The Saturday Morning Football League

Week 3

2011-10-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

We had another awesome turnout for the third week of games this season. In honor of the Light Team taking two of two, we have a guest contributor to the blog. See if you can guess who wrote this:

News Flash SMFL weekend update:

Good guys (light team) go 2-0 over the weekend and kick sand in the eyes of the bad guys (dark team). Over all records are now:

Good guys 4-1
Bad guys 1-4

Even after The Commish met with the team owners in the Summer after the Light Teams annihilation of the Dark Side to break up the Football super power house “The Light team”, things are still looking shaky for one opponent.

Favre was quoted “I thought we had a chance this year starting off just 1-2, but things are seeming bleak, I have got to quit turning the ball over and giving away easy points.” When asked about his dropped pass while taunting Rhino Reist, he declined to comment.

General Josh was heard in the back ground saying, “if only they (the light team) would quit taking cheap shots at Five Star General Sarah, this game would have been locked up” (In reference to bull rush Ryan’s charge in the 1st Quarter). We hope Five Star is doing fine and a 10,000 fine was issued for illegal head to head contact after further review.

Peg leg Ford is still looking to get back to full speed, but is currently operating at 60% capacity on his old stump of a leg. Although he is operating at 60%, it still seems to be better than most people's 80-100%. Magic Patin had the catch of the game, jumping over General Josh in the corner of the end zone in game one. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the drops of the game, aka having the “drops,” was Daniel un-“Luck”y Patino. He accounted for more drops than his team had receptions.

Unrelated smfl sports news, Aggies still stink, Baylor, SMU, OSU and Texas rock. Basically any college other than aTm rocks.

See everyone next time out!

The Future

2010-01-30T06:42:00.002-06:00

Players - Today I received an e-mail from Avery Chan. many of you may remember that he and his wife, Felicity, moved to East Asia 9 months ago... hence the reason he has not been on the field this season. Today, Avery shared a news article that may provide a little hope that we will see him on the field again and possibly provides a glimpse into the future of the SMFL. It's a little long but very appropriate.

Six Mississippis and Counting

Published: January 29, 2010

ON Wednesday mornings, Andy Lupo, 51, sends out his weekly chain e-mail message to the guys: “How we looking for Sunday?”

Mr. Lupo is counting heads for the regular Sunday 10 a.m. touch football game. And if there’s one thing he has learned about keeping a pickup game going from September to April, 30 Sundays a year for 20 years — through rain, sleet, snow, ice as well his own torn rotator cuff, Abrey Light’s four broken fingers, Jim Dennehy’s two fractured ribs and Glenn Christie’s career-ending ligament tear — it’s to leave zero to chance.

“If you e-mail Andy at 1 a.m., he answers back at 1:05,” said Jack Hayon, 54, an Educational Testing Service vice president who has been playing “just seven years.”

On Thursday of that week, Mr. Lupo reported, “Still early, but looks like a good turnout.”

By Saturday, he was telling everyone that despite Nelson Obus’s torn meniscus, “We should have 21.” And they did.

Mr. Lupo, an executive at an investment bank, and Mr. Light, 51, a general manager for a software company — both present at the first game in 1990 — arrive early to lay out orange cones marking the field.

Lyle Girandola, 50, soon appears out of the woods at the back of the field, a misty figure pushing a wheelbarrow with a wrought-iron firepot to keep the subs warm on the sideline.

Anthony Costa, 54, arrives on his bike after Mass at St. David the King, which makes Mr. Lupo look bad because he tells his wife, Carolyn, that he has to miss church because of the game. H. Fenster, 47, drives the farthest, about 35 minutes from Hillsborough. Everyone brings both their red and blue jerseys since Mr. Lupo keeps it a secret what team they’ll be on until game time.

“Andy has his black-box formula for picking teams,” said Karl Dentino, 53, a marketing executive. His goal is to make teams that are so balanced each week, the game ends in a tie. About half of them do.

The league is called 12 Again, because for two sweet hours each Sunday morning that’s how these middle-aged men feel. “By Sunday afternoon I’m limping around the house pretty good,” Mr. Lupo said.

“I play Sunday, I can’t lift my arm until Thursday,” said Steve Tosches, 53, a quarterback, who coached Princeton’s football team for many years.

“We’re afraid the game will end when someone drops dead,” Mr. Light said.

“That’s why I have this,” said Mr. Lupo, throwing open his trunk, and waving a defibrillator high in the air.

The game’s longevity is in part because of subtle concessions to age. They used to count three Mississippis before rushing. “Then four, then five, now six,” Mr. Light said. “We need more time to get places.”

In their 30s, they’d argue about players rushing the quarterback too soon. But in their 50s they don’t need the aggravation, so Mr. Hayon brings a stopwatch that buzzes when it’s O.K. to rush.

Mr. Obus, 63, an investment manager, says as they age the game gets more like chess. “You don’t just say, ‘Go long.’ We can’t do that anymore. You have to flood a zone. You come up with more complex plays, more paths.”

It makes huddles interminable. “People say, ‘Why do you spend so much time in the huddle?’ ” Mr. Lupo said. “By the time you tell the seventh guy what to do, the first guy forgot what he’s supposed to do.”

There’s no blocking, no tagging hard (“everyone’s got back problems,” Mr. Lupo said), and fumbles are dead balls.

“Our motto is, ‘Monday morning we all need to go to work,’ ” Mr. Lupo said.

When the game started in 1990, they were lucky to have six players. Mr. Lupo and Alan Slepman, the league’s first commissioner, went through backyards, shouting, “Lyle, is this your house, can you play today?”

“It got easier with cellphones,” Mr. Lupo said.

Mr. Dentino, who jogged by one day and joined the game, brought in his neighbor Mr. Girandola, who brought in his neighbor Jerry Fields, 53, who brought in Jonathan Sabin, 42. By the mid-1990s, they had the opposite problem, too many wanting to play, and some not understanding the thin line between worthy competitor and inglourious basterd. “A lot of people claim they’re good guys and they’re really not,” Mr. Lupo said.

They needed men who were athletic, but not too. Scott Brunner, the former Giants quarterback, played for a few weeks. “Oh, my God, he threw too hard,” Mr. Lupo said. “The ball kept bouncing off guys’ chests. People kept running out of the way.

“We’re not looking for the great triathlete. If your wife is saying: ‘What, are you crazy? At your age?’ That’s the guy we want.”

Those wives. In the early years when the kids were young, it was harder. The men were working all week, then gone Sunday morning, too?

“My wife was a little bit on my back,” Mr. Light said. “I was taking away our Sundays. She didn’t get it.” But after 10 or 15 years, he wore her down.

“I know nothing about football,” Susan Light said. “After the game, he gives me the play by play. I say that’s great or that’s too bad — I can just tell if it’s positive or negative. The big thing — he’s happy and calmer after he plays, so I’m happy.”

There’s a final element every sports classic needs, a legend, a Gipper, a Bambino. For the 12 Again league, it’s Mr. Slepman, the first commissioner, and by all accounts, a quippy, civic-minded, big-hearted guy who taught Mr. Lupo everything he knows about running a Sunday touch football league for slow old men. In October 2001, Mr. Slepman, a banker, collapsed on the commuter train home from Manhattan. He had a brain tumor, and on Jan. 13, 2003, he died. Every 12 Again player attended his funeral. Mr. Slepman was buried in his blue jersey and today the town field they play on is named for him.

But that’s only half the legend. Nine months later, a single dad from Boston moved next door to the Slepman home. Shortly after, Mr. Lupo recruited him to the game.

“He seemed to have the right personality,” Mr. Lupo said, “a friendly, mild temperament.” When Mr. Lupo asked the man from Boston if he’d ever played organized football, the man answered no, and Mr. Lupo said, “You’re perfect for us.”

That was Mr. Hayon, the educational testing executive. And two years after replacing Mr. Slepman on the field — not that anyone could truly replace Mr. Slepman, of course — Mr. Hayon married Mr. Slepman’s widow, Holly. When she is asked if her second husband’s love for the same Sunday morning football game had anything to do with it, she said, “It didn’t hurt.”

On a recent Sunday at Alan Slepman Football Field, Mr. Hayon, playing for the red team, caught two passes, made two interceptions and wore the stopwatch around his neck to monitor the pass rush.

Once again, Mr. Lupo’s black-box formulas worked — with one play left in the game and the blue team 20 yards from the goal, the score was tied, 2-2. An icy rain fell as Mr. Fenster, an accounts manager who puts in 60-hour weeks when he’s not quarterbacking the blues, dropped back to pass. He thought of tossing the ball blindly to the back of the end zone. “Sometimes they bat it around and you might get lucky,” he’d say later.

Instead, he saw his teammate Mr. Light cutting across the front of the end zone and threw. Steve Honig, floating on pass defense for the reds, raced in front of Mr. Light, intercepted the ball and streaked downfield with no one near him.

Asked later what he was thinking as he ran toward the end zone, Mr. Honig, 50, the president of an insurance third-party administrator, said: “Wow! That’s all I was thinking. Wow!”

2008-2009 Finale!!

2009-06-07T20:46:00.009-05:00

The 2008-2009 SMFL Season came to an end this past Saturday (June 6). And in typical SMFL fashion, the game spurred one of the most competitive of the year. If it were not for Favre's outright "voluntary" fumble, the League may have had an Season Champion. Instead, the Season Finale ended in a 1-1 "kiss your sister" game tie. There is always next season.

This season endured longer than previous years, spreading into June, due to strong participation, great competition and overall league comradeship.

As each season draws to a close, the Commish is humbled by the "success" that the league has enjoyed; that success being the friendships that are created as a result of playing football together. Us at the league office feel very blessed for the previous season and are looking forward to the next.

Congrats go out to a few players who have become new fathers and raising future SMFLer's over the past year: T-Dar, Big Game Hunter, Baylor Dave and soon to be father's Boone Packer, Butterfly Davis and Eskimo Joe.

Enjoy some pictures from Saturday's game. If we don't see you at the Mid Summer BBQ, then we will see you in September!!

The Line Up

Sam - I AM

Big Game

Eazy E - from THE Oklahoma State University - yep he's a Poke

Big Papi Boone Packer

Favre

A Close Up.... For the Ladies!

Magic Patin
Baylor Dave

Not pictured individually -

- Jagt Holland
- T-Dar
- Peg Leg Ford
- Eskimo Joe

Enjoy some action shots!!

The SMFL - Outside the SMFL

Cowboys Flag Football Tournament 2009

The Avery Chan Bowl

2009-04-25T16:18:00.005-05:00

Well, after 3 or so seasons of playing in the SMFL, Mr. Chan, the player formally known as "Zephry", has officially retired from the Saturday Morning League. He went out in style posting a career high 4 touchdowns, 8 pass blocks, 14 catches and 21 tackles for the day. He also threw his first and probably last career interception.

"All in all, it was a great day - I know my team won and lost today, but I'm fine with leaving the SMFL on a .500 note... mainly because I'm too tired and their is not enough oxygen in the Dallas air. I'm really looking forward to retirement" - Mr. Chan

Avery's contributions to the league include:
- The Avery Count: The ability to count to "7 Mississippi" in less than 3 seconds
- The Avery Rule: This rule is still in the SMFL Rules Committee as it has not been enacted, however, the rule would eliminate the "Mississippi" count and allow for a blitz on each down, thus taking away the "Avery Count" advantage.

Below is his official SMFL post game press conference announcing his retirement:

The SMFL would like to wish Avery "the best" as he moves his family to China in the coming months. You and Felicity are in our prayers - you will be missed.

Enjoy photos which documented the historic "Avery Bowl"

Avery Arrives

Even the likes of Baylor Dave and T-Dar make it out for the festivities!

Easy E was nervous about the big game.

Here he is over preparing...

And... doing something else in the bushes...

Of course - no SMFL week would be complete without Favre and Peg Leg....

All in all - it was a great day for football!

Congrats to an SMFL Player

2009-04-17T06:33:00.000-05:00

"T-Dar" Tim Darley (better known as the Johnny Moxin of the SMFL) and his wife gave birth to their first child on April 16th. Emma Louise Darley was born at 8:12 pm weighing in at 8 lbs 4 oz and measures 22 in. Mom and baby are doing good.

When asked how this incredible personal development would affect his SMFL status, T-Dar said:

"I'm out for good reason for a while, but when I do get back I think I'll have a renewed dedication and maturity just like Pacman did."

We look forward to that day when he is back on the field but we are excited for him and his family in their new parenting endeavors.

Here is T-Dar (in the red) is his all to familiar resting position.

HAPPY NEW YEAR PLAYERS!

2008-12-31T23:38:00.004-06:00

The Office of the Commish would like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Years!

New Years Day 2009 will mark the 1st Annual SMFL New Years Day Bowl (naming rights have not been sold). The Bowl Game will begin at 9:30am and take place at our Standard Location (the fields across from Lake Highland High school).

The Commish is looking forward to this inaugural event and to many new initiatives for the league during 2009!

Make it a Great Year!!

SMFL Player Updates - Special Announcements!!

2008-12-14T12:12:00.004-06:00

Players

On December 10th, a long-time faithful SMFLer, Big Game Hunter Satterfield, welcomed his second son into this world! We would like to congratulate the Satterfields on the addition of Ethan Hunter!

He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 14oz and measured in at 20 3/4 inches.

The Commish would like to congratulate the Satterfields on behalf of the entire league. We look forward to the day that little Ethan can join us on Saturday Mornings.

The League would also like to congratulate Matt "Gimme" Moore and Baylor Dave on the future births of their children. Gimme is expecting to deliver on any day now, while Baylor recently discovered that his child will be a girl.

The League is excited to hear about the new developments in it's member lives and is here to encourage and support in any manner.

Make it a good week!

MOVING DAY for the SMFL!

2008-11-06T17:26:00.006-06:00

Yes! The time has come for the SMFL to move into their new home. We have out grown the confines of Glencoe Park and are in need of more space. This week's game - October 8, 2008 - will mark the first week of the new location across from Lake Highlands High School - SKYLINE PARK

Here is a link to the new site: SKYLINE PARK

Here are generic directions to the new site for those that do not know how to get there:

From US 75 (Central Expressway),
Go EAST on Northwest Highway,
Turn Left on Abrams (Going North)
Turn Right on Skillman (Going East)
Approximately 3 miles down - Turn Right on Church Road
The Field is 1/2 mile on the right.
Parking is available on the street and at the High School across the street.

The Commish would like to apologize to the Players for the slight inconvenience this week in adjusting to the new field. Past reconnaissance missions have indicated free space on Saturday Mornings at this new location. If the need arises for a new location, due to unforeseen events, the SMFL has prepared an alternate site within walking distance of Skyline Park.

E-mail the Commish with any questions: Commish@thesmfl.com

Thanks and Make it a Good Week!

The SMFL - In the Words of an SMFL regular

2008-04-14T21:20:00.008-05:00

See the Original Post Here

The SMFL

The SMFL. What is that you might ask?

Sometimes I don’t even know and I am deeply involved in it.

Where was the SMFL born? How was it formed? Who were the forefathers?

Lore actually tells us there were 5 fathers but that is neither here not there. I am unsure if the SMFL ever had a beginning. It was and well, one day it was discovered, or better said it was realized. Some of the ancient SMFL Sherpas believe the SMFL is more a state of mind or experience than a place or an organization.

Many moons ago a small group of men were called. They were called to gather for the purpose of fellowship and camaraderie. A pig skin was incorporated into the meetings along the way. The season, I believe, is actually based upon the moon cycles and lasts from 5 to 6 months or maybe longer. It might truly be aligned with the beginning of football season and come to a close when golf season is in full swing.

Due to the secrecy of this sect each member is not known by his birth name but by the name given to them when brought into the brotherhood. From the following list of names you will see the participant’s secrecy is guaranteed. However, the Commish states that:

"we are not a "secret sect"... the use of nicknames is not for identity protective purposes but more for team bonding/camaraderie purposes. Using a nickname invokes the presence of a history/bond or relationship with the individuals to the league."

Some of the featured nicknames include:
Farve
Magic Patin
The Blank/Dr. Who – formerly known as the Zephyr
R1-L2-RB
Pappi
T-Dar
Jagt
General
The Rocket
Big Game
Peg Leg
Gimme
A-Train
Romo
Rhino
D-Newb

The Commish - (We believe he is not only one who regulates and sees that the league runs as intended, but rumors circulate that he is also a player by another name). The Commish also stated this in regards to himself:

"the "idea of the Commish" is not to protect the identity of the League founder/leader/organizer but merely to represent that the League is run by all members of the League... and "The Commish" is the voice for the majority of the league - it is an idea, an agreement within the League... it is not a man or woman... it just is."

The name list goes on but we do not have the time or the space to complete it. The age range of players has a spread from the lower twenties up in the nineties. We had a man who was 93 years old come out and play a few consecutive weeks. His name was Herschel. I speak the truth when I say this. His age is up for debate however, but there is no doubt it is between 67 and 109. If he is as old as the speculated 109 then he would be the only SMFL player to ever have been alive in the 1800's the 1900's and the 2000's. I can’t say that he is spoken highly of… he is however spoken of. Only God know the whereabouts of the Herschel.

Before the weekly events begin, time is spent in gathering for the purpose of reflection and learning. One of the members takes time to share from The Word/The Book/Bible (all the same). After the discourse a prayer follows then the games begin. It is brief but allows us to all realize what it is really about. Not only does the SMFL foster biblical growth it also promotes physical and social growth. To understand the full depth of what the SMFL is about you must view the distant cousin of the blog you are currently reading (http://www.ryanandwho.blogspot.com/),
http://www.thesmfl.blogspot.com/ . Examine it. Take in all it has to offer.

Is there more to life than the SMFL?

Well yeah there is a lot more. It is something we do to enjoy life and friendship. I would say it is a life enhancement tool similar to the wheel or possibly the Internet. There is a statement that summarizes its purpose:

“Committed to developing relationships where we can be used as instruments in encouraging biblical life change.”

Initiation involves only a request to the Commish at the above SMFL blog.

Semper Fi soliders, Semper Fi (sɛm pər fаɪ)

rr
Posted by Ryan at 12:26 PM

Same Page?

2008-04-07T21:29:00.006-05:00

WEEK 19: Team Prime Time/Rhino/Magic/Rocket/Papi/Baylor

2-0 Domination of Team Sandwick

This Picture sums up Week 19 for Team Sandwick

Note Favre's response after Romo throws an interception to Rhino (intended for Favre)

See the SMFL Website for more Pictures from week 19.

Photo's courtesy of Matt "Gimme" Moore.

Week 16 RECAP

2008-03-10T18:52:00.002-05:00

It was another great Saturday morning for the SMFL! The competition was fierce, as a small but elite field showed up to brave the it-was-supposed-to-be-cold-but-turned-out-perfect weather. Heck, even the cheerleaders, Mia and Annika, made it out for the festivities. To all you public accountants out there who regularly attend the SMFL, we would like to say we don’t envy the horror stories we hear about this time of year, and keep up the good work until we see you again.

Grant would like to say,“Shoot, why do you think I got out and into the private sector.”

The league would like to clarify that his comment is not intended to be a slap in the face, but please feel free to let him know what you think at commish@thesmfl.com .

Thanks to Grant for preparing the pre-game devotional. Grant read from Galatians where it highlights one of the primary differences between Christianity and all other religions. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ have rendered the “law” powerless to save us; we can only be saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ. What this means to us is this: there’s no such thing as a list of do’s and don’ts to follow in order to gain right-standing before God. We have been “justified” with God by what Christ did, meaning it is a gift for us to freely accept and can’t be earned by following rules. With seven players showing, we decided to use an all-time offensive player,and since Iman the Quick was the last to show, he gladly accepted. Here’show the rest of the teams shook out:

Team 1
Romo-Farrellio-Simpson
Easy E Reed
Tim

Team 2
Papi
Zephyr (still waiting on a new nickname)
Favre

The game was evenly matched throughout as both teams dealt with interceptions and turnovers-on-downs as they felt their way in the early stages of the morning. Team 2 was able to take advantage of a lateral play to exploit the 3-man defense to take an early 1-0 lead, but promptly gave it back when Favre grabbed an interception near the goal line but gave it right back with an ill-advised lateral, setting up an easy score. From there, interceptions by Tim and Romo-Farrellio gave their team a couple more scoring chances, on which they capitalized.

However, the tide shifted late with the score tied 5-5. The Zephyr picked off an almost certain TD pass and returned it ¾ of the length of the field, setting up the go-ahead score on a TD pass to him from Papi. From there, Team 2’s defense stiffened, got the ball back, and Favre found the Zephyr on a deep flag to seal it.

This week’s MVP goes to the Zephyr, who showed his full arsenal of speed, hands, and defense. He definitely impacted the game positively for Team2…congratulations! This week’s game ball goes to Iman the Quick. I know not everyone likes to only play offense or defense, but Iman was accommodating and never complained about it. Plus, he had to run more than the rest of us.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made it another great weekend!

Also, the 2007-2008 season will be coming to an end on the first weekend in April. Tournament #4 will be played on that day and the winner will have bragging rights for the entire summer. Please mark it down on your calendars and plan on an SMFL Bash! More details to follow soon.

Humor

2008-03-02T22:13:00.003-06:00

Which one of the SMFL Players most accurately fits this description?

Week 15 Recap

2008-03-02T07:30:00.008-06:00

This week was another great week for the SMFL. 18 players made for some extremely competitive games along with five newcomers displaying their solid, but in some cases rusty football skills!

Thanks to the following first-time players for coming out this week!

Ryan C.

John S.

Brien V.

Neil P.

Tim

Consider this an open invitation to join us every Saturday. If you would like to be on the weekly e-mail distribution list, please send your e-mail address to mailto:commish@thesmfl.com .

Thank you to D-Newb who delivered the weekly devotional. This week was an overall summary on the book of Ecclesiastes. The take away message was to look at the life of Solomon, the man who had every earthly pleasure/desire imaginable, yet after surrounding himself in all the pleasures that the world had to offer, he determined that the greatest satisfaction was pursuing the Lord and the work of His Kingdom. A great reminder for us since we become so easily consumed with our daily pursuits of earthly selfish pleasure.

Week 15 Statistics can be seen here.

Tournament #3 Results

2008-03-02T07:25:00.002-06:00

Team 1: 1-1-1
Rhino
General Josh
Rugby Josh
A-Train
D-Newb Friend #1

Team 2: 2-1-0 - SMFL Tournament #3 Winner
Peg Leg
Magic Patin
L1 R2 RB
B-Ruby
Gimme Moore

Team 3: 1-2-0
Favre
Papi
Eazy E Reed
Wheeler
Boone

Team 4: 1-1-1
D-Newb
Baylor David
Boss Haas
Romo
Zephry

Week 14 Stats

2008-03-02T06:47:00.011-06:00

MAGIC!

I apologize for the delay in the week 14 statistics.

Magic Patin was the MVP for Week 14 with an SMFL Rating of 63.50, which barely beat out Easy E Reed's rating of 59.25.

I will post the full stats page on the SMFL website.

New Gameday Pic's

2008-02-26T22:38:00.016-06:00

Tournament Week #3

2008-02-04T06:29:00.000-06:00

This weekend, February 9th, will be an SMFL Tournament weekend.

More information to follow.

The Recap from Week 14 is coming soon.

Week 13

2008-01-30T21:41:00.001-06:00

Once again, thank you to all the players who showed up and made it another successful outing for the Saturday Morning Football League. It’s fun to see how it has grown from a few guys who struggled to get 6 players together consistently into what it is today. In fact, because of the size, Tim Darley has begun drafting the first ever Collective Bargaining Agreement for the SMFL. The league issued the following statement: “This is something that we had hoped to avoid, but the growing size of the league demands such an agreement to protect the rights of both the league and its players.” When asked if this had anything to do with the notable absences Saturday of Darley and Romo Farrellio (the Commish’s right hand man), Favre (the Commish’s left hand man, which is not to be assumed as being of lesser importance than the right hand man) hid behind the lame excuses of marital obligations and home improvement.

There was a bitter chill in the air as the players met at the fading green gridiron of Glencoe on Saturday morning. All in attendance were cursing the weathermen who had forecasted balmy 60-degree weather for game day. However, it became evident once play began that most of the complaining was just posturing, as the players were actually sizing up each other and how the weather would affect them, because all complaining stopped and the play was stellar as usual.

The teams shook out like this:

General Josh

D-Newb

Easy E Reed

Baylor Dave

Favre - MVP!!!

Rhino

Prime Time

B-Ruby

Iman the Quick

L1 L2 RB

Daniel

The game started out fast, as Favre and Rhino directed scoring drives on each team’s initial possession, but the defenses took over as the teams traded interceptions and turnovers on downs. Some might say this is when it was a little sloppy, but all the defensive purists loved it. As for sloppy, the field was still holding residual effects from rain showers earlier in the week, so footing became an issue that the players had to overcome, as well as an occasionally wet ball.

The game turned on a possession when Easy E Reed was marching his team down the field and ended up on the goal line. Digging into their bag of tricks, they pulled out the old wide receiver reverse pass, with Reed pitching it to Favre who found a wide open Reed in the end zone. That score gave them a couple TD advantage that they were able to hang onto for the rest of the way, eventually winning it 7-4.

In the “It’s About Time” category, Favre finally broke through and won this week’s MVP award for passing for 5 TDs and catching 2 more in the victory. Congratulations, I’m glad you decided to make a difference in a game finally, halfway through the season. Asked for a comment, the normally outspoken, self-promoting Favre said, “I guess it was just my turn to get lucky on the QB carousel. I mean, we had the General, D-Newb, Easy E Reed, and Baylor Dave, and the football gods decided to smile on me today.”

Something we all hated to see was that Prime Time Casey re-aggravated his hamstring, evoking memories of Peg Leg last year. We all hope you recover and are back to speed soon. It wasn’t bad karma either, because he gave an outstanding pre-game devotional. In this world where everyone tells us we have to earn what we get, Casey told us about how the greatest gift available to us is absolutely free and doesn’t depend on anything we do…that’s God’s salvation. Thanks Casey!

Intangible, Pancakes & Hurries

2008-01-26T17:22:00.000-06:00

Many have been asking how the SMFL determines the ratings each week. Here as quick breakdown of how each component is factored:

Touchdown Thrown - The # of TD's thrown during the game.

Touchdown Caught - The # of TD's caught during the game.

Interceptions Thrown - The # of interceptions you threw during the game.

Interceptions Caught - The # of interceptions you caught during the game.

Hurries - The # of times your individual rush or count effects the decision making of the opposing teams' quarterback.

Sacks - The # of times you sack the quarterback, via count, flag or touch.

Pancakes - The # of blocks you have during the game to help your team gain positive yardage. This stat is only tracked because of the impact T-Dar has made in the league. We should call it "T-Dar's" meaning: how many T-Dar's did you have in the game.

Intangibles - A judgmental number given to all players based on their activity away from the ball. Every player does his part during a particular play to help in the success of that play. One person throws, one person catches and perhaps another person blocks... but what about the other players on the field who ran their routes and stretched the defense enough to allow their teammate to get open and catch the ball... how should you reward their "team" effort? Intangible points is how the SMFL chooses to recognize those efforts done away from the ball that aid their team in the successful play. This is arguably the most valued point on the Stat sheet. High intangible points show the character of the teammate and his effort away from the ball that enabled his team to win even though he didn't get the glory of throwing the TD pass or catching the TD ball.

Flight of the Butterfly - Week 12

2008-01-26T13:37:00.001-06:00

Freezing temps. awaited the gridiron gang on Saturday morning. A cold front moved through the day before and brought with it 20 degree temps and 15 mph winds from the north. By far the coldest day of the SMFL Season.

Despite the temps, lucky # 13 players showed up to battle the elements. Most were covered head to toe with at least two and some as many as four layers of clothing. Butterfly Davis, however, remarked -

"this reminds me of football back in the homeland... this is SOONER weather!"

This "SOONER" needed to scan his C.A.T as he showed up in shorts... yet "Billy Bob"never let on that it was cold to him. Quite the psychological advantage.

After the warm up wind sprints were run, the gang gathered around for the pre-game devotional; once again led by Peg Leg.

This weeks verse was Matthew 9:12-13

On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Christ died for all people but only the broken and humble understand their need for Christ's sacrifice the gift of his redeeming grace for their life.

After 1,2,1,2... the teams sorted out as follows:

Team 1 (Game 2 Winner 5-1)

Butterfly Davis
Rhino Reist
Papi
Baylor David
Magic Patin
Iman
Romo-Farrellio

Team 2 (Game 1 Winner 7-5)

Big Game Hunter
T-Dar
Rocket
Peg Leg
B-Ruby
D-Dewb

The first game was owned by Peg Leg, Rocket and Big Game Hunter. Peg Leg and Rocket made for a solid offensive one-two punch... through the air and on the ground. Big Game was without a doubt the defensive player of the week! Batting down passes and intercepting others... he made a day out of frustrating Team 1. T-Dar was working the flat and screen blocks to perfection, while B-Ruby and D-Newb stretched the defense far and wide.

Team 1 was doing good to drive the ball out of their own end zone. Rhino, Romo and Papi could do nothing early on to drive them into the end zone. Romo got lucky toward the middle of the game and found Papi, Iman, Magic and Rhino for TD's... but after one too many interceptions, Butterfly took over the reigns and ne'er looked back the rest of the afternoon.

During Game 2, Butterfly facilitated three touchdown drives in a row finding Magic, Rhino and Papi in Pay Dirt! Butterfly also intercepted a casually thrown ball by D-Newb and returned it for another Touchdown...!

"The most incredible performance out of Butterfly since his intramural basketball days in the Pony Powerhouse! We had a spectator out earlier in the day watching the game... I think it was June Jones looking at Butterfly for a potential coaching spot on the Pony sideline... maybe as a Leadership or Motivational Coach... i certainly was inspired by his play today!" - Team 1 player with newly formed man crush.

Papi found Romo in the end zone for the final play of the game.... luckily, Team 1 was able to even the week series to 1-1.

Obviously, the week MVP was Butterfly Davis. Spring came early for this caterpillar... he certainly blossomed on this chilly winter's day!

Until next week - Stay Classy.

Rhino Moves!

2008-01-16T22:13:00.000-06:00

Stiff Defense on the Hail Mary

2008-01-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

In the Huddle

2008-01-16T21:44:00.000-06:00

Week 11 - Recap

2008-01-16T06:35:00.000-06:00

Another beautiful Saturday morning awaited the weekend gridiron gamers when arriving at Glencoe. Temperatures in the low 50's and slight breezes made for almost ideal football conditions.... Any day now we should see "Snow Bowl II" awaiting us. 20 Players showed up for today's match-up:

Freshmen included: Ryan Bowman, and Adam Hammack - great to have you on the field and we look forward to seeing you again!

For his sophomore week: Blake Shipley made two weeks in a row... he is approaching nickname status.

Returning from the M.I.A Roster: Greg Hinton and Big Mike V (always good to see these fierce competitors on the field!)

New Nickname Alert: Chris Patin has arrived at Nickname Status! Please e-mail the Commish your suggestions for Chris Patin's nickname at commish@thesmfl.com . Remember, Patin's quickness can only be matched by Zephry and his Field presence only matched by the Rocket and Big Game Hunter. He also has the "it" factor, much like Peg Leg. Please be creative!

After the Field was made - Peg Leg Ford led the group in a short devotional. Here is the verse shared before the game:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” - Matthew 11:28-30

"To yoke" - as a verb means "to be or become joined, linked, or united."
as a noun, it means: "A harness that joins two animals together"

Christ wants nothing more than for us to yoke with him so that we may learn from Him and find peace in a relationship with Him.

Playing football with friends is truly a blessing; one of the gifts in life we so easily forget.

After a quick count off of 1, 2, 3, 4... the Team's formed as follows:

Team 1 (1-1)
Peg Leg
L1 R2 RB
T-Dar
Gimme Moore
Farrellio

Team 2 (2-0)
D-Newb - MVP of WEEK 12
Rocket Ricky
Big Mike V
A-Train
Adam Hammack

Team 3 (0-2)
Greg Hinton
Ryan Bowman
Papi
Chris Patin
Blake Shipley

Team 4 (1-1)
Big Game Hunter
Baylor David
Favre
Zephry Avery
General Josh

This is D-Newb's first MVP award during the 2007-2008 season. 13 touchdown passes over the course of two games help vault D-Newb to the top of the SMFL Ratings, some 30 points ahead of his nearest competitor. His favorite target was most notably A-Train... although the Rocket took home most of the glory moments by scoring the touchdowns... it was A-Train's grittiness over the course of two games that helped march his team down the field consistently.

No longer can the league just ignore A-Train's abilities. A new passion, mainly to humiliate Gimme Moore, has engulfed A-Train over the last several weeks. A-train had this to say about his success during Week 11:

"Basically, I run down the field... popped my knee back in place a few times and catch the ball... it's like a ritual... 5 yards, re-adjust the knee, 5 yards, re-adjust the knee... I'm like Larry Bird... I have to wear a body cast during the week in order to heal before the next game... I'm old... yet still dominate Gimme when ever the opportunity arises."

Thanks for a great week; Hope to see everyone back out for Week 12!

Don't forget to send in your Nickname suggestions for Chris Patin to commish@thesmfl.com

Week 10 - Recap

2008-01-08T21:17:00.000-06:00

Saturday presented one of the seasons best weather days for the gridiron warriors. Early week freezing temperatures had warmed to a comfy 60 degree sunshiny day. 15 holiday heavy players arrived ready to work off the turkey legs, chocolate candies and ginger bread cookies which were enjoyed over the bye week. It was time to get back to work!

Shout out to a few first tymers: Blake and Daniel were solid additions to the already loaded SMFL player talent pool. We hope these athletes continue to play as their skills greatly enhanced the play during the day.

Shout out to a few players that were MIA in recent years/months:

Jordan - "The Denz" was back in action for the first time during the 2007-2008 season. A girl friend, motorcycles and other philanthropy type activities have consumed his time for much of the season, but we were glad to see him back.

Eric "the Giant" made his second game of the 2007-2008 season. MVP honors during the third game truly showed that the league was missing his abilities... the physical presence alone is good for 15 intangible points.

And finally, A-Train dazzled the league with his presence. Not only did he show up to play, but also shocked the league by contributing a touchdown, an interception and several deflected passes. Apparently, the time off served him well.

The teams shaped out as follows for the following three games:

GAME 1

Team 1 (7 Points)
Rhino - MVP AWARD
T-Dar
Iman "The Quick"
B- Ruby
Blake
Daniel
Peg Leg
R - Farrellio

VS

Team 2 (4 Points)
Papi
Favre
Eric "The Giant"
A-Train
"Gimme" Moore
Baylor David
Jordan

Game 2

Team 1 (4 Points)
B-Ruby - MVP AWARD
R-Farrellio
Peg Leg
Blake
T-Dar
Rhino

VS

Team 2 (0 Points)
Eric "The Giant"
Iman "The Quick"
A-Train
Favre
Papi
Baylor David

Game 3

Team 1 (4 Points)
Eric "The Giant" - MVP AWARD
Favre
Papi
Iman "The Quick"
Baylor David

VS

Team 2 (3 Points)
T-Dar
Peg Leg
B-Ruby
Rhino
Blake
R-Farrellio

Highlight of the day occurred during Game 2 when Team 1 scored 4 touchdowns from 3 offensive plays! Truly a first for the SMFL. How did they do it you ask? Here is a play by play of Game #2:

Team 1's first offensive possession:
Play 1: Farrellio to Peg Leg, incomplete.
Play 2: Farrellio to B-Ruby, 9 yard completion.
Play 3: Farrellio to Rhino, 41 yard deep post corner route, Touchdown.

Team 2's first offensive possession:
Play 1: Baylor to Eric the Giant, dropped interception by Farrellio.
Play 2: Baylor to Papi, tipped at the line by a B-Ruby rush, intercepted by Blake and taken to the house for a touchdown.

Team 2's second offensive possession:
Play 1: B-Ruby blitz, Baylor pass to Eric the Giant, one handed interception by Farrellio and returned for a pick 6.

Team 2's third offensive possession:
Play 1: Papi to Iman, 4 yard completion.
Play 2: Papi to Favre, intercepted by Rhino and returned for a touchdown.

Never in SMFL history has a team scored 3 defensive touchdowns.
Never in SMFL history has a team scored 4 touchdowns with only 3 plays on offense.

Truly a game for the records.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on this coming Saturday for Week 11!

To take a look at the Week 10 Stats and Stats from each week during the 2007-2008 season, please follow this link: http://thesmfl.com/Season_Statistics.html

Dec 22 Recap

2007-12-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-16T07:44:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-06T16:42:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-04T22:52:00.000-06:00

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

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!

Game is ON for December 1st - 9:45AM

2007-11-30T09:29:00.000-06:00

The Game is ON!

9:45AM!!!

Here is the game day roster:

Starters
Romo
Favre
Reist
General Josh
Sweet Feet
Baylor David
Zephry
Peg Leg
Runnin RB
Jagt
T-Dar
Rocket Ricky
Papi
Butterfly Davis

Inactive List
D-Newb
D-Riddle - (Plantar’s Fasciitis)
Big Game
Gimme Moore
M. Smith

See you on the field

Recap from November 17th

2007-11-25T13:47:00.000-06:00

We had great numbers once again for this past SMFL week. The following players made various impacts to the game!

Peg Leg Casey Ford: Somehow managed to sprain an ankle and was still able to run like a one-legged kangaroo.
Big Game Hunter: Paired up with "Harrington" Farrellio for the first time in league history... needless to say, the combination of the two made for an unstoppable force! Undefeated on this weekend.
Rocket Ricky: totaled 4 TD's during the first game... basically he imposed his will on any defender. MVP style - Week 7 officially.
Looney: Provided the photography and the cheer leading for week 7 by subjecting his wife to the greatness, that is, the SMFL. Thanks to Mrs. Looney for supporting the league by supporting her man's unquenchable thirst for football.
Harrington Farrellio: Received his first injury of the year, minor concussion, hence the reason for such a short recap. The following 30 mins after the head to ground incident are undetermined for the player formerly known as Romo, and since most of the game occurred during the "foggy" 30 mins, the recap has been abbreviated as follows:

"Players made plays! Favre threw one too many passes off his back foot for interceptions. Peg Leg "high stepped" in a touchdown pass and was immediately bulldozed by T-Dar and Big Game Hunter. General Josh saved the day with 4 TD drives to win the game, and Sweet Feet caught 3 passes for 36 yards. Of those yards, 1 yard was gained after the catch... he had to run 24 yards horizontally to gain one yard vertically. He sat on the bench with an oxygen mask after those plays."

Next week will have a better recap (one that actually happened) .

Thanks to the Commish for letting me (Harrington Farrellio) write the recap this week.

No GAME on Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-18T22:06:00.000-06:00

WEEK OFF!

The league will take a week off during this holiday weekend. Please use this week to get rejuvenated and ready to play on the first weekend in December (Week 8 of the SMFL).

RECAP - WEEK 7

Recap of Week 7 is coming... stay tuned to the blog - The MVP has already been named. See the post below this one.

Scheduling

The next SMFL Tournament will be the second weekend in December (the 8th or 9th).

Be ready for another intense tournament as Team 4 will attempt to repeat their dominance during the first SMFL Tournament:

Team 4 Champions (3-0 Record)

Rocket Ricky
Zephry Avery
Bronx Brock
Scrappy Ben
Romo Farrellio

Random Bits of Information

2007-11-18T21:32:00.000-06:00

Week 7 MVP can be seen in action on the left of this picture. Congrats to Rocket Ricky on his big day, catching 7 TD's all day - 4 coming in the first game!

Enjoy these other pictures from Week 7 - All pictures courtesy of Jes Looney (Ryan's Wife). Thank You much for supporting the league with your photographic talent... and cheers!

Sweet Pic!

Here are the stats from Week 6 - November 10th.

Congrats to Easy E Reed for the being week 6's MVP!

GAME IS ON - SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17th!

2007-11-16T09:03:00.000-06:00

THE GAME IS ON FOR 930AM THIS SATURDAY - NOVEMBER 17TH.

Here is the active roster for game day:

1. Romo Farrellio
2. Rocket Ricky
3. Papi
4. Papi Guest #1
5. Favre
6. Big Game Hunter
7. D-Newb
8. RB
9. General Josh
10. Iman the Quick
11. Peg Leg
12. Gimme Moore
13. Ryan Looney
14. T-Dar
15. Baylor David

Probables:

"Butterfly" Davis, LT, SMU - Status: (68%)
"Rhino" Reist 50%

Notes

We have had many injuries during the leagues two year tenure. Although we are touch football, many seem to take that too lightly when preparing for the games.

At a recent gathering, PrimeTime Peg Leg proclaimed:

"It’s a tough league. A man's league. You better bring your A game or else you’re going to get hurt."

Game Day Scratches:

Bronx Brock - Broken Finger (Out for six weeks)

"Zephry" Avery : "I didn't want to go out like this...but I gotta pay the bills. And my baby's momma."

Here is a picture of what "Zephry" will be doing instead.

Good Luck Zephry

November 10th - RECAP

2007-11-13T21:42:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all of the players who showed up to make it another wonderful Saturday for the SMFL.

For the first time in SMFL history, two of the big time regulars were paired together to form what could have been the strongest team in recent memory. Big Game and Prime Time set aside their differences for one Saturday morning and united to form the uber-team. They were joined by Baylor Dave, Matt Smith, Iman the Quick, T-Dar, and Eric “the Boss” Haas.

They took on a team of the always in tune roommates Papi and Favre, along with Easy E Reed, Zephyr Avery, Gustavo, Brian, and RB.

Papi and Favre’s team started out hot, jumping to a 3-0 lead after TD grabs by Easy E and Papi, as well as a timely Pick 6 from Easy E. (A vital point that should not be understated is that the first of the game was dominated by inconsistency because there were some late-comers and the teams had odd numbers for awhile.) Now that I got Big Game’s disclaimer out of the way, I’ll continue with the recap…

As they have done time and again, Big Game and Prime Time weren’t about to go this easily. They threatened with at quick score to make it 3-1, but soon found themselves down 5-1. Those of you familiar with the SMFL know that this is hardly a safe lead, even in a game to 7, so it’s no surprise that with the inspiration of T-Dar they eventually got to within 6-5. However, it was with much blood and sweat that Papi and Favre’s team was able to close the door on another close game, which has become the norm on Saturday mornings.

I want to cut the recap short this week, and give some well-deserved space to a man who has come to be known as a “Friend of the SMFL.” Our man Gustavo played in his final game of this season (we hope it’s not forever). This likable hard worker has reached the end of his international office exchange for E&Y and will be heading back to Mexico this week. Let me say for the whole league that there is no doubt he will be missed. How could you not enjoy the game when you saw how much he was?! We did our best afterwards to send him off with well-wishes, and we have even granted him full authority to begin the SMFL-Mexico upon his arrival home. Gustavo, all of our resources and support is available at your request. Thanks for hanging out with us while you were here!

Here is Gustavo in his all too familiar defensive prowl (the defensive player in the middle). I'm pretty sure he intercepted the pass on this play. So Stealthy!

Game Stats will be a little late this week. We will get those up as soon as possible!

GAME ON - 9:30 AM

2007-11-09T08:30:00.000-06:00

The game is ON for November 10th.

Game time will be 9:30am this week.

Here is the game day roster:

Favre
Peg Leg Casey
Big Game Hunter
T-Dar
RB
Eric "The Giant"
Baylor David
Iman
Eazy E Reed
Papi Schremmer
Zephry Avery

BONUS VIDEO FROM LAST WEEK's TOURNAMENT:

Join Favre and the gang during an attempted touchdown play... and the agony of failure

November 3rd - Tournament RECAP

2007-11-05T17:48:00.001-06:00

WOW - Thanks to all players who participated in the first SMFL Tournament! With 19 players showing up to dazzle all with their talents, this week was certainly one of the leagues best in history.

Special shout out to three rookies making their debuts on Saturday:

Big Game Hunter Guest: Soon to be "Married" Mike - Hopefully, this won't be his last time to show up on Saturdays... yet another SMFL participant engages in the white bells of matrimony. (Yes I know it's a bad nickname... but keep coming out so that we can establish a better one.)

Bronx Brock: Who dominated Team 1 (specifically Butterfly Davis) with his "slow and go" deep routes.

Guy Mitchell's roommate: "Scrappy" Ben - showing all that he's not afraid to jump or dive for any ball as long as it means his team gets into the endzone. Classic SMFL baller.

Lets get to the games!

Each team was able to play three games (one game against each of the other teams). Here are the team records for the day:

Team 1 Record: 0-3

1. Favre Sandwick

2. Jagt Holland

3. Papi Schremmer

4. Butterfly Davis

5. Big Mike V

After the game, Team Captain Favre had this to say:
Our team was 0-3, but could have been 2-1 if it weren't for the Colt "doing my best VY" Young comebacks led by Peg Leg and Big Game in our first two games.
In the third game, we never had a chance...Farrellio's squad was just too good for us... We got outplayed... I question the kind of heart our team has... it was embarrassing.

Team 2 Record: 2-1

1. Peg Leg Casey

2. D-Newb

3. Baylor David

4. Rhino Reist

Team 3 Record: 1-2

1. Big Game Hunter

2. Runnin RB

3. General Josh

4. Guy Mitchell

5. "Married" Mike

Team 4 Record: 3-0 CHAMPIONS!!!!!

1. Romo Farrellio

2. Bronx Brock

3. Zephry Avery

4. "Scrappy" Ben

5. Rocket Ricky

For the first time in League History, we have game highlights in video format. Check out some of these great plays from the weekend.

Game Changing Plays!

Play Breakdown:
1. Rhino to Peg Leg Casey Ford- stopped on the 5 yard line
(sub-plot: catch a glimpse of "Butterfly"Davis' nipple: WARNING - PARTIAL NUDITY)
2. 3 Yard scramble by Rhino.
(sub-plot: Jud doesn't know what the score of the game is at this point)
3. Perfect zone defense, Rhino throws into traffic and gets picked off by Farve.
(Listen to the crowds excitement!)

Stay tuned for more videos in the future.

Due to the number of games and plethora of statistics, there will not be any SMFL Rankings this week. Rankings will continue next week, November 10th.

Tournament Teams - Game Time 9:45am

2007-11-01T21:20:00.001-05:00

The Draft has been completed. Here are the November 3rd - Tournament Day Line Ups:

Team 1
1. Favre Sandwick
2. Jagt Holland
3. Papi Schremmer
4. Butterfly Davis
5. 1st Pick Reserve

Team 2
1. Peg Leg Casey
2. D-Newb
3. Sweet Feet Darrell
4. Baylor David
5. 4th Pick Reserve

Team 3
1. Big Game Hunter
2. Runnin RB
3. General Josh
4. Guy Mitchell
5. 3rd Pick Reserve

Team 4
1. Romo Farrellio
2. Bronx Brock
3. Zephry Avery
4. Ben (Guy's Roommate)
5. 2nd Pick Reserve

Reserves
Big Game Hunter Guest #1 (50%)
Rocket Ricky (50%)
Rhino Reist (25%)
Big Mike V (50%)

Also, here are a few entertaining quotes from players in the league:

T-Dar in response to the "One Lateral Rule"

The only thing proved by Exhibit "A" is that the SMFL's short-sighted commissioner is hindering league exposure and growth. Every week there are a bushel of games which end with a last ditch kick returner or ball carrier attempting to lateral and then the subsequent ball carrier thinking "I can get there on my own." You never see these plays on Youtube or SportsCenter. The selfish attitude of players trying to score on their own in the midst of utter hopelessness is not what the SMFL stands for. The SMFL should adopt a more reasonable rule which allows for selfless play. We should try and emulate the great Trinity Tigers or the Cal Golden Bears circa 1982... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_VGBxfAdDM . (Pay attention to what happens to band members who come on the field early).

Because or the selfish and short sighted Commissioner, I will be protesting this "Tournament" which is an obvious ploy for the Commish to stack his own team through pregame rosters and generate more TV revenue which the league will undoubtedly not share with the lowly foot soldiers.

Papi Schremmer speaks out at Friday's pre-game press conference:

I want to play, and I want to make a promise to anybody that picks up TO. You will not be disappointed. Get Your Popcorn Ready.

TO Has been working out. WOOOOOO...I'm guaranteeing my game of the year.

Week 5 - RECAP

2007-10-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

This turned out to be a great weekend for football, and the participation was outstanding!

Thank you to all the players who showed up and made it happen.

Without further ado, the teams shook out like this:

Team 1

Hollandjagt
T-Dar
Easy E Reed
Big Mike V
Craig
Rugby Chris
Favre

VS

Team 2

Rhino Reist
Baylor Dave
General Josh
Sweet Feet Darrell
Iman the Quick
"Zephyr" Avery (Zephyr is a Greek god of wind)
RB
Rugby Drew

The early post game talk about this game has it ranked near the top of the SMFL’s list of entertaining games to date. Depending on whom you talk to, it may go down as one of the biggest heroic comebacks or biggest gutless collapses in SMFL lore.

Team 1 started off red hot with the two-headed quarterbacking of Easy E and Favre finding the likes of Holland and T-Dar to jump out to a quick 3-1 lead. Their defense also added fuel to the fire thanks to a couple INTs by Craig whose TD catch and run along with T-Dar’s TD throw to Rugby Chris staked Team 1 to what looked to be a “cruise control” 5-1 lead.

In a revealing statement by a supposed SMFL veteran and wannabe team leader, Favre told our SMFL sideline reporters at the time,

“Can this be any easier?! We haven’t even broke a sweat, and we’re about to win!”

(This lack of respect for the game and the opponent is something that will not be tolerated from any SMFL regular…regardless of the name on his back.) Fortunately for the league, T-Dar overheard this and was quick to reprimand Favre and briefly apologize for any disgrace caused.

Well, trailing 1-5, this is when the SMFL was treated to what may become a defining performance from this week’s MVP…General Josh. In what can only be described as a steadfast determination and utter refusal to lose, the General came as close as he could to single-handedly taking over the game.

Before Team 1 knew what was happening, the General had come down with a couple INTs and 3 TD catches to lead his team from the basement, to within striking distance, to a tie, and eventually to the win in a short period of time.

“I appreciate the individual award, but our entire team picked it up to come back and win. Drew and Dave were great at QB, and our whole defense combined to shut them down.”

A dejected Favre had this to say after the game:

“I’ll take the blame. I dropped a sure TD and had a couple bad throws on other potential TDs.”

“We agree!” said the rest of Team 1.

Regardless of how you view the comeback/collapse, this week’s game should be remembered for the performance of a rising star in the SMFL…congrats General Josh.

Saturday - October 27th - GAME ON!

2007-10-25T12:33:00.000-05:00

Game is On. 10AM

Here are the:

Starters
Gimme Moore
Gimme Moore Guest #1
Gimme Moore Guest #2
Gimme Moore Guest #3
Favre
Iman the Quick
Baylor David (broken finger)
Jagt
Eazy E Reed
Jordan Denzer
"Need a nickname" Avery

Probables
General Josh
Sweet Feet Darrell
Runnin RB
Rhino Reist (30%)

October 20 RECAP

2007-10-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who participated in Saturday’s fierce competition. Thanks to two new players this week for coming out, Eric “The Giant” and Brent Hockaday. These two are very talented and also look to be solid additions to the league. A special thanks to the anti-SMFL Golden Retriever, who took the liberty of marking the SMFL equipment as his property… at least the SMFL was able to trash a well used bag and get a much needed new bag with anti-dog pee technology.

The teams shaped out as follows for the Week 4 rivalry:

Team 1
· Peg Leg Casey Ford
· Need a nickname Avery
· Runnin RB
· Big Mike V
· Brent Hockaday (Rookie Alert)
· Harrington Farrellio (shockingly replaced Romo Farrellio this week)

VS

Team 2
· Baylor David
· Gimme Moore
· General Josh
· Sweet Feet Darrell
· Rocket Ricky
· Eric the Giant (Rookie Alert)

“Harrington” Farrellio came out with guns blazin in the first two series, leading his team to two quick TD scores. A quick strike 10 yard crossing route which RB took 30 yards to the house and a coast to coast seam route which Peg Leg ran to perfection.

“Our team is on fire… we are pretty much going to do whatever we want to offensively. This is our house and we dictate what will happen.”

A rather cocky comment from “Harrington” after the first two series.

“General” Josh was having none of that smack talk as he marched his team back for a score, finding Eric “the Giant” on a hot route.

“They blitzed and left “the Giant” wide open. The screen play worked to perfection. I just hope they start blitzing more so I can pick them apart.” – “General” Josh

True to form, on General Josh’s next drive, he found “Sweet Feet” Darrell for the diving touchdown catch. “Sweet Feet” complained after the game that he was man handled a little to roughly during the play.

“Why they got to rough me up so much? Don’t they know I’m like a delicate bumble bee? So quick yet so brittle… always lookin for the sweets.”
His complaints fell by the way side as no one seemed to care and many called his masculinity into question.

Team 1 answered back with a fury of quick strikes to Big Mike V, one of which was a one handed jump ball which Big Mike brought down in the corner of the endzone.

“Well, I said to myself: Self, if the league is keeping stats, I need to start making Stats. And so I did. I didn’t have a real reason to play all out until now… I’m gunnin for SMFL Blog Stardom!”

Big Mike V has been spending too much time with “Papi” Schremmer, who was absent for another week due to being too cool for the league.

Team 2 was able to get on the board a total of three more times during the afternoon. However, their turnovers and defensive weaknesses proved to be their downfall during Week 4. Team 1 claimed victory in a 7-5 shootout.

This game was over the fastest of any games in the previous 3 weeks.

Game 2 featured a skeleton crew of the first game. Teams filled out as follows:

Team 1
· Gimme Moore
· Harrington Farrellio
· General Josh
· Runnin RB

VS

Team 2
· Peg Leg Casey Ford
· Sweet Feet Darrel
· Brent Hockaday
· Big Mike V

Team 1 dominated this game winning 4-2. Gimme Moore scored his first touchdown of the 2007-2008 season. The excitement was too much for him to handle as he broke out in what can be described as a Chad Johnson like celebration with the ball, yet slightly more effeminate and without any props. Disturbing!

Sweet Feet Darrell bragged about his 0 dropped passes stats during the second game… although he did manage to throw two interceptions… Good hands though Sweet Feet!

Week 4 MVP Award goes to “Runnin” RB for his 2 TD day and an interception taken back for a touchdown which helped seal the Game 1 victory for his team. This is RB’s first SMFL MVP Award:

“I was just so shocked when I heard the news! It was so unexpected… I am very humbled to be talked about in the same sentence as the great SMFL players who came before me. The PEG LEGS, JAGTS and AVERY’s of the league… and now me…. Wow! This is just so special I think I might shed a tear….”

This reporter cut the interview short before any tear shedding occurred. Congrats to “Runnin” RB for his stellar performance.

Game ON - Saturday 10am - Oct 20th

2007-10-18T18:34:00.000-05:00

The Game is ON for Saturday @ 10am

Here is the game day roster:

Romo Farrellio
Gimme Moore
Gimme Moore guest #1
Gimme Moore #2
Peg Leg Casey (50%)
Rocket Ricky
Baylor David
Baylor David Guest #1
"Needs a nickname" Avery

Probables
Sweet Feet Darrell
Mafia Gustavo
Big Game Hunter

Notable Game day Scratches
T-Dar: AP- Reports from Addison, Texas indicate that Tim Darley will not be available for the SMFL game on October 20th. According to an anonymous source he will be undergoing a revolutionary procedure to remedy what doctors are calling a severe deficiency in his body's corny dog levels. This coming only one week after Darley's appearance in the Trinity Christian Academy "Old Tymers Game." Interestingly though he was not the only SMFL member to make an appearance, as Gimme Moore loaded his group of Old Tymers up on his back and escorted them to a last second 56-50 victory.

Looney: "I'm OUT. Men's retreat for our church this weekend."

Papi: "I know you guys ran out of popcorn because of last weeks awesome show... i'm benching it this week... Randy Moss style... just don't feel like playing... and my woman gets back this weekend."

Also: Peg Leg Casey is moving houses this weekend and could use some help after the game on Saturday. If you have an extra hour, Peg Leg would appreciate it.

See you on the field.

October 13 - RECAP

2007-10-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

First of all, a huge Thank You to all the players who came out this past Saturday. I know it gets said with almost every recap, but it really is a great time to hang out with friends and meet new people. And none of it would happen without you guys…Thanks.

This week’s biggest story started to take shape well before the first series was ever played on Saturday morning. Papi Schremmer, one of the most colorful & controversial players in the league, decided to end his month-long holdout and make is inaugural appearance of the season. By now, I’m sure you all have seen the note posted in his locker leading up to the much-anticipated debut, so I’ll spare you the time. He wasted no time in making his presence on the field felt, turning in a two interception/two TD pass performance. He showed good hands with his picks but not-so-good speed in returning them. “Hey, it’s my first game back. Last season, and later this season, those are pick 6’s, “ a winded Papi gasped as he enjoyed some of his own popcorn he had prepared.

The rest of Papi’s team: Big Game Hunter, Hollandjagt, Avery, Sweet Feet Darrell, Big Mike V, Gustavo, and Favre.

Against Prime Time Casey Ford, Derek, Josh, Baylor Dave, Guy, Easy E Reed, Ricky the Rocket, and RB.

Thanks to a couple early picks by safeties Mike V and Favre, followed by a couple Favre TD passes, their team took an early 2-0 lead. But Prime Time was able to find the seam in the 2 Deep Zone defense for a couple answer TDs, and it was a back and forth fight from there on out. The game was marked by solid defense throughout by both teams, as a few QBs threw multiple INTs, lead by none other than Favre himself with 3, one resulting in a return for a TD by Ricky the Rocket.

“It’s nothing new for me to throw a couple INTs in a game,” said Favre in what has to be one of the all-time SMFL understatements.

“I just care about the win.”

To set the record straight, Favre’s team actually lost, so the SMFL will be looking into any possible painkiller addictions that have popped up in his past.

This week’s MVP has to go to one of the preseason favorites for this award…Prime Time Casey Ford. He accounted for 5 TDs in leading his team to victory. He contributed on both sides of the ball with a TD pass, 3 TDs caught, and an INT returned for a TD. He continually found holes in the zone defense and outran the coverage on multiple occasions. His team had trailed 6-5 at one point but battled back to 6-6 with the ball. Just when the defense thought it had stiffened and would get it back for a chance to win, Prime Time found an opening in the end zone and turned out the lights on another great game in the SMFL.

Week 3 Stats:

October 13th Game Day - Game is ON

2007-10-11T18:26:00.001-05:00

The game is on for 10am, this Saturday.

Here is the potential game day roster:

Favre
Peg Leg
Big Game Hunter
Big Game Hunter Guest #1 (50%)
D-Newb
Jagt Holland - (missed last week because he was getting engaged...she did say yes)
Rocket Ricky
Papi Schremmer (67%)
Gimme Moore (50%)

Potential starters:
Avery
Sweet Feet Darrell

Let it be known that the following people had more important commitments:

T-Dar: Starring in his High School's "Old Tymers" flag football game for Homecoming weekend.
Butterfly Davis: Proving his undying love for his wife by attending the Watermark Marriage Conference.
Romo Farrellio: Learning to communicate more effectively with his wife by attending the Watermark Marriage Conference.
Gustavo: Beaming after his near MVP performance, he is taking the week off to entertain endorsement options.
Iman: Out of town with his athletic trainer in Colorado; a week in the thin air might make him unstoppable when he gets back.

October 6 RECAP

2007-10-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

Game RECAP

It was a rumbling tumbling rainy slop fest this week. With mild temperatures and steady rain throughout the first 3 quarters, getting a handle on the ball was a tricky accomplishment.

After counting off “1,2,1,2” the teams filled out as follows.

Team 1’s

“Rhino” Reist
“T-Dar” Moxin
“Big Game” Hunter
RT
Brian
“Butterfly” Davis
Iman “The Quick”

VS

Team 2’s

“Peg Leg” Casey Ford
“Sweet Feet” Darrell
“Mafia” Gustavo
“Baylor” David
Avery
Dan
“Romo” Farrellio

After winning the “laces or spaces” toss, Team 2 took the ball first and got out to a solid 3-0 lead. Team 2’s early dominance was attributable to several deep fly patterns and a tipped ball that went in and out of four hands before landing in Avery’s for the walk in score.

“That TD wasn’t luck. I watched a lot of film on Team 1’s defensive backs and noticed that they had trampolines for hands. Throwing it to the safety and cornerback was just my way to fit it into to a tightly covered receiver. We got the Score. I’d do it again…I’m the Star… Do not question my field decisions pencil jockey!”

It appeared that Romo Farrellio was a little edgy answering press questions after the game, especially about his quarterbacking skills. Farrellio leads the league in interceptions after two weeks, averaging 3 per week… hardly SMFL quarterback material. Farrellio – You are being called out!

After several ugly drives for Team 1 and Team 2, all of which ended in turnovers, Team 1 got on the board using their own “fifth down and long tip drill” play. By this point, the rain was falling heavily, causing catching issues for both teams.

“In actuality, itchy feet were the real issue. With all the rain and humidity, my socks were soaked, and athlete’s foot began to set in. I couldn’t concentrate on catching the ball… I was afraid of gangrene! I got kids to think about!” – B.G. Hunter.

Big Game Hunter was hardly full of “Big Game” on this occasion.

After a couple more Team 2 scores, “Butterfly” Davis used some SMU football tactics to encourage his team… “I give them a good slap on the butt and a spit in the face… that normally ticks my teammates off enough to play.”

It seemed to work as Team 1 marched back with 3 unanswered points including the best executed WR screen play that the SMFL has ever seen. The SMFL rating committee couldn’t help but give the highest pancake score ever, on one play, to T-Dar Moxin.

“I love re-living my high school greatness… Not only was I a bulldozer on the field, but also a Trojan!” – T-Dar Moxin

The pride in his voice left this reporter in aw.

Although there was pride on the field, the majority belonged to Team 2 as Peg Leg Casey Ford finally ended the wettest, sloppiest day in SMFL history.

Final Score: Team 1: 4 Team 2: 7

Week 2 MVP: Avery – On a day that had sloppy conditions, it was the defense that made the biggest difference. Both Gustavo – the Mafia and Avery harassed Team 1 all morning long. One was master of the short zone and tackled everyone in his area (Gustavo), the other provided the tenacity and energy that frustrated the quarterback to many interceptions and poorly thrown balls (Avery). It was a tough call on who made the biggest impact, but the rating system sided with Avery on this week.

Until next week… Stay Classy

GAME ON - Saturday October 6

2007-10-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

The Game is On for 10am - Saturday October 6.

For those who may not know the SMFL weather policy:

"We play under all conditions, Sun, Wind, Rain, Snow and everything in between. So dress appropriately"

Here are the Game Day Commitments:

1. Farrellio
2. Big Game Hunter
3. Iman "The Quick"
4. Casey
5. Sweet Feet Darrell
6. Butterfly Davis
7. Butterfly Davis Guest #1
8. Rhino Reist
9. T-Dar Moxin (50%)
10. Papi Schremmer (50%)
11. A-Train (80%)

Looking forward to the Game

- Commish

Saturday 29th RECAP

2007-10-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

First of all, thanks to all the players who could make it out and make it a great Saturday of football.

Today marked the first appearances of the season for some big name SMFLregulars:

Big Game Hunter, Gimme Moore, and Avery.

However, one of the continuing story lines of the young season is the noticeable absence of Jarred Schremmer ("Papi"), the controversial SMFLer who has more than once threatened to hold out on account of what he has referred to in the past as "a complete lack of respect for J Sizzle." (Note: the SMFL's leadership is currently looking into what, in fact, a "J Sizzle" is.)

The Commish has had a rough start to the new season with scandals and rumors of scandals, so it was no surprise when our inquiries into the Schremmer matter were met with a blunt"No comment at this time."

Onto the game...I don't know how he did it again, but Romo-Farrellio once again stacked the teams in his favor in a not-so-subtle attempt to pick up a much-needed W. He "somehow" ended up on a team with:

Prime Time Casey,

Gimme Moore,

T-Dar,

Iman the Quick, and newcomers

Baylor David and

Gustov.

whom he must have thought no body would object to him getting being new, but he knew how good they were. So the "challengers" to this attempted fraud were:

Big GameHunter,

Avery the Rocket,

D-Newb,

Judson the Butterfly Jett,

Jagt Holland, and

Favre.

David got the scoring started with a highlight reel TD on the way to a quick 2-0 start for Romo-Farrellio's team. It looked like they would make quick work of their opponent, and they would have if they could have executed better in the red zone. Defensive captain Butterfly Jett explained his team's short field success,

"I just told our guys that we had to bear down when our backs were to the end zone and try to create turnovers by getting our hands on the ball."

This worked in their favor as they were able to thwart multiple scoring threats thanks to red zone picks by Holland, Favre, and Avery,as well as pass deflections and sacks by D-Newb, the Butterfly Jett, and Hunter that led to turnovers on downs. The scoring then went back and forth, the lead changing hands until this week's MVP took over with his game changing performance...

Holland scorched the defensive secondary for back-to-back long TDs that won the game for his team. He had an earlier TD to make for three on the day, but it was his defensive play (pass breakups and interceptions) and the fact that his team won, that earned him the MVP over other worthy candidates Big Game Hunter and Prime Time Casey.

In a post game interview, Holland was quick to give his team the credit,

"I really stepped up when nobody else on our team could. I feel like if I didn't play, we wouldn't have won. I made good adjustments on poorly thrown balls all day...not to mention having to cover blown assignments defensively. It was an all around MVP performance from me today."

Looking back on the day, Favre said, "It was a great come from behind win for our team. But as for other matters, I would like to say that I think "Papi" Schremmer needs to be here on Saturday mornings. I think it sends a bad message to the other regulars, and even newcomers, when you continually miss." (With his two TD passes, Favre is closing in on the all-time SMFL TD pass record.)

Although the league did not keep records during the "early years," Favre's all time TD record may very well be at hand. However, if Big Game Hunter keeps up his 5 TD days, Favre's record won't stand for long.

Check out the statistics from last weeks game, as well as the NEW SMFL RATING SYSTEM:

Intangible values are calculated based on the players contribution to the team with and without the ball. This value is argue-ably the most important stat as it is so difficult to determine. This is our way to place a value on all the activities done away from the ball that enable a team to succeed.

GAME IS ON - SATURDAY SEPT. 29TH

2007-09-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

The game is on for Saturday @ 10am.

Here is the game day roster with health %:

Favre - Adam 98%
Farrellio - Grant 78.3%
"Gimme" Matt 100%
"Gimme" Guest #1 100%
"Gimme" Guest #2 100%
"Gimme" Guest #3 100%
"Big Game" Hunter 100%
"Big Game" Hunter Guest #1 100%
"Big Game" Hunter Guest #2 100%
"Big Game" Hunter Guest #3 (AKA : T-Dar) 97%
"D-Newb" Derek 98%
"Peg Leg" Casey 95%
Iman 96%
"Butterfly" Jud 100%

GAME DAY WEATHER REPORT:

9am
Sunny
71°F

10am
Sunny
74°F

11am
Sunny
78°F

12pm
Sunny
81°F

1pm
Sunny
83°F

For the new comers, here is a link to help you with directions:

http://maps.yahoo.com/index.php#q1=Glencoe+St+%26+Martel+Ave%2C+75206&env=F

Pictures from Opening Day

2007-09-27T18:41:00.001-05:00

Not much football playing... but more football recovery was caught on film. The league will make future attempts to capture real ACTION shots. Enjoy

PS: All of you Longhorn fans may enjoy the third picture down on the left... of course, I think he was making a pitiful attempt to be cool.

NO GAME ON SATURDAY SEPT 22ND.

2007-09-21T08:33:00.000-05:00

Players

It appears that last week's 18 man, 3 hour game caused some players to need a week off to recover. Due to injuries, College Game Day commitments and surgery recovery, we will not have enough players for this weekend.

Start planning for next weeks game, Saturday September 29th at 10am. I will send out a confirmation e-mail early next week.

Have a great weekend.Commish

Game IS ON - 10AM SATURDAY, SEPT 15TH

2007-09-13T22:13:00.001-05:00

Here are the commitments for Saturdays Game as well as the player health %:

Rhino Reist -100%
Favre - Adam -100%
Farrellio - Grant -100%
Peg Leg - Casey -100%
Big Game - Hunter -100%
D-Newb - Derek -100%
Jagt - Mike H. -100%
T-Dar - Tim Darley -100%
Mike V -100%
Rocket - Ricky -100%
Sweet Feet - Darrell -100%
Also playing: 3 or 4 guest

A-Train - Anthony H. -100% - Game Time Decision

Be ready for 4 teams and having two games playing at once.

Here is the weather report for the hours of the game:

8am 9am 10am 11am Noon
71° F 72° F 76° F 79° F 80° F

Partly Sunny

Also, the Pre-Game meal will be held at Einstein Bros (Mockingbird and Abrams) @ 845am.

SEPTEMBER 15TH - 10AM

2007-09-13T22:11:00.001-05:00

It’s almost time for the SMFL to kick-off it’s second official season! September 15, 2007 has been named the first official game day of the 2007-2008 season.

It has been a few months since the last game and many of the SMFL players have taken the break to improve their physical performance, yet others have used the time off to improve their social skills. Here are some updates and pre-season predictions for some of the most recognizable SMFL players:

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 14 - "Favre"

2007-09-13T22:03:00.001-05:00

“Favre” - Adam Sandwick

Field Alter Ego: Brett Favre

After last season’s end of year slump, Favre’s competitive fire drove him to the limit of competitions. If he’s not sprinting down the b-ball court Phoenix Sun’s style on Sunday night, he running 5 miles to prepare for his marathon, or possibly getting in some late night chipping at ole Tenison Park gearing up for greater Dallas’ city championships. And if he is not doing that, he is thinking about doing that… and if he is thinking about doing that, then he is doing it… are you getting it? “Favre’s” off season highlight came last week, when he finished T-3 at the Richardson City Championship… quite impressive for a guy who three months ago was doing well to break 90. That just proves the drive and work ethic this competitive maniac has burning in his belly to win. For those looking to get off to a good start this season, I would recommend getting on “Favre’s” team… no one will be in better conditioning than him for sure. (except maybe the Bachelor).

PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL MVP – AS LONG AS HE KEEPS HIS HEAD STRAIGHT, NOSE CLEAN, AND PASSES ALL THE LEAGUES DRUG TESTS, I DON’T KNOW OF A PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE THIS VERY SECOND THAT IS IN BETTER POSITION TO TAKE HOME THE COVETED LEAGUE MVP AWARD. I HOPE THAT “PEG LEG” FORD ENJOYED HIS TIME WITH THE TITLE IN THE OFFSEASON, BECAUSE FAVRE MAY GRAB HOLD OF IT AFTER THE FIRST WEEK AND NE’ER LOOK BACK. TIGER WOOD’S STYLE!

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 13 - "Farrellio"

2007-09-13T19:33:00.000-05:00

Farrellio - Grant Farrell

SMFL Field Alter Ego: Tony Romo

- In typical SMFL star fashion, Farrellio spent most of the off-season in tropical Costa Rica, undoubtedly nursing his wounds from a frustrating end to last season. When he has been stateside, Farrellio has had to face questions all off-season about the dropped Pick 6 (not unlike Romo’s dropped field goal hold), so it’s easy to understand him attempting to stay out of the spotlight. In other eerie similarities, Farrellio was spotted canoodling with one Jen Farrell in the La Cima Club high above Las Colinas, much like Romo was spotted with Carrie Underwood at the Ghost Bar high above Dallas. Farrellio also spent most of his down time either on the golf course or playing pickup basketball, just like Romo. One additional positive about his off-season…Farrellio donated a lot of his time giving golf lessons to the less fortunate (Matt, Jarred, and Adam, to name a few).

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL REDEMPTION ALERT! AFTER ENDING LAST SEASON WITH A QB RATING OF 16.8, ROMO FARRELLIO IS LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK! IN A RECENT INTERVIEW, FARRELLIO MADE THE FOLLOWING QUOTES REGARDING THE SEASON:

1. "If my mother put on a helmet and shoulder pads and a uniform that wasn't the same as the one I was wearing, I'd run over her if she was in my way. And I love my mother."

2. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

3. "I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid."

4. "I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test, I failed a test because I was ready to quite football."

5. "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

6. "I feel like I'm the best, but you're not going to get me to say that. "

7. "We can't run. We can't pass. We can't stop the run. We can't stop the pass. We can't kick. Other than that, we're just not a very good football team right now."

THE LEAGUE IS WAITING ON THE RESULTS OF HIS PRESEASON DRUG TEST.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 12 - "Rhino"

2007-09-12T19:40:00.001-05:00

Rhino - Ryan Reist

Field Alter Ego: VICK

This former Stephen F. Austin standout is widely considered to be one of the founding members of the SMFL. His attendance record was at one time unblemished…a show of loyalty and dedication second to none. However, in the mold of all prima donna wide outs, the Reistman took on off the field interests (read: girlfriend) that have turned his recent attendance into spotty, at best. But, remarkably, his skills are unaffected even by the periodic layoffs. His speed causes match-up problems for any defender, even if his hands and route running (insists on only running fly patterns) are mediocre. This multi-talented southpaw frequently draws comparisons to the much-maligned, notorious felon Michael Vick because when he runs the offense as QB, his favorite play is to wait for the pass rush and start scrambling, not unlike Ron Mexico.

“I always like to refer to him as Vick because they are both better suited to play a position other than QB because more often than not they are the best athletes on the field…and not because of Vick’s involvement in dog fighting, sneaking marijuana through an airport in a water bottle, or carelessly spreading herpes throughout the greater Atlanta metroplex” explains one league star.

PRESEASON PREDICTION: SOMETHING TO PROVE ALERT - As a result of his absences last year for personal reasons, the league is not convinced that he spent the off time working on his athletic skills. If, for example, he were the SMFL representative for "The Bachelor"... then we would have no concerns... but if he shows up on Saturday morning with roses, then we might just shun him from the league altogether. His passion and abilities have come under scrutiny and many players throughout the league are left wondering about what he has left in the tank. "Rhino" will have to play with a chip on his shoulder this year to earn the respect of the league.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 11 - "Big Game" Hunter

2007-09-11T22:38:00.000-05:00

Hunter S.

Field Alter Ego: Vince Young

- Of all the SMFL players who like to take the off-season to get away from all the other players (and basically drop off of the face of the earth), Big Game Hunter hasn’t been heard from since his stellar play to end last season. “It’s like those shows in Vegas…you leave on a high note,” he said through a spokesman of the spokesman for the family’s spokesman. I think it’s safe to say the league is eagerly anticipating Big Game’s return to see if there is any drop off or if he has spent all off-season improving himself physically by working out and watching the little guy.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL ALL STAR! THE LEAGUE HAS COME TO EXPECT STAR LEVEL PERFORMANCE FROM THIS “BIG GAME HUNTER.” EACH WEEK, THIS GRINDER DEVOTES 110% EFFORT TO HIS ALREADY ABOVE AVERAGE TALENT LEVEL, WHICH EQUALS CONSISTENT, SUPERIOR RESULTS FOR HIS TEAM.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 10 - "Peg Leg"

2007-09-11T22:24:00.000-05:00

"Peg-Leg" Casey Ford

SMFL Alter Ego: PRIMETIME

- All eyes will be on Peg-Leg’s hamstring as this new season gets underway. This was a nagging injury all last season, even though he was hesitant to admit it most weeks. He showed his moxie by coming every week with the world’s largest leg wrap and contributing in huge ways. The whole league is wondering what a 100% Casey plays like.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL PEAK PERFORMER ALERT! AFTER PLAYING MOST OF THE 2006-2007 SEASON WITH A TORN, RUPTURED AND STRAINED RIGHT QUADRICEPS, THE SMFL IS GIDDY WITH ANTICIPATION TO SEE WHAT A 100% PEG LEG CONTRIBUTES.

2007-2008 PLAYER TRAINER PROFILE:

2007-09-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Official SMFL Trainers: "Butterfly" and Gober

AKA: Judson Davis & Kevin Gober

When these guys aren't pumping the iron, they are busy pumping up the SMFL's best players with informative nutritional knowledge... in fact just the other day, Butterfly Davis informed "Gimme" that he would not muscle up by drinking beer and shooting deer. Although he may feel more manly, Butterfly was convinced that A-Train would still dominate Gimme on the field.

Gober helped fuel the fire when he caught A-Train at McDonald's having breakfast.

"What does he think the off season is? A time for powder puffing and donut munching? If this is the kind of commitment A-Train shows toward the SMFL, then I am definitely putting my money on "Gimme" this year!"

This is the type of encouragement that these former collegiate athletes provide. Some may think this is a figure head position, to them I say:

"perhaps, but YOU say it to these guy's faces... I mean, each of them has got to be at least 6'7". You will know them when you see them cause they are 6'7"... how can you miss them? They are 6'7"!.... 6'7"!!!!"

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 9 - "A-TRAIN"

2007-09-09T21:56:00.000-05:00

A Train: Anthony Herrera

SMFL Alter Ego: Tim Duncan (Yes, I know that Duncan is not a football player. Obviously you haven't seen A-Train play football!)

- Amidst off season rumors of being involved in some “cocky” type activity, A-Train was able to spend his off-season conditioning by playing basketball. In fact, he was spotted playing some pickup games with Tony Romo (not Romo-Farrellio) at Biggers. Amazingly enough, through three job changes in the short off-season, A-Train has professed his loyalty to the SMFL…we thank you.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR. LAST YEAR, A-TRAIN’S MOUTH RAN BETTER THAN HIS BODY. A-TRAIN HAS ALREADY CALLED OUT “GIMME” MOORE, AND PROMISED COMPLETE DOMINATION THROUGHOUT THE 2007-2008 SEASON.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 8 - "D-Newb"

2007-09-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

“D-Newb” - Derek Newbery

SMFL Alter Ego: JP Losman (It's the hair.... Really!)

- Fresh off his first off season with his new bride, D-Newb has been keeping in shape by walking.
- “Walking and speaking at the same time take a lot out of you! I don’t think you realize how much of a physical specimen I am for being able to give campus tours for hours on end.”

- You may remember the above quote from the infamous media battle between D-Newb’s and his Head Coach. D-Newb’s commitment to the team came into question when he did not show up for “voluntary” training camp.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SOPHOMORE SLUMP or SUPERSTAR. AFTER BEING A CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTOR WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT DURING THE 1ST SEASON, OFF THE FIELD COMMITMENTS COULD CAUSE THIS SMFL FAMILIAR FACE TO STRUGGLE.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE #7 - T.Dar

2007-09-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

"T-Dar". Tim Darley

SMFL Alter Ego: Johnny Moxin

- This court room commander has been furiously charging hours and putting in quality time with the wife… all for the benefit of the SMFL. Once the season gets started on September 15th, work and the wife take a back seat. Or so he would have you think. Actually, he secluded himself in an old barn located in the northeast territories of Russia. This is a picture of some of the activity T-Dar was caught performing:

- Nice Beard! It seems T-Dar has spent some time working on a new look. Just to refresh your memory, here is the face that most SMFL QB's remember seeing when being charged by this ferocious field terror:

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL ALL GRIDIRON GANG. THE LEAGUE KNOWS THAT HE IS THE HIGHEST RATED PASS BLOCKER THAT THE SMFL AS EVER SEEN, BUT MOST MAY NOT APPRECIATE THE HIGH CALIBER QB SKILLS. DON’T LET THIS BIG BEAR FOOL YOU, HE IS QUITE THE JOHNNY MOXIN!

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 6 - "Rocket"

2007-09-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

“Rocket” Ricky

SMFL Alter Ego: Who else? Rocket Ishmael

- This “beltway businessman” has been spending much of his time in the Redskin/Giant territory of the northeast. His SMFL team has been worried about the up coming preseason weigh-in since his 16 hour days at a desk do not help out his 40 time to much. Pending workout results, the “Rocket” name may be back on the free agent market, available to any new player who proves himself worthy. For now, however, the “Rocket” still belongs to Ricky until he proves otherwise. Would you also believe that this man is so popular, that when you Google his name, the studly picture on the top left is the first return.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR. WITH HIS BUSY TRAVEL SCHEDULE, ROCKET MISSED THE FINAL FEW GAMES OF LAST SEASON. THE TEAM IS EXPECTING REJUVENATED ENERGY FROM THIS KATY TEXAS TALENT.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE # 5 - "SWEET FEET"

2007-09-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

“Sweet Feet” Darrell

SMFL Alter Ego: Dante Hall

- Arguably the most committed 2006-2007 mid season addition (the only player who drives over 2 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: SMFLBILL 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!

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE #4 - Jagt

2007-09-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

"Jagt": Mike Holland

SMFL Alter Ego: Mike Vanderjagt

- In an effort to rekindle his devotion to the SMFL, Holland went MIA from the rest of the players in the league to clear his mind. Seriously, he’s not been seen. Word is that in preparation for the start of the season, Holland left his home in the suburbs and moved into town to be closer to the field.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL PRIMETIME POACHER! SINCE ENDING LAST SEASON WITH A PICK 6, TALK AROUND THE LEAGUE HAS HYPED UP THIS PRE-MADONA TO NEON DEION STATUS…EVERY TEAM CAN’T WAIT TO SIGN THIS GAME CHANGING TALENT.

2007-2008 Player Profile #3 - Gimme

2007-09-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

-Gimme Moore

- SMFL Alter Ego: Jason Sehorn

- Gimme has always been one of the fiercest competitors in the SMFL. In an effort to find a competitive release during the off-season, he has recently picked up golf. “I just had to get out of the house. I was getting bored at continually beating my wife at Chutes and Ladders,” he said at a recent press conference after a pre-season mini camp. (His wife is disputing his version of the results.)
- PRESEASON PREDICTION: SMFL OVERRATED PLAYER ALERT. SINCE GIMME HAS THE BIGGEST MOUTH IN THE LEAGUE, HIS TEAM IS HOPING THAT HE MAY BACK UP HIS SMACK TALK ON THE FIELD A FEW TIMES THIS SEASON.

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE #2 - G_NAS

2007-09-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

“G_Nas” – G. Nason

Field Alter Ego: The Entire SMU Mustang Team

- After making a late season splash in the final two games of the 2006-2007 SMFL Season and cashing in with a huge off-season free agent deal, it appears G-Nas has secluded himself in the confines of his Uptown apartment.
- “I spend most of my time redecorating; you know, putting up crown molding, painting, new chandeliers, eating papaya and strategically placing my new face molds around the apartment… of the four face molds, I still don’t know which one I will donate to the SMFL Hall of Fame… I will need to have a few more made before I decide.”
- We would like to thank MTV “Cribs – SMFL Edition” for permission to use the above quotes. (Note: The picture above is not of “G_Nas,” as a picture could not be found. Instead, the picture is a dramatization of what “G_Nas” would have looked like in his remodeled condo with a girl on his arm and an overly friendly construction guy.
- PRESEASON PREDICTION: BREAKOUT SEASON ALERT! THIS RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AND UNTAPPED TALENT IS POISED TO BREAK LOOSE THIS SEASON!

2007-2008 PLAYER PROFILE #1 - PAPI

2007-09-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

“Papi” – J. Schremmer

Field Alter Ego: TO Ownes

- This is one player who will be happy to get the season started. Off season legal issues and free agency stresses have weighed heavily on one of the most controversial players in the SMFL. The self proclaimed TO Owens and Pacman Jones enthusiast is looking forward to focusing on his play on the field and less on his off the field legal strategies.

- Under heavy scrutiny from the media, Papi often found the safe haven of Sunday Night Basketball, attending weddings with his new love interest and reading. Fans of the SMFL may find it shocking to know that Papi enjoys snuggling up on the couch with a good story book. This reporter found Papi enjoying the writings of a certain 19th Century author, who writes about women of smaller stature ("Little"...if you will). See Papi for more details.

- PRESEASON PREDICTION: POTENTIAL ALL-SMFL PLAYER, PENDING THE EFFECTS OF THE OFF FIELD ISSUES.

2007-2008 Player Profiles

2007-08-21T23:05:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned to the blog as each of the SMFL players will be featured in the 1st Annual SMFL Player Profile Program (P3). Please submit photo's now if you would like them issued in the program. E-mail Commish@thesmfl.com

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

2007-07-04T16:02:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their day off from the normal wed. hustle and bustle. Too bad it is short lived and ends after one day. I took this picture of my own fireworks display which I produced on Tuesday night. It's a good thing that all of this rain has occurred so you don't have to worry about setting your neighbors house on fire. (Ok, i lied about the previous two sentences... i got the picture from google... google is cool... they have a lot of stuff on there... i even saw a dicfer... you never see those anymore.)

Recap Coming... but it will have to wait.

2007-06-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

It's US OPEN WEEK. My attention has been pulled toward watching pro's get their butt kicked on the most impossible golf course yet! Here is my top 3 players to win:

1. Tiger Woods (Last US Open win was at Bethpage... prior to this year's course, that was the toughest US Open set up yet!)
2. Retief Goosen (Always shows up for the US Open, he thrives on even par scoring).
3. "No Name" Joe Shmo (this guy will persevere through the head beating that this course will put the players through... unfortunately, we don't know who that is yet because hardly anyone as heard of him... did you know who Geoff Ogilvy was before last years US Open? Do you know who he is now??).

2007-06-07T18:28:00.000-05:00

This was just too good to keep to the Commish alone. Please enjoy Mr. T - Darley Esquire's availability report for Saturday's game.

AP reports out of Addison, Texas indicate that SMFL lineman Tim Darley has been listed as doubtful this week citing reasons of a belated anniversary celebration. Mr. Darley's agent issued the following comment: "Many a SMFL player's career has ended on account of a wide spread epidemic of marriage. So far, Mr. Darley, has resisted that fate but once a year even he has to deal with the side effects. Many people who have not contracted marriage don't realize that if you do not take proper care of the condition it can lead to excruciating pain, even death."

Also, please extend a Happy Birthday wish, although belated, to "Gimme" Moore. His birthday was last Saturday. Although "Gimme" is known more for his trash talking skills than his playing skills, he is a positive representation of the League and we are proud to know him. Happy Birthday "Gimme!" I hope it was a good one.

June 2nd RECAP

2007-06-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

Outstanding turnout for the Game! A thank you is in order to all who showed up and invited your friends to play this week. The League could not survive without your help! Please, keep up the invites!

Please note: The League is currently reviewing changes to the game format that will help accommodate the growth that our league is experiencing. During the month of April and May, the average attendance was 8 players. So far the month of June has an average attendance of 15 players (granted that only includes one game), that’s almost a 100% increase! This dramatic and positive change has encouraged a need for the League to evolve and improve the way games/teams are structured. The League is looking forward to this challenge and will begin to implement new ideas immediately.

JERSEY SHOUT OUT:

- Mike Holland looked stunning in his royal blue and white jersey this week, looking comfortable and cocky while sporting the Vanderjagt Colts Jersey. Very daring, very Posh!

- Jarred finally represented his main man, TO Owens, coming out with the hated Eagles green jersey. Too bad J-rad could not back it up on the field, must have been the weight of the Jersey! Or he could have had something else on his mind… due to his new dating relationship; the League has implemented a nickname change. No longer will he be known as J-rad… but instead the athlete formally known as J-rad will be - “Papi.” Would you believe Papi actually chose going on a date rather than playing basketball on Sunday night! This observer was shocked!

- In a bit of a confusing and controversial move, Farrellio came out in the rare Joey Harrington, Lion baby blue jersey. Not even a jersey change could help Farrellio play better this week. He really performed like Harrington… The League is looking to trade him for a higher quality player. Maybe south Florida is looking?

Stars of the Game

- In his debut performance, G-Nason grabs a top spot for the tenacity and energy he exerted throughout the entire game. This man was diving for tackles, jumping for picks, making circus catches, and seemingly picking himself off the ground after every play, even when no one was around. Somehow the legs couldn’t keep up with his momentum. Outstanding energy G-Nas. Looking forward to see you on the field more often.

- “Peg-Leg” Casey Ford seemed to have both wheels working well this week. He threw for two TD’s, picked off 2 passes and invented the most unstoppable offensive formation ever, the “X-Wing 3 QB.” I even feel like a bad a#$ typing the name! Definitely another game changing performance for Peg-Leg.

- Even though he didn’t get much action out of his foot, “Jagt” Holland impacted the game with his huge defensive stops. Two INT’s and one returned for the game winning touchdown. Must be the Jersey.

As sent out previously, this coming week will be the last week before the SMFL off-season. Looking forward to a great turnout on Saturday.

Stay Classy America

June 2, 2007 Recap

2007-06-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

The Saturday game recap is coming soon. Please check back at the end of the day.

May 26 - No Game This Week

2007-05-26T07:03:00.000-05:00

There will be no game this week. The League encourages all of it's members to relax and enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.

Until next week,

-Stay classey America

May 12th, 2007 Recap!

2007-05-16T11:16:00.001-05:00

Words from the Commish - “Please accept my apologies on the tardiness of “THE RECAP”. My professional responsibilities have hindered me from completing my league duties in a timely manner. But enough excuses; on with highlights!”

This week was the first week of the new “expanded” playing field. Under the old league, the field was 26 yards wide by 65 yards long (end zone to end zone). The “expanded” field now plays 25 yards wide and 90 yards long (end zone to end zone).

Commish thoughts on the new field:

“Scoring was getting a little out of control, so the League wanted to bring the defense back into Saturday Mornings. This week’s game was a prime example of how the expanded field can help improve the competitiveness of the League. No more one play bombs for touchdowns; this field requires precision of a well groomed offense that can march down the field, picking apart the defense.”

Most Committed Player Award: (Hunter S.) – Would you believe that the only request this player asked from his wife, for his birthday was to come play in the League on Saturday morning. Even on his wife’s birthday, you will still see this player out on the field! There is no “Randy Moss” attitude here; this guy never takes a play or a week off! However, he does need to get a reputable nickname.

NI player of the week: This award goes to Farrellio, although it is not a good award; the NI stands for (Negative Impact). After helping his team go up 2-0, Farrellio single handedly changes his team’s positive mojo by fumbling a touchdown pass on the 10 yard line, which was promptly picked up by “Peg-Leg” Casey Ford. Farrellio’s team would not score again the rest of the day.

“It was like something out of a blooper real! I mean, Leon Lett had his Don Beebe, and Chris Simms his Roy Williams… Farrellio had only himself! How do you just fumble a ball when you have a free walk to the end zone?! Whatever they are paying him, it’s too much! That was just Unfathomable.” (Unnamed SMFL observer).

DD Award: The Defensive Dominator award goes to “Peg-Leg” Casey Ford. With his one good leg, Casey was able to hall in 3 interceptions and a crucial fumble recovery that changed the momentum of the game. Imagine what he could do with one and a half legs!

May 12th MVP: Mike Holland grabs this award for being apart of the most controversial trade in League history! After helping his team to a 5-2 lead, Holland joins the ranks of such un-tradeable players as Wayne Gretzsky, Brett Favre and Hershel Walker, when he was traded away to the losing team. This trade did not pan out for the team that Holland joined, but they were able to fend off the “L” for a few more drives with Holland’s defensive help. Too bad he couldn’t use his emotions of “frustration from the trade” as fuel to will his new team to victory.

Last Stand Award: This past week is Newberry’s last week to play in the league as a bachelor. Now he will be asking permission to play from his wife, the one whom he has chosen to serve the rest of his life. We hope to see Newberry back on the field in a few weeks. The League has lost some great players due to the holiness of marriage. We take a moment and remember those no longer with us on Saturday’s due to this blessed event:
- “Butterfly” Jett Davis
- “Sweet Swingin” Lee McCollum
- “Automatica” Andy Baker
- “Rocket” Ryan Reist***

*** although the “Rocket” did not officially take the vows of marriage, his traveling habits up to Oklahoma each week have forced the League to qualify his absence as that consistent with serving the woman.

When asked if he would return after the honeymoon, Derek boastfully proclaimed:

“Oh yeah I’ll be back out here, my woman understands the importance of football. I know she will let me play, no question. I wear the pants!”

Please note those that have said the same phrase before, they are listed below:

- “Butterfly” Jett Davis
- “Sweet Swingin” Lee McCollum
- “Automatica” Andy Baker
- “Rocket” Ryan Reist***

Good Luck Derek

Best Catch: The game winning catch was provided by none other than the best pass blocker in the league! That’s odd. Tim D., matched up against A-Train, took a post-fly pattern all the way to the house. It was the longest TD pass in the “new field era” of the League’s history (which was one day). Who said the big man can’t take it deep!

Shortest reception: “Sweet feet” Darrell wins this award when he caught a two yard pass from “Peg-Leg” Casey and ran backward seven yards before he was tackled in the end zone. Some might say, he is eerily similar to Barry Sanders… sure he may lose 5 yards here, 7 yards there trying to make something happen, but you never know when he will break those sweet runs all the way to the house! We may dog you this week Darrell, but we’ll be singing your praises next week.

Goal line defender: “A-Train” wins this award for knowing when to hold his man in the end zone and not get caught for it.

“There is no way my guy is going to score! Are you going to let your’s score? I don’t care what you have to do guys; if you’re not cheating you’re not trying!!!”

(That quote taken from the defensive huddle as A-Train tries to encourage his team during a goal line stand)

Hey, as long as the referee’s don’t see it, it never happened! Nice work this week working the system A-Train, it will probably come back ten-fold next week!

League Innovator Award: J-Rad - Although this award has nothing to do with his stellar play on the field, the idea to lengthen the field to improve the defensive side of the game, far outweighs any productivity on the field. The foresight and vision of this young man will help strength the League for years to come.

“We look forward to more new ideas and vision from this young man. It is players like him that keep the League running strong.” (Commish)

Great play this week gents, see all who can make it next time… and remember

-Stay Classy America

2007-05-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

May 5, 2007 Recap

First thing’s first: Thank you players for coming out. The SMFL would only be an abstract idea without you.

Just when I think we might hit a lull from our excellent turnouts, Anthony comes up big with two first-timers…thanks A-Train!!

Seven turned out to be the perfect number this morning on a beautiful day at the green gridiron at Glencoe. The overcast skies and intermittent drizzle gave us a nice respite from the brutal late spring heat of Dallas. A quick nod to the players who made it out: Anthony, Aaron, Mike, Holland, Hunter, Jeremy, and Adam. Aaron and Mike are Anthony’s friends, and when they showed up looking ready for business, we all figured Anthony had recruited some ringers for the sake of continuing to crush Matt “Gimme” Moore, who is unfortunately still on the DL. Since A-Train knew the talent on the field, he divided up the teams for us: Holland, Mike, and Hunter versus Aaron, A-Train, Jeremy, and Adam. (Those of you familiar with the SMFL have become accustomed to playing with odd-numbered teams.)

Team Hunter struck twice before Team A-Train ever put a point of the board, with Hunter orchestrating both drives and ultimately hooking up with Holland and Mike once each. “Out here, it’s so important to score early and get a couple stops to set the tone for the game. I just told our guys to trust me on offense, catch the ball, and play good defense,” said a confident Satterfield.

When Team A-Train did finally score, it was two unanswered to tie it up. One of the premier match-ups of the day turned out to be the first timers covering each other. Coincidence or not, Mike and Aaron scored the first touchdowns for their respective teams while covering each other. Aaron said he was pleasantly surprised by the competitiveness of the SMFL, “It took me a little while to get into it, but when Mike scored that first TD on me with the help of a big league push-off, I knew I had to bring it.” And he did for the rest of the game.

Hunter was instrumental in two unanswered to push the score to 4-2, followed by Team A-Train getting to within 4-3. Then it was two more unanswered for Team Hunter to make it 6-3, and then it got interesting…

“I knew when Jeremy got in all our faces in that next huddle and really chewed us up and down that I was going to do all I could to not let the team down,” said a motivated Adam. And from there Team A-Train scored three unanswered to tie it up at 6.

But, like he had all day, Hunter put his squad on the shoulders on the last drive and wouldn’t let them lose. Which is why he tops our weekly awards:

MVP: Hunter Satterfield had a hand in all seven of his teams TDs. He threw one to Mike, two to Holland, had an AMAZING behind the back pitch to Holland on a long fifth down TD run (play of the year potential), threw the first pass on a double pass TD that went Hunter-Holland-Mike, caught a length-of-the-field TD pass with his finger tips, and scored the winning TD on a QB scramble on a busted play. Well done, Hunter!

Revenge in a Dish Best Served Cold Award: Holland for his performance after being tagged with the dubious Penguin Award last week. He had a hand in five TDs this week, proving that he can indeed perform when the heat is on. Holland had a simple explanation: “I watched a little film of my performance last week and recognized what I was doing wrong. It wasn’t the defense that affected me…in fact, I haven’t seen defense played as poorly as Sandwick did last week. He’s lucky I was a little off. Now you’ve seen what I can do when I do it right.”

Best Corporate Advertisement Award: Seriously, has anyone brought it as big for the last two weeks as Anthony? And doesn’t that time frame correspond to his purchase of some new Under Armor cleats? He displayed some speed seen up til now only on the basketball court. He was one defensive stop away from being today’s MVP, with three TD catches.

Newcomers of the Week: Thanks to Mike and Aaron for showing up and playing hard. They made the most of a tough situation without cleats on the damp grass. Both came up big for their respective teams, and even salted things up with some trash talk.

Best Catch: Doing his best to keep his team in it, Jeremy made the best catch of the day, batting a thrown ball away from the defender, then pirouetting to snatch it out of the air a continue up field. I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it every week until he proves me wrong, the man has the best hands in the league.

Just Deserts Award: After talking it up about “shutting down” Holland last week, Adam got what was coming to him this week, in a big way from Holland. As mentioned before, Holland had a part in five of his teams seven TDs…touché Holland!

Until next week,

Stay Classy!!!

April 28th - RECAP

2007-04-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

A personal message from The Commish:

“Thank you to all who showed up to play this week. Ten players made for an unbelievable game and we hope to continue the strong turnout in the future. Please keep up the invitation to your friends and coworkers. The League appreciates it!”

Now for the RECAP!!!

The stage was set! This week’s Saturday Game featured two of the leagues premier athletes, A-Train and Matt “Gimme” Moore.

The players had been using the media to trash talk each other throughout the week, the culmination of which took place on the grassy gridiron of Glencoe. Let’s recap the “war of words” from the week.

A-train to Matt: Who are you kiddin- I have seen you play...you better have KT call during the game so you have an excuse to bail out on your beating.

Matt: “Anthony, just promise me you'll guard me...I want some easy td's this week.”

Anthony: “The only easy TDs you will get will be from your wife.”

Matt: “Well, I guess you should know about easy...you know, with your mom and all...”

A-Train: “Suck it!”

Matt: “I assume that is your concession speech.”

(Although The League does not promote the use of Mom’s or Wives for trash talk, the above recap was posted merely to show the fierce competition of these prominent players. For the record, future uses of Wives or Mom’s in trash talking will be fined, by The League, if the team doesn’t take action first!)

With that said, Let the GAME BEGIN!

Matt and A-train took command of the game and became the Captains’ of their respective teams. Once the morning DRAFT was complete, the teams took their spots on the field.

Team “Gimme” Moore took the ball first and failed to score during their first series.

At this point, Team A-Train took control of the game and scored quickly on three straight possessions.

Team “Gimme” Moore was starting to tighten up under the pressure of the game! The pressure was so great, in fact, that Captain “Gimme” Moore blew chunks’ on the field! (This event was capture on camera and is proudly displayed on the top right of this blog).

Shortly after this event, Captain “Gimme” Moore retired for the day leaving Captain A-Train as the unquestioned dominator of the match up!

Congrats to A-Train coming out on top of the slightly anti-climatic event!

Weekly Awards

MVP April 28: Casey Ford – After nursing an injured hamstring, taking a Novocain shot and tight wrapping the quadriceps, Casey fought through pain and agony to lead his team to seven TD passes, two other TD catches and a rushing TD! Absolutely amazing! He also pulled in one interception that led to a TD. Quite possibly one of the best performances yet on Saturday Morning!

Bill Bates Award: Named for the Cowboy legend who had a nose for the ball and made seemingly every play defensively… T-Darley wins this award as he’s got the battle scars to prove it.

Worst Pre-game Meal: It was so bad that it ended up on the field, check the picture on the top right and see if you can find the bad onion ring that “Gimme” Moore had eaten either the night before or the morning of the game.

Top Captain: After all the trash talk, A-Train was able to back it up with a Victory. Personally, this observer believes that the difference was in the shoes; CLICK CLACK, Under Amour HUhhhhhhhhhhh!

Best Throw: Hunter captures this award due to his laser beam throw to the front corner of the end zone where somehow the ball went between two defenders and into “Favre’s” hands. Granted “Favre” had to make a great catch and toe tap for it to remain inbounds

Jeremy: Best Jay Novacek impersonation for effortlessly working the middle of the field with is big soft hands. Plus, who wouldn’t want to see Jeremy with a Novacek mullet!

Longest 5 yard pass: Darrel gets this award from taking a short dump off all the way to the house; a self proclaimed speedster with no endurance! This newcomer of the week has established himself as one of the SMFL’s premier deep threats.

Penguin Award: The player that flourishes the best when no HEAT is on them. Holland takes this award with pride! There were numerous plays where his number was called but he couldn’t shake the “Favre” coverage. Only when the defense went from a Man Defense, to a Zone Defense, was he able to score. (Now if that’s not calling someone OUT, I don’t know what is!!!!)

Best Catch: For the second week in a row, the tactile “Favre” pulled in a fireball pass from Hunter S. in the corner of the end zone, with two defenders all over him.

“It was quite a site! I wish I could experience being caught by the tactile Favre sometime soon ;).” (Unknown attractive female observer of the game who happened to be walking her dog at the time).

What Great TIMING!!!

Best QB Performance: “Farrellio” - for successfully executing the Offensive Coordinator’s (Casey) complicated game plan.

“He picked apart the stiff defensive zone so meticulously that it was reminiscent of how meticulous “Favre” picks his wedgy after being burned deep!” (Unnamed member of Team A-Train).

Thanks again for all who were able to make it. Look forward to the weekly e-mail.

Remember…

-Stay Classy America

April 28, 2007 - Saturday Game - 10am

2007-04-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

We already have some trash talking beginning for Saturday. Just so he won't back down, it is posted for all to see. The League has decided to add two new camera's this week, each camera will be assigned to follow the two players named below at all times during the game. (No Spitting! The league will review tapes!)

Herrera states:

"is Matt signed up to play? if he is I will definitely be there - i want to shut the dude down. he has taken some cheap hits on me over the last few weeks - especially that "gay" dialogue he came up with."

Let the game begin!

See all who can make it early at Einstein's Bagel @ 845am

April 21st Game Recap!

2007-04-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Weekly Awards:

April 21st MVP: Ryan Looney - His blitzes and coverage caused three turnovers. Two interceptions were “pick 6’s”, one of which he returned all the way to the end zone after receiving a lateral… and that was just his DEFENSE! On offense he scored three touchdowns and passed for another. It will be difficult to match that performance, especially since there is now film to watch and time to game plan against him for next weeks game! Congrats Ryan, Way to go!

Best Blitz: Avery - there is a reason you are “blitzen” mad after you try and fail to juke him. How is anyone that fast?. If he wins this award again, we will have to rename the award after him… or just call him “Blitz.”

Best Connection: “Favre” Sandwick and J-rad were workin the roommate chemistry to connect on, not one or two long bombs, but three which all went for Touchdowns! They had two other attempted “connections”, which were thwarted by good defense. They would have been touchdowns otherwise! When interviewed at the end of the game, both confirmed that the reason these passes were successful was because neither player were wearing gloves.

“I don’t like to wear gloves” Favre stated,
“I like to feel the ball on my fingers since I’m a very tactile person!” (Whatever that means?!)

The league is currently reviewing the tapes to see if any offensive pass interference or illegal push-offs occurred down field. If that does not reveal anything, a raid of their apartment will be conducted by league officials to determine if the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs were used. For the record, Nyquil and Tylenol PM will be considered as illegal performance enhancing drugs. Raid may be conducted at an undisclosed time during the middle of the week.

Comeback Player of the Week: Matt “Gimme” Moore made four incredible displays of acrobatic receptions! I think he stayed suspended in air and bobbled one pass six times before coming down on the sidelines, but inbounds as he tapped one tip toe inside the white line! It looked like a ballerina. Too bad he doesn’t show up every week to do that.

Play of the Game: D-Newb was responsible for the play of the game, which was the very first play of the day! After running a routine 5-yard out, D-Newb caught a bullet from Farrellio, and turned the corner on J-rad, and he was off to the races. “Favre” Sandwick tried to catch him from behind but fell 15 yards short in the footrace.

“It was like watching a shorter, thicker Avery… he was so fast!” (unnamed member of D-Newbs team). He goes on to state, “Who knew that the California boy could move so fast without a girl to chase???”

Dirtiest Player of the Game: Thankfully, we aren’t talking about language here. Farrellio racked up this award due to the look of his Romo jersey after the game. After missing a pass in the end zone, Farrellio went heels over head after the pass contacted an “undisclosed” location in the lower body area. During the next game, Farrellio returned an interception back to the end zone in which he scored only after he dove and stretched the ball into the corner cone just as J-rad was diving for him.

“Although the dive to the end zone was a good play, it was more of a lunge, or semi-knee slide… like something my girlfriend would do if she were playing softball while getting out of the way of contact… kind of dainty, actually,” An unnamed player of the losing team stated about the touchdown dive.

The result of those two plays was serious, massive, irreversible, grass-ious stainage. By the end of the weekend, it was determined that the stain damage to the jersey were irreversible.

Injury Report:

J-rad: Undisclosed lower body injury, and disfigured nasal damage (unrelated to the Saturday game) 67%
Farrellio: Undisclosed lower body soreness. 93%
D-Newb: Left ankle soreness. 86%
“Favre” Sandwick: 100%
Matt “Gimme” Moore: 100%
R – Looney: 100%
Avery: 100%

Thanks to those who were able to make it out this week and we will see those that can make it next week.

Make it a good week, and remember…

-Stay Classy America

Saturday April 21st

2007-04-20T00:04:00.000-05:00

Join us for a very competitive game of Football, Saturday morning at 10am; location - Glencoe Park.

Don't forget about the team breakfast before the game at 8:45am; location- Einstein Bagels (Abrams and Mockingbird).

Great time for Carb Loading!

See you guys there!

IS THAT GOOD BUSINESS?

2007-04-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

“Is that good business” - a segment dedicated to discussing and exposing the frustrating aspects of capitalism in our day to day life that leave us questioning, “is that good business?”

Car Dealerships

My wife and I were looking to purchase a car this weekend. We had spent a couple of months researching and looking online, Craig List, Car Max, E-bay and the like, but none of those avenues had panned out. It did however; give us a good barometer of the kind and price of car that we were looking for, so we felt well equipped to purchase.

We set out to several nearby car dealership in Richardson TX, dealerships that are close to Campbell and US 75… after taking my wife’s advice, I have decided not to put the name of the dealership in the blog, but if you contact me, I will tell you each dealership name and the name of the sales person that helped us.

Dealership #1

My wife and I enter the establishment and were quickly greeted by a Salesman, we will call him Bob. Bob small talked a little and ask us
“What kind of car are you looking for today?”

We explain that we are looking for a used vehicle that we can purchase with $11,000 cash.

Bob nods in agreement that he understands what my wife and I just said.

He took us around, showed us a half a dozen cars, none of which were up to my wife’s liking.

Bob then asked the great line – “What do I need to do to get you into a car today?”

I replied – “Bob, I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Bob nodded in agreement like he understood.

He then showed us another half dozen cars, all of which were $16,000 and up.

“Bob, this car that you are showing us looks good, after a test drive and if we like it, will you part with it for $11,000?”

At which he responds – “that’s a Sales Manager question, I just show the cars.”

Bob doesn’t ask or make a move to go get the sales manager. We then start walking back to the store, at which point Bob asks,

“What do I need to do to get you in a car today?”

I replied – “Bob, I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

At this point, Bob looks confused as we walk back to the main building. My wife and I thank him for his time and we leave.

Dealership #2

Before my wife and I can even get out of our car, we are greeted by a salesman, we will call him Ted.

Ted asks: “What type of car are you looking for today.”

“Ted,” I said,

“I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Ted, pretending to understand, nods his head and proceeds to show us several car with price tags in the high teens, lower 20’s.
After trying to get on my wife’s good side, Ted convinces her that we need to take a test drive on a Toyota Camry, approximately $19,000. I’m starting to be beaten at this point so I agree to test drive the car.

When we return to the dealership after the test drive, Ted asks us if we liked the car.

“Yes” my wife says – “I do like the car but I want to think about it. Can I get your business card?”

Ted, pretending to understand, nods his head and invites us into his office to get a business card.

After waiting in his “so called” office, which is nothing more than a “community” cubical that is up for grabs to the first Salesman to grab, Ted walks up without and business card but with a Sales Manager, a heavy set 6’6” middle age man.

“So, how did you like the Camry?” – the Sales Manager said.

Stunned and confused at this point, I starred at Sales Manager.

“No, thank you” my wife responds, “We’ll just take your business card Ted, thanks.”

We leave, confused and very annoyed. Thank goodness my wife was there to stay firm!

Dealership #3

My wife and I park and graze the front lot for a few minutes before venturing inside the building. This dealership is very busy and it takes a good 3 to 5 minutes before a salesman helps us. We will call this one, Jeff.

Jeff sits us down in his “community” cubical and takes down some information from us:

Name
Phone number
What car are you interested in.
How do you plan on paying?
Lease, finance or loan

I respond – “I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Jeff pretends to understand and nods. Jeff then takes my wife and I around the lot for about an hour and a half, showing us this and that and convinces us that we need to take a car for a test drive.

After just sitting in the car, my wife says that she doesn’t like the car and we proceed to go back inside to find Jeff and give back the keys.

Meanwhile, Jeff had taken the opportunity to go look at my car and value it for a trade in to see if he could rival that price I have quoted from Carmax.

After about 20min, we find Jeff and give him the keys so that we can go. Jeff then says he has another car that “just came in, that we have to look at.”

- “(How convenient)” – I thought.

At this point, I’m pretty beaten so we go look at the car and it turns out that this is the type of car that we were looking for from the outset of our day.

My wife and I take it for a test drive, and while on the drive, my wife and I discuss purchasing the vehicle (Jeff did not go on the test drive, he was back at the dealership doing the “paperwork.”)

We get back from the test drive, clearly sold on the car and tell Jeff that we would like to review the CarMax report and think about the car overnight. Jeff quickly agrees and escorts us inside to his “community” office.

He then leaves the office to do more “paperwork” and to work on getting us a “hard” quote on the trade in of my car and a quote for this new car.

After another 20min, Jeff finally comes back, and gives me a piece of paper with the number $1,400.

“What is this, Jeff?”

“This is the price that it will take to get you into the car. I have valued your car at $21,000 (this is 2,000 more that CarMax and this is just by looking at the car, no investigation on his part). And the difference with your car, what you owe and the price of the used car, we are looking at a difference of $1400.

My Car Value: $21,000
Note on my car: $7,000
Difference: $14,000
Price of used car: 15,400 (plug figure in order to owe 1400)
Difference for me to pay: $1,400

“No” – I said. This is about the time a heavy set Sale Manager walks into the “community” office as says:

“What will is take for you to drive out of the lot today in that car?”

To which I responded:

“Jeff, maybe you didn’t understand me when I said that I want to pay $11,000 for the car. That means I want to pay $11,000, which mean I wouldn’t owe any money on the car. Also, your value of my car is a “Soft Number” since you didn’t have a technician look at it, which makes me think the actual value you’re going to give me is the price that CarMax would give me (19,500). So instead of $1400, I would pay an additional $1500 for a total of $2900, out of pocket.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to pay any more than $11,000” – Jeff said.

“RIGHT” – I said, clearly annoyed. “Any what about the Carfax Report?”

“Right, let me go get that for you” Jeff responds.

He then leaves his “community” office to go into the next door “community” office to talk with the sales manager. 5, 10, 15, 20 mins pass and at this point, several salesman, along with Jeff, are in the office talking with the sales manager, laughing and talking loudly… not about work either.

Clearly annoyed and borderline rampant at this point, I tell my wife that we are leaving. She tells me to go get the car and she will stay to get the Carfax report.

I leave.

After waiting in the car for another 10 min, my wife finally makes it out of that HOLE with a Carfax report.

She then tells me that after I had left the office, Jeff had come in to the “community” office to change his offer from $1400 to Zero.

My wife said thanks; we will call you and left.

Time Total at this dealership alone was almost 3 hours, after which I had nothing to show for it but higher blood pressure!

Conclusion
I hated to walk out of the office and be so disrespectful to Jeff, but he was not very respectful of my wife and I, and it was only after I walked out of the office that Jeff started paying attention to us. In fact all of the salesmen that my wife and I were helped by were not respectful to us. There goal was to pressure and force me into purchasing a car at a higher price than what I told them I wanted to pay. I addressed the salesman straight forward and with respect. I told them exactly what I wanted and how much I wanted to pay for it. Instead of saying that they didn’t have a car for me in that price, they wasted my time by trying to dupe me into purchasing a higher priced car, making me wait and making empty promises about what they could deliver. And even when I found a car that I liked, they tried to “sweat us out” and make us wait for 40min for no reason other than to show that they have power to do so. As a result, they lost a sale of a car that day, and I will never shop there again. IS THAT GOOD BUSINESS?

No game last week

2007-04-17T06:36:00.000-05:00

Due to hectic schedules, last weeks game was cancelled, unfortunately. Apology's to "Blue Shoes" James as his last week to play fell on the BYE week. James - we look forward to seeing you out in a few months.

Stay tuned for the weekly e-mail and the game on Saturday.

Flurries Fury – April 7, 2007 Recap

2007-04-07T17:17:00.000-05:00

The morning started great with four players enjoying a pre-game meal at Einstein Bagels. The Power bagel was the Bagel of Choice this morning. After some brief Masters talk and Aggie bashing with the Gillispie shadiness, we headed out to the field. The Tour of Dallas (Bicycle race) took precedence of our normal route to the field, making our normal tour to the field a bit of an exploration, but luckily everyone persevered and made it to the field.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the field was 100% cut this week and somehow still hard as a rock… even after the down pours of rain we have experienced over the past week.

Is this the effect of global warming?

Is the earth warming from the inside?

Those are some thoughts from my enemy, the inventor of the internet himself, Al Gore. Ok, enough of politics… back to the game!

To quote today’s game MVP;

“Today is the best weather possible to play football!”

That from mouth of Hunter Satterfield, who couldn’t be more correct! Temperature in the high 30’s, intermittent snow flurries, and slight north breezes made today's game reminiscent of those played at Lambeau Field.

Adam “Favre” Sandwick should have flourished under such conditions, but unfortunately he resembled the Brett Favre circa 2006, and not 1996.

“It was the nervous energy of playing in the Lambeau-esk conditions,”

Sandwick explained in the post game interviews. He goes on to state,

“You better have enjoyed my play today, because it won’t happen again! I’ll be ready to do it big next week!! You don’t know what I’m talking about but my team knows what I’m talking about! All day, all night!”

This reporter is unsure if even the Florida Gators NCAA Basketball team knows what Mr. Sandwick is talking about… perhaps it was just the bitter taste of a loss that was affecting his communication skills today.

Props to all the players who made it out today along with the weekly awards:

- Derek - (Top quarterback of the Day)
- Avery - (Fastest Blitz Counter)
- Tim D.- (O-Line Player of the Week)
- “Blue Shoes” James - (Best Dressed… I mean, it’s in the nickname!)
- Matt “Gimme” Moore – (Best trash talker… most of it done before the game)
- Hunter S. - (April 7th MVP)
- “Favre” Sandwick - (Best “Shut Down” Cornerback)
- Farrellio (Best Near-Miss Career Ending Injury) ***

*** The league will review procedures necessary to make the field more “player friendly,” including options of padding or removing the 30 foot steel light fixtures… Stay tuned***

Today’s match was a tight; back and forth battle of straight four on four plays. It had been many weeks since our last full game of equal strength teams.

“It was a story of one team hoping to win, verses a team that knew it would!” (Quote taken, with permission of the National Football League, from the 1993 Superbowl Champion Dallas Cowboys Year in Review video)

This week’s MVP, Hunter S., threw for 4 touchdowns and caught 3 more! Not bad for a man who spends most of his week catching vomit out of his sons mouth!

Hunter’s team enjoyed victory of both games played, winning 7-5 and 4-3. (First game is first to 7, second game is first to 4).

Looking forward to next Saturday, where “Favre” Sandwick has promised revenge!

Also, next week will be “Blue Shoes” James last week, so come see him in action for the last time. This is what happens when you get engaged; you can’t play and have to go to Europe instead.

Make it a great week gents, and remember…

-Stay Classy America

World Viewing Reality

2007-04-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

The first of many segments which seek to explore political, social and economical events present in the World that contain foundational characteristics rooted in Biblical principals.

The following was taken from a monthly newsletter known as GLEANINGS, written by Gerald Chester, Ph.D [www.StrategiesWork.com]. Thank you Dr. Chester for allowing me to post your work.

Christianity: The Official Religion of China?
It has been reported that Jiang Zemin, president of China from 1993 to 2003, said that he was tempted to make Christianity the official religion of China (1) — a startling statement from the head of a country committed to atheism. What could have moved President Zemin to make such a declaration?

Chinese scholars spent twenty years trying to discover why America is both the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. Consider the following quote regarding their conclusions.

"One of the things we [Chinese scholars] were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact the pre-eminence of the West [America] over the world. We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you [America] had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on the economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this." (2)

President Zemin must have known of this research. And since he valued America’s economic prosperity so highly, he was willing to replace the atheism that communism is built on and in its place embrace Christianity. Sadly the Chinese may understand more about our prosperity than we Americans do. They reached the conclusion that our Christian heritage is foundational to our prosperity. If their research is correct, and I believe it is, shouldn’t we be eager to preserve our Christian values and principles? Wouldn’t it make sense for American business schools to teach biblical values and principles as the keys to successful business?
As logical as it may seem that America should be embracing Christianity as the foundation for business success, America is not. Instead there is a growing movement to eliminate Christian values and principles from American business. Some examples are:

-The growing movement to adopt the gay agenda;

-The wholesale embracing of non-Christian worldviews, such as Islam; and

-The inability to use religious convictions as part of a hiring criteria.

Many political leaders are leading the charge to de-Christianize America. For example, presidential candidate John Edwards recently was quoted as saying that he does not consider America to be a Christian nation. (3) What does this move to de-Christianize business mean for America’s future? Based on the Chinese research, one would conclude that America is on the road to economic decline. How long this might take is hard to gauge, but the inevitability of the reality seems certain.

What should American Christians do? American Christians should take a stand and resist the de-Christianization of American business. Christians must understand the critical role that Christian values and principles play in facilitating the economic success of our country and be willing to resist those who are promoting non-Christian values and principles. Only by embracing the truth of Christianity and being willing to fight to preserve America’s Christian heritage can we expect our nation’s economic prosperity to continue. If American Christians don't rise up and take a stand, in time, our economic system will implode. America will become a Third World nation. This will leave the door open for China and others to take America's place, and the nations that take America's place as the economic leader will do so by using the Christian values and principles that America is working so hard to reject.

So what are you going to do about it? Are you willing to answer the call to arms? If you want to do something, reject the policitically correct philosophy of the day and hold fast to our Christian hertiage. The economic future of America is at stake. This is no April Fool's joke!

1. Ken Eldred, God is at Work, p. 73.2. Rodney Stark, The Victory Reason, p. 235.3. Helen Kennedy, "How Edwards Sees Faith," http://www.nydailynews.com, 3/4/07.

No Blue Shoes

2007-04-02T06:19:00.000-05:00

Congrats to those who made it out to this weeks game. Definitely the best weather of the year! A special thanks to the lawn mower man, who was able to mow 89% of the field, making the other 11% a slippery trap for anyone trying to make a square in or out (enter Jeremy and Jamison)... those guys spent more time on the ground than David Hasselhoff! he he... oh wait, that should read "more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff," which is a golf joke and doesn't make sense in this situation. MOVING ON...

We had three new players this week, Jeremy, Jamison and Robby. Judging by the look of the uniform after the game, Jamison and Jeremy have earned Exempt status in the league after only One Game! A feet which has not been done previously to date. Thanks for bringing them out guys and keep up the invites!

Another congrats goes to "Blue Shoes" James who recently got engaged! Congratulations James... although, I fail to see why you were unable to play at 10am on a Saturday... we'll let this one slide this week.

Highlights from this weeks game include two Hunter "hail marry" catches on 5th and 40, the Governor’s (Jared) 35 yard dash and being amazed at Hershel’s ability to get wide open on every play! Why didn't we throw him the ball more!?

Have a great week Gents, and we'll see you on the field Saturday April 7th.

-Stay Classy America

GAME TIME!

2007-03-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

Well, another Saturday morning was here and gone. Saturday mornings are by far the best mornings of the week, with Sunday morning a strong second and Friday morning a slightly distant third… but I digress. I awoke early to get in a quick weight lifting session before the regular 10am football game. The cool morning of spring is very pleasant to jog in and the quiet time in the morning allows you to enjoy nature in peace. A nice change from the semi trucks and road rage drivers that drown out the pleasant sounds with revving engines, horns and squeaky breaks. My wife, who always enjoys the outdoors, was trying to sleep off some allergies, so I was flying solo this morning.

After the workout, I drove downtown to the Glencoe Park, in great anticipation for this week’s game (how many people would show? How many times would I intercept Sandman? Or would I be able to catch Avery today?)… All these questions were circulating in my head, and all would be answered in a very short time!

The SMFL survived for another week! We had a great showing today with 7 total players and one new addition, Tyler. Shout out to Hunter who loves playing in the league so much that he left his new born son with the first hobo on the street that he could find for baby sitting in order to play (and when I say hobo, I mean his sister… not that his sister is a hobo or anything… I don’t even know his sister… is she cute? Is she single? Not for me, I’m asking on behalf of a friend… Schremmer is looking for a date!).

Anyway, so we had seven guys this week which lead to a classic battle of 3 on 4, probably the best battle we had seen in the league in quite some time. Hunter, Ricky and James (Team Red) v.s Schremmer, Tyler, Holland and Farrell (Team Farrell ehh.rrr. I mean Team Blue).

Team Red took the ball first and scored somewhat easily on 4 plays.

Team Blue had Schremmer at the helm for the first drive and HE (notice HE; Schremmer) did not complete a single pass in the first five downs! That includes a play that had me WIDE OPEN in the End zone… never mind that the ball he threw, came down just over my left shoulder, and through the hole that my arms had made, very beautiful to look at, but still no completion… seriously Schremmer, learn to throw a football!

Ok, so maybe THAT one was my fault… and possibly the other four throws were not Schremmers fault either… ok so really none of it was Schremmer’s fault but I want to blame someone and that someone isn’t going to be ME!

Alright so after five and out, Team Red gets the ball and scores on 2 plays this time…. Great, down 2-0 and we have only been playing for 10mins… Now I know that your thinking that we are getting whipped because its 4 on 3… well it is, but Team Blue has 4 players and Team Blue is getting whipped by a team with only three players! Slightly irritating… but those guys are good athletes! I mean I think Ricky has “thrown a football over them mountains” before… and Glencoe Park has a lot of mountains nearby so that’s a pretty good throw! And when I say mountains, I mean the mountain of dog poo that is scrapped off the field before every game. So actually, Ricky throwing a ball “over them mountains” really isn’t that impressive at all…. Yeah he’s a scrub, I said it… but he is better than me. (So what does that make me!?).

Ok, so Team Blue goes another series at five and out and the ball goes back to Team Red.
On the second play in the series, Hunter completes a pass to Ricky who attempts to lateral it back to James… the lateral is dropped and rolling around on the ground. LIVE BALL!!!!!!! Schremmer quickly scoops up the ball and runs the other way (with me as lead block). He cuts across the field and takes off down the sideline, hurdles Ricky and out runs James to the end zone for a score for Team Blue!!! WOOWHO!!! Ok, it didn’t really happen like that, but it would have been cooler if it did…. In stead, after cutting across the field, Schremmer lateraled it back to me and I barley made it to the end zone.

This marked the FIRST time a fumbled lateral, had been returned for a TOUCHDOWN! Schremmer kept the ball and took it home with him since he recovered the lateral and really got the play going, I was just in the right place at the right time. IT WAS A TEAM EFFORT!

OK, fast forward a little bit because I’m getting slightly carried away and I’m running out of time.

The score gets tied up at 6 a piece, eventually. The south wind, which was quite cool, started kicking up and making playing condition very tough. Team Red and Team Blue both had game winning drives that were thwarted by good defense. Team Red started the drive on their own goal line and with one laser beam strike from Hunter to Ricky, Team Red was within 10 yards of the end zone. Team Blue, in desperation, huddled and called a two man blitz on the second play to try and force a turnover.

“We knew our defense wouldn’t last with 4 plays within 10yrds of the end zone… we needed a break” (anonymous Team Blue member).

Team Red, anticipating the blitz, called for a half back pass, which confused team Blue and left Hunter wide open for the winning touchdown!

“It was the right play at the right time,” all members of Team Red said together in unison.

With everyone shaking hands, another week of the SMFL comes to an end.

Stay tuned for the weekly e-mail, but until then:

-Stay classy America

March 24 Game

2007-03-21T13:41:00.000-05:00

Saturday Morning at 10am (Glencoe Park)