Mark Yoshikawa foregoes his referee duties long enough to topple the annual Steeler fantasy of Andy Lewis 35-28 in the opening round. Got to pack that Pittsburgh jersey away for another year and wear the Delaware Mud Hen threads again.	Battle of the Flawds ... well two of thm anyway. Jordan finished fourth this year, but his dad again fell to his brother Devin for the fourth straight year. One of them has won the event nine of the last ten years. Talk about pulling a Coussis!

The 2008 tournament got underway Wednesday afternoon with 28 coaches trying to knock four-time defending champ Devin Flawd from his throne (thereby saving his dad a lot of off-season aggravation!). Mark Love pushed the Patriots bid up to 243 to take the AFC champs and the low bid was Derek Landel taking the Dolphins at 209. In a humorous incident, Dan Dolan Jr. came running down the hall screaming wait for me! He had apparently felt the need to save family honor vs his brother in volleyball, and in doing so almost missed his team game event! Notable wins in the first round were John Shaheen's Bills over Mike Dwyer's Browns in OT 34-31, Mark's Pats holding off Derek's Dolphins 41-40 with a 34-point spread, Dan Dolan using his Chargers to top Jordan Flawd's Raiders 22-19, and Devin Flawd holding off the other Dolphins team of Chris Bauch. 40-39. A notable upset was Mark "woodless" Yoshikawa's Jets, after hearing that they had signed Brett Favre, topping perennial Steelers coach Andy Lewis 35-28, much to the delight of the crowd. The second round saw Devin, Mark, Harry, and John advance, along with Jacob Hebner, Barry Shoults, and Joe Youre. Devin had a bye in Round 3, and joining him in the AFC quarter-finals would be Mark Love, a 38-25 winner over John's Bills, Joe's Bengals defeating Harry's Titans 30-28, and Jacob's beloved Broncos team beating Barry's Jaguars 24-10. Devin's Colts then pasted Mark's top seeded Pats 28-0 and Jacob topped Joe 24-21 to set up the AFC title game of Indy vs Denver. Devin used four turnovers in overcoming a 13-point spread to defeat Jacob 37-20 and earn a return trip to the Super Bowl.

The NFC round was Friday afternoon , and we welcomed a face from the past, as Sue Ellsworth made her return to Paydirt after a seven-year absence. The loudest round of applause came when Devin lost his opening game, 24-20 to Mark Van Roekel 's 49er's. Jeremy Billones played and won the first of his two consecutive OT thrillers, 37-34 over hard luck Mike Dwyer, who lost both his first round games in OT. Both Ram teams advanced, with Derek and Chris manning the controls. Other winners were chart designer and participant Ron Pisarz, Dave Denton, Barry Shoults, Joe Youre rebounding from his AFC late round loss, Jordan Flawd's Eagles, Sue Ellsworth and her beloved Bears (Devin Hester had two returns for TD's, Joe Betz, Daniel Long, and Alex Bove. Round 2 saw some very tight games, with Harry's Cowboys defeating Mark's 49ers 39-36, Jordan topping Jason's Falcons 26-23, Alex over Ron 21-16, Barry's Redskins over Derek's Rams 27-23, Sue leading her Bears to a 25-23 win over Dave's Panthers, and of course Jeremy's second consecutive OT win, this one over Joe Betz's Lions 33-30. Chris Bauch's Rams were the big winner in this round, winning 31-14. Jeremy's OT run ended in the next round with a 39-27 thumping from Barry's Redskins, Harry took his Cowboys to a 38-27 win over Alex's Falcons, and in the most exciting game of the heat, Jordan came from behind, scoring with :30 left to top Sue's Bears 22-21. Jordan made it into the NFC Championship game with a convincing 25-7 win over Barry's Redskins, and in an offensive explosion, Harry topped Chris' Rams 51-45 in OT after Chris' hard luck kicker missed a 22 yard FG to win in regulation, then after forcing a punt, missed another from the 17 in OT, with Harry scoring two plays later! Sometimes life just ain't fair. So, the NFC Championship was set between father-son for the right to play Devin in the title game. Unfortunately for Jordan, Donovan McNabb chose a very poor time to have a horrible game (five int's), and Harry's Cowboys coasted, 44-24.

The Super Bowl was thus yet another of those Flawd family affairs, and unfortunately for Harry, another heartbreaker. After spotting the Colts a 5-point spread, the Colts led 14-0 midway thru the 2nd quarter. The Cowboys came to life with two TD's to tie the game at the half. The Cowboys took a 21-14 lead to start the third period on a Romo-Owens TD, but the Colts responded with an 82 yard punt return following a missed Colts FG, and we once again were tied. Dallas scored to go up 28-21 with 11:20 left to play. Indy tied it again at 28 with 6:10 left, setting up a nail-biting ending. Dallas' drive stalled at the Indy 47. Devin returned the punt for another TD! A 35-28 Colt lead with 2:00 left was too much to overcome, and although Dallas got to the Colt 45 on a Pass Interference call, the game ended with Tony Romo's fifth pick of the game. Another LOOONNGGGG year is a comin' at the Flawd house.