Post Season Post

 

Yes, it is time to wrap up the 2025 season in a pretty orange box and move on to 2026, our 47th season. The '26 site is online and ready to go. Unlike last year when I was wrestling most of the summer with the new template and the many new-to-me modules, this time it was simple...accept the update, clear the rosters, shuffle the schedule, add back and/or adjust a few modules, and pick a color and new header logo. I was done in an hour or so. Easy, peasy.

Here is the inside dope, what you need to know for 2026:

➤The '26 league site is here: EHFL 2026. You can just change the year in your bookmark to get there as well. 

➤Rosters will be reduced from 17 to 16. No other rule changes are in the works other than one related to drafting, which will be discussed below.

➤If I'm feeling ambitious over the summer, I may dig into our standings/playoff seeding tiebreak system and clarify or modify the list. As mentioned previously, some of what is in the document we use now is outdated, confusing, or just doesn't apply to our current situation. 

➤Entry fee will be $23 for 2026. And in a related note, PayPal won't let me put a button up on the page without creating a 'business' account. Booo! I'll be emailing everyone my PayPal and Venmo addresses over the summer to collect the fee. Check, cash, or MO is fine as well. Paying via PayPal should be via the Friends and Family option. Details will be included in the email. Your prompt attention to the payment request is much appreciated. 

➤No pay, no play. I'm trying to finance Ellis' Harvard education, and how can I do that and carry your butt as well? 😜😉

➤Keep Labor Day open for drafting and expect a new draft site. I may solicit some testers late in the summer for the new draft page. 

➤Speaking of the draft.. we are going to go back to something we did some years back, a 'Pick Your Spot' system that I liked a lot. When I generate a list of clubs via the random generator site, that list will not be the draft order but the priority choice order. In other words, each owner, in turn, will pick his own draft slot. So, the list that is generated looks like this:

1. Heroes
2. Nats
3. Rbacks
4. Sticks
5. Legends
6. Flyers
7. etc...

And then the Heroes will get to choose any draft position for 2026. The Nats would have their pick, then the Rbacks, Sticks, and so on through the 12 franchises. I don't have all the details in place, but teams will have a time limit to choose a slot (likely 48 hours) before they fall to the end of the line, and we move on to the next team in the queue. 

Once slots have been chosen, trading of slots (with a TBD limited amount of waiver cash involved) would be allowed. Note that only initial slots would be eligible to be traded, NOT individual draft picks. For example, in the above scenario, the Heroes might select the #5 slot, which is what I was hoping for. I end up with #7 (or #3 or whatever). I could offer the Heroes X amount of waiver cash to swap positions. There would be a hard deadline on that as well, since I need time to set up the draft site with teams, logos, etc. 

Feedback on this is welcome, but my initial discussions with a few owners have been positive. It sort of goes against my philosophy of 'less work is better' that I've adopted recently, but it isn't much trouble. And when you see the research I've done into the 'slots vs wins' included in the Yearbook, you might find getting a choice is a nice option. 

Speaking of the Yearbook...

I'm just polishing it up this week. I will send it out in MSExcel format, and I'll have a Google Sheets version for those who prefer that or don't have Excel access.

I've added/updated a ton of stuff this year. It's a super fun project for me, and I hope you will take the time to check it out. I've done quite a bit of error checking, but fresh eyes are always welcome, as are suggestions for new additions. 

Here is a summary of what is coming:

This is a Changelog/Addition List for the 2026 Yearbook:

• I updated all the applicable team and league pages with 2025 records and 300 Win Club badges.
• Scores have been added to the Playoff Games tab.
• The Hughes Bowl Results page has been enhanced with high and low scores per era and game totals.
• I cleaned up the Champs Lineup page with added initials to differentiate players and fix some NFL team identifications and other errors.
• Research shows I had for decades listed the final score of the 1984 Hughes Bowl incorrectly. The Giants scored 59, not 69 points in beating the Holes. It is fixed now and a new, corrected Hughes News Champs Edition published.

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• I added box scores for every Hughes Bowl, including lineups and scoring for both clubs.
• I added scores for every game in our history. Regular season scores are on six pages divided (roughly) by era and/or decade.
• I used the history function on our league site to find individual game high scores as well as combined one-game high scoring totals.
• I did some old-fashioned hand research to find those same records for games prior to 2003. See the 'Fun Facts' tabs for scoring records and oddities.
• There are some oddball stats highlighted on the Scores pages themselves as well. 
• I added a page showing my Draft Slots research. It is basically a look at how slots result in wins. Take it for what it's worth. Note: It covers the current redraft era that began in 2022.
• Added a page with some Hughes Bowl trivia and data
• Added a Second Season winners list to the Contest page

Please let me know what you think once you get a chance to dig into it. 

I don't plan to publish any updates to this blog before the summer but if something comes up that you need to know about I will update everyone, either here or through an email.

The Monkey Wins!! (But the Fish take the $$$)

 

When I had the bright idea for the randomly drawn 'Beat the Monkey' team in this year's Second Season contest I figured that the club would land near the bottom. Seemed like an interesting way to drop an extra $5 in waiver cash in most club's coffers for 2026. I had no idea it would cruise to 1st place.

I mean, c'mon. I made the team by using an online projection list and a random number generator. Literally a shot in the dark bunch. Turns out the random approach may be the way to go in the future as the Band Of Primates finished at the top, more than 50 points ahead of the best-scoring 'real' team, Dan's Our National Fish. So no $5 bonuses will be awarded. 

Dan's win marks the third for him in the nine years we've been doing this in one form or another. Jack had won the previous two after Dan won the two before that. That means we've had five straight Scofield 2nd Season wins!

Dan finished just a few points ahead of James who seems to be our annual runner-up. Jack was third and Keith finished fourth. 

I mailed out a .pdf file on Monday night with all the details. It will also be a part of the new Yearbook which should land in your email's inbox any day now. 

I plan to follow up with a big email and/or News blog post once MFL rolls the league sites over to the 2026 season. That usually happens within a few days of the Super Bowl. 

More News To Know:

--Later this week (I hope) MFL will roll the site over to the 2026 season. At that point I clear rosters and take a break for several months. Unlike last year when I first installed the new template and then had to wrestle with it endlessly over the summer, I really don't have much I need to do before next season. 

• I'll randomize the schedule as always. 
• Make the adjustment to the new roster size. 
• Double-check that the dates for a draft and waiver schedule are correct. 
• Adjust waiver $$ totals for 2nd season winnings.
• Choose a color for the thing. 

That's pretty much it. 

--I might have a change in determining draft slots, but that's up in the air.

--Expect a raise in the annual entry fee. Nothing crazy but the cost of a trophy has gone up significantly.

--The 2026 Yearbook is about to be distributed. I realize that it is mostly for my own amusement, but I'd appreciate you checking it out. I had a lot of fun putting it together. 

Shown below are the latest pieces of my Ed Hughes collection. This program comes from Coach Hughes' first official home game as head coach of the Oilers. 

The Chronicle's Oilers beat writer, Hal Lundgren, had a recap of the season opener in Cleveland. CEH was NOT happy with the on-field fight in that one which thinned out an already diminished O-line.

Here is the article in easy-to-read mode (click to expand).

The program, and others like it, are now posted to the CEH Tribute page. 

Next is my second signed index card, this one was signed by CEH with an added 'coach' below his name. It is my third example of his signature joing my first index card and the '56 Giants team-issued card. I've added it to the Hughes Trubute page which is worth checking out if you haven't do so lately. 

The late, great Diane Charlemagne. She did so much beautiful vocalizing on my guy Moby's songs. RIP

Bonus Track:

Ellis looking so grown up! 💖

More Monkey Business

 

"...there is still only one team beating me!"

- The Monkey

We're down to a single game, the Super Bowl, and James' Omaha! Omaha! crew leads the pack in the Second Season contest. Here is a chart (in graphic form, click to enlarge) that shows who is still active for each club. Two teams (and possibly one or two more, I haven't checked that closely) are out of contention for a money berth. 

Once the Super Bowl ends, I will update the site with the final standings. Soon after that, usually by the Tuesday after the SB, MFL rolls over the sites to the next season. In our case, our 47th!!

Oh, Joy!

Then I will lock down and distribute the 2026 Yearbook. It has some fun new features that I am looking forward to sharing. Right now, I am in the process of trying to error-check the thing. 

Just a few days ago, I was rather dismayed at the forecast for this coming weekend. Now things have taken a turn for the better, and we can say the Houston owners will be meeting on Saturday. I may change the venue, but count on being somewhere inside the Loop at around 2:30 that day. I will text all you locals with details when I'm sure of what we are doing. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. It's more fun for me than the draft because I'm not having to worry about all the possible tech things that could go wrong. LOL

Monkey Shines

The long-range forecast for the 31st is not promising. I'll make sure to update all the Houston owners as to a possible venue change, rescheduling, or cancellation of the get-together.

The weather now appears to be fine for Saturday. Maybe a bit too cold for an outdoor venue. I will update all Houston owners with any change in where we meet, but the date and time look to be good to go. See you then!

And now back to your regularly scheduled Hughes News....

Two weeks in, two weeks to go in the Second Season contest. A few random observations:

-It is still wide open, with several clubs having a real shot at a money finish, a few others essentially eliminated due to low point total and having their remaining players covered (or nearly covered) by higher scoring teams.

-Only James is ahead of the Beat The Monkey team right now. My use of an RNG to select that club's players should tell everyone how much luck is involved in these things. 

-They have nine players left; only Jack's team, with ten, has more. And the Monkey crew would have ten had Nix not gone down. 

-Speaking of Nix..I can't recall this many postseason NFL injuries in the prior contests. We've already had Kittle and Collins lose a game plus for the teams that selected them, and Nix and Charbonnet are finished. 

Quick Reminder. The Houston guys are meeting a week from Saturday:

January 31 @ 2:30

Bayou Heights

3905 Washington Ave, between Jackson Hill and Waugh

There is a map and links to their website in the last Hughes News. 

Between This Time And The Next Time

Here are the details for our 2026 Houston owners' meetup. We will get together at Bayou Heights on Washington Ave on the 31st, at 2:30ish. I have a table reserved on the covered terrace. They have a good selection of appetizers/entrées and lots of drink offerings, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. 

I've been there several times and it's family friendly. Click either instance of their name to visit their website. I've heard from several of you locals and hopefully we have a full house. 

2026 Owners Party
January 31 @ 2:30

Bayou Heights

3905 Washington Ave, between Jackson Hill and Waugh

More Things...

The Second Season is thru one week, three to go. If history tells us anything about our NFL Playoff tournaments, it is that you can't judge the winner after a week. 

I keep a spreadsheet of the scoring which I will share next week, and in the Yearbook.

Speaking of which, I am just about done with the new version. I will wait until the Second Season is done to wrap it up and send it. I think you will like the new addtions to it.

Finally, out-of-towners need to keep an eye out for a mailing from me. I asked for address confirmation and got ONE response. One. LOL I had already confirmed a couple but if we haven't communicated as to your address, I'd like to know if has changed in the last year or not.

Post Season Chatter aka Trophy Talk

 

You'd think I'd shut up now that we've crowned a champ for the 2025 season! No, I still have things to talk about, even if I'm mostly talking to myself here. 

First things first...

If you haven't entered a roster yet, there is still time. We will lock it down at the kickoff of the first NFL Wildcard game on Saturday. You're probably even more tired of getting my emails on this than I am of sending them. So what are you waiting for? I'd love to see all 12 franchises involved. Here is the link:

2025/26 Second Season

Here's Dan's trophy for winning Hughes Bowl 45. The good news... I think it looks great. Crown Awards always does a good job, which is why I've used them for so many years. They processed my order and shipped it in a couple of days. 

The bad news... they shipped it to ME! 

The backstory: they've been advertising free shipping for 'trophies' over $100 forever. The discount was especially welcome this year because they had bumped the cost of this thing by about $30(?) over last year when I bought mine. What they failed to advertise is that they now consider these things as 'acrylics', not 'trophies'. WTH? I couldn't figure out why there was a charge for shipping when I tried to check out. I contacted support, had a 'chat window' opened, and made my complaint. 

The agent said she'd 'kick this upstairs for consideration', and had me send her the shipping address again. A few hours later, I get a new invoice with a $5 shipping discount. 😖  I was certainly hoping for something better, but I paid for it 'cause I was tired of messing with it. Two days later, FedEx sends a shipping notice with MY ADDRESS. So in the end, I not only didn't get my free shipping, but I'm paying for shipping twice! 

Then again, it did turn out nice. BTW...any 'imperfections' that appear in those photos of the trophy are the result of my shitty photo-taking skills. The thing is gorgeous. LOL

And here is the 2025 Hughes News Special Edition. At least I think it is. I'm struggling with Microsoft's soon-to-be-orphaned Publisher program, so I'm giving this a whirl in Word. I may tinker with a font or something, but this gives you a good idea of what it's looking like.

In 2025, we welcomed a couple of new members into the 300-Win Club. Joining the Heroes and Flyers were the Nats (big year for Dan, yes?) and the Holes. Congrats, Jim! The Holes are the first non-Inaugural Year club to make that milestone. 

In the right-hand column, among the links, you'll see one to the page I made for the 300 Win teams. It notes the details of their accomplishment. And you'll see that we have a couple of franchises on the cusp.

We are still a few weeks away from our annual get-together, but I figured I'd remind everyone of the date. Block out the afternoon of Saturday, February 7th, on your calendar. I'm keeping my options open as to where we go. I like Cactus Cove, the site of our last two shindigs, but I also like changing things up. I have a couple of ideas in mind, but I'm going to wait until I can get a better picture of the weather before I decide. 

EDIT...I may move this up a week because of a possible conflict. Stay tuned.

Now that the season is about over, I've been working on my favorite Hughes-related project, our yearbook. I love having all our records in one place and not needing to upload individual files to some unreliable and finicky third-party site. 

I'm about 3/4 of the way through updating it for the new year. I've added a couple of things, most notably scores for every game in our history. Added them for every postseason game as well. I'm compiling a list of highs and lows and assorted quirky stats as I come across them. That will be included, too. Also left to do is the lineup data page for 2025, and I will again put together a Second Season scoring data page. Once it's all done, sometime in February, I will send it via email.

It is an Excel workbook, and I am aware that not everyone has access to Excel. Once the thing is complete and published, I will try to dig into ways to easily convert it to something universal, like Google Sheets or as a .pdf,  if that is even possible. 

In the meantime, enjoy some of these great tunes while you're waiting.

Happy New Year from Ellis Rose!