Recent League Transactions
The following is a list of roster changes and recent league activity from the past 2-3 weeks. Many of the transactions seen here are not reflected on rosters and player bios page because many of the players noted here are only in the league for a very minimal amount of time, often only one or two games.

9/18/03 - The Salukis acquire DL/cornerback/wide reciever Cody Bruin from free agency

9/24/03 - The Salukis trade OL/DL prospect Mike Albanese and a hot dog to the Crittas for future considerations

9/25/03 - The Crittas move up OL/DL Mike Albanese to gameday roster

9/25/03 - The Salukis acquire wide reciever Joe Varela through free agency and move up Matt Krill from practice squad to gameday roster

9/28/03 - The Salukis place Matt Krill back on the practice squad

9/29/03 - The Salukis remove linebacker Matt Manchester from the inactive list and onto the gameday roster

10/2/03 - The Crittas waive tight end Nick Carbonneau and backup tailback, Spanish.

10/3/03 - The Salukis trade wide reciever Joe Varela to the Crittas for an Arby's Beef and Cheddar Melt

10/3/03 - The Crittas place tight end Michael Kline on injured reserve for a severe knee injury. Kline will likely miss the remainder of the season.

10/3/03 - The Crittas+Grubb acquire wide reciever/cornerback Ryan Wolfinger from free agency

10/5/03 - The Crittas+Grubb demote wide reciever Sean Fourney to the practice squad due to too many missed practices and games.

10/6/03 - The Salukis remove tight end/linebacker Nick Spidale from injured reserve and place him on the roster for the first time since August 8th, 2003.

10/7/03 - The Crittas acquire DL/tight end Amin Zaman from waivers and quarterback/wide reciever Scott Ritchie from free agency

Fighting Salukis Team News
The following is a press release issueed by team spokesman and starting quarterback of the Fighting Salukis, Sarat Mikkilineni:

This press release has been issued to report new signees and possible roster moves. First of all, prospect Matthew Manchester has been officially signed to a one year contract worth a reported 57 and a half yen. This makes him the highest paid rookie in the history of the FTBYFL. This contract has prompted scouts to label Manchester the most overrated prospect in all of sports since Lebron James. However, the Saluki Organization feels the money spent on Manchester is money well spent.

The Fighting Salukis are very happy to report that the injury to Pre-season all american tight end Nicholas Spidale is healing faster than first anticipated. We hope he will be ready by week 4 for a huge game against the Crittas+Grubb. Once Spidale regains his health, a trade for Sean Fourney will be further looked into. Fourney worked out with the team and showed a great deal of talent, but had a little bit of trouble with the complicated west coast offense. This is why the Salukis are waiting to acquire Fourney. After Spidale's return, Fourney can leisurely learn the offense without any pressure to perform immediately. However, a talent like Fourney cannot be wasted, so the Salukis are looking into simplifying the offense a little bit. Possible trade bait for Fourney includes wide reciever Tony Sciabarrassi, cash, draft picks, and/or future considerations. Because Sciabarrassi has constantly been asking for a trade, he is likely to be offerred for Fourney once Spidale is back off the Injured List. For the beginning of the season, the Salukis will start with Sarat Mikkilineni, Michael Spix, Justin Montgomery, and Tony Sciabarrassi. Due to the injury to Spidale, we are a little bit short handed. This has been further complicated because newly signed rookie, Matthew Manchester is being held out for undisclosed reasons for the rest of September. The Salukis are looking for a split of games in September, until Manchester and Spidale can return. At this point, we feel that we will be at full strength and have a very successful season. That is all for now.

-September 9th, 2003, 9:31 p.m

The following is a press release issued by team
spokesman and starting quarterback of the Fighting Salukis, Sarat Mikkilineni:

The Salukis are issuing this press release to report major changes to the roster. Blue chip prospect, Karl Kocher was forced to be let go by the Saluki front office due to issues on and off the field. Kocher had disputes with the Saluki front office about his contract and alleged that too much of his contract was based on incentives. Kocher was quite angry at his league minimum base salary and lack of a signing bonus on his contract. On the field, Saluki coaches reported that Kocher lacked field awareness and that the Saluki scouts did not do an adequate job assesing Kocher's talent. Also, Kocher did not seem to have the necessary commitment to the Saluki organization and the FTYBFL in general. His day job at Staples kept getting in the way of Saluki practices and games. It was also recently found that Karl Kocher was 95 years old and the Salukis could not use the much needed roster space on a senior-citizen full back who would last only a couple years in the league.

As a replacement for Kocher and the presently injured Nicholas Spidale, the Salukis are looking into a new prospect, Matthew Manchester. Manchester is a versatile player who can play quarterback, wide reciever, tight end, linebacker, and safety. He was the mvp of the FTBYFL minor league in 2001 as a member of the Saluki farm system. Manchester was on the verge of moving up to play for the Fighting Salukis for the official FTBYFL for the 2002 season but an incident led to the FTBYFL issuing a one year ban against Manchester for violating the substance abuse policy. He was arrested for smoking marijuana during the championship game of the minor league. He has served his one year suspension and has gone through rehab. Manchester would like to say that he recognizes that he has made mistakes in the past and he will not repeat them. The Salukis feel that Manchester's talent on the field is too large to pass him up for his troubles off the field. His terrific mixture of speed and strength will help the Salukis as we work to overcome the injury of pre-season all american Nicholas Spidale. Manchester will play wide reciever for the Salukis and his passing skills as a quarterback will enable the Salukis to try some gadget and trick plays. Scouts are comparing the young talent to Kordell Stewart and Antwaan Randel-El due to his multi-dementional talent. Defensively, he will play safety and cornerback. Because he will likely replace tight end Nick Spidale until his injury heals, fans will see many more 3 wide reciever sets from the Salukis instead of the 2 wide recievers with a tight end. Should Manchester be signed by the Salukis, he will make an immediate impact and may possibly start the season opener due to the injury to Spidale.
On a sadder note, the Salukis report that wide reciever Tony Sciabarassi is once again at odds with management and is desperately asking for a trade. In fact, we are dismayed to report that he worked out with the Crittas+Grubb coaching staff and players. A possible trade for Sciabarrasi involving Crittas+Grubb wideout Sean Fourney, a conditional draft pick and cash is currently being discussed. The Salukis are dismayed that a talent like Sciabarrassi may get away, but a trade will open up spots for prospect Matt Manchester and rookie wideout Justin Montgomery. That is all for now.

-August 29th, 2003 1:55 p.m.


The following is a press release by team spokesman and starting quarterback, Sarat Mikkilineni:

Following the second and final preseason game of the 2003-2004 season, the Salukis are proud of the efforts given by their players. We feel that the preseason has been a huge success with the exception of rather serious injury sustained by preseason all-american tight end Nicholas Spidale. Spidale broke his collar bone in a freak collision near the end of the second preseason game. The team is optomistic that he will return by opening day. However, the Salukis are ready to play without Spidale should that be the situation at hand.

Perhaps the most important move of the preseason came in the front office as the Salukis' management was able win a contract war with starting wide reciever Tony Sciabarrassi. Sciabarrassi was looking to opt out of his contract and sign with the Crittas+Grubb. However, the front office offered new incentives and a new signing bonus to Sciabarrassi in order to recieve his services for the upcoming season.

The starting team of the Salukis wowed spectators throughout the preseason and showed sound mechanics on both sides of the ball. However, fans have yet to see blue chip prospect, Karl Kocher play for the Fighting Salukis. In addition, the other prospect, wide reciever Justin Montgomery who moved up from the farm system has seen only limited action. Although the Salukis have a strong starting team, a large question mark looms over the depth of the team. This question mark will need to be answered quickly, especially with the injury to Spidale.

As the regular season gets closer, we feel that we need to answer questions regarding depth and work on developing a defensive gameplan to slow down the deep passing threats presented by the Crittas+Grubb. We know that we will have to be ready once the season begins as a repeat championship by the Crittas+Grubb could mean an end to the Saluki franchise. That is all for now.
-August 11th, 2003 12:54 AM

The Crittas+Grubb Team News
The following is a press release from team spokesman and starting quarterback of the Crittas+Grubb, Aaron Doran:
First, we would like to comment on the preseason scrimmage. The scrimmage marked the end of a productive offseason and the beginning of a strenuous preseason. We have already begun strength and conditioning camps and our team is as fast as ever.
We have started making progress with our offense. We have been in the process of creating a silent system of communication between receivers and the quarterback.
On Defense, we are working on coverage and tackling. Our front office has begun making the right moves for a winning season. Chris Mitzak is the first. He scored very well during the scout combine but is showing a less than average field awareness at both offense and defense. Since Mitzak is a decent tackler he has been retained and resides on the practice squad.
Greg Cooke is another front office move. Cooke was a pleasant surprise last year, in a game where starter Jordan Grubb was unavailable due to contract restrictions. Instead of releasing Cooke, we have asked him for a resignation. The terms of his resignation are still being negotiated but the one clause that will definitely be included states that "cooke will be required to return when called upon by the Crittas + Grubb."
Our final front office move deals with Tony Sciabarassi. We are in the process of negotiating the terms of a trade which would leave the Crittas+Grubb with Sciabarrassi and give the Fighting Salukis wideout Sean Fourney. Sciabarassi is being sought after for his speed and his awareness which the team desparately needs.
-July 30, 2003 10:35 pm


The following is a press release by starting quarterback and team spokesman of the Crittas+Grubb, Aaron Doran: Before you read the press release below the FTBYFL strongly suggests you read this disclaimer.

Disclaimer-The FTBYFL and the rest of the Crittas+Grubb is in no way responsible for the inaccuracies and downright stupidity presented in the following press release. Any questions, remarks, and comments should be addressed to the issuer of the release, Aaron Doran. Read the following press release at your own risk. It may negatively affect your intelligence and thought process.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to both Nicholas Spidale and his family. We all wish you a speedy recovery. We have begun preparing for the first game of the season, through heavy protest. We were hoping that the return of Nick Spidale, would hail the begining of the year but due to the timeframe of his injury, that's not possible. The Crittas + Grubb would like to adress problems with veteran center Kobe Bryant. The team was not given knowledge of his stay in Eagle County and nor do we accept any responsibilty for his actions. Since his incarceration, he has been released and we as a team feels it was a necesary cap penalty to eliminate the troubled lineman. His replacement is probably going to be Tiger Woods or Andre Agassi."

-August 26th, 2003 6:53 p.m.



The following is a press release from Crittas+Grubb team spokesman and starting quarterback Aaron Doran. The FTBYFL once again urges you to read the disclaimer above the previous press release before reading this.

"There comes a time when all teams need to address their inadequacies. We are now coming to terms with a huge looming problem, speed. We have Sean Fourney and Tim Wikert who are equipped with speed. Also on our roster, we have Mike Kline, who is the perfect blend of speed and power making for the perfect work-horse. After Kline, our speed depth chart hits an embarrassing low. Jordan Grubb is a halfback who has intermediate speed, but his stamina is below league average. Aaron Doran, who used to run conditioning practices with Mike Kline, is caught in the grip of a pulled groin. The injury causes a huge problem to his acceleration and top speed which were both severly diminshed. The last member on our team is Mike Stahley, who runs a 7.6 40, making him the slowest player in the league. Although Doran was cleared to play after extensive physical therapy seesions, it doesn't look like he'll be back to form in time for the season.

As a result, we have begun to exorcise our demons by putting Sean Fourney on the trade block. We lose a lot of strength and upper-level speed, but we're looking at a possible prospect in Tony Sciabarassi. After working out with the team we see his field awareness and speed is unparelleled. Losing Sean Fourney isn't very appealing but we need to put more speed on the field. After his workout Sciabarrassi showed us exactly what we are looking for in a player. If the trade goes through it looks like he'll be a good fit starting on defense."