What was the SFL??

 

In mid 1980s, something started that would forever change the lives of a bunch of kids from the small rural Iowa community of Estherville.  This game was likely a precursor of the game we know today as fantasy football (all of us are very familiar with that game).

Lon & Lane Anderson had an idea for a board game which utilized old style gumball football helmets (the type with the snap on mask), a pair of dice & their family pool table (I will go into further explanation of this in another section of this web page).  Lon & Lane played what was considered the 1st game in SFL history shortly thereafter (titled “The Game”) on New Year’s Day 1983.  Lon’s team was the AFC All Stars while Lane’s team was the NFC All Stars.  When the first game was all said & done, Lon’s AFC Stars won 15-14. 

With further tooling, the 2nd game in SFL history took place on New Year’s Day 1984.  This time however, Lane’s NFC team took the win over Lon’s AFC team (no score is available on this one however).  After the 2nd game, the Brothers Anderson decided to kick this game up a notch.

They contacted friends Rob Spalding & Doug Clymer to start up a trial league (pre-SFL) by running several small tournaments.  A draft took place after Spalding & Clymer agreed to join this group for the tournaments.  Each team would have 17 players.  The four teams were known as the Totally Awesomes (Rob’s team), the Super Supremes (Lane’s team), the Ruthless Ramblers (Lon’s team) & the Doug All Stars (Doug’s team).  The win-loss records for the 3 combined tournaments saw the TA at 6-1, the SS at 3-3, the RR at 3-3-1 & the DAS at 2-4-1.  The TA was the dominant team throughout the 3 tournaments as their record indicates.  These 4 teams became a corner stone for what would become the Strategy Football League (SFL).

SFL Season 1: The Beginning

 

          The first of many seasons for the SFL started shortly thereafter.  An expansion of the league’s original 4 teams took place & the league’s 1st expansion team was the Super Awesomes, owned by Dave Spalding (Rob’s brother).  The Super Supremes, so not to be confused with the Super Awesomes, changed their name to the Gold Rush (team owned by Lane Anderson).  The records the first season looked like this:

 

SFL Season 1 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

6-2-0

+15

1-1-0

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

4-4-0

-5

2-0-0

Doug All Stars (D.Clymer)

4-4-0

-8

0-1-0

Gold Rush (La.Anderson)

3-5-0

-5

0-1-0

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

3-5-0

-14

1-1-0

 

The first round of the league playoffs saw the #5 Super Awesomes defeat the #4 Gold Rush 14-8.  The playoff semis saw the #1 Totally Awesomes defeat the Super Awesomes 16-8 while the #2 Ruthless Radicals defeated the #3 Doug All Stars 27-22.  This set up the league’s championship game, the Classic Bowl, with the Totally Awesomes facing the Ruthless Radicals in a David vs Goliath showdown.  The RR pulled a mild upset winning CB I by defeating the TA 9-0 in a very defensive battle.

 

Regular Season MVP: QB Dan Marino (Ruthless Rads)

CB I MVP: DB Glenn Blackwood (Ruthless Rads)

SFL Coach of the Season: Rob Spalding (Totally Awesomes)

SFL Season 2: 6 Teams Strong

 

          The 2nd SFL season wasn’t a whole lot different from the first season.   The league allowed 1 expansion franchise team for the 2nd season as Lesly Anderson (sister of the Anderson Brothers) created the Killer Bears (KB).  The GR underwent another name change moving to Ropin’ Rustlers.  The TA were predicted to repeat as league champion despite the upset in CB I.  The league standings ended like this:

 

SFL Season 2 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

8-2-0

+39

0-1-0

Killer Bears (Le.Anderson)

5-4-1

+26

0-1-0

Ruthless Rads (Lo.Anderson)

4-5-1

-35

2-0-0

Ropin’ Rustlers (La.Anderson)

4-6-0

+31

1-1-0

Doug All Stars (D.Clymer)

4-6-0

-12

0-0-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

4-6-0

-26

0-0-0

 

The TA & DAS were shut out of the Season 2 playoffs.  The top 4 teams made the playoffs with the SA & KB being hosts for 1st round games.  The RR & RoR pulled stunning upsets of the #1 & #2 seeds.  The RR d. the KB 12-8 in a defensive gem while the RoR upset the SA 16-8.  The RR & RoR met in the 2nd Classic Bowl championship game.  The RR, behind QB Dan Marino & RB Sammy Winder, won their 2nd league championship in 2 seasons, defeated the RoR 22-8.

 

Regular Season MVP: QB Dan Marino (Ruthless Rads)

CB II MVP: QB Dan Marino (Ruthless Rads)

SFL Coach of the Season: Dave Spalding (Super Awesomes)

SFL Season 3: TA again #1 (will they win the championship or choke?)

 

          The 3rd SFL season saw the same 6 teams vying for the crown.  However there were some new faces running a few teams.  Lane Anderson, former owner/coach of the Gold Rush/Ropin’ Rustlers, moved in to the HC spot for the Ruthless Radicals (Lon Anderson stepped down to focus on league commissioner duties prior to Season 3).  Newcomers Henry Nerd (Killer Bears HC) & Dave Clymer (Ropin’ Rustlers owner/HC) rounded on the coaching roster.  The TA were #1 in the preseason rankings & were out to prove the critics wrong.  The league standings looked like this:

   

SFL Season 3 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

8-4-0

+57

2-0-0

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

7-5-0

+32

1-1-0

Doug All Stars (Do.Clymer)

6-5-1

+29

0-1-0

Killer Bears (H.Nerd)

6-6-0

+2

0-1-0

Ruthless Radicals (La.Anderson)

6-6-0

-18

0-0-0

Ropin’ Rustlers (Da.Clymer)

2-9-1

-85

0-0-0

 

The RR & RoR were shut out of the Season 3 playoffs.  The top 4 teams made the playoffs with the SA & TA being hosts for 1st round games.  The TA shutout the KB 16-0 while the SA defeated the DAS 30-12 to make the 3rd CB an all Spalding championship game.  The TA proved way too much for the SA in CB 3 as the TA clobbered the SA 28-14 to claim their 1st CB title & remove the monkey from their back.

 

Regular Season MVP: RB Eric Dickerson (Killer Bears)

CB III MVP: LB Dave Butz (Totally Awesomes)

SFL Coach of the Season: Doug Clymer (Doug All Stars)

SFL Season 4: The League Becomes 10

 

          The 4th SFL season saw some new blood in the ranks.  4 teams made their debut during season 4.  They were the Tropicana All Stars (TS, Pete Bergum), the new Gold Rush (GR, Lane Anderson), the Daring Rebels (DR, Dave Johnson) & the Kroenke’s Donkies (KD, Mike Kroenke).  Returning to the RR was Lon Anderson.  The league standings ended like this:       

 

SFL Season 4 Rankings

W-L

1-Ruthless Rads (Lo.Anderson)

7-0-0

2-Doug All Stars (Do.Clymer)

3-2-0

3-Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

4-2-0

4-Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

3-3-0

5-Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

2-2-0

6-Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

1-2-0

7-Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

1-2-0

8-Gold Rush (La.Anderson)

1-2-0

9-Killer Bears (H.Nerd)

0-3-0

10-Ropin’ Rustlers (Da.Clymer)

0-3-0

Note: Rankings were voted upon by league owners

 

The playoffs saw the RR, the DAS, the TA & the expansion KD make it in.  The first round games saw the RR defeat the DAS 19-8, while the TA made short work of the KD 40-18.  The RR entered the championship game, CB IV, with a 6-0 record and were threatening to become the 1st undefeated team in SFL history.  CB IV proved to be the most exciting CB yet as the scoring went back & forth.  Finally in the end, the RR narrowly defeated the defending champion TA 26-24 to win their 3rd SFL crown.

 

Regular Season MVP: QB Bobby Hebert (Kroenke’s Donkies)

CB IV MVP: QB John Elway (Ruthless Radicals)

SFL Coach of the Season: Lon Anderson (Ruthless Radicals)

SFL Season 5: 7 Teams Remain

 

          The 5th SFL season saw some contraction in the league.  Gone were the GR, the KB & the RoR.  Dave Clymer took over HC duties for the Doug All Stars as Doug Clymer headed off for military training.  Preseason rankings saw the SA ranked #1.  2 of the Season 4 expansion teams, the KD & the TS, made impressive 2nd season bids.  The league standings ended like this:      

 

SFL Season 5 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

8-2-0

+41

2-0-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

7-3-0

+49

0-1-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

6-4-0

+10

1-1-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

5-5-0

+12

0-1-0

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

5-5-0

-12

0-0-0

Doug All Stars (Da.Clymer)

3-7-0

-30

0-0-0

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

1-9-0

-95

0-0-0

 

The SA, DAS & DR did not qualify for the S5 playoffs while the RR, KD, TA & TS all made it in.  The first round games saw the host RR defeat the TS 22-16 in OT and the TA upset the KD 34-24 to make it a RR vs TA Classic Bowl. CB V saw the RR defeat the TA 24-16 to give the RR their 4th CB title in 5 seasons.

 

Regular Season MVP: QB Bobby Hebert (Kroenke’s Donkies)

CB V MVP: QB John Elway (Ruthless Radicals)

SFL Coach of the Season: Mike Kroenke (Kroenke’s Donkies)

SFL Season 6: Could the RR win the CB again?

 

          The 6th SFL season saw some more contraction in the league as the SA folded.  Preseason rankings saw the DAS take the #1 ranking (DAS were coached by veteran coach Lane Anderson).  The KD were strong again this season & proved to be force to be reckonded with.  The league standings ended like this:

 

SFL Season 6 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

7-3-0

+53

0-1-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

7-3-0

+28

2-0-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

6-4-0

+8

0-1-0

Doug All Stars (La.Anderson)

4-6-0

-16

1-1-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

4-6-0

-23

0-0-0

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

2-8-0

-48

0-0-0

 

The TS & DR did not qualify for the S6 playoffs.  The first round games saw the host TA defeated the KD 22-16 in OT and the DAS top the RR 6-0 to set up a TA vs DAS Classic Bowl. CB VI saw the TA defeat the DAS 16-14 to give the TA their 2nd league championship.

 

Regular Season MVP: RB Eric Dickerson (Ruthless Radicals)

CB VI MVP: S Richard Johnson (Totally Awesomes)

SFL Coach of the Season: Lane Anderson (Doug All Stars)

SFL Season 7:

 

          The 7th SFL season saw the same 6 franchises go at it again (the DAS had Dave Spalding as HC).  The RR was the odds on favorite to repeat with the KD lurking in the wings to take over at any time.  However, the DR, who had won only 4 games in the prior 3 seasons, were the team to surprise everyone in winning the regular season title. The league standings ended like this: 

 

SFL Season 7 Standings

RS W-L

Pt Diff

PS W-L

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

7-3-0

+37

8-4-0

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

7-3-0

+20

8-4-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

6-4-0

+24

7-5-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

4-6-0

-10

4-7-0

Doug All Stars (D.Spalding)

3-7-0

-11

3-7-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

3-7-0

-15

3-7-0

 

The DAS & the TS did not make the playoffs.  The first round games saw the DR hosting the KD & the RR hosting the TA.  The RR beat the TA 13-7 in OT, while the KD initially defeated the DR 20-14 in OT.  Upon review of a call by league officials of a play in regulation, it was ruled that the KD received points they shouldn’t have so the DR was given the victory over the KD.  In CB 7, the DR finished off their cinderella season by defeating the RR 19-13 in OT to win their 1st league title & the 1st league title won by an expansion team.

Between seasons 7 & 8, Lon Anderson stepped down as league commissioner.  Doug Clymer succeeded Lon as league commissioner prior to season 8 & remained there the rest of the time the league existed.

 

Regular Season MVP: QB Bobby Hebert (Kroenke’s Donkies)

CB VII MVP: DB Spencer Tillman (Daring Rebels)

SFL Coach of the Season: Dave Johnson (Daring Rebels)

SFL Season 8:

 

          The 8th SFL season saw the league have a double elimination tournament over the holiday season.  It also saw some expansion as the Hostile Hawks (HH, Eric Petersen), the Devastating Dolphins (DD, Brad Trosin), the Lytle Express (LE, Rick Lytle) & Matt’s Miners (MM, Matt Rembold) joined the league.  The Super Awesomes (SA, Dave Spalding) and Ropin’ Rustlers (RoR, Dave Clymer) rejoined the league as well. 

The DR was picked to repeat as league champion, but the DAS got the #1 seed going into the actual tournament.  The league rankings ended like this:    

 

SFL Season 8 Rankings

RS W-L

Doug All Stars (D.Clymer)

6-2-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

6-1-1

Hostile Hawks (E.Petersen)

4-3-0

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

3-3-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

4-3-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

2-3-0

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

3-2-0

Devastating Dolphins (B.Trosin)

2-2-1

Ropin’ Rustlers (D.Clymer)

0-4-0

Lytle’s Express (R.Lytle)

1-4-0

Matt’s Miners (M.Rembold)

0-4-0

 

The TA won the winner’s bracket & the DAS won the loser’s bracket final.  The first DAS-TA matchup went to the DAS 13-7 in OT, which forced a 2nd DAS-TA game for the CB title.  The TA won 20-14 in OT to claim the CB VIII title behind Walter Payton.

 

Regular Season MVP: RB Walter Payton (Totally Awesomes)

CB VII MVP: RB Walter Payton (Totally Awesomes)

Rookie Player of the Season: RB James Jones (Hostile Hawks)

SFL Coach of the Season: Eric Petersen (Hostile Hawks)

SFL Season 9:

 

          The 9th SFL season saw the RR & TA at the top of the preseason predictions for the Lombardi & Halas conferences.  The regular season title saw the DAS & RR battle for the Lombardi and the TA & SA battle for the Halas.  This season also set a new mark for season length with 98 games played.  3 new teams were brought into the league: the Fagre’s Flyers (FF, Tim Fagre), the Stine’s Superstars (StS, Rob Stine) and the Super Stangs (SS, Sean Stepanek/Matt Miller).  The league standings ended like this:

 

SFL S9 Lomb Conf Standings

RS W-L

OA W-L

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

12-2-0

13-3-0

Fagre’s Flyers (T.Fagre)

10-4-0

13-4-0

Doug All Stars (Do.Clymer)

10-4-0

10-5-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

9-5-0

10-6-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

6-8-0

6-9-0

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

2-12-0

2-12-0

Stine’s Superstars (R.Stine)

2-12-0

2-12-0

SFL S9 Halas Conf Standings

RS W-L

PS W-L

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

11-3-0

12-4-0

Ropin’ Rustlers (Da.Clymer)

8-6-0

8-7-0

Hostile Hawks (E.Petersen)

7-7-0

9-8-0

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

7-7-0

8-8-0

Lytle’s Express (R.Lytle)

5-9-0

5-10-0

Super Stangs (Stepanek/Miller)

5-9-0

5-9-0

Devastating Dolphins (B.Trosin)

4-10-0

4-10-0

 

The top 5 teams from each conference made the playoffs (the LE made it on tiebreaker over the SS).  First round games saw the #4 & #5 seeds from each conference face off, with the TS & SA advancing from their respective games.  In round 2, the RR, FF, TA & HH advanced to the conference finals.  The HC final was a rematch of Season 8, but this time the HH defeated the TA to advance 13-7.  On the LC side, the FF upset the RR 21-14 to advance to CB IX.  In CB 9, the score was as close as you can get.  The FF defeated the HH 14-13 to win their 1st ever CB title.

Also it was announced prior to the SF of the playoffs that LC Doug Clymer would be stepping aside to let AC Dave Johnson have control over the league for Season 10.

 

Regular Season MVP: RB Johnny Hector (Super Awesomes)

CB IX MVP: LB Kyle Clifton (Fagre’s Flyers)

Rookie of the Season: RB Ickey Woods (Tropicana All Stars)

SFL Coach of the Season: Tim Fagre (Fagre’s Flyers)

SFL Season 10: The End to an Era-Stars Get Rid of a Monkey

 

          The 10th and final SFL season saw Dave Johnson running the league.  It also saw the 4 teams that did not make the S9 playoffs form a new conference, the Hunt.  An expansion team, the Chitown Heat (CH, Steve Anderson), joined the group to make it 5 teams and making the league 15 teams strong.  The league standings ended like this:

 

SFL S10 Lomb Conf Standings

RS W-L

OA W-L

Doug All Stars (Do.Clymer)

4-0-0

7-0-0

Ruthless Radicals (Lo.Anderson)

2-2-0

4-3-0

Tropicana All Stars (P.Bergum)

3-1-0

3-2-0

Kroenke’s Donkies (M.Kroenke)

1-3-0

1-4-0

Fagre’s Flyers (T.Fagre)

0-4-0

0-4-0

SFL S10 Halas Conf Standings

RS W-L

PS W-L

Super Awesomes (D.Spalding)

4-0-0

4-1-0

Totally Awesomes (R.Spalding)

2-2-0

2-2-0

Ropin’ Rustlers (Da.Clymer)

1-3-0

3-3-0

Hostile Hawks (E.Petersen)

2-2-0

2-3-0

Lytle’s Express (R.Lytle)

1-3-0

1-4-0

SFL S10 Hunt Conf Standings

RS W-L

PS W-L

Daring Rebels (D.Johnson)

3-1-0

4-2-0

Chitown Heat (S.Anderson)

3-1-0

4-2-0

Super Stangs (M.Kroenke)

3-1-0

3-2-0

Stine’s Superstars (R.Stine)

1-3-0

1-3-0

Devastating Dolphins (B.Trosin)

0-4-0

0-4-0

 

The regular season conference champs were the DAS, the SA & the SS.  Qualifying for playoffs were the DAS, the RR, the TS (representing the Lombardi), the SA, the HH (representing the Halas), the SS, the DR & the CH (representing the Hunt).  1st round playoff games were DR v HH, CH v TS, RR v SA & DAS v SS.  The teams advancing were the DR (20-14 OT winners over the HH), the CH (21-14 winners over the TS), the RR (28-21 winners over the SA) & the DAS (21-13 winners over the SS).  Rd 2 saw RR v DR & CH v DAS.  Advancing to CB X were the RR (21-6 winners over the DR) & the DAS (20-14 winners over the CH).  The CB X matchup saw the 4 time SFL champion RR face the ball controlling & undefeated DAS offense.  In the end, the DAS would prevail 14-7 to claim their 1st & only SFL championship.

 

Regular Season MVP: RB Ickey Woods (Tropicana All Stars)

CB X MVP: RB Ronnie Harmon (Doug All Stars)

SFL Coach of the Season: Steve Anderson (Chitown Heat)

SFL Most Improved Coach: Dave Johnson (Daring Rebels)