Way back in 2009 SC League was in a unique position – stability. After the earliest seasons saw lots of managers come and go after only a season or two, 2009 marked a point where we’d had a set core for a few years, with the Kregers being the newest additions, and entering their fourth campaigns.
2008, however, saw some oddities, like only one team reaching 9 wins (Josh). Or that same team getting bounced in the first round by a #8 seed (Kaiser), who finished the regular season at 6-7 and still got in, which no one but Mark was happy about. It’s the same year where not only did my long-time QB Donovan McNabb prove he didn’t know what a TIE was, but also the season I lost to Dave in the playoffs thanks to Julius Peppers blocking a last-second, old school 2-yard PAT. Seriously. Needless to say, there was unrest – and changes were proposed.
Over the next few years, scoring fluctuated wildly, we did away with keepers (which I barely remember having), we dropped from eight to six playoff teams, and we spent a decade experimenting with divisions. For most of that decade we had two divisions – West Philly and Bel Air – but how many of you remember 2013 and 2014 when we actually added a third division – Westeros. Considering how many GOT themed team names popped up around that time – Team Winterfell, The Dorne Vipers, The Old Gods, etc. – this isn’t a real surprise.
What some people might not remember is just how useless the early divisions were. When we started, there were still 8 playoff teams, which meant no BYES, but the division winners weren’t even awarded the top two seeds the first few years. In the beginning, Division Titles were in name only. Still though, it’s part of our history, and it might be going away next season, so let’s look at the decade-worth of Division Winners…
| YEAR | WEST PHILLY | BEL AIR | WESTEROS |
| 2009 | Tim McLeod | Josh Kreger | n/a |
| 2010 | Jon Jones | Byrd Bennett | n/a |
| 2011 | Matt Alley | Ryan Kreger | n/a |
| 2012 | Jon Jones | Tim McLeod | n/a |
| 2013 | Tim McLeod | Josh Kreger | Brian Kronner |
| 2014 | Dave Alley | Brian Kronner | Mark Kaiser |
| 2015 | Jason Kopeck | Dave Alley | n/a |
| 2016 | Dave Alley | Steve Sanchez | n/a |
| 2017 | John Sanchez | Steve Sanchez | n/a |
| 2018 | Chris Tansuche | Kyle Serruys | n/a |
| 2019 | Jon Jones | Matt Alley | n/a |
Observations…
- Most Division Titles – Tim McLeod, Jon Jones, Dave Alley (3)
- Most Consecutive Division Titles – Dave Alley (3)
- First Manager with 2 Division Titles – Tim McLeod/Jon Jones (2012)
- First Manager to win the same Division Twice – Jon Jones
- Managers with Consecutive Wins – Tim McLeod (12-13), Brian Kronner (13-14), Dave Alley (14-16), Steve Sanchez (16-17)
- No Division Titles – Trigger is the only Manager in the Division Era to never win a title, despite being present for the whole decade.
- Championships – Division Winners have not always been a great predictor of Champ. The first team to win both a Division and a Championship the same year was Nacho Team in 2015. It happened again in 2016 and 2018, but those early years were a near guarantee of a playoff loss coming.
Some more detail about the winners…
WEST PHILLY
2009 – The Timbomb (8-5) Ranked 10th in Scoring – 6th Place
2010 – Sc4_Skippers (10-3) 3,891 more pts than 2nd Best Offense – 5th Place
2011 – ICE’D (10-3) Second Weakest Schedule – 4th Place
2012 – Sc4_Skippers (8-5) Tie for Most Transactions – 2nd Place
2013 – The Quinninator (9-4) Fewest Transactions – 5th Place
2014 – Nacho Team (9-4) #1 Offense, 8 Gm Win Streak – 8th Place
2015 – Murphy Inn-ies (12-1) League’s First 12 Win Season – 2nd Place
2016 – Nacho Team (8-5) Only Time Division Winners Met in Finals – 2nd Place
2017 – BE A MAN HOGAN (12-1) 2nd Ever 12 Win Season – CHAMP
2018 – C Tan vs the World (9-4) #1 Ranked Offense – 3rd Place
2019 – Sc4_Skippers (9-4) Lost 3 of last 4 Headed to Post Season – ????
BEL AIR
2009 – The Blazing Deuce (9-4) Ended on 7 Game Win Streak – 3rd Place
2010 – 65 toss power trap (9-4) League Best 6-1 Division Record – 7th Place
2011 – Burrito Warrior (8-5) #1 Offense AND Hardest Schedule – 8th Place
2012 – Ta Ta Ta Timbo (9-4) – Tied for Most Transactions – 8th Place
2013 – The Blazing Deuce (7-6) Worst Record for a Divison Winner – 6th Place
2014 – The Dorne Vipers (10-3) – Perfect Division Record – 4th Place
2015 – Nacho Team (9-4) First Division Winner & Champ – CHAMP
2016 – The Quasars (10-3) League Champion – 1st Place
2017 – The Quasars (11-2) 9-1 in Division, 5 Gm Streak – 3rd Place
2018 – The Tim Brady’s (8-5) Reg. Season Point Differential (-463) – 2nd Place
2019 – SECOND DECK (9-4) #6 Offense, Weakest Schedule, 1st Rd. BYE -????
WESTEROS
2013 – Team Winterfell (8-5) Calvin & Stafford vs Hardest Schedule – 4h Place
2014 – Romo Erotic Dreams (7-6) Fewest Transactions – 6th Place
SC League Forever 