Little Bighorn

The wild Bandits massacre da Blitz, 42-18

SIOUX FALLS, SD - The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as "The Battle of the Greasy Grass", and commonly referred to as "Custer's Last Stand", was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana Territory. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. Most battles in the Great Sioux War, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn, were on lands those natives had taken away from other tribes since 1851. The Lakotas were there without consent from the local Crow tribe, which had a treaty on the area. Already in 1873, Crow chief Blackfoot had called for U.S. military actions against the native intruders. This pre-existing Indian conflict provided a useful wedge for colonization, and ensured the United States a firm Indian alliance with the Arikaras and the Crows during the Lakota Wars. The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, who were led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall who had both been inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull. The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer (a Major General for the North during the American Civil War), suffered a major defeat. Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were completely wiped out, and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, his nephew, and his brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count from the massacre included 268 dead, 55 severely wounded and six would die later from their battlefield wounds. Public response to the Great Sioux War varied in the aftermath of the battle. Custer's widow Libbie Custer soon worked to burnish her husband's memory and during the following decades, Custer and his troops came to be considered heroic figures in American history. Since then, the battle and Custer's actions in particular have been studied extensively by historians. By the 1930s Custer's heroic public image began to tarnish after the death of his wife, Elizabeth Bacon (Libby) Custer, in 1933 at the age of 90 and the publication of the book Glory Hunter - The Life of General Custer by Frederic F. Van de Water was the first book to depict Custer in unheroic terms. The timing of both instances, combined with the cynicism of an economic depression and historical revisionism, lead to a more jaded view of Custer and his defeat on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Either way you want to look at it, Custer and the U.S. got their @$$ kicked. Most of the time history has a way of repeating itself. In Week 12 of the BDFL’s 30th season, there were mass annihilations inside and outside the league. The Bandits massacred da Blitz (42-18), the Wildcats devoured the Gamblers (43-31), the Grenadiers bombed the Freebirds (25-9) and the Bullets ambushed the Cheetahs (39-25).

Final Scores

The WORM Hole

The WORM Hole closes for the season

TITLETOWN - The BDFL's patented WORM Rule had another fourth consecutive successful season in 2024, but like all good things it has come to a close after Week 12. WORM is a BDFL acronym for Weekly One Roster Move which means each team in the BDFL is free to drop and add one player per week during the season from Week 4 to Week 12. Nine of the league's 16 teams took advantage of the BDFL's WORM Rule in 2024 with 33 total roster moves. The lowly Grenadiers were the most active team to utilize the WORM Rule in 2024 making seven roster upgrades out of the nine weeks allowed. This season there was a ton of value found in the ol' proverbial "Worm Hole" with players like Jordan Mason, Brandon McManus, Austin Seibert, Evan Engram, T.J. Hockenson, Kareem Hunt, Bucky Irving, Cade Otton, Chad Ryland, Tyrone Tracy, Demarcus Robinson, Josh Downs, Joey Slye, Roschon Johnson, Zane Gonzalez, Quentin Johnston and others all coming into the league during the regular season to help improve BDFL rosters via the WORM Rule. Look for the WORM Rule to continue next season in the BDFL.