1993 Season

Bell brings league into the computer age

Commissioner Mike Bell made great strides in taking the Erie League into the computer age, purchasing league management software and a statistical service through the Prodigy network. As a result, owners were provided with their first opportunity -- at a cost of 50 cents each -- to purchase individual statistical reports on everything from player scoring to NFL roster analysis. Since a computer was now in charge of scoring tabulation -- instead of calculations by hand -- Bell decided to return to the performance scoring system (points for field goals, extra points, and yardage). 

To deal with the problem of keeping all owners interested throughout the year, Bell instituted a system that would provide financial prizes for high scoring team and player of the week, most points in a game all year, and best record over the final six regular season games. Bell also attempted to address the situation of outstanding debts with rule number seven ("Everyone's tab will be publicly documented in the weekly newsletter. Remember - you are playing amongst friends, relatives and peers - if you welch on your tab, it is they you will be pissing off") and rule number eight ("No team with an outstanding balance will be permitted post-season play").

The fee for trades was increased to $5 per player and a limit was placed on the number of trades allowed between two teams (one trade per season). Said Keith Kuratko, owner/GM of the Punishers, "I think that's fine. There are a lot of unethical people out there and this is aimed at them." Responding to the rumor that he was one of them, Kuratko said, "Oh, no doubt. I can't deny that if I knew I was out of the hunt I would help a relative if I could."

The Invitational Football League is founded

The Young Guns (co-owned by Kirk Pavelich and Brad Rzyczycki) moved to Bell's new Invitational Football League (IFL) and lost in the league's one and only championship game, 74-64 to Marci's Team Too. The other charter members in the IFL included: Tween Da Hedges (Todd Shell), Club Flatulence (Mike Bell), Funky Monks (Keith Kuratko), Marci's Team Too (Marci Matthews) and the One Eyed Jacks (Dave Bell). The IFL, Bell's attempt at a keeper league, ceased operations at the end of the season. To replace the departure of the Young Guns, the Pavelich/Rzyczycki ownership group created The Dark Side. 

Comings and goings

Bell awarded expansion franchises to the Cyborgs (Eric Brennan) and Z's Team (owned by Paul Zeretski). Mike Kuzniakowski changed his team's name for a third time in three years, unveiling the Ball Busters to take the place of the Bud Bashers. Streeter Matthews pulled the plug on the Blue Streaks after three seasons and Dominic Reto's Brown Bombers, the '91 champions, also folded. In retrospect, Reto's organization was never able to recover from the first round selection of kicker Chip Lohmiller in 1992.

The 1993 Draft

The draft moved to Erie Medical Supplies' new location in Walton Hills and took place in late August 1993, with the Dark Side selecting RB Barry Sanders with the first overall selection. Other first round picks included: QB Steve Young (#2 - Bonecrushers), RB Emmitt Smith (#3 - King Salmons), QB Randall Cunningham (#4 - End Zone Boys), QB Warren Moon (#5 - Bud Bashers), RB Thurman Thomas (#6 - Hostile Omish), RB Barry Foster (#7 - Assassins), QB Dan Marino (#8 - Cyborgs), QB Jim Kelly (#9 - Z's Team), WR Jerry Rice (#10 - Brews Brothers), WR Michael Irvin (#11 - Marci's Team), and RB Ricky Watters (#12 - Punishers).

The first week of action with the new scoring system took place on Sunday, Sept. 5, 1993 with the following results: Bonecrushers 56, Dark Side 43; Assassins 52, Cyborgs 43; Hostile Omish 53, Ball Busters 38; King Salmons 59, End Zone Boys 25; Punishers 59, Marci's Team 53; and Brews Brothers 59, Z's Team 36.

Sports Page Highlights

The Sports Page, written by Bell, debuted on Sept. 7, 1993. Click here to read Volume 1, Number 1.

Through Bell's hard work, The Sports Page became a publication that owners looked forward to reading each week. Owner profiles first appeared in 1993 with the following participants receiving feature stories: Mike Bell, Dave Bell (page 1) (page 2), Keith Kuratko (page 1) (page 2), Paul Labonte (page 1) (page 2) and Todd Shell (page 1) (page 2).

Computer crashes, lost information, and irreversible mistakes lead Bell to the point of a nervous breakdown in early October. "I am, to say the very least, not happy with the situation at hand," Bell said at the time. "We at The Sports Page are trying very hard to find a reasonable solution to what has become a very large pain in my ass." To compensate for the problems, Bell is forced to handwrite the league summary to ensure timely delivery. Bell eventually throws the program away and stops publishing the Sports Page after five weeks. "As you can probably imagine, the Sports Page was very time consuming and in my temper tantrum of last week I decided to shit-can the whole project," Bell said in the Week 6 newsletter. Click here to read article regarding the final Sports Page of 1993.

Mike Kuratko's Hostile Omish won their first eight games, averaging 50 points per contest, before losing to Shell's Brews Brothers 52-45 in Week 9. One week earlier, Shell had set a new league record for points in a game by defeating the Ball Busters 72-49.

Division Champs

The King Salmons (10-5) won the Eastern Division, the Hostile Omish (13-2) captured the Western Division, and the Punishers (11-4) took home the Ozone Division title. Click here to see the rest of the 1993 standings. The Hostile Omish won the regular season points championship with a league record 771 (51.4 per game), but they would later become the third number one seed in four years to lose their first round playoff game.

Bell informed the league in his Week 15 newsletter that he was seriously considering permanent retirement from commissioner duties. "It's my understanding that someone else has expressed an interest in being the commissioner next year (finally), so hopefully the Sports Page will be able to continue where it left off," Bell said in the newsletter.

Fantasy Bowl 4

Jim Damicone's King Salmons (right) won Fantasy Bowl 4 over Paul Zeretski and Z's Team by a score of 67-28. RB Emmitt Smith won MVP honors for his 22 point performance (168 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards).