That's right, we're still going strong in the Insane Online Wrestling Alliance fantasy football league!! Who saw this league lasting FOURTEEN glorious years, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon? ODJ has built a dynasty, and part of that dynasty is what you're reading now.

Last year ended with the Brew City Bruisers bringing another trophy back to the ICWF Division, as they defeated the Deadly Sins 184-153 in an epic, high-scoring championship game to win the league. It was the second championship for the Bruisers, a historic win for the franchise.

During the off-season, the Lawrenceville Burping Elks surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) folded, closing the organization for the second, and likely final, time. But there are always owners interested in joining such a successful league, and the Bridgeport Bombers quickly signed on. Will this new franchise 'excel' in the GCWA Division, or will they face too many issues as a new organization? Time will tell, as you can never predict what's going to happen in this league.

Of course, that's never stopped me from trying...

For many years now, IOWA Mania has accompanied the season, with lots of statistics and predictions to add to the enjoyment of the scheduled match-ups. This year, the tradition continues once again.

Every year for the past three years, I have used the same three projections for our weekly games: CBS Sports, ESPN, and FFToolBox. Every year, the result has been the same, with FFToolBox finishing at the top of the mountain. Last year was the closest yet, with FFToolBox only winning because of their picks for the Games of the Week.

IOWA's yearly draft took place last week, with some people feeling very successful coming out of it, while others are dreading a long year. Here's the ESPN Draft Report Card:

So how much weight should be put on these draft grades? Well, last year, the IOWA Champion Bruisers were given a C-, while the team they faced in the Insane Bowl, the Deadly Sins, got a B-. So, as always, take these rankings with a grain of salt. If you're ranked high, don't relax, and if you're at the bottom, don't give up. It's a long season, after all.

That being said, the season is about to start, with the football journey officially beginning this Thursday! It can come up on you quickly, can't it? It sure did for me. Luckily, I'm an old pro on getting the statistics together.

We're starting the year with divisional rivalries renewed, so let's see what the projections are calling for!

GAME OF THE WEEK - The Deadly Sins (0-0, 0-0) @ Brew City Bruisers (0-0, 0-0):

Last year, the Bruisers came within 14 points of winning their second ICWF Divisional Title, before being denied by The Deadly Sins. That didn't stop the Bruisers, though, as they motored through the playoffs and got some revenge on the Sins, beating them in the championship game. That means that the Bruisers actually have more IOWA Championships than ICWF Divisional Titles. Crazy, but then, the ICWF Division has always been the most competitive. They have the most IOWA champions (6 out of the 13) in our history. But will either of these teams be able to continue from such successful seasons, with the draft positions working against them?

The Sins surely want some revenge from last year, as they saw their chance at another IOWA Championship disappear despite an excellent game from their squad. They added their 7th ICWF Divisional Title to their mantle, a truly awe-inspiring feat considering how tough that division is, but it always feels a little hollow when you don't finish the season the way you want. This year, you can bet the Sins are determined to get back where they were. But can they manage it without the Manning/Thomas connection?

The Bruisers put together a decent team from the bottom of the draft, opting to go with the aerial game. Drafting WRs AJ Green, Jordy Nelson, and Andre Johnson with their first three picks shows the the Bruisers are going for the long bomb this year. That means, however, that the running game is a bit more of a risk, with Coach Nelson counting on RBs Ben Tate and Stevan Ridley to deliver all year (something neither did last year).

The Sins took a slightly different track in the draft, picking up two TEs in the first four rounds. It was a surprising move from Coach Perez, but having TEs Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski could be a great 1-2 punch, now that the Flex position has been opened up in IOWA. The question will be, will other areas suffer due to the concentration of the tight ends? Or will the strategy pay off, leading the Sins to their 8th ICWF Divisional Title?

To start the year, the projections are all in agreement, even if some are closer than others. The two teams are pretty evenly matched in most areas, but the Bruisers are consistently rated just slightly behind the Sins. This might change, though, if Gronkowski doesn't end up starting. That's something that the Sins will have to keep a close eye on. That being said, as many of you probably know, I very rarely go against a unanimous decision, so my prediction this week is for The Sins to start off the season on the right foot.

Effingham Dukes (0-0, 0-0) @ Nashville Venom (0-0, 0-0):

In 2011, the Dukes had one of their best records ever, going 10-2-1 and making it deep into the playoffs. That's the last happy memory the fans of the squad have, as the Dukes have gone 7-19 since then in the fierce ICWF division. Is it that surprising that a small group of Dukes fans have started to call for a return of the East Bay Hardcore? Having the #1 pick (while the rest of the division drafted late) has to turn it around for the franchise at this point.

Things weren't that bad for the Venom, as they finished a strong 8-5 and thought they could contend for another championship. But the Bruisers put a quick stop to that, with a brutal beat-down, 169-94. Coach Limior has been working with the team to get them to shake off the loss, but it will be interesting to see how they respond right out of the gate with divisional battles.

Let's talk draft. The blessing of the #1 pick brought RB LeSean McCoy to the Dukes, but the curse of the pick caused the team to have to wait until the 24th pick for another shot (taking WR Julio Jones and RB Alfred Morris). It doesn't make it easy to put together a powerhouse team, but at the same time, McCoy on his own could carry this team to a few victories.

The Venom, at pick #8, decided to take a top WR in Demaryius Thomas, counting on him being as strong as he was last year. With WR Wes Welker suspended, though, for the first four games, and with WR Eric Decker no longer in town, Thomas may face tougher coverage than usual, at the worst time for the Venom. You don't want to get behind early in the ICWF Division. The squad will need to count on their potentially strong RB staff to pull them through the next few weeks, as well as QB Carson Palmer making himself a steal in the 10th round.

This is our first game where the projections are split. ESPN gives a strong edge to the Dukes, as they don't have much faith in several Venom players (Palmer, Floyd, and Johnson all are much lower scores than the other two). The Venom, though, have the edge in the other two projections, especially when you add in the home field advantage. Expect this one to be close, but I lean more with FFToolBox & CBS on this one: advantage Venom.

West Canaan Coyotes (0-0, 0-0) @ The Lost Souls (0-0, 0-0):

The Coyotes fought their way into the playoffs last year as the final seed, upsetting the Deadly Sins on the final week of the season. It was the Coyotes' first taste of the playoffs since their return to the league, and although they fell in the first round, the fan-base was understandably excited. You can bet they're expecting a little more progress this year, and expecting Head Coach Otto Pickford to deliver it.

The Lost Souls won their first two games in 2013, and looked to take that momentum and run with it. Unfortunately, it seems like the team ran the wrong direction, as the squad stumbled badly the rest of the way, finishing 4-8-1. This ended a string of 8-5 seasons and saw the squad miss the playoffs. Can 2014 be a rebound season for the well-traveled team? Or will the troubles continue?

Coach Pickford decided to go big right at the gate, taking the best quarterback in the league, QB Peyton Manning, with the 7th pick. Having this powerful of an arm allowed the Coyotes to concentrate on other positions in the future rounds, making several strong-looking picks. There are a few gambles here and there, but not many as risky as we have seen in the past from this franchise. It's looking like Pickford is doing his best to remove the legacy of the Professor from this team.

Last year, The Lost Souls received an F for their draft by ESPN. The owner laughed it off, only to see the prediction come far closer to the truth than he would have liked. This year? The grade remains the same, as ESPN is not a fan of The Lost Souls' strategies (although ownership is, as the GM earned a 5-year contract extension afterwards). Unfortunately, drafting third can mean you get the third-best, as TLS ended up with RB Jamaal Charles, a strong player who is also always an injury concern. TLS also went defense-heavy, with picks in the 6th and 7th rounds, while not picking up a WR until the 8th (Mike Wallace). It remains to be seen if this strategy works for the team this year, with the bitter taste of 2013 still working on being cleansed.

ESPN is a big fan of the Coyotes, giving them their second-highest projection score for Week 1. FFToolBox went one further, making the Coyotes the highest one for them. Amazingly, though, CBS Sports actually has The Lost Souls coming out on top, if only by a couple of points. I think this game will most likely be decided by what kind of game QB Manning has. My opinion? He's been sitting on the pain of that Super Bowl loss for a long time, and it's all about to erupt out (see his taunting penalty in the presseason). Thus, I'm picking The Coyotes to take this one.

Bridgeport Bombers (0-0, 0-0) @ Austin Accelerators (0-0, 0-0):

The Bombers have no history, as they're coming in to replace the terminally-struggling Burping Elks. Of course, the struggles for the Elks were more on the financial side, as they were 21-17-1 in their three seasons here, so the Bombers do have something to strive for. Will beginner's luck be a factor this year? At this point, the Bombers probably do have an advantage, as they can see everyone else's strategies in the past. The Bombers are a blank slate, as the future has yet to be written.

After winning the IOWA Championship in 2012, the Accelerators weren't expected to have an explosive 2013. They certainly weren't expected to come into the playoffs as the #1 seed. There was real hope that Coach Rockwell was going to take his team to a second Insane Bowl. And then... the team collapsed into a flaming ruin, with the squad only managing 59 points against the future champs, the Bruisers. While the Accelerators added their record-breaking 9th divisional title in 13 years, all that the fans remember right now is that loss. Coach Rockwell now needs to mobilize the team to recover, even after a second high-draft spot in a row.

Speaking of the draft, The Bombers at least got a small bonus by the Elks having a rough 2013, getting the fourth draft pick. The team was more traditional at first, taking RBs Matt Forte and Arian Foster in the first two rounds. The next several picks went for filling positions with decent players, some of whom could be great. But a lot will depend on the team being as injury-free as possible, as some of the older players will be needed for the entire season.

With the 10th pick in the draft, having already missed out on QBs Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, the Accelerators opted to take QB Drew Brees to anchor their team. The second round brought WR Dez Bryant, making it two great players. But after that, Coach Rockwell seemed willing to take some chances on potential injury risks and rookies, making this possibly a boom or bust season. RB Bishop Sankey is a A lot needs to come together for the Accelerators to thrive again in 2014, but their track record says that it's certainly possible.

The projections for this game were by far the strangest to me. ESPN and FFToolBox both had the Accelerators taking it, with FFToolBox giving the Accelerators a double-digits win. Something changed severely for CBS, though, as they had the Bombers winning by 17. They also had the Bombers tied for the highest score of the week. The reason? CBS has a lot more faith in QB Matt Ryan and the Texans' D. Really, I see the Texans' D getting victimized by their own offense giving turnovers, so I'm with ESPN and FFToolBox (plus, of course, I like picking myself). So I'll go with The Accelerators to win a tight one.

Twin City Trojans (0-0, 0-0) @ Seattle Strafe (0-0, 0-0):

The Trojans represented OCW last year, winning their third divisional title and being the sole divisional team in the playoffs. They also came close to making the Insane Bowl, reaching the second round of the playoffs and losing by just 5 points to the Deadly Sins. Surprisingly, though, the team was all about controversy this off-season, with rumors that Mario Maurako was going to auction off the team, followed by Maurako stepping down as the head football coach to make way for Head Coach Jim Tressel and Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Vilma. Will the changes to an already-successful franchise pay off? Or will we be looking back on this with shaking heads next year?

While the Trojans had controversy, the Strafe had drama, as the owner and head coach of the team, Ken Korbinn, had to be hospitalized over the break. This led to Korbinn's children, Aisling, Noelle, and Ceara, taking over the top positions, creating a family team to run the business. You have to wonder if the health issues helped contribute to the terrible 5-7-1 season last year. If that's the case, a change in leadership, no matter how drastic, could definitely have a strong effect for the Strafe, who have won multiple OCW Divisional Titles in the past.

In the draft, the Trojans' Coach Tressel struck fast with QB Aaron Rodgers in the first round. That seemed like a great pick to give the team some stability at the leadership position of the team. Strangely, though, Tressel would end up drafting 3 QBs in the first eight rounds, adding QBs Andrew Luck and Tony Romo to the roster. While all three are great QBs, having nearly half the picks to that point being quarterbacks could be seen as a very dangerous tactic. You have to assume the Trojans are thinking of trading one of these stars for some help, most likely at running back.

A lot of people came in doubting the Korbinn daughters' abilities to perform well at the draft. But it seemed like the hits kept coming for the team, adding WR Calvin Johnson and RBs DeMarco Murray, Giovani Bernard, and Frank Gore in the first four rounds. Assuming injuries are avoided, that could be a very powerful tandem. The Strafe continued their conquests in the next few rounds, making some great decisions that certainly impressed me. The Korbinn ladies are legit.

All three of the projections are in agreement, loving the team of the Strafe over the Trojans. ESPN seems to be especially harsh on the Trojans' running game (7 pts for RB Doug Martin and 6 pts for RB Shane Vereen seems low to me). Really, there are high expectations for the Strafe this week, as the talent is there. But will the performance? We'll soon find out. With a unanimous decision selected by the projections, I'll go with The Strafe to take this one and become a threat to everyone.

BTW, it's worth noting that there is a wager on this one. If the Trojans win, the Korbinn ladies will have to dump buckets of cold ice water on themselves. If the Strafe win, Mario Maurako will have to get Starbucks Iced Coffee dumped on him... naked.

Needless to say, although I've picked the Strafe to win, I'm not at all sure I want to see the Trojans lose...

Chode City Best (0-0, 0-0) @ Dean-o Style (0-0, 0-0):

The Best came OH so close last year to making the playoffs in their first year, landing in the 7th spot with a 7-6 record, despite winning their last two games. Who knows what could have happened if the Best had gotten that one more victory to reach the tournament. That's where the OCW Division comes in, as the Best struggled against their closest opposition, going 2-4. If the Best can fix that issue, they could very well take on the entire league... assuming Coach Rimmjahb doesn't have better things to do...

One of the early 'curses' in the IOWA Football League was the championship curse. It was said that if you won the championship one year, you would face major adversity the next season. Many didn't buy the curse, and teams like the Hardcore helped to try to disprove it. If you talk to people in Amsterdam, though, they'll tell you the curse is real... and that somehow it's permanently attached itself to the Style. Ever since winning the championship in 2010, the Style have bombed out season after season, going 9-28-2 in that span. Honestly, the world is shocked that Coach Feldman is still in charge, especially after his legal troubles made him miss the draft (allowing a mime in charge of a team for the first time in IOWA history, I believe).

The drafts for these two teams is actually somewhat fascinating. The Best started out on a normal angle, taking RB Eddie Lacy with the 6th pick. The interesting part comes in the next two rounds, where the Best drafted QB Matthew Stafford and WR Randall Cobb... neither of whom will be starting this week. These were followed by WR Victor Cruz (who is playing) and RB Joique Bell (who is not). That's 3 of the 5 top picks who will not start the season for the Best. Is it strategic, due to match-ups? That's certainly possible. We'll have to see how the decisions come out after this week.

For the Style, being run by a mime for a day was a wild experience. Sure, RB Adrian Peterson was the easy choice as the #2 pick, giving the team a force to be reckoned with. There were a few good picks early on. But things went south in the later rounds, as the assistant coach seemed focused on back-up RBs (Rounds 11-13), and then, crazily, on kickers (Rounds 14-16), only finally taking care of defensive needs in Round 17. Coach Feldman had to make some major alterations once he got back, but some damage was definitely done. Now it's all on the coach to turn the troubles into triumphs.

After the draft debacle, you would think that the Style would be picked for last place this year. But surprisingly, all three projections actually are picking the Style this week, some by large numbers. The Best have the second-lowest score projection by ESPN, and the lowest by both FFToolBox and CBS Sports. It's rare that the projections agree by this large a margin, but none of them have faith in the Best. Will the Best rise above low expectations? Perhaps. But with the unanimous picks, I'm going with The Style to at least give their fans a little hope this season.

That covers Week 1, and let me tell you, I forgot how information-intestive writing this column is! Whew! We'll see how accurate the predictions come out, as it's always hard to guess exactly how everyone's going to do at the start of a new season. I've had high hopes for certain teams in the past who ended up crashing, while others have gotten horrible draft grades and gone on to championship games.

At this point? Anything can happen, and I'm looking forward to see where it ends up. It's going to be a hell of a season, so good luck to all!

And now, one of our models for the 2014-2015 season, Jaime Edmonson!

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Column written by Andrew R, IOWA Mania