UFFL News and Notes: September Edition
Article Posted Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern
NFL stat corrections alter outcome of UFFL game: Just hours before the start of Week Two of the regular season, the final outcome of one of Week One's games was reversed, thanks to official stat corrections from the National Football League.

Originally, it was believed that Calvin Brown (bbashers) had defeated Jay Klinkhammer (The North Star Sledgehammers of 10,000 Lakes) by 0.47 fantasy points, with the final score being 140.83 to 140.36. However, once the corrections were applied, it turned out Jay had actually won the game by 0.25 fantasy points, with the final score being 141.08 to 140.83.

Interestingly, these two teams met during the first week of the 2009 regular season, and the outcome of that game was also determined in an unusual way. Klinkhammer was initially believed to be the winner until it was revealed that a huge Fleaflicker glitch prevented Brown - and many other owners - from setting their lineups. Brown was eventually credited with the win in that contest, after it was proven that he tried to set a lineup that would have given him the victory if the website had functioned properly.

Pulverizers turn down opportunity to bring back Marques Colston: The Pulverizers turned down a trade offer from Brown after Week One's game that would have sent St. Louis Rams rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin and a second-round pick in the 2014 UFFL draft to the bbashers, in exchange for New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston.

Brown said the second-round pick was included as part of the deal because Austin was "still unproven." However, Pulverizers owner Jared Byrd was hesitant to part with an early-round draft pick after having traded so many away over the last few seasons. "I can't believe I'm rejecting this deal because Colston is one of my favorite players and he has helped me out a lot over the years," Byrd said. "However, I decided to turn this offer down, after a lot of consideration, because I want to hold on to my higher draft picks."

The 30-year-old Colston was selected in the second round by the bbashers in this year's draft, after he was left unprotected by the Pulverizers, for whom he had played since 2009. He had five receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown in Week One, and followed that performance up with four receptions for 63 yards in Week Two.

The 22-year-old Austin, who was referred to as a "devastating, modern-day weapon" by ESPN analyst Jon Gruden during the NFL draft, had six catches for 41 yards in his first game and six more catches for 47 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Week Two.

UFFL Newsletter debuts: Regular readers of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League message board on Yahoo! may have noticed a new weekly feature that started this season called the UFFL Newsletter. It's delivered via e-mail every Thursday afternoon to all league owners and features previews of the upcoming week's games, scores from the previous week's games, league standings, news tidbits, updates on the survival football and NFL pickem contests and the full NFL schedule for that particular week (including a list of teams that have byes). One of its main purposes is to remind owners to set their lineups on Fleaflicker because Thursday night regular-season games are now a normal occurrence instead of an abnormality. The other main purpose is to update everyone on league matters in an alternative way to the Fleaflicker message board or this website.


Highlights of the 2013 UFFL draft
Article Posted Friday, August 30, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Here are some interesting tidbits regarding the 12th annual Ultimate Fantasy Football draft, which took place Tuesday, Aug. 20:

- The entire process was completed in 65 minutes, making this the second-quickest draft in league history; only the 2008 draft (60 minutes) was faster. For comparison's sake, here are the times of the other live UFFL drafts held on Fleaflicker: 2009 - 85 minutes; 2010 - 75 minutes; 2011 - 90 minutes; 2012 - 80 minutes. Most drafts from the Yahoo! Sports era of the league were of the offline variety and usually took several weeks to complete.

- Eleven of the league's 14 owners were on hand. Jim Douglas (CheeseWhiz) was unavailable because of a family emergency, Grace Cloud (Sisyphean Endeavors) mistakenly thought the draft was being held the following day and a last-minute work schedule change prevented Mark Bender (Shelburn OrangeHats) from participating. Technological issues kept George Thomas (N2deep) from being able to remain in the draft room, although he made countless attempts to rejoin the action.

- For the first pick in the draft, Tony DelSignore (Layin the Woodley) selected Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte. The final pick ("Mr. Irrelevant") was Seattle Seahawks placekicker Steven Hauschka, courtesy of Chad Fuller's Cheeko Chiefs, with the sole pick of the fourteenth round.

- For the 12th consecutive year, Football Gal owner Mozelle Meyers drafted zero Dallas Cowboys.

- Unlike some recent drafts, this year's selection process didn't include any players who had already retired or owners taking gambles on big-name players who were still NFL free agents. Among undrafted players, the most recognizable names were New England Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin.


UFFL draft not lacking star power
Article Posted Monday, August 19, 2013 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern; Updated Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Even though there are 14 UFFL franchises with three keeper players each, there is plenty of talent available in the 2013 draft. Listed below are the top 10 choices available at each position (the average Fleaflicker draft position is listed in parentheses):

QUARTERBACKS
Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts, 51); Robert Griffin III (Washington Redskins, 53); Eli Manning (New York Giants, 76); Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles, 79); Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers, 80); Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens, 81); Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers, 83); Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks, 89); Matt Schaub (Houston Texans, 98); Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals, 99).

RUNNING BACKS
Stevan Ridley (New England Patriots, 23); Matt Forte (Chicago Bears, 24); Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars, 25); Reggie Bush (Detroit Lions, 26); Ryan Mathews (San Diego Chargers, 43); Darren Sproles (New Orleans Saints, 44); Giovani Bernard (Cincinnati Bengals, 59); DeAngelo Williams (Carolina Panthers, 60); Mark Ingram (New Orleans Saints, 61); Lamar Miller (Miami Dolphins, 62).

WIDE RECEIVERS
Demaryius Thomas (Denver Broncos, 19); Wes Welker (Denver Broncos, 41); Danny Amendola (New England Patriots, 46); Eric Decker (Denver Broncos, 48); Hakeem Nicks (New York Giants, 50); James Jones (Green Bay Packers, 52); Anquan Boldin (San Francisco 49ers, 54); Marques Colston (New Orleans Saints, 55); Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts, 56); Torrey Smith (Baltimore Ravens, 57).

TIGHT ENDS
Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers, 33); Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys, 39); Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons, 90); Greg Olsen (Carolina Panthers, 100); Kyle Rudolph (Minnesota Vikings, 101); Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers, 105); Jared Cook (St. Louis Rams, 126); Zach Sudfeld (New England Patriots, 163); Jordan Cameron (Cleveland Browns, 164); Jermichael Finley (Green Bay Packers, 165).

PLACEKICKERS
Matt Bryant (Atlanta Falcons, 151); Blair Walsh (Minnesota Vikings, 152); Stephen Gostkowski (New England Patriots, 153); Matt Prater (Denver Broncos, 154); Greg Zuerlein (St. Louis Rams, 157); Dan Bailey (Dallas Cowboys, 186); Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens, 187); Sebastian Janikowski (Oakland Raiders, 188); Garrett Hartley (New Orleans Saints, 191); Phil Dawson (San Francisco 49ers, 207).

DEFENSIVE TEAMS
San Francisco 49ers (106); Seattle Seahawks (131); Denver Broncos (134); Chicago Bears (155); Houston Texans (156); Baltimore Ravens (215); Cincinnati Bengals (263); Pittsburgh Steelers (276); San Diego Chargers (279); St. Louis Rams (289).

UFFL News Ticker: Angie Williams, the owner of The Steel Curtain, has changed her franchise player list from Chicago Bears WR Devin Hester, Denver Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno and Detroit Lions TE Brandon Pettigrew to Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Vincent Jackson, Houston Texans WR Andre Johnson and Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan. To view the final franchise player list, visit the franchise players page.


Major changes to UFFL unlikely to occur
Article Posted Saturday, August 3, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
The results of the 2013 Ultimate Fantasy Football League questionnaire are in, but there won't be any major changes.

For starters, all 14 owners who competed last year have announced their intention to return. Most owners could not think of any rule changes they would like to see implemented, although Jay Klinkhammer of The North Star Sledgehammers of 10,000 Lakes requested smaller roster sizes (or eliminating one injured reserve spot) to boost the level of talent available in the pool of free agents. This was the second consecutive year he had asked for reduced rosters but most of the other owners seemed to be fine with the current roster size (10 starters, six bench players and up to two additional players on IR).

As far as rule changes that shouldn't be taken seriously are concerned, Grace Cloud of the Sisyphean Endeavors asked for a bye every week in order to avoid the pain of losing, while Calvin Brown of the bbashers quipped, "Limit the number of times you can change your team's name to less than 50 a week."

The most divisive issue on the questionnaire proposed the concept of reinstituting individual defensive players (IDPs). From 2004 to 2007, the UFFL had the unique setup of requiring owners to start one defensive team and 2-4 IDPs, depending on the year. When the league moved to Fleaflicker from Yahoo! in 2008, there was no way to allow leagues to have both defensive teams and IDPs, so a vote was taken to see which system owners preferred. Defensive teams proved to be more popular than IDPs.

However, it was discovered this offseason that Fleaflicker now supports leagues that use both defensive teams and IDPs. Of the 13 owners who voted, six were against the return of IDPs, five were in favor of their return and two had no preference. Commissioner Jared Byrd abstained from voting in case of a tie.

UFFL News Ticker: Final rosters from last season have been cleared from the UFFL's Fleaflicker website - with the exception of franchise players - in order to give owners plenty of time to pre-rank unprotected players for the 2013 draft (if necessary). However, they will continue to be made available on this site ... Owners who need to make adjustments to their franchise player lists are able to do so between now and 3:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Aug. 20 ... Any trades made between now and Aug. 20 (draft day) need to be sent directly to the commissioner, after all owners involved have agreed to any proposed deal (to allow rosters to be adjusted manually on Fleaflicker). On draft night, any proposed deals need to be announced in the live Fleaflicker draft room, with adjustments to all teams involved in trading being made after the draft ... Be sure to check out KFFL.com as you prepare for the draft, including their fantasy football analysis draft, featuring a very familiar name.


UFFL assistant commissioner experiences 15 minutes of online fame
Article Posted Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern; Updated Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
UFFL assistant commissioner and Football Gal owner Mozelle Meyers became an unlikely internet celebrity Monday, July 22, when the Associated Press published a photograph featuring her meeting Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III last month.

As Meyers tells it, her brush with greatness took place at the end of Redskins mini-camp June 12. "I didn't get to talk to him (aside from saying 'hi'), as everyone was trying to get his picture and autograph," she said. "But he was the last one to leave the area out of all the players and he made sure everyone got a picture or autograph."

Meyers said approximately 100 people were invited to the mini-camp, with half of those in attendance coming from Women of Washington (WOW), an all-female fan group of the Washington Redskins. The remainder of the crowd came from other promotional departments.

In the widely distributed photo, Meyers appeared alongside her friend Shawnie, Griffin and an unidentified man, sporting a gray Redskins tank top, sunglasses and Redskins earrings. The photo first appeared on the official team website last month and later showed up on the WOW website. It is currently being used (with the man and background airbrushed out) as part of an advertisement to promote training camp VIP events in August, appearing on the front page of the WOW site as image #1 among eight rotating images. (Pardon the pun, but eagle-eyed viewers will also note that Meyers appears in the front row of image #8 as well, wearing a burgundy shirt as she listens to Washington head coach Mike Shanahan at a previous WOW event).

From there, The Associated Press used the original version of the photo in a July 22 article about Griffin receiving medical clearance to resume practicing. However, Meyers was unaware that her image was circulating so widely until after leaving work that day. She found out when Shawnie called her after one of Shawnie's co-workers stumbled across the photo while surfing the internet. Later on that evening, former UFFL owner Jason Wedgwood informed Meyers that her image had also appeared on MMQB (Monday Morning Quarterback), the blog of Sports Illustrated NFL writer Peter King, although the photo was cropped somewhat.

Many websites that ran the Griffin Associated Press article opted not to feature the Meyers image, although she did appear in online versions of the Billings Gazette, the Brattleboro Reformer, The Citizen (Auburn, New York), The Courier of Montgomery County (Texas), the Edmonton Journal, the Herald & Review (Decatur, Illinois), the Hudson Hub-Times (Ohio), the Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania), The Salt Lake Tribune, the San Diego Union-Tribune and The Star Democrat (Easton, Maryland), as well as on the websites CBC.ca, CNSNews.com, DelmarvaNow.com, Faceoff.com, Mail.com, NewsTalk650.com (CKOM, an AM radio station in Saskatoon, Sasketchewan), Toshiba.com and WTOP.com (an FM radio station in Washington, D.C.). As of this writing, it is unknown if her image made it to the print version of the newspaper websites.

Interestingly, many of the captions for the picture give credit to AP photographer Carolyn Kaster, although Meyers claims that the person who took the picture was a WOW staff member whose name was not Carolyn, so it is uncertain what role - if any - Kaster played in getting the photo to accompany the AP article.

When asked to sum up her feelings about her newfound stardom, Meyers simply responded, "That's amazing."

Upon hearing the news, Deltaman owner Craig Hoffman said, "Wow. I feel honored to have such a celeb in the league. Getting as much media exposure as the royal baby!"

For more photos of Meyers at mini-camp, visit the UFFL Photo Gallery.

UFFL News Ticker: Registration has opened for the UFFL Pickem Challenge and UFFL Survival Football contests and will remain open through Thursday, Sept. 5. For more registration information, please visit their respective pages ... All 14 owners who participated during the 2012 season have announced their intention to return. Complete results of the league questionnaire will be revealed within the next few days ... Final rosters from the 2012 season will be cleared from the Fleaflicker site soon, in order to give owners time to pre-rank players for the 2013 draft, if necessary. However, they will continue to be made available on this site.


Layin the Woodley, bbashers make midsummer trade
Article Posted Saturday, July 20, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern
Looking to shore up their running game, Layin the Woodley pulled off the first trade of the offseason Tuesday, July 16, acquiring New York Giants running back David Wilson from the bbashers, in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2013 UFFL draft.

Wilson, 22, had 358 rushing yards on 71 carries with four rushing touchdowns in his rookie campaign, along with one receiving touchdown. He is expected to be the Giants' No. 1 running back on their depth chart in 2013, with Ahmad Bradshaw now on the Indianapolis Colts' roster.

As a result of this deal, the bbashers currently hold the third overall pick in the draft. Among the players who could be on the board at that spot are Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who was left unprotected by owner Tony DelSignore after originally being named one of his keepers. Layin the Woodley's other franchise players, in addition to David Wilson, include Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb and New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Calvin Brown, the owner of the bbashers, had previously selected David Wilson as one of his three keepers, along with Houston Texans running back Arian Foster and Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris. He has not yet selected a replacement for his third keeper.

Layin the Woodley still has a first-round selection in the 2013 UFFL draft, thanks to a deal made in September 2012 with the Cheeko Chiefs - in fact, they control the top overall pick.

SPRING 2013

UFFL News and Notes: June Edition
Article Posted Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 5:00 a.m. Eastern; Updated Wednesday, June 19 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Here are a few updates on various league matters ...

1. After being out of commission for nearly two weeks, the UFFL historical website is back and better than ever, at a new location with an extremely easy-to-remember address - http://www.ultimatefantasyfootballleague.net.

It is now hosted on Angelfire.com, after the previous web host (Boxhost.me) deleted the old site when someone hacked into it and allegedly created a "malicious script" designed to do harm to other computers. Luckily, the website was able to be fully restored to its former glory (all 200+ pages of it) and to prevent something like this from happening again, a program called SafeLock has been installed, which is designed to prevent viruses, spam and hackers from ruining the web-surfing experience ... as far as the UFFL site is concerned.

2. The league questionnaire will be distributed to all owners via e-mail Tuesday, June 18. This year's survey is expected to be shorter than those released in previous years because there are fewer issues that are deemed necessary to vote on. (Perhaps this means the league is getting closer to perfection?) One feature that will be included is a request for each team's three keeper players.

If Fleaflicker unveils any new options/features after the questionnaire is released but before the NFL regular season begins, they can be voted on separately.

3. There is an excellent chance that league commissioner Jared Byrd will be taking a job as a summer camp counselor - a position which would have him away from home from Monday, June 24 through Sunday, July 28, meaning that internet access would be limited during this stretch. This would not affect the UFFL draft, which would take place in August, but all league concerns and issues should be directed to assistant commissioner Mozelle Meyers (mozellemeyers@mybluelight.com) during this time period.

4. Finally, for those of you who have not logged into Fleaflicker within the last few days, the website has undergone a slight overhaul to allegedly make it more convenient for owners who prefer to keep tabs on their fantasy teams through mobile devices rather than through computers.

WINTER 2012

League renewed for 2013 season
Article Posted Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern; Updated Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern
To the surprise of no one, Ultimate Fantasy Football League commissioner Jared Byrd has officially renewed the league for the 2013 season, meaning that trades of players and draft picks can now take place.

To view the 2013 schedule (these matchups are subject to change, based on possible team relocations between divisions) and the 2013 draft order, please visit the appropriate links on this site or the Fleaflicker website.

The league questionnaire will not be distributed until June at the earliest, because there aren't many issues or potential rule changes to vote on this offseason - at least not yet. Fleaflicker has promised that several new changes will be added in time for the new NFL season, but hasn't revealed what those changes will be (aside from a mobile-enhanced site and a new design). UFFL franchise player lists will be collected whenever the questionnaires are sent out.

The live draft will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Fleaflicker's website.

UFFL News Ticker: The Fantasy Baseball Challenge will remain at 10 teams, with every owner who competed last season opting to return for another year ... Registration is open until Thursday, March 21 (before tip-off of the first game) for the NCAA tournament bracket contest on Yahoo! Sports. All are welcome to participate. If prompted, the league ID number is 6723 and the password is vitale ... A new Twitter account for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League may be up and operational before the beginning of next season, replacing the old UFFL Facebook group that disappeared when the site removed thousands of groups several months ago that were not heavily used. Stay tuned for details.


UFFL News and Notes: February Edition
Article Posted Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern; Updated Monday, February 11, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern
Now that the 2012-13 NFL campaign has drawn to a close, the time has come to look ahead to the 12th season of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League.

Traditionally, one of the first items on the offseason agenda is the distribution of the annual league questionnaire to each owner. However, this year's survey is expected to be shorter than in previous years, as many pressing issues that had come up in the past have been ironed out. In addition, there won't be as many potential rule changes to vote on, because Fleaflicker is unlikely to add new features to their site between now and the start of next season.

That being said, Fleaflicker has announced that fantasy football leagues, as of next year, can be renewed on an annual basis as soon as Feb. 9 (as opposed to the beginning of March, which was the case in previous seasons). However, for the 2013 calendar year, the league renewal date will be Tuesday, February 12. This change is important because it will give owners an opportunity to view the draft order and schedule for the upcoming season much sooner than ever, and also allow trades to take place almost immediately after the previous season ends.

The league questionnaire is tentatively scheduled to be distributed to owners Sunday, March 17.

Fleaflicker website update: According to a Fleaflicker moderator's post on their website's message board, several enhancements will be introduced prior to the UFFL draft in August, including a mobile-enhanced site and a new design. The post says other improvements are also coming but does not go into further detail.

UFFL News Ticker: Congratulations to Calvin Brown (bbashers head coach) for winning the UFFL Postseason Challenge and league commissioner Jared Byrd (Pulverizers head coach) for winning the Yahoo! NFL Pickem Challenge ... Registration is now open for the Fantasy Baseball Challenge on Fleaflicker; the league currently has 10 teams but is hoping to expand to 12. The live draft is tentatively scheduled to take place in late March. If you're interested in participating, contact commissioner Jared Byrd at jared259@alumni.upenn.edu.


Northern Division wins UFFL Pro Bowl
Article Posted Monday, December 31, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Despite Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris' 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns in Week 17's game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Northern Division won the fifth-annual UFFL Pro Bowl Sunday, Dec. 30, 173.39-161.40.

The Steel Curtain head coach Angie Williams became the first person in league history to win the UFFL Bowl and Pro Bowl in the same season. She also became the first Northern Division coach to win a Pro Bowl, after four consecutive losses.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson rushed for 199 yards of his own to lead the North and added two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving), while Denver Broncos quarterback went 23-for-29 for 304 passing yards and three touchdowns. In a losing effort, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees went 29-for-43 for 396 passing yards and four touchdowns.

To view the box score from the game, visit the UFFL-Sponsored Fantasy Leagues page.


UFFL News and Notes: December Edition

Article Posted Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Revisiting the Megatron-Bowe trade: On Nov. 8, the Cheeko Chiefs and Pulverizers pulled off a blockbuster deal which resulted in Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson heading to the Pulverizers (along with a third-round selection in the 2013 draft) and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe heading to the Cheeko Chiefs (along with a first-round pick). Obviously, the Pulverizers felt they needed an extra piece to make it to the postseason and the Chiefs wanted to begin the rebuilding process. It was a trade that helped both teams, particularly the former - Megatron shattered the NFL's single-season receiving yardage mark previously held by Jerry Rice and helped the defending UFFL champs lock up the eighth and final seed in the championship bracket. Meanwhile, the Chiefs now control the seventh overall pick in the first round of the upcoming draft, which is important because they lost their own first-rounder after trading for Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray in late September.

Would the Pulverizers have made the playoffs without Calvin Johnson? That's unlikely; Johnson caught 38 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns during the team's final four regular-season games and hauled in another 10 passes for 118 yards during the Pulverizers' Week 14 playoff loss to The Steel Curtain. Bowe, on the other hand, only had 12 receptions for 160 yards and no touchdowns in Weeks 10 to 13, then caught two more passes for 70 yards in Week 14 before suffering a season-ending rib injury.

By the way, that pick that the Chiefs gave up to get Murray ended up becoming the No. 1 pick in the draft, with Layin the Woodley being the lucky recipient. In hindsight, the Cheeko Chiefs might not have made this trade if they had known how valuable it would become but it was still early in the year and they were just 1-2 at the time.

DelSignore takes to Twitter: Despite losing 10 games in his return to the UFFL this season, Layin the Woodley head coach Tony DelSignore is in good position to turn things around next year, because he currently holds the first and third overall picks in the 2013 draft.

Prior to taking the 2011 season off, he was the head coach of The Steel Curtain, and led his team to UFFL Bowl IX before ultimately losing to The Catch. He had mixed feelings about his old team winning it all, after being informed of what happened by assistant commissioner Mozelle Meyers.

"Makes me mad," he jokingly said in a post on Twitter. "Took my team and my name and left me with a crap team LOL." This is a reference to the abandoned craigntx squad that DelSignore inherited upon rejoining the UFFL. DelSignore then offered his congratulations to the winner in a follow-up tweet.

UFFL Pro Bowl alert: The Ultimate Fantasy Football League's fifth-annual Pro Bowl will take place Sunday, Dec. 30, during Week 17 of the NFL regular season. Angie Williams (The Steel Curtain) will coach the Northern Division, fresh off of her championship victory in UFFL Bowl XI, while Jared Byrd (Pulverizers) coaches the Southern Division, because their teams led their respective divisions in points scored during the regular season. It will mark the first time in league history that a defending champion coach will also coach in the Pro Bowl in the same year.

For more information about the UFFL Pro Bowl's history, to see the ballots that both coaches used to select their players, and to view the lineups and box score as they become available, visit the UFFL-Sponsored Fantasy Leagues page. Please be advised that live scoring is unavailable for this game, as it is a contest independent of Fleaflicker.

UFFL Postseason Challenge alert: For the third consecutive year, registration for the UFFL Postseason Challenge contest is open on NFL.com. The game will begin Saturday, Jan. 5 and end Sunday, Feb. 3 (the duration of the NFL playoffs). For more info, including rules and registration information, visit the UFFL-Sponsored Fantasy Leagues page.

The Steel Curtain wins UFFL Bowl XI
Article Posted Wednesday, December 26, 2012 at 9:20 p.m. Eastern; Updated Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 12:15 a.m. Eastern
UFFL Bowl XI pitted two head coaches against each other who were in the championship game for the first time - Angie Williams, in only her second year of participating in the league, and George Thomas, who joined the UFFL in 2009 as the owner of an expansion team.

Angie's squad, The Steel Curtain, entered the postseason as the No. 1 ranked team in the championship bracket, after posting a 9-4 regular season record. Normally, having the top seed is considered a kiss of death in the UFFL playoffs, as it is a rarity for the best regular-season team to get to the championship game, let alone win it.

Meanwhile, George's team, N2deep, had rebounded from a 5-8 regular-season record in 2011 to go 9-4 in 2012. His run through the end of the regular season and playoffs included eight consecutive victories. However, this streak came to a screeching halt in UFFL Bowl XI, as The Steel Curtain cruised to a 166.30-116.55 win. The 166.30 fantasy points were the most points ever scored by any team in UFFL Bowl history.

The Steel Curtain was led by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (37.66 fantasy points), who went 25-for-32 for 279 passing yards and four touchdowns in his second-best start of the season. Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush (30.60 fantasy points) had 65 rushing yards on 19 carries with one rushing touchdown, along with 42 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, while the Dolphins' defense (23.04 fantasy points) had one interception, a pair of sacks and three forced fumbles.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (23.80 fantasy points) led all N2deep players in scoring, going 18-for-29 with 170 passing yards, 60 rushing yards and two combined touchdowns. Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (16.15 fantasy points) rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown but aggravated a right ankle injury. Thomas' team was also hurt - pardon the pun - by the early exit of San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, who caught one 27-yard pass before leaving with a concussion.