Dec 22 Recap

Winter cheer was in the air (as was a winter chill) on the semi-green gridiron at Glencoe as the SMFL wrapped up 2007 with a low-numbered but high-energy turnout. Thank you to the guys who showed up even with winds gusting up to 70+ mph and temperatures hovering around 30. Since the league does not allow running plays, every pass became an adventure and a virtual playground game of "500."

Also, this week marked the debut of flags used by the SMFL. It created a big play environment, as players struggled in consistently grabbing flags. This seems to be a good fit with the SMFL, as it allows playmakers to do their thing and at the same time penalizing lazy defense.

In Game 1, the teams shook out like this:

Team A

Peg Leg Casey
Baylor Dave
B-Ruby
Ryan

Team B

Romo Farrellio
Chris P
Favre

We all got a glimpse of how good Chris P. can be two weeks ago during Tournament Week 2. He joined forces with the reigning champs and carried them to a repeat title. This week was no different...he put on a show in Game 1 that rivals some of the past great individual performances in the SMFL. He accounted for 5 of his teams 7 points enroute to a quick 7-3 victory, catching 4 and 1 house call (a pick returned for a TD). "He's approaching nickname status in the league," gushed an exuberant Romo Farrellio after the game, who also had his usual solid game with 2 TD passes and 2 TD catches. "It's nice to have a player like Chris with soft hands and speed with elusive moves to throw it to all game," remarked Favre about the receiver of a couple of his TD passes.

So, it should be no surprise that the MVP award for Week 9 in the SMFL goes to Chris P. Congratulations Chris, and we look forward to you continuing to show up.

As it is the practice of the SMFL to only hand out the MVP award based on the premier game each week other than Tournaments weeks, we will simply call Peg Leg Casey the Impact Player of Game 2. Playing on the man-down team with Romo Farrellio and B-Ruby, Peg Leg accounted for 5 of his teams 7 scores, including a couple under the unique category of throwing and catching the same TD (throwing it then after a few laterals running it in). This was what everyone thought he was all about prior to the devastating hamstring of last season. It was good to see an SMFL Legend performing at full strength and ability.

A note from the Commish's office:
Please have a safe and happy Christmas break, enjoying time with friends and family. Remember that your actions away from the field reflect not only on yourselves but also on the league. And on a serious note, Casey provided a very thought provoking pre-game devotional: What if God's gift of Christ (birth, ministry, death, resurrection) and the salvation he offers was the only gift and/or good thing you were given? Would that be sufficient for you? Merry Christmas players, and we'll see you all January 5, 2008!!

Tournament #2 - RECAP

The scene couldn't be better for the SMFL's 2nd tournament of the year. The league is still disgruntled about Team 4's dominance during the last tournament and many players have vowed that it will not happen for a second time.

"I've spent some time studying film...I know what Romo Farrellio's tendencies are and if we can make "The Rocket" a non factor, then they are toast." - Unnamed member of Team 2

In the interest of promoting league competition and rivalry, the #1 Tournament teams were maintained for Tournament #2. A solid attendance of 17 players helped kick this tournament off with high anticipation and excitement! Peg Leg couldn't help but let his mouth run wild before the game:

"Oh I have been waiting for this moment for the last 6 weeks. Just can't wait to get another shot at Team 4! Defending Champs?! HA - they would be lucky to defend my jock strap - Rocket and Romo won't know what hit them - its going to be PRIMETIME all over this field - WOOOOOOOOOH!"

Rather abrasive comments from one of the leagues leadership members but hopefully he can back it up with some solid play. One player who is all about solid play came out of hibernation for this tournament week; Big Game Hunter had not been seen for near a month, yet it was evident he had been keeping to his own off the field workout schedule, grinding away for his teams chance at redemption!

"I've had Team 4's victory celebration stuck in my head for weeks... i'm just itching at the chance for redemption and exercise these horrific visions that haunt me in my sleep! I can't stand seeing Romo's ugly mug running in slow motion in my head anymore... IT ENDS TODAY!"
The teams and their Tournament #2 records shake out as follows:

Team 1 (1-2)
Favre
Papi
Jagt
Boss Haas
Zephry

Team 2 (1-2)
Peg Leg
Rhino
D-Newb
Baylor David

Team 3 (2-1)
Big Game Hunter
General Josh
L1-R2 RB
Brian

Team 4 (3-0) CHAMPIONS (BACK TO BACK - REPEAT CHAMPS!)
Romo
Rocket
Chris
Iman the Quick

Although this tournament was once again owned by Romo’s team, it is only fair to say it should be seen as a tainted title. At least according to Favre:

“I don’t mean to take away credit from Romo’s team…actually, that’s precisely what I’m trying to do…but our whole team was injured after the first game. That drastically affected the outcome of the day.

First I go down from a vicious and intentional act by the Reistman, then Holland breaks a finger, then Schremmer re-aggravated his turf toe, then my replacement Zephyr strains his quadriceps, then the Boss Haas breaks his finger. You saw what our team was capable of at full strength when we won our first game, so I have no doubt that we could have won them all had we stayed healthy.”

If Tourny #1 wasn't proof enough for the league in showing which team is the most dominate, Tourny #2 definitely silenced the doubters. Many players have begun to doubt the integrity of the team selecting, many want an true draft format for the next Tourny, whilst others are clamoring about a set time limit for each game in the tourney format... what will be done in the future is still in the hands of the Competition Committee, but one thing has been determined this Tournament weekend: Team 4 is the most dominate team in SMFL history!

It will be a long winter for Teams 1, 2 and 3 - February and Tournament Weekend #3 is still weeks away.

For the latest report on Jagt Holland after his possible season ending injury, lets go direct to the source:

"Last week I sacrificed my ring finger (the fiancée wasn't happy about my choice of finger) while making a diving catch in the end zone. I told the doctor, "Just cut it off, who needs a ring finger to catch a football, besides my pinky is more than capable of taking over for my ring finger!" I don't think he understood we are in the middle of the SMFL season. Tomorrow morning I will be going under knife against my wishes to have a few pins put in my finger. Hopefully I will be back on the field in a couple weeks."

The league has been plagued with many injuries over the last few weeks. Here is the injury report heading into week 9:

Jagt Holland: Broken Finger (50%)

Favre: Right ankle contusion and Right Shoulder (70%)

Baylor David: Broken Finger (85%)

Brock Mulder: Broken Finger (40%)

D-Riddle - Plantar Facitis - 50%

Papi - Turf Toe - 88%

Peg Leg - Ankle - 91%

Rhino - Lower Leg/Lower Back - 93%

Zephry - Quad - 86%

Saturday December 8, 9:30am, Game ON

The Game is ON for this Saturday, December 8, at 9:30am. This will be Tournament Saturday #2.

Committed Players:

Farrellio
Favre
Papi
Rhino
Peg Leg
Peg Leg Guest #1 - Brian
Zephry
D-Newb
Rocket
Baylor D
The General
L1-R2 RB
Big Game Hunter
Eric Boss Haas
Rocket Friend #1
Rocket Friend #2
Rocket Friend of Friend #1
Rocket Friend of Friend #2

Maybes:

Jagt

Injury Report:

D-Riddle - Plantar Facitis - 50%
Papi - Turf Toe - 90%
Peg Leg - Ankle - 95%
Rhino - Lower Leg/Lower Back - 95%
Favre - Shoulder/Elbow - 99%

December 1st - RECAP

This Saturday started out with close to perfect football weather…a bit on the cool side, with occasional spits of precipitation. We’re still waiting for our first action on the frozen tundra.

The teams shook out like this:

Romo

Baylor Dave

Prime Time

The Rocket

Sweet Feet

L1 R2 RB

Vs

Favre

Papi

Jagt

Butterfly

The General

Rhino

Zephyr

Both games were evenly matched contests throughout, with both defenses coming up with early stops and interceptions. The Romo-Favre rivalry continued to heat up as each picked the other off in the early stages. But Romo and General Josh were able to calm their teams down and direct key scoring drives to get their teams on the board. As a matter of fact, Romo was extremely instrumental for his team all day, as they urged him to direct their offense time and again. He did not disappoint, as he threw 12 of their 14 TDs in the two games combined. The SMFL hasn’t seen a one man show like this in quite some time, if ever at all.

“It’s easy to look like an all star when you’ve got the speed of RB and The Rocket, joy stick moves from Sweet Feet and the play making abilities of Prime Time and Baylor Dave. With all this talent on the same team, all I'm asked to do is put it in their hands and let them carry the load!” - Romo Farrellio

The only smear on Romo’s day was his unusually high interception total.

“I made some mistakes out there. I felt like every one was picking me off for a little while, but it was a total team effort to gut out this win. I guess that means we are a pretty good football team, but we have room to improve and that is what we are focused on this week. We'll let the tournament day sort itself out. If we execute and play like we know we can, then it will all work out in the end.”

This reporter couldn't help but roll his eyes at all the canned verbiage Romo Farrellio was pouring on during the post game interviews... What a load of horse manure! Where is Papi when you need a good juicy quote!?

Week 8 Stats can be seen here

Sadly though, this day marked the end of one of the leagues most recognizable faces. Over the past year we have all come to know and love the joy-stick jooking styles that Sweet Feet Darrell brought to the field each week. Unfortunately, his time has come to move on to bigger and better things. Although he is unsure where he will end up (New York or California), you can be sure that you have a place to crash with Sweet Feet when visiting either state. The SMFL is sad to see all players go, but don't be surprised if he shows up periodically unannounced. Lets not forget the commitment Sweet Feet brought to the game each week by driving 2 hours up and back from Waco in order to play. Such commitment may ne'er be seen again. Good Luck Sweet Feet, we hope to see you again soon and we look forward to hearing about the new SMFL cell you form where ever you land. SMFL - Dallas is always here for support!

Week 8 MVP goes to Sweet Feet Darrell - Here is Sweet Feet's pre-season prediction which was posted almost 4 months ago:“Sweet Feet” Darrell
SMFL Alter Ego: Dante Hall

- Arguably the most committed 2006-2007 mid season addition (the only player who drives over 3 hours to play each weekend), has been unheard from for the entire offseason. Perhaps he took the time and made an attempt to walk onto the Baylor Bear football team. Perhaps Baylor realized that he was the quickest, fastest player they have ever seen on their side of the sideline, excluding there drafted punter Sepulveda, and offered him a position… Perhaps all parties involved were happy, until they saw that “Sweet Feet” needed an oxygen mask after every 3 yard cut he made… regardless, that is all hearsay but not beyond the realm of possibility.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL BILL BATES AWARD – THIS GUY HAS PROVEN THAT HE LIVES AND BREATH’S SATURDAY MORNING FOOTBALL AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED DURING THE OFFSEASON TO SAY OTHERWISE. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT STAYING HOME, IN BED, ON SATURDAY’S, THAT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA… AT LEAST “SWEET FEET” CAN’T BREAK YOUR ANKLES WHEN YOUR NOT ON THE FIELD.
Here is a taste of "Sweet Feet" back 15 years ago!