OFL Awards Announced
Paul McRae
Jan 07, 2003
IP Stack quarterback Paul McRae
was named 2002 OFL MVP today in a lavish ceremony held at the Bayshore Mall
Food Court Taco Bell. McRae was so honored after leading the IP Stack team
to a 9-3 record this season and throwing a league-high 44 touchdown passes.
In addition, McRae set the single game league record with 7 touchdown throws
in a 7-4 victory over hated rivals, BGP. Between bites of his 8th Taco Supreme,
McRae lavished praise on his teammates, "Without Tom, Kirk, Don, Sean, and
Paul Bertels, there would be no one to catch my amazingly accurate passes
and I could not possibly have won this award. Could you pass the taco sauce?"
Tom Szczerbowski
was overwhelmingly voted Offensive Player of the Year after scoring 22 touchdowns
to lead the league by a wide margin. He expressed some chagrin, however,
at being overlooked as the MVP. "All the awards are for me and me only",
he ranted, "Clearly, I am the best player not named Derek ever to play in
this league." Rumors persist that Szczerbowski might bolt the OFL for parts
unknown after the season following this perceived snub.
In a near unanimous vote, Kirk Ireland was awarded Rookie of the Year.
Ireland was chasing Szczerbowski for the scoring title until a small mid-season
slump and the beckoning of a Costa Rican Surf Camp derailed his hopes. Ireland
explained his absence with typical laid-back aplomb, "Dude, it was, like,
Costa Rica, man. I needed some R&R, some sun, and some surf." Stack
lost both games Ireland missed, highlighting his importance to the squad.
Ireland was on fire both offensively and defensively upon his return (luckily
making it through customs without incident), leading the Stack to victories
in its final two games.
The race for Defensive Player of the Year was incredibly close, with
Ireland and Paul Bertels sharing the honor. Stack's stifling defense was
no small reason they finished with the league's best record. Bertels was
so effective, he even helped BGP to one of its rare victories when he was
briefly acquired in a roster swap by wily BGP owner Pablo Frank.
The All-OFL team was also named and, as expected, largely populated
by IP Stack players. BGP's Greg Bertin was rewarded for a remarkable campaign
in which he caught touchdowns from five different quarterbacks and Mike Ciancibello, also known as Thunderfoot, was honored for his prodigious punting powers.
QB: Paul McRae (IP Stack)
Slotback: Kirk Ireland (IP Stack) Slotback: Greg Bertin (BGP)
Wide Receiver: Tom Szczerbowski (IP Stack)
Wide Receiver: Paul Bertels (IP Stack)
Kicker: Tom Szczerbowski (IP Stack)
Punter: Mike Ciancibello (BGP)
Special mention must also be made of the Buckeye News Hawk Award, given to Tom Szczerbowski this year for his unbiased and always entertaining accounts of OFL action.
The United Kingdom's own Rob Hutchinson was also honored with the first
'Foreigner of the Year' award. Rob's unintelligible acceptance speech was
reportedly delivered in English, though no one could be sure.
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