myfantasyleague.com. Team turnover was again minimal with one ownership change. After a year of not being able to manage his team, Todd turned over Team Mom to Clint’s brother-in-law Bryan, who renamed it the Nihilists. From the get-go, it was clear that the most-improved team was the J E T S, who matched their 2007 win total in the first 5 weeks. Keeper Drew Brees and first-round pick Matt Forte were both workhorses and led Kenny’s kids to a 10-3 record and a regular season title. Prosaic Attack also emerge from a non-playoff season with a brilliant draft, getting a steal in RB Chris Johnson in the first round, and soon-to-be starting QB Kurt Warner in the 11^th round. Along with the emergence of third-year back DeAngelo Williams, the Attack won 9 games and finished 2^nd in scoring. The perennial playoff qualifiers, Bloodlust, Gators, Spuden, and Clovis, showed some effects of many years without an early draft pick, but managed the 4^th, 7^th, 6^th, and 10^th spots in the regular season standings, respectively. In a year without a huge individual star, young QBs Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers stood out. Both had spent their first few seasons riding the pine, but this year they carried earthquakephil and The Omnipotence to the playoffs. Rivers enjoyed even more success, dropping 26.4 points on the 1^st-seeded J E T S in the first round to pull off the upset. Prosaic got 24.8 points from Williams to defeat Omni in round 1. But the championship game would feature the last two Bacon Bowl winners, USA and Bloodlust. It was a frustrating game for both owners, each leaving more than 20 extra points on the bench. In the end, it was Brett who selected the best lineup, getting 10+ points from Antonio Bryant, Stephen Cooper, Bradie James, Eli Manning, and former Fast Guy Tony Gonzalez. Final score was 106.466 – 94.701, and Bloodlust became the league’s first winner of two Bacon Bowls.