ERIC VOZZOLA
Est. 2001
LAST SEASON
After a fluky 2022 where Eric was a dominate regular season god, who produced 12 wins and averaged 1,606 per game, the second most ever scored in the regular season, Eric returned to doing what he does best, barely getting into the postseason. Stuck with an inconsistent team all season, Eric’s 2023 squad never managed to pull off a three-game winning streak and needed a week 14 victory over Bob, just to qualify for the playoffs. He finished 6-8 and lost by nearly 700 in the quarterfinals to the eventual champ (Colby).
CAREER
Much like his father, Eric’s career is a tale of two careers. Between 2001-2014, we watched Eric go from being a boy to a man. We also watched him lose…a lot. His first six seasons in the league featured no winning records and no trips to the postseason. This six years without a playoff invite remains to this day the longest such streak. Through those first 14 years, Eric produced only two winning seasons and four postseason trips. In 2010-2011, he produced the worst back-to-back seasons ever, winning just three total games (3-23). It took him 12 seasons to win his first playoff game. In fact, that 2012 campaign was truly unlike any other season he had. He earned his first scoring crown, finished third (his highest at the time) and barely fell in the title game.
However, after back-to-back 4-win seasons in 2013 and 2014, Eric finally started to catch some breaks and while he wasn’t exactly winning a ton, he was making it to the playoffs. In fact, since 2015, Eric has only produced three winning seasons, but he has won six games or more every season and that’s been good enough. He has made it to the playoffs the last nine seasons. That streak is the longest active streak and the second longest in league history. Best yet, during that streak, Eric actually earned his first ever title, winning it all in 2021, ending a 20-year drought.
Yet, despite making his postseason his second home and earning that championship, Eric can climb no higher than 10th in my career rankings. Why? Well, not all playoff trips are equal. The fact is, if this league was a normal league that only allowed six teams into the playoffs, Eric would be missing a lot of playoffs. Again, six of his last nine seasons have been six-win season, which means he finished below .500 twice as much as he does finishing above it. He’s earned the 8-seed in four of his last six seasons in this league. That 2021 championship…he became the first and only 8-seed to win the title.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
Overall, his numbers are well below the average throughout.
Eric is 145-180 for his career. His .446 winning percentage is the lowest among active teams. He averages only 1,271 points per game, which is the second worst in the league, behind only Don. His average finish in the standings is 7.87, which is the second worst in the league and his average scoring finish of 7.39, is better than only two people.
Despite his nine straight playoff trips, for his career, he’s made it to the playoffs in 56.5% of his seasons (13 out of 23), which is 10th in the league among active teams. For his career, he has two scoring crowns, one top seed, two trips to the finals and that one championship.
In the playoffs, Eric is just 6-11. His .353 postseason win percentage is 9th best. He averages 1,371 per game in the playoffs, which is 8th best. He’s 3-9 in the quarterfinals, 2-1 in the semifinals and 1-1 in the finals. His 1,871 points scored in the 2012 title game defeat, remains the most points ever scored in the finals by a team that failed to win.
Eric produces a weekly high score in 7.2% of his games, which is 9th best. He delivers a weekly low score in 10.8% of his games, which is third worst. Meanwhile his opponents produce weekly highs in 9.2% (fourth most) and they deliver weekly lows in 9.2% of his games (second most).
In his 325 career games, Eric has failed to top 1,000 in 19.1% of his games, which is the second worst percentage in the league. He scores over 1,500 in 19.4% of his games, which is also the second worst percentage in the league. Meanwhile his foes fail to hit a grand in 17.2% of his games (8th lowest) and they top 1,500 in 27.1%, which is fourth most.
Eric’s longest winning streak is eight games in 2020, which is tied for 13th longest. His longest losing streak is also 8 games, which is tied for 9th longest. He once score 1,000 in 51 straight games (2014-2018), which is the third longest streak in league history. He scored over 1,250 in 9 straight games twice (tied for 17th longest streaks in league history).
He once went 31 weeks (2014-2016) without a weekly low score, which is tied for the 20th longest streak. He once went 59 straight weeks (2001-2005) without a weekly high score, which is tied for the second longest streak. He also went 29 straight weeks (2009-2011) without scoring 1,500 or more, which is the longest streak by an active team.
Eric’s best game ever was in week 9, 2020. He scored 2,160 points in a win over Griff. That was the 19th highest single scoring game in league history. In his 2012 title game defeat, Eric and I combined for 3,844 points. That’s the most in a title game and the 7th most combined points scored in any game. Last year, Eric and Colby combined for 3,844 points (Colby won 2,066 – 1,780), which was the 8th most combined points scored in a contest. In 2013, Eric once beat Masterson, 1997 – 757. The 1,240-point margin of victory is the 8th largest ass kicking in league history.
Eric’s lowest point total was 508 points in a week eight defeat to Bob in 2007. Also, in 2002, Eric and former league member Rick combined to score just 1,455 points, which remains the 9th lowest scoring game by two teams (Rick beat Eric, 808 – 647). And finally, Eric is one of four people to lose a game by a single point, but his defeat was the highest scoring of them all when he fell to Burrier in 2018, 1,506 – 1,505.