Season 13-Lucky 13th Season Ready To Roll for the Mighty BFL after Record 2007

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Lucky 13th Season Ready To Roll for the Mighty BFL after Record 2007
Wild Final Week Bodes Well For Best BFL Year Yet This Season

COCOA BEACH, Fla. (August 27, 2008) – Still reelin'-and-a-rockin' after last year's record final weekend of play, the mighty BFL – the premier football pool in the motorsports world and beyond – is ready to rumble once again this year with an incredible 13th season of competition, which begins with the opening-game of the season next Thursday, September 4. Week 1 pick sheets are due to be filed by Midnight on Wednesday, September 3 – almost exactly one week from right now – and are currently available at www.marcusblade.com or www.msu.edu/~matlenma/.

Last year's season ended with one of the wildest finishes in the history of the BFL with long-shot title threat ATOM (Adam Saal) rallying to become just the second repeat BFL champion ever and first in nearly a decade. ATOM's title shocker was only half of the season-ending headlines, however, as the 2007 finale also saw another founding league player, backmarker (Rena Shanaman), score an incredible first-ever career weekly win in 12 seasons of BFL competition.

ATOM, who won his first BFL title in 2001, entered the final weekend of play trailing leader Double T (Tom Tharp) and Da Man (Dennis Tardich), but ended up passing both with a fifth-place weekly showing to join former league player Kim Parker (1998& '99 … and remember her?) as the only two-time BFL Champions. ATOM was the first player to jump from third to first in the final week of play and the 25-point deficit he made up was the biggest final-week gap a champion has overcome to take a BFL title.

ATOM, backmarker, Double T and Da Man will all be back this season along with a full list of league veterans and a handful of newcomers. It also needs to be noted before ATOM's head becomes too big for this press release that several other proven and competitive BFL Champs are also back in action. The list includes BFL legend Freddie T (Fred Tenorio – 1997), Pikachu (Alec Applebaum – 2002), House of Cain (Merrill Cain – 2003), Christine (Christine Reinhart – 2005) and Marcus Blade (Marc Matlen – 2006).

For the record – and it is a perfect lead-in to the rules – Double, Da Man and ATOM had an easier time with the title battle last year because two BFL champs who should know better missed at least one week of play. Both House of Cain and Freddie T found out it is nearly impossible to win the BFL crown if you miss a week of play (House actually missed two!) so let that be Commishly lesson number one as we get into the rules. Every week of play counts!

The BFL is a season-long confidence pool with both weekly payouts and a season championship up for grabs. The rules are pretty simple, and players just pick the outright winners of each week's games – straight up, no spreads – and rank each match up with confidence points based on the total number of games played that week.

As usual, the annual football follies are open to anyone who wants to play… and pay in a timely manner. Two and only two payment options are available. Based on a weekly entry fee of just $5, you can either pay the whole season in advance ($85.00) or go with the half-down/half-later payment plan ($42.50). Paying on a week-to-week basis is an option that hasn't been around since the last time the Democrats were in the Oval Office (but don't expect that to change in November). Regardless of your payment plan, all players must have their money (checks are cool) in by the beginning of Week 2 in order to continue in the league. If you choose the split payment program, your second payment is due November 1, 2008. The mailing address for checks is listed in the complete rules below and be sure to follow them if you want to contend for the title.

Do need to give the annual tip of the Commish's new cowboy hat to Marc Matlen and Karen Tardich who are the tireless people who really do the work in the BFL. They are back once again to handle the web site and accounting duties, respectively, and let them know you appreciate it. We wouldn't have the BFL without them.

The Rules:

*The BFL is a confidence points pool. The objective is to pick the winner of each game played on each weekend while allocating points to each game based on the number of games played. So, in a 16-game week (always check the total number of games being played each week), you would pick each game's winner and then rank each game from 1 to 16. Games you believe will be blowouts should get the highest points allocations (16, 15, 14, etc.) while games that seem to be too close to call should get the lower point allocations (3, 2, 1, etc.). You earn points only for the games you win.

*The player accumulating the most points each week is that week's winner. The player accumulating the most points in the season wins the championship.

*No spreads are used. Make your picks based on outright wins, not against the line.

*Entry fee is $85 for the full season or $42.50 for a half season (remaining $42.50 due by November 1st). Regardless of which payment method you choose, payment is due by the beginning of Week 2. IF IT HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED, YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING EXCLUDED FROM THE BFL.

*A weekly prize fund and season-long bonus pool are up for grabs. Each week's winner receives 90% of that week's purse. 10% of each week's pot goes into the season-long pool which pays 60% to the winner, 30% to the runner-up and 10% to third place at the end of the season.

*Every weekend of play counts toward the championship. The old throw-out week rule was done away with back when the earth cooled. All 17 weeks of play count.

*Your weekly pick sheet and entry must be filed on time in order to play. The pick sheet deadline is Thursday midnight for regular weekend games and Wednesday midnight for weekends with Thursday games (NOTE: THE 2008 OPENER IS A WEDNESDAY MIDNIGHT DEADLINE).

*We again have a zero-tolerance late-pick policy. Blade usually has each week's pick sheet posted several days before the deadline. If in doubt, fill it out early and send it in.

*Weekly ties are broken by combined score of each week's Monday Night Football game. Be sure to fill that out on each week's pick sheet. In the event we need a further weekly tiebreaker, total season weekly wins to that point will be used, down through highest weekly finishes.

*Championship ties will be broken by total season weekly wins down through highest weekly finishes.

*It is OK to have a team of people for a single entry but no one may be involved in more than one team, individually or in a group. No double dipping!

*Unlike other fantasy or game sports sites, you can't register in advance for the BFL. Your team name will be registered for the season when you file your first picks. You can do that now, but it is always wise to wait until a few days before the opener… but don't miss the deadline!

*All disputes will be decided by The Commish, and it is scary to think he has to do it before!

*Once you have registered and paid, drop The Commish an email at adamsaal@yahoo.com with details of who you are (BFL team name and your real team name), where you are from and how you found out about the league.

*Again, the league's web site is www.marcusblade.com or www.msu.edu/~matlenma/. Check it out and get in the game!