Coach Of the Year for Season VII goes to...

Season VII brought about a lot of frustration at the beginning and extreme joy at the end for our winner. Sully endured countless "Hotseats" where guests called him "the most overrated in the MPL." He took this criticism and used it as motivation to battle through the season and the playoffs. Sully really did earn the moniker of "Coach of the Year."

Mackdaddy was only around in Season VI for a very short time so his performance in Season VII took everyone by surprise. He used strong defense and the weapons at his disposal on offense to lead the Jets to an undefeated record through 11 weeks before finally falling to Randy's Panthers. He couldn't manage to get by an almost destined Pats team in the conference finals. Tim played great ball season and deserves to be called Season VII's "Best Team."

It was pretty common to see the Patriots put up scores in the 30s, 40s and sometimes 50s all season long. No matter how talented the owner, how stellar the defense, Paul seemed to slice and dice them to perfection. He had mastered his offensive playbook and knew a counter to every defense that he saw on the field. When it came time to face Paul's Patriots, you knew you better bring your A game offensively because there's no way you were going to stop that offense. The MPL Prez certainly run n gunned his way to Season VII's title of "Best Offense."

They always say that offense sells tickets but defense wins championships. Well MPL Bowl VII brought together the recipients of Season VII's "Best Offense" and "Best Defense." And once again, the defense came out on top. Sully utilized the strengths of the Lions defense to fit his 3-4 attacking defensive scheme. He managed to contain the two best offenses in the league in the playoffs, both Moneyball and the Prez. Season VII proved that championships really are won by the "Best Defense."

NFL Vixen was well known for her words as she has never been shy on the boards. But the more games that she played, the more she's been recognized for her tenacious defense. Carolyn has been able to pick up on all the things that it takes to win games in the MPL and she almost made the playoffs in Season VII thanks to all of that knowledge. Vixen has gone from a respectable sparring partner to a real player in the MPL in a short period of time. That rise has earned her Season VII's title of "Most Improved."

With the exit of both Rashad and Ducati in Season VII, there was a big empty hole where there used to be good ole trash talking. Well the MPL is as good as any league around at filling holes so of course, this would be no different. With a lack of flavor on the boards, Moneyball took it upon himself to get the fires burning in the bellies of the MPL brethren. Not far into Season VII, he spouted off that bar none, the "Real" MPL Bowl would be when he faced off with Runtherock in the conference championship. Moneyball proceeded to basically spit in the faces of every other MPL player while pounding his chest. Well that display of written bravado certainly earned Moneyball the title of Season VII's "Best Trash Talker."

Season VII saw a lot of newcomers onto the MPL scene. One such newcomer was Shootingbull. This award isn't so much in recognition that people expected him to do poorly in this season, rather it says "Why didnt I see this coming?" Very few players expected such success with a Chiefs team that lacked offensive firepower in the hands of a relatively unknown player. Well Bull took that KC team and in arguably the hardest division in the league, managed 8 wins and a playoff birth...nearly knocking off the future MPL champ Sully in the 1st round. Shootingbull certainly was Season VII's "Most Surprising."

The MPL was created by MPL Prez Paul and has flourished in each subsequent year under his leadership. But with each year that passes, he's had to pick up more real life responsibilities as he prepares for life after school. So to lend him a hand, "Jimbo" offered his services and dedicated his spare time to updating features and whatever else Paul didnt have time to do. So for this Jim has earned the award as being Season VII's "Most Dedicated."

There's been a lot of class acts in the MPL over the years but Travis has been at the top of that list for quite a few seasons now. He exemplies the code of conduct expected by MPL players both on and off the "field." Travis has had to balance a heavy load at home while still making time to post and play in the MPL. Through all the strain, he's again considered MPL's "Most Classy."

As prolific as his offense was this past season, Paul had to battle for quite a few of his wins. The first 5 weeks of the season saw some real nail biters as he both won and lost games by a touchdown or less. In the postseason, he had to really earn his way into the MPL bowl by beating some of MPL's finest in classic matchups. The Prez's offense combined with a knack for pulling out the close wins to earn him Seasons VII's award for "Most Exciting Team."

BluPun gets Season VII's nod as being MPL's "Most Old School." He plays a smash mouth style of football that his beloved Bears would be proud of. From referring to old school comics, tv shows, movies or games he's proven to truly be takin it back to the old school.

For the 2nd season in a row, it's a member and not an owner who gets the award for most creative poster. Longhorn continues to bring birthday wishes of cheer to the members of the MPL. He contributes with wit and humor on a continuous basis and keeps things lively with jokes and sarcasm. Thanks for hangin around John, your creativity on the boards is one of the things that makes the MPL so great!

Though Tim played a game or two in Season VI, his real MPL indoctrination came in Season VII with the Jets. Very few people knew of his Madden talent and figured that an unknown in charge of the Jets was likely going to finish at the bottom of his division. Well Mackdaddy not only won his division but nearly ended up in the MPL Bowl after going 11-1 in an outstanding rookie year. Tim is definately Season VII's "Best Newcomer."

Hey, who was that guy in charge of the Dolphins for Season VII? Whoever it was, it sure didnt resemble the same Underdog that's been a perennial MPL playoff contender. After a promising start to the season, Underdog faded fast and finished out of the playoffs for the first time in his MPL career. A lack of Madden practice time and roster updates killed his hopes of doing well but NO ONE expected this type of season from him. Hopefully Season VIII and beyond hold much better fortunes for him in the MPL.

When you end the season with just 1 win, that's enough to win you this award. But when that 1 win is a sim win, some suggest the award should be renamed in your "dishonor." Kevin is sure to have better seasons in the MPL than what he experienced in Season VI but for now, he has to live with knowing that his only win came by way of a sim. Im sure he often wishes he hadnt swept Sully's rug out from under his feet by picking up the beloved 'Niners on draft day!

For the 2nd season in a row, Wade has earned the award for posting the "Best Post Game Recaps" in the MPL. In Season VII, he continued to display his flare for creativity in his post game recaps. Wade's recaps have inspired others to copy his work and even more who try to compete with him in this category. Everyone appreciates the time and effort that Wade puts into his recaps as it shows his dedication and love for the league. Thanks Wade!

Plummerhater continued to tear it up on the boards once again this season. He led the day in which the MPL set a record for most total posts in a day. For the most part, his rants were confined to the Plummerhater vs Moneyball thread but he often had a lot to say about any subject posted on the MPL boards. He's really been an asset to the league in his activity on the boards. We can only hope he continues to be the "Most Talkative."

Even though Jim had much less time on his hands this past season, he managed to churn out some pretty nifty sigs for people. His own Falcons, Prez's Pats, Vixen's Ravens and Plummerhater's Broncos sigs were some of the work that was on display. For that hard work and dedication to the members of the MPL, he has been voted as Season VII's "Best Sig Maker."

• By Popular demand, anything Mrs Pun says was voted as the Best Post of Season VII.
  
  

• By Popular demand, Moneyball vs Plummerhater rants,thousands of posts not clogging other threads was voted as the Best Topic of Season VII.
  
  

• By Popular demand, Sully winning his first ring, Prez playing in his first MPL Bowl and 487 posts in one day were voted as the Fondest Memories of Season VII.
  
  

• By Popular demand, everyone doing a great job with the features were voted as the Best of MPL Season VII.
  
  

• The worst of MPL Season VII was voted as the controversy at the beginning regarding rule changes.
  
  

These two teams played earlier in the season with the lions emerging with an easy victory.But things have changed drastically,The lions have gotten much worse,while the falcons have improved tremendously.The stage was set for a close one in the game that will likely decide the division winner.
1st QTR
The falcons win the coin toss and choose to defer to the 2nd half.
The lions take the opening drive down the field methodically,opening up the game with a long PA pass to the corner to Pollard,and with some nice runs find themselves at the 2 yard line on first down and goal,But the falcons front 7 proved they were the dominant force and shut down 3 straight runs forcing the lions to Kick a FG going up 3-0
Kevin Jones asks Mike Martz if he is going to get any blocking in the run game.
On the next drive,the lions get the falcons to 3rd and 16 and things are looking good,but then they make the crucial mistake of leaving Fernando Bryant in 1v1 coverage against Ashley lelie and thanks tto my poor manual coverage(This would be a theme for both plays) he catches it for about a 40 yard gain before he is tackled.
The Falcons would then move the rest of the way and hit Alge Crumpler for a 7 yard TD throw over the head of the Lions Linebackers to go up 7-3.

2nd QTR
The lions returned the favor on the next drive by Bombing one for 78 yard catch and run against the manual coverage of the falcons to Cory Bradford to take back a 3 point lead.
Once again though it was a moot point as another deep Lob to Lelie is caught thanks to the Lions owner going for an INT instead of just the knockdown.It was a bad day for Fernando Bryant.14-10 Falcons.
The lions responded with a drive of their own and hit a Streaking Kevin Jones in the seams for a 22 yard TD strike to go up 17-14
The falcons drove down the field with something other then deep lelie throws this time,and after a short pass to the flats,Warrick Dunn avoided 2 tacklers and took it into the endzone from about 33 yards out.
The Lions,with about 50 seconds left in the half,manage to actually get down to the 5,but due to some poor timeout usage don't have enough time to try to get in the endzone and kick a FG to make the score at half 21-20 Falcons

3rd QTR
The Rapid scoring would calm down this quarter as both teams mounted semi successful drives,but the Lions were finally able to move down the field and actually succeed in the short running game to punch it in from a yard out on 3rd and goal with Shawn bryson,a successful 2 point conversion would give them a 7 point lead at 28-21

4th QTR
The Falcons would own this quarter as the Lions could not put up much offense,getting stopped on both of their drives in the final quarter.
The falcons moved down the field thanks to some nice evasive moves by QB Michael Vick on some deep throws.But they were held to a FG to make it a 4 point game at 28-24.
After Goat of the week Ross Verba's terrible run blocking forced the lions to punt after a failed 3rd and 1 run behind him.The lions would punt it away and hope their defense could hold.
With only about 3 minutes left in the game,The falcons played it smart,Moving on a very slow pace,taking advantage of the Lions eagerness to end the drive and moving down the field with a nice mix of runs and short passes.
Things were looking very grimm as they approached the 30 yard line with too little time left for the Lions to make a comeback drive if a TD was scored.But after playing terrible manual coverage all game.The Lions audibled to cover 2 after Warrick Dunn was motioned into the slot,And Paris Lennon,the middle linebacker,intercepted a post right ran by Crumpler on the right side at the TWO yard line to save the game! Final Score 28-24 Lions!