PSFFL History
Puget Sound Fantasy Football League History
Hugh Davis and longtime friend Brian Kuykendall founded the Puget Sound Fantasy Football League in 1990. Hugh discovered fantasy football in 1987 after returning home from a one-year hiatus in Anchorage, Alaska. Upon his return, Hugh settled in the Seattle suburb of Kenmore, Washington. A small community located at the north end of Lake Washington. Soon after, he declared the Kenmore tavern his official watering hole.
The next fall, the tavern hosted a fantasy football league. Of course, Hugh being the self proclaimed football genius that he is, immediately signed up to play. The following year he summoned good friend and softball buddy Brian Kuykendall to be his partner. Hugh and Brian became fantasy football geeks, but failed miserably at the game. Finally after the 1989 season Hugh and Brian decided they were fed up with the way the Kenmore league was run. There were just too many rules that favored the casual player, creating an equalizer situation for owners that didn't have much football knowledge. So after missing the playoffs for the third year in a row, albeit by one game. The duo won that year's toilet bowl, and promptly quit the league.
The following year Hugh and Brian started their own league by inviting their softball teammates to play. The league started out as a scoring only league with additional points for distance scoring. However, the bonus points awarded for distance scoring were only for touchdowns and field goals of fifty yards or more. The bonus was double the total points of a regular touchdown or field goal (6 pts. for FG's, and12 pts for TD's).
The first year there were only five teams in the league. The following year there were seven. After a rigorous recruiting effort the league expanded to eight teams in 1992. That was the year the owners got together and decided to add a northwest flavor to the league.
Since all of the owners were from the Seattle area, they voted to name the league "The Puget Sound Fantasy Football League". At the time they were making these decisions an old fishmonger and longtime Seattle icon passed away. Ivar Haglund was and still is as much a part of Seattle as the space needle. He owned two restaurants in the Seattle area and later branched out into franchises. Ivar passed his seafood empire down to the the University of Washinton and Washinton State University when he passed away.
Ivar was known to be somewhat of a ladies man, and his eccentric TV commercials revealed his taste for the young ladies. He could be seen around town and in his TV commercials with gorgeous beauties under each arm. Ivar sold the best clam chowder in town. His signature phrase was "keep clam" and with a wink and a devilish grin he'd walk off with two young beauties. If you are ever in downtown Seattle, and you want good fish and chips. Head down to the waterfront and check out Ivar's Acres of Clams. It's not what it used to be, but it's still pretty darn good. I suggest ordering a double fish with chowder.
A Seattle legend, Ivar Haglund was a restauranteur, radio and TV personality, Port of Seattle commissioner and unabashed publicity hound. He bequeathed his restaurant empire to be split equally between the UW and WSU.Keeping with the traditional Puget Sound motif, naturally the championship game was named the “Chowder Bowl”. It was also decided that the league should have a perennial trophy, like the Stanley Cup in pro hockey. To be passed on every year to the winner of the Chowder Bowl. That trophy was to be named “The Ivar Haglund Keep Clam Memorial Trophy”.
In 1999 Hugh asked for donations from all of the owners so that a trophy could be purchased. A few owners pitched in, but Hugh used funds from his 1998 championship award to cover half of the money needed to purchase the trophy.
It was a very proud and happy moment for league founder Hugh Davis when the trophy finally arrived. The league had survived ten seasons at that point, and his dream of having a perennial championship trophy had become a reality. The league has blossomed since then and become something all past and present owners can be proud of.
When the league first started, the commissioner calculated all the stats by hand. Using the local newspaper as the official source. All transactions and lineups were phoned in to the commissioner, and the weekly results were mailed to all the owners. The report often did not reach the league members until Thursday or Friday. The first order of business at the draft each year was for all owners to self-address sixteen envelopes. This helped to take some of the burden off of the commissioner during the year. The score sheets were hand written forms that were copied at the local neighborhood copy center every week. Running a league in the old days was a very hand's on task. It was a hassle at times, but for Hugh, it was, and still is a labor of love.
I was asked to be the leagues official beat writer from the beginning. At that time I was the beat writer for the Targy's Tavern men's softball team, located on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. I published a weekly newsletter and posted it at the bar to keep patrons and the team sponsor up to date on the progress of the team. The newsletter ended up being rather popular, and if I was late with it, people actually complained to the bar owner. They would ask him when the newsletter was supposed to be posted and wanted it to be on time each week. This was difficult at times because that softball team was damn good, and often times went on the road and out of state to compete on a national level.
So when Hugh came to me with the idea of starting what was to be " the Fourth and Goal, official newsletter of the PSFFL", I said yes. I felt I was ready for the challenge. I tell it like it is and sometimes it rubs folks the wrong way. But, that's the beauty of being a reporter at large. Nobody is really sure who you are. Many people think that Hugh Davis is Chug Brewski. Well, they are right about one thing. Hugh is the only one that knows my true identity, and anyone that thinks they know who I really am. The Joke is on them!
The league has always been a democracy. Unlike the Kenmore tavern league, a constitution was drawn up before the first league meeting. The league took a big step forward right off the bat by organizing a set of rules that everyone could see up front. That, eliminated many discrepancies that might have cropped up without it. The owners of the league have voted on new rules each year at the annual league meeting. By proposing new rules and revamping old ones, many changes have taken place over the years. But there are a few traditions that have been a trademark in the PSFFL from the beginning.
Hugh and Brian followed the Kenmore league's lead by adopting some of their ideas. Those ideas have served the league well, and have been good marketing tools. Helping to bring owners back year after year, and enticing new owners to join in the fun. The trademarks I am referring to are; to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for owners to win prizes. Prize money has always been awarded to the owner whose team scored the most points in a regular season game for the year. The same award is always given to the owner whose team scores the least amount of points in a regular season game.
Giving away prize money for all division winners and as many wild card teams as possible. Has always been a priority as well. The league has always striven to involve at least 50 % of the teams in the playoff format every year. The Toilet Bowl is perhaps the most important PSFFL tradition. Because it gives all owners that do not make the playoffs a chance to cash in and have a little more fun, right down to the end of the NFL regular season. A good weekly newsletter also adds to the entertainment value of the league. The addition of the memorial trophy and this Hall of Fame web site is the icing on the cake.
In 1997 the league went online for the first time. The commissioner used a private software program that allowed each owner to visit the leagues very first web site. That year the computer age of fantasy football was born. The job of running the league has not become less time consuming for the commissioner, because an increasingly large amount of information is being made available to the leagues owners. But, the task has become more user friendly. Owners can now get instant gratification with live scoring and hundreds of reports 24/7. The information highway has made the fantasy game a lot more competitive. Since all owners have access to every bit of information available to mankind. It's as if they have an ear in every huddle in the NFL. The web has also allowed the league to keep in touch with close friends that have moved out of town. There are now franchises in California and Idaho.
The League expanded to twelve teams in 1998, and reached its peak in the year 2000, with sixteen teams. All of the owners were experienced veterans, and over two thirds had won championships in other leagues over the years. The PSFFL stands fourteen strong today, and ownership seems to improve with every new participant that comes along. In fact, the PSFFL can now pick and choose new owners to make sure any new entrant is an experienced and knowledgeable fantasy football person. This insures that the competition level is the best it can be all year long! They do not allow deadbeat owners to participate. You must be hands on from start to finish, regardless of your standing during the season.
The league has always been a great way to meet friends, since all who play here have such a strong common bond. Owners have come and gone for various reasons. But the ones that stick around for the long haul, usually do so because of the friendships they have fostered over the years. It's a hell of a league!
I hope you enjoy poking around this Hall Of Fame and share in the history that has unfolded for more than a decade. It's not perfect; the records were pulled from the old archives that were stashed away at the PSFFL headquarters in Tulalip. The records for the 1990, 96, and 97 seasons have not been recovered as of yet. But, all of the weekly reports and newsletters for every other season have been saved in individual notebooks. To the best of our efforts, what you see here is factual.
Stay tuned,
Chug Brewski
Reporter at large