You have to understand that after two years of the league, people were starting to do like they do any "winner".... Will was beginning to take a lot of slack for his sheer domination of all things fantasy football. 2005 marked the peak of his "dynasty" which would span just one more year, but despite all of his records, the 2005 season will always be known as "the choke", thanks for the epic "egg" that was dropped in the playoffs.

In 2005, the league went from 8 to 10, with all of the members from 2004 returning with the exception of Jonathan Creel, who had other unspecified obligations for the 2005 season. League regulars, Taf Bentley and Jim Waters would make their first contributions to the league as well as the split up of the dynamic duo of Brian and Troy Jordan and Troy's first steps towards league mortality.

Rumors of League Manager corruption ran rampant as Will Spencer took the helm once again, naming the league "THE CREW II", as he seemingly thought it would just be a sequel to his domination of 2004, to which was made very obvious by his well-earned trash talk. The corruption rumors would back off a bit as Will's "Mean Machine" was awarded the 7th pick of the draft and Jim Waters would make Peyton Manning his first pick of 2005, while Ryan Wolfe and "The Bean Counters"  would take another quarterback, Tom Brady with the #2 pick.

2005 also marked the beginning of the Taf vs Will rivalry which still thrives today. Taf always felt his football knowledge was always up to par with that of the legendary Will Spencer, and his first year in the league, he set out to prove just that....but it wasn't easy. In fact, if you were playing Will in 2005, nothing was. The regular season saw Spencer flexing his muscles with the likes of Larry Johnson and Edgerrin James in his backfield. Once again leading the league with total points scored, Will ran rampant, going 11-1-1 in the regular season with his lone loss coming in Week 2 to Troy Jordan's "Da Mud Dawgs". There was a lot of build up to the Taf vs Will matchup, which came win Week 9 as both teams topped the charts, looking towards the playoffs.... but in the end it, was a 118-75 massacre at the hands of Will's "Mean Machine."

Playoffs this season took a bit of a different turn as the top 6 teams were allowed into the tourney with The Mean Machine holding the #1 seed and the first BYE. Fellow founding father Bryan Hathaway, quietly slid into the #2 spot thanks to a breakout year by his starting running back, Shaun Alexander. 2005 also saw Bobby Leonard rolling back into the playoffs, looking for a repeat chance at the finals. Final founding father, Jacob Jordan, joined Bryan with his first trip to the fantasy post season as well, however it was a short trip as he was eliminated in the first round by Leonard's "Da Bears" squad. No, the real fireworks came in the Semifinals as Bentley would meet Spencer for the second time, but with a trip to the Championship on the line, stakes couldn't get much higher. The Mean Machine was riding an 8 game winning streak and hadn't lost since Week 2, and nobody gave the 4th seeded Berlin Bombers much of a shot--especially after a poor showing in the Quarter-Finals against Jim.... But it happened..... The stars aligned, and a great performance by Jake Plummer and Anquan Boldin gave Taf his first victory over the defending two time champion.... Will's first playoff loss...... and the league knew they would have a new champion. Thanks to a win over Bobby Leonard in the semi-finals, dashing his hopes at another finals appearance, Bryan Hathaway's "Bionic Bench Warmers" would hope for a let down in the finals as he joined Taf in the league's 3rd championship game. The game was close, VERY close. In fact, I recall watching the New England Patriots that post season as Bryan trailed by 2 points heading into the waning hours, it was Corey Dillon who crossed the goal line, giving Hathaway a 75-71 win, his first championship. The win also completed his "worst to first" campaign, also earning the Rocky Balboa Award for the biggest comeback of the year.

The 2005 post season would be the last for a few members as Bobby Leonard, Ryan Wolfe, and Brian Jordan wouldn't be asked back in the league "realignment" in 2006.

It still baffles many to see it in print, but Jim's "Gump.5RapidWhoa" team name might be the worst one to ever grace the existence of fantasy football. (or anything for that matter). It would obviously earn him the Worst Team Name award his first year in the league, and would NOT be his last as he would eventually go on to have the award named after him. Brad Hinote would avenge his Worst Team Name award with a Best Team Name award in 2005 for "The Window Lickers".

2005 had emotions running high, as members began to learn this thing called "fantasy football" and it began to sweep the nation. It would carry over to a very "event-ridden" 2006.
 

2005: (Yahoo)
League Name: The Crew II
1. Bionic Bench Warmers- Bryan Hathaway (8-5)
2. Berlin Bombers- Taf Bentley (7-6)
3. The Mean Machine- Will Spencer (11-1-1)
4. Da Bears- Bobby Leonard (8-5)
5. Gump.5RapidWhoa- Jim Waters (6-6-1)
6. Jayhawk Buzzards- Jacob Jordan (6-6-1)
7. Da Mud Dawgs- Troy Jordan (6-7)
8. The Bean Counters- Ryan Wolfe (6-7)
9. The Window Lickers- Brad Hinote (3-9-1)
10. Old Crutenheimlicks- Brian Jordan (2-11)

(Regular Season Only)
Most Points Scored: 130 - The Mean Machine - Week 11 vs Da Mud Dawgs
Least Points Scored: 37- Old Crutenheimlicks - Week 10 vs Da Bears
Most Total Points Scored: 1260 - The Mean Machine
Least Total Points Scored: 768 - Old Crutenheimlicks