Week 12 kicks off with the first of three interdivisional contests as Thomas' Bock Boys head back out on the road to face the Sims Stereco. At 6-5, Thomas has a great chance at landing the franchise's fourth straight playoff bid despite trailing division-leading Piana by two games. The Stereco, by contrast, are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention a year after remarkable Super Bowl run.

The Bock Boys are coming off a loss at Purgatory Field, where they've yet to beat the Hellions. The good news this week, however, is that Thomas has yet to lose to the Stereco in three career meetings. Following sub par efforts in last week's loss, Daunte Culpepper and Priest Holmes are eager to get back on the field. Hoping to prolong their lone title defense, the Stereco will look to Stephen Davis, Ricky Williams, and Terrell Owens to pull off the upset. Another loss could doom last year's Super Bowl champs to this year's Draft Bowl.

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The Abstract Machines head west to take on the Naughty Figs in hopes of breaking back into the playoff picture. Both clubs missed out on the postseason a year ago, and the Figs have already been ruled ineligible for this year's playoffs with eight losses. At 5-6, the Machines will have to win at least one and possibly two more games to avoid their own two-year hiatus.

It's late November, and for yet another year the Figs are left playing spoiler. And like previous years, they tend to play better with the pressure off. Chad Pennington has been a monster since recovery from injury, and sophomore Clinton Portis is a 100-yard threat every game. The Machines don't have quite the imposing backfield they once had in Faulk and Dillon, but Trent Green is the best signal caller the franchise has seen in a while, and Marvin Harrison -- when healthy -- can single-handedly take over games. This is game the Machines need in the worst way, which is why the Figs will give them everything they possibly have.

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In what should be a tremendous matchup, Jody's Colossal Waste of Time and the Piana Raze meet in a late-season battle of division leaders. The Raze can clinch their first Western Division title since 1998 with a win, while Jody can clinch its first Eastern Division title since 2000 with a win and an Anderson loss. A potential divisional title would be the third for each franchise.

Largely flying under the radar with all the drama in the West, the C.W.O.T. have won five of their last six games to clinch a playoff berth. The Raze, who stumbled with a pair of losses midseason, have rebounded with consecutive wins to clinch their first playoff berth in three years. In a game that could decide the first overall seed in the postseason, history heavily favors the visitors. Jody's success against the West has been well-documented, and they are already a perfect 4-for-4 in interdivisional play this season. More to the point, the C.W.O.T. boast a flawless 3-0 record at En Fuego Field.

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The lone Western Divisional game on tap features the 6-5 Irwin Hellions and the suddenly 6-5 Pirk's Wicked Oil Profiteer$. The Hellions are coming off a huge home win over Thomas and are pushing for a return to the playoffs following a Draft Bowl berth last season. Following a promising 6-2 start, P.W.O.P. has dropped three straight to fall back into the middle of the pack. Another loss here could kill any shot of hosting a playoff game next month.

Irwin has rebuilt faster than expected thanks to strong FLF rookie campaigns from Domanick Davis, Andre Johnson, and Chad Johnson. Longtime Hellion Edgerrin James re-emerged as a force last week as well, posting a season-high 17 points in the win over Thomas. The Profiteer$ had a much rougher week, losing the game to Piana and possibly halfback Travis Henry to a broken leg. Luckily, they signed the promising Rudi Johnson before the transaction deadline, and he may be forced into action ahead of schedule. But with or without Johnson, P.W.O.P. needs to rekindle some of that early-season magic if they're to head into the postseason with any kind of momentum. A season sweep of the Hellions could do the trick.

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For The Pimps, this week's visit to Saint Arnold Stadium and the Anderson Brewmeisters is essentially their final stand to a rough season. At 4-7, the two-time defending Eastern Division Champions are a loss away from missing the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Currently, no other team can match The Pimps' active five-year playoff streak.

It cannot be argued that The Pimps have fallen on hard times. Offensively, they're a mess. Tommy Maddox has been mostly inconsistent, and will likely watch this week's game from the sidelines. The unproven Jon Kitna could start in his place, hoping to lead the club back into the winner's column. Further hampering the offense, The Pimps have yet to find a compliment to Shaun Alexander at halfback. Jerome Bettis is fading, so they've brought in Marcel Shipp and Michael Bennett as fresh candidates to replace him. And yet despite all of these offensive problems, The Pimps' special teams and defense have been superb, keeping them competitive in an otherwise frustrating year.

The Anderson Brewmeisters have been competitive as well, just not consistently. The team has scored more than 60 points twice this year, but has also been held under 5 twice. This scoreboard schizophrenia notwithstanding, the Brewmeisters find themselves trailing the C.W.O.T. by only a game in the East with two to play. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker, but will need to win at least one more game than Jody over the final two weeks. That said, the Brewmeisters will focus on the task at hand -- sweeping The Pimps for the first time since 1998. With Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Torry Holt taking the field half the time, the odds seem pretty good in Anderson's favor. But with their Viking defense suiting up for the other half, the game's outcome becomes much uncertain.

The Pimps will not win the Eastern Division in 2003, but with this week's game against Anderson and next week's against Jody, they'll get their fair say into who takes the crown from them. That alone makes this one worth watching.

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