1996 Season

Playoff participants dropped from 12 to 8

Heading into the Erie League's seventh season, a number of rule change proposals were studied by those in attendance at the First Annual Awards/Rules Banquet held in February. One policy that was defeated was the "Protect a Player" proposal, a provision that would have allowed owners to protect one or two players from their current roster in order to carry them over to the next season of action. A change that was approved by the league's competition committee dealt with the post-season format. Starting in 1996, the number of playoff teams would be dropped from twelve to eight. The eight teams that did not qualify for the Fantasy Bowl Tournament would qualify for a Consolation Tournament in which a refunded entry fee would serve as the prize.

The league office moved to Chardon, OH. Pavelich attempted to enter into a contact with a statistical service - Fantasy Advantage by Limelight Software. The service was dumped after one week and the commissioner began the process of seeking a refund due to the poor quality of the software.

Comings and goings

Due to owner Dave Barnes moving out of the state, the Legion of Doom franchise was discontinued after the '95 season. Thanks in part to the league's strict new "Controversial Trade" clause, Dan Cisek's River Rats organization was disbanded. Keith Kuratko discontinued the name Baluchitherium after one season and founded the Atomic Punks. 

Commissioner Pavelich awarded expansion franchises to the Polish Monarchs (Mike Szydlowski) and LTP (Don Jones). Stormtroopers GM Storm Thomas immediately welcomed Jones to the league: "He's a proven baseball coach," Thomas said at the time. "He's won all those championships on the diamond but now it's time for the gridiron. I'm proven in this league and he's not. He's not going to go very far this year." 

Great Lakes Too League founded

Bonecrushers GM Dave Bell founded The Great Lakes Too Fantasy Football League in July 1996. Among the Erie Leaguers who were awarded charter franchises: Kirk Pavelich (Young Guns), Sam Profio (Spogliati), Mike Bell (Bad Mojo), and Dave Bell (Bushwackers). Pavelich's Young Guns went 11-5 and won the GLL Too's first title, 67-59 over Steve Allen's Rambunctious club. For the Guns, who never got close enough to sniff a title in the Erie League (14-18 in two seasons), the change of scenery would work wonders.

The 1996 Draft

The draft took place at the brand new Medical Specialties Warehouse in Streetsboro on Sunday Aug. 18, 1996, with the Donikers-DTL selecting RB Emmitt Smith with the first overall selection. Other first round picks included: QB Steve Young (#2 - Atomic Punks), QB Brett Favre (#3 - Callouses), WR Jerry Rice (#4 - Cosmic Monsters), WR Herman Moore (#5 - Psychedelic B's), RB Chris Warren (#6 - Assassins), RB Barry Sanders (#7 - LTP), RB Ricky Watters (#8 - Midnight Vigilantes), RB Curtis Martin (#9 - Bonecrushers), QB Dan Marino (#10 - Black Diamond), QB Scott Mitchell (#11 - Shadow Bandits), QB Jeff Blake (#12 - King Salmons), RB Marshall Faulk (#13 - Hostile Omish), RB Rashaan Salaam (#14 - Stormtroopers), WR Robert Brooks (#15 - Captain Tripps), and QB Warren Moon (#16 - Polish Monarchs).

Sports Page Highlights

The Sports Page published a statistical analysis after the draft that attempted to answer the question of who had the best draft. Each team was analyzed, based on their top selections and how those selections were projected to do according to Fantasy Football Pro Forecast magazine. The top five included: Black Diamond (Joe Nunney), Captain Tripps (Matt Rzyczycki), LTP (Don Jones), the Hostile Omish (Mike Kuratko), and the Midnight Vigilantes (Kirk Pavelich). At the time, Nunney responded to his top ranking: "I don't mind the position at all," Nunney said. "It creates excitement. Yet, make no mistake, I'm in the same division with the all-time victories leader (Keith Kuratko) and three former Fantasy Bowl champions (Kuratko, Mike Bell, and Storm Thomas). As far as I'm concerned, I'm still in the toilet bowl trying to work my way out."

Profio's streak continues

Sam Profio's Donikers-DTL won their first three games of the '96 campaign to extend their regular season winning streak to 15 games. With 18 games under his belt, Profio's record stood at 17-1. Meanwhile, Keith Kuratko's Atomic Punks lost their first three games, their worst start since the Punishers started the 1990 season at 0-3. The two teams would collide in Week Four with the Punks handing the Donikers their worst loss in franchise history, 123-23. Said Profio at the time: "All I have to say is that as wretched and putrid as (the loss) is, I can take some consolation in that I am still not as bad as the lowly Bonecrushers!"

The Donikers were in the news again during Week Six when they defeated Brad Rzycyzcki's Cosmic Monsters 90-88 in the league's first double overtime game. Profio earned the win after the reserves on each squad failed to score any touchdowns or field goals, requiring the commissioner to look at yardage points scored by all of the players on the bench.

Bonecrushers set new single-game scoring mark

Led by QB Jeff Hostetler's 30 point performance, Dave Bell's Bonecrushers broke the league record for points in a game during Week Seven action when he defeated his son Mike's Assassins 138-54. RB Curtis Martin chipped in with 28 and WR James Jett had 23 to help the Bonecrushers eclipse the previous record of 126 set by Captain Tripps in 1995.

Vince builds a contender

Bryan Vince began to put together a championship caliber club after three weeks when he dealt WR Jake Reed to Keith Kuratko and the Atomic Punks for WR Henry Ellard and RB Harvey Williams. He then traded WR Herman Moore the following week for RB Tim Biakabatuka (who would immediately suffer a season-ending knee injury) and WR Bert Emanuel. Vince then picked up the key piece to his eventual Fantasy Bowl title puzzle when he swapped Early and QB Mike Tomczak to Jim Damicone's King Salmons for QB Jeff Blake. After starting the year 1-5, Vince's club would eventually win nine of ten to advance to Fantasy Bowl 7.

After a dismal 1-6 start, Keith Kuratko's Atomic Punks reeled off eight wins in nine games to not only qualify for the playoffs, but to eliminate the '95 champion Midnight Vigilantes in the first round. However, the Punks would get bounced from the playoffs the following week, 75-72, at the hands of Sam Profio's Donikers-DTL.

Division Champs

The Donikers-DTL (9-4) won the Spade Division, the Assassins (9-4) captured the Club Division, the Shadow Bandits (10-3) took home the Diamond Division title, and the Midnight Vigilantes (9-4) won the Heart Division. Kirk Pavelich's Midnight Vigilantes -- the only team in the league to break the 1000 point barrier -- won the regular season points championship with 1006 (77.4 per game) points. Click here to see the rest of the 1996 standings. 

Three of the league's four division champs were upset in the first round of the playoffs. Click here for a recap of Round One action. Click here for a preview of the 1996 Semi-Finals.

Fantasy Bowl 7

Vince's Psychedelic B's (right) won Fantasy Bowl 7 over Sam Profio's Donikers-DTL by a score of 74-63. Click here to read the Fantasy Bowl 7 Preview -- Click here to read the Fantasy Bowl 7 Recap. QB Jeff Blake was named Most Valuable Player for his 26 point performance (284 passing yards, 31 rushing yards, 3 touchdown passes). The win was especially sweet for the B's, considering the fact that they had lost 101-95 to the Donikers in the '95 playoffs -- a game they would have won had QB Steve Young rushed or passed for one more yard. For his victory, Vince received a check for $455.50. Mike Szydlowski's Polish Monarchs defeated the Atomic Punks 75-47 to win the third place game.

Kirk Pavelich won the post-season playoff league, scoring 194 points.

Pavelich wins commissioner of the year

On December 9, 1996, the Erie League received national recognition when Pavelich (left) was honored with Fantasy Football Weekly's 1996 Commissioner of the Year award. The writers at FFW leave Pavelich with another responsibility -- to keep in touch so "the manner in which you run your league will be an important part of keeping our staff in touch with the evolution of fantasy football."  Click here to read FFW's congratulatory letter -- Click here to read Pavelich's award-winning essay.

Awards Banquet

The second annual Awards Banquet was held on Jan. 12, 1997 at the Winking Lizard in Macedonia. Pavelich vowed to select a new location in 1998 after the Erie League is bumped from the reservation list by the Beers of the World Tour. Vince was voted top GM, Profio again won top coach honors, Mark Brunell (Hostile Omish) was named MVP, QB Blake was named the league's first post-season MVP, and RB Eddie George (Midnight Vigilantes) won Rookie of the Year honors.