1994 Season

Founder Bell steps down as commissioner

Mike Bell announced that he would step down permanently as commissioner after serving in the position for three of the league's first four years. Kirk Pavelich (right), a two-year veteran of the league, took over at the start of the '94 season. Bell would later comment that Pavelich "took the league to a whole new level with his statistical prowess and putting it on the World Wide Web."

Pavelich's first order of business was to take the best of both scoring worlds, introducing the Erie League to the combined (basic + performance) scoring method. 

The new commissioner also moved the league's offices to Twinsburg, OH. He returned to the former transaction night policy where acquisitions could be made on a first come, first serve basis. The start of Pavelich's tenure also signaled the end of the tight end requirement, as the flex option allowed owners to use any combination of three wide receivers OR tight ends. A final alteration was made to the playoff format, as teams that lost in the first round could still earn money by winning their way through a fourth place consolation tournament.

Comings and goings

Despite his best efforts, Pavelich was unable to convince five owners from the Bell era to remain in the league. As a result, the Ball Busters (Mike Kuzniakowski), the Cyborgs (Eric Brennan), the Brews Brothers (Todd Shell), Marci's Team (Marci Matthews), and Z's Team (Paul Zeretski) folded. Paul Labonte changed his team name to the Misdemeanors after two sub-par years as the End Zone Boys. Pavelich took over sole ownership of the Dark Side franchise after awarding the Cosmic Monsters to his former co-owner Brad Rzyczycki. He then changed the name back to the Young Guns.

Pavelich awarded additional expansion franchises to the Horsemen (Joe Nunney), the Stormtroopers (Storm Thomas), the River Rats (Dan Cisek) and Captain Tripps (Matt Rzyczycki). 

The 1994 Draft

The draft took place in late August 1994, with the Bonecrushers selecting WR Jerry Rice with the first overall selection. Other first round picks included: QB Steve Young (#2 - Horsemen), RB Emmitt Smith (#3 - Stormtroopers), QB Troy Aikman (#4 - River Rats), RB Barry Foster (#5 - Cosmic Monsters), QB John Elway (#6 - Misdemeanors), QB Randall Cunningham (#7 - Hostile Omish), WR Sterling Sharpe (#8 - King Salmons), RB Jerome Bettis (#9 - Punishers), QB Jeff Hostetler (#10 - Assassins), QB Warren Moon (#11 - Young Guns), and WR Andre Rison (#12 - Captain Tripps).

The first week of action with the new scoring system took place on Sunday, Sept. 4, 1994 with the following results: Bonecrushers 73, Horsemen 60; Stormtroopers 114, River Rats 73; Cosmic Monsters 110, Misdemeanors 68; King Salmons 91, Hostile Omish 82; Assassins 56, Punishers 41; and Captain Tripps 126, Young Guns 46. The debut effort by Matt Rzyczycki's Captain Tripps squad set the new record for points in an Erie League contest.

Sports Page Highlights

The Sports Page, now written by Pavelich, returned on Sept. 6, 1994. Click here to read the first Sports Page of the Pavelich era.

Storm Thomas immediately began to earn his reputation as a trash talker after his Week One thumping of Cisek's River Rats. "You know you have to be feared when your starters score more points than your opponent's entire roster," Thomas said at the time. "And like Al Davis says, I'd rather be feared than respected." 

Matt Rzyczycki's Captain Tripps club rolled to a 103-54 victory in Week Two, totaling 229 points in their first two weeks of existence. This prompts Pavelich to print "I don't think he can be beat. Every guy on his team should average 10 points a game. Unless injuries hit, I think he'll win it all. Easily." Captain Tripps would later fall to the King Salmons in the first round of the playoffs, becoming the first team to succumb to "The Commissioner's Curse."

Pavelich's reputation as a gambler started in '94 after his trade of first round pick Barry Sanders to Dave Bell and the Bonecrushers for Brett Favre -- after just two games. "I just didn't feel like Warren Moon was the man to lead our squad to the championship," Pavelich said at the time. Pavelich then took out an ad in the next week's Sports Page, offering any quarterback for a starting wide receiver or running back. Keith Kuratko showed the league that he was still "the man" when it came to trading when he engineered a three-way trade with the Horsemen and Captain Tripps for QB Steve Young and WR Andre Rison after Week Six.

Owner Profiles

With issue six of The Sports Page, Pavelich brought back the owner feature article and the question of the week, first popularized by Mike Bell during the 1993 season. Owners profiled during the '94 season included: Kirk Pavelich, Brad Rzyczycki, Joe Nunney, Mike Kuratko, Keith Kuratko, Storm Thomas, Dan Cisek and Jim Damicone. Trash talking continued at a high level thanks to these items. In issue seven, Brad Rzyczycki fired shots at former co-owner Pavelich: "He held us down each year by drafting horrible players," Rzyczycki said at the time. "I draft my own players and become definite contenders for the playoffs and fantasy bowl. What's that tell you?" 

Nunney followed suit in issue eight with a classic shot at former commissioner Mike Bell: "He's always saying how good he is and that the Punishers can't beat him," Nunney said at the time. "Well it seems to me that he's doing a lot of talking about leading a division when his team couldn't lead a whore to bed. Hell, my 38-year-old quarterback (Joe Montana) beat his whole team last week!" Bell responded the following week with "I don't know who this shit hole is but I hope he gets his dick out of Keith Kuratko's ass!"

Other items featured in the 1994 Sports Page collection included: Opinion Poll on Biggest Rival, Opinion Poll on Who Would Win the '94 Championship and Keith Kuratko's Personal Shots at the Entire League.

Pavelich announced plans for a first-ever playoff league in the Week Eight notebook. The post-season league, which involved drafting only those players on the rosters of the year's playoff teams, featured the following charter members: Brad Rzyczycki, Keith Kuratko, Mike Kuratko, Jim Damicone, Kirk Pavelich, Joe Nunney, Dave Bell, and Dan Cisek. Damicone won the league's inaugural contest by scoring 198 points throughout the 1994 playoffs.

Erie League Awards

The first Erie League Awards were presented at the conclusion of the '94 regular season with all selections being made on a statistical basis. Stormtroopers RB Emmitt Smith was named Most Valuable Player, Captain Tripps RB Marshall Faulk won Rookie of the Year honors, Punishers GM Keith Kuratko was named Executive of the Year, and Stormtroopers owner Storm Thomas won Coach of the Year recognition.

Division Champs

The Bonecrushers (9-5) won the Spade Division, the Hostile Omish (12-2) captured the Club Division, and Captain Tripps (9-5) took home the Heart Division title. Brad Rzyczycki's Cosmic Monsters won the regular season points championship with a league record 1120 (80.0 per game) -- a mark that would stand until 1999. Click here to see the rest of the 1994 standings. 

Post-season highlights

Nunney's Horsemen became the first team in league history to be disqualified for post-season play by failing to pay $7.50 in transaction fees. Click here to read the Playoff Preview for Round One. Pavelich's 5-9 Young Guns took their place and promptly upset the top-seeded Hostile Omish 70-42. Click here to read the Playoff Preview for Round Two.

Fantasy Bowl 5

Thomas' Stormtroopers (below left) won Fantasy Bowl 5 over Brad Rzyczycki's Cosmic Monsters by a score of 69-50. The matchup had been the first where the title game participants actually had bad blood toward one another, stemming from a Week 10 phone call that Thomas had made to guarantee victory over Rzyczycki. "I figured I'd give him a little shit," Thomas said of his prediction at the time that Emmitt  Smith would lead his team back from a 16-point deficit. "It just so happened that Emmitt backed my words up -- just like I knew he would." Click here to read the Fantasy Bowl 5 Preview.  RB Bernie Parmalee, subbing for an injured Emmitt Smith, was named Most Valuable Player for his 25 point performance (39 rushing yards, 47 receiving yards, 3 rushing touchdowns). For his victory, Thomas received a check for $350. 

After the loss, a bitter Rzyczycki published an underground newsletter bashing several members of the Erie League. Click here to read the comments. 

Damicone's King Salmons beat Pavelich's Young Guns 89-55 for third place and Mike Kuratko's Hostile Omish came back from their crushing first-round defeat to beat Dave Bell's Bonecrushers 69-45 and win the fourth place cash.