Pharoahs Money Scandal Exposed!

BREAKING NEWS!!!! The Pharoahs have been found out. Eugene Davenport, owner of the Pharoahs, lied to the DBL about how much money they were paying their athletes prior to the 2010-2 season. In reality they were paying $24 million in salary while they only had a $22 million salary cap. More on this later!!!!!!!!

Dynasty?

It's the question everyone was asking before the Toros even won their second one. They were pretty much expected to win this season with it being such a down year for so many teams. But now alot of teams are picking up the pieces and are on the rise. That is one of the problems the Toros face. In the following days after the Championship, there has been unquellable talk of Semere's situation. It will definitely be a high-profile story of the offseason.

 The issue comes down to competing ego's of Darren, Semere, and now Rayquan in the long term. And also the fact that Semere is the lowest payed player on the team and the lowest paid "power-player" in the league. With such a monster of a trio and no one else in the league having a true big 3, These 3 may want their celebrity to be able to breathe more -- alone. All 3 have kept mum about this so far, but when negotiation time comes, actions will speak louder than words.

Toros owner Austin Johnston has only said he expects the level of performance to stay where it is and only get better from there. Sources say Toros management will keep these 3 until the wheels fall off. And looking at this teams very forgettable past history, it would make sense. They are entering into untread terrain; the 2 other Back to Back title holders (PHA, DD) fell off sharply after they won the titles. The Toros are easily above everyone else talent-wise coming into the offseason. So why not get a third straight ring?

The potential to build an even better team.

Everyone knows what the Toros decide to do with Semere will dictate how this year's offseason will work. The most clear suitor for Semere if the Toros dealt him would be the young and skill-less Reapers. They need a tried and true veteran (even though he'll only be 3 years old, but hey, he's played 40 games in 2 years). And the Toros could pocket a hot 1st pick in the draft to be the next star and probably build some more cap room for potential later diva problems. That would be the best fit.

The Dizzy Devils are also in the hunt, they need a replacement for Alexi, but the problem would be Semere would be #2 to Russell. The Scarlet Ember would also be enticing because Hobbs and Andy will be leaving Rookie MVP Jack all alone to lead the team. Semere could step in and be the #1...kinda. Jack has definitely captured the spirit of the team. But the problem with DD and SE is they couldn't match what the Reapers can offer the Toros.

The only reason the Toros would deal Semere is to get an exact replica of him and some more money or personnel to build an unstoppable beast. The Reapers give them the best chance, but, the safe route would be to get another ring and then deal with the firestorm next offseason when Semere's contract is over. 

This offseason should be a good one with not only Semere in talks, but also James, Salem and Casey at the end of their contracts.

Salem wins MVP, Jack takes Rook

It was a very close vote in both, but the Midwest claims both MVP titles for the year.

Salem #25 of the Interceptors won the Most Valuable Player of the Year for the 2010-2 season. The 3rd year Center from Diamond City University had a solid season. Lifting a down and out Interceptors franchise to their 1st Championship appearance. The Interceptors were a clear elite team coming into 2010-2 with Travis, but he wanted to flee the team just like Theo and Dale and many other had done before, showing once more that this team was just a development squad. But Salem was not deterred by this.

"Me and Travis had formed a bond, we both saw Theo leave and do great things on the Gremlins. I thought we were on the same page of getting this great team over the hump. But things happen. I am just grateful to play for such a great boss and city. I am determined to get this team into being a perennial favorite and I think we can do that now and moving forward." Salem after Travis' departure.

He was a 1st team All-Star his 2nd year in the league and followed that up again this year in his 3rd year at Center. He was 2nd in points in the league with 42, with the most catches at 17 and a remarkable 0 dodges for the season. He was a 4-time game MVP in the season.  He beat out Kenneth (SB) for the title with a 10 to 6 vote.

Jack of the Scarlet Ember claimed the Rookie MVP trophy with a vote of 9 to 7 against Rayquan (TOR). Jack was a very unlikely  candidate for the award coming. He was mostly known for his team rallying skills, being such an emotional leader like a Nadashess (SB) of sorts. He came out of the combine as a 2, taken 10th in the Draft by the Scarlet Ember. Every since then he improved and never looked back. What separated him from the other rookies was his ability to shoulder a whole team. He easily led all rookies in points, earning a 2nd team All-Star bid along the way. No one expected him to be the leader with veterans Hobbs and Andy on board but he helped guide the Scarlet Ember to a 2nd straight Midwest title with 2 game MVP's including a Player of the Week 3. Andy and Hobbs will be gone next year, all of a sudden the whole franchise will need to feed off of this mans energy to succeed.

Intercepting a Dream: The Ricky Story

The stage was set, final point in the final set of the semifinals in the Cleveland Area Regional Championships. The Grover Bulldogs were the easy pick to win the game and the whole tournament. Prior to this point, they had a .900 win pct through 4 years. The model team, from a model school was about to change.

Ricky was the glue that held everything together, the 3 time Dodgeball Player of the Year for Ohio had a signed a Letter of Intent in his sophomore year to play for the Florida Pentagons when he finished high school. His future seemed set, but just in a moment everything changed.

Ricky was set to catch a stray throw from their opponents to win the semifinals and advance to their 4th straight title match. With sweaty palms, the ball went in and out. The opponent was now back in the game. But instead of Ricky just walking off and rooting for his remaining teammates, something went off in his head and he charged the boy who threw it. In a flurry of fists Ricky had knocked the boy unconscious. Chaos ensued, both teams rushed on the court and got into a royal rumble, even some fans (and parents!) threw 'bows. The game was forfeited by the Bulldogs. If this news wasn't devastating enough, a team of psychologists wanted to study what set Ricky off. the news sent shock-waves through the whole Grover community.

"He had experienced uncontrollable roid-rage, meaning, the man was on steroids" - Dr. Blip announced 2 months after graduation that year.

Following the news, another investigation was launched into doping at Grover High School. The results were astounding. All of the dodgeball players had been doping for at least 2 years, Ricky for 4. Some members of the basketball, football, and track team also were nabbed in the hunt. This led to an across the board vacation of sports from Grover High School for 4 years, one of the premier Cleveland sports powerhouses. As for Ricky's Florida Pentagons dreams? Dashed 2 weeks into their summer training program. He was expelled from the University and the CAB (Collegiate Athletic Board) stepped in to ban him and all the other Grover High School seniors from competing the in college at all.

Ricky explains, "I was devastated. I didn't ever think I was going to get caught and it ruined my life. I started doping in 8th grade after watching the Gremlins and Cat's championship. I wanted so much to be like my favorite Gremlins players. My play in high school was so good that my teammates wanted in on my secret, and it spread like wild fire from there."

There was a loop hole though in this destruction of man, a small one at-that. The DBL has a 2-year ban on doping athletes and they had just started accepting non-college and International players into the Combine.

"I knew this was my shot, I trained for 2 years, I had to gather up all my savings to travel out to Diamond City for my latest attempt at getting into this league." Ricky says.

So, he made to the final 16 of the 2010 Combine. He came out ranked as a 2 with 20 points gained during the 6 events. "It was a pretty disappointing performance. I got dressed up and went to San Fran for the draft just hoping someone would have faith in me." Ricky recalls. Nobody did apparently as Ricky was drafted by the Scarlet Ember with the 9th pick in the 2010 Draft but released immediately.

"I was pretty down. I was on the edge of quitting. But I had formed a bond with Kenneth (SB) during that time, he kept urging me to workout with him in the off-season. So I traveled up to Seattle and spent my whole Fall there. He was so dedicated and straight forward, it really inspired me to get super-duper clean and focused."

A free agent the whole 2010 season, Ricky received 0 calls from DBL front offices. But it was finally a twist of fate in his direction where the league plain needed bodies to fill rosters. So, the Interceptors took a chance on a man with a bad reputation. "I was in disbelief, I was being called to play in the DBL! Yeah, that DBL!!" Fans booed him in the preseason tourney feeling cheated from his reputation in high-school of being "the next Leslie".

Ricky became an important part in the Interceptors surprising Championship run replacing a gaping whole in Travis (MAR) for which all hope was lost when he left. Now Ricky has the chance to compete for a Championship in only his 1st year playing. "It's like everything was against me, and now everything is working in my favor."

Ricky has since came out about his being the sole reason for the doping at Grover High School. Their teams have been reinstated into Cleveland Area High School play.

Watch Ricky and the Interceptors take on the Toros in the 2010-2 Championships, only on ZBS.

All*Stars 2010-2

The 2010-2 All-Star Game will be played in Charlotte, NC, to see if the market is rich in dodgeball fans there as a possible city for expansion. As always, the game will be played after the Championship. This class represents the new wave of stars in the league pretty much. Only 6 stars have been in the league more than 6 years, and their are also only 6 players that were stars previous to this selection, 666...hmmm. A major cause for commotion is the very left-heavy talent in the league right now, leaving out such stars as Semere, Sean, and Russell, while the right side is able to have Thomas and Felix make it. Here is the list of players and how many appearances they have had:

North-Midwest
C - Salem 25 INT- 2
C- Jack 0 SE- 1 (Rookie)
L- Donte 19 GRE- 1
L- Williame 6 EMP- 1
L- James 11 SEA- 1
R- Travis 24 MAR- 2
R- Alexi 14 DD- 2
R- Hobbs 34 SE- 7 (Tied record)
South-West
C- Jacoby 9 DF- 3
C- Miller 6 DIA- 1
L- Jared 8 CATS- 1
L- Desmond 11 GOLD- 1
L- Kenneth 2 SB- 1
R- Rayquan 2 TOR- 1 (Rookie)
R- Thomas 13 TOR- 1
R- Felix 14 SKY- 2

Playoff Picture, Crooked

As we enter the final week of the regular season, a very interesting playoff situation is brewing. It is safe to say that the Empire, Toros, Scarlet Ember and Silverbacks will be in the official playoffs. The Interceptors, Seadogs, and Dizzy Devils (which is a story all its own) are guaranteed at least Play-In status. Notice something odd? There are only 2 South-West teams guaranteed ANYTHING concerning the playoffs.

The Gold are the main cog in this mess. In the beginning of the year, the Gold got out to an impressive start, going 4-1 sitting on mountains of points, having as many Power Points as the #2 (5-0) Empire. Then the losses started piling on afterwards, it is now at 4 in a row. The thing about the points system is that it is so much harder to lose points than to gain them. In turn, the Gold find themselves sitting on 40 points and ranked #8, still, after so many losses and now a losing record. They face the #1 Empire at home in the final game to try to squeeze into the playoffs which they seemed to have in their grasp early on. A win would guarantee play-in, if they lose, they will only lose about 20 points and miss the dance altogether.

There is where the potential problem for teams as well as league image overall is encountered. The Dragonfish, Cat's, Diamonds, and Gremlins can all finish the season with a +.500 record. This would guarantee more competition in normal circumstances except for the stipulation of being forbidden from post-season play if they sit behind a team with a losing record in the ranking system. This team would be the Gold. If the Gold win, everyone is just on their own to get to the dance, and it would actually clinch the (5-4) Dragonfish in, in a weird way. But if the Gold lose it produces interesting scenarios:

Dragonfish: (5-4) 40 points
They are tied with the Gold in points, but are behind them because of past standings. If they win, regardless of the Gold they will easily be in. If they lose to the Scarlet Ember, they would have to lose better than the Gold, which should not be hard because the Gold are on a loss streak, at home, whereas the Dragonfish are opposite. It would be a shame if they finished with the same amount of points but past hierarchy prevented them from entering the playoffs.

Diamonds: (4-5) 10 points
The Diamonds have been on a crash course just like the Gold. They have the #2 Seadogs coming to town. A win should put them where they need to be, but if they scrape by and the Gold don't lose too poorly, then they could tie in points or have less and be thrown out of the conversation.

Cat's: (4-5) 5 points
The Cat's have the easiest opponent to face going into week 10 in the Reapers. They would need to win very well in case the Gold lose, maybe some Coaches poll help too. They are a caliber team, it would be a shame if they missed out.

Gremlins: (4-5) -10 points
The Gremlins have it the worst. They have to watch to Western teams this week. The (3-6) Pharoahs are somehow ahead of them in points. They need the PHA to lose or win badly and definitely a Gold win because it would take a miracle for them to muster that many points from a home win and not tie but beat the Gold in points.

Commissioner Hasheem Halim has been pondering this curious situation ever since week 9 concluded. "If the worst case happened, there would only be 2 teams battling (South-West), in a Conference Finals game, for goodness sake! And the North-Midwest would have a PLAY-IN! The higher-ups here at the DBL have been brainstorming ways to let the 5-5 teams keep battling. We may have to pass a 'Gold Rule' to let there be a fair playoff."

The Gold Rule would please many people right now, but the problem would be a total dismantling of the current (AP + People's) Power Ranking system which has had its history of problems and changes before this long period of effectiveness. The Gold Rule would allow eligible teams to leapfrog the losing record teams if cases like this season. The problem is, the sole reason for the points system is to arrange teams in order for playoff positioning. The Power Ranking Company has released a statement saying: "Any changes made to the effectiveness or rules of our tried and true system will result in pulling out of providing the DBL our services indefinitely". Now, the league doesn't want to do this because there is much money and services tied up in the partnership of that company and the DBL. Along with the Ranking system there would be a removal of: the All*Star selection system, the Combine points system, and the Player of the Year awards selection system.

Wow, and all of this possible shake-up traces back to one team that got too many points early on. The Gold are no stranger to giving headaches to the ranking system people. Back in 2008-2 the Gold were the catalyst of the AP Ranking system overhaul as they were (4-6) but ranked #7! This called for the back-up ranking system (People's) to be combined with the AP to sort it out and in the end the Gold were #9 and missed the playoffs.

There was also one other time where there was less than 4 teams on each side in the 16 team era. In 2008-3, all the Silverbacks had to do was beat eventual Champion Pharoahs in the 10th week. Every big wig was on hand to watch this live. It came down to the last throw and the Pharoahs came out victorious. This year, every big wig will be in the Dodgeball Capital to witness how the Gold will deal with this new potential ranking system headache.

Spotloght: Reapers 2010-2

Week 8 Championship Prediction: Toros v. Empire, Toros win.