Champions Who Have Left

Here’s a piece of CFCL Trivia.  How many owners in CFCL history have won the championship and then resigned that off-season, choosing not to return and defend their title?

To recap what we’ve learned so far about the CFCL history (http://cfclrebelcopperfield.blogspot.com/2013/04/champions-of-cfcl.html), there have been twelve different owners to win the CFCL title.  Four of those owners are still active (David’s Ruffins, Kenndoza Line, Dem Rebels, Candy Colored Clowns).  That leaves eight possible.

The correct answer is three.  Three owners won the CFCL crown and then called it quits.  What is interesting is the circumstance around their departures.  It would be natural to think that if a team won a championship, they had the pieces in place to be competitive the following year.

In a post later this week, we will analyze the performance of a team the year following the year they won it all.

The three teams that won and left are:

1985 Sluggers
1991 Bald Eagles
2008 Steve’s Stones

I don’t recall the reason the Sluggers resigned.  Back in 1985, his final year, there was no Internet or texting or cellphones for that matter.  If you didn’t actually call someone on the phone, it was easy to feel separated from the league.  David lived with two other owners.  David and I hung out together all the time and ran the league.  I think Jim was a co-worker of David’s dad, but they were responsible adults doing actual work at work rather than running their fantasy team.  Jim may have felt disconnected.  Hard to say.

The Eagles left because during the 1991 season Bob was promoted at Hancock Fabrics and moved to Colorado.  With a young family and a burgeoning career, Bob, I’m sure, didn’t see how it would be possible to run a team from Colorado.  The Internet was still in its infancy and we hadn’t mastered the ability to draft remotely.

Steve’s Stones left in 2008.  This one is more disturbing.  We will meet the Stones on Tuesday with their Q&A.  During the 2008 season there was some controversy with a trade the Stones and Kenndoza Line made.  A lot of feathers were ruffled and Steve felt for his own benefit as well as the well-being of the league it was best if he resigned.

One nice thing is that none of these teams left because they absolutely mortgaged their future with trades the year they won and then quit rather than trying to rebuild.

I found the number interesting that over one-third of former CFCL champions resigned after winning the championship.