The Greatest Game Ever Played

In our ongoing effort to record significant events in International Shoe for posterity, we hereby recap the epic 2008 championship final between the Manimals and Athens Panathinaikos.

The matchup featured the following rosters:

Manimals:

1. Drew Brees, QB
2. Reggie Wayne, WR
3. Lance Moore, WR
4. Adrian Peterson, RB
5. Maurice Jones-Drew, RB
6. Dallas Clark, TE
7. Sammy Morris, Flex
8. John Kasay, K
9. Chicago Defense

Athens:

1. Philip Rivers, QB
2. Andre Johnson, WR
3. Wes Welker, WR
4. Clinton Portis, RB
5. DeShaun Foster, RB
6. Tony Gonzalez, TE
7. Tashard Choice, Flex
8. Matt Bryant, K
9. Philadelphia Defense

Before the matchup, neither team was at full strength. Athens suffered a huge loss with an injury to stud RB Marion Barber while the Manimals lost two stalwarts in RB Frank Gore and WR Anquan Boldin. Boldin went into championship week as the #1 WR all season. However, both teams had decent depth and plugged in backup options.

The action started on Thursday night, as the Manimals played three key players in the Colts/Jaguars game: Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Maurice Jones-Drew. All three players topped 16 points, giving the Manimals a 49.5 point edge - but three players down - to start the week. Wayne and Clark each scored TD's while Jones-Drew racked up over 160 yards in total offense but had two TD's vultured near the goaline. Still, it was a very good start for the Manimals.

Then came Saturday night, as Athens started Tashard Choice against the fearsome Baltimore defense. However, Choice came to play (although the Cowboys did not) and totaled a TD for 17.5 points - the highest of any of the WR's or RB's in this matchup - to provide Athens a solid base for Sunday's games.

At 1:00 on Sunday, a number of players came out on fire, beginning with Philip Rivers' 4 TD performance for 35.18 points and Drew Brees 335 yard 2 TD performance for 25.74 points. Wes Welker came up big with a TD and 12.8 points and Sammy Morris totaled 133 yard for 13.3 points, but missed out on 2 short TD's that went to Lamont Jordan. Tony Gonzalez picked up a solid 12.4 points befitting his status as fantasy's top TE. The only early disappointments were Lance Moore (36 total yards) and DeShaun Foster (5.3 points starting in place of Frank Gore). At the conclusion of the 1pm games, the Manimals led Athens by approximately 1 point, 90-89. It was the beginning of a fascinating ending.

The 4:00pm games featured a seemingly favorable stretch for Stavros, who had Clinton Portis, Andre Johnson, and the Philly defense to finish up his scoring. Portis managed an okay game, scoring a rare TD (for the Redskins) and picking up 14.1 points. The Philly D held the Redskins to 10 points but Asante Samuel dropped a sure interception and Philly could not manage a turnover in a 10-3 game. The biggest disappointment for Stavros was Andre Johnson, one of fantasy's top WR's who had his worst game of the season with only 1.9 points. For the Manimals, fantasy's consensus #1 player, Adrian Peterson, fumbled and failed to score on the way to 7.2 points. At the end of the 4pm games, Athens led by 10.82 points, with no players left while the Manimals had John Kasay and the Chicago D.

The Sunday night game featured Carolina and New York in a battle for the #1 seed in the NFC. Carolina scored 28 points - all 4 DeAngelo Williams TD's - and Kasay missed a 49-yard FG at the buzzer to finish with a disappointing 4 points. That meant that the Chicago D needed to score 7 points to put the Manimals over the top for the title.

So we came to the craziest ending of all time. Chicago v. Green Bay. For the first 3 quarters, the Chicago D did very little; notching an interception and recovering a fumble on a muffed punt while recording zero sacks and allowing 17 points. Heading into the final quarter, Chicago had 5 fantasy points, leaving the score 110.18-108.34. Chicago scored with 3 minutes remaining, tying the score at 17 all. A long kickoff return put Green Bay in position to win the game....

Attempting a 37-yard FG with 17 seconds left, Chicago lineman Alex Brown stepped through to block the kick - giving the Manimals 2 points - and then in overtime Chicago won the toss and kicked a FG to end the game. And so, by the smallest of margins (Alex Brown's hand), the Manimals claimed their 4 championship in International Shoe history and their 3rd title in 4 years, 110.34-110.18.

It was, most fantasy pundits have agreed, the greatest fantasy game ever played. May there only be exciting games like this one in the future. Great season, and happy holidays.