Anchorage Away my friends

[Axxon]

First a few notes on this franchise. I will be starting with the Anchorage North Stars. I joined Anchorage after a successful couple of years in Tampa Bay thouhgh we never made the dance. The allure of starting in our 50th state was strong and is the reason that I have decided that this will be a posted dynasty.

I am using no house rules per se. I use what I like to call "conscience rules" wherein my decisions are not hard and fast decided arbitrarily but on a case by case basis with the reality of my role playing situation having the greatest weight in my choices. I am playing Wall Street and can be fired. It was an allocation draft league if anyone is interested and of course it is 2k1.

Lastly, this post is being made from work and will simply detail my preseason moves. I don't have access to all my info so much of it will be "as remembered" which enhances the role play IMHO. Corrections may be made in lated posts.

2001 Preseason:

I arrived in Anchorage and was greeted by my scout, Rico Bailey, a man who knows his RB's cold and his WR's almost as much. He has a good knowledge of the rest of the positions and can spot rookies reasonably. His only weakness is in his judgement of the OL and we both have agreed to let statistical analysis cover this minor weakness. Rico isn't the guy I would have chosen for the head scout job, but I am not disappointed that I will be working with him.

Also present was the guy I affectionately call "that guy who will wear the headset for a year until I can replace his butt". He has almost no development skills and his game day skills aren't that hot either. His only good point is that he runs a very good training and conditioning program so he won't get us killed out there. While that is a very important thing, it just isn't backed up by enough to make him a long term coach.

In the expansion draft I personally pick a handful of players that I feel might make the team then let Rico pick the guys we're going to cut. It works out good that way and shows that I am a team player. A couple of players worthy of note:

WR Patrick Jeffers 11/11 7 2003
DT Brad Culpepper 9/9 11 2002

Both of these guys are chosen because they are fan favorites. Since I am bringing football to an area of the country which has never had football bringing in some crowd pleasers is important to establish a team identity and bring some fans in. We hope to be able to retain Jeffers for a while but Pep will problably be gone after this year.

The only other playera who stuck were:

TE Tyrone Davis 9/11 8 2002
TE Johnny Mcwilliams 7/8 7 2002
DE Grant Wistrom 7/9 5 2003
DE Mike Frederick 6/7 8 2002
S Zack Bronson 8/10 6 2002

McWilliams is nowhere near as good as Rico thinks he is but he is a top notch blocker. Shame that's his only talent. Still, he was my pick not his, so I bear the responsibilty. What worries me is Rico agreeing with my mistake. Do I have an a**kisser as my head scout?

Before free agency I check out the draft board to decide what I'm going to take. I immediately narrow it down to two choices. One a maxed out RB which is doubly great because Rico knows his backs. He tells me he is a can't miss proposition and I have to agree. There is only one problem.

Sitting square atop the combine boards is LB Roderick Becker. When I look at his numbers I can't believe it. We're not talking potentials here. We have current numbers all in the 80's and 90's except for zone coverage at 68 and endurance at 76. This is either a blue chip beast or some GM's worst nightmare and I'm the guy who is going to be tempted first.

We had a war room meeting on the issue. I wanted the LB; there was no way I wanted to be the guy who turned down the next LT. At the same time, team player and all that, I took opinions.

"I don't know, Axx" Rico said "he sure looks like the real thing and all but my expertise is with running backs and we simply can't miss with this RB. We surely wouldn't want to start our careers in Anchorage with a draft day bust would we?"

"No, but we wouldn't want to pass up the next L T either" said headphone guy, which was my thoughts too but everybody in the room knew that headphones had an absolutely horrid record developing linebackers so it seemed like he'd be the last person to pull for one. On the other hand, how much development did Becker need? He was mostly developed already and his success would possibly help erase the well deserved rap that 'phones had developed.

I also knew a good deal about RB's and had one option I needed to pursue. Last year, my last in Tampa I had drafted Nicky Brooks in the 3rd round. Nicky didn't have stand out numbers but he had the look and feel of a great back and I knew that he was destined to be one. In his rookie year, he had rushed for over 1100 yards in 12 games and 9 tds to earn OROY. I wondered if I could pry him away from Tampa which would give me the best of both worlds.

I don't know if it was because it was me or if the current management knew what Brooks could do, but they weren't biting. After offering them this years 2nd, next years 1st and 2nd and the year after that's 2nd and being flat out laughed at I found myself thinking about how to sweeten the pot and thought 'what the heck am I doing?'. Nicky is going to be great , but this is just too much to give up so I can that idea.

After weighing all the options I do what I have to do. That's the price of making the big bucks. I decide that Becker is the way to go. I just hope it won't be me going anywhere because of the decision. On to free agency.

My free agency philosophy is simple. I want to build a great team but I don't have to do it all at once. I will feel much better with a reasonable first year team and some cash reserve to build on than a paper tiger and no wriggle room. What I decide to do ( roughly ) is go after 4 guys I want then in the 5th round go after some more to bring my currently pursued list to 4 etc etc through the draft. I did this but in round 10 I went after 5. Sue me ;-) This was done to give me a decent spread of talent, not too top heavy, not to bottom dwelling to make my team competetive but manageable.

My first four pursuits were:

K Jason Hanson 17/17 11 - have to have a kicker right? He was the best on the board.

T Robert Hicks 12/14 5 - The O-Line's the thing and he is young and talented and eager. He signed a reasonable contract in week 1.

LB Michael Barrow 11/11 10 - Mainly to mentor Becker and to play beside him. I wanted a solid LB corps for this team.

RB Michael Pittman 10/11 5 - There were better backs out there, but he fit my mold and was young enough to be around long enough for me to tab his replacement.

I ended up getting all four of these guys, but Pittman jacked me aound until the 13th round which is why in frustration I went after the 5th guy in the 10th. I will quickly fill in the rest of my free agent picks here in scouting order based on future estimates as that is the report that >I have handy.

LB Anthony Harris 10/13 7 - My third piece of the LB puzzle. He wasn't my first choice actually but I was really glad he was still around when my first choice backed out.

C Kevin Mawae 12/12 9 - He and Wohlabaugh were both available but every other team in the league it seemed wanted Dave so I quietly went with Kevin and got him, no muss, no fuss.

G Jeremy Newberry 11/12 5 - young and capable

DT Hollis Thomas 11/12 7 - to play beside Pep

P John Jett 10/10 10 Needed somebody

T Victor Riley 10/10 5 - was simply going for starters at this point

WR Keyshawn Johnson 9/9 7 - FOF is not kind to Key, but being a former Buc he was on my list once I saw that he wasn't exactly being pursued by..well..anybody at all. I hope he proves all his neighsayers wrong but if he doesn't he wasn't overly expensive.

G chris Naeole 9/9 6 - Now, this completed my line. A motley crew which shouldn't embarrass themselves but not among the elite by any means.

CB Duane Starks 7/8 5 - Actually, he was an expansion holdover as well but I had forgotten about him. He's overpriced by my scouts estimates and mine as well, but he had really good statistics for his career so I decided to see if he is the real deal while I have some cash to spend.

That's it for Free Agency. It's on to the draft. This was a particularly deep draft and I was going to have fun with it even though I was going to be biting my nails about my first choice. Without further ado, meet the class of 2001:

LB Roderick Becker xx/xx R - We went with Rod and I think I'll wait a bit to tell you how the draftees fared

CB Cris Clay - I expect him to be my starter for a long time and even should he never reach super star status, he should be one of my better players.

S Leonard Duncan - I always try and secure good safeties and this year was no exception. Hopefully, Leonard makes the grade and gives us what we are expecting of him.

QB Shannon Danforth - He is this drafts Nicky Brooks. He should never have dropped this low and I can see him being my starter for a long time. While he doesn't have super star ratings, he will get the job done...I hope.

WR Frankie Korzuk - Korzuk has all the tools to be a starter one day and he has the game to be a good 3rd receiver now. He isn't exactly a steal though as there are still comperable WR's left. The draft is that deep.

S Jeff Coffey - Decided to see if he could get something brewing with my secondary ;-)

LB Lance Mckenzie - I know it's better to pick up late rounders by current rather than future potential but my team doesn't need him to be great now and he may develop into someone worth using down the line.

At this point I filled my roster with rookie free agents and headed to training camp. I will fill you in on these guys and the results of my draft now. Remember these are all post camp numbers.

LB - Roderick Becker 11/16 - phew, his numbers didn't drop but the scouts opinion has??

CB Chris Clay 9/14 - he'll start this year as expected

S Leonard Duncan 9/15 - The anchor I wanted

QB Shannon Danforth 7/13 - consistant with his numbers and he suffered no drop off

WR Frankie Korzuk 8/13 - this was such a fun draft

S Jeff Coffey 7/11 - cool beans!

LB Lance Mckenzie 4/10 - Never going to be great and I'm afraid I won't pony up for him when the bill comes due.

Undrafted But Playing:

S Nicky Kinnard 4/13 - Wow, breakout guy.
C Kennedy Darrow 4/13 - Do C's grow on trees?
G Derrick Bergman 6/12
TE Brad Shaw 5/12 - unfortunately not Terry
C Dale Doyle 4/11 - see Darrow
WR Eugene Camara 5/11 - got him to see what would develop
DE Cary Newhart 3/10
RB Alvin Tamayo 6/10
G Drew Howe 5/10
DT Oliver Jacobs 5/10
LB Josh Holbrook 4/10 - the real mckenzie
S Anthony Chau 5/9
DE Leon Malone 4/9 - strives to be slightly below average
LB Hunter Lodge 3/9 - great name
RB Jerome Newhart 8/8 - A great second back
WR Brant Frederick 6/8 - no relation to Mike
CB Cedric Freeman 6/7
QB Ricky Sims 3/7 - looks good in our uni's
CB Kendall Rosehill 6/7 - return man
CB Lamont Ekuban 6/7 - like Rosehill
WR Dominic Flores 5/6 - like Ekuban and Rosehill
T Lincoln Grudich 1/4 - has certain incriminating photos...but lets not go there

And that's almost it. I did sign 4 post draft free agents and here's who and why.

QB Daunte Culpepper 9/12 5 2005 - I had every intention of making Danforth my QB of the present and future but he only wanted a 2 year deal. I offered him 12mill bonus and over 2.5 per year and he simply wouldn't take a long term deal. I didn't want to go any higher and it made no sense to ink a 4 yr deal like he wanted at this salary range as that would almost all be development time. Finally, I gave him his 2 year crumbs and decided to franchise him after that. I let it go at that until after camp.

After camp, I saw a slew of good qb's and while Culpepper wasn't the best he was young and strong and I thought, hmm, if I can get him reasonable I can start him and let Danforth ride the pines and maybe when it's time to resign him he may work for a bit less. Also, if Pep does great I can skip Danforth as Pep isn't that much older so it seemed a win/win scenario.

DT Daryl Gardener 10/10 7 - Well, when I was looking over my team, somehow, 'I'm weak at DE' became stuck in my mind as 'I'm weak at DL' so when I saw Gardener I made him an offer. I dind't need him, but it will make it easier to let Culpepper go anyway.

FB Rob Konrad 10/10 4 2004
FB Nick Williams 10/10 4 2004 - these guys were marginal replacements for a couple of older guys I'd kept from expansion draft and so I got two younger guys at the same price range but slightly longer contracts. There weren't ANY good FB's in the draft or after. That's what these signings were about.

So, that brings us up to the exhibition games which I will get to once I get home and have the info in front of me. I apologize if this post is too long and I hope that if you've stuck with me so far, you've enjoyed it.

[Axxon]

Just a couple of quick additions:

Headphones is really named Shane Irwin.

Wayne Rogers is the super RB and he plays for Dallas.

Roderick Beckers weakness is Man to Man not Zone. I'll be updating my career shortly.

I know I could edit my previous post but for now, this is quicker and will do.

[Axxon]

Preseason 2001:

We went 1-3 in preseason winning our very first game ever and coinsidently our first home win in front of 42,500 dripping wet fans. It was the high point of our preseason.

Not much else to report. We managed to keep everybody healthy for the season. Daryl Gardener was minorly bruised in the last preseason game and I suggested that he take the home opener off and he promptly made some unsavory suggestions to me that I decided not to pursue. Still, I needed to show him who is the boss so he was deactivated for the first game. Then he came back, no reason to be a danged fool about it you know.

One other interesting note. Danforth actually outplayed Culpepper.

Danforth 27-34 387 2td/1int
Culpepper 23-37 350 2td/1int

It isn't by much, I know, but something tells me that Danforth should start. Something else ( namely Peps paycheck ) tells me otherwise so Danforth will begin the season on the bench.

Onward to the regular season!

First Quarter 2001:

Game 1:
Anchorage ( 0-0 ) @ New England ( 0-0 )

Well, we put some points up, but we gave up way too many. Culpepper ended up 27-42 287 2/3 and those three int's hurt as they scored after all of them with the short field. Pittman managed 69 yds on 14 carries for a 4.9 ypc; wish we had run him more. Barrow was a wild man getting 12 tackles and 3 assists in the losing effort. An admirable effort by the boys but we fell short.

L28-31

Game 2:
Tennessee ( 0 - 1 ) @ Anchorage ( 0-1 )

Well, our first home game that counts. 45,800 fans braved yet another rain storm to watch their North Stars play and as expected it was a low scoring affair which turned into the battle of the kickers. Tennessee brought with them Charlie Bobo while the Northmen offered up Jason Hanson. Can you see where this is going?

Culpepper played a much more contained game going 15-24 for 182 yards and nothing else. Pittman chipped in with only 60 yards but another 4.0 ypc. On defense, Frederick had 2 sacks and Duncan and Starks picked off 2 each to totally dominate the Titans. In the end, what mattered was Hanson hitting all 4 of his field goals ( 52, 49, 31 and 19 ) while Bobo only had one kick that counted and he hit it.

On the down side, Robert Konrad dislocated his elbow and was expected to miss 2-3 months. As I really wasn't ready to cut somebody and of course didn't have anybody who could fill in, I put him on IR and picked up Paul Shields, an able replacement.

W 12-3

Game 3:
Anchorage ( 1-1 ) @ Denver ( 1-1 )

It was another rainy day when we set foot in Mile High. We started off right with Culpepper hitting Korzuk for a TD but Denver answered right back. Our offense hit a rut and Denver, while not putting on a show, managed to grind out yards in a most devastating fashion. Right before the half, tragedy struck when
Culpepper strained his neck. He will be out for at least 2 months. He was a measly 11/20 175 1td when he went out but Danforth only managed 4/11 23 yds. Oh well, next week we'll see the unfurling of the Danforth era sooner than desired. I hope he's up to it. Our only standout was Barrow who was a demon with 13 tackles and 3 assists. He was all over the field. Well, on to next week.

L7-24
Oakland ( 2-1 ) @ Anchorage ( 1-2 )

Ahh, home sweet home. At least this time it wasn't raining so the fans flocked in to watch the North Stars take on the mighty Raiders. The buzz around town was all about Danforth and was he ready to go? 46,600 strong showed up to find out.

Danforth opened the scoring by hitting Tyrone Davis with a 10 yd strike. Akili Smith marched the Raiders into field goal range and John Carney delivered the 34 yarder making it 7-3. Not to be denied, Danforth marched us right back down the field finally hitting Frankie Korzuk for a 21 yd strike that essentially took the fight right out of the Raiders.

On the day, Danforth went a smooth 21-32 227 and 2 tds which answered a few questions but of course just made me proud Becker, not wanting to be left behind pitched in with 10 solo tackles and 2 assists of his own. Duncan and Rosehill each had picks making it a great day for the rookie class overall. Our only down spot is LB Harris pulling his groin ( in an unhealthy way ) making him doubtful for next game.

W20-10

THis brings us to the quarter point in our season and we are a healthy 2-2. Now, for some stats.

And here dear readers, I have suffered a computer crash. I've never had fof2k1 crash on me like this, and unfortunately I hadn't saved before I went to work like I thought I had which makes this entire post meaningless. Still, I will keep it up as a testament to what might have been. Call it my FOF2k1 Bobby Ewing Dream or something. I will return with the real pre season and the real first quarter after I have the will to run it It shouldn't be long ;-)

[Axxon]

Ok, the preseason wasn't lost so it stays the same. Now, the year begins for real.

Game 1: Anchorage( 0-0 )@ New England( 0-0 )

We go in with high hopes but come out on the short end of the stick. Our running game is abysmal with Pittman averaging 2.2 ypc. Culpepper is a decent 17-26 198 2/1 before he
breaks his nose and gives way to Danforth who goes 1-7 1 1int. What a stellar performance by the young rookie. Pep will miss the next 3-5wks so lets see what Danforth can do with his playing time.

We did have a few stars. Korzuk caught 4 passes for 49 yds and 2 tds. He looks like the real deal. Becker had 9 tackles. Frederick posted 2 sacks. It just wasn't enough.

L20-27

Game 2:
Tennessee( 1-0 ) @ Anchorage ( 0-1 )

Another first real game at home. It is also Danforths first home game and first pro start. All in all a real crowd pleaser and 47,200 come to see it.

Danforth isn't an important factor in this one but he plays passable going 12-20 102. The real news was our runnning game with Pittman going 27-198 1 td to grind it out and our defense led by POG S Zack Bronson with his 12 tackles 1 ast and 1 int. Becker again was everywhere with 6/5 and we had 3 collective sacks. A good way to treat the home fans.

Now, on the injury front. Culpepper is healing faster than expected but in horrible news, Barrow dislocated his knee so he's out for a couple of months. We activate DE Newhart to help out and let Barrow go inactive.

W23-17

Game 3:
Anchorage ( 1-1 ) @ Denver ( 1-1 )

Mile high once again for the first time This time Danforth is starting his second game. I can see no reason to rush Culpepper back right now. HOw will the rookie handle the tough Bronco's?

Pittman really wanted this game. It seems that he likes the atmosphere in Denver and really wanted to redeam himself. He came up with 89yds and 2 tds on 21 attempts to win POG. Danforth did what he had to do going 16-29 154 yds 1 int. Not great but efficient and with Pittman cooking good enough for the w.

The D was againlef by Becker with 10 tackles. He didn't seem to mind stepping up with Barrow out. Thomas threw in 2.5 sacks and a hurry to the cause. Bronson added an int. In all, no really gaudy stats. This was a total team effort against a tough team and we are very gratified by the results.

Can we stop the run?? Cory Dillon says yes as he only managed 33yds on 16 carries. Very nice.

W23-10

Game 4:
Oakland ( 1-2 ) @ Anchorage ( 2-1 )

Well, even though he's a little bit sore, We're going with Culpepper. It's not like Danforth has played bad but we feel that Culpepper has more confidence atthis point not to mention that he REALLY WANTED TO START, not that that was a factor North Star fans were going to see their starting Qb for the first time this year.

They shouldn't have He reinjured his nose after going 1-1 10 yds and we went down from there. Danforth
went 2/4 17 before a vicious face mask took him out of the game but fortunately left him unhurt. Sims, aka last resort did pretty well going 12-21 209 1/1. It wasn't enough.

The rest of the team tried but couldn't get over the hump. Keyshown tried but he only snagged 3 passes for 126 and a td. For a minute he felt like he as back in Tampa and we just couldn't get him the damned ball. No one else shone in this stinker and we walked away losers.

L13-10

Now, again I am at the quarter point and again I am 2-2. This time the game is securely saved. I will once again attempt to run down our key stats.

Qb Culpepper - 18/27 208 2/1 98.9
Qb Danforth - 31/60 274 0/2 50.2 - not very promising
Qb Sims - 12/21 209 1/1 87.1 - wow

Rb Pittman - 87-302 3.4 3td

Wr Johnson - 18-294 16.3 1 td
Wr Korzuk - 9-112 12.4 2td
Wr Jeffers - 10-100 10.0 1 td

these numbers need to improve

Pr - Duncan 10.2 avg
Kr - Duncan 25.2 avg
Kr - Rosehill 27.8 avg

Nice

D numbers
Lb Harris 30/5 1.0 sack
Lb Becker 25/7 0.0
S Bronson 28/3 0.0 2int 33.3 pdq
De Fredericks 3.0 sacks
Dt Culpepper 2.5 sacks
Dt Thomas 2.5 sacks
Cb Starks 1 int 44.7 pdq - guess he was the real thing huh

Those are the highlights. 2nd quarter to come.

[Axxon]

2nd Quarter 2001:

Game 5:
Green Bay ( 2-2 ) @ Anchorage ( 2-2 )

This should be a good test of our team. Again, I must call on Danforth to lead us. Can he get it done?

Not hurt he can't. He bows out after a 4/7 48 yd performance with a minor knee sprain. Sims comes in and goes 14/38 228 2/1 which is good for him but bad for us.

GB, meanwhile jumps on our defense like white on rice and takes a 28-3 lead. This is what makes Sims work much harder than he should. Jeffers is this weeks receiver catching 6 passses for 116 and a td.

On D,, we have a weak effort but Becker does pitch in 12 tackles and 5 assists.

L25-42

Game 6:
Kansas City ( 2-2 ) @ Anchorage ( 2-3)

We decide to go with broke nose over sprained knee. Both seem like a better offering than last resort. Hopefully we can survive this game with nostrils and knees intact.

Well, broke nose managed to stake us to a 7-0 lead when he hit Davis for a 9 yd td. On his next play from scrimmage, a 10 yd scamper by Pittman, the ole schnozz gets hit and Pep is through for the day. He ends up 3-3 42 1td. Then Sims comes in yet again and manages 13-21 99 1td. Not great but not bad. Pittman, sensing impending doom goes ballistic 22-159 7.2 1 td.

On D, Becker turns in his tyical 9/1 day and Wistrom has a pair of sacks. Rosehill throws in an int and we have a decent day.

Newberry has a 6/11 krb day worth noting and Hanson has a pedestrian 4 fg day ( 24, 52, 24 and 32 ) day.
The final score is:

W32-20

More to come later as my pillows call is unavoidable. Night ( relatively speaking ) all and I hope you are enjoying my saga.

[Axxon]

A couple of quick week six thoughts.

I don't have even one qb who qualifies to be on stats leader board. This is truly qb by comitte team right now with URFA Sims taking the most snaps and not looking that bad. He's 39/80 48.7% 535yds 4td 2int with a qb rating of 76.8.

HIs ratings are really bad. He wasnt chosen as anything but a last resort for this year.

[10/32 9/39 10/22 1/3 4/13] 56 [11/41 9/25] 67 75

This is no future HOF. I've been reading with interest everyones thoughts about needing a great qb to succeed and while granted 3-3 isn't great, this team does have the chance to achieve results without one. I am almost tempted to make Sims the starter and see how far we go in the interest of research. Thing is, in the interest of the dynasty report, that is pretty chancy because if it fails, I may lose some interest in the team. I would hope not, but usually doing anything artificial ( reloading saved games, abusing rules loopholes etc ) kills the fun for me in games like this and artificially starting a bad qb to see how it goes probably would qualify.

What has kept the offense alive ( 9th in the league in scoring ) is the running of Pittman. He has had a stealth season with only one big day, but he is second in the league in rushing with 499yds and 4 tds. HIs ypc is a decent 4.3. For the record, I am using a variation of Morgado's run it down their throat philosophy so could that be the difference??

All of theis and more I'll be pondering tonight. I would appreciate any ideas, thoughts, comments, suggestions, anything to help keep me sane until I can get back to my game in the am

[Axxon]

Game 7:
San Diego ( 2-4 ) @ Anchorage ( 3-3 )

This is the kind of game we are supposed to win. We are hosting a weaker warm weather team in our division. Danforth is the man who gets this start and he has struggled of late. Hopefully this game will help get him going.

San Diego strikes first with O'Donnell hitting Murphy for a 30 yd TD. We waste little time answering with Pitmman busting a 58 yd equalizer. Hansen adds a 41yd field goal to put us up 10-7 at the half and Danforth hits Korzuk for a 14 yd td in the third to pull us comfortably ahead. We trade fg's in the fourth enrout to our fourth victory on the year.

Danforth goes a cool 20-26 201 1td and Pittman goes 17-112 and a td to lead the offense. DT's Thomas and Culpepper seal up the run with 7 tackles each while Clay, Duncan and Starks each have int's. This was a nice victory all around.

W20-10

Game 8:
Denver ( 5-2 ) @ Anchorage ( 4-3 )

A rematch from week three but this time in our house. This should make us feel good but Denver has been strong this year and this is our last home game for a good stretch. We need a strong performance hear to keep our spirits up for the road trip.

We open the scoring with a 40yd Hanson field goal. 4 minutes later, Danforth hits Jeffers for a 12yd td to make it 10-0. IN the second quarter, Longwell makes it 10-3 and it stays that way until late in the fourth quarter when Pittman puts us ahead 17-3 with a 5 yd td scamper. Denver scores a late td to pull within 17-10 but it is too little too late.

Game ball goes to Pittman for his 28-146 1 td effort. Danforth was a solid 19-30 190 and a td. He is doing exactly what is asked of him in this offense and we are getting results. I eagerly await his development when we can call on him for a bit more. Kurzak again lead the team in catches, yards and ypc. He's doing this as the 3rd wr. I got more than I bargained for with him it seems.

Our run defense was phenomonal yet again as we held Dillon t 12yds on 9 carries. Denver only managed 178yds in the air and were it not for the late game fireworks we were totally dominating them.

W17-10

Wk 9: Bye week.

A week to rest our injuries. Right now, Barrow seems to be hurt worse than we thought snd he is still a couple of months away. FB Konrad has a hip pointer which could use the rest and aside from minor bumps and bruises we are thankfully healthy.

Game 9:
Anchorage ( 5-3 ) @ Oakland ( 4-4 )

This looks like a tough divisional contest here. Oakland already beat us once and look ready to do it again. They are way more beat up than us though. With that in mind we had a couple of hard decisions to make. First, we decided that even though Culpepper was ready, he wasn't 100% and Danforth should start this game as he's been playing well. We also decided to deactivate Konrad and go with only one pure FB to make sure he can heal.

This turned out to be the hard fought affair it was advertised as. Anchorage started slow and this allowed John Carney to stake the Raiders to a 9-0 lead with 4 minutes to go in the first half. Anchorage began a comeback bid at that point with Danforth finding Key with a 35yd td strike with 1:29 in the half to make the half time score 9-7 Oakland. The third quarter was a stalemate until with 3:34 left i the quarter Key shouted, "Just give me the damned ball again" and Danforth obliged with a 4yd td giving us a 14-9 lead.

Overconfidence set in a bit at this point and Danforth learned to respect the Raiders in their house when Charlie Clemons picked one off and brought it 79 yards for a td. Oakland went for 2 and missed but with 14 minutes left in the game they held a 15-14 lead.

After a couple of 3 and outs, Anchorage started a drive at midfield which was highlighted by a 29 yd run by backup Newhart which was roughly 1/3 of out rushing total for the day. Danforth found TE Davis in the end zone for a 6yd td. Newhart made the 2 point conversion and we went on to win by the score of 22-15.

Danforth finished the day 16-23 169 3td 1 int. Key ended with 7 catches for 94yds and 2 tds.

Our D did it's typical run stopping holding Oak to 2.1 ypc a full point below our putrid effort. Becker had an off day with 11 tackles
and 6 assists I'm so glad I didn't listen to my scout.

W22-15

Game 10:
Anchorage ( 6-3 ) @ Chicago ( 3-6 )

This looks like a good week to get healthy and look at a few players. Chicago has been wracked with injuries and hasn't been able to get on track.

They got on track. Our defense fell apart letting Biakabatuka 184 yds on 19 carries and
2tds. Lest his backup be left out Bullock went 8-63 and a td as well. plummer added 236 yds and a td in the air and that about tells the story.

On offense we scored 6 points. We did manage to have Duncan return an int 38 yds for a td and FB Williams run a fumble back 88 yds for another. In all a totally underwhelming day for the boys.
L31-20

[Axxon]

AAARGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

I had just written up my year end post and tried submitting it and it didn't go. Well, my browser also unfortunately lost the post too. I am so frustrated it's unbelievable.

RECAP:

We ended up 7-9
Detroit beat Denver in the SB
Becker won DROY and 1st team LB. He led the league in tackles.
Hanson won first team K.

We had some good and some bad players.

I am upset. I will post the offseason as soon as I calm down

[Axxon]

2003 Offseason:

Well, to start off with Rico Bailey's contract expired at the end of last year and while I had enjoyed working with him a lot, I could see that he was slipping a bit and so I went looking at what was available. I had a nice interview with Ricardo Nelson, a 45 yr old who has a record of 35-18 and has made it to 2 playoffs. He has a very good knowledge of all aspects of the defense, the offensive line ( Rico's weak point ) and spotting young talent. His only weakness is in spotting rb talent and I am planning no moves there very soon so I sign him up for a five year hitch.

Now, I really want to get rid of 'headphones and while the coaching talent isn't deep, I am determined to find somebody I can work with. For me, the teams free fall at the end of last season was the kiss of death to ole phones. Welcome Dale Crabb. Now, don't get me wrong, he isn't exactly an upgrade, nore of a lateral move. He does develop talent a bit better across the board but his game day skills aren't as good as phones. I only sign him for 3 years and really hope he won't still be here by then.

We bump up our ticket prices a nudge and are in line with other teams which have our support level and nowhere near the highest in the league and it's off to free agency.

Right off the bat I get a call from the GM of the Giants and they want Daunte Culpepper. They are willing to give up their first round pick ( 7 )and Ricky Waters for him. To me it's a no brainer.
1. Culpepper never really got it together for us and was injured off and on all year.
2. Waters has decent production and was mostly bonus pay so I get a solid player at a discount price for 3 years.
3. Number one draft choice.

Bye Bye Daunte, I wish you all the best in New York.

We are relatively quiet in FA as we have our team mostly set and only want to tweak it a bit. We have 20 mil to work with and need to leave 5 mil for the draft. I'm shooting for a stockpile of 7-10 mil so I figure I can spend between 5-8 mill here.

Welcome to your new Anchorage NOrth Stars.

CB Antwan Edwards 3yr 14.01 contract
Hey, what can I say, he wanted to come here. I wasn't the highest bidder but I was looking to replace Starks who had played well but was getting to pricey for his talent level. Antwan fit the bill and was eager; this wasn't an important move but I am pleased. By the way, bye bye Starks as noone else was ready to take his salary either.

DE George Williams 3yr 11.24 contract
I need DE's and Williams should help out. He is coming off of an off season so he's a bit of a gamble but Nelson was for it and I'm comfortable with him.

TE Bryan Chamberlain 3yr 5.57 contract.
Hey, the price is right and he is a pass catching TE. This should help Danforthout a bit and as we are losing our 2 best TE's this year, he is a great replacement.

That was it for free agency.

The next order of business was to extend Jeffers contract which proved to be no problem. Jeffers dind't have a stellar year but how could he?? In any case, the guy is idolized here and loves the team and the city. I extend him for 3 years making his new deal 4yrs 27.33 mil. I have the warm fuzzies. It's nice when you can pay the community back and I am in the position to.

On the eve of the amateur draft Oaklands Gm called...again. He was offering me the same deal I had turned down before FA. He was offering a #1 ( 17 ) for Danforth. Now, I was becoming more receptive. The fact is, I again tried to ink Danforth to a lucrative contract and again he gave me grief. He wanted outrageous numbers and while my plan all along was to franchise him next season I really wasn't liking his attitude much. I say that there were 3 good qbs in the draft and I knew that a first round qb would ink a decent deal and had just as much potential as Danforth so he's gone and I enter the draft with 3 number ones ( 7,12,17 ).

Draft day and I am ready to go. I see no need to trade up as nothign I want should not be available to me by pick 7. Sure enough by my turn to pick there are two players that I covet, qb Roger Stephenson and dt Ray Owen. After much soul searching and analysis I make my pick:

DT Ray Owen becomes the next North Star. He grades out as a great run stopper and ends up post camp as an 81/47 60. I am excited

I consider trading up with each pick but no one seems to need a qb until right before my pick. Strangely Tennessee didn't list qb as a need but they didn;t have one so I kinda guessed they needed one. I offered fair valuu but they weren't biting. They had their man in mind. I held my breath as the pick was announced. They took QB J C Fuller who the combine had rated the best from the beginning. Now it was my turn.

QB Roger Stephenson
Beware the all arounder. I signed Stephenson to a 5yr 13.19 contract and he became a bigger bust than Dollie Parton. For the record, the third QB I considered, another all around was the second pick in the draft and was even worse than Stephenson. Not that it matters as Step is worse than Sims even. Fuller, on the other hand, will turn into a decernt qb in time it seems.

I really had no particular need for my next pick so I was content to see who was left by the time I got there. I saw a reasonable project on the board.

LB Pat Norton
He looked to good to be true. His potentials were as follows 94/78/100/92 58. They still are. Nelson, who understands D better than
Rico did had downgraded Beckers grades considerably to 72/87/46/71 69. Thankfully he couldn't downgrade performance. He tells me that in his not so humble opinion, that Norton should one day be the better player. Hey, I hope he's right. In any case I am expecting both these guys to retire North Stars.

In the second round it was time to replace T Grudich. At no inconsiderable sum, I had hired a top black ops guy to secure certain ahem incriminating photo's and this freed my hand considerably.

T Luther Colinet.
He grades out to a projected 64/38 80 and I really am looking forward to his 3rd year bump. He may be a starter one day for us and is a definate improvement right now with his current 26/16. Goodby Mr Grudich and your damnable Nikon.

TE Kenyon Palmer
I still need at least one TE who can block and Kenyon can do that and more. He grades out as a potential 94/91/79/42/33 66 77. He won't be a clutch receiver but when he burns you he burns you and he'll block like a demon. Right now he's a project but well worth the time IMHO.

TE Kurt Buckner
Yep, 2 TE's in a row but Kurt complements Kenyon so well and as a future 1-2 they should be great. He promises 64/100/61/98/94 55 61. Mr clutch receiver and while not the blocker Kenyon is no slocuh either.

QB Lance Barnes
The new man of the future. No, this wasn't planned but he looks a lot lie Danforth and wasn't a reach in the 5th round. He grades out as 61/67/68/47/75 52 75/39 51 56. He should run my short game very well.

DE Glen Henson
I always need DE's and while Henson isn't expected to be a starter do to poor conditioning if he hits his projections 53/65 30 he will be a major contributor. For now, he is inactive.

CB Al Mccurry
A scrubeeny who is a return specialist 100/95. At his position he will be lucky to hit mediocre. Still, for a couple of years he'll be a cheap return guy and I like that.

So, that was the draft. I signed a handfull of URFAs and headed into camp. Four of them stuck. Meet the URFA's

FB Junior Giles
Stuck because I had the space. Period. Doesn't grade out bad at 81 64/63/50 63/68/45 25 29 but the last two numbers doom him as a real contributor. Maybe trade bait down the road??

WR Mo Overleese
Inexpensive 3rd receiver who has nothing else going for him. He is an all arounder with everthing in the 20-50 range.

C Ernie Jernigan
My kind of URFA. Grades out as a potential 34/73 27 which can be of situational help eventually and if he gets a bump so much the better. I can carry him so why not?? If I dump him no harm lost.

S Chester Martin
Still not happy with this position so Chester will get a look. He looks like a maybe 37/51/47 48 43 which would earn a bit of playing time maybe if I don't get help in the mean time.

With this motley crew we head into camp. When we leave camp the pickings that are left are sooooo tempting. We do make 3 moves.

P craig Hentrich
Hey, I wasn't comfortable with Jett so I offered Hentrich a 3yr 3.45 and he took it. I am paying more but the piece of mind is worth it.

QB Ray Lucas 3yr 5.42
I am still smarting over Stephenson and Lucas was in my price range and runs the O I like. He should help pave the way for Barnes and I'm relatively sure no one will offer a first for him any time soon

My last move was a real decision. Cosey Coleman was available and looks good. It wasn't my need for a guard that made him so special though he was certainly an upgrade. It was the fact that he's a ex Buc ( real life ) making him doubly attractive. I decided not to low ball him and after checking out comperable guards, I felt comfortable offering a 4yr 17.96 contract that he accepted. I really was trying not to abuse post camp. Do you consider this abuse?? Larry Allen only gets 2.16mil yr, Ruben Brown gets 1.72 mil yr, Mike Schlereth gets 3.5 yr, Timmerman gets 2.16, Schott 1.62. All of them grade out higher than Coleman and he gets 3.66, higher than all of them.

HOw does the community view this. Is it abuse to even offer post camp FA's a contract or is it abuse to take their lowball offers? I tried in my conscience to do the right thing so I am satisfied with my decision but how do you feel about this??

Finally, I drop G Naeole to accomodate Coleman. This ends my moves and I end up a comfortable 7.1 million under the cap. On to the preseason!

[Axxon]

Preseason Notes 2003:

We went 2-2 in preseason. The only notable injuries were LB Barrow ( again ) with a broken hand. Oh well, it lets Norton get his shot. Also FB Williams sprained his neck. He'll also miss 3-5 wks.

What's with this team? Lets look at wk 3's results.

Lucas 15-25 113 2int
Barnes 7-7 118 2td

Is this another Culpepper/Danforth thing going on?? Oh well, at least Barnes looks golden.

Next week:
Lucas 6-13 51 but 2 tds
Barnes 12-15 113 0/0

Weird.

Very weird, Hanson was knocked out ( very minor ) and Hentrich went 2-2 on fg's

Anyway, on to the season!

Week 1:
Anchorage ( 0-0 ) @ San Diego ( 0-0 )

This is the season opener. It's on the road. Still, a feeling of optimism is in the air. San Diego isn't a great team and we want to be one. A positive result is really what we aim for.

Lucas 16-24 215 3tds
Pittman 19-159 2tda
Chamberlain 6- 82td - showing why we got him
Johnson 4- 44 1td - not to be forgotten

No real D stars as that was a balanced effort. No camplaints here.

On the injury front we lost DE Williams for 2-3 months to knee surgery. DE Malone with his broken foot is reactivated on an emergency basis.

W50-10

Week 2:
Oakland ( 1-1 ) @ Anchorage ( 1-0 )

The dreaded Raiders come to our crib. Lets hope we can handle the challenge. BTW, we will get our first look at Danforth as an opponent. I wish him well but us better.

Danforth managed to complete 21/39 196 1td.
Lucas managed 18-30 216 1td 2 int.

Advantage Danforth but slightly. RB's need to be looked at

Cloud ( OAK ) 15-87 1td
Waters 10-48 0td

Advantage Oakland

Wistram did manage a couple of sacks but it wasn't enough

L16-10

Game 3:
Anchorage ( 1-1 ) @ San Francisco ( 1-1 )
OK, San Fran isn't a great team but neither are we. Can we come to play??

S Kinnehan did with 4/2 and in int returned for a td.

RB Watters did with 10-96 no Tds but solid effort

Qb Lucas did with a 17-27 243 2td effort.

In all, a solid effort

W33-25

Game 4:
New England ( 2-2 ) @ Anchorage ( 2-1 )

A winnable effort and at home. We are feeling our oats. OK, we know there arent many oats in Alaska but we are feeling all of them

Oops, forgot, its a home game, we're expected to suck. 51600 are on hand for the suckage. W have abysmal rushing and while Lucas goes a might 11/25 he manages 90 yds and a td. Those, folks, are the highlights.
L23-10

This fills out the first quarter of 2003.

[Axxon]

Secon Quarter 2003:

Week 6:

Seattle ( 2-3 ) @ Anchorage ( 2-2 )

A hearty crowd came out to watch this battle and they got their moneys worth.

Lucas played well at 20-32 235 1 td and the Pittman/Watters duo was efficient.

Pittman 13-56 1td
Watters 9-38

Rookie LB Norton lead the team with 9 tackles and an assist. This is how we can play when we want to.
W17-10

Week 7:
Denver ( 1-4 ) At Anchorage ( 3-2)

My how the mighty have fallen. Can we help them fall further? We have always played well against this team.

Antoine Edwaards our new CB wins POG with a long int return but this game is all about balanced play. Watters is our leading runner with 14-78 as Pittman gets banged up. Lucas goes 16-31 236 with a td pass to Jeffers. Korzuk continues to come up a big target as he catches 8 passes for 103 yds.

W13-7

Week 8:
New Orleans ( 2-4 ) @ Anchorage ( 4-2 )

This is our last home game for a wjile and we'd like to end up on a positive note. Watters is POG and gives a smashing 22-147 3td performance. Norton again leads the d with 10 tackles and 2 assists. Looks like I have the LB stocked for a long while.

W23-17

Half way point and I am 5-2. Not a bad way to start a season but we were in a similar spot last year and we are playing weak teams. The upcoming road trip should define this team this year.

UNtil then.

[Axxon]

3rd Quarter 2003:

Week 9:
Anchorage ( 5-2 ) @ Indianapolis ( 1-6 )

I go on the road but continue against bad teams. Well, can we take care of business as good teams must?

Our offense wasn't very good today. It avoided mistakes for the most part but couldn't get it untracked.

Our defense played well enough that we held them to three field goals but again no one stood out. Finally in the 4th quarter FB Konrad took a Lucas pass 7 yds for the games only Td and put is in the lead for the first time all game 10-9. Hanson added his 3rd FG as time was winding down to seal the unimpressive victory. Norton had 6 tackles and 1 sack and deemed POG.

W13-9

Week 10:
Anchorage ( 6-2 ) @ Atlanta ( 4-5 )

A cross country trek to the sultry south. What will this road game bring us?

Pittman explodes for an 84 yd td run but ends up merely 6-94 1 td.
Lucas looks steady but unimpressive going 22-37 212 1 int before giving way to Barnes who doesn't look good. Our D meanwhile puts zero pressure on QB Johnson and our run stopping is suspect. We aren't embarrased but we were generally flat today.

L17-10

Week 11:
Anchorage ( 6-3 ) @ Kansas City ( 4-5 )

There was a huge crowd at arrowhead and the Chiefs sincerely felt they were the better team playing today. How can our team handle the noise and the confidence on the road? How will the young QB Barnes, filling in for the injured Lucas play?

Well enough to win POG honors it seems. Barnes was a cool 17-23 291yds and 2 tds. Pittman chipped in 76 yds and a td in 19 rushes. Keyshawn only caught 2 passes but they were for 101 yds and 2 tds. There is still a bit of fire in his tank for games like this.

Our D was led by linebacker Harris who showed the young kids how to play getting 10 tackles and 4 assists. Kansas City, however, played well and this was exactly the game that everyone expected it to be. The game truly wasn't over until S Kinnehan intercepted a Fiedler pass with 1:49 to go in the game.

W 21-18

Week 12:
Anchorage ( 7-3 ) @ Oakland ( 3-7 )

Oakland looks weak this year but they beat us in our crib earlier. Barnes is still the qb and Becker, who is having a rough sophmore season has to be rested as well.

3rd string RB Newhart kicks it up a notch and has a monster game going 34-140 but with no td's. He does allow us to keep possession for a whoping 40:57 and that is the telling statistic. Barnes hits 17-3 178 and 2 tds and Hanson pitches in with a mess of field goals. Well, 4 to be exact. Our D hasbn't got gaudy statistics but 3 and outs will do that to a team. We avenge ourselves well

W26-13

[Axxon]

Final quarter 2003:

Ok, this is how the schedule shapes up.

4-7 denver in denver
4-7 kc at home
2-9 tennessee at home
6-5 san diego at home
5-6 seattle in seattle.

the schedule gods have been kind to us this year and I really don't feel like we're an 8-3 team but would love to give the North Star fans a home playoff game any way.

Onthe injury front I have 3 3-5 wk injuries:

LB Barrows - concussion
QB Lucas - dislocated shoulder
P Hentrich - pulled groin Ouch for a kicker I must say

They are all questionable as are the more minor cases of RB Watters ( knee ), LB Becker ( thigh bruise ) and CB Clay ( concussion ). I will try to rest these folks as best as I can this week.

Week 13:
Anchorage ( 8-3 ) @ Denver ( 4-7 )

We seem to ahve good luck against Denver so I will rest my wounded. I am not really comfortable about this but it should help in the long run. Unfortunately without opening up the wallet which I am loath to do, I am unable to do much. I do sign P Saurbrun as he asks for no bonus and I wouldn't want to kick with a pulled groin. Becker remains inactive.
I put Lucas and Watters at the bottom of the depth chart. Bury Barrow under the depth chart which I have learned from experience guarantees nothing. I once lost my franchise CB in his 3rd year trying this. The coach played him against my wishes and he reinjured himself so badly that he retired. What gets me is he had a broken leg. What kind of twisted, warped, sick SOB was my coach to play a CB with a broken leg?? The guy was evil and soon after very unemployed. Backup S Coffey will play 2nd corner for Clay, who I put as last backup. Let's see how we do.

Great, we get a whole new batch of guys injured DE Henson goes out for the year but he wasn't a starter. On second look, most of the injuries are of the short term variety and all of the previous 3-5's have improved. Only T Hicks ( a biggie ) and CB Rosehill are 3-5 now.

AS for the game, we mailed it in. NO running, Barnes 15-28 176 2td 3 int about sums up our effort. Coffey did get an int and was perfect in defenses. It's good to see a guy make the best of his opportunities.

L27-17

Week 14:
Kansas City ( 4-8 ) at Anchorage ( 8-4 )

This would be a sweet win at this time and take a whole lot of pressure off. I'm still going with Barnes as Lucas isn't ready and I can't afford him not to be if we make the playoffs. I sign CB gibbons a 1st year scrub to give Rosehill some time off. I let LB barrows rest and bring Becker back. Can't do much about hicks though. I IR Henson but didn't really need to. CB CLay, though still questionable, returns to the lineup too.

Where to begin? Pittman's 15-129 and a td perhaps. Well, Watters got 18-74 as the number two so together that's something. barnes was 11-19 175 with 2tds but had an int too so he is solid but not noteworthy.

Maybe Williams 2 sacks or Wistroms 4tkl 2 asst 1 sack 2 blocks 4 hurries? How about Coffey again getting another int??

No, we should look at POG Becker, triumphant in his return geting 10 tackles a half a sack an int and an 82 td fumble return for a td. We let off a lot of steam and this was never a game.

W28-0

Week 15:
Tennessee ( 2-11 ) @ Anchorage ( 9-4 )

Lucas cant shake the shoulder injury so he rests. Everybody else should be ok for this one.

Games like this can drive you crazy. You know you should win, they know you should win. You have everything to lose, they have nothing to lose. So you pop your tums and watch the game.

Pittman 11-98 0 td. Barnes a streaky 14-23 127 1td 2int. That covers the offense.

Tennessee jumped out to a 14-3 lead and we were doing zip about it. Finally S Duncan takes a punt return 63 yds for a td to get us back in it 14-10 at the half. Tennessee makes it 17-10 to start the fourth quarter but with 6 minutes left Barnes finds unlikely but timely hero Korzuk with a 9 yd strike to tie it.

With 4:14 left Duncan returns a kick to midfield. Pittman follows Newberry for 24 yds. Pittman follows his FB Konrad for 12 yards. Newhart gives Pittman a rest but gets stuffed at the line. Barnes gets banged up and Stephenson the lemon comes in. He fires a pass to KJ who drops it and WE are flagged for an intentional face mask taking the ball form the 14 to the 29, making the fg longer. Stephenson hits Korzuk for a six yd strike and as the two minute warning sounds, Hanson doesn't sweat the face mask and hits a 40 yd game winner.

LB Holbrook wins POG with a 9 tackle 4 assist 1 int day. Really a too exciting and close game considering the opponent.
W20-17

Week 16:
San Diego ( 8-6 ) @ Anchorage ( 10-4 )

Win this and we knock them out of contention for the division title. We pasted them in San Diego in week one 50-10 and I'm sure they'd like to repay the favor. We get Lucas, Hentrich and Barrow back but put Harris inactive to rest him. Again, I hate to, but we must keep looking to the future.

They wanted it more. The running game went nowhere. Lucas was rusty throwing 3 picks. KJ did have a 100 yard game but no td's. Wistrom had 3 sacks to highlight the D but it wasn't close to enough.
L27-10

Week 17:
Anchorage ( 10-5 ) @ Seattle ( 9-6 )

Our destiny is in our own hands. We are a lock for the playoffs, but need the win to insure the division. Hopefully the rust is gone for Lucas and we can fire on all cylinders. Yes, it's a road game but not by that far

Watters opened the scoring wit a 1yd td plunge in the second quarter. On Seattle's possession, 3rd corner Mar Gibbons picks off
Troy Aikman and takes it 30 yds for the TD. Of course this insures he's POG 14-0. With 5 seconds in the half Hanson makes it 17-0. We trade field goals in the second half as we close this one out and win the division!!

Pittman was 13-90 Watters 13-70 with the td
Lucas was still rusty but managed 17-25 173 1int. S Duncan was all over the field with 8 tackles 1 assist and an int. Overall we picked Aikman 3 times and shut them down.
W20-3

Next post some stats and the playoffs. We didn't get a bye but we will meet San Diego yeeet again at home. Lets hope the 3rd times a charm.

[Axxon]

Post Season 2003:

Welcome Anchorage people ( what the heck do they call people from Anchorage anyway, Anchors?? ). Today, your beloved North Stars will play their first post season contest in their short hostory and at home to boot. We will be playing the despised Chargers who had the nerve to come into our house a mere two weeks ago and beat us. Lets all show up and give these barbarians from the south a nice Anchorage welcome.

In other games this weekend:

Chicago 7 Arizona 16
Minnesota 6 San Francisco 26

Cincinnati 7 New England 20

It looks like it's been a good week for the home teams. I like that.

San Diego ( 9-7 ) @ Anchorage ( 11-5 )

This is the rubber game of our series. The team is loose but still focused. I take a moment to reflect on what we've accomplished so far and am very proud of the team. Yes, the division was weak this year and our schedule favorable but victory goes to the teams that win what they are supposed to win and this game is supposed to be ours.

The weather is a balmy 3 degrees, just what those SoCal ruffians least wanted. Lets see who turns up the heat in this one.

San Diego wins the toss and elects to receive. After three straigt rushes and a holding penalty they have to kick it away. CB Clay manages to block the punt and DT Thomas takes the loose ball 6 yds for a td. We jump to a 7-0 lead.

After a couple of traded punts, San Diego manages to put together a sustained drive late in the 1st quarter and gets on the board with a 23 yd Richey field goal. The score is 7-3 us.

CB McCurry, our return specialist, takes the ensuing kick off 98 yds for a td making the score 14-3. It looks like it is going to be a long day for the Chargers.

San Diego gets the ball back and we force them to punt. Duncan hoofs a 24 yd return to give us the ball at the San Diego 38. Seven plays later, Barnes hits Johnson for a 7 yd td strike making the score 21-3.

Neither team could get anything going for the rest of the half so we went into the locker room up 21-3.

We receive the ball first in the second half but Barnes throws a pick giving them the ball in our territory. We put on a mighty stand forcing them to punt but in very bad news, LB Becker got injured and had to leave the field. The rest of Q3 was quiet so we go into the final period still 21-3.

Our first drive of the 4th gets us to the SD 13 but Barnes throws another pick killing the drive. Here's what followed this pick.

O'Donnell pass to 88 Jose for 38 yards.
O'Donnell pass to 80 Gadsden for 30 yds.
O'Donnell pass to 89 Hayes for 7 yds.
O'Donnell pass to 89 Hayes for 7 yds and a td.
[on conversion] ODonnell pass to 89 Hayes for conversion.

Five straight completions fo2 82 yds 1 td and a conversion. Not bad. Brings the score a bit closer, 21-11.

We kill some time with our next drive but Hanson misses a 40 yd field goal that would have helped. San Diego comes up empty in their possession giving us the ball at our own 7 with 4:34 to go. All we need as a few first downs. On 3rd and 11 Pittman busts a 50 yd scamper which gets us out of the danger zone but for some unknown reason, coach Crabb calls a pass play and Barnes serves up the pick giving the Chargers another chance After 2 incompletes and with the 2 minute warning pending, O'Donnell goes for the home run, but S Duncan puts an end to that with a pick and we manage to run out the game on our drive.

Final score 21-11. We are off to the division finals!!

A few quick numbers.
Pittman 18-135 but no tds.
Barnes 20-32 245 1 td 3 int.
TE Chamberlain 7-105
WR Johnson 6-72 1 td.

Divisional Round.

Other games

Arizona 23 Tampa Bay 14
San Francisco 9 Dallas 17
New Engalnd 14 Buffalo 31

Anchorage ( 12 - 5 ) @ Baltimore ( 12-4 )

Baltimore was a touch team and we were going on the road. It was with high hopes and low expectations that I entered this game.

Quick wrap up. We jumped out to a 17-3 halftime lead. That wrapped up our scoring. They had a 13-0 second half maknig the final 17-16 us! PHEW, it was a nail biter but in our second year we are playing for the conference championship.

Pittman 19-116 1 td
Barnes 17-27 138 1td 1 ind /
POG DE Williams had a whopping 5 sacks a mere 1.5 less than his season total! Way to step up Georgie! Of course, he only played 9 games this year due to injuries.

COnference Championships:

Arizona 17 Dallas 23

Anchorage ( 13-5 ) @ Buffalo ( 13-4 )

Buffalo is just plain mean this year, led by Qb Chandler, RB Faulk and WR Freeman. They led all teams in scoring with 465 points. ONly Tampa Bay was also over 400 to give you an idea of their domination. We, on the other hand scored a paltry 321, but are second in the league in least points allowed at 239. The contest is thus defined and set.

It turned into a defensive contest. Our offense managed a Barnes 43 yd td to Frederick. Theirs managed three Kasay field goals ( 18 41 47 ). The game turner was a Sam Madison int return 16 yds for a td. In the end we lived and died with Barnes. While this was a disappointing end to our season I am very proud of our accomplishments and to the end, we came to play. I have very high hopes for the future indeed.
L16-7

Super Bowl 2003
Dallas 17 Buffalo 23

At least we were beaten by the very best. Chandler made Super Bowl MVP.

We finished the year at 13-6. How many of our players would win post season honors. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. We didn't have any real stars. I was aware of this before the Ravens game when I wondered how we had gotten so far with no stand outs. It was heart, balance and a fortuitous schedule that took us this far. Who knows how far that will get us next season.

Final Numbers.

QB Lucas 11gs 178-314 56.6 2102 11/9 76.9
QB Barnes 5gs 77-133 57.8 966 9/6 84.3
RB Pittman 177-961 5.4 6td
RB Watters 175-696 3.9 4td
WR Johnson 69-953 6td
WR Jeffers 58-674 4td
WR Korzuk 46-471 4td
TE Chamberlain 27-375 3td.
T Hicks 15/54 27.7 7 SA
G Coleman 24/80 30.0 11
C Mawae 22/86 25.5 5
G Newberry 17/55 30.9 4
T Riley 19/67 28.3 9
///////here's where our FB and TE did well
FB Konrad 10/15 66.6 3SA also 10-143 2td 3gs
FB Williams 10/24 41.6 3SA
TE Chamberlain 5/11 45.4 0SA

No standouts anywhere that I can see.

DE WIlliams 24/10 6.5sk 4.2 9.2
DT Thomas 39/14 0.5 0.3 7.9
DT Gardener 37/12 3.5 1.1 6.6
DE Wistrom 25/11 13.0 5.4 6.9
LB Becker 76/28 3.5 1.6 13.9
LB Norton 58/11 1.0 1.4 17.5
LB Harris 50/17 2.0 1.0 14.4
LB Barrow 49/10 1.0 0.4 18.0
S Duncan 73/23 11.4 // 3-38-0 int 32-10 35.0PDQ
S Kinnehan 50/20 10.4 // 4-55-1 28-7 38.8
CB Edwards 46/12 6.5 // 5-99-0 27-2 31.5
CB Clay 41/9 8.1 // 2-47-0 24-2 24.9

P Hentrich 91 att 42.6 40 in 20
K Hanson 24-32 lg55 33/34
RET Mccurry Punt 30-223 7.4 / kick 25-583 23.3
RET Duncan Punt 20-209 2td 10.4 / 9-237 26.3

And that's all folks. See you in 2004. May be a bit as I am now going to detail the exploits of the Tampa Bay Four Waye for a while.

[Axxon]

Offseason Interview:

Hello football fans, and welcome to Front Office Talk. I'm Matt Hels and today I will be talking to Axxon, the general manager of the surprise conference finalist Anchorage North Stars.

Matt: Hello, Axxon, glad you could stop by to answer a couple of questions for fans across the country.

Axxon: Glad to be here Matt. Fan interaction is the backbone of the sport and I am always open to speaking my mind.

Matt: All righty then, lets get underway. You get your North Stars to the heady heights of the Conference Championships in only their second year. Where do you go from here?

Axxon: Well, Matt, we are a young team that has to learn to play together as a team. I think we made great strides in that area last year and we are not looking to make great changes in the off season so hopefully we will enter the new year prepared to again challenge the upper echelon teams for our right to be among them and if we can do tihs, we likely will be fighting for a chance to bring home the trophy agian.

Matt: I see, speaking of keeping the team together, just a few days after your loss in Buffalo, the team signs Grant Wistrom to a 4 year deal. Would you care to talk about that?

Axxon: Sure. While I'd love to take all the credit for that and say that it is what the team had in mind from the start, I must say that it wasn't that way. Grant had been with us from the beginning and while we appreciated his play, we really didn't expect to be able to compete for him economically and our hopes grew dimmer with every sack he had this year.

Matt: He had 13 correct.

Axxon: Yes, that is correct and we knew that we would have to pay for each one. I did intend to hold discussions with his agent in the off season and see what he wanted, but after the game, Grant approached me and said, "Come on Axx, lets go ahead and get this thing behind us. I love it here in Anchorage and you need me, so I'll have my agent call you and lets work out a deal."

Matt: Wow.

Axxon: Wow is right and sure enough Ron (Riley) calls me on Monday and we aren't that far apart on the price tag. After minimal haggling, mostly to add the last year, we come to an agreement that makes all partied happy and keeps an important anchor where he belongs, on our D-Line.

Matt: This is indeed great news. On a sadder note, Kevin Mawae and Craig Hentrich both decided to retire. Surely this has to hurt.

Axxon: Well, yes, Matt, it does. Craig's retirement was less of a surprise as he never really recovered from his groin pull but Kevin's was a total shocker. I had a chance to talk to Kevin and he said he just wasn't adjusting to the climate as he hoped he would and his family wasn't happy. Finally, he talked it over with them and they all agrfeed that he'd done his time for football and it was time for them to become closer as a family. He thanked me for giving him a chance to play and as he calls it " rescuing him from the bench" and I told him that if he ever wants to go into the coaching angle to give me a call. >I hold him in the highest respect in how he handles himself on and off the field and wish all the best to him and his.

Matt: Any ideas on how you are going to fill these holes?

Axxon: Well, it's hard to replace men of this calibre but we may try and convince Todd ( Sauerbrun ) to stick around. He filled in nicely last year and we certainly will give him a look if he seems interested. AS for the center spot, thats a little more difficult. We do have Darrow and Doyle that we have been grooming but we will need to see if we feel one of them is ready to step up as a starter. I was hoping not to have to make the decision this year, but we're going to have to. In any case, I can't see us spending heavily on a high end free agent and it is unlikely we will draft one too high. Of course, I'll need to see where every body is after the off season before any of this is set. I would hope that Darrow and Doyle use this time wisely and are prepared in the spring.

Matt: Indeed. Well, that's all the time we have for now. It was a pleasure talking to you as always Axxon.

Axxon: The pleasure was mine Matt.

Matt: Right, and here's wishing you our best wishes in the season ahead.

Axxon: Thnak you. I hope you don't get fired either.

Matt: Hah, indeed. Well sports fan, this is Matt Hels saying good night and so long.