After starting the season 4-3, the Rebel Yell went on a major losing streak, losing the last 7 games of the season. The atmosphere around the Rebel Yell complex was sickening. Everyone who wasn't pointing fingers at others were trying to figure out what happened. Like so many of the disappointing seasons of the franchise, injuries were again the main contributor to the slide. During the first half of the season, the team lost 2 starters the first week of action in Terrell Davis and Joey Galloway. By bad luck, Galloway was lost for the season and Davis only accumulated 24 points all season. To add to this chaos, JuJuan Dawson was lost for 8-10 weeks in week 2 and Kevin Dyson was lost for the entire season in week 4.

Looking back on the season in hindsight, a lot of the problems might have been caused by the management not providing enough depth at the running back position in case a situation like this presents itself.

On a separate and semi-related note, the management and the union were able to come to an collective bargaining agreement two days after the end of the season. From all of the members of the Rebel Yell management, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by the ended holdout of the media department. We hope that this will not happen again in the future.

The media department of the Rebel Yell franchise went out on strike following the loss to the Shipyard Sharks in Week 8. Sources site that the staff was complaining about their benefits and pay scale. Management hopes to have this resolved as soon as possible in order to cause no interruptions in the communications and news for the Rebel Yell fans.

The Rebel Yell franchise went into Week 8 looking past the Shipyard Sharks (Averaging just 47 points per week) to the Kong and Cereal Kilurz in Weeks 9 an 10. Unfortunately, the Shipyard Sharks had an ambush waiting for the Rebels as they won the game 75 - 39. James Stewart starting the scoring for the Sharks on Thursday night with a 113 yard, 3 touchdown performance for 25 points. This is not the first time James Stewart attacked the Rebel Yell and probably not the last either. Shark backups, Drew Bledsoe and Tennessee Defense, had 15 and 23 point performances that helped to propel the Sharks to their highest point total of the season.

The Rebel Yell could not match the fire power of the Sharks in Week 8. With Tiki Barber on bye and Terrell Davis still resting his weak ankle, the Rebels could only muster 39 points, their 3rd sub-50 performance in 3 consecutive weeks. Isaac Bruce tried his best with a 129 yard, 2 touchdown performance, but it could not offset the rest of the team. For his performance, Bruce gets his fourth Robert E. Lee gameball of the season.

"I know things don't look promising right now, but we are still in the hunt for the wildcard", stated Coach Saylor. "We get Terrell Davis back in 2 weeks and we are done with bye weeks. Things just have to look up soon."

The Rebel Yell pulled out a close struggle against the highly underrated franchise, T's Money, by a score of 46 - 42. Even though T's Money is 1-6, they are always a team to contend with. "I think that T's Money still has a chance to win the Division if they get a few lucky breaks, commented Coach Saylor. "They are a good team and they took us to the wire this week."

The Robert E. Lee gameball will actually be given to 3 players this week: Lewis, Autry, and NY Giants Defense. Chad Lewis has really become a lifesaver for us at TE this year. His 62 yard and 1 touchdown performance and his teammate Autry's performance of 64 yards rushing and 1 touchdown gave the team enough to beat their opponent. The NY Giants defense filled in exceptionally well for the leagues best defense, Miami, with a 13 point day.

The Kodiak Bears and The Rebel Yell swapped kickers today in a sudden trade. Last years MVP, Olindo Mare was sent to the Rebel Yell for rookie standout, Sebastian Janikowski. It was reported that the trade went down because of personnel problems in the Kodiak Bears organization. Coach Saylor hopes that Olindo Mare can regain his 1999 form and become an impact player for the Rebels down the stretch to the playoffs.

The Rebel Yell's offense struggled once again in Week 6 that ended in another defeat to the Second Half Slide, 38 - 52. Miami's defense (18 points) could not help the team as stars like Mark Brunell self destructed. Mark Brunell threw 2 interceptions and fumbled once for a -2 performance. "I don't know what is happening to our team," quipped the confused Coach of the Rebel Yell. "We just can't seem to get anything going offensively. I know that Isaac Bruce being on bye week would have an impact, but scoring 3 points from the WR position is just unacceptable. And 4 points from two RBs, that is pathetic. We really miss Terrell and are waiting patiently for his return. I just hope it is not too late."

Coach Saylor awarded Miami's defense with the Robert E. Lee gameball for scoring almost half of the teams' total points for the week.

Pandora's Box and The Rebel Yell exchanged players today that added depth to both teams. The Rebel Yell got much needed help at the running back position with the acquisition of Priest Holmes. Priest is a solid runner who has the moves and quickness to be a star in the league. In return, the Rebels send Tyrone Davis to Pandora's box. With the emergence of Chad Lewis at the TE position, Davis became expendable. This trade will hopefully fill the void that the injured Terrell Davis created with his ankle injury.

The Rebel Yell defeated the winless Kodiak Bears 49 - 28, and now have a 2 game winning streak. "I was really worried about the Kodiak Bears' offense, because on paper it looks very formidable," commented Coach Saylor. "I just don't understand what is wrong with their chemistry because that team should be averaging over 50 points a week."

Isaac Bruce led the team again for the 3rd straight week with 20 points and will receive an unprecedented 3rd straight Robert E. Led gameball. Bruce got 2 TD passes and had 167 yards receiving. "You just got to love Isaac with the great performances he is putting in lately," the elated Coach stated. "And the fans just love him. You kind of get chills down you back when the fans shout "Giddy Up" every time he touches the ball.

The Rebel Yell won its second game of the season, 59 - 38, against Pandora's Box (2-2). It was once again a solid all-around performance by the Rebels, who at 2-2 still sit at the basement of the powerful Kokomos Division. "We are quite happy with the performance of our team," commented Coach Saylor. "We just need to have 2 healthy RBs and WRs in the lineup at the same time, and we could be unstoppable."

Isaac Bruce turned in his second outstanding performance to earn him his second straight Robert E. Lee Gameball in Week 4. His 2TD, 92 yard day moved Bruce into the top 3 receivers in the EFFL and help propel the Rebels to an easy win. "Isaac is really starting to heat it up. If we could just find him an excellent receiver to join him, we would be set for the playoffs."

The Rebel Yell Lost its second starting receiver for the 2000 season to the injury bug. Kevin Dyson will join Joey Galloway on the Injured Reserve List for the season after accidentally colliding with his own player in practice and tearing his ACL. "I just don't get it," rambled Head Coach Saylor. "Last year we couldn't keep a quarterback healthy to save our lives. This year it seems like it will be wide-receivers. It was bad enough to lose Galloway late in Week 1 when the game was out of hand, but to lose Dyson to an accidental collision in practice, that is just bad luck."

The Rebel Yell also released rookie wide-receiver Jajuan Dawson in Week 3 because of injury that would sideline him for 8-10 weeks. The depleted receiving corps will consist of starters Isaac Bruce and Troy Brown, with Raghib Ismail coming off the bench resting an injury.

The Rebel Yell experienced their second lost of the season, 58 - 63, as Bad Karma starts to settle over the football complex. Coach Saylor was highly criticized for starting Kevin Dyson, who was not available to start because he was on a bye week. Saylor also started Terrell Davis, who decided his ankle was not healthy enough to play only minutes before kickoff. With all of that said, the team performed exceptionally well, considering they were out-manned against the TECtonic Movement by two players.

The Robert E. Lee gameball was given to Isaac Bruce for his 188 yard / 1 TD game on Sunday. Bruce scored 15 points for the Rebel Yell and single handedly tried to offset the absence of the second receiver on the team. Tiki Barber (86 rushing yards / 1 TD) and the Dolphins defense (1 INT/ 6 Sacks / 6 Points Against) both had solid days.

"If only Terrell was healthy and I wouldn't have been on cloud nine when I made the lineup, we would have probably been 2-1 after divisional play," apologized Coach Saylor. "I take full blame for this loss and I promised the team that it would never happen again."

The Strawmakers once again defeated the Rebel Yell by a score of 65 - 51. Why? Simple. The Rebel Yell didn't get the productivity from its fantasy studs. Terrell Davis was benched in hopes that his injured ankle would start to heal. Isaac Bruce can't seem to find the end zone. The kicking game is horrid and the tightend? ... Who is the tightend?

Fortunately, the team's quarterbacks of Brunell, Testeverde, and Collins performed very well collecting 18, 18, and 15 point weeks respectively. For Mark Brunell's 368 passing yards and 3 touchdowns performance, the Robert E. Lee gameball was thrown his way in the locker room after the game by Coach Saylor.

Of course, the Rebel Yell didn't make it through this week without another serious injury. Newly acquired Jajuan Dawson, brought on to help fill the void caused by the season ending injury to Joey Galloway, will be out at least 8-10 weeks with a broken collarbone.

"Hopefully Week 3 will be our breakout game," comments Coach Saylor. "We should have a healthy Terrell Davis back to compliment Tiki Barber's solid season. Tiki has really been running well so far this year." Tiki Barber leads the team in rushing and fantasy points, and is among the league leaders at his position in the EFFL.

The injured Joey Galloway was traded to the Red Zone Assassins today for the new #1 receiver in Dallas, Raghib Ismail. Many owners criticized the move on the part of the new EFFL, Don Strausbaugh, but Coach Saylor backs him up. "I think Don and the Assassins have a talented carryover for next year at only $5. You never know with these young receivers after serious injuries, but if anyone can bounce back, it would be Joey." The Rebel Yell had plans to keep Galloway for 2001, but couldn't afford to hold his salary during the 2000 season do to a poor auction performance. Ismail, also known around the league as 'The Rocket', will probably not see much starting time on the Rebel Yell squad this year because Kevin Dyson looks to have won the starting job this week during practice.

The Rebel Yell franchise won their season opener, 58 - 54, against the newest EFFL franchise, The Red Zone Assassins. In this closely fought battle, the victory didn't come without a price. Joey Galloway was injured in the 4th quarter of the game and is lost for the season with a torn ACL. Terrell Davis badly sprained his ankle and will be lost for at least a few weeks.

The good news ... newly acquired Tiki Barber ran for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns. Of course, Tiki was riding the bench and those points didn't help the final outcome. But, the performance was still greatly appreciated by Coach Saylor, who gave the Tiki the first Robert E. Lee gameball of the 2000 season. Another outstanding performance came from the Miami defense, as they shut out their opponent on the way to a 26 point week game. Those extra points from the shutout were a main factor in the Rebel Yell win in Week 2.

"We had a minor setback today, but I think that we are still set for the season," stated Coach Saylor. "We have depth at quarterback and that will help us get depth later in the season in the positions that we need it. Let's just be glad we won."

The Rebel Yell have a tough task ahead of them next week against their arch-rivals, the Strawmakers. "We will have to be pro-active in the free agent market to find some players who can fill in for our injured team members," commented Coach Saylor. "It will be a tough task, but I know our management can handle this little setback." Look for the release of Aikman and/or Porter this week to make room for free agent acquisitions.