NationStates Jolt Archive

This thread will contain everything to do with World Bowl 5. Rosters, roleplay, and scores all go here. We do have a World Bowl discussion thread for out of character talk.

Scorination:
The World Bowl uses NSFS 2.0.7 to scorinate. This is how the popular World Cup is scorinated. (well except for the last one, anyway). While in theory, this generates "soccer" scores this is how it works:
-- There are two scorinations, one for TD's and one for FG's. If Team A beats Team B 3-1 in the TD scorinaton, those numbers are multiplied by 6 to provide an A 18, B 6 score (more on extra points in a sec!). If then Team B beats Team A in the FG scorination 4-2, those numbers are multiplied by 3, to provide a B 12, A 6 score. Those numbers are added together to provide a score of A 24, B 18. Then extra points are figured in. In the NFL, the general extra point conversion rate is 97.5%. Therefore, a random will be generated between 1-100, and if it is 0-2.4999, the XP is missed. 2.5-100 results in a successful XP. Let's assume all the XP's were successful in this example, that would make the final score A 27, B 19.

2-point conversions: The general historic success rate for 2-point conversions in the NFL is 32%. In theory, a more offensive team is more likely to convert, so a team with a +3 modifier would have a success rate of 35% and a team with a -3 modifier would have their rate be 29%. (More on style modifiers and 2-point conversion strategy listed below). Two-point conversions are generated the same way extra points are. If its a +1 team, their success rate is 33%, so if the random number is between 0-33, the conversion is successful. Anything over 33 results in a failed conversion.

You may post your roster at any time (but preferably before Matchday 1 on Feb 1st) on this thread. In addition to your roster, please do the following:

Provide a style modifier from -3 (most defensive) to +3 (most offensive)
Provide stadium information (Name of stadium(s), at minimum is preferred) as to where your home games during qualifying will be.
Include your 2-point conversion strategy by either saying ALWAYS, LOGICAL, OR NEVER. Always and never will do just as the words imply, you will go for 2 after every TD or you will never. LOGICAL works is if you would have lost by 1, and you had at least one TD, you will attempt to go for 2. This tends to be the most common choice.

Provide a RP permissions box that looks something like this:

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes/No
Choose scoring events: Yes/No (i.e. was your "6" a TD and a missed extra point, or 2 field goals; or was your TD scored by the offense or an INT return).
RP injuries to my players: Yes/No
Godmod injuries: Yes/No
Godmod "other" events: Yes/No (did a sudden hurricane like wind make your 95-yard FG attempt be good? Was the opponent's secondary hitting on your cheerleaders allowing you to score a TD? Or did your cheerleader score the TD? Stuff like that)


HERE IS THE GROUP DRAW AND OTHER LINKS. WHERE A ROSTER WAS PROVIDED, CLICKING ON THEIR NATION NAME WILL PROVIDE A LINK TO IT.

Group A:
Taeshan (6) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14429034&postcount=7)
Vephrall (10) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14445780&postcount=17)
Fujisawan Territories (37) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14427105&postcount=4)
Questille (49)

Group B:
Qazox (4) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14426961&postcount=2)
Cotenshire (12) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14460207&postcount=53)
Tocrowkia (41) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14427146&postcount=5)
West Newmanistan (43) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14454671&postcount=40)

Group C:
Rennidan (7) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14427316&postcount=6)
Bluth Corporation (20) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14438772&postcount=12)
Kosovoe (36)
LeQuince (48)

Group D:
Newmanistan (5) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14454566&postcount=38)
Sarzonia (14) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14444765&postcount=16)
Scandavian States (40) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14459832&postcount=52)
Lurikastan (47) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14437088&postcount=10)

Group E:
Arroza (3) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14450186&postcount=26)
Green Wombat (14) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14426970&postcount=3)
Prux (38) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14437989&postcount=11)
Serinite II (45)

Group F:
Dancougar (1) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14456165&postcount=43)
Greal (28)
Cassadaigua (32) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14436127&postcount=8)
Rymeria (50)

Group G:
Secristan (8) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14453081&postcount=32)
Colbourne (22) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14436220&postcount=9)
Australiah (39)
Bushdome (46)

Group H:
Kura-Pelland (2)
Lovisa (11)
Peisandros (42)
Patetopia (44) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14449029&postcount=23)

Official Group Draw Annoucement PLUS Complete Schedule is Located by CLICKING HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14453996&postcount=34)

LINKS TO SCORES BY MATCHDAY
Baptism of Iron MD1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14446208&postcount=22)
Baptism of Iron MD2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14450698&postcount=27)
Baptism of Iron MD3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14453996&postcount=33)

MD1 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14464298&postcount=62)
MD2 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14467660&postcount=80)
MD3 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14471923&postcount=94)
MD4 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14475896&postcount=111)
MD5 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14480523&postcount=125)
MD6 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14484860&postcount=141)
MD7 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14487962&postcount=159)
MD8 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14491262&postcount=176)
MD9 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14494271&postcount=189)
MD10 Scores (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14497875&postcount=202)

First Round Pairings (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14497929&postcount=203)
Knockouts- Round of 16 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14504990&postcount=229)
Knockouts- Quarterfinals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14508239&postcount=238)
Knockouts- Semifinals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14511329&postcount=245)

Introducing YOUR Defending World Bowl IV Hosts: THE QAZOX PHEONIX!

Head Coach: Lonnie DeVant Head Coach of Fromburg (Age 49)
Offensive Style: Spread Offense (+3 modifier) (0 for 2-pt conversions)
Defensive Style: 3-4

Home stadium for qualifiers: Lorax Field, Lorax City. GridIron Capacity: 84,150. (GRASS FIELD)

OFFENSIVE STARTERS (QAG team):

QB: Greg Dannen (SaxerVilla)
RB: Frank Vallens (Fromburg)
FB: Jason DeHavel (Bruxen)
WR: Tony Aster (SaxerVilla)
WR: Mathew Cottrill (Fromburg)
WR: Ivan Harvey (Qazox City)
LT: John Green (SaxerVilla)
LG: Mike Franks (Rockport)
C: John Talbot (Rockport)
RG: Greg Danniel (Qazox City)
RT: Paul Inden (Fromburg)

DEFENSIVE STARTERS (QAG team):
DE: Jasyon D'Angelo (Bruxen)
DT: David Reshks (Bruxen)
DE: Richie Sola (Qazox City)
LOLB: Vic Alworth (Fromburg)
LILB: David Reed (Lake Porter City)
RILB: Jason Middleton (Rockport)
ROLB: Eric Fan'tu'mala (Bruxen)
LCB: Mark Johns (Bruxen)
RCB: Greg Olsen (Fromburg)
SS: Adam Politt (SaxerVilla)
FS: Jamal Henderson (Bruxen)

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Tryone Chase (Lake Porter City)
P: Oliver Toppens (Fromburg)
KR: Adam Politt

BENCH:
QB: Charles Hanneford QB (Qazox City)
RB: Greg Ferrigamo (Fromburg)
FB: Mark Birch (Bruxen)
WR: Adam Langehorn (SaxerVilla)
TE: Nate Sacimoni (SaxerVilla)
OL: Paul Ma'Fanta'ulu (Rockport)
OL: Oliver Toppen (SaxerVilla)
DL: Hank Fralee (Rockport)
DL: David Gregory (Lorax City)
OLB: Nathan Johansen (San Guano)
ILB: Erik Akana (Lorax City) also a DL
LB: Javier Leveque (San Guano)
DB: Naveen Al' Karesh (Rockport)
S: Eric Hall (Lake Porter City)
CB: Daniel Severin (Fromburg)

UNIFORMS
HOME/AWAY (courtesy of TS4)
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1589/qazoxia2.png


If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes within reason
Godmod injuries: NO
Godmod "other" events: Yes, only weather things, (ie: snow, rain, wind, normal stuff)

STARTING LINEUP
(All games in Green wombat are played at the Kibo Dome in Wachovia, a Astroturf field and we'll play a +2 style and +1 for 2pts.)

OFFENSE:
QB: PoleCat256
RB: FreeLongstreetnow
FB: Johnson123
WR: Johnson_S_55
WR: Oppen56
TE: MikaRulez1
RT: GooberFish45
RG: FOObar73
C: Chuck_de_luv_monkey
LG: EricSawyer56
LT: yhnujm78

DEFENSE
LE: PowerfulNigga3
NT: polik4
RE: barracuda178
ROLB: WombatFan9345
RILB: xXXXXXx69
LILB: FadingFast11
LOLB: I_am_Joe_85
RCB: You_Suck_@$$
LCB: InsaneKilla_77
FS: Greg_is_da_ $#|+
SS: Waffle9999999

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: WhiteBoi99
P: Opie45_Sy
KORet: Oppen56
PRet: FreeLongstreetnow


(OOC: Disclaimer IF any of these screen names are real, I apologize in advance. If none of them are real, I'm copyrighting them. :p)

Fujisawan Territories Hurricane

+3 style modifier
Logical PAT

Home Stadium: Crosscom Global Arena (Hoji, Iwosaka)
Crosscom Global Arena is a retractable roof domed stadium with artificial turf

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: No

Key offensive player: Oribaha “Baja” Hini
Key defensive player: Akiro Sanawa
Team Mascot: Palmer the Palm Tree
Cheerleaders: Hoji Herricane

Note: Kicker Okayaken Anenokoji is the team's only female player. She played for the Fujisawan Territories during World Bowl I qualifying and will again participate as our short yardage field goal specialist, as well as kick extra points, and should the need arise, kick any onside kicks. Shisakit Munie will have kickoff duties and will make all of our long range field goals.

Last Appearance: (World Bowl I) 7-3
Rennidan 26, Fujisawan Territories 16 in first round of playoffs

Formation: Pro Set/Split Backs

Head Coach: Ei’ichi Date
Assistant Head Coach: Ashihei Ikeda
Offensive Coordinator: Rai Lo
Defensive Coordinator: Gonshiro Sanjo
Special Teams Coordinator: Takahisa Oimikaijo

Starting Offense
7 QB Sibura Hiton
25 RB Osamu Koyami
44 FB Tsuraji Deguchi
83 TE Namboku Yoshimatsu
82 WR Toshizane Dazai
88 WR Oribaha “Baja” Hini
72 OLT Motakit Takunob
69 OLG Matsanjipp Naroshioshisa
78 C Izumo Chikamatsu
64 ORG Shigasaw Shuhirok
77 ORT Morozane Kakinomoto

Starting Defense
93 DLE Tanubo Shiragata
90 DLT Chi Jisats
98 DRT Awabeki Nagyosayu
99 DRE Fujira Bei
54 ILB Ibawata Koseiji
57 MLB Toyokusai Sakampo
59 OLB Fujimbaya Nampakum
27 CB Kimo Nakasanagi
29 CB Akiro Sanawa
23 FS Shayuajishi Jirobu
21 SS Shibawa Fujitsu

Starting Special Teams
8 K Okayaken Anenokoji*
5 P Ken Kihara
84 KR Hisayuki Sarumara
19 PR Gai Koriji

Depth Chart
QB S. Hiton D. Kudo K. Takayama
RB O. Koyami I. Sasari S. Kato N. Taro
FB T. Deguchi K. Jiro
TE N. Yoshimatsu H. Ken T. Sukira
WR T. Dazai A. Arunita H. Sarumara D. Hizoshi T. Maoneats
WR O. Hini T. Matokai D. Hirori G. Koriji
3WR A. Arunita
OLT M. Takunob N. Kikotoy
OLG M. Naroshioshisa U. Tsutaya
C I. Chikamatsu K. Sharitets
ORG S. Shuhirok R. Ina
ORT M. Kakinomoto K. Rushise
DLE T. Shiragata U. Sukichir
DLT C. Jisats B. Kazabur
DRT A. Nagyosayu A. Soho
DRE F. Bei M. Chiroit
ILB I. Koseiji O. Sabu
MLB T. Sakampo K. Fukuzawa
OLB F. Nampakum N. Miura
CB K. Nakasanagi I. Jisei K. Ieniroshi
CB A. Sanawa T. Kei I. Hiro
FS S. Jirobu T. Abe
SS S. Fujitsu I. Shiro
K O. Anenokoji S. Munie
P K. Kihara
KR O. Hini T. Motokai
PR G. Koriji S. Kato

Reserves
4 QB Koyo Takayama
13 QB Daisetsu Kudo
20 RB Imatotta Sasari
22 RB Sadaie Kato
28 RB Ninei Taro
49 FB Koba Jiro
86 TE Hira Ken
85 TE Takawag Sukira
87 WR Tadataka Matokai
81 WR Akemino Arunita
89 WR Darida Hirori
84 WR Hisayuki Sarumara
19 WR Gai Koriji
80 WR/KR Dasana Hizoshi
18 WR Teiraitao Maoneats
68 OL Nishiri Kikotoy
60 OL Kama Rushise
74 OL Ren Ina
71 OL Ujiaki Tsutaya
62 C Kuba Sharitets
51 LB Ohdanama Sabu
52 LB Nakazo Miura
55 LB Kei Fukuzawa
91 DE Umitatsu Sukichir
92 DE Mizaking Chiroit
97 DT Akisada Soho
95 DT Byasayaka Kazabur
42 CB Iraki Jisei
43 CB Tan Kei
48 CB K.K. Ieniroshi
41 CB Iranji Hiro
26 FS Toju Abe
24 SS Ippimaka Shiro
9 K Shisakit Munie

Gridiron football has long been the second most popular sport in the Tocrowkian (Second to baseball, of course) and the Tocrowkian people are beyond excited to see the Reich enter the most prolific international gridiron event. To keep things simple, the Gridiron team has the same name as the baseball team, which is to say, The Nordics. Also, in a poll conducted for fun, 97% of Tocrowkians found that too many nations named their teams after birds.

OFFENSE:
QB: Markus Kash
[ The captain of the team, and a three-time Tocrowkian Conference MVP award winner. Kash is almost your prototypical star quarterback. He has a cannon of an arm and uncanny instincts, able to pick out open receivers at the worst of times and nail them. But clocking in at 5'9', he's obviously a little shorter than your average QB. But that is only another plus for this lithe superstar, as he has plenty of hustle of his own, able to run and spin and dodge with the best of them. ]
RB: Siegfried Vater
[ Like Kash, Siegfried is a little smaller than league average at 5'10' and 156 pounds. But he is a fast little bugger and an expert at finding holes in the defensive line and advancing the ball a long way down the field. ]
FB: Adrian Kanker
[ Big and tall and strong, Adrian Kanker is an effective blocker, able to hold back multiple linemen at once. However, he also a decent runner and can plow through the line to gain some yards if need be. ]
WR: Mikel Westin
[ Perhaps the most iconic player on the team, Westin is awesome at what he does. He can catch, he can catch with style (making mind boggling acrobat catches frequently) and can run really, really fast down the field. Only three years into his career, and he all ready has a multi-million dollar contract. And he needs it, too. To go along with his athletic ability Westin has a massive ego and is as cocky as they come. His post-touchdown celebrations are some of the oddest and most egotistical you can think of. He does the river dance. He tangos with the cheerleaders. He jumps into the crowd, he pelvic thrusts. And along with all of those come a fine, of course, but with his contract, he can afford it. ]
WR: Noah Peukert
[ Not quite as renowned as Westin, but mostly because he doesn't make such an ass of him self in front of billions of people on television. Peukert also has uncanny ability as a wide receiver, especially when it comes to catching long bombs and catching when covered. ]
TE: Lars Kreuter
[ Very good as a blocker, and pretty good as a receiver. Lars, due to his towering size is a great blocker but rather slow. However, he is a reliable safety valve as he usually finds someway or another to get open at the last second. ]
RT: Jason Weidlich
[ An excellent blocker, the defense will find that Weidlich is essential a human wall, able to hold back even the largest of defenders without letting them get a shot at the quarterback. ]
RG: Wilhelm Palme
[ Similar to Weildlich, Palme presents a nigh immovable force to the defensive line and is a dependable guard. ]
C: Rolf Hase
[A dependable center. His snap is lightning quick and he is a good all around blocker, able to hold back any rushing defensive linemen for a few seconds to give his man a shot at any open reciever.
LG: Ronald Lucas
[ Like all the other guards, he's good at what he does and is able to hold back the defensive line long enough to hopefully advance the ball in whatever fashion. ]
LT: Axel Rüffert
[ Again, good at what he does. Has good footwork and is very agile, able to protect Kash for extended periods of time while he looks for an open receiver.]

DEFENSE:
CB: Derk Rehm
[ Derk is a solid corner back. Lean and agile, he can keep up with even the fastest of receivers and make their lives a living hell. He can swat the ball out of the air and pick passes off with great regularity and he has the wheels and the moves to make the other side pay when ever he does pick one. ]
FS: Werner Bonte
[ A prototypical free safety. Measuring in at only 5'9', 195 pounds Werner is still an annoying little SOB for the offense. His size means he'll often look like he's coming out of nowhere to assist the corner back in swatting the ball out of the air of tackling a receiver to the ground. ]
ROLB: Artur Weniger
[ This guy is really, really strong and can pretty much mash his way through the line to his target. One hit from him is usually all it takes to send somebody down. ]
RE: Johann Grauert
[ A solid defensive end, Grauert is able to hold is own and put serious pressure on the offensive line. ]
ILB: Markus Sands
[ Perhaps the MVP on the defensive side of the ball, Sands not only has the power to plow through the line, but he's freakishly fast as well. If he hits you, and he often does, you'll be feeling it all week. He's also a huge trash talker, and has a record for unnecessary roughness in tense games. ]
RDT: Paul Scheller
[ Though not as effective as Sands when it comes to plowing through the line, he is extremely good at blocking running plays through the line. ]
LDT: Curt Krauss
[ Like Scheller, he's an effective tackle and good at stopping running plays, but mediocre when it comes to moving through the line. ]
LE: Albert Hirschmann
[ Like his counter-part on the right side, he's a solid end with good agility, able to zig-zag through linemen and put pressure on the offense. ]
SS: Jacob Schellong
[ A good short safety and, as is typical, larger than Bonte in order to handle the strong side of the offense. ]
LOLB: Rudolf Ebner
[ Strong, but not as much as Weniger. Fast, but not as fast as Sands. He falls in between them, still a good solid defensive player. ]
CB: Elmar Meister
[ Pretty much Rehm's twin, only a couple of years younger and a few inches taller. Able to make acrobatic blocks and snag the ball away from receivers with alarming regularity. ]

Special Teams:
K: Xaver Falkenhorst
[ 13 year veteran of the TGL, though he's getting on in year's his still a solid leg and can nail some pretty impressive field goals from what seems like a mile away. ]
P: Sigurt Wilms
[ An undrafted free-agent that has managed to impress through two solid seasons as a punter. Can kick it deep into enemy territory. ]
KR: Clemens Fuchs
[ Fast and agile, if you give him an inch he'll take a mile on ya. ]


The Other Stuff:
Home Stadium:
Banshee Stadium, Ancheron.
Capacity - 332,780
Turf - Astoturf

Style Modifer: +2
2 Point Conversion: Logical

Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries: Yes/No
Godmod "other" events: Yes, but please make it as fun and as random as possible if you decide to take advantage of this.

After they failed to make a full-force appearance in the first World Bowl, the Sports Association of Rennidan decided to cut all funding to the sport known as 'American Football'.

For most fans of the Gridiron, this was a blow that could very well have spelt the end of their favourite sport all together.

But luckily, at the heart of the industrial centre of Rennidan, there are a group of fans that are willing to give more than 'most other' fans are.

These, ladies and gentlemen, are the Rennidan Brutes.

They came into the second World Bowl as nobodies.

A bunch of loutish thugs who never had a chance of making it anywhere in the World Bowl.

They had no kit, no proper training.

The did, however, have heart.

And they showed that heart and determination is all you need...

To win the World Bowl.

And so, the famous underdogs return again, to make yet another rat race attempt to get their hands on that championship trophy.





http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk176/rennidan/BRUTES.png


RENNIDAN
Team Roster|Fifth World Bowl Entry|The "Brutes"

Play Style: +1.5
PAT: Logical

Team Kit: Luckily, these guys don't have the finances to put a kit together. Instead, they wear jeans or sweats. They wear t-shirts or jackets. They wear heavy damned boots without studs, or they wear some fresh Nike trainers, and they don't wear pads. Pads are for pansies and divas.

They would look like ordinary Joes if it wasn't for the fact they look meaner than most professional players.


Team Stadium: Warehouse 17, The Industrial Sector, Rennidan.
If they can't afford a uniform, there's no way in hell they're getting the cash for a stadium. Instead, Larry managed to wrangle up an old cheap warehouse that was falling to pots in Rennidan's Industrial Sector. A bit of spray paint to mark out the lines and the posts on the floor and walls, a few planks of wood and some fun with nail guns means that, whilst it's still a shithole, it won't be falling down on anyone's head and you can actually play a game.

Team Owner, Coach, Manager and General Head of Everything: Larry Daniels


Players:

Note: Rennidan doesn't play with substitutes. Someone gets injured? They keep playing. Someone dies? They make a great offensive lineman.

OFFENCE

Quarterback:
Pat McGraw
22, 6’4”: McGraw’s grown up. Matured, coolheaded and an arm like a cannon, this boy has grown up in the Brutes, and he now leads them as the Field General. He chooses to wear his work overalls when he plays as "it gives me boss free advertising".


Wide Receivers:
Lewis Seffer
23, 6’5”: Seffer’s back with a bottle of Rennidan’s finest at hand. This drunken lout is one of the top receivers Rennidan has, and you can guarantee the ‘yo’ momma’’ jokes will be flying faster than his Nike boots.

Marcin Lai
23, 6’0”: Lai’s the kinda’ guy you have to keep your eye on. Blink and you’ll miss him, and by Lord, will he make you regret missing him. This is one fast S.O.B, with hands that probably secrete crazy glue. You see the Brutes making a miraculous catch, and there’s no doubt that the pigskin is in Lai’s hands.


Fullback:
Duncan Smie
26, 6’0”: A powerhouse of a man, Smie can run through a brick wall if he had the heart to. Unfortunately, he's lazy as hell. Still, he's enough to make most men have second thoughts about whether the tackle is worth the months of corrective physiotherapy or not.


Tight Ends:
Tom Gui
35, 6’1”: Gui is one ugly mofo. Seriously, this guy should be the advertising campaign as to why you should wear a damn helmet when you play football. Just don't say that to his face, or you might end up looking even worse than this Brute.

Ed Yecks
24, 6’2”: Likes knocking people over. A lot.


Halfback:
Jason Yeilds
24, 5’8”: The fastest guy willing to play. He’s often called Supes, as he ‘moves faster than a speeding bullet’. He’s become one of the World Bowl’s legendary players over the years, known for his speed, agility, and sheer lack of respect for his own welfare.


Center:
Nathan Yecks
29, 6’4”: A big bastard of a player. Not afraid to play dirty in order to keep the other team away from the QB. Watch out for brass knuckles.


Offensive Guards:
Glen Feik
25, 6’3”: Nothing special. He gets the job done and, whilst he does it well, he’s hardly hall of fame material. Not that we can afford a Hall of Fame...

Wayne Willas
24, 6’1”: Likes pancakes. On and off the pitch. Seriously, this guy is one heavy sonova...


Offensive Tackle:
Rick Sestan
33, 5’11”: Former Rennidan National Wrestling champion, Sestan signed up when he realized Wrestling was getting too camp for him. He needed a real sport. Without Speedos.

Micah MesAlta
25, 5’11”: Heavy and fast, this combination means no one’s getting past him if they value their internal organs.



DEFENCE



Linebackers:
Daniel Cuddeford
23, 6’7”: Often used as a MLB due to having the best eyesight out of the three LBs. Strong and mean.

Daniel Guest
27, 6’1”: Stronger and meaner. Good at smacking the run blocker into the turf. Guest works part time as a butcher, and often elects to wear his work clothes during the match. It's never fun running at a guy smothered in animal blood. At least, we hope that's animal blood.

Nick Stow
22, 6’2”: Fastest of the LBs, he’s good in the open field. He’s incredibly focused when in the game, and a trouble maker off it. He's liable to cause the most injuries in the match. Strongest and meanest of the defensive guys.


Defensive End
Daniel Comach
23, 5’10”: Good at stopping pass and running plays coming from the outer edge. Dodge him if possible, regret him if not.

Sim Telek
23, 6’1”: Has a habit of hurting the other team’s running back. We like that.

Defensive Linemen
Owen Powis
29, 6’1”: Probably the heaviest on the team, he’s built like a bull combined with a pick-up truck combined with a brick shithouse. He can probably pull the other team into a geocentric orbit. We don't know what that means, but it's a big fancy word. He’s made a name for himself and is probably one of the key icons in the Brutes.

Lewis Buxton
22, 6’0”: Very cold and calculating when it comes to playing on the grid. Probably the smartest of the defence, he also manages the teams accounts. Which stands at three Golden Crowns. Or $12.42.


Center Backs:
David McKay
28, 6’7”: Tall and slim, he has good hands and can pick the ball from the air easily if the QB underestimates his ability.

Graham Goldie
25, 6’5”: Brilliant speed. Can easily follow any WR on their route, and often shouts of 'yo momma'' jokes whilst he's doing it for added insult.


Strong Safety
Mosef Cracke
26, 6’3”: When he hits, he hits hard.


Free Safety
Dan Cooper
24, 5’5”: Fast as hell. Don’t blink.


That Guy That Kicks The Ball:
Clive
??, about six foot?: The man who once took on an entire team of cheerleaders in what’s been classed as one of the most memorable games in World Bowl history. The envy of most men for this accomplishment, many have to remember that Clive is actually a pretty damn good kicker.





If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes (Most likely going to be Yeilds, Lai, Seffer or Smie though)
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: Just don't kill the bastards or break too many bones.
Godmod "other" events: Sure, just nothing too crazy.

Jerseys-http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1091/taeshanwj7.png

Philosophy -3, Logical

Home Stadium-Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park 400,000 Seats(packed)

1 Martin Gramatica K 27 1
2 Sean Landetta P 29 1
4 Gabe Martin QB/DB 25 1/5
5 Alec Dega QB/K/P 33 2/2/2
7 Marhito Dega QB/DB 21 3/6
8 Jack Cito WR/DB 32 1/4
10 Max Hope RB 21 1
11 Ernie Smith TE/LB 23 1/5
14 Ricky Zellefrow WR/DB 19 2/3
17 Alais Patrick WR/DB 37 3/2
28 Rudi Williams RB/DB 31 2/1
31 Jeremy Johnson RB/LB 24 3/4
50 Odell Thurman LB 25 3
51 Jesse Lapp LB 24 2
52 Dianer Marte LB 26 1
54 Jack Riosa DE/LG 27 1/2
55 Minsi Zathura DE/RG 27 2/2
60 Alan Zito NT/C 34 1/1
62 Shawn Plank DT/LT 34 1/1
63 J.J. Meoda DT/RT 30 2/1
65 Clyde Diez LG 31 1
71 Will Anders RG 25 1
85 Ocho Cinco WR 23 4
99 Trevor Karker Te 23 2

Captains-Gabe Martin, Martin Gramatica, Shawn Plank


[edit] Coaching Staff
Head Coach Ken Wissenhaunt
Offensive Cordinator Michiel Ditka
Defensive Cordinator Oreilly Finnigan
Special Teams Devin Hester

About Cassadaigua:
It is unique in that 65% of the national population is female. Therefore most of this roster is female, although we have discovered that a good use for the male minority is to have them serve as offensive lineman, and in a few other spots.

Modifier: +2
2 Pts: Logical
Home games are played at the 70,000+ seat stadium in Concord Heights.


Starters in Blue
Backups in Red

Coach- Meghan Connolly

The Offense:
QB: # 11- Lauren Hamilton
QB: # 10- Stacie Powers
QB: #9- Heather Shapiro *

HB: #31- Danielle Regan
HB: #30- Katie McLaren
HB: #32- Savannah Maroney

FB: #34- Matt Colby
FB: #35- Demetrius Razner

WR: #80- Katie Dupree
WR: #81- Kim Harden
WR: #83- Lindsay Privitt
WR: #84- Rebecca Ballinger
WR: #88- Megan Randell *
WR: #89- Kourtney Dahlman *
WR: #86- Monique Cordova

TE: #87- Nicole Donohue
TE: #82- Stephanie Bourne
TE: #85- Lisette Walters

LT: #60- Bernard Padaven *
LG: #66- Tommy Jacobs
C: #63- Mark Irving
RG: #61- Tiberius Jackman
RT: #69- Cliff Stanford *
T: #65- Cooper Whitlock
T: #67- Jacob Willingham
T: #68- Brian Kuehl *
C: #64- Alejandro Cortez *
G: #62- Samuel Vanora
G: #70- Zack Tomassen
G/C: #71- Brad Beers

The Defense:
DT: #98- Debbie Klingan
DT: #99- Christine Nielsen
LE: #92- Steve Ackroyd
RE: #96- Jim Longretta
DL: #93- Scott Ulysses
DL: #90- Brenda Farris
DL: #91- Nick Blair
DL: #94- Judy Chellis
DL: #73- Amanda Otwell

OLB: #55- Sarah Patten
MLB: #59- Jennifer Carlton
ILB: #56- Christina DeForest
LB: #58- Kellie Archer
LB: #54- Vicki Kaplan
LB: #55- Jessica Santorelli
LB: #76- Sabrina Tallon
LB: #72- Renee O'Keefe *

LCB: #22- Kiersten Evans
RCB: #24 Kaitlyn Rinaldi *
FS: #23- Meghan Caprotti
SS: #33- Shannon Rusinko
DB: #25- Maureen Rondeau
DB: # 37- Elizabeth Fox
DB: #38- Ashley Harbers (Punt/Kick Returner #1)
DB: #29- Erica Davidson (Punt/Kick Returner back up option)
DB: #36- Kristen Allen

Special Teams:
K: #3- Jessica Messina (she also was on the World Cup Roster)
P: #8- Emily Rutland

K: #5- Kayla Mannelly
P: #6- Anna Eustache

*- Player making their World Bowl Debut

QB #7 Jeff Williams**,# 19 Harry Whichat
HB # 23 Javon Grenne**, #33 Shon Lewis
FB #34 Kendall Brown**
G's #71 Obiawme Smith**, # 72 George Krystak , # 78 Alan Trak** ,# 79 Miki Traylor
OT's #73 Ivan Stefanovic**, # 76 Walter Mendell # 77 Kris Hamot** , #75 Peter Bryanson
C's # 74 Derin King** # 68 Vincent Peters
WR's # 81 Arland Johnson** # 5 Calvin Bruce** #87 Bryan Francis
SB/TE # 9 Andre Talbot** #12 Jeff McNeal #10 Larry Johnson
Defense
DE's # 58 Roger Cole** # 97 Jonathon Brown** # 6 Micheal Brown
DT's # 92 Rial Johnson** # 98 Erik Laperriere** # 95 Horace Franks
LB's # 35 Henry Eiben** # 51 Terence Spikes** # 96 Alex MacDonald** #52 Greg Lewis
#54 Frank Harris
CB's # 22 Ty Samuel **# 24 Joffery Reynolds** # 26 Willie Middlebrooks pr/kr #27 Joe Remmington
FS # 20 Brian Taylor**
SS # 30 Chuck Winters**
style modifier +1
2 pt logical
home field is rogers field capacity is 100,000 located in downtown toronto avg temp at this time for year is between 5 celsius and -10 celsius

The Texan Chronicle


Who's who

Well World Bowl V is coming around and we think its time to show everyone who's going.


((OOC: We only have 26 Players))


OFFENSIVE LINE

G: Fabio Berto
G: Yosho Halliburton
T: Eric Halsburry
T: Tony Bono
C: Quagm Ire


BACK FIELD:

QB: Jerry Smith
HB: Nick Johnson
FB: Tom Thomas


RECEIVERS:

WR: PM Mikhail Petkov
WR: Dick Bush
WR: George W. Cheney
TE: Abe Trump


DEFENSIVE LINE:

DT: Ray-Ray Jones
DT: Tashiko Yashimura
DT: Hideki Musurimoto
DE: George Neuman
DE: Harry Suskowitz


LINEBACKERS:

ROLB: Fast-Man Hertzowitz
MLB: Aberaham Romez
LOLB: Luke Groundwalker


SECONDARY:

Safety: Jack Nunez
Safety: Gerald Moko
CB: Hideki Tonazuzu
CB: Henry Shedcrafter


SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Kal Ishmal
P: Jorge Faxer


Home Stadium: The Golden Greens in Salo (cap. 210,000 (American Football))

2pt con: LOGICAL

Type mod +1.5


Yes to all rp permissions.

PRUX' World Bowl V roster (aka the Statesmen)
(Style: -2 defensive, +1 for 2pt conversions)

STARTING OFFENSE
QB #13: Jason Ware
RB #31: Mike Penn
FB #35: Jesse Newton
TE #82: George Hall
WR #85: Mark Conn
WR #89: Paul Mass
LT #62: Brian Marlan
LG #68: Sean Caroll
C #70: Nate Hampton
RG #64: Virgil Ginham
RT #66: Nathan York

STARTING DEFENSE
RE #98: Na'ua Carroll
DT #95: Rodney Isley
LE #92: Vance Monte
ROLB #51: Kenneth Tuck
RILB #59: Jesse Tenneyson
LILB #53: Orie Hilo
LOLB #56: Louis Annsin
RCB #22: Henry Jones, Jr.
LCB #28: Mischa Pipps
FS #21: Issac Lainos
SS #26: Al Ba' shma

SPECIAL TEAMS
K #1: Mark Ainey
P #4: Orem Issle
KR #19: Art Konners
PR #17: Mike Higgans

RESERVES:
QB #11: Frankie Olds
QB #16: Thomas Exchange
RB #33: Ivan Oware
RB #30: Conner Wisson
FB #34: Calvin Force
WR #88: Sean Mine
WR #89: Oliver Gunn
TE #84: Ken Sawyer
OL #57: Wahin Virgil
OL #55: Ned Vasher
OL #51: Ned Brask
DL #90: Cory Doro
DL #99: Nate Daksi
DL #93: Sean Daksi
LB #50: Monte Aaron
ILB #57: Ashley Tingley
OLB #52: Issac Dejesus
DB #38: Wesley Young
DB #36: Ulysess Thanin
DB #33: Kyle Homer
ST #7: Al Burque

COACHING STAFF:
Head Coach: Dick Columbia
Offensive Coach: Ari Cozert
Defensive Coach: Albert Kassa
Team Trainer: Harold Awali

(ooc: i have a common theme to my roster, a :hail: point to whomever figures it out, besides GW and Qazox [as they know already])

STADIUM INFO:
Statesmen Field, Pruxton, Prux. Capacity: 57,900. Astroturf field... Hah! (think Veteran's Stadium type-turf)

Yes choose my scorers
Yes to injuries
No to every thing else.

Style modifier: +3
PAT style: Logical
Home stadium: Vanguard Memorial Stadium in Newport Beach, Shostakovich; primarily used for drum & bugle corps competitions, but also seats 108,536 in its football configuration. Natural grass surface.

ROSTER:
Quarterbacks:

Cain Wells #18
Henry Weber #12


Running backs:

Richard Anthis #29
Sean Blakley #32
William Williams #28


Fullback:

George Canaan #25


Tight ends:

Kyler Hayes #44
John Burgess #80
Kyle Wildt #89
Cliff Rodgers #47


Wide receivers:

Erwin Winters #88
Norman Shade #87
Thaddeus Wilkinson #10
Jared Meadows #83
Kurt Wessley #81


Left tackles:

Joseph Houser #65
Steven Pleiss #74


Right tackles:

Jason Hunter #62
Timothy Bull #60


Left guards:

Michael White #69
Chad Rainey #77


Right guards:

Matthew Simpson #75
Benjamin Schafer #71


Centers:

Robert Winkler #63
Terry Hobbs #76


Right defensive ends:

Jared Sensmeier #93
Scott Hyneman #64


Left defensive ends:

Matthew West #97
Michael LeClerc #90


Right defensive tackles:

Chase Allen #99
Stephen Conner #94


Left defensive tackles:

Trey Reidford #68
Kyle Smith #95


Right outer linebackers:

Braiden Rainey #58
Kyle Davenport #53


Middle linebackers:

Charles Woodruff #57
James Mason #96


Left outer linebackers:

Jordan Pinkston #98
Walther Horrall #51


Cornerbacks:

Sean Slade #45
Lamar Walden #23
Kenneth Lauley #36
Ian Wiggins #49
Christopher Hobbs #41


Strong safeties:

Brian Alldredge #21
Jarrod Bartlett #24
Wesley Ice #20


Free safeties:

Chaz Livermore #35
Randall Ridgway #42


Kicker:

Devin Shipley #4


Punter:

Lamar White #17


Kickoff specialist:

Christopher Taylor #13


Kick returner:

Donald Deputy #82


Long snapper:

Terry Hobbs #19

SIGNUPS ARE NOW CLOSED

Here now is some more specific format information:

We have 30 teams so there will be five groups of six.
-- Each team will play their groupmates twice, once at home and once on the road.
-- Twelve teams will advance to Newmanistan for knockouts. This will be the top two teams in each group plus two "wild cards". The top four group winners will receive a first round bye regardless if a second place team in another group may have had a better record then one of those teams. The other eight teams will play in the first round of knockouts.
-- In regards to the wildcard, it will be the two best teams that did not finish first or second in a group. It will likely be two teams that finished 3rd in a group, but if it should so happen that a 4th place team in a group was the second overall best wildcard team, that team WILL advance.

Tiebreaks:
-- Head to head
-- Point Differential (Overall)
-- Point Differential (Between Tied teams)
-- Points For
-- Points For in H2H between the teams
-- Best Road Record
-- Best Road Point Differential
-- Best overall cumulative RP bonus earned by the nations (it shouldn't get to this, but I'd do this before a coin flip)
-- Coin flip

Group Draw in the early AM hours Thursday morning.

BAPTISM OF IRON I

This is on very short notice, but with twelve first-time nations I think it is best to allow them a chance to separate themselves from one another. This will be a very brief event because I don't want to hold back the start of the World Bowl. Debutant nations are encouraged to RP to try and separate themselves these days, but those who do not will not be at any disadvantage for the start of the actual World Bowl.

I have set aside three days, pairing teams at random for two games. The two nations that have the best record and point differential (additional tiebreaks will be used in the order posted in the previous post) will play in the championship. Each win will get you .1 WB point with an additional .1 WB point for the Baptism of Iron loser and a further additional point for the Baptism of Iron winner.

The two nations not eligible for this, but could potentially less points then the Baptism of Iron winner will be given .41 points (Fujisawan Territories) and .42 points (Kosovoe) as to not put them at a disadvantage. Kosovoe is slightly ahead of the Fujisawan Territories and is the reason why they get a bit more of an edge.

So without any further delay, here are the pairings, all games in Newmanistan:

Scorinated early AM hours Tuesday morning:
Peisandros vs Serinite II @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds
Questille vs Prux @ The Stadium at South Tier
LeQuince vs Bushdome @ Dover Field
Patetopia vs Tocrowkia @ Southport Stadium
West Newmanistan* vs Scandavian States @ Loudon Stadium
Lurikastan vs Australiah @ Pocono City Stadium

Scorinated early AM hours Wednesday morning:
Peisandros vs Questille @ Pocono City Stadium
LeQuince vs Patetopia @ Loudon Stadium
West Newmanistan vs Lurikastan @ Dover Field
Serinite II vs Australiah @ Centralia Stadium
Tocrowkia vs Scandavian States @ Olympia Field
Prux vs Bushdome @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

Scorinated early AM hours Thursday morning: The Final @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

*- West Newmanistan will not RP in this.

THE GROUP DRAW WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY AFTER THE FINAL

So it looks like the Nordics will have two whole extra games to play before the World Bowl Begins, in what is apparently a new mini-tourney called the Baptism of Iron. And the reaction from the players on the team couldn't have been more positive. "It's great that we'll have two extra games to warm up." Quarterback Markus Kash said in an interview. "Obviously every little bit you can do helps. We want to give our nation something to be happy about, just like our Baseball team has in the WBC, and the way our basketball team is in the IBC right now."

Sarzonia gridball coach Jim Zorn looked over his roster, but smiled this time.

The team, once known as the Stingers and renamed the Stars would take the field with the same roster as the last World Bowl. After battling fifth seed and host nation Qazox to the first double-overtime game in World Bowl history, Zorn decided not to change the offence. Thus, it would be very much like the Stingers team from the prior tournament.

And why not? Sarzonia finished the group stage 6-3-1, getting a dramatic 27-24 win over Vephrall at Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock to advance to the knockout stage in Qazox. With a tournament's experience under their belts, Zorn figured the results could improve over the last time when no one knew what to expect from the team.

Thus, here are the Sarzonia (gridball) Stars:

Head Coach and offensive play caller: Jim Zorn (55 years old)
Defensive coordinator: Greg Blatche
Offence: Strong running game (-2 modifier)
Defensive style: Aggressive 4-3 with frequent blitzes
Two-point conversion modifier: LOGICAL
Home surface: Grass (Hendrix Stadium, Woodstock)

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes (within reason; no catastrophic injuries)
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: No

QB Gavin Davis (Portland Pirates)
RB: LoQuan Willard (Woodstock Wings)
WR: Dave Coles (Truxtun Commodores)
WR: Willie Brooks (Portland)
H-Back: Clark Hennessy (Burlington Vipers)
TE: Pat Whalen (Wilmington Roughnecks)
LT: Tim Lacker (Woodstock)
LG: Tony Bingham (Nicksia Hawks)
C: Kenny Bridger (Portland)
RG: Brad Hampton (Woodstock)
RT: Cody Cross (Woodstock)

DEFENSIVE STARTERS:
DE: Ryan Clack (Woodstock)
DT: Evan Smyth (Portland)
DT: Sam Vincent (Truxtun)
DE: Donnie Carter (Nicksia)
WLB: Charlie Winston (Saugerties Smashers)
MLB: Tim Bates (Saugerties)
SLB: Lou Wilson (Portland)
LCB: DeAndre Mihms (Caroline Tigers)
RCB: Brock Ainsworth (Woodstock)
SS: Travis Werner (New Jerusalem Monks)
FS: Chris Horton (Woodstock)

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Adam Novak (Woodstock)
P: Marco Oliver (Portland; holds on extra points and field goals for Novak)
KR: Cedric Wilcox (Portland)

BENCH:
QB: George Pendry (New Daurmont Drillers)
RB: Shaquice Allen (Portland)
TE/H-Back: Joe Cooley (Woodstock)
WR: Craig Langhorn (Wilmington)
TE: Pete West (Woodstock)
OL: LeAndre Samuels (Wilmington)
OL/DL: LaMar Harlen (Portland)
DL: Vernon Singletary (New Jerusalem)
DL: Marc Daniels (Joe Gibbs University)
OLB: Brad Andresen (New Daurmont)
ILB/DE: Stephan Christensen (Rypien Renegades)
LB: Erik Vasquez (Woodstock)
DB: Lee Torrance (Portland)
S: Shaun McFarlane (Wilmington)
CB: Kerry Stockton (Truxtun)

[OOC: It looks to me, Prux, that the names of your team members (including staff) are based on the names of the 50 United States (and D.C.), in chronological order of their admission to the Union. :)]

The Dostey Dispatch - Sports News

Gridball league coming to Vephrall?

MISEDOS -- Based on the nation's warm reception of gridball as played in the fourth World Bowl three years ago, it seems that there may soon be a professional league for the sport for the first time in Vephrall.

Although Vephrall hosted the inaugural Gridiron World Championships (now also sometimes referred to as "World Bowl 0", being the predecessor to the modern tournament), the sport never really caught on at that time, possibly due to being too similar to the already-existing Vephrese sport of piivel, an offshoot of association football that now more resembles the World Bowl version. However, public response to the revival of the national gridball team for World Bowl 4 proved to be much more favorable. While the team started out playing its qualifying matches at Ellime Parogam Gests in Misedos, the home of the Bektys Technological Institute's CSA association football team with a capacity just under 25,000, the later matches had to be moved to the 80,426-seat Ellime e Vephrall in Meice due to high demand.

"The public support is clearly there," says Sperobis Ceedast, coach of that team.

In fact, Ceedast, a recently retired BTI electrical engineering professor who was coaching an intramural piivel team there immediately before being recruited to work with the World Bowl 4 entrants, has apparently begun to investigate the possibility of setting up a professional gridball league in the Commonwealth.

"My goal is to have something up and running by 2172," Ceedast says. An ambitious goal, he admits, trying to build something like this from scratch in just a little over five years. "But I know I'm not the only one who wants this."

Ceedast names unchanged squad for World Bowl 5

MISEDOS -- Vephrall national gridball team head coach Sperobis Ceedast has elected to use a completely unchanged squad from the previous World Bowl, arguing that his players from three years ago are "the most experienced in the country by far."

Head coach: Sperobis Ceedast
Offensive scheme: Ceedast will still be using his option-based offense from World Bowl 4, but the team will probably be inspired to throw the ball a little more this time around. (+1 modifier)
Defensive scheme: 4-3
2-point conversion modifier: Logical
Home field: Ellime e Vephrall, Meice (grass; capacity 80,426)

starting offense
QB #1 Crublig Claspung
HB #29 Idaleis Going
HB #39 Thwante Cliriputed
FB #46 Angufams Netgorin
WR #83 Siestanin Preptyrs
WR #11 Sytrobes Pevonsont
LT #61 Hetag Seketre
LG #63 Angufams Sutred
C #57 Scathock Recasang
RG #54 Satossy Slistols
RT #76 Sadiques Edroklis

starting defense
LE #96 Frireng Speocacks
DT #77 Bunsars Serkety
DT #75 Dustele Frireng
RE #92 Menburid Cothasat
LOLB #90 Gests Ceedast
MLB #99 Scathock Persas
ROLB #95 Rilin Ferrys
CB #22 Mocks Praumbeted
CB #49 Dustele Echeng
SS #36 Going Yre
FS #31 Pasarap Mantlom

special teams
K #18 Sartiros Spelaad
P #6 Slistols Pochue
PR/KR #22 Mocks Praumbeted

bench
QB #9 Hetag Sads
HB #47 Pembace Angufams
HB #40 Hahnea Wais
FB #33 Hahnea Sorn
WR #88 Urkero Misina
WR #12 Irupe Wilopteere
OL #74 Sads Phanzus
OL #60 Hottotelen Izorigor
OL #65 Rutako Rirvymoles
OL #73 Sytrobes Celtuars
OL #52 Nastadgus Wesy
DL #85 Nastadgus Gicks
DL #64 Fyls Maleneds
DL #79 Rutako Frireng
DL #97 Wesy Handbosm
OLB #98 Dreditars Sorn
OLB #58 Diors Taclik
ILB #59 Ocilla Turpres
CB #23 Izorigor Edroklis
CB #32 Satossy Wais
S #38 Parogam Sadiques
S #27 Wilopteere Soscren
P/K #17 Rhoetang Ravcassy

(ooc: ICly this is bullspit. hence the post )

Griffinville Globe

Prux will be involved with the first Baptism of Iron, to take place before the next World Bowl, and the team has already protested being used in this manner!

What is the BoI? A chance for the more experienced teams to get free tapes of our schemes! I've done some research, and there never was a BoI before this World Bowl. The hosts of the tourney 'claim' that its for the teams that have never competed in a World bowl before to practice against fellow newcomers. Seriously? You expect anyone with an IQ higher than that of a retarded howler monkey to actually buy that? I think that Newmanistan and Qazox and the other heavy hitters in the World Bowl are scared, and this gives them an unfair edge! In fact just yesterday, a 'reporter' from Newmanistan had the shear and unmitigated gall to ask our Coach Dick Columbia as to related health issues abut the team. Why would they ask such a question other than to use that information to further injure any players that might be injured, of which currently there are none.

Well, anyway we have or first 'practice' against Questille. Sounds like a fake name to me.

(ooc2: 1 :hail: point to Vephrall!)

(ooc2: 1 :hail: point to Vephrall!)

I was thinking that myself, but there were a few people/states I just couldn't see a connection with so I didn't say it.

(ooc2: 1 :hail: point to Vephrall!)

Actually, maybe that should be only half a :hail: point. I just realized I misidentified the nation making the post. :$

I was thinking that myself, but there were a few people/states I just couldn't see a connection with so I didn't say it.

OOC:
I bet that Al Burque (albuquerque, NM) threw you off,:p. Most of them I tried to incorporate at least part of the state's name ie: Nathan York, Paul Mass; while some of them I used the postal abbreviations. ie: Na'ua Carroll (North Carolina) Nate and Sean Daksi (North & South Dakota). While one some i tried to be as oblique as possible, ie: Kyle Homer (oKlaHOMa), Art Konners (say it fast and it almost sounds like Arkansas), and Ivan Oware, though that one was easy if you thought about it.

Baptism of Iron I Results:

Peisandros 6-7 Serinite II
Questille 0-20 Prux
LeQuince 10-13 (OT) Bushdome
Patetopia 3-24 Tocrowkia
West Newmanistan 10-17 Scandavian States
Lurikastan 20-27 Australiah

Game 2: (early AM Wednesday)
Peisandros (0-1 -1) vs Questille (0-1 -20) @ Pocono City Stadium
LeQuince (0-1 -3) vs Patetopia (0-1 -21) @ Loudon Stadium
West Newmanistan (0-1 -10) vs Lurikastan (0-1 -7) @ Dover Field
Serinite II (1-0 +1) vs Australiah (1-0 +7) @ Centralia Stadium
Tocrowkia (1-0 +21) vs Scandavian States (1-0 +7) @ Olympia Field
Prux (1-0 +20) vs Bushdome (1-0 +3) @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

The bottom three games will be the ones to watch. We’ll have three 2-0 teams, so the two of them with the best point differential will play in the Final (early AM Thursday)

STARTING LINEUP


OFFENSE:
QB: Chance Deets
RB: Gary Rogers
FB: Devin Thomas
WR: Jake Keller
WR: Wayne Hill
TE: Brad McDavis
RT: T.J. Spikes
RG: Perry Ford
C: Danny Oswald
LG: Chris Malone
LT: Randy Day

DEFENSE
LE: Mitch Anthony
NT: Justin Spelling
RE: Blake Harper
ROLB: Stanford Washington
RILB: Ricky Daily
LILB: Javon Nelvy
LOLB: Travis James
RCB: Josh Peterson
LCB: Kevin Hart
FS: Tyler Stone
SS: Paul R. Yates

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Fred Sanders
P: Leo Carr
KORet: Patrick Fink
PR: Landon Summer

Head Coach: Lenny Dayton

+2 style
Logical 2 pt. conversion

Games Played in Patetopia Stadium, Patetopia City
-Grass
-84, 745 capacity

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: Yes
Godmod "other" events: Yes

One point loss, shaky start to Baptism of Iron

Peisandros went down 7-6 to Serinte II in their first game of the World Bowl V campaign. In an obviously tight game which was riddled with results, it came down to one moment as the Peisandros kicker was unable to convert an extra point. There has been rumours that he threw the game, although this can not be confirmed as of yet.

The next game for the Sandrians is against Questille who were thrashed 20-0 in their first game and the Sandrians should be confident of a result. Stay tuned.

Griffinville Globe

Prux' first game a victory as they crushed Questille 20-0 behind 3 TD runs from Mike Penn and 4 turnovers by Questille. Only a missed extra point after the first TD kept the team from being perfect. Prux outgained Questille 413-119, with 282 yds coming on the ground. Up next is Bushdome, who squeaked by LeQuince in OT. Bushdome allowed over 200 yards on the ground, meaning Mike Penn might have another big day.

Arroza Tar Hornets Roster.

Coach: Andreas Waulequah

It seems odd to think that a head coach could be on the hot seat when his record in international play is a stunning 52 wins against 13 losses, a winning percentage of exactly eighty percent. But numbers can be massaged to mean strange things, and the big numbers for Tahlequah are .091 and 3. Three as in the number of World Bowls that have passed since the Hornets have brought home a medal. And .091 his winning percentage against certain other high-level teams.

Home Stadium: Fletcher Field a.k.a. The Hive.
Capacity 88,440, Surface: Grass

Play Style: +1
PAT: Logical.
Colors: Black, Tan, Crimson

Offense: Based on a strong line that pushes off the ball and looks to open up holes every play for the multitude of backs that come through Arroza. Arroza's still running the traditional triple option, even though in the last few World Bowls, it's shown that there's a problem both in coming back from late game deficits, and against certain teams.

First Team Offense:
#5 QB: Selmon Baliss (25, Big Thicket Cavalry)
Selmon Baliss. Noted Quarterback, and master of the triple option after running it forever at Big Thicket. Now than Smythe's retired he needs to step into the feature role, and the team has to find out of he can make accurate passes downfield.

#21 HB: Abraham Chadwick (29, Pine Forest United)
Abe Chadwick at 29 is coming close to the end of his shelf life as a running back and he knows it. But can he pull it together for one run at glory in the World Bowl?

#23 HB: Donovan Hailey (25, Big Thicket Cavalry)
The other half of the reason why Big Thicket has such an unstoppable offense every year. He's been on ASN a lot in the last few months, guaranteeing that this is the year the Tar Hornets will beat [evil empire team name redacted.]. Now the time has come to see if he can match his swagger.

#49 FB: Vaughan Harley (31, Atalanta Senators)
Lead blocker. Monster. Destroyer of Linebackers.

#84 TE: Vincent Paloma (31, Lake St. Anthony Blues)
If he’s in the game for Rudolph, you know they’re running. Better blocker than some OL’s

#89 WR: Taesean Malone (24, Huracan Tropicals)
The league's leading receiver, Malone's developed experience to go along with the mountain of raw talent. If he can hook up with Baliss, he'll be a dangerous option when defenses start to focus too much on the run game.

#66 T: Philemon Placido (30, Black Tide F.C.)

#67 T: Hector Laredo (26, Aransas County Sea Stars)

#63 C: Harun Marasseh (26, Port Lange Archers)

#64 G: Garrett Phillips (28, Aransas County Sea Stars)

#60 G: Faragi Kwaku (33, F.C. Atalanta)

Second Team Offense:
#11 QB: Afif Bassem (29, F.C. Atalanta)
#7 QB: Patrick Fawcett (20, Northland Cannons)
#31 RB: Lake Major (27, Black Tide F.C.)
#29 RB: Lazaro Connelly (22, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
#25 RB: Roger Seabrook (21, Atalanta Senators)
#45 FB: Elmore Coffin (24, Gold Spring Stallions)
#88 TE: Salomon Arraza (26, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
#82 WR: Ikraam Maximiano (31, Northland Cannons)
#81 WR: Luke Hollam (28, Huracan Tropicals)
#65 T: Donald Haskill (26, Big Thicket Cavalry)
#68 G: Michael Forrest (23, Pine Forrest)
#69 C: Robert Rook (28, Lincolnton Suns)

Defense: 4-4.
Not the biggest in the world, the Arrozan defenses pride themselves on their tactical knowledge and their speed. These two ideas, when combined in the Arrozan D, normally mean opponents get to see a varying array of zone, man, and option coverages, with blitzes coming in from all angles, and interceptions going the other way for 6 points.

Starters:
#91 NT: Tony Jackson (30, Pine Forest United)
His playing style has earned him the nickname, “Big Nasty”. He wears than name like a badge of honor.

#94 NT: Randy Miles (31, Evangeline Seraphs)
In his last international competition, Miles vows to eat opposing running backs for breakfast lunch and dinner.

#99 DE: Joseph Reed (28, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
Commands a double team on almost every passing down. The bookend of him and Charles may become the best tandem in Arrozan history.

#98 DE: Raibonne Charles (28, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
Recorded 14 sacks last year, benefiting from the double teams Reed got on the other end.

#52 OLB: Karon Robinson (31, Atalanta F.C.)
Robinson is a great blitzing linebacker, if a little undersized. With a good motor, and the ability to instinctively know where the ball is, he racked up 10 sacks last year and 24 tackles for loss.

#50 OLB: Antwan Lineville (25, Port Wentworth)
Lineville toils away in obscurity for his hometown Pilots, but is undoubtedly good enough to make this squad.

#56 MLB: Marcus Aurelin (27, Resurgens Flames)
Leads linebackers in sacks domestically with 13. Great on the blitz.

#58 MLB: Denzel Person (26, Evangeline Seraphs)
The “Angel of Death” is more well known for his off-field antics than his on-field play, especially after supposedly stabbing a man to death in a Resurgens bar and having the charges dropped. On the field, he's just as punishing though as a aggressive run-stopper and blitzer.

#24 CB: Orkeys Aurienne (30, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
He's losing a step in his old age, but he can cover anyone man-to-man, as what he's lost in his foirst he's made up for in knowing what route the receivers are going to run.

#33 CB: Calvin Brandon (27, F.C. Atalanta)
Good at anticipating plays, and leads the domestic league in interceptions.

#30 S: Caron Saint-Marais (26, Resurgens Flames)
He didn't just lead the league in interceptions for safeties...he doubled the second place finisher.

Second Team Defense:
#92 DT: Richard Stacy (21, Atalanta Senators)
#95 DT: Roger Mayfield (19, L.S.A. Blues)
#93 DE: David Edwards (20, Farragut Torpedoes)
#97 DE: Frank Paine (21, L.S.A. Blues)
#51LB: Pollux Hall (24, Pine Forest United)
#54LB: Victor Padilla (22, Evangeline Seraphs)
#57LB: Zachary Gaston (21, Atalanta Senators)
#55 LB: Fremont Cannon (25, Port Lange Archers)
#20 CB: Jeremy Beaumont (23, Aransas County Sea Stars)
#2 CB: Rimer Vinings (23, Pine Forest United)
#24 S: Linus Lincecum (25, Farragut Torpedoes)
#8 S: Olorun Mayfield (23, Resurgens Flames)

Special Teams:

#4 K: Drew Albrect (37, F.C. Atalanta)
Can kick anywhere, in winds that would blow other kickers off the field.
#13 P: Tyler Edmiston (32, Way Path Pioneers)
#24 KR: Rimer Vinings (23, Pine Forest United)

Results of game 2:

Peisandros 24-7 Questille
LeQuince 6-16 Patetopia
West Newmanistan 14-12 Lurikastan
Serinite II 17-30 Australiah
Tocrowkia 10-13 Scandavian States
Prux 20-3 Bushdome

Final Baptism of Iron Standings:
Prux (2-0 +37)
Australiah (2-0 +23)
Scandavian States (2-0 +10)
Tocrowkia (1-1 +18)
Peisandros (1-1 +16)
West Newmanistan (1-1 -5)
Patetopia (1-1 -11)
Serinite II (1-1 -12)
Bushdome (1-1 -14)
Lurikastan (0-2 -9)
LeQunice (0-2 -13)
Questille (0-2 -37)

Again, the purpose of these two games was for seeding for the group draw and to allow for some minor separation between the first time nations. Those who did not participate are not at a disadvantage, in any way, in comparison to the other nations that did participate.

The Final, Scorinated in the early AM hours (WEATHER PERMITTING!!!!!*) Thursday will be:
Prux vs Australiah @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds

The Group Draw will follow not to long after.

*- A significant winter storm is forecasted for the area tomorrow that will provide a lovely wintery mix of crap in addition to snow. I lost power the last time this happened. The storm should be over with by this time tomorrow, but who knows if I’ll have power. I don’t live in a “priority” area.

Griffinville Globe

Another game, another victory, as Prux ran over Bushdome 20-3. After yielding a FG on Bushdome's opening drive, Mike Penn and Jesse Newton combined for 278 yards rushing (213 for Penn; Newton had 65 and 2 TD's); while Issac Lainos had 2 INT's on the day, both leading to Mark Ainey FG's.

Now the final will see Prux face Australiah, as both teams proved to be the dominating teams in the BoI, so far. The stout defense of Prux, which has allowed only 305 yards of offense in two games will face the Australian attack which has produced 57pts in 2 games. On the other side, Australiah's defense hasn't been that great, allowing 37 points and an aerage of 310 yards a game. Prux should crush Australiah, 23-6.

QOX WOLRD BOWL V Coverage

Once again, QOX earned the right to cover the World Bowl, and we promise, no wacky announcers, and two techonological debuts, the first being our exclusive QB Cam, which will be on every QB in the World Bowl; at least on the Qazox QB and the opposition's QB. QOX will not show the QB Cam during huddles, as not to give any advantage to either side, and primarily use the QB Cam to show the QB's view of big plays, big sacks and occasionally his view from the sidelines.

The other techonological debut we will feature will be restricted to the post-game show, called the What If Field. The WIF will show the fans at home the results of computer-generated plays that either should or could have been run instead. With WIF, we can virtually re-play every game from any point within that game. For example, on a 4th-and-1 in which team A tried to throw a 5-yd out, but it was intercepted and returned for a TD, we can show show the results of that drive if the pass was completed, a penalty occured or even if they ran a different play. The WIF will be interactive as well, as fans can vote on QOXSports.com for the Key Play of the Game, and we will change the result of that play and re-play the game from that point; to see if the game result would have changed as well.

Also on QOXSports.com the QB Cam, is available to all as part of the QOXSports.com/TV package, and will show the entire game from both QB's POV. However the package will not be made available to any comptuers or IP adresses located within the stadia that Qazox plays in, to keep any chances of either team gaining an competitive advantage at a mininum.

So watch QOX and QOXSports.com for live coverage of every game for the Pheonix.

Solid victory gives hope to campaign.

Peisandros has won their second game of the BoI, beating Questille 24-7. The kicker had no problems today, converting all three touchdowns and adding a field goal, putting more weight to the claim he may have thrown the first game. The team now awaits the group draw to see if some kind of miracle is possible like the national football team experienced.

Stay tuned for continued coverage of the World Bowl V.

Arrozan Ministry of Sport releases "Unofficial Top 20 List".

With the coming of the World Bowl's 5th incarnation, the office of Statistics and Time Wasting has unofficially ranked what they think are the top 20 footballing countries in this competition.

The AMS Power 20:


1 Dancougar
2 Kura-Pelland
3 Newmanistan
4 Qazox
5 Arroza
6 Taeshan
7 Rennidan
8 Secristan
9 Vephrall
10 Cotenshire
11 Lovisa
12 Sarzonia
13 Green Wombat
14 Colbourne
15 Bluth Corporation
16 Lurikastan
17 Greal
18 Cassadaigua
19 Prux
20 Australiah

Bidding has now concluded for the right to play for Secristan’s World Bowl V team. For those newcomers in the World Bowl, Secristan is a little different then everyone else. We do not to such crazy things like pick top ranked players off of domestic teams, hold tryouts, or even worse, actually compensate people to play for the country. Instead all spots are available via an auction in which proceeds go to the Secristan Department of Sports for them to do such important things like purchase an extra vacation home, luxury yacht, or whatever either for themselves, their family, or to give to a sponsor in a business deal. This doesn’t mean that we are sending a bunch of bums to do battle. In order for their bids to be valid, players had to be between 18 and 38, pass a grueling physical fitness test, and have played at least one year of professional football.

If you are traveling to Secristan, be aware that tickets are not sold on a typical first come first serve basis. Instead tickets are sold via an auction five days before the event. International bidders are welcome, but no exceptions are made for you for this bidding process. An auction is also held for the preferential parking spots around the arena. Arena owners had to also bid for their facility to be used.

Coach: Matthew Taylor

Offensive Starters: (standard formation)

QB: #5- Tom Mitchell- Pocket passer, very arrogant. Long-time starter for the team.
HB: #27- Chris Hausler- Showboats on every opportunity. Debuted in WB IV and performed very well.
FB: #28- Kerry Kabatzky- Typical blocker.
WR: #81- Stacie Johnson- Everyone’s favorite football playing cheerleader.
WR: #80- Brian “The Blizzard” Brissard- Has pre-determined end zone celebrations whenever he scores.
TE: #88- Mark Reynolds (Debut)- Good pass catcher.
LT: #62- Matt Cross- Returns from a one World Bowl hiatus
LG: #61- Kenneth Lamphere- 390 lbs, 1.7% body fat.
C: #66- Michael Paramalee (Debut)
RG: #63- Vernon Mayfield (Debut)
RT: #60- Vinny Soprato- Outstanding blocker but prone to holding penalties.

Defensive Starters: (using a 4-3 base)

LE: #92- Julius Jackson- Great at anticipating the snap.
RE: #90- Ahman Dillon- Very mean. So mean in fact that he challenged Jackson to a fight over wearing #92.
DT: #98- Mark Delmore- Can bench over 500 lbs
DT: #94- Ron Kerker- Backup in WB4, the 21 year old hopes to prove himself as a starter.
ILB: #51- Shawn Cullari- Hard hitter. Played in WB3 but not WB4.
MLB: #57- Ryan Blanchard (Debut)- Young up-and-coming player
OLB: #53- Terry Maurice- Specialized in pass coverage
LCB: #36- Curtis Henry- Tall and speedy. Gets assigned to the opponents top WR.
RCB: #37- Jason Kirkland (Debut)- A younger version of Henry.
FS: #21- Kellen Venter- Never gets caught out of position.
SS: #39- Kevin Tucker- Violent hitter. Enjoys injuring people. Had a couple victims in WB4. Still just 20 years old.

People who kick the ball:
K: #4- Ryan Norris- Played very well in WB4.
P: #2- Jordan Caruso (Debut)

Offense- Backups:
QB: #11- Jerry Eiseman
QB: #7- Matt Travis
HB: #24- Casey Stewart (Debut)
HB: #33- Steve Hubbard
HB: #34- Adam Pritchard
FB: #44- Jake Pemberton
WR: #84- Steve Browning
WR: #82- Nick Chaffin (Primary kick/punt returner)
WR: #83- Thomas Cousins (Debut)
WR: #86- Paul Zambito
WR: #87- Johnnie Baker
TE: #89- Brian Hammond
TE: #85- Randy Downing
G: #68- Mitch Pasquale
G: #69- “Bubba” Jones
G: #71- John Browne (Debut)
G: #72- Peter Pazlotti (Debut)
C: #78- Scott Haines
C: #79- Michael Oxford
T: #75- Walter Carnes
T: #64- Tony Gerdone
T: #65- Scott Conley (Debut)
T: #77- Dwayne Jackson (Debut)

Defense- Backups:
DE: #97- Fred Combes
DE: #70- Jeremy Gustafsson
DE: #91- Kent Daniels (Debut)
DE: #95- Gordon Cipolla (Debut)
DT: #99- John Burke
DT: #96- Jesse McCarroll
DT: #76- Timmy Kennedy (Debut)
LB: #52- Harrison Watters
LB: #50- George Simplett
LB: #54- Craig Wharton
LB: #59- Tony Thompson (Debut)
CB: #40- Chris Tulenko (seconday option for kick/punt returns)
CB: #29- Calvin Wheeler
CB: #41- Andrew McGowan
CB: #42- Andrew Shellock (Debut)
S: #23- Jim Sanderson
S: #25- Scott Pontrelli
S: #36- Nick Hempstead
S: #48- Chad Collins (Debut)

Kicking Backups:
K: #10- Brad Hennessy (Debut)
P: #12- Jim Passineau (Debut)

Stadium: Monopoly Stadium in Amherst (Capacity: 73,226)
Modifier: +2
2-Points Conversions: Logical

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: Yes but nothing too crazy and don’t kill anyone or cause stadium damage. Also keep with the rich & arrogant theme of my team, please.

Result of the Baptism of Iron Final:

Prux 13-10 Australiah

Congratulations to Prux!

Group Draw in a few hours (or less if you're lucky)

Welcome to the official group draw for World Bowl 5. I’m Meghan Traynor, a well known Newmanistanian journalist. This year we have a record 32 teams participating and hoping for World Bowl glory. We will have eight groups of four, and everybody will play their group mates once at home and once on the road. From there, the top two teams in every group will advance to knockouts. More on the knockout format at the end of this announcement. Now if I could direct your attention to Exhibit A. This chart shows the order for tiebreaker scenarios:

Tiebreaks:
-- Head to head
-- Point Differential (Overall)
-- Point Differential (Between Tied teams)
-- Points For
-- Points For in H2H between the teams
-- Best Road Record
-- Best Road Point Differential
-- Best overall cumulative RP bonus earned by the nations (it shouldn't get to this, but I'd do this before a coin flip)
-- Coin flip

Ok, now wasn’t that exciting? Recently we had an Empire wide search to find four aspiring supermodels, each of whom are standing by four pots that have the names of eight nations in them. Ashley placed first in this contest, so Ashley, please tell us who is in Pot 1.

“Well Meghan, in Pot 1 we have the heavyweights. Dancougar, Kura-Pelland, Arroza, Qazox, and us! Go Rockets! Ok then there are also Taeshan, Rennidan, and Secristan.”

“Very good Ashley. Now the runner up, Emily, will tell us about pot 2.”

“Yay Pot 2! These countries are good too. I mean like we got Vephrall here, and Lovisa! Cotenshire too plus Sarzonia, Green Wombat, Bluth Corporation, Colbourne, and Greal!”

“Thank you Emily. Now for pot 3, we have Katie!”

“Hey everybody! Pot 3 has Cassadaigua, Kosovoe, Fujisawan Territories, Prux, Australiah, Scandavian States, Tocrowkia, and Peisandros!”

“Very good Katie and finally, we have Brianna, who was fourth to tell us all about pot 4.”

“Pot 4 has all of our great underdogs looking to surprise everybody! We got West Newmanistan, Patetopia, Serinite II, Bushdome, Lurikastan, LeQuince, and Rymeria. And there’s one more, what’s the name of this country, Gala..., Vepsi...., Los...., wait I got it, Questille!”

The models draw the names of the nations, leading to a group draw as follows:


Group A:
Taeshan (6)
Vephrall (10)
Fujisawan Territories (37)
Questille (49)

Group B:
Qazox (4)
Cotenshire (12)
Tocrowkia (41)
West Newmanistan (43)

Group C:
Rennidan (7)
Bluth Corporation (20)
Kosovoe (36)
LeQuince (48)

Group D:
Newmanistan (5)
Sarzonia (14)
Scandavian States (40)
Lurikastan (47)

Group E:
Arroza (3)
Green Wombat (14)
Prux (38)
Serinite II (45)

Group F:
Dancougar (1)
Greal (28)
Cassadaigua (32)
Rymeria (50)

Group G:
Secristan (8)
Colbourne (22)
Australiah (39)
Bushdome (46)

Group H:
Kura-Pelland (2)
Lovisa (11)
Peisandros (42)
Patetopia (44)

Meghan Traynor returns to the podium, “Thank you ladies.” On the monitor we will flash those groups through for you one more time. Now, for the schedule:

SCORINATION TIME WILL BE AT APPROXIMATELY 9 AM EASTERN US TIME DAILY (2 PM/1400HRS UTC)

MD1 (Sun, 2/1): 4 @ 1, 2 @ 3
MD2 (Mon, 2/2): 1@ 3, 2 @ 4
MD3 (Tues 2/3): 1 @ 2, 3 @ 4
MD4 (Wed 2/4): 1 @ 4, 3 @ 2
MD5 (Thurs 2/5): 3@ 1, 4 @ 2
MD6 (Fri 2/6): 2 @ 1, 4 @ 3

And now for an added twist because I don’t think six group stage games is enough in comparison to other World Bowls due to ranking purposes. 1A= team 1, group A. This is fair because everyone plays everyone from the other group with a 2 home and 2 road split, and there will be no “seeding” for knockouts.

MD7 (Sat 2/7): 1A @ 1B, 2A @ 2B, 3A @ 3B, 4A @ 4B; 1C @ 1D, 2C @ 2D, 3C @ 3D, 4C @ 4D; 1E @ 1F, 2E @ 2F, 3E @ 3F, 4E @ 4F; 1G @ 1H, 2G @ 2H, 3G @ 3H; 4G @ 4H

MD8 (Sun 2/8): 2B @ 1A, 1B @ 2A, 3B @ 4A, 4B @ 3A; 2D @ 1C, 1D @ 2C, 3D @ 4C, 4D @ 3C; 2F @ 1E, 1F @ 2E, 3F @ 4E, 4F @ 3E; 2H @ 1G, 1H @ 2G, 3H @ 4G, 4H @ 3G

MD9 (Mon 2/9): 3B @ 1A, 1B @ 3A, 4B @ 2A, 2B @ 4A; 3D @ 1C, 1D @ 3C, 2D @ 4C, 4D @ 2C; 3F @ 1E, 1F @ 3E, 4F @ 2E, 2F @ 4E; 3H @ 1G, 1H @ 3G, 4H @ 2G, 2H @ 4G

MD10 (Tues 2/10): 1A @ 4B, 4A @ 1B, 2A @ 3B, 3A @ 2B; 1C @ 4D, 4C @ 1D, 2C @ 3D, 3C @ 2D; 1E @ 4F, 4E @ 1F, 2E @ 3F, 3E @ 2F; 1G @ 4H, 4G @ 1H, 2G @ 3H, 3G @ 2H


(ALL GAMES ARE NOW IN NEWMANISTAN)
Knockouts:

Octofinals: (Thurs 2/12)
Game A: 1st Group A vs 2nd Group E
Game B: 1st Group C vs 2nd Group G
Game C: 1st Group E vs 2nd Group A
Game D: 1st Group G vs 2nd Group C
Game E: 1st Group B vs 2nd Group F
Game F: 1st Group D vs 2nd Group H
Game G: 1st Group F vs 2nd Group B
Game H: 1st Group H vs 2nd Group F
(The reason for these assignments is to keep groupmates from meeting until the semifinals, or teams that played each other between MD7 & 10 from meeting until the semifinals).

Quaterfinals: (Fri 2/13)
Game I: Winner Game A vs Winner Game D
Game J: Winner Game B vs Winner Game C
Game K: Winner Game E vs Winner Game H
Game L: Winner Game F vs Winner Game G

Semifinals: (Sat 2/14)
Game M: Winner Game I vs Winner Game J
Game N: Winner Game K vs Winner Game L

3rd Place: (Sun 2/15)
Game O: Loser Game M vs Loser Game N

WORLD BOWL V
Tuesday February 17th
Winner Game M vs Winner Game N
(Yes, I could have had this on the 16th, but the 17th is a national holiday in Newmanistan as it is our Independence Day, so I am being symbolic)


Schedule by Matchday:

MD1: Questille @ Taeshan; Vephrall @ Fujisawan Territories
West Newmanistan @ Qazox; Cotenshire @ Tocrowkia
LeQuince @ Rennidan; Bluth Corporation @ Kosovoe
Lurikastan @ Newmanistan; Sarzonia @ Scandavian States
Serinite II @ Arroza; Green Wombat @ Prux
Rymeria @ Dancougar; Greal @ Cassadaigua
Bushdome @ Secristan; Colbourne @ Australiah
Patetopia @ Kura-Pelland; Lovisa @ Peisandros

MD2: Taeshan @ Fujisawan Territories; Vephrall @ Questille
Qazox @ Tocrowkia; Cotenshire @ West Newmanistan
Rennidan @ Kosovoe; Bluth Corporation @ LeQuince
Newmanistan @ Scandavian States; Sarzonia @ Lurikastan
Arroza @ Prux; Green Wombat @ Serinite II
Dancougar @ Cassadaigua; Greal @ Rymeria
Secristan @ Australiah; Colbourne @ Bushdome
Kura-Pelland @ Peisandros; Lovisa @ Patetopia

MD3: Taeshan @ Vephrall; Fujisawan Territories @ Questille
Qazox @ Cotenshire; Tocrowkia @ West Newmanistan
Rennidan @ Bluth Corporation; Kosovoe @ LeQuince
Newmanistan @ Sarzonia; Scandavian States @ Lurikastan
Arroza @ Green Wombat; Prux @ Serinite II
Dancougar @ Greal; Cassadaigua @ Rymeria
Secristan @ Colbourne; Australiah @ Bushdome
Kura-Pelland @ Lovisa; Peisandros @ Patetopia

MD4: Taeshan @ Questille; Fujisawan Territories @ Vephrall
Qazox @ West Newmanistan; Tocrowkia @ Cotenshire
Rennidan@ LeQuince; Kosovoe@ Bluth Corporation
Newmanistan @ Lurikastan; Scandavian States@ Sarzonia
Arroza @ Serinite II; Prux @ Green Wombat
Dancougar @ Rymeria; Cassadaigua @ Greal
Secristan @ Bushdome; Australiah @ Colbourne
Kura-Pelland @ Patetopia; Peisandros @ Lovisa

MD5: Fujisawan Territories @ Taeshan; Questille @ Vephrall
Tocrowkia @ Qazox; West Newmanistan @ Cotenshire
Kosovoe @ Rennidan; LeQuince @ Bluth Corporation
Scandavian States @ Newmanistan; Lurikastan @ Sarzonia
Prux @ Arroza; Serinite II @ Green Wombat
Cassadaigua @ Dancougar; Rymeria @ Greal
Australiah @ Secristan; Bushdome @ Colbourne
Peisandros @ Kura-Pelland; Patetopia @ Lovisa

MD6: Vephrall @ Taeshan; Questille @ Fujisawan Territories
Cotenshire @ Qazox; West Newmanistan @ Tocrowkia
Bluth Corporation @ Rennidan; LeQuince @ Kosovoe
Sarzonia @ Newmanistan; Lurikastan @ Scandavian States
Green Wombat @ Arroza; Serinite II @ Prux
Greal @ Dancougar; Rymeria @ Cassadaigua
Colbourne @ Secristan; Bushdome @ Australiah
Lovisa @ Kura-Pelland; Patetopia @ Peisandros

MD7: Taeshan @ Qazox; Vephrall @ Cotenshire; Fujisawan Territories @ Tocrowkia; Questille @ West Newmansitan
Rennidan @ Newmanistan; Bluth Corporation @ Sarzonia; Kosovoe @ Scandavian States; LeQuince @ Lurikastan
Arroza @ Dancougar; Green Wombat @ Greal; Prux @ Cassadaigua; Serinite II @ Rymeria
Secristan @ Kura-Pelland; Colbourne @ Lovisa; Bushdome @ Patetopia; Australiah @ Peisandros

MD8: Cotenshire @ Taeshan; Qazox @ Vephrall; Tocrowkia @ Questille; West Newmanistan @ Fujisawan Territories
Sarzonia @ Rennidan; Newmanistan @ Bluth Corporation; Scandavian States @ LeQuince; Lurikastan @ Kosovoe
Greal @ Arroza; Dancougar @ Green Wombat; Cassadaigua @ Serinite II; Rymeria @ Prux
Lovisa @ Secristan; Kura-Pelland @ Colbourne; Patetopia @ Australiah; Peisandros @ Bushdome

MD9: Tocrowkia @ Taeshan; Qazox @ Fujisawan Territories; West Newmanistan @ Vephrall; Cotenshire @ Questille
Scandavian States @ Rennidan; Newmanistan @ Kosovoe; Lurikastan @ Bluth Corporation; Sarzonia @ LeQuince
Cassadaigua @ Arroza; Dancougar @ Prux; Rymeria @ Green Wombat; Greal @ Serinite II
Peisandros @ Secristan; Kura-Pelland @ Australiah; Patetopia @ Colbourne; Lovisa @ Bushdome

MD10: Taeshan @ West Newmanistan; Questille @ Qazox; Vephrall @ Tocrowkia; Fujisawan Territories @ Cotenshire
Rennidan @ Lurikastan; LeQuince @ Newmanistan; Bluth Corporation @ Scandavian States; Sarzonia @ Kosovoe
Arroza @ Rymeria; Serinite II @ Dancougar; Green Wombat @ Cassadaigua; Prux @ Greal
Secristan @ Patetopia; Bushdome @ Kura-Pelland; Colbourne @ Peisandros; Lovisa @ Australiah

Griffinville Globe

A tougher game than Prux thought it would be, as 3 first half turnovers led to 10 Australiah points. Trailing 10-0, Head Coach Dick Columbia decided to air it our a bit and the first play from scrimmage for the Statesmen (ooc: Why not, right?) was a 68-yard bomb from Jason Ware to Mark Conn, the longest pass play in team history, (previously 17 yards against Questille). The Australiahian defense was completely fooled as they had only 3 defensive backs in coverage, trying to stuff the powerful Pux running game. After trading punts back and forth over the next 4 possessions, Mischa Pipps intercepted an Australiahian pass and almost returned it for a TD. 3 plays later, a 2-yd Jesse Newton TD run put the Statesmen up for good 13-10 with 9:15 left in the 4th, as the PAT was missed. After a missed Australiahian FG, Prux drove down to the Australiahian 5 before the clock ran out, giving the Statesmen the first Baptism of Iron title.

Now the main event, as the Statesmen attempt to qualify for the World Bowl playoffs.
THey ahve been drawn into group E, along with Arroza ranked 3rd in the world, Green wombat, and Serinite II. The Tar Hornets are the best team by far in the group and should have little trouble advancing, so Prux will have to beat the wombats at least once, and win at least 2 or 3 of the inter-group matches. The complete schedule is below:

MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux
MD2: Arroza @ Prux
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat
MD5: Prux @ Arroza
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal

From the looks, Dancougar and both Arroza games probably are losses; both Serinite II and Rymeria are proabably wins; A split wiht Green wombat and a win against either Greal or Cassadaigua would get the Statesmen to 5-5; which will be a good result for a first time team.

QOX WOLRD BOWL V Coverage

The World Bowl Schedule has been released, and here is Qazox' shcedule:

MD1: West Newmanistan @ Qazox
MD2: Qazox @ Tocrowkia
MD3: Qazox @ Cotenshire
MD4: Qazox @ West Newmanistan
MD5: Tocrowkia @ Qazox
MD6: Cotenshire @ Qazox
MD7: Taeshan @ Qazox
MD8: Qazox @ Vephrall
MD9: Qazox @ Fujisawan Territories
MD10: Questille @ Qazox

Of all the games on the Schedule, the toughest games appear to be the 7th game against rival Taeshan; and the 8th game at Vephrall. All three teams are amongst the best in the world. Only Cotenshire seems to be dangerous within the group. At worst, the Pheonix should go at least 8-2.

GROUP PREDICTIONS:
(based on QOX' WIF program, the records shown are an average of 500 simulations of each team's schedule.)

Group A:
Vephrall 7-3
Taeshan 7-3
Fujisawan Territories 4-6
Questille 1-9
NOTE: Vephrall tops group based on H2H Point Differential (64-60)

Group B:
Qazox 9-1
Cotenshire 6-4
Tocrowkia 3-7
West Newmanistan 3-7

Group C:
Rennidan 7-3
Bluth Corporation 6-4
Kosovoe 5-5
LeQuince 1-9

Group D:
Newmanistan 8-2
Sarzonia 6-4
Scandavian States 3-6-1
Lurikastan 3-6-1

Group E:
Arroza 9-1
Green Wombat 6-4
Prux 3-7
Serinite II 1-9

Group F:
Dancougar 9-1
Greal 6-4
Cassadaigua 4-6
Rymeria 2-8

Group G:
Secristan 7-3
Colbourne 5-5
Australiah 4-6
Bushdome 2-8

Group H:
Kura-Pelland 9-1
Lovisa 6-4
Peisandros 4-6
Patetopia 3-7

Based on those Predictions, the WIF also predicted the World Bowl Playoffs, simulating each match-up 100 times, with the average score is posted for each result.

ROUND OF 16:
Game A: Vephrall vs Green Wombat (28-16)
Game B: Rennidan vs Colbourne (24-22)
Game C: Arroza vs Taeshan (29-20)
Game D: Secristan vs Bluth Corporation (27-23)
Game E: Qazox vs Greal (32-19)
Game F: Newmanistan vs Lovisa (34-25)
Game G: Dancougar vs Cotenshire (35-17)
Game H: Kura-Pelland vs Sarzonia (28-23)

Quarterfinals:
Game I: Vephrall vs Bluth Corporation (32-27)
Game J: Colbourne vs Arroza (32-28)
Game K: Qazox vs Newmanistan (25-24)
Game L: Dancougar vs Kura-Pelland (32-30)

Semifinals:
Game M: Vephrall vs Arroza (29-26)
Game N: Qazox vs Kura-Pelland (33-31)

3rd Place:
Game O: Vephrall vs Qazox (29-26)

WORLD BOWL V
Arroza vs Kura-Pelland (30-26)

(OOC: World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V))

YOUR WELCOME!

OFFICIAL NEWMANISTAN WORLD BOWL V ROSTER

They finally did it. They finally beat a good team in knockouts. A transitional year before World Bowl IV in which the team made some hard and difficult decisions paid off as the team made it all the way to the World Bowl, before falling to Dancougar. Now with the games back on home turf, there is optimism that this could be a great World Bowl for the team.

Modifier: +2
Conversions: Logical
Stadium: Somewhat breaking from tradition, all home games will be at one stadium. That being the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds. The other stadiums will have their turn during knockouts.

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes, however at QB, only O’Hara plays without my permission.
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but only say they are hurt.
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: TG your idea for approval first.

COACHING STAFF:

Head Coach: Jeremy Thompson, South Tier
Offensive Coordinator: Kevin Baldwin, Dover City
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Connelly, Putnam Lake
ST Coach: Larry Sylvis, Hampton

OFFENSE: (starters are in bold)

QB: #14 Kenny O’Hara (27, South Tier Seagulls): O’Hara’s career has taken off, and after first being named as Pivonka’s backup in World Bowl 3, the scrambler got the nod to start in World Bowl 4. He was seen as one of the main reasons the Rockets got as far as they did and the team will be looking to build off that. Kenny isn’t just a scrambler, because he can throw the deep ball very effectively.

QB: #4 Michael Chatman (26, Putnam Lake Eagles): A young QB who made his debut in World Bowl as the third stringer. He still has seen no action, but with John Pivonka not returning due to personal reasons, Michael may see time here. He is a pocket passer with moderate mobility.

QB: #13 Matthew McKnight (21, Hampton Bulldogs)- McKnight had a stellar collegiate career before being drafted by the Bulldogs and he looked good as rookie. He was so impressive in his first year that Thompson wanted to give him a taste of the national team.

HB: #29 Corey Parisi (30, Tundra Falls Mariners): Parisi is an outstanding back that can be used in all situations, as well as a receiver out of the backfield. He is able to take it outside or take it between the tackles, it really doesn’t matter. He has been the starter in every World Bowl and is arguably the most accomplished back in the competition. We didn’t forget you, Mr. Yeilds.

HB: #33 Chris Padgett (31, Loudon Leopards): Never afraid to get dirty, Padgett will be used to spell Parisi, but is a dangerous as a third-down back. Will give defensive coordinators a headache when in a two-back set with Parisi. He has been the second string back ever since the start for good reason, but this may be his last call.

HB: #39 Darian Westcott (24, Fairfield City Admirals): Westcott debuted with the team in this same spot in World Bowl IV. Look for Thompson to try and get him a little more involved this time, because it’s very possible he could be a featured back in World Bowl VI. Darian likes to take it up the middle.

FB: #45 Shayne Maddox (26, Pocono City Capitals): Tiberius Gillespie, the long time starting fullback has hung them up, so now Maddox is set to make his international debut. Maddox is the same type of player, purely a blocker. He has big shoes to fill, but he will do his best.

WR: #86 Matt Bywater (24, South Tier Seagulls): Bywater made his debut as a 4th receiver in World Bowl IV, and here he is two years later as the #1 WR. Part of this is because Christian Gagnon will never be a deep threat, but what happened to Alex Foster? Well, he had an unfortunate incident in a Southport nightclub several months ago and got himself arrested for assault. Matthew is a speedster but this is big upgrade for him.

WR: #80 Christian Gagnon (30, Southport Tigers): Gagnon has been the #2 receiver to Alex Foster in every World Bowl, and he will probably miss him. Don’t be surprised if Christian ends up leading the team in receptions, but his specialty is more of the intermediate routes. He must be respected on deep passes, but they will mainly go to Bywater, or to Corey Brooks in a three receiver set.

WR: #81 Corey Brooks (29, Loudon Leopards): Brooks has been a kick return specialist for the team, and while he may still return a few kicks, he’s expected to be used much more in the passing game during this World Bowl. He is a shifty receiver with deceptive speed. He knows how to get open, and O’Hara should be able to find him.

WR: #82 Kevin Penforth (22, Centralia Cougars): Making his World Bowl debut, Penforth is your typical possession receiver. Not flashy, but he doesn’t drop the ball.

WR: #84 Tony Dempster (25, Hampton Bulldogs): A pure speedster, he’s on the team to return kicks. From time to time, he’ll be in with the offense, but because his separation skills at the line of scrimmage needs work, he’s not ready for a bigger role.

WR: #85 Jason Albert (23, North Charlotte Wildcats): Solid receiver with the Wildcats, but here more for a depth role.

TE: #87 Jim Crosby (29, South Tier Seagulls): The starter in World Bowl I & II was the second string TE in World Bowl III before returning back to starter duty in World Bowl IV. This move paid huge dividends as the player some call “Sidney” was one of the top producing tight ends. He is an outstanding receiver.

TE: #89 Shane Seymour (27, Centralia Cougars): A receiving TE, Shane got a chance to start in World Bowl III, but is back to the bench here. Not to worry, the Rockets use several two-TE sets.

LT: #62 Matt Campbell (24, Pocono City Capitals): The great Benny Halvorsen has hung them up. Since World Bowl III, Campbell was seen as the protégé to Benny. He has big shoes to fill, but his time is now.

LG: #68 Nick Russo (34, North Charlotte Wildcats): Russo isn’t the biggest offensive lineman, but he makes up for it with athleticism and intelligence. This is his fifth World Bowl and could be his final one.

C: #69 Scott Burnett (25, South Tier Seagulls): The young center debuted in World Bowl IV mainly because O’Hara is comfortable with him. It worked out. So why change it?

RG: #70 Brent Pemberton (32, Dover City Mountaineers): A 6'7" 360 pound mass of humanity that is just as intelligent as he is big.

RT: #71 Anthony Colanno (34, South Charlotte Condors): Unusually agile for a tackle, this allows him to be an outstanding run blocker, in particular. He wasn’t sure about returning, but he was convinced by Thompson as he wanted to have at least one international veteran tackle on the line.

C: #64 John Guerin (27, Pocono City Capitals): John has been a steady player and has been a regular backup for the team. His 6'5" 333 frame is all muscle.

G: #55 Sal Morris (27, Fairfield City Admirals): Sound in all aspects, best as a pass blocker.

G: #63 Archie Hawkins (34, South Charlotte Condors): Another huge guard, very good at creating holes.

T: #67 Victor Sheehan (24, Daytopia Racers): Named to his first World Bowl team. Solid blocker.

T: #60 Steve Bennett (20, Olympia Gladiators): A very promising young tackle. Expect him to become a regular starter, perhaps replacing Colanno in World Bowl VI.

Utility OL: #59 Jacob Beasley (33, North Charlotte Wildcats): Versatile, can play all offensive line positions, and is mainly on the squad in case of injuries, but he can hold his own when needed.

DEFENSE: (using 4-3)

DT: #95 Mario Martuzzo (33, Tundra Falls Mariners): A big man. Nearly impossible to move off the line, and an above average tackler. Starting in his third World Bowl.

DT: #97 Brodie Colliton (25, Centralia Cougars): Brodie is in his second World Bowl but will be starting, officially, for the first time. He saw close to half of the snaps last time out though so he is not short of experience. Not quite as powerful as Martuzzo, but makes up for it with agility.

LE: #92 Tyrone Booker (31, Southport Tigers) Quick off the snap of the ball, loves to blitz, and isn’t intimidated by any offensive lineman. Will likely lead the team in sacks. It’s his 4th World Bowl.

RE: #99 Jason Hutchins (32, Olympia Gladiators): Similar to Booker, the biggest difference is he is not quite as strong. But if you focus too much on Booker, Hutchins will sneak up on you. Also a fourth World Bowl starter.

ILB: # 90 Shane McMurtry (23, Daytopia Racers): McMurtry a former first overall draft pick has continued to show considerable improvement. He was on the roster last time out but because of his outstanding play, Thompson could not overlook him. Shane gets the starting nod.

MLB #72 Kirk Comforth (31, North Charlotte Wildcats): Signed with North Charlotte as an undrafted free agent out of college, and through nothing more then hard work has made himself an outstanding, all-around linebacker. Very agile, and plays with a mean streak.

ILB: #53 Jesse Savage (26, Dover City Moutaineers): Still young, Savage knows he has a cool last name for a linebacker, and does his best to live up to it. Getting better with age, this shows as he know has won a starting job after being a backup for the first two world bowls, and proved to the coaches he should be back.

DL: #94 Brock Kahnberg (30, Fairfield City Admirals): Consistent run stopper. Generally gets good penetration off the ball. Not flashy.

DL: #96 Larry Washington (28, Hastings Crusaders): A big man with a nasty streak. If only he could be more agile, then he’d start.

DL: #73- Martin Calisdrum (23, Dover City Moutaineers): An above average run stopper; makes his World Bowl debut.

LB: #52 Jaquan Hatcher (30, Tundra Falls Mariners): Will see time when the Rockets mix it up with 3-4 base as opposed to the 4-3. His best asset is his quickness. Prone to “illegal contact” penalties with receivers when in coverage.

LB: #76 Kalvin Thorson (34, Putmam Lake Eagles): Agile, very good in coverage. Is often assigned to the opposition’s tight end. Kalvin has been a starter in the last four World Bowls, but the play of McMurtry has put him to the bench. Don’t worry, he’ll get plenty of opportunities.

LB: #74 Rodney Sillinger (22, South Tier Seagulls): Makes his World Bowl debut. He has great awareness in pass coverage and could be a future starter soon.

CB: #36 Dan Strasser (32, Portsmouth Whalers): Decent speed to stay with most receivers, but won’t blow you away. Good height but won’t outleap all receivers. He makes up for all this with his intelligence, and intimidating hitting. It’s his 5th time starting, and he may have arguably been the Rockets defensive MVP of World Bowl III, and followed it up well in IV.

CB: #46 Stanley Bressler (25, Dover City Mountaineers): The young kid has rapidly ascended in Newmanistanian football, and had a great World Bowl III & IV himself, complimenting Strasser very well. He should only be getting better.

FS: #26 Michael Ahearn (28, Pocono City Capitals) Very popular with female groupies, Ahearn’s physical nature makes him popular to true fans as well. And not as much to receivers.

SS: #38 Davisen Manzella (32, Dover City Mountaineers): Outstanding in coverage, is very wise to the tricks and moves that receivers will attempt to put on him. Should benefit from Mountaineer teammate Bressler now a starter as well.

DB: #30 Danny Giles (33, Springfield Throroughbreds): After being traded four times in his first three years, Giles has played with a bigtime chip on his shoulder. It’s made him a much better player. Very speedy DB, though not ideally physical. Should still see plenty of playing time.

DB: #43 Chris Johnson (26, Loudon Leopards): Has blazing speed, but sometimes that works against him as he can tend to overpursue, and get beat on cutback routes. Still learning. Will be alongside Brooks on kickoff returns.

DB: #22 Alex Sedlacek (24, Hampton Bulldogs): After a couple of injury shortened campaigns, the young DB has finally remained healthy and has thus been able to show what he is truly capable of. This is his first time on the national team.

DB: #44 Mark Asbury (23, South Tier Seagulls): Making his second appearance on the national team, Asbury is a hard-hitting safety. Might not be used too much, but when he is, receivers will need to know where he is.

KICKERS:

K: #2- Patrick Marshall (26, Fairfield City Admirals)- Marshall makes his World Bowl debut after three outstanding seasons. Highly accurate with a career long of 60 yards.

P: #1 Steve Meadows (43, Springfield Thoroughbreds): Gets solid hang time and distance on his punts, but his best attribute is pinning opponents inside the 10 without the ball going back for a touchback. Also is the holder on FG attempts. Like many punters, age is just a number with him, and he is still the best at his position in the country.

K/P: #18- Dennis Gardner (26, Olympia Gladiators): A backup kicker/punter. What more must be said?

((OOC: I'm getting a little tired of a certain somebody always projecting my teams to finish so poorly....))

The first Bapitisim of Iron was one up, one down for the Nordics. Though the team won the first game handily, they lost a heartbreaker of a second game in a tense matchup against the States'. Now, the Nordics are again out to defy the predictions cast upon them by Qazox's "experts".

"Our baseball team did, and so will we." Quarterback Kash said simply. "I don't give much creed to 'predictions', anyway. It's all a bunch of crap. We just have to out there and play our asses off."

WEST NEWMANISTAN ROSTER

From a former disputed territory in which a ruler has taken over with the (apparent) blessing of the old regime and made his claim to create a democratic Newmanistan, comes a group of athletes wishing to play for their country. Some of them are converted Newmanistanians. Some of them hate anything to do with Newmanistan. They want to show the world that they can compete at this level too. Sometimes controversially, sometimes not. West Newmanistan does not yet have a domestic football league, so there are no club teams for these players.

Modifier: +1
Conversions: ALWAYS (we need someone to do this!)
Stadium: It’s a developing country, so even though the 32,550 seat Fultonville Stadium looks old and run down to most of you, it’s actually the best and most modern stadium in the country.
Nickname: Golden Eagles

Coach: Brett Nicholson (Yes, the head coach of the Newmanistan Rockets from World Bowl I-III is back in a very controversial move, moreso in Newmanistan).
Offensive Coordinator: Brad Mallozzi
Defensive Coordinator: Justin Haas
ST Coordinator: Tim Gauthier

Offense (starters in bold)
QB: #7- Steve Gannon
QB: #5- Ron Donovon
QB: #8- Ward Vadney
HB: #33- Timmy Classen
HB: #34- Matthew Grandy
HB: #21- Eddie Goyer
FB: #40- Louis Delprete
WR: #81- Shawn Waite
WR: #80- Rodney Moynihan
WR: #84- Albert Cornicelli
WR: #82- John O’Donnell
WR: #85- Allen Keeler
WR/KR1: #83- Brad Cornetti
TE: #88- Peter Jones
TE: #87- Ernesto Dominguez
LT: #66- Eric Gillimore
LG: #63- Nelson Labounty
C: #65- William Ryan
RG: #64- Daniel Joseph
RT: #69- Michael Costigan
OL: #61- Joe Chambers
OL: #60- Steve Bedwell
OL: #67- Santo Lombardo
OL: #68- Daniel Grisnon
OL: #50- Ralph Perna
OL: #51- Sam Perras

Defense (4-3 base, starters in bold)
DT: #99- Mark Noel
DT: #98- Morris Hoffman
LE: #92- Robinson Loatman
RE: #91- Louis Bauer
ILB: #56- Martin Snyder
OLB: #52- Kristain Sullivan
MLB: #55- Carl Nyszczy
DL: #93- Paul Jayne
DL: #95- Thomas Staalesen
DL: #97- Brian Musgrave
DL: #90- Jason McArdle
DL: #76- John Pierce
DL: #77- Marvin Spink
LB: #53- Paul Sackel
LB: #58- Jeffrey Pirzada
LB: #59- Don Fontanelli
LB: #70- Jonas Wolfe
LB: #72- Jack Mozzi
CB: #32- Tony Cochrane
CB: #44- James Farrell
FS: #35- Scott Pettit
SS: #42- Bill Bowman
DB/KR2: #36- Nick Lozano
DB: #22- Eddie McDonald
DB: #26- Kurt Lyons
DB: #39- Vladimir Lysenko
DB: #25- Ron Ganther
DB: #37- Martin Quires

Special Teams

K: #3- Scott Kurick
P: #6- Fred Coles
K/P: #11- Chris Turcotte

Katie’s Blog

Good morning, Cassadaigua and to anyone who might be reading from outside of our borders. I am Katie Dupree, a starting wide receiver for our World Bowl 5 squad and this will be my second year of doing the blog for the team. When we played in World Bowl 4, it was a disaster on many different levels. We went 1-9 but that was not the only problem. Rebecca Looper was an embarrassment to our team and even to the entire World Bowl. Her antics in that Arroza game against that poor running back were sickening. We have decided not to bring the fat pig back this year and were are so happy about that. We had our first team meeting yesterday as we start preparing for our first opponent which will be at home against Greal in Concord Heights. Even though we went 1-9, we have a lot of returnees on our roster. This caused some uproar back at home as many of your did not believe that Meghan Connolly should be retained as our head coach or that Lauren Hamilton should continue to start at QB, but I ask all of you to give them another chance. Give me another chance, I deserve as much blame for our ineffectiveness as the rest of them. We know we are better then what we showed the world, and this time we don’t have the Looper sideshow which was a severe distraction to our team. If we do not play well this time, then go ahead and don’t bring any of us back. Right now, let us have this chance and allow us to show that we can and we will be better then we were last time.


The group draw got completed last night and we have ended up in Group F alongside defending champion, Dancougar. Fortunately, the top two teams from each group so it is not a requirement that we beat them. We are the third seed overall, but are ranking, 32, in comparison the second rated team in the group, Greal at 28, is the closest gap between a 2nd and a 3rd seed of a group in any of the eight groups. You know that every group will not see their top two seeds advance, so we see this with confidence. Let us also not forget the World Lacrosse Championships where we beat out Greal to earn the final qualifying spot in our group. I think we can do that in football, too! Our games against them are going to be critical, and we’re going to want to beat the spacemen from Rymeria too. The way the schedule is set up, we play the teams in our group once at one and once on the road, but we will also play the four teams from Group E once. This will make the games that us and Greal have against Green Wombat and Prux especially, be absolutely critical. I think that across the World Bowl, these intergroup games, especially the ones for us pots two and three crowd are going to be very critical. I can’t promise you we will finish in the top two but I guarantee you that we will win more then one game or else I will run 10 laps around Concord Heights Stadium in the nude.

Our schedule is this:
Game 1- vs Greal
Game 2- vs Dancougar
Game 3- at Rymeria
Game 4- at Greal
Game 5- at Dancougar
Game 6- vs Rymeria
Game 7- vs Prux
Game 8- at SeriniteII
Game 9- at Arroza
Game 10- vs Green Wombat

((OOC: I'm getting a little tired of a certain somebody always projecting my teams to finish so poorly....))

The first Bapitisim of Iron was one up, one down for the Nordics. Though the team won the first game handily, they lost a heartbreaker of a second game in a tense matchup against the States'. Now, the Nordics are again out to defy the predictions cast upon them by Qazox's "experts".

"Our baseball team did, and so will we." Quarterback Kash said simply. "I don't give much creed to 'predictions', anyway. It's all a bunch of crap. We just have to out there and play our asses off."

(ooc: But then you go and prove me wrong more often than not, right? So its bulletin-board material!)

So, who's on the boat for a Dancougar Three Party? Champions in the inaugural tournament and in its most recent edition, the Wings are still the team everyone's gunning for. Coach Will Moohim's philosophy of "run first and run some more after that" has ground out many victories, but only as long as the defense could keep it close. They play just as physically as the bruising backs employed by the offense, but in World Bowl IV, teams started to figure the Wings out. Secristan tackled them in a shootout to keep alive the tradition that the Wings never make it through qualifying unscathed. Will the fifth tournament be better or worse? The amateurs and semi-professionals are back and this time there are some new tricks in the bag. They've got a speedy back to compliment the vertical running we're all used to, and the defense brings a mixture of experienced veterans and energetic newcomers.

Style: -1
PAT: Logical
Field: Grass

American football is still not mainstream in Dancougar, but has a strong regional following in the south - principally in Sullivan and Lunarossa - and most of the country can at least recognize and follow the game. And with the team's success on the world stage, the Sports Ministry stepped up to provide some nicer digs. The Jared Koeppel Memorial Stadium at the University of Sullivan has been demolished, and in its place stands the larger, 55,000-seat Shin Jared Koeppel. It will play host to all Dancougar home games.

http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/africa/south_africa/cape_town_newlands1.jpg

The stadium is known to the locals as the "Jay Kay." As the team will be sharing with the school's association football team, the field tends to get torn up during World Bowl qualification. Expect fresh turf to be laid from time to time, and if the weather doesn't cooperate, the field should have the consistency of Heinz Field on Monday night. And that's just the way it should be.

Players are given in their depth chart order:

Quaterback
13 - Michael Hussey (31)
10 - Booker Tilghman (23)
3 - Franklin Gelbach (24)

Notes: No changes at the quarterback position. Michael Hussey will reprise his role under center, and after winning a world championship and spending some time, he's focused on improving some of his weak points. Playing against teams that feature many of the national team's defenders, Hussey has become better at reading the field and repairing broken plays on the fly. His arm is still just above average, but coach Moohim's system calls for a lot of runs and short passes, so it should work out fine. Hussey is in there to keep the ball moving forward at whatever the cost.

Runningback
39 - Gary Hutchins (28)
26 - Logan Dublin (24)
36 - Casey Pendleton (21)
28 - Albert Edgeman (26)
21 - Derek Sutherland (26)

Notes: Hutchins was a pleasant surprise in World Bowl IV, and while he occasionally disappeared at crunch time, he was able to keep the ball moving with his punishing style. Even more pleasant was the sudden appearance of Logan Dublin in the Black Wing backfield, as he finally provided the "lightning" back the Wings have been missing. Dublin may not be as exciting to watch, say, Jason Yeilds, but he can break game open just the same... but he probably won't fool too many defenses this time around with those short screens of his.

Fullback
30 - Sidney Etheredge (29)
34 - Jeff Emery (28)

Tight End
82 - Tristan Cray (22)
45 - Ed Mendenhall (32)
47 - Ken Whyman (29)
85 - George Wareham (26)

Notes: No changes to the fullback corps; Etheredge will usually be used as a blocking back and may get a carry on third and short once in a blue moon. More often than not he'll be watching Dublin line up as a second halfback. The tight ends are also used primarily for blocking, but Moohim sees something he likes in youngster Tristan Cray, who gets the start over veteran Ed Mendenhall. Cray is a straight up "ath~a~lete" who has a rare combination of size and speed. He'll happily run routes up the middle and take the big hit if it means he'll get his hands on the ball.

Wide Receiver
88 - Billy Leuthold (23)
86 - Fred Uselton (27)
18 - Thomas Langley (20)
89 - Norman Callahan (22)
84 - Al Venturini (30)
87 - Kevin Queandlinn (21)
81 - Zach Washington (25)

Notes: There's been a big turnaround for the receivers. Gone are the best hands in Dancougar, Jermaine Divalerio, who has two world championships to go with solid career numbers that came in an offense which didn't throw as often as it could have. Gone with less fanfare are guys like Russel Seelbinder and Jay Milon, who have each had their shining moments. Leuthold and Uselton, backups from the previous tournament, will step into the starting slots. They've had time to get better over the past few years and will face pressure from the youth movement that's following them in the depth chart. Thomas Langley gives the Wings a decent third wide receiver who has the height and the concentration to make big plays.

Center
62 - Sam Kuhle (24)
64 - Ed Carnavon (22)
65 - Chris Odamchick (25)

Guard
60 - Hershel Seyfried (32)
69 - Christopher Lacefield (31)
67 - Bernard Bruce (20)
63 - Rod Music (28)

Offensive Tackle
61 - Brooks Wolpe (33)
70 - Gilbert Resnick (28)
68 - Jason Silvernale (29)
72 - Tom Anders (21)

Notes: Again, some turnover on the line, with serious questions in the middle. Chartier and Wheadon are both gone, meaning the depth chart is made up entirely of fresh talent. Sam Kuhle was third on the depth chart in World Bowl IV... can he step up now? The guards haven't changed and both have already shaken off critics who say they're too old. Their strength hasn't wavered that much, and their experience has taught them all the tricks of the trade. Brooks Wolpe returns at tackle with Gilbert Resnick making his debut as a starter. As always, the Wing offense lives and dies through this unit.

Nose Tackle
76 - Christopher Gifford (24)
74 - Carl Gustava (26)
75 - Oscar Sanchez (20)

Defensive End
93 - Kendrick Lynch (28)
94 - Roger Westervoorde (24)
98 - Travis Whynne (19)
96 - Dale Heminger (25)
90 - William Doncaster (22)

Notes: Cesar Tramonti has retired from international football, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the 3-4 defense. Chris Gifford is the new nose tackle, although we haven't seen too much of him at this level. Kendrick Lynch will be the man who really leads the front three, as he is the most dangerous pass rusher in the bunch and also the only returning starter. Roger Westervoorde will start opposite him, and he's shown promise. The real buzz, though, is about the guy behind him - 19-year-old Travis Whynne.

Linebacker
52 - Kirk Manly (30)
50 - Billy Aveline (27)
92 - Kerry Tierno (28)
55 - Brian Milcher (23)
51 - Neil Samples (31)
59 - Roderick Danbury (20)
54 - Bob Nesbit (24)
97 - Jack Mallory (21)

Notes: The linebacking corps remains mostly intact, with three returning starters. We expected more changes from the defense which took a step back in World Bowl IV by surrendering over three times as many points as they did in World Bowl III. Perhaps those doubters were quieted by the title, but this unit definitely has to get some of its fierocity back. Billy Aveline has set a personal goal to get at least seven sacks in qualifying, and his growth over the last two tournaments has been him add the mass and muscle to get it done. Manly is the defensive captain and Brian Milcher replaces Neil Samples, who is a solid understudy in case someone can't go. Milcher looked good in league play; we'll see if he can keep the pace. Rod Danbury has also wowed some analysts with his speed.

Cornerback
25 - Scott Maxam (29)
20 - Jeff Buckholt (24)
35 - Tony Rorick (31)
29 - Devin Knill (27)
40 - Richard Galawitz (24)

Safety
24 - Alex Isabella (31)
31 - Tyler Reinier (26)
33 - Omar Garry (24)
23 - Stuart Waltjen (30)
38 - Sam Paige (21)
37 - Rod Morten (24)

Notes: Alex Isabella is easily the best of the lot, and his ability to break on the ball has rewarded him with many an interception. But his partner in crime Paul Dady is gone, so Tyler Reinier will graduate to the starting lineup. The corners have also seen some changes, with Jeff Buckholt replacing Tony Rorick. Rorick's lost a little speed but he's still got keen awareness and will star in the nickel package. On the whole, Dady is the only non-returner to the depth chart, with Sam Paige filling in the role of "new guy" at safety.

Punter
12 - Bruce Straczinski (24)

Kicker
6 - Seth Cavallo (27)

Notes: Cavallo kept the Wings in a lot of games by nailing field goals when drives stalled; he hopes that this time around the vast majority of his kicks come from the 19. Bruce Straczinski succeeds Shelpman at punter and figures to have a few tournaments ahead of him. Kick returns are handled by Logan Dublin and Jeff Buckholt.

As for RP permissions... eh, if you report first, the game is yours. Make it as awesome or crappy as you want. Dancougar News!! will just put the right spin on it later, or something. Check with me before you godmod, and if you want to injure people, at least don't destroy the entire lineup and force me to play with robot ninjas. Because if you've followed the World Cup, you know I'll do it.

Jim Zorn and Greg Blache stood in front of the Sarzonian national gridball team. Their schedule had just been released and they were getting ready to travel to New Copenhagen to battle World Bowl newcomers Scandavian States in the opening match of World Bowl V.

"Men," Zorn said. "Just because they're new to this competition doesn't mean they're not going to be a difficult match up for us. Remember, we advanced to the knockouts in our first go in this tournament."

That they did. Sarzonia finished the group stage with a 6-3-1 record, defeating a Vephrall side unofficially ranked ninth in the world by Arroza's prognosticators 27-24 courtesy of a late Adam Novak field goal. In their first knockout stage matchup, the team then known as the Stingers battled the Qazox Pheonix in the longest World Bowl matchup to date. The final score of 26-23 Qazox belied the disparity in seeding between the No. 5 seeded Pheonix and the No. 12 seeded Stingers.

"That was a devastating loss when it happened," Blache told media outlets before the team began its practice sessions prior to getting on the plane to New Copenhagen. "After the disappointment of losing wore off somewhat, we realised we took part in arguaby the greatest match in World Bowl history. That's at least something to build off of."

The renamed Stars also hope to build on the momentum created by the outstanding quarterback play of Gavin Davis. His right arm along with the elusive running of running back LoQuan Willard gave the Stingers key weapons in their drive to the knockouts. Zorn is counting on the same lineup as the last World Bowl in this year's tournament, along with the same offence.

"Hey, the offence worked well for us with the personnel we had," Zorn said. "We decided not to change too much about what worked well and we wanted to improve on some of the things we didn't do as well."

He and Blache are betting that some of those improvements will come from experience, but Zorn also warned reporters that the Stars would not be able to sneak up on opponents this time.

"Last year, no one had any film on us," he said. "This year, they do. They're going to gear up for us because they expect a strong gridball match. We're going to have to be ready to match the intensity of each team we face and exceed that of (world number five) Newmanistan."

If you ask Davis, that won't be hard.

"We had a chance to play Newmanistan in the quarterfinals," Davis said. "If I don't fumble late in the second overtime, who knows? Having said that, this year should be a lot of fun."

Groups And Schedules Announced For World Bowl 5

For the Sixth time in the countries history the Fitin' Falcons of Taeshan will take the field and play some flashy football. Since the very day the teams was formed and through all its hardships, tragedies and triumphs this team has stayed together and fought through everything thick and thin. Now for the first time a new player will join the few who have worn a Falcon jersey and hopefully lead a more powerful attack with his graceful runing style and of course his fleet foot.

This year after waiting many long moths the team is back on the field and ready to play yet again. Just last night the Newmanistanis announced the results of the group draw, and the Falcons will be in group A. they will play Vephrall, the Fujisiwan Territories, and a new nation to the cup Questille. Although the Falcons will also have to play the teams from group be once in a twist were there is crossover games this year.

Schedule
Taeshan VS Questille@ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Taeshan @ the Fujisawan Territories
Taeshan @ Vephrall
Taeshan @ Questille
Taeshan VS the Fujisiwan Territories @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Taeshan @ Qazox
Taeshan VS Cotenshire @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Taeshan VS Tocrowkia @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder PArk
Taeshan @ West Newmanistan

The World bowl schedule for Colbourne has been released
MD 1 @ Australiah CSN
MD 2 @ Bushdome CSN
MD 3 Vs Secristan CSN Est Temperature -25 Celsius Heavy Snow
MD 4 Vs Australiah CSN Est Temperature -14 C
MD 5 Vs Bushdome CSN Est Temperature -19 C Snow
MD 6 @ Secristan CBC
MD 7 @ Lovisa CBC
MD 8 Vs Kura-Pelland CBC Est Temperature -10
MD 9 Vs Patetopia CBC Est Temperature -1
MD 10 @ Peisandros CBC
The tickets for all 5 home games have already sold out and they are adding extra seats to Rogers Field to accommodate for the demand to see these games. The atmosphere at the home games might be game changing for Colbourne the cold will also have a big factor. Colbournes defence will hhave to step up trough out he tournament.

After sitting out the last cycle, the Bluth Corporation National Football Team has re-entered the World Bowl, hoping to win its first ever playoff game. "It's time we got off our asses and made some noise," said starting QB Cain Wells. "We've had no trouble making the playoffs, but we've always fallen flat on our faces once we've gotten there."

Defensive captain Charles Woodruff echoed Wells's sentiments, adding that "We beat up on the weak teams and get beaten up on by the strong teams. No one wants to be mediocre."

But the Corporation team plays a tough preliminary schedule, including a home-and-home series against giant Rennidan as well as a home game against tournament host Newmanistan. Still, unless they choke they look to finish at least second in Group C, which would give them a spot in the playoffs.

Follow the Bluth Corporation's bid for football supremacy in World Bowl V by visiting http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Bluth_Corporation_in_World_Bowl_V, complete with schedules, rosters, group standings, game recaps, and more!

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

When Kirk Hatchitt was watching the national team work out as part of its preparation for World Bowl V, there was one player he kept coming back to. Logan Dublin was catching screens, hitting the corner, and even threw a pass out of the backfield, all while flashing a smile as wide as the Kishin Delta. He's put on weight since the last tournament, but you'd never guess it from the way he cuts and accelerates off a plant.

"That guy's changing the attitude of this offense," said Hatchitt, now an analysts for DSPN. "You can't just stack the box and hope they can beat you over the top."

Hatchitt spend three World Bowls as part of the "Thunder and Thunder" combination with Oliver Tangermann. Together, the team placed in each tournament and won the first edition. They took a beating because their running style dictated very little horizontal movement, and they had the benefit of a powerful offensive line that could generate gaps and wear a defense down. Gary Hutchins, who took over in World Bowl IV, adapted the same kind of style. But when the going got tough, the Wings had a backup plan... Dublin.

"It's great to have that option, you know, if a play breaks down and he's just sitting in front of the line," said quarterback Michael Hussey. "When he gets the ball, it's like the offense goes from zero to sixty. And that's a pain to defend."

Hutchins absorbs the brunt of the pain because shifty backs like Dublin just won't last long if they're taking the majority of the hits. But Will Moohim wants to use him more in this World Bowl, which means a more aggressive offense running more play action.

Hussey welcomes the opportunity. While he no longer has Jermaine Divalerio to throw to, he has a cadre of receivers who have been improving between tournaments. Fred Uselton finally looks ready, and tight end Tristan Cray adds a new dimension that was only partially explored through Ed Mendenhall. The hope, of course, is that the Black Wings can continue to play the same bruising style of football they like without ever letting a game get out of reach.

"For a running team, going down two scores can be like a kiss of death," said Hussey. "We need to be flexible enough to respond to that situation."

There were several times during World Bowl IV that the offense ground to a halt, which threatened to peg the team with losses on several occasions given the sudden dropoff in defensive prowess. Normally the team's bread and butter, Moohim's 3-4 saw teams they'd crushed in previous tournaments start to turn it up. Swilatia, a team they'd never beaten by fewer than there scores, came within a field goal of victory in Bradford. They gave up 20 points or more in half of their games after not giving up more than 13 through all of World Bowl III.

And yet, when the going got tough, the defense seemed capable of coming up with a big play. Alex Isabella became public enemy number one in several opposing locker rooms after his late-game interceptions. Kendrick Lynch would get around the end for a huge sack. But consistency, consistency, consistency... defense wins championships, but consistent defense builds dynasties.

Out of all the group draws, Dancougar's looks the easiest on paper. They will face stiff non-conference (I simply must call it that) competition from Green Wombat and Arroza, the latter being the juiciest contest the Wings will face in the first round. Unless, of course, you consider the chance to lock horns with the ladies of Cassadaigua more appealing.

"We're not looking past our first six games," said linebacker Kirk Manly. "We've only played the Dagans in the Charity Bowl and the others are completely unknown. That's the right formula for an upset."

I'm Hot 'Cause I'm Fly...

* Jim Zorn has to feel good about his team going into World Bowl qualification. After all, look at the final match they played in what was their tournament debut. If they defeat Qazox, then they've downed the defending champions and we start talking about one of the greatest runs in tournament history. Instead, they bowed out in double overtime, which still left an incredible impression on the casual fan and spoke volumes about the level of talent he had at his disposal. Now, Zorn is quietly confident about his chances and knows exactly what needs to be done to climb higher in the pecking order. "Last year, no one had any film on us," he said. "This year, they do. They're going to gear up for us because they expect a strong gridball match."

* In the inaugural Baptism of Iron, Prux defeated Australiah 13-10 after winning both of its matches to claim the pre-tourney title. The tournament was a good chance for the newcomers to assess their players, and while they were a little shaky at first, they showed sparks of brilliance. Especially telling was their opening play of the second half, when Jason Ware uncorked a 68-yard pass to Mark Conn which caught the Australiahns completely off guard. That swung the momentum in Prux's favor, and a long interception return set up Jesse Newton to pound home the winner. They face a tough test in having to tackle Arroza, Green Wombat, and Dancougar, but they'll be keeping Sarzonia's World Bowl IV run in mind when they take the field.

...You Ain't 'Cause You're Not.

* Prux will need to keep an eye on kicker Mark Ainey, though, who has already made a habit of missing extra points. Australiah was granted a comeback opportunity when he failed to convert Newton's score, making it a three-point game instead of four. Fortunately for the team, Australiah's field goal attempt went awry and then they were able to kill the clock, but Ainey's failings need to be addressed immediately. The teams they'll face in the group stage will not be as forgiving if Prux spots them points.

* As if QOX football coverage wasn't loud enough already, the network is adding new features to immense you deeper and deeper into the world of gridiron insanity. The What If simulator will isolate key plays and see how the game would progress if the outcome had been different, and the quarterback cam will make it feel like you're actually directing the offense. Word is that Dancougar has already agreed to use the cam when QOX covers Black Wing games, and I hope it turns out to be a little-used gimmick. Fans trying to get into the game are going to get put off by a camera which provides a restricted perspective, shaky motion, and limited context. I wonder what Mad Johnnen would say about all this.

Text/IM/Email/Voicemail of the Week

"Katie should've finished second."
~ Text from Drew Papes of the Stoneridge Post, covering the World Bowl draw

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

With qualifiers about to get underway, it's time to reboot the power rankings for the World Bowl's competing teams. With 32 entrants and so many of them first-timers, it's really a crapshoot at this point. But once we get into the swing of things, and especially once we get to non-conference play, we'll really see what some of these teams are made of.

(1) Dancougar
(2) Newmanistan
(3) Kura-Pelland
(4) Qazox
(5) Arroza
(6) Taeshan
(7) Vephrall
(8) Rennidan
(9) Sarzonia
(10) Lovisa
(11) Secristan
(12) Green wombat
(13) Cotenshire
(14) Prux
(15) Colbourne
(16) Australiah
(17) Bluth Corporation
(18) Scandinavian States
(19) Cassadaigua
(20) Tocrowkia
(21) Greal
(22) Peisandros
(23) Fujisawan Territories
(24) West Newmanistan
(25) Patetopia
(26) Serinite II
(27) Bushdome
(28) Lurikastan
(29) LeQuince
(30) Questille
(31) Kosovoe
(32) Rymeria

QOX WOLRD BOWL V Coverage

Breaking news, as QOX sports has announced the announcers for their coverage of Qazox' home games, as all ofthe away games will be done by Howie Strahan and Terry Johnson. The home games will be done by Mad Johnnen and Troy Buck. We even have a quote (warnign, may cause your ears to bleed), from Mad Johnnen:


I really like, BOOM, the the the the idea of the QB CAM. I mean, BOOOM! you can see the QB get sacked, here and BOOOOM! and then you can see the backside of the center and and and..BOOOM! .........


Fortunately the microphone exploded after that 4th boom.

In somewhat more important news, Qazox is currently rank only 4th in the Woohoo! Sports poll and the AMS Power 20, despite being ranked 2nd in the Elo Ratings and 3rd overall. QOX Sports.com has released the Fans Top 10, and unsuprisingly enough, Qazox sits #1, but a big suprise as to who is #2..

QOXSPORTS.com FAN TOP 10 POLL
#1: Qazox
#2: Kura-Pelland
#3: Dancougar
#4: Arroza
#5: Taeshan
#6: Secristan
#7: Vephrall
#8: Rennidan
#9: Green wombat
#10: Sarzonia

Fujisawan Territories Schedule

vs. Vephrall (Crosscom Global Arena)
vs. Taeshan (Crosscom Global Arena)
@ Questile
@ Vephrall
@ Taeshan
vs. Questile (Crosscom Global Arena)
@ Tocrowkia
vs. West Newmanistan (Crosscom Global Arena)
vs. Qazox (Crosscom Global Arena)
@ Cotenshire

The Fujisawan Territories went 7-3 in the inaugural World Bowl season, losing to Rennidan 26-16 in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, that was the last time the Territories had a team in a World Bowl season. After a three season hiatus, it’s now time for the fifth World Bowl season to start, and the Territories are back in it. This time it seems, the Hurricane is playing the role of underdog.

Oribaha “Baja” Hini has stepped up as an explosive force in the Fujisawan receiving corps, and looks to be a favorite target of new starting quarterback Sibura Hiton, who has replaced Koyo Takayama. The rest of the team remains largely unchanged, but this could end up hurting the Territories.

The schedule looks troublesome to head coach Ei’ichi Date, who says the chances of going 7-3 again are slim to none given the caliber of the Territories’ opponents. Facing Vephrall and Taeshan twice, and later Cotenshire and Qazox, the Territories find themselves in an uphill battle in almost every game.

As an offense oriented team, and with a weaker defense than last time around, the Hurricane defense will likely surrender a large amount of points. It will be up to Hiton and Hini to go the distance and win games.

Kevin Collins’ Mailbag

Kevin, man, I can’t get over this snub. Did you see it? A fan poll in QOXsports.com did not even rank us in the top 10! Having eliminated Qazox last time, you’d think their fans would be smarter then that. Jacob, Centralia.

I noticed it, and so did a lot of other fans. I checked out the poll, and indeed there it was. How in the world do their fans not think that we are amongst the top 10 teams in the World Bowl? I’ve always regarded their fans well, so this does surprise me, yes. Secristan and Green Wombat are in this list, but yet we aren’t. I asked around the office to see if maybe the poll forgot to include as an option on accident for their fans to vote for but one member who for some reason frequents that website and he said that Newmanistan was on the list. I sent a letter to the people at QOX Sports just out of curiousity sake, to see where we actually did finish in the poll. Stay tuned.

Sidney Goldman of Dancougar listed us second in his power rankings. What is your opinion on that? Shawn, South Tier

Sidney Goldman obviously watches more football then Qazox fans. He’s a good guy and knows what he’s talking about. His rankings look pretty good to me, obviously Dancougar is the favorite again. They’ve never been worse then third in a World Bowl.

Kevin, the Arrozan Ministry of Sport released an unofficial top 20 list in which we were placed third, I think that’s about right, what do you think? Jim, Olympia

The Arrozan list looks pretty good too, yes. Not a lot of difference between that and Goldman’s list.

Kevin, don’t you think you should make some kind of ranking list too? Nate, South Charlotte

Polls and rankings are very popular. Here’s my top 10, since so many of you seem to be clamoring for my opinion on the matter.

1) Dancougar
2) Arroza
3) Newmanistan
4) Kura-Pelland
5) Rennidan
6) Qazox
7) Taeshan
8) Secristan
9) Bluth Corporation (people seem to have forgotten about them after their hiatus)
10) toss up between Vephrall and Sarzonia so I’ll give you a top 11.

Kevin I am concerned about the loss of Benny Halvorsen at left tackle after his retirement. He was amazing, how big of a loss is this going to be? Jennifer, Putnam Lake

They say, and rightfully so, that the most underrated position in football is the offensive line. Well, I will take that a step further and say the most underrated position on the line is the left tackle. He lines up furthest away from the ball, but yet must be off the snap immediately. As opposed to the right tackle, he is protecting the quarterbacks blind side, and the side that doesn’t have support from the tight end in most typical play formations. Benny was a rock for us for four World Bowls, and he is going to be missed. Matt Campbell is a good replacement player, but he isn’t quite what Benny was. Let us also be greatful that Anthony Colanno, the right tackle, was talked into coming back for this, or else we’d have two rookie World Bowl tackles on the line.

Corey Parisi or Jason Yeilds? Robert, Southport

Well you cannot go wrong with either. They have both been very productive backs and both are World Bowl Hall of Famers. Corey’s not going to like this, nor will you probably, but you have to take into consideration that Newmanistan’s offense is more spread out while defenses can single out Yeilds a lot more and he’s still able to break the big gains. I have to say Jason Yeilds, sorry.

How much will Alex Foster be missed? Jillian, Pocono City

I still can’t believe this idiot got arrested in a nightclub. And now he might have more problems on his hands because I guess one of the girls he was seen going to the club with, was 15. (OOC: 16 is the age of majority in Newmanistan). His professional career is over. The Rockets will get by as they never solely depended on him. They have other weapons, and I expect Bywater to answer the call just fine.

What do you think about Brett Nicholson jumping ship to coach West Newmanistan? Adam, Loudon

For that country, and like the Empress I still don’t recognize that country under that name you said and I will not mention it in any of my work, it is a good pickup. For Nicholson, don’t come back to Newmanistan, got it? Good.

How much of an advantage will Newmanistan have with the knockouts all at home? Ralph, Tundra Falls.

Hope you got your World Bowl V tickets, Ralph. Well as we have seen in this football, and across the board in other competitions, host nations rarely win championships. Qazox got one in the Oxen Cup most recently and now look at them, they’re threatening not to have another once because of it. I’m kidding, Qazox fans. I have to make sure I say that since their fans didn’t know any better to have us in their top 10. Once you get the knockouts, all the teams are good, so home field advantage doesn’t really come into play. In fact, it can often lead to a lot of pressure on the home team.

Do you know that Ashley chick’s phone number from the group draw? Matt, Pocono City.

Actually yes. But anyway, why would I tell you?

Scoring: +2
Conversion: Logical
Stadium: Emperor Richard I Stadium (Located in the Imperial capital of Karita, it seats 150,000 people and has a retractable roof)

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Preference for TGs first
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but only with approval
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: No

Team
Team Name: Karita Unifiers
Head Coach: Stefan Sorensen (Sara Berserkers)
Offensive Coordinator: Ross MacLeod (Caitlin Blackwatch) [Smoke n' Mirrors]
Defensive Coordinator: George Potter (Shelby Lions) [Nickel Roving Zone]
Special Teams Coordinator: Kusanagi Hiroto (Hinata Tsunami)

Offense
QB1: Étienne Rousseau, #10 [6'3", 240lbs]; Rousseau has the legs to move inside the pocket, conduct designed QB runs, or scramble as the situation requires. He also has a cannon for an arm and the kind of accuracy that allows him to thread a needle 60 yards downfield, but isn't good at analyzing a situation when a play is broken. In such situations he has a running back mentality and tends to trust his legs.

QB2: Accursius de Camera, #5 [6'1", 210lbs]; Slighter in build than Rousseau, de Camera is the quintessential option quarterback. While a capable enough passer in the pocket, he really shines while on the move and giving the defense as many reads as he possibly can to open up the field.

LT: Lee Rho, #77 [6'7", 315lbs]; A rookie, Rho is the highest-paid left tackle in the league and in his opening campaign gave up only 3 sacks, which is a low rate for a rookie in the IFL.

LG: Kevin Abbot, #76 [6'3", 310lbs]; The veteran on the offensive line, Abbot is the steadying influence and quite possibly the toughest bastard in the league.

C: Iolana Nahaolelua, #75 [6'3", 300lbs]; Leader of the line, caller of blocks, and otherwise charged with keeping his QB(s) alive. Young, but smart and able.

RG: Alastair Cullen, #79 [6'3", 305lbs]; A late pick in the previous year's draft, he came into camp and quickly won the starting RG job despite being called a "prospect". Still could improve a great deal, which shows the potential for true greatness.

RT: Jean Paul Dupuis, #78 [6'6", 325lbs]; The second-highest paid tackle in the league, he gave only half a sack (!) the entire season despite being a rookie. Fans debate whether he could do this as a left tackle, but there's no doubt he produces where he's at.

RB1: Richard Brown, #23 [6'0, 230lbs]; The prototypical running back for the Imperial Football League, Brown has a somewhat heavy build and good speed (4.42 forty yard dash) that makes him the mainstay back for the run-heavy Shelby Lions. In the national team, he is the primary running option in spread sets that include a running back and the go-to runner in the heavy run formations.

RB2: Andries Haswell, #32 [6'4", 265lbs]; While the primary runner for his professional team, Haswell will serve as the battering ram of heavy sets and the go-to man in red zone spread sets and in ball control situations. While not an excellent receiver in any situation, the man is a nigh-on unstoppable beast when handed the rock.

RB3: Tanaka Akihiro, #22 [5'8", 185lbs]; Tanaka is the primary running back and returner for the pass-happy Hinata Tsunami. His small size is a detriment in a lot of situations, but his blazing speed [4.2 flat forty] means that given any space he is all but guaranteed to break a huge run. In kicking situations he is an absolutely lethal threat that has been known to be the sole reason for special teams coordinators losing their jobs (and winning the Tsunami games). Unfortunately, his small size means he is easily shaken by hard-hitting safeties and is a bit more injury prone than usual in between the tackles where dog piles are common.

WR1: Bran Cyncad, #81 [6'1", 220lbs]; The best receiver in the IFL bar none, his blend of size and speed makes him a hard match up against most corners. His almost infallible hands and willingness to go for any catch inspires awe and questions about his sanity (although never his heart).

WR2: Adharma Chamarajanagar, #80 [6'3", 215lbs]; Cocky to a fault, often with reason, Chamarajanagar is a slightly lighter and faster version of Cyncad. Often cited as a destroyer of team chemistry, he has nevertheless helped every team he has been on win an Empress' Cup

WR3: Theodore Koch, #19 [6'0", 185lbs]; Koch is blazing fast, although not quite to the level of obscenity that is Tanaka, and has excellent hands. On the other hand, he is well aware of his slight build (for a receiver) and at times seems hesitant to go for catches that he knows will put him in a position to receive a huge hit from a head-hunting safety.

WR4: Fredrick Aho, #84 [5'11", 210lbs]; Quick (although not fast in the straight line sense) and known for making stupidly acrobatic catches that other receivers would never think about, much less try, Aho is the perfect possession receiver. Because of his leaping ability and frame, he is hard for corners and even safeties to dominate without a double team and iron clad positional advantage. However, so long as the backer responsible for him is wary, he is not a home run threat deep downfield (just don't let him juke you out of your shoes, he's made a career out of YAC.)

WR5: Axel Oxenstierna, #88 [6'5", 245lbs]; A huge target, Axel is the only receiver who is a bigger threat than Fredrick in red zone passing situations. Neither fast nor particularly shifty, Axel's advantage is in his ability to gain position and post up for a lofted pass.

TE1: Arnheim Baum, #89 [6'4", 260lbs]; Baum is a pass-catching TE without peer, quite possibly the best to ever play the game. He holds every record for a TE in the IFL and registers on several all-time receiver lists. Not a great blocker, but also not for a lack of effort.

TE2: Jencin Rasmussen, #87 [6'4", 255lbs]; A better overall blocker than Baum, he lacks the stats of his senior because his native offense runs fairly often for an IFL team.


Defense
NT: 'Ele Kai, #92 [6'4", 355lbs]; A truly massive presence in the interior that more often than not takes at least two offensive linemen to block him, Kai is the kind of defensive tackle that every team fears because he makes those around him a far greater threat to the QB.

DT1: Klahan Suriyawong, #91 [6'6", 320lbs]; Probably the best 2-4-5 DT to play in a long while, Suriyawong often teams up with his partner-in-crime Lutsenko to take out opposing QBs.

DT2: Fedir Lutsenko, #90 [6'3", 310lbs]; Better at holding against the run than Suriyawong, Lutsenko is nevertheless a potent pass-rusher.

DE1: Fridgeir Pétursson, #97 [6'4", 290lbs]; Often used to set the edge against outside runs in his native D, Pétursson is athletic enough to get after the quarterback or even drop into short zone coverage.

DE2: Acyuta Patil, #98 [6'6", 290lbs]; Patril is the standard against which all 3-3-5 DEs are measured, at least when talking about pass rushing. Not as capable of penetrating against runs to the five or seven gaps as his teammate Pétursson.

ILB1: Andreu Vega, #50 [6'2", 245lbs]; Vega is the quintessential 2-4-5 ILB; smart, disciplined, and possesing a high motor. He is a passed master at chasing down outside runs and plugging gaps inside, but is not noted as an excellent pass-rusher.

ILB2: Ashraf Shafik, #51 [6'2", 250lbs]; Vega's young protege, Shafik is a lot of what Vega is not; wild, often overpursuing on the chase, but he does possess his master's drive.

OLB1: Ailín Rowena, #54 [6'3", 240lbs]; Rowena is a loud, passionate leader who gives a spark to his defense at the most important points in a game. Unfortunately Rowena is also prone to ebbs and flows in his game; one game he'll have six sacks and the next he'll be lucky to get a pressure.

OLB2: Ian McGonagall, #55 [6'4", 250lbs]; McGonagall is quiet while Rowena is vocal, smolders while the other blazes, is steady where the other dips and rises. However, in one important thing they are always similar; their sack totals are comfortably in the double digits season to season.

CB1: Kohei Satomi, #20 [6'2", 210lbs]; Kohei is a fast and aggressive corner with a sort of sixth sense that always lets him know where the ball is, with many of his picks coming in situations where other corners would give up touchdowns.

CB2: Ayumu Kohara, #21 [6'1", 215lbs]; Ayumu is not as fast or aggressive as his teammate Kohei, which often leads him to playing off his receiver a bit, but he has a knack for getting into the opposing QB's reads and setting bait for an ill-advised throw.

FS: Lì Zhao, #23 [6'0", 205lbs]; Leader of the "Shinobi Five", the group of five DBs tapped from the Hinata Tsunami to start for the national team, Zhao is a ball hawk par excellence and is also adept at calling assignments for one of the few roving zone defenses in the league.

SS: Hwang Dae, #24 [5'11", 205lbs]; A massively hard hitter, he has a reputation for delivering knockout blows to receivers attempting catches over the middle (to the point that there are rumors of unofficial stat keeping for the purposes of a betting pool).

RS: Muaz Saleh, #25 [6"0", 200lbs]; Saleh occupies a position unique to IFL nickels; that of Roving Safety. Part linebacker, part safety, part corner; rovers are one-man fire brigades who can do anything and Saleh is the best in the IFL at it.


Special Teams
K: Daniel Carpenter, #1 [6'2", 220lbs]; A rookie with a huge leg who became used to kicking in inclement weather during college, Carpenter has the accuracy to hit anything inside 50 yards and has the record to (maybe) hit up to 70 yards.

P: Gaius Vorenus, #2 [6'5", 235lbs]; Another big-leg kicker with the ability to regularly punt 45+ yards downfield. Unfortunately what he has in leg he loses in consistent accuracy in short-yardage punts.

KR1: Kohei Satomi, #20 [6'2", 210lbs]; Excellent straight-line speed and a go-for-the-throat attitude makes Kohei an extremely dangerous returner.

KR2: Theodore Koch, #19 [6'0", 185lbs]; Blazing speed and good field awareness give Koch the ability to take any return to the house if given a few good blocks and a clear lane.

PR: Tanaka Akihiro, #22 [5'8", 185lbs]; Tanaka is easily the fastest player on the team and he is also probably the quickest, which combined with his small size gives him the ability to pick his way in and out of coverage with extreme rapidity. Don't press him early on and come at him as a unit or expect a TD.

The Eagles performed better than expected in World Bowl III, and were only let down in World Bowl IV when they failed to live up to their hype. Riots in the streets of Taale-Voren and the surrounding districts killed thousands. More importantly, or at least as far as Taale-Voren governor Antoon van Stijck was concerned, they caused over £12,000 in property damage. Not the least of these outrageous acts of mob activity was the burning down of the St. Alphons Hippodrome.

Therefore for this World Bowl Lord Stijck reached an agreement with Lord Jyllyn to have the Eagles play in the city of Homdurung. So as to lessen the mob violence, the team will be rechristened the Homdurung Dolphins.

Games will be played at the Trøndsung Circus, a peculiar venue for a football team. This is because the bleachers are set up to accommodate hockey games, and are situated on top of the frozen waters of the Trøndsung Fjord. Unfortunately, artificial turf could not be acquired in time for the World Bowl, so players will have to tough it out on the ice. This venue will seat over 15,000 spectators once the new modifications are installed.

Reinald Hoopfen, the man who assassinated Coach Slues and usurped his position, decided that he did not want to travel to Homdurung and would be sitting out World Bowl V. The team voted that Jan Slues, son of their former head coach, will be the interim head coach.

With the change in name came change in uniform and logo. The roster remained the same, however, except for the notable addition of linebacker Valdemar Olavsson.



The Current Dolphins Roster (with starters in bold):

Head Coach: Jan Slues (filling in for Reinald Hoopfen)

Offense:

#5 Antoon Kerkrade QB
The best way to describe Kerkrade is a running back that passes occasionally. He is a mediocre passer but is as formidable on the ground as any of the backs. He is truly the greatest athlete on the team and is renown throughout the entire dominion for his athletic achievements. He is also an indispensable leader and the team’s play is greatly influenced by his presence.

#29 Boudewijn Geul HB, KR, PR, Backup QB
Small and fast, Geul can make good sweeps and catches in the backfield, but is not able to run up the field as well as Kerkrade or Zeist.
#36 Lambert Zeist FB
Zeist’s role on this team is a runner first and a blocker second. He should be considered as an extra halfback in many of the Dolphin’s formations.
#35 Willem Urkster HB
Urkster does not stand out in any area of the game, but he is a credible enough threat that the defense must consider him when he is on the field.

#18 Robrecht Wageningen WR
Wageningen is shorter than the ideal receiver, but he is second only to Kerkrade in speed. His greatest attribute, however, is his quick mind that is always aware of the positions of players and of the ball. His ability to read defensive backs makes him able to make plays when they would otherwise not be there.
#82 Tileman Waalwijk WR
Waalwijk is not as mentally keen as Wageningen, but he possesses just as formidable speed and is excellent with his hands.
#80 Eduard Vorden WR
While slower than the two starting receivers, Vorden’s height and hands make him difficult to defend against in the slot position.
#19 Henrick Laren WR
#84 Magnus Rinchem WR

#86 Theodor Hoorn TE
Hoorn is most useful to the team as a blocker. He has good hands for when catches need to be made, but he is slow even for a tight end.
#81 Huughe Schede TE

#70 Arnulf Woerden LT
The entire Dolphin’s OL is quite fast and athletic (or at least as far as OL players go). Their speed and strength are good for quickly getting up blocks on outside runs. The relative lack of size is sometimes a problem on inside runs.
#64 Michael Zierikzee LG
#52 Wolf Zutfen C
#50 Raynaerd Harlingen RG
#67 Frans Zwolle RT
#61 Jan Bolsward G
#72 Dirk Groenlo T
#68 Jaecop Mueller C, LS

Defense:

#62 Daevit Carwer LDE
Like the OL, the DL is somewhat smaller and more athletic than average. This has advantages, such as a deadlier pass rush, but powerful runners and OL can be problematic.
#95 Karel Franeker LDT
#77 Godfried Stavoren RDT
#79 Maertyn Drachten RDE
#98 Pieter Wesp DT
#90 Dirk Muiden DE
#75 Filips Zaltbommel DT
#99 Robrecht Zilmijk DE

#0 Valdemar Olavsson LB
Olavsson is the only new addition to the roster for this World Bowl. While it is not typical for players to wear the number zero, Olavsson wears it because he wants to and it is the only number he knows. Considered by many to be afflicted with insanity and severe mental retardation, Olavsson still possesses incredible physical talent and explosiveness. He is known to have tackled other players hard enough that they soon died of massive internal organ hemorrhaging. He is technically considered a linebacker for purposes of this roster. However, he sometimes lines up at the wrong position and the players will just let him play there for that down, fearing that they will anger him if he is corrected.
#97 Kristof Vlissingeln SLB
Vlissingeln’s main duty is stopping runners that get past the defensive line. He is also good against outside runs and is skillful at shedding blocks. The downside is that he is rather useless in pass coverage.
#91 Coenraad Buren WLB
Like most of the team, Buren is small but fast. He is good in both pass coverage and pass rushing, but is lacking in tackling ability.
#54 Brunulf Delfzijl ILB
Delfzijl mainly covers the middle of the field against passes and often is paired with the tight end. He will also stop runs that come through the middle.
#96 Gerrit Hoogeveen OLB
#58 Simon Leuven OLB
#92 Berthold Tienen ILB

#46 Ysbrecht Roeselare CB
Roeselare is infamous for his ability to bump receivers and disrupt their routes.
#39 Otto Kortrijk CB
Kortrijk is a very well rounded corner who is competent at a variety of coverage schemes.
#48 Detner Menken CB
Menken may not be as fast as Kortrijk or Roeselare, but his ability to quickly change directions makes him proficient in man coverage. He is known for his ability to deflect passes with his quick hands.
#25 Jan Morgener CB
#31 Jacob Godaat CB
#21 Floris Oosterhout SS
Oosterhout provides extra help in pass coverage and his speed enables him to keep up with receivers on downfield routes.
#30 Emich Genk SS
#45 Bruno Seraing FS
Seraing orginally tried out for the defensive end position, but Coach Slues felt he was better suited as a safety. His big hits jar the ball loose with alarming consistency, and he frequently prevents receptions just by slamming into receivers before they can secure the ball.
#37 Baldewin Diest FS

Special Teams:
#7 Godfried Dillijk K
#11 Guij Haageo P


Team Helmet: http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/2707/helmetle2.png
Team Uniform: http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3734/uniform2lz9.png
Location of Homdurung: http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/8673/homdurungti8.png
Team Logo: http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/323/dauphincd8.png

Offense/Defense Modifier: +1
2 Point Conversions: Logical

Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: Yes (although I need to approve if the injury would result in the player(s) dying/incapacitated for longer than World Bowl V lasts)
Godmod "other" events: Yes within reason

(ooc to Newmanistan: #11: Newmanistan, by 0.02% of the vote of over 102,153 voters or about 16 votes total)

..::INN Sports Extra::..
National Team Finishes BoI Undefeated

In a seeding tournament precursor for teams new to World Bowl V, the Imperial national team finished a solid 2-0 and a mere 13 combined points behind the second place #2 ranked team. When asked about the depressingly low scores, quarterback Étienne Rousseau had this to say, "We barely even cracked the playbook open and only then in response to opposing scoring drives. A lot of times we were giving our opponents looks that only a few of us have run since high school and certainly not since college. Look back to the game with Tocrowkia; they're held to three points most of the game, then their Mikel Westin manages to slip between coverage and take one home. Satomi gives us a good return and what happens? We break out a disguised three RB set, with Akihiro in the slot, bring him into a motion sweep, and run the option to the right side. A very basic play, and yet it goes for a 65-yard score. I don't mean to sound arrogant or disrespect our future opponents, but teams better learn to adjust fast or we're going to be blowing people out when we kick the lid off the Box."

Expanding on the subject, and playing the bulletin board card, the always quote-ready Ailín Rowena had this to say, "We go undefeated in the BoI. We score the first time, every time, we even crack open the playbook; who the hell runs a straight offset I anymore? We hold our opponents to a TD and junk field goals in both games. Yet these Qazox news fools have us going 3-6-1 in qualifiers? Do they suppose we've never played football before? Even highlight films from the IFL would clue them in a bit as to the level and quality of play. Then these Woohoo! Sports clowns have us rated 18th, although at least they had the decency to rank us ahead of teams we've beaten. Then back to the QOX fools, joined some reporter from Newmanistan, have our next opponents rated as a top ten team. Respect to the Sarzonians, because they're good people and they play good ball, but after my defense has our way with them I expect we'll be in the top ten."

Rowena left off with a confused shrug and a warning, "Oh, and don't go to Charms (wide receiver Adharma Chamarajanagar) for a quote. Dude's got those articles posted all over his locker and the last time I was around there he was muttering something about 300 yards. He gets into a zone like that and he can be a bit intense."

SDOS THINKING BIG

World Bowl IV was a fantastic time for our team with many great moments. Images of Stacie Johnson’s game-winning catch in a game against Swilatia still are alive and well in our heads. After that run, many players were able to sign endorsement deals, but the big winner was Stacie Johnson of course who signed with everything from a lingerie company to a large auto insurance company. Quarterback Tom Mitchell and running back Chris Hausler also experienced much financial benefit afterwards, with Hausler even being offered a part-time ride in a stock car for a couple months. That gimmick worked very well for the track owner, who saw their revenue in crease by 250% even though Hausler had an average finish of 17.5 in the 24 car series. He did manage one top ten, at least. Two of Mitchell’s girlfriends had kids over the last two years, raising his estimated count now up to eight, we believe. Tom would probably be in much more financial difficulty if he lived in a country that had child support laws for all citizens. Unlike Secristan, where if a man makes considerably more then the women, he is exempt from the law. It wasn’t all a great off-period for the entire team. Safety Kellen Venter was arrested for being an accomplice in an arranged assault of a Lakeland man, but only served two months of his sentence before being released on good behavior. Depth wide receiver Steve Browning is presently in legal hot water after allegations that he has been cheating on his income taxes. That case is still pending, and Browning is being permitted to participate on the team. His lawyer adamantly states that his client is innocent. Of course he does, you don’t expect the lawyer to say oh yeah my client is guilty, we’re just going to try and find a technicality and exploit it.

The Secristan Department of Sports is very excited about the World Bowl as they believe that the team could have an extended run. There are 32 teams participating, which have been put together into eight groups of four. Secristan’s ranking of eight makes them the top overall seed in the group against rivals Colbourne, Australiah, and Bushdome. All they have to do is finish in the top two of those teams, and that seems very likely. Colbourne may be the biggest threat, but Australiah did finish second in the recently completely Baptism of Iron. Speaking of Baptisms, we have some familiarity with the nation of Bushdome, having played them during the Baptism of Fire in soccer. All of the teams in our Group G will have a one-time runthrough the nations of Group H, and this will be where some of our tougher games take place. Kura-Pelland is the big name opponent while Lovisa will also be very challenging. The SDOS is also expecting to generate a lot of revenue in the game against Peisandros by hyping up what that country recently did in the World Cup. Then there’s Patetopia. Nothing too much is known about them yet. Should they advance, the Millionaires would be playing a Group C team in the first round of knockouts which will probably be either Rennidan or the Bluth Corporation. Likely it will the drum and buglers, but we’ll have to see about that. Here is our official schedule:

MD1- vs Bushdome
MD2- at Australiah
MD3- at Colbourne
MD4- at Bushdome
MD5- vs Australiah
MD6- vs Colbourne
MD7- at Kura-Pelland
MD8- vs Lovisa
MD9- vs Peisandros
MD10- at Patetopia

Bushdome Times

Eat the rich! (not really as its naughty, but beat them in sport atleast!)

All of Bushdome is in anticipation at the thought of the Bushdome vs Secristan match. You may of been forgiven if you thought that this was a world cup match, but its not this is mearly the first match of the World Bowl. The often overlooked sport is now proving to be extreamly popular, we contacted the minister of sport W.Schuck (the tsar's brother) to ask if he had anything to say on the matter. He expressed to us his joy that this sport if finally taking off in Bushdome, he also wishes to send out a message to those fans traveling to the games. The message is simply to have fun and drink as much as possible, whilst doing so make sure you fly the Bushdome flag from every hotel and car window.

Although W.Schuck is happy with the news we feel it will be short lived as, one theory why Bushdome has gone World Bowl crazy is that we are playing an old foe, Secristan. We last met them in the Baptism of Fire cup not so long ago, where both sets of fans clashed with the Bushdome fans coming off better off. So only time will tell if this is a new sport which the population will hold dear to their hearts or if its another fad like the crazy badger. Untill we find out here is the fixture list for all of Bushdome's games:

Match Day 1
Bushdome @ Secristan

Match Day 2
Colbourne @ Bushdome

Match Day 3
Australiah @ Bushdome

Match Day 4
Secristan @ Bushdome

Match Day 5
Bushdome @ Colbourne

Match Day 6
Bushdome @ Australiah

Match Day 7
Bushdome @ Patetopia

Match Day 8
Peisandros @ Bushdome

Match Day 9
Lovisa @ Bushdome

Match Day 10
Bushdome @ Kura-Pelland

As the start of World Bowl V drew near, the Bluth Corporation team was wrapping up its preparatory meetings. Most observers were expecting their opening game against perennial doormat Kosovoe to be a runaway, but everyone on the team knew that would only happen if they showed up prepared to play. Gameplanning had become essential in today's football, to the point where one coach had calculated that every twelve man-hours of mental preparation above what the other team did was worth an extra point on game day.

Getting game film of the Kosovoe team had proven more difficult than expected, so the coaches found themselves relying on reputation and numbers to a greater extent than they would have liked. "We're kind of nervous, to be honest," admitted head coach Jamie Farr. "The numbers only tell you so much; it'd be nice to be able to see their guys in action a bit more."

Still, the mood was light and cheery in the team's hotel. Despite their own reservations, the coaching staff had done a great job convincing the team they were ready to blow out Kosovoe's squad. No one wanted to party too heartily just yet, but there was plenty of food to give the big guys all the energy they would need for the next day's fight. "WE'RE READY TO GO OUT THERE, JUST UNLEASH US AND WE'LL DO THE REST" shouted a hyped-up Chase Allen, one of the starting tackles in the team's 4-3 defensive package. Quarterback Cain Wells was more reserved, remarking that "It's not a good idea to get pumped up this early. It's not even game day yet. Two, maybe three hours before the game is the time to do it, so you don't peak too soon and crash too early. Now's the time to rest and relax, calm the nerves and maybe play some poker. Tomorrow, that's when you'll see me jumping off the wall."

But regardless of the mood, it was obvious that this was a confident team, ready to make some noise in the tournament and expecting to win a lot.

The Homdurung Post put up the following professional analysis of World Bowl V in their issue immediately preceding the first match day:

In our continuing effort to support the Dolphins in this year’s World Bowl, the Homdurugn Post has once again assembled a group of talented experts in the field of sports for the most reliable analysis you will be able to find anywhere. Last week we laid out the basic rules of the game of football, and this week we will focus more on the teams. We have again sought the expert advice of Harald Slues and Pieter van Kindeln, who have both spent their lives immersed in hockey and more recently football. In addition, we have also contacted another group of experts who have provided their predictions for the group stage.

Pieter van Kindeln: What an exciting event this is. I love the group draws, and the Baptism of Iron was quite a thrilling tournament to follow. We will be seeing the greatest World Bowl yet, folks.

Harald Slues: Yes Mr Kindeln, I am confident in that as well. But before we provide out own analysis, let us have a look at the printout provided to us from other analysts that could not be with us today.

Group A W L
Questille 6 4
Vephrall 4 6
Taeshan 3 7
Fujisawan Territories 3 7

Group B
Cotenshire 10 0
Tocrowkia 8 2
Qazox 5 5
West Newmanistan 1 9

Group C
LeQuince 8 2
Kosovoe 5 5
Bluth Corporation 4 6
Rennidan 3 7

Group D
Scandavian States 7 3
Lurikastan 7 3
Newmanistan 4 6
Sarzonia 2 8

Group E
Arroza 7 3
SeriniteII 7 3
Green Wombat 4 6
Prux 0 10

Group F
Rymeria 7 3
Cassadaigua 6 4
Greal 5 5
Dancougar 4 6

Group G
Bushdome 8 2
Secristan 6 4
Australiah 5 5
Colbourne 3 7

Group H
Peisandros 6 4
Kura-Pelland 5 5
Patetopia 4 6
Lovisa 3 7

PK: I must say, these are quite marvelous forecasts.

HS: Yes, indeed they are, but for my enlightenment and that of our readers, it ought to be explained how they came up with this list. I understand that you know several of these men.

PK: I do. Most of them at least. They are some of the greatest men in the history of sports analysis that composed this list, and I would be quite shocked if the group stage did not turn out to look somewhat like this. What they did was observe and analyze the rosters of every team in the competition. They then assigned several scores to them based on various attributes, for example, the strength of their linebacking corps. Then, these scores were entered into a complex piece of software that I do not myself fully understand, but it was so state-of-the-art that it could only work on a Windows 98 system.

HS: You mean this list was created with the aid of a computer?

PK: Yes, I was surprised when I heard that they had managed to acquire a computer for this. And that is why these are to be the most trusted scores of any analyst that you will find. Computers use electricity, and therefore calculate at the speed of light.

HS: I see. These predictions seem quite beyond reproach.

PK: Indeed they are, but let us explain them to our readers. Let us take a look at the group leaders. Questille leads Group A. I personally would have expected Vephrall to win this group, but I cannot argue with the computer. I suppose the circuits see Questille’s fast defense as the key to their success.

HS: The winner of Group B is our very own Dolphins, of course.

PK: Yes, that should be obvious. No one can stop Kerkrade. The only reason we did not win the last two World Bowls was because of the cheap tricks and cruel villainy employed by our opponents.

HS: No Jew will cast a spell on us this time. I hear that there is a citizen militia being formed to prevent any Jews from entering the bleachers.

PK: Yes. More surprising however is LeQuince, the projected winners of Group C. Like Questille, LeQuince seems to have a fast defense, and it helps that there are no outstanding teams in their group.

HS: In Group D we have both the Scandavian States and Lurikastan having the same record, but the computer gave the tie breaker to the Scandavian States.

PK: Yes. I believe that the Scandavian States will be great surprises in this tournament, as will Tocrowkia, since they exemplify the vigour and strength of men with pure Nordic blood.

HS: It looks, Mr Kindeln, like the computer had to perform another tie breaker in Group E.

PK: Yes, between Arroza and Serinite II. Serinite II will surprise many people I believe, but in the end its just Arroza’s experience that will pull through for them. And they seem to turn out an elite team in every World Bowl.

HS: Now this next one is rather shocking. In Group F, the computer predicts that the defending champs, Dancougar, will go down in last place to three relatively unknown teams.

PK: Not surprising, if you think about it. The Black Wings will not have receiver Jermaine Divalerio on their roster this time. As you remember, Divalerio was the Jew who cast a hex upon our team and, presumably, every other team they faced. Without him, they will have to beat their opponents based on merit instead of wickedness.

HS: But why is Rymeria the winner of the group?

PK: Well, Rymeria is just an all around great team. They will play very consistently, and will not turn the ball over. They may not have any outstanding stars, but sometimes stars hurt their team through distractions. Rymeria will play with tenacity and consistency, and that is what you need.

HS: And looking at Group G, the computer has selected Bushdome as the winner. This is quite the obvious choice, since Bushdome has a great offensive line and a great defensive line. They will be dominating the line of scrimmage on every play.

PK: The computer has selected another relatively unknown team in Peisandros for Group H. I believe that this is because Peisandros is very well coached. They will come in with the motivation and their players will know the game plan backwards and forwards. In the end, ninety percent of the game is half mental.

HS: Yes, I suppose. Well, there you have it. I hope we have not spoiled the fun by telling you who will win, but with any luck there will be some surprises along the way. Now, let us go out for the Dolphin’s home opener on Matchday 3 as they take on the imps of Qazox.

(ooc to Cotenshire: only a computer running on Windows95 could have printed out predictions funnier.. (ooc within an ooc: I'm guessing that the 'accurate' predictions are the inverse of the 'real predictions?) ICly: Mad Johnnen has this to say about Cotenshire's chances of beating the 'imps'.. BOOM!)

WORLD BOWL V ODDS

The Secristan Department of Wagering has placed the following odds on the teams to win the World Bowl:

Dancougar (1:1)
Secristan (2:1) (OOC: A Secristani casino would naturally not place high odds on the home team)
Newmanistan (7:2)
Arroza (4:1)
Taeshan (4:1)
Qazox (5:1)
Kura-Pelland (5:1)
Rennidan (6:1)
Sarzonia (7:1)
Vephrall (10:1)
Cotenshire (15:1)
Lovisa (18:1)
Green Wombat (20:1)
Bluth Corporation (30:1)
Peisandros (40:1)
Prux (50:1)
Scandavian States (60:1)
Greal (60:1)
Colbourne (60:1)
Cassadaigua (70:1)
Australiah (75:1)
Fujisawan Territories (100:1)
Tocrowkia (150:1)
Lurikastan (150:1)
Kosovoe (200:1)
Patetopia (300:1)
Bushdome (300:1)
Serinite II (400:1)
West Newmanistan (400:1)
LeQuince (500:1)
Questille (500:1)
Rymeria (600:1)

Also, here is their official over/under for the amount of wins a team will see in the group stage:

Group A:
Taeshan 7.5
Vephrall 5.5
Fujisawan Territories 3.5
Questille 1.5

Group B:
Qazox 8.5
Cotenshire 5.5
Tocrowkia 3.5
West Newmanistan 2.5

Group C:
Rennidan 7.5
Bluth Corporation 6.5
Kosovoe 2.5
LeQuince 1.5

Group D:
Newmanistan 8.5
Sarzonia 6.5
Scandavian States 4.5
Lurikastan 2.5

Group E:
Arroza 7.5
Green Wombat 5.5
Prux 4.5
Serinite II 1.5

Group F:
Dancougar 8.5
Greal 5.5
Cassadaigua 5.5
Rymeria 1.5

Group G:
Secristan 7.5
Colbourne 5.5
Australiah 4.5
Bushdome 3.5

Group H:
Kura-Pelland 7.5
Lovisa 6.5
Peisandros 5.5
Patetopia 3.5

Steelers or Cardinals? Well, that's one score you'll have to keep waiting for.
For the others, here is your Super Bowl Sunday cutoff.

Group A:
Taeshan 16-3 Questille
Fujisawan Territories 13-27 Vephrall

Group B:
Qazox 34-8 West Newmanistan
Tocrowkia 10-23 Cotenshire

Group C:
Rennidan 20-6 LeQuince
Kosovoe 3-20 Bluth Corporation

Group D:
Newmanistan 27-7 Lurikastan
Scandavian States 17-20 Sarzonia

Group E:
Arroza 37-6 Serinite II
Prux 16-13 (OT) Green Wombat

Group F:
Dancougar 20-0 Rymeria
Cassadaigua 27-17 Greal

Group G:
Secristan 21-10 Bushdome
Australiah 3-14 Colbourne

Group H:
Kura-Pelland 23-7 Patetopia
Peisandros 16-20 Lovisa

Josh Turner: Good evening, and welcome to the Gridiron Report. I'm Josh Turner and alongside me is Ted Sanchez. We've got a great line up tonight, don't we.

Ted Sanchez: Yea, we do, especially since the World Bowl is right around the corner. Offensive coordinator for Lurikastan Vladimir Nuzofsky is coming on, and don't forget about the Titrex Keys to victory.

JT: Mmhmm, we are now joined by field reporter Lisa Chandler, in Sarzonia.

Lisa Chandler: I've just heard that Sarzonia has just put out a table with betting odds. According to what i heard we have a 150 to 1 chance of winning this thing.

TS: So, can you list the top five.

LC: Yea, I goes Dancougar, Secristan, Newmanistan, Arroza and Taeshan. It will be interesting to see how they do.

TS: Sure will.

JT: Now to Newmanistan where Lurikastani Offensive Coordinator Vladimir Nuzofsky has taken the time to be with us. Welcome to the show Vlad.

Vladimir Nuzofsky: Thanks.

JT: So, whats your plan going in to this one?

VN: Well on the offensive it's going to be a predominantly passing game. I'm also looking to call out many trick plays, alongside plays and formations that I've drawn up.

JT: So how does the team feel about custom play design.

VN: Actually, they do. All of em enjoy it, and I'm sure it'll be fun for the crowds. I have to get back to training. See ya.

JT: Ok, good luck.

VN: Thanks.

JT: Now for the Keys to Victory.

TS: Yes, I'm thinking that Lurikastan will have to be successful through the air to win this.

JT: Mmhm, we'll also have to not turn the ballover. You'll be suprised how that can make or brake a game. Well thats all the time we have for tonight you can visit us online at www.tnsn.lur/gridreport.

TS: And watch TNSN for the World Bowl opener Lurikastan @ Newmanistan Tomorrow at 2000 LST.

((OOC: This was last nights episode))


Lurikastan's Helmet Design:

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq41/Mafiastewe/LURHELM.jpg

Stars off on right foot, 20-17

KARITA, Scandavian States (ASP) -- The Sarzonian national gridball team was well aware of comments by Scandavian States in response to Qazoxian projections that predicted a 3-6-1 record and proclaimed Sarzonia was a top-10 team.

"After my defense has our way with them I expect we'll be in the top ten," said outside linebacker Ailín Rowena.

Sarzonian players quietly printed the comments and posted them on the bulletin board of the visiting locker room at King Richard I Stadium, then went out and proved why they were predicted as a top-10 team in some outlets, defeating Scandavian States 20-17 in front of a sold out crowd of 150,000.

"Those comments angered us," said quarterback Gavin Davis. He completed 18-of-27 passes for 268 yards, including a 17-yard strike to running back LoQuan Willard, who rushed for 152 yards and a 47-yard touchdown as the Stars (1-0) built a 14-3 halftime lead.

"We wanted to get out there and play our style of gridball," said coach Jim Zorn. "We weren't worried about improving our record from the previous World Bowl tournament. We just try to take each tournament on its own merits."

Scandavian States (0-1) rallied in the third quarter, scoring both touchdowns in the frame and holding Sarzonia to just 11 yards of total offence. However, the Stars counterpunched in the fourth quarter. Davis hit H-back Clark Hennessey for a 20-yard gain on third and 10 for a first down at the Sarzonian 36-yard-line. He then threw a screen pass to Willard that went for 16 yards.

Place kicker Adam Novak hit a 34-yard field goal with 8:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game, then Greg Blache's defence went to work. The Sarzonian defensive coordinator surprised most observers by showing blitz, then backing off into a zone, leading to a Chris Horton interception at the Sarzonian 19-yard line. From there, Davis completed six-of-eight on a drive that stalled at the Scandavian States five-yard-line. Novak hit a 23-yard-field goal to put the Stars back on top 20-17.

"We have all the confidence in the world in Adam," Zorn said. "After he hit some huge field goals for us in the last World Bowl, we felt we'd have no problems relying on him for a critical field goal."

Horton came up big again in the next Scandavian States drive, sacking quarterback Étienne Rousseau as he came on a safety blitz on second-and-eight from the Scandavian States 31. The 10-yard loss seemed to take much of the momentum away from the World Bowl debutants, who went three-and-out on the series.

"Chris made a big play for us," Blache said. "Give him credit."

The Stars then ran out the clock, securing the win.

"Any time you open with a win against a strong team away, it's a great way to start," Zorn said. "We expect Scandavian States will be a tough team."

Bushdome Times

Predictions and loss

Bushdome all smiled then wept as we were predicted to come top of our group in the World Bowl V. The nation smiled as we were gripped by the Bushdome vs 'The Millionaires' game. Millions tuned into the game, but just before news got round to most homes that we were pridicted to come top of our table. This only filled us with joy and false anticipation as Bushdome were beat by our rivals from the Baptism of Fire cup. But good news came breifly after the match when Russell Skinner (team coch)annonced that the losing is now behind us! "I feel that, this game was mearly a warm up for us. Now I know that the country was gripped by the last game as it was against a rival but please continue to support the team and i know together we can not only be the best team in our group but also lift the trophie."

Inspiring stuff, we shall soon see if his words have encouraged the population to continue their support. We mnust also watch our teams fortunes and see if Mr Skinner loves upto his promise.

MILLIONAIRES OPEN WITH WIN

In a game that Secristan was expected to win, it’s good to see that they did exactly that. It was a match against Bushdome, a country which we haven’t seen since the Baptism of Fire but it certainly brought back memories of those days. Bushdome fans seemed a little taken aback with the way our fans were seen tipping the tax collectors of Cafundeu extra money in front of the Bushdome fans that were complaining about such taxes. It was arrogance at its best or worst depending on your interpretation, and the groups of Bushdome fans did not appreciate this as some fights broke out. While Baptism of Fire rivalries have grown with Cassadaigua especially, as well as Myedvedeya, it might have been easy to forget about that particular incident since it had been a long time since the countries had seen each other.

There were not a lot of Bushdome fans that decided to make the trip to Secristan, likely because those that did were outbid in the ticket auction before the game. Though the ones that did looked to be more of the upper class and there were no incidents like we saw in Cafundeu. On the field, the Millionaires scored touchdowns on their first two possessions to take the early lead. The first was 13-yard touchdown pass from Tom Mitchell to the Blizzard, Brian Brissard, then later on Chris Hausler scored on a 27-yard run thanks to a great block by the right tackle Vinny Soprato. Without the block, Hausler gets taken down at the line of scrimmage and the team has to attempt a 45-yard field goal. Bushdome got a field goal late in the second quarter, then scored a touchdown midway through the third to cut the lead to 14-10. They had some momentum going, and they nearly took the lead early in the fourth, but instead of going for a field goal they opted to go for 4th & goal from the 1 yard line, and young Ryan Blanchard came up with a big defensive stop. The Millionaires then drove 99 yards down the field, taking over eight minutes off the clock on a drive that would culminate in Hausler’s second touchdown run of the day, this a four-yard carry that put Secristan up 21-10, which would be the final score. The Millionaires will travel now to face Baptism of Iron runner up Australiah down under. It should be a good game, but the spread currently has Secristan as a 9.5-point favorite.

Tom Mitchell went a decent 14-for-25 on the day for 194 yards and a TD pass. He did not throw a pick. Chris Hausler ran for 114 on 23 carries, and Brian Brissard led all receivers with a modest 74 yards on 6 receptions, one being the touchdown. Fan favorite Stacie Johnson caught 5 passes for 52 yards.

Fitin Falcons Crush Questille

In yet another unsuprising stortline the Falcons knocked the team from Questille out of there own stadium with a 16-3 beatdown. The game was not as close as the score implies, the Falcons ran for over 200 yards, Gabe Martin threw for over 200 and the Falcons walked all over the home team. Next they face the Fujiswan territories wich is predicted to be another snoozefest. Hope to see you there.

The game started out with the only Questille points. There kicker scored from just under 30 yards on one of the easiest kicks ever written about. Thats when the Taehsnai team jumped to life, and started to attack. Ma Hope in his first game profesionally as a Falcon scored on a 55 yard rund on third and five to make it 7-3. Then Shawn Plank sacked the Quesille Quater Back in the endzone making it 9-3. Finally Martin found a streaking Ricky Zellefrow to make it 16-3.

OOC:Lets Go Cardinals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unsurprisingly, Bluth Corporation routed Kosovoe 20-3 in its opening game of World Bowl V. The game was so one-sided, in fact, that many of the Bluth Corporation players were disappointed that they weren't able to post a shutout. Even with Kosovoe's field goal (coming in garbage time), however, the win was big enough to give Bluth Corporation an early lead in Group C over Rennidan through the points differential tiebreaker.

Kosovoe won the coin toss and opted to receive the ball, apparently hoping to force the Corporation into a game of catch-up; they knew if BC was able to jump out to a lead early, their frightening pass rush would make any hopes of a Kosovoe comeback almost impossible. Their strategy might have worked, except they never got the chance to try it as Kosovoe's return man fumbled the ball after a vicious hit by reserve linebacker James Mason, who managed to recover the fumble and advance it to the Kosovoe 3-yard-line before stumbling.

Bluth Corporation only needed one play to score, a quick dump-off from Cain Wells to tight end John Burgess, who managed to lose the coverage in the goal-line traffic. For a moment it looked as if one of Kosovoe's linebackers might have been able to bat it down, but Wells had managed to put just enough zing on it to get it all the way to his man.

After taking advantage of a fortuitous break in such a convincing fashion, the Corporation attempted to establish its dominance with a two-point conversion. The play was designed as a run off tackle by William Williams, who had made a name for himself as a bruiser of a short-yardage back; however, it failed to materialize when center Robert Winkler stepped on Wells's foot before he was able to hand the ball off. Wells managed to hide his frustration as he jogged off the field, remarking that perhaps next time they should try that play out of shotgun.

There was no fumble on the next kickoff, as Kosovoe's returner kneeled it in the end zone for a touchback. On Kosovoe's first offensive play, they managed to bust off a 12-yard run that went straight up the gut; as a result, Bluth Corporation would play 8-in-the-box for almost the entire game. This opened up Kosovoe's passing game, enabling them to drive down to the Bluth Corporation 9-yard-line after just three more plays. From there, Kosovoe attempted a run to the left which was stuffed at the line thanks to the heads-up play of cornerback Sean Slade. Facing second-and-goal, the Kosovoe quarterback lobbed the ball to his #2 receiver on a short curl-route, who had managed to shake off cornerback Lamar Walden; but linebacker Braiden Rainey was able to cut underneath the receiver to make an interception. Rainey thought about bringing the ball out, but then thought better of it and took a knee in the end zone.

Bluth Corporation was unable to capitalize on the nick-of-time turnover. Their drive bogged down around midfield after a series of short runs from Richard Anthis and Sean Blakley, forcing Lamar White to come out and punt. It turned out not to matter, as the punt was downed at the six-yard-line and the Corporation's defense took advantage of Kosovoe's cautiousness to force a three-and-out after a total gain of just four yards. Taking over at the Kosovoe 48 after a decent punt return by Donald Deputy, the Bluth offense opened their third drive with a series of short throws to tight ends on crossing routes, hoping to open up their deep-threat wideouts. However, bringing the defense in in this manner also had the effect of jamming the line on running plays. Stretch runs would simply draw the defense back out to the corners, forcing the Corporation to more or less abandon the run until they could get their long passing game going. The team was confident that their strategy would pay off later in the game, but in the meantime they were not able to get the ball inside the red zone, forcing a Devin Shipley field-goal attempt that glanced off the right upright.

The first half closed with another exchange of punts. With a six-point lead at the half in a game they felt like they should be dominating, the Bluth Corporation players headed to the locker room a bit nervous. But when they came back out on the field to receive the second-half kickoff, they were chomping at the bit. On the Corporation's first offensive play of the second half, it was apparent that their offensive strategy from the first half was paying off, as Wells threw a 33-yard strike to Erwin Winters to set up First-and-ten from the Kosovoe 47. From there, the inside running game opened up, as two runs from Sean Blakley gave Bluth Corporation another first down. Two quick dumpoffs later and it was 2nd-and-5 from the Kosovoe 21. It was at this point the Kosovoe introduced a new wrinkle, coming full-tilt at Cain Wells with a safety blitz that managed to overwhelm the protection for a six-yard sack.

Facing 3rd-and-11, head coach Jamie Farr wanted to open up a lead rather than settle for a field goal, and wanted to do so in a convincing fashion. Offensive coordinator Larry Linville called for the team to line up in the supposedly obsolete single-wing formation, with a direct snap going to fullback George Canaan. Canaan, a former college quarterback, had no problem finding a wide-open Norman Shade for the touchdown. As the Kosovoe defense left the field stunned and the home team fans stood aghast, the Bluth Corporation sideline was a volcano of cheers. Devin Shipley's extra point split the uprights perfectly, and just like that the score was 13-0.

Though their deficit was by no means insurmountable, the manner in which it had developed was enough to demoralize Kosovoe. They looked flat coming out, with an incomplete pass and a two-yard run that was more luck than skill. It was only after a spectacular catch for nine yards by the tight end that the Kosovoe offense started to pick up the pep. Kosovoe, in fact, managed to drive down to the Bluth Corporation 17, but were thwarted as their quarterback threw another untimely interception--this time to deep safety Chaz Livermore--prompting a chorus of boos from the Kosovoe home crowd.

Bluth Corporation would capitalize on this turnover, with an efficient 8-minute, 92-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Wells to Winters; a sure kick from Devin Shipley increased the lead to 20-0. From there, Bluth Corporation went into a prevent defense, giving up long clock-killing drives to Kosovoe, but stopping the long ball to neutralize quick scores that were Kosovoe's only hope of a comeback before time ran out. The Corporation's offense softened, too, as the second-stringers were sent in to prevent unnecessary injury to the starters. Kosovoe's lone score of the game came with 20 seconds remaining, opting for a field goal and sure points to avoid an embarrassing shutout rather than a risky attempt for a touchdown that, even if successful, wouldn't have been enough to win the game.

Follow Bluth Corporation's quest for football glory at their wiki page (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Bluth_Corporation_in_World_Bowl_V)!

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane struggle in Crosscom loss against Vephrall

HOJI, Iwosaka - The mood inside Crosscom Global Arena was rather gloomy for the sold out crowd on hand to watch the Hurricane in their first match against Vephrall. The Hurricane were crushed 27-13 in a woeful game for starting quarterback Sibura Hiton, who threw three interceptions on the day.

Okayaken Anenokoji hit a twenty two yard field goal late in the first quarter and the Hurricane weren’t able to score until late in the second quarter. With just over forty seconds remaining in the half, Hiton hit star receiver Oribaha “Baja” Hini for a seventeen yard touchdown.

An opportunistic Vephrall defense turned up the heat, and picked apart a weak Hurricane offense in the third quarter, with two of Hiton’s three interceptions coming on back to back Hurricane drives. Vephrall had little trouble handling the Hurricane O line and putting pressure on Hiton all day.

The Hurricane struggled mightily the rest of the game, on both offense and defense. The Hurricane offense could only muster a thirty three yard Munie field goal at the top of the fourth quarter and the Hurricane secondary kept getting burned late into the game.

“I know a lot of people want to place the blame on me, but we’re a team, and we all made mistakes that contributed to us losing,” Hiton lashed out at reporters at a post game interview.

“This is disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. Everybody has a part in this loss, and so for everybody to go out and grab their pitchforks and go on this witch hunt and blame me for everything- it’s just disgraceful,” Hiton said.

The Hurricane will face Taeshan at Crosscom Global Arena, and many dejected fans are anticipating another Hurricane trip to the slaughterhouse.

OOC: Go Arizona!

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4798/palmtreeiw7.jpg

Hallelujah, the World Bowl is finally upon us again! And the Tar Hornets started their march to the qualification rounds at Fletcher Field against the Newcomers of Serinite II. And a harsh introduction to the world it was, as Serinite was summarily rolled 37-6. Serinite won the toss, and chose to defer into the second half. On the opening kickoff, the Tar Hornets took the ball at the twenty yard line and drove it down the field to the five, before showing a little rust as the exchange between Baliss and Hailey was fumbled, and the Serinite LB fell onto the ball.

The Serinites marched back down the field, but were finally stalled out at the 27 yard line as Jackson batted down the short pass on third and one. So the Serinited had to settle for a field goal from 43 yards, a tough task for any kicker in the swirling winds of The Hive. The Hornets weren't discouraged, but were still warming up though as their next drive went deep into Serinite territory before losing the ball on a questionable fourth-and-two run call. A three and out later, the Hornets had the ball again and they would not falter, taking the ball in from 34 yards out on a punishing run by “Honest” Abe Chadwick.

On the next play from scrimmage, the Serinite QB drops back into coverage, and failed to notice the always dangerous Caron Saint-Marais. And faster than you could say, “You can put it on the Boaa-a-a-a-a-rd!” Saint-Marais took the ball back from midfield into the endzone, putting the Hornets up 14-3 and basically ending the game. Serinite tried to recover with a long return leading to another field goal. But on the next drive, Baliss showed that he's not just one dimensional. As the Serinites put eight men in the box to stop the run game, Baliss ran the play-action to perfection and hit a streaking Malone for a 58 yard bomb.

21-3 Arroza. Game Over Man. Game Over.

In the second half the Hornets padded their lead, with two touchdowns and a safety. But really the game was over at the half, and it was evident in the fourth quarter as the subs came in, and were successful as Lake Major scored the final touchdown of the game. The stats show the dominance as the Hornets rolled up 315 yards on the ground, with Chadwick leading the way with 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hailey added 91 in the secondary back role. Baliss got 144 in the air, and 30 on the ground himself in a good performance.

First Quarter:
4:25 - Serinite II Field Goal, 43 yd by K. (0-3)

Second Quarter:
10:09 – Arroza Touchdown, 34 yd run by Chadwick. Albrecht XP good. (7-3)
9:49 – Arroza Touchdown, Saint-Marais 46yd INT return. Albrecht XP good. (14-3)
6:45 – Serinite II Field Goal, 33 yd by K. (14-6)
4:47 – Arroza Touchdown, 58yd pass from Baliss to Malone. Albrecht XP good. (21-6)

Third Quarter:
13:00 – Arroza Safety. QB Sacked in Endzone by Lineville. (23-6)
6:09 – Arroza Touchdown, 8 yd run by Chadwick. Albrecht XP good. (30-6)

Fourth Quarter:
14:46 - Arroza Touchdown, 13 yd run by Major. Albrecht XP good. (37-6)

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Mad Johnnen; BOOM! And down goes Steve Gannon for the 8th time. You see here, BOOOM! David Reshks just swarmed around Nelson Labounty and BOOM! Reshks gets his 3rd sack of the game.

Troy Buck: That's the 8th sack for Qazox and the 3rd for Reshks. 3 Sacks by Reshks. Now West Newmanistan punts with :26 left on the clock, and Qazox can rest easy leading 34-8.

Mad Johnnen: The highlight of the game was Frank Vallens' 34 yd TD run in the 3rd quarter that made it 31-8. Look at the run. and BOOOM! he runs over Carl Nyszczy and BOOOM! jukes James Farrell and BOOOM! scores!

Troy Buck: 34-8 Qazox as Charles Hanneford takes a knee. A kneel down by Charles Hanneford ends the game. 34-8 Qazox wins. Now they have to travel to Tocrowkia, who lost to Cotenshire earlier today 23-10. For QOX, he's Mad Johnnen and I'm Troy Buck. Good night.

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
W. New. 0 0 8 0 8
Qazox 10 14 10 0 34

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: 38-yd FG by Tryone Chase 8:23. 9 plays-49 yds in 3:56. (3-0 Qazox)
Qazox: 17-yd TD pass Mathew Cottrill from Greg Dannen 0:27. 11 plays-82 yds in 4:16. (10-0 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
2nd Quarter:
Qazox: 62-yd TD pass Ivan Harvey from Greg Dannen 11:16. 1 play-62 yds in 0:12. (17-0 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
Qazox: 3-yd TD run by Jason DeHavel 0:43. 13 plays-77 yds in 5:10. (24-0 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
3rd Quarter:
W. Newmanistan: 26-yd TD pass Rodney Moynihan from Steve Gannon 9:23. 10 plays-80 yds in 5:37. 2-pt coversion: Run by Timmy Classen successful. (24-8 Qazox)
Qazox: 34-yd TD run by Frank Vallens 5:17. 12 plays-71 yds in 4:06. (31-8 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
Qazox: 29-yd FG by Tryone Chase 1:52. 3 plays-(-1) yds in 2:46. (34-8 Qazox)
4th Quarter:
NO SCORING

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 31/44, 369 yds, 2 TD
Frank Vallens: 13 rushes, 79 yds, 1 TD; 4 rec, 63 yds
Jason DeHavel: 7 rushes, 19 yds, 1 TD; 5 rec, 17 yds
Tony Aster: 5 rec, 73 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 9 rec, 94 yds, 1 TD
Ivan Harvey: 6 rec, 134 yds, 1 TD
Nate Sacimoni: 2 rec, 8 yds.

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 2.5 sacks, 1 FF, 4 tackles
David Reshks: 3.0 sacks, 1 FRec, 4 tackles
Richie Sola: 1.5 sacks, 7 tackles
Vic Alworth: 1.0 sacks, 1 INT, 6 tackles, 1 for loss
David Reed: 7 Tackles, 4 for loss
Jason Middleton: 5 tackles, 3 for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 4 tackles, 2 for loss
Mark Johns: 2 tackles, 3 passes defended
Greg Olsen: 3 tackles, 1 pass defended
Adam Politt: 5 tackles, 2 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended, 1 INT

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 2/2 FG (long of 38); 3/3 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 3 punts, Long of 52, 1 TB, 1 inside 20.
Adam Politt: 2 KO Ret, 46 yds; 7 Punt Ret., 42 yds.

Griffinville Globe

What a game! Trailing 10-3 with just 58 seconds left, Jason Ware lead the statesmen on a 8-play 71 yard drive capped by a 4-yard TD pass to Paul Mass to tie the game at 10-10. After winning the coin toss to start OT, Mark Conn took an endaround 59 yards to the Wombat 13 yardline. 2 plays later, Mark Ainey's 27-yd FG ended the game and the Statesmen earned their first World bowl victory, and their 4th overall.

Now the schedule gets tougher as Arroza, 37-6 winners over Serinite II; come to town. The Tar Hornets have one of the best offenses in WB history and the Statesmen defense will be tested. If Prux pulls off the upset, they will have the early lead in the Group.


SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 13-10 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat
MD5: Prux @ Arroza
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: Hurricane going nowhere fast

Hurricane head coach E’ichi Date and offensive coordinator Rai Lo are burning the midnight oil studying raw game film from Taeshan’s past World Bowl campaigns, and starting Hurricane quarterback Sibura Hiton was on the receiving end of a stern lecture from Date following the Hurricane’s 27-13 loss to Vephrall.

“I made it absolutely clear in no uncertain terms that we have a zero tolerance policy for immaturity and poor attitude. He’s been told just how close he is to being benched, and everyone on this team, Sibura especially, needs to man up,” Date said during a post game news conference.

“This is a team that went seven and three in their first World Bowl appearance. And now we have lost every last modicum, every last juicy morsel of respect that we ever had. I’m not going to let a few arrogant players sink this ship,” Date added.

It’s become painfully clear to everyone just how much at odds Date and Hiton are, and it seems everyone is quick to cast blame on anyone but themselves. The mere fact that the Hurricane are poised to implode after only one game speaks volumes about the incompetence of the coaching staff in escalating an already volatile situation, and the immaturity of the players in shifting blame. That one loss would devolve into petty infighting, and effectively serve to destroy our beloved Hurricane team from within, is a mind numbing wake up call that the Hurricane must chart a new course, and that a new Hurricane revolution must start in Crosscom Global Arena against Taeshan.

“Damn man, it’s like they’re on two different pages and all I’m trying to do is win a game,” Oribaha “Baja” Hini, the Hurricane go-to receiver said after the game. Hini was limited to seven catches for seventy three yards and a touchdown against Vephrall.

Date has expressed a lack of confidence in Hiton following two separate verbal outbursts on the sidelines after Hiton threw interceptions on back to back drives in the third quarter. Hiton has accused Date of being too critical of his play style, and claims Date has held a grudge against him dating back to domestic league play, a claim Date denies.

The critical issue now seems to be stopping the proverbial bleeding and preventing an all out civil war before anyone can even begin to entertain the thought of winning against Taeshan. The hope is that this can all be resolved before the players start to break off into different camps and start playing name games instead of preparing for games.

“The damage is done. The question is what are we going to do about it? More than anything, we need to put this behind us. Everybody has to accept the blame for the loss and we move on. Playing smart and working as a team against Taeshan will go a mile toward bringing this team back on track,” Date said.

That kind of hollow rhetoric just leaves Hurricane fans with more questions than answers as nobody sees Date as a beacon of unity. Will Hiton be benched? Is Date being too judgmental toward Hiton? Who will key players like Hini rally behind? Will the defense step up and admit their share of the blame? How can the team put this ugly loss behind them when the coaching staff themselves are a third of the problem?

Maybe we’ll get some answers when the Hurricane take on Taeshan in Crosscom Global Arena, but don’t hold your breath.

Statesmen Steal Opener 13-10

The wombats did everything right, except win. They held the Statesmen running attack to only 98 yards, but allowed 209 yds passing, including 71-yards on the final drive. And in OT, the 59 yd run by Mark Conn set up the winning FG. Other than Conn's run, Prux had only 39 yards rushing and looked over matched by the Wombats. But the key play of the game was an interception by Henry Jones, Jr in the endzone early in the 4th. If the wombats could have made at least a FG on that drive, Prux most likely wouldn't have been able to come back from a 2-score deficit.

Now the Wombats travel to Serinite II, in a battle to avoid an 0-2 start.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

There are a few characteristics that define a champion. The Wings did not exhibit all of them in their 20-0 opener against Rymeria, a game which saw the holders welcome an interplanetary rival playing in their first World Bowl. The Rymerians did not partake in the Baptism of Iron and appeared with uniforms devoid of name and number. Despite all that, their passion for the game and desire to compete were unmistakable.

The Black Wings knew that they could win. That they should win. But the Rymerians were the ones who looked like they actually wanted to win.

"The scoreboard doesn't always tell the whole story," said coach Will Moohim, who enters his fifth tournament with the Wings. "They had some good chances to turn that game around. There were a lot of times where we looked flat and vulnerable." There was no doubt from watching the game that the Wings had the skills and the talent. But you need to have heart, too.

The Rymerian defense came out swarming. Gary Hutchins only had five yards on his first six carries, and the first two drives by the Wings were three-and-outs. Dancougar's defense was likewise strong, and led to the game's first score when Scott Maxam jumped a short pass and took it inside the Rymeria 15-yard line. A short run and an incompletion brought up third-and-long, and another incompletion brought on Seth Cavallo for his first field goal attempt of the tournament. The kicker, indispensable in the previous tournament, gave Dancougar a 3-0 lead.

The Wings had a chance to extend the lead after they started to look a more like their usual selves. Hutchins started finding some holes and Fred Uselton hauled in a deep pass to set up the Wings inside the five. A team known for its physical style and running should have been able to punch it in. But Rymeria stood firm. On third down, Michael Hussey rolled right and tried to check to Logan Dublin. When that wasn't open, he turned inside and tried to run for the touchdown. No go. Cavallo made it 6-0.

"You have to push the line back in that situation and give your man a lane," said tackle Brooks Wolpe. "We thought we were starting to wear them down, and they found a second gear."

Near the end of the half, Rymeria started to drive and threatened to make the Wings pay for their inability to capitalize on early chances. It was only a one possession game. A calmly-directed drive saw the Wing defense picked apart with short passes to set up goal-to-go inside the ten. In this situation, a championship-caliber team steps up and creates a play. Sure enough, the next pass was read by lineman Kendrick Lynch, who stepped in front of the Rymerian receiver and picked up a convoy. The big man lumbered the length of the field to swing the momentum completely, turning a potential 7-6 deficit into a 13-0 halftime lead.

But rather than roll over, the Rymerians came out in the second half and continued to bring the same energy. "They came a long way to play this game," said Hutchins. "They weren't going to leave unsatisfied."

The game went back and forth with neither offense able to build a sustained drive. As the third quarter dragged on, the Wings started to push for the score that would put the game out of reach. The Rymerians couldn't catch a break. Three crucial penalties kept the drive alive. A championship-caliber team would take advantage of that charity. Here, the Wings faltered. A Hussey pass was tipped at the line and intercepted, breathing new life into Rymeria.

It was a roller coaster. The Rymerians went back to the air, having completely abandoned the run. The Wings were playing a zone defense that revealed plenty of gaps... and targets. Rymeria marched downfield methodically, as it was still just a two-possession game. One touchdown came back on a penalty, as the yellow flags plagued the Rymerians all night. Then, the pocket collapsed, and Roger Westervoorde forced a fumble that ended the threat.

The Wings closed the game out with an 85-yard touchdown drive that ended with Hussey to Billy Leuthold from six yards out.

"It took us awhile to start clicking," said Hussey. "Obviously they worked very hard on their gameplan, and we were a bit slow to work around that. But it's always like that. I mean, you start a new tournament, and every team out there has the ability to make some noise. There are a lot of legitimate contenders out there, and the only real way to prepare is to perform well in games like these."

So while their play on the field may not immediately reflect it, Dancougar's players know that even though the may be the two-ton gorilla sitting on top of the American football pecking order, this isn't the team that won the last title. There are new faces and correspondingly different strategies. The current Black Wings have to prove they're worthy of the respect earned by their predecessors.

Text/IM/Email/Voicemail of the Week

"All right! Yeaaaah!! That's beautiful, first down! Wha... FFFFFFFFUUUU..."
~ The guy behind the fourth wall
Something about a huge third down conversion and a holding penalty

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

(1) Qazox (1-0)
(2) Newmanistan (1-0)
(3) Kura-Pelland (1-0)
(4) Arroza (1-0)
(5) Dancougar (1-0)
(6) Vephrall (1-0)
(7) Taeshan (1-0)
(8) Rennidan (1-0)
(9) Sarzonia (1-0)
(10) Secristan (1-0)
(11) Lovisa (1-0)
(12) Prux (1-0)
(13) Cotenshire (1-0)
(14) Green wombat (0-1)
(15) Bluth Corporation (1-0)
(16) Colbourne (1-0)
(17) Cassadaigua (1-0)
(18) Australiah (0-1)
(19) Scandinavian States (0-1)
(20) Peisandros (0-1)
(21) Fujisawan Territories (0-1)
(22) Tocrowkia (0-1)
(23) Greal (0-1)
(24) Patetopia (0-1)
(25) Bushdome (0-1)
(26) West Newmanistan (0-1)
(27) Rymeria (0-1)
(28) Serinite II (0-1)
(29) Lurikastan (0-1)
(30) LeQuince (0-1)
(31) Questille (0-1)
(32) Kosovoe (0-1)

Playbook with Pieter van Kindeln

Today we will observe how the Dolphin’s defense utilizes the newest addition to their roster: Valdemar Olavsson. As the Nordics discovered today, Olavsson possesses inhuman speed and strength, and is very capable of drawing blood. However, we have also seen some of his drawbacks as a player, which are mostly mental in nature.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/761/baseformationzr8.png

First let us observe how Olavsson is used in the setup. Coach Slues has placed him at middle linebacker. This is because in this position Olavsson only has to look straight forward in order to see the ball. If he were to look at an angle, he might see the crowd instead and there would be the risk of it frightening him. He must also wear blinders to prevent him from seeing his periphery, since the other two linebackers might have to line up close to him depending on the formation. This would make him nervous, and he his highly dangerous even to his team mates when he feels cornered.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5282/passyh7.png

We also saw Olavsson being used in this package against the Nordics. When it is certain the offense will call a pass play, Olavsson can be lined up next to the defensive end as shown. The back will be unable to block Olavsson, and the shifting of the defensive line will prevent other lineman from picking up his blitz. The only drawback to this formation is that Olavsson will draw a “roughing the passer” penalty on about every other sack.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/6892/75571216kh6.png

While Olavsson is an extremely talented player, he often has mental lapses. This formation shows the setup that occurred on a few plays earlier today when Olavsson wanted to line up as a defensive end. Not much can be done in this situation, and the rest of the defense tried to make up for this mistake.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9895/lbtefa6.png

As we also saw, sometimes Olavsson forgets which team he is on. In this case, the illustration shows when he lined up as a tight end for the Nordics for a play. Nothing much can be done in this situation other than to just take the offsides penalty.

Those are the main points to look for when watching #0. As long as he remembers what the coach told him (“Get the ball once it starts moving.”) things tend to go well. I only hope we don’t see another instance of him tackling a teammate when an interception is made.



(ooc to Cotenshire: only a computer running on Windows95 could have printed out predictions funnier.. (ooc within an ooc: I'm guessing that the 'accurate' predictions are the inverse of the 'real predictions?) ICly: Mad Johnnen has this to say about Cotenshire's chances of beating the 'imps'.. BOOM!)

(OOC: Well actually they are randomly generated numbers in excel slightly modified so that they could actually be possible results. So its actually better than Windows 95 or 98 :).)

OOC: Damn steelers, grr.

First up loss no good

Peisandros has made an average start to their first World Bowl -- going down to Lovisa in a close game 16-20. The Sandrian quarterback struggled all game, giving away two picks and having a completion percentage below 50. He will need to vastly improve if Peisandros is to have any chance of getting through the early stages of this competition.

http://www.bcn.vf/sports/gridball/world_bowl/story.php?story_id=1409903

Qualifying round 1 in brief (or in boxers, or whatever you prefer)
by BCN.vf Staff

Vephrall 27, Fujisawan Territories 13 (Crosscom Global Arena, Hoji, Iwosaka, Fujisawan Territories)
A comfortable win for the Auric Wolves on the road, made possible by two touchdown passes from Crublig Claspung (since when did he do multiple TD passes in a game? Ceedast must be making good on his word to air it out a little more this time around).
Point of interest: This was one of what BCN.vf analysts predict will be relatively few games in the first two rounds of qualifying that does not feature somebody making a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. Sytrobes Pevonsont's TD grab, though? Yeah, that one was sweet. But he was wearing a white and gold uniform and not red, though, so that one totally was not a ripoff. (And his uni number is a coincidence, we swear.)
Player of the game: Vephrall QB Crublig Claspung (18/27, 215 yds, 2 TD)
Next up: Vephrall (1-0) @ Questille (0-1); Fujisawan Territories (0-1) vs Taeshan (1-0)

QAZOX TOO MUCH

Qazox- In his return to World Bowl coaching, Brett Nicholson saw a familiar thorn to his coaching resume. Brett coached the Newmanistan side from World Bowls one thru three, a side that could never advance past the quarterfinals, and the would lead to his dismissal. His World Bowl career seemed over, but then came this highly controversial opportunity.

When Brett learned that the occupied territory of the rebel democratic regime had taken over a formerly peaceful land to the northwest of Newmanistan wished to also participate in the World Bowl, he submitted his resume. He knew it would be controversial and that he probably coulod never coach and in the Empire itself again. That didn’t matter to him because Nicholson had always been a believer in democracy. The rebels that have taken over this land and declared that it would go underneath the name of West Newmanistan were not out to hurt anybody. There has not been a war on their land. The Empress is nervous, but as to date, there are only threats between the countries. Empress Jessica refuses to call the country as West Newmanistan, but that’s ok, Nicholson can stay out of politics. This was his opportunity to get back into coaching. He was confident that his resume would be accepted, and sure enough it would be. Brett was back coaching in the World Bowl.

Unfortunately, Brett has no John Pivonka. There is no Corey Parisi or Christian Gagnon. He has a group of natives of this land, called the Golden Eagles because they represent freedom from the Empress and true meaning of democracy. He had a quarterback named Steve Gannon and he seemed to have a pretty good arm. The featured running back, Timmy Classen, looks very impressive. He’s a shifty running back, and could be like Corey Parisi if he could rid himself of that fumbling problem. Michael Costigan seemed like a very good tackle, overall the offense didn’t seem to bad. His defense he hoped would have a few playmakers, but this would perhaps be the weakness of the team. He knows that the Golden Eagles will be an underdog, and that it is very unlikely that the team will make any noise in Group B. That’s fine. The victory is the ability to compete, and for Nicholson, the ability to coach at the international level once again.

The first opponent would be Qazox, in Qazox. The last time Qazox had played an international gridiron game, they were eliminated by the Rockets in the knockouts of World Bowl 4. He tried to view game tape and thought he would have a good strategy. And he probably did. He just didn’t have the personnel he needed to execute it. The Pheonix were in no mood to be sympathetic either, as they quickly jumped out to a 10-0 lead on their first two possessions, and broke it open to 24-0 at halftime. In the third quarter, they got one drive together, with Steve Gannon hitting Rodney Moynihan in the end zone for 26 yards. A successful conversion made it 24-8, but the Phoenix were not worried. They got it right back quickly, and would not allow the Golden Eagles to have any sustained drive afterwards. The score ends up being 34-8. They will be hoping for better in the first ever game in West Newmanistan, against Cotenshire.

-1 RP point for everyone who includes a 100yard INT return for a TD in their RP. (I'm kidding!) Cutoff.... just like the Cardinals Super Bowl dreams.

Group A:
Fujisawan Territories 10-9 Taeshan
Questille 10-20 Vephrall


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Vephrall 2 0 0 47 23 24
2 Fujisawan Territories 1 1 0 23 36 -13
3 Taeshan 1 1 0 25 13 12
4 Questille 0 2 0 13 36 -23


Fujisawan Territories ahead of Taeshan due to H2H result

Group B:
Tocrowkia 17-34 Qazox
West Newmanistan 3-23 Cotenshire


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 2 0 0 68 25 43
2 Cotenshire 2 0 0 46 13 33
3 Tocrowkia 0 2 0 27 57 -30
4 West Newmanistan 0 2 0 11 57 -46


Group C:
Kosovoe 14-12 Rennidan
LeQuince 7-17 Bluth Corporation


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Bluth Corporation 2 0 0 37 10 27
2 Kosovoe 1 1 0 17 32 -15
3 Rennidan 1 1 0 32 20 12
4 LeQuince 0 2 0 13 37 -24


Kosovoe over Rennidan due to H2H result

Group D:
Scandavian States 10-20 Newmanistan
Lurikastan 20-24 Sarzonia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 2 0 0 47 17 30
2 Sarzonia 2 0 0 44 37 7
3 Scandavian States 0 2 0 27 40 -13
4 Lurikastan 0 2 0 27 51 -24


Group E:
Prux 6-27 Arroza
Serinite II 0-24 Green Wombat


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 2 0 0 64 12 52
2 Prux 1 1 0 22 40 -18
3 Green Wombat 1 1 0 37 16 21
4 Serinite II 0 2 0 6 61 -55


Group F:
Cassadaigua 7-20 Dancougar
Rymeria 10-7 Greal


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 2 0 0 40 7 33
2 Cassadaigua 1 1 0 34 37 -3
3 Rymeria 1 1 0 10 27 -17
4 Greal 0 2 0 24 37 -13


Group G:
Australiah 3-30 Secristan
Bushdome 20-17 (OT) Colbourne


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 2 0 0 51 13 38
2 Colbourne 1 1 0 31 23 8
3 Bushdome 1 1 0 30 38 -8
4 Australih 0 2 0 6 44 -38


Group H:
Peisandros 10-16 Kura-Pelland
Patetopia 27-24 Lovisa


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 2 0 0 39 17 22
2 Patetopia 1 1 0 34 47 -13
3 Lovisa 1 1 0 44 43 1
4 Peisandros 0 2 0 26 36 -10


Patetopia over Lovisa due to H2H result.

Stars turn into cardiac kids

SALO, Lurikastan (ASP) -- For a Sarzonian national gridball team that lost its final match of World Bowl IV in double overtime after winning the previous one by a field goal, each of its two matches in World Bowl V qualifying have gone down to the wire.

Stars quarterback Gavin Davis eluded intense pressure before throwing a checkdown pass to running back LoQuan Willard, who juked and faked his way to a 27-yard touchdown reception with 58 seconds left that provided the winning margin and Sarzonia defeated Lurikastan 24-20 in front of 186,527 at The Golden Greens.

"We just do what we have to do," an exhausted Davis said after the game. "We were facing third and 17 [on the winning touchdown drive] and a field goal wouldn't have done us any good. Getting sacked would have hurt."

Lurikastan's pressure also hurt Davis. The Texans sacked Davis five times for a total of 41 yards, forced three fumbles (two lost) and picked off two passes. The Texans also held Willard to 88 yards on 27 carries, but he plowed in from the one-yard line to cut the Lurikastan lead to 20-10 just before halftime.

"I'm not pleased with the way we played the first half," said coach Jim Zorn. "However, our guys responded well in the second half. We're going to need to play that way for 60 minutes against Newmanistan."

Davis finished the day completing 14-of-27 for 216 yards and the touchdown to Willard. He also rushed four times for 17 yards and a four-yard touchdown run after faking a handoff to Willard on fourth down, cutting the Lurikastan lead to 20-17 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

"I figured they'd key in on Willard and try to stuff the middle. I figured the right side would be open," Davis said. "That's why I audibled to that play."

The Stars (2-0) play their first home game at Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock against the world's No. 5 ranked Rockets. Newmanistan lost 38-26 to Dancougar in the World Bowl IV final, but that didn't deter Willard or defensive coordinator Greg Blache.

"We faced Arroza and Vephrall in our group last time out," Willard said. "We faced Qazox in the second round at their house. We ain't scared of nobody. We respect 'em but we ain't scared of 'em."

"They present a lot of matchup challenges," said Blache. "But we're going to get in there and watch a lot of film and hopefully something's going to come up that we'll be able to use. It's a fascinating matchup."

Meanwhile, the Stars play their next three matches at Hendrix Stadium after opening with their first two matches away from home. Zorn said he's encouraged by his team's performance away.

"You get two away wins against quality opponents, it's huge," he said. "This is turning out to be a tough group, so you need the wins whenever you can get them." Would it be the World Bowl equivalent of the Group of Death?

"I don't know about that designation," Zorn said. "I'm sure a lot of other groups are tough in their own right. But ours definitely isn't going to be a walk through."

And The Bad Dream Begins

I'm still writhing in pain over last nights game were obviously the ref blew every call known to man, and then the Newmanistani's joke about it. That was a horrible game man. 10-9. I mean were's the refs eyeballs. Well i did see a glint off son of the field at one end of the field on the Fujisiwan touchdown on the Max Hope funble at the 25 were the Territorian picked it up on a play were everyone was obviously offsides on the other team, and then we get slapped in the back when there players decide to push us all around the field and talk dirt. It was 7-0, and there player jumps on top of my guy and won't let him up. Jeese last time i remeber that happening the player was not allowed to return to the game. The Fujis stopped us thrice and with just two minutes we go the ball back to win it. Gabe Martin with 55 second to go reach back, pulled the trigger, went forward and the ball fell to the gound and they jumped on it. Hello, it was a freaking incompletion the whole room i'm in says, but ohnow we've got those blind refs and guess what Fujisiwan ball, game over, and refs look like they just go paid.

This is obviously an rp bringing forward many faults from last nights game. Even though it was fun, seriously, seriously that replayofficial needs to find a new job

Bluth Corporation built onto its lead in Group C with a convincing 17-7 win over LeQuince, featuring a spectacular 93-yard touchdown pass from Cain Wells to Erwin Winters late in the fourth quarter that sealed its victory.

The game was a defensive struggle throughout the first half, with the first score coming midway through the second quarter off of a blocked Bluth Corporation punt which was returned by the LeQuincean special-teams scrub for a touchdown. After that, the Corporation got desperate as they tried to open it up against an opponent they had expected to be able to stomp all over. Cain Wells was forcing passes he shouldn't have, and the result was an interception that was returned three yards to the LeQuince 42. LeQuince needed six plays to move just twelve yards before time expired.

The Bluth Corporation coaching staff has always been among the best at the fine art of halftime adjustments, and after the first half's disaster the second half was all Bluth. The Corporation's first drive of the half, after starting on their own 20, drove all the way down to the LeQuince 8 on the legs of stud back Richard Anthis before a sack set up 3rd-and-13 from the LeQuince 18. After that drive, what Bluth Corporation wanted most was to just get on the board, and Cain Wells did not want to throw another stupid interception. The LeQUince defense was playing dime, so Bluth Corporation took advantage of the weak front and kept it on the ground, content to just give kicker Devin Shipley a bit of help. Anthis gained 5 yards on the play before being dragged down by a LeQuince linebacker (who would later admit that he was only in position to make the play because he had blown his actual coverage assignment); this set up a 30-yard field goal attempt for Shipley that set the score at 7-3.

The LeQuince coaches weren't sure what to make of the Bluth Corporation's offensive adjustments, but they had some offensive adjustments of their own they wanted to try out. Bluth Corporation had been able to focus on stopping the run because the LeQuince receivers had displayed a bad case of the dropsies, but LeQuince decided to go back to the pass again, figuring out that even if it was unreliable it would take some pressure off their running game.

It almost worked. After taking over at their own 38 following a brilliant kickoff return, LeQuince threw three straight passes, one of which was completed for a 12-yard gain. Even though they weren't efficient, it forced the Corporation defense to stop selling out against the run. LeQuince alternated run-pass for the next several plays, managing to take the ball all the way down to the Bluth Corporation 28, where the dropped passes came back to bite them. Cornerback Kenneth Lauley had lost his man on a curl route, but had just about caught up to him when the ball arrived. The wideout had it between his hands but couldn't hold on, and as it fell Lauley was able to dive underneath to come up with the interception. "You know, it's funny how things work out," laughed Lauley after the game. "If I hadn't bit on the curl I would have been so close to him that there's no way I could have made that dive...it'd have just bounced off us and hit the ground."

After that, it might as well have been over. Bluth Corporation had no trouble driving down for another touchdown, a 2-yard run by Wells, to make the score 10-3, and LeQuince's quarterback was horribly shaken by Lauley's lucky interception. Feeling they couldn't trust him, LeQuince abandoned the pass once more, and the Corporation had no trouble loading up the box to stop the run.

On Bluth Corporation's next possession, they were able to burn up the clock with the same punishing ground attack they had opened the half with. However, a couple of penalties forced them into a 3rd-and-23 from the LeQUince 45 that they had no chance of converting. They tried regardless, and the result was a sack for 7 yards that pushed them back into their own territory. The ensuing punt would have been miraculous, as the ball appeared that it was going to sail out of bounds at LeQuince's 3-yard-line, had it not been for a sudden gust of wind that pushed it back in play and into the waiting arms of LeQuince's return man.

The coaches were furious that he didn't just let it roll into the end zone, but that fury turned into excitement as he electrified the crowd with textbook running. He got all the way down to the Bluth 10 before he was finally brought down by punter Lamar White himself.

Not that it mattered.

On the very next play, LeQuince fumbled the ball at the Bluth Corporation 7-yard-line, and DT Stephen Conner fell on it. Bluth Corporation came out throwing, just hoping to gain a first down and put themselves in position to run out the clock, but the first two passes fell well short of their marks. With 3rd-and-10 from their own 7 and a scant 7-point-lead, the game was no longer certain. Wells stepped back to pass, and the only open man was Erwin Winters,open but bracketed in by the double coverage, eight yards downfield. Figuring that eight yards was better than no yards, Wells threw a bullet. Winters caught the ball and stopped immediately for a split second, which was enough to give him some space with which to escape the defenders. He took advantage of the added distance between himself and the corners to run over the hash, giving himself enough lateral separation that his epic speed made it into a footrace that LeQuince had no chance of winning.

TOUCHDOWN!

With the score 17-7, LeQuince took the kickoff out to their 23-yard-line. The quarterback was able to get a few desperation passes off, but none of them had any chance of being caught.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online
Hurricane strengthens with win over Taeshan

Hoji, Iwosaka - The Territories escaped Crosscom Global Arena with an upset win over Taeshan, though the final score was too close for comfort. And though the Hurricane made fewer mistakes and played well during the game, there was still plenty of tough love to go round the locker room from coach Date after the final whistle.

In a group featuring both Vephrall and Taeshan, and with upcoming matches against Cotenshire and Qazox looming ahead, the importance of scoring an upset early on could not have been overstated. The win allows the Territories to keep pace with Taeshan, at least for now. And if the Hurricane can pull off a win in Questille they’ll be 2-1 heading into an away game against Vephrall, which is a much better position to be in than what most expected.

Palmer the Palm Tree and the Herricane cheerleaders made an appearance and got the sold-out home crowd fired up before the opening kickoff, and the excitement would stay in Crosscom Global Arena till the end of the game. In fact, the decibel level was just about the loudest it’s ever been in the Global Arena we know and love.

The noise level may have been a contributing factor in Taeshan being unable to get into any sort of offensive rhythm early on, but eventually, Taeshan was able to get acclimated enough to put together effective drives. The Hurricane defense however, showed remarkable improvement in limiting Taeshan to field goals.

Linebacker Toyokusai Sakampo opened scoring mid second quarter when he scooped up a Max Hope fumble at the Taeshan twenty five yard line and ran it to the end zone for a touchdown.

Taeshan was able to score a field goal on it’s next possession, and an interception thrown by Hiton led to a Taeshan field goal with seven seconds remaining in the half, for a halftime score of 7-6 Fujisawan Territories.

A stalled drive in the middle of the third quarter, deep in Taeshan territory, led to an Anenokoji field goal and a 10-6 Hurricane lead.

Taeshan was able to quickly answer with a quick field goal of their own, cutting the Hurricane lead to one.

For the remainder of the third and into the fourth quarter, the Hurricane defense shut down three consecutive Taeshan drives while the Hurricane offense offered no production of their own. Taeshan got the ball back with a little more than two minutes left in the game in a final attempt to win the game.

With fifty five seconds remaining and facing 3rd and 10 on their own forty three yard line, Taeshan quarterback Gabe Martin dropped back to pass and was hit by Fujira Bei, and the ball dropped to the ground. The ruling on the field was a fumble, but was quite to the contrary as it appeared to most, including those on the Hurricane sideline, an incomplete pass. Nevertheless, Chi Jisats had pounced on it, and the Hurricane were awarded the ball, effectively sealing the win.

“We need to improve in a lot of areas like managing the clock, converting third downs, establishing an offensive rhythm early on, keeping pressure off of the quarterback, so this is not a good win by any measure,” Date said following the game.

Next Game: Fujisawan Territories (1-1) @ Questille (0-2)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille
@ Vephrall
@ Taeshan
vs. Questille
@ Tocrowkia
vs. West Newmanistan
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

Griffinville Globe

Just hours after a Prux loss in the Cup of Harmony to Newmanistan, believed by many to be caused by a rogue Arrozian soccer player, the Statesmen tried for revenge on the football field; and got blasted 27-6. This marks the first ever loss for Prux in football, but against one of the 5 best teams in the world, just scoring was almost a victory into itself.

Two 1st half TD runs by Abraham Chadwick, (45 yds and 19 yds) and a 83-yard bomb with just over a minute left in the half from Selmon Baliss to Taesean Malone made it 21-0 Tar Hornets at the half. After failing on a 4th-and-1 at the Prux 37, Arroza's offense seemed to just die out, as they only gined 78 yards in the 2nd half. Mark Ainey had 2 FG's for the Statesmen in the 3rd quarter, a 41-yarder and a 37-yarder to cut the lead to 21-6, but a 56-yd KO return by Rimer Vinings set up a 40-yd FG by Drew Albrect and a blocked punt mid-way in the 4th set up Albrect for a 52-yarder that ended the scoring.

At 1-1, the Statesmen aren't out of it yet, but this loss to Arroza shows just how far they need to improve before they can count themselves amongst the elite.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 13-10 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat
MD5: Prux @ Arroza
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(1-1-0)

Tension had gripped Homdurung in anticipation of the match against Qazox, and on the eve of the game it broke. Crowds filled the streets as thousands of effigies of Mad Johnnen were burned, decapitated, and/or trampled. A massive banner imbued with the word “BOOM” was hung from the bleachers at the Trøndsung Circus.

The gatherings quickly turned into riots as rumours had spread of a group of Qazoxian “trolls” that were disguising themselves amongst the citizenry. Businesses were looted, tax collectors were lynched, and anyone found in the city who spoke a foreign language was killed on the spot. Lord Jyllyn, a Baron under whose jurisdiction Homdurung fell, had stated that he would not tolerate the kinds of sports riots that had plagued Taale-Voren. He could not make good on his promise, however, and the few guards that he had allocated were seized by the mobs and thrown into the harbour.

Over one hundred thousand animals, mostly cattle and fowls, had been brought in the city to tailgate before the game, but during the course of the riots they were all stolen/killed. All prostitutes found in the city were also killed due to fear that incoming Qazoxians would infect them with venereal diseases. In all, thousands were killed within the city and the surrounding area as the preparations were made. More bleachers were added to increase the capacity of the Trøndsung Circus to 15,000, although over 300,000 were expected to gather on the steep hills of the surrounding fjord to view the game. Black field lines were painted over the ice so that the area normally used for hockey could be converted for football.

Wombats rebound big 24-0

After the dissapointing start to the qualifiers, the Wombats travelled to Serinite II and came away with a dominating 24-0 win. 3 TD's by PoleCat256 (2 passing, 1 rushing) led the way as Green wombat piled up over 450 yards of offense, in just the 1st 3 quarters. After getting a 31-yd FG from WhiteBoi99 early in the 4th, Green wombat just knelt down 12 consecutive times to end the game.

Now the tough part of the schedule as the Wombats face off with Arroza 27-6 winners over Prux earlier in the week. Both teams have a great defense, but Arroza's offense is more cohesive than the Wombats' and they'll take a 31-20 win.

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Howie Strahan: And Frank Vallens just basically ended the game there with that 23 yard run.

Terry Johnson: Yep. The line opened a hole bigger than the one in your teeth!

Howie Strahan: The Tocrowkian crowd is leaving the stadium no in droves, probably 'cause they are being blinded by his bald spot.

Terry Johnson: Doesn't matter anyway, the Pheonix were never in serious trouble after that blocked FG early in the 3rd quarter.

Howie Strahan: Not to mention the 63-yard TD pass from Dannen to Cottrill that made it 20-10 just 2 plays later. That pass sucked the life out of The Nordics.

Terry Johnson: Well on to Cotenshire, where they are preparing for the arrival of Mad Johnnen, but due to his fear of flying, they'll have to settle for us instead. For Howie Strahan, I'm Terry Johnson, and we'll see you in Cotenshire!

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Qazox 10 3 14 7 34
Tocrowkia 3 7 0 7 17

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Tocrowkia: 42-yd FG by Xaver Falkenhorst 9:52. 8 plays-51 yds in 5:08. (3-0 Tocrowkia)
Qazox: 7-yd TD Run by Frank Vallens 6:15. 5 plays-72 yds in 3:37. (7-3 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
Qazox: 49-yd FG by Tryone Chase 0:09. 6 plays-18 yds in 2:06. (10-3 Qazox)
2nd Quarter:
Tocrowkia: 5-yd TD pass from Markus Kash to Mikel Westin 6:53. 14 plays-82 yds in 8:16. (10-10) PAT by Xaver Falkenhorst good.
Qazox: 28-yd FG by Tryone Chase 0:00. 8 plays-57 yds in 2:19. (13-10 Qazox)
3rd Quarter:
Qazox: 62-yd TD Pass from Greg Dannen to Mathew Cottrill 9:52. 2 plays-63 yds in 0:37. (20-10 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
Qazox: 22-yd TD Pass from Greg Dannen to Tony Aster 3:11. 7 plays-72 yds in 4:27. (27-10 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.
4th Quarter:
Tocrowkia: 9-yd TD pass from Markus Kash to Lars Kreuter 12:51. 11 plays-79 yds in 5:20. (27-17) PAT by Xaver Falkenhorst good.
Qazox: 23-yd TD Run by Frank Vallens 6:44. 13 plays-84 yds in 6:07. (34-17 Qazox) PAT by Chase good.



Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 29/37, 329 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Frank Vallens: 19 rushes, 127 yds, 2 TD; 1 rec, -2 yds
Jason DeHavel: 5 rushes, 29 yds; 3 rec, 19 yds
Tony Aster: 5 rec, 73 yds; 1 TD
Mathew Cottrill: 10 rec, 158 yds, 1 TD
Ivan Harvey: 8 rec, 70 yds
Nate Sacimoni: 2 rec, 10 yds.

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 0.5 sacks, 1 blocked FG, 6 Tackles
David Reshks: 1.0 sacks, 4 tackles
Richie Sola: 1.0 sacks, 5 tackles
Vic Alworth: 8 tackles, 1 for loss
David Reed: 8 Tackles, 2 for loss
Jason Middleton: 5 tackles, 1 for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 9 tackles, 3 for loss
Mark Johns: 2 tackles, 1 pass defended
Greg Olsen: 7 tackles, 2 passes defended
Adam Politt: 7 tackles, 4 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 2/2 FG (long of 49); 3/3 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 5 punts, Long of 53, 3 TB.
Adam Politt: 4 KO Ret, 82 yds; 4 Punt Ret., 29 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Arroza 2-0 (7) 107pts
Qazox 2-0 (5) 101pts
Dancougar 2-0 (4) 98 pts
Kura-Pelland 2-0 (3) 95 pts
Secristan 2-0 (1) 87 pts
Newmanistan 2-0 81 pts
Vephrall 2-0 76 pts
Sarzonia 2-0 74 pts
Bluth Corporation 2-0 59 pts
Cotenshire 2-0 56 pts

Others receiving votes: Colbourne (31 pts), Green wombat (19 pts), Prux (9 pts), Taeshan (8 pts)

World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)

(ooc: BTW: Prux should be 19PF-37PA and GW should be 34PF-13PA, unless that was a 16-13 game instead of a 13-10 game)

(ooc: BTW: Prux should be 19PF-37PA and GW should be 34PF-13PA, unless that was a 16-13 game instead of a 13-10 game)

It was a 16-13 game. Always had been. My numbers are correct this time. ;) (Your region-mates mis-RPed the score)

It was a 16-13 game. Always had been. My numbers are correct this time. ;) (Your region-mates mis-RPed the score)

I was just going off what they did. I really only look for my score. :p

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Logan Dublin was chatting with Kirk Manly during pregame warmups as the Dagans got settled on their sideline. "They brought the guys back," he said. "So you don't have to feel bad when you hit them, right?"

Manly just shrugged. "I never feel bad when I hit someone."

It's the kind of swagger this defense has tried to carry throughout each iteration of the team. Going all the way back to Butch Easley and Anthony Corona, the Wings have prided themselves on the ability to shut down opponents early and often. The Wing offense, though usually a solid bunch, has not done anything to place itself among the true elite, which is why so much rides on the other side of the ball.

And they will take the 20-7 road win, which moves them to 2-0 in the group as they dive into a three-game road trip. It was the second time the two played, the first meeting coming in the Charity Bowl four years ago. Then, Dancougar welcomed Cassadaigua to international gridiron with a 23-10 win, and this was more of the same. Key turnovers by the Dagans kept them from building any momentum, and the Black Wing offense was able to control the clock near the end despite failing to find the endzone on several promising drives.

In Dancougaran circles, Dagan quarterback Laura Hamilton has drawn comparisons to anime icon Erika Terajima of Pretty Sportsman Erika, which finally finished its television run after... goodness... how many episodes? Unlike Hamilton, Terajima had a surrounding cast of male players who could be counted on to run, block, and do anything else to pave the way for her game-winning heroics. The Dagans, though, only rely on men to do the grunge work on the line. Women handle all the skill positions, and they've got the strength and the will to get it done.

"If you come out onto the field with us, it's a challenge, doesn't matter who you are," said Manly, the inner linebacker and defensive captain.

The Wings ran out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter behind Gary Hutchins, who had initial success against the Dagan line after being caught off guard against Rymeria. He ripped one for 25 on the opening drive, which ended in a field goal, and had a 19-yard run on their next possession. This led the Dagans to start overloading the box, so Michael Hussey tested the secondary. He went up top for Billy Leuthold, who beat Kiersten Evans in single coverage and hauled in a 38-yard score.

The Wings were marching downfield at the start of the second and could've put the game away with another touchdown, when a pass from Hussey was picked off by Jennifer Carlton, who was spying the quarterback in the middle and just reached up to pluck the ball out of midair. Now, with the crowd behind them, the Dagans marched right back. As if it had been culled straight from an Erika script, Hamilton found Kim Harden one-on-one against Jeff Buckholt with a few steps on the first-time starter. A pump fake and a 25-yard pass later, it was a three point game.

"I got a little lazy; I had the height advantage and let [Harden] get behind me, because I figured I'd be able to jump on the ball," Buckholt said. "And [Hamilton] put two yards ahead where only she could get it. Great pass."

Dancougar would make it 13-7 before halftime, but it was still only a one-possession game. Once again, the defense stepped up. Kendrick Lynch fought around the outside and forced a Hamilton fumble on the Dagans' opening drive of the second half. Their next drive nearly ended with an interception when Buckholt did manage to get a hand to a high pass intended for Harden. Combined that with the running of Gary Hutchins and even if the Wings only ran five or six plays before punting, they were killing the game clock and daring the Dagan offense to make a play.

Cassadaigua abandoned the run completely and advanced the ball into the Dancougar end of the field with the third quarter running out. Then, with 15 seconds to go, Hamilton tried to hit Lindsay Privitt across the middle only to have it wind up in the hands of Alex Isabella, who jumped the route after sitting back in a deep zone.

The Wings then shut the game down by running the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter off the clock. The key play was a screen pass on 3rd and 15 to Dublin, who spun past a would-be tackler in the backfield and broke into open field for the first down. The drive ended with Hutchins, who finished with 130 yards on the ground, diving in from two yards out to make it 20-7.

It was still only a two-score game, but the Dagan offense was in a deep rut. Hamilton threw another interception which gave the Dancougar offense the opportunity to run another four minutes off before punting.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

There were monumental upsets on day two. Taeshan went down to the Fujisawans and Rennidan was out-bruted by little Kosovoe, who have suddenly become a force in the sporting world. Not only did they qualify for the World Cup, but now they've toppled a former American football champion.

(1) Qazox (2-0)
(2) Arroza (2-0)
(3) Newmanistan (2-0)
(4) Kura-Pelland (2-0)
(5) Dancougar (2-0)
(6) Secristan (2-0)
(7) Vephrall (2-0)
(8) Sarzonia (2-0)
(9) Cotenshire (2-0)
(10) Rennidan (1-1)
(11) Bluth Corporation (2-0)
(12) Taeshan (1-1)
(13) Green wombat (1-1)
(14) Prux (1-1)
(15) Lovisa (1-1)
(16) Fujisawan Territories (1-1)
(18) Patetopia (1-1)
(19) Colbourne (1-1)
(17) Kosovoe (1-1)
(20) Peisandros (0-2)
(21) Cassadaigua (1-1)
(22) Bushdome (1-1)
(23) Australiah (0-2)
(24) Rymeria (1-1)
(25) Scandinavian States (0-2)
(26) Tocrowkia (0-2)
(27) West Newmanistan (0-2)
(28) Greal (0-2)
(29) Serinite II (0-2)
(30) Lurikastan (0-2)
(31) LeQuince (0-2)
(32) Questille (0-2)

Bushdome Times

You've lost that losing feeling
Congratulations are in order, as Bushdome has won its first World Bowl match. Fans from near nad far flocked to see the game, which was vs Colbourne. BUshdome started the game niot very well with play being described as 'Rocky' by one fan. But once they got into the swing of things they really started to play like true Bushdome heros. One Minister commented on the game by saying, "The game was great, but it also benefits us, as we produce the team's kits and the replicas are selling well. We are also making kits similar to our opponents as fans have taken to burning them! But if the Tsar can profit of this then we will do so." This shirt burning craze certainly has taken off with fire bregades being told to be on stand by. We can only hope that nobody dies and that the games will continue to be of a high quality asnd if not then we just hope that we keep winning.

Annnd...I've got nothing. Except for an update to the AMS Power 20 I did between bouts of reverse peristalsis. Although this (day)week seems to be better with 2 giant games between 2-0 teams. Also the Tar Hornets continue on their roadtrip against a resurgent Green Wombat squad. Looks like a game against Serinite II is all the medicine any Group E team needs.

AMS Power 20.

1 – Dancougar (2-0) - 5 Matchdays away.
2 – Arroza (2-0)
3 – Qazox (2-0) - Boom! Qazox is still dominating the weaker group.
4 – Newmanistan (2-0) - Home team showing their colors in their national sport.
5 – Kura-Pelland (2-0) - Underwhelming wins, but always dangerous.
6 – Secristan (2-0) - More money, but more problems haven't shown up yet.
7 – Sarzonia (2-0) - The Stars get to show if they're for real this week against the Phoenix.
8 – Vephrall (2-0) - Claspung may be the best player who's name you can't pronounce.
9 – Cotenshire (2-0) - New stadia. Same intimidating players and fans.
10 – Bluth Corporation (2-0)
11 - Fujisawan Territories (1-1)
12 – Prux (1-1) - Revenge duly acquired, Prux has to recover and look for the second spot in group.
13 – Kosovoe (1-1) - Shocker of the week.
14 – Rennidan (1-1) - What happened to your hardness? The bruising style? Where's the Rennidan we all love?
15 – Taeshan (1-1)
16 – Patetopia (1-1)
17 – Bushdome (1-1)
18 - Green Wombat (1-1)
19 – Cassadaigua (1-1) - Losing to Dancougar's no shame. At least that's what we keep telling ourselves.
20 – Rymeria (1-1) - *Plays Dueling Banjos just for you*

Please be sure not to accidentally televise adult material during your World Bowl telecast. Or else your network is sure to be cutoff, just like this.

(all 3-way ties presently sorted by PD)

Group A:
Vephrall 0-10 Taeshan
Questille 17-31 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 2 1 0 35 13 22
2 Vephrall 2 1 0 47 33 14
3 Fujisawan Territories 2 1 0 54 53 1
4 Questille 0 3 0 30 67 -37



Group B:
Cotenshire 20-17 (OT) Qazox
West Newmanistan 16-7 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Cotenshire 3 0 0 66 30 36
2 Qazox 2 1 0 85 45 40
3 West Newmanistan 1 2 0 27 64 -37
4 Tocrowkia 0 3 0 34 73 -39


Group C:
Bluth Corporation 30-24 Rennidan
LeQuince 13-6 Kosovoe


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Bluth Corporation 3 0 0 67 34 33
2 Rennidan 1 2 0 56 50 6
3 LeQuince 1 2 0 26 43 -17
4 Kosovoe 1 2 0 23 45 -22



Group D:
Sarzonia 3-14 Newmanistan
Lurikastan 13-16 Scandavian States


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 3 0 0 61 20 41
2 Sarzonia 2 1 0 47 51 -4
3 Scandavian States 1 2 0 43 53 -10
4 Lurikastan 0 3 0 40 67 -27


Group E:
Green Wombat 20-24 Arroza
Serinite II 3-10 Prux


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 3 0 0 88 32 56
2 Prux 2 1 0 32 43 -11
3 Green Wombat 1 2 0 57 40 17
4 Serinite II 0 3 0 9 71 -62


Group F:
Greal 10-36 Dancougar
Rymeria 3-16 Cassadaigua


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 3 0 0 76 17 59
2 Cassadaigua 2 1 0 50 40 10
3 Rymeria 1 2 0 13 43 -30
4 Greal 0 3 0 34 73 -39


Group G:
Colbourne 13-19 Secristan
Bushdome 14-6 Australiah


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 3 0 0 70 26 44
2 Bushdome 2 1 0 44 44 0
3 Colbourne 1 2 0 44 42 2
4 Australiah 0 3 0 12 58 -46


Group H:
Lovisa 23-31 Kura-Pelland
Patetopia 17-26 Peisandros


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 3 0 0 70 40 30
2 Peisandros 1 2 0 52 53 -1
3 Lovisa 1 2 0 67 74 -7
4 Patetopia 1 2 0 51 73 -22

Boos rain on Stars parade

WOODSTOCK (ASP) -- A team that advanced to the knockout stages of its first-ever World Bowl and started its second with a 2-0 record in away matches likely shouldn't expect boos in its first home fixture.

However, after Newmanistan limited the Sarzonian national gridball team to 179 total yards and a 48-yard Adam Novak field goal, Stars supporters booed the team as it left the field following a 14-3 loss.

"We weren't able to generate any offence," said quarterback Gavin Davis, who threw two interceptions and mustered only 112 yards passing on 15-of-33 passing. "If I were in the stands, I'd be booing too."

The Rockets (3-0) came in keying on running back LoQuan Willard and the defence paid off. Willard was held to 46 yards on 18 carries and caught one pass for four yards. He said Newmanistan confounded the Stars with eight- and nine-man fronts and run blitzes.

"They kept bringing more guys than we could block," Willard said. "They did that even when we went jumbo [playing with three tight ends]."

Sarzonia (2-1) got on the board first after their opening drive stalled at the 30. Willard ran four times for 16 yards on the drive and suffered a twinge in his left leg. Doctors treated him and he returned for the next drive after Novak's field goal. However, he ran tentatively, gaining six yards on two carries before a three-and-out.

A Cedric Wilcox kickoff return gave the Stars the ball at the Rockets 46 yard line and Davis hit wide receiver Willie Brooks for a 20-yard pass to set the Stars up at the 18. However, Davis misread Brooks's route and linebacker Jesse Savage stepped in front of Brooks at the goalline. One hundred yards later, Savage had a touchdown and a 7-3 Rockets lead.

"That play changed the momentum," said Stars coach Jim Zorn. "If we don't get it picked off there and we get a field goal, 6-0's much different than 7-3."

However, the Rockets took the game over from there, dropping Sarzonia to 2-1 overall. Meanwhile left tackle Tim Lacker said he was disappointed with the fans booing.

"We came into this match with a 2-0 record. We played in the knockouts last time," he said. "I don't know. We haven't given the fans much of a reason to boo us."

Sarzonia play two more home matches with a rematch against Scandavian States set for Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock. However, the home match against Lurikastan has been moved to the Iron Bowl in Portland after the Woodstock City Council mandated emergency repairs to Hendrix beginning 24 hours after the match against Scandavian States.

"We couldn't get a permit to play at [Bryan Marshall Memorial Stadium]," Zorn said. "The repairs are pretty routine, but city officials said they had to be done right now."

Fitin Falcons Sturout Vephrall

After a devastating second game loss to the Fujisiwan Territories the Falcons went into yesterdays game ready for a brawl. They got what they wanted. The Falcons defeated the Vephreese team 10-0 in a suprising shutout, bu also in an unsuprisingly close game. Next week of course will be the second game against the team from Questille.

The Falcons were all over the just higher ranked team from Vephrall and easily came away with a win. It was a tough fought battle, but you could tell that the Falcons had the game in there hand and they were just toying with the other team. Martin Gramatica would make it 3-0 with a 45 yarder in the 2nd minute of the snd half, and Max Hope would lated make it 10-0 with a 44 yard scamper.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane ravishes Questille

The Hurricane emerged from Questille with a victory, the final score 31-17. Despite winning by a wide margin, the Hurricane had their share of scares from Questille, overcoming two lead changes and a surge in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter by Questille while the score was still 17-10.

First Quarter

After the Hurricane defense forced a Questille three and out on their first possession, the Hurricane started off with a bang on their opening drive but ultimately stalled at the Questille twelve yard line. An Anenokoji field goal put the Territories up 3-0.

Questille took their first and only lead of the game on a twenty yard rushing touchdown as the first quarter came to an end.

Second Quarter

Midway through the second quarter, Akiro Sanawa returned an interception seventy three yards for a touchdown to put the Hurricane up 10-7, and the defense held the lead to the half.

Third Quarter
Hisayuki Sarumara took the kickoff at the opening of the second half ninety one yards for a score and the Hurricane never looked back. A Questille field goal with 2:37 in the third quarter brought the score to 17-10.

Fourth Quarter

The Hurricane offense came alive during the fourth quarter, and Hiton hit Hini for a thirty seven yard touchdown with 8:35 left in the game. And just before the two minute warning, Osamu Koyami fumbled at the Questille thirteen yard line and offensive lineman Matsanjipp Naroshioshisa scooped it up and ran it to the end zone for a touchdown. Questille scored one last time on a desperation throw on fourth and sixteen with thirty eight seconds left in the game. The Hurricane recovered the ensuing onside kick, effectively ending the game.

The Road Ahead

The Territories will face an uphill battle against Vephrall on the road, but having secured the upset against Taeshan has helped the Hurricane exponentially. The Hurricane now have a cushion of sorts if they lose to Vephrall as opposed to being 1-3 without the upset.

As a side note, Taeshan’s 10-0 win over Vephrall means Group A is the sole group without an undefeated team. Most Fujisawans expect Taeshan to have a field day against winless Questille, making the upcoming game against Vephrall a critical game for the Hurricane, in terms of keeping pace with Taeshan. And lingering doubt remains about the Hurricane’s ability to win against Taeshan on the road in an upcoming match, despite the Hurricane’s narrow Crosscom upset.

Next Game: Fujisawan Territories (2-1) @ Vephrall (2-1)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall
@ Taeshan
vs. Questille
@ Tocrowkia
vs. West Newmanistan
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

As the game ended with a chip-shot field goal by Dillijk, the otherwise dangerous crowd became somewhat placated. Indeed, the Qazoxians managed to escape the Trøndsung Circus by helicopter, and many observing the scene would agree that the helicopters would have been swamped by bloodthirsty fans had the game gone the other way.

The game itself, however, had been unrelentingly vicious. The frozen over waters of the fjord caused more problems than were initially anticipated. Coach Slues had provided his players with special cleats in hopes that they might improve traction, but it was no use. Players were sliding around and falling over each other all game. It was not uncommon for individual plays to last over thirty seconds due to the ball carriers not being able to get anywhere and the defense not being able to get to them.

All of the scores were defensive, with both teams combined having -24 rushing yards. There were only 7 completions in the entire game, 5 of them laterals, since quarterbacks could not get their footing and only ended up slipping or having the ball fly out of their hands. Special teams was equally ridiculous. Punters ended up falling backwards every time they tried to punt. At one point it was so bad that Kerkrade tried to intentionally throw an interception on fourth down just so they would gain a little bit of field position, but they defender had the presence of mind not to catch the ball.

Game play improved slightly when players tried to slide, using the somewhat better traction of their gloves to propel them. This method did not result in any noticeable statistical increase in offensive production, but at least it shortened the duration of plays. The scores came on one of the many fumbles in which the defender happened to get to the ball before an offensive player. Usually once this happened there was nothing between the defender and the goal line, so they would just slide with the ball on their bellies into the endzone.

Each team had two touchdowns and a safety, with one of their two point conversions being successful. Kicking proved to be impossible until the controversial final play of the game. The ball was six yards away from the goal line, and everyone was surprised when Dillijk trotted out to make an attempt. A timeout was called during which players gathered up snow and packed it in the area where the kicker would run and make contact with the ball. This method provided just enough traction for Dillijk to get the ball flipped over the crossbar on the next play.

The Dolphins skated off the field (for they had been using ice skates when they were not one of the 11 in the game), celebrating their upset victory. “We knew we were the real deal,” said Kerkrade, “And now everyone else knows it too.”

The Dostey Dispatch - Sports News

Rain, wind put damper on Wolves offense

MEICE -- Vephrall was 2-0, having beaten both the Fujisawan Territories and Questille comfortably on the road. Taeshan, on the other hand, had just narrowly lost a relative shocker to those same Fujisawan Territories and now had to come to Ellime e Vephrall to face another top-ten opponent.

That pretty much tells you all you need to know right there.

It was a wet and uncharacteristically windy day in Meice, which was a lethal combination. The running game, Vephrall's bread and butter, was never able to get going, as the Auric Wolves managed only 74 yards on the ground, and Crublig Claspung (whose name, incidentally, is pronounced just like it looks), who had looked so good in the first two games, could only watch helplessly as the wind kept blowing his passes off target, including twice into the hands of Falcons defenders. Claspung was just 8-of-21 for 93 yards on the day.

The home team was able to get inside the Taeshan 30 on three occasions, but all they had to show for it were a lost fumble and two missed field goals as Sartiros Spelaad sent two attempts wide right from 29 and 36 yards facing stiff opposition somewhere between a headwind and a crosswind. At the other end of the field, the conditions were a little more in favor of Martin Gramatica, whose 45-yarder near the start of the third quarter was arguably something of a disappointment for a Taeshan offense that started the drive on the Vephrall 46 after a long kickoff return from Rudi Williams. That was all that the visitors would need in order to get the win, but just to make sure, Max Hope later made the only run from scrimmage of over 20 yards in the game to give Taeshan a 10-0 victory.

"It never feels good to get shut out on your home field," said Claspung after the game. "Taeshan is a very good team, one of the best in the sport, but even so I feel like there's more that I could've done out there. Yeah, the wind and the rain was a big problem, but I should've been able to make the adjustments."

Head coach Sperobis Ceedast seemed to feel that his quarterback was not the only one to blame. "Sure, the conditions were bad, but when you're playing a team the caliber of Taeshan you have to be able to step it up. The team wasn't horrible out there, but I know I've seen more out of my players in the past than what they gave out on the field today."

With, to borrow a term from the Dancougaran media, conference play halfway over, the only thing we really know about Group A is that Questille is clearly the bottom team. As for the other three, it's your classic rock-paper-scissors scenario: Taeshan over Vephrall, Vephrall over the Fujisawan Territories, and the Fujisawan Territories over Taeshan. Clearly these three are all going to need to play each other again in order to figure anything out.

Final score: Taeshan 10, Vephrall 0
Player of the game: Taeshan RB Max Hope (7 rush, 96 yds, TD)

The Dostey Dispatch World Bowl Power Rankings

We didn't bother putting these out until now because, well, it's our opinion that you don't really know much of anything about a team until they've played at least three games. Well, now everyone has, so here we go.

1. Arroza (3-0)
2. Dancougar (3-0)
3. Secristan (3-0)
4. Qazox (2-1)
5. Newmanistan (3-0)
6. Cotenshire (3-0)
7. Bluth Corporation (3-0)
8. Kura-Pelland (3-0)
9. Taeshan (2-1)
10. Green wombat (1-2)
11. Vephrall (2-1)
12. Cassadaigua (2-1)
13. Rennidan (1-2)
14. Colbourne (1-2)
15. Peisandros (1-2)
16. Fujisawan Territories (2-1)
17. Sarzonia (2-1)
18. Lovisa (1-2)
19. Bushdome (2-1)
20. Scandavian States (1-2)
21. Prux (2-1)
22. LeQuince (1-2)
23. Patetopia (1-2)
24. Kosovoe (1-2)
25. Rymeria (1-2)
26. Lurikastan (0-3)
27. Questille (0-3)
28. West Newmanistan (1-2)
29. Greal (0-3)
30. Tocrowkia (0-3)
31. Australiah (0-3)
32. Serinite II (0-3)

(ooc: Cotenshire, what you described is legal in certain cases in college and High school, not the Pros, but then again, we aren't that strict on the rules :p. Just glad you didn't trot out the snow-blower!).

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter/and Early OverTime...>

Howie Strahan: And once again there's another loss on the play. What's that the 15th slip by Dannen?

Terry Johnson: I don't know. My eyes froze just minutes after kickoff. I'm just glad the ball didn't get picked off or he fumbled, maybe. Did he fumble again?

Howie Strahan: I don't know. I can see anything through the 2-feet of ice on the glass here in the booth. I think the score is still 7-7, or maybe that's the temperature, -77. At kickoff the temperatue was what, -2?

Terry Johnson: I think so. I can't wait to get back home and into a freezer to warm up. Who's bright idea was it to have a field located so far north that in the winter the highs are -50??

Howie Strahan: I don't know that one either. Dammit. There went my other tooth, I guess that gap's a mile wide now.

Terry Johnson: I think the game is over and by the sound of the 3 people left, and that's including us two, I think that Cotenshire won. What the score was, I dunno, my ears froze up in the 2nd quarter.

Howie Strahan: HUH? I can't hear you my ears have 6 inches of frozen wax in them.

Terry Johnson: HUH? I can't hear you my ears have 6 inches of frozen wax in them.

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 OT F
Qazox 8 7 2 0 0 17
Cotenshire 15 2 0 0 3 20

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: David Reshks fumble recovery in Endzone 11:19. 2-pt conversion run by Jason DeHavel sucessful. (8-0 Qazox)
Cotenshire: 14-yd INT return by Daevit Carwer 7:53. 2-pt conversion run by Boudewijn Geul sucessful. (8-8)
Cotenshire: 24-yd Fumble recovery for TD by Valdemar Olavsson 0:09. PAT by Godfried Dillijk good. (15-8 Cotenshire)

2nd Quarter:
Cotenshire: Jason DeHavel tackled in Endzone by Godfried Stavoren 13:19. (17-8 Cotenshire)
Qazox: Richie Sola blocked punt recovery in Endzone 3:20. PAT by Chase good (17-15 Qazox)

3rd Quarter:
Qazox: Guij Haageo tackled in Endzone by Vic Alworth 5:16. (17-17)

4th Quarter:
NO SCORING

OverTime:
Cotenshire: Godfried Dillijk 23-yd FG (0:16) 2 plays-(-3) yards in 1:13. (20-17 Cotenshire)


Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 3/25, 26 yds, 2 INT
Frank Vallens: 9 rushes, -6 yds; 1 rec, 3 yds
Jason DeHavel: 9 rushes, 13 yds
Tony Aster: 1 rec, 13 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 1 rec, 10 yds
Ivan Harvey: None
Nate Sacimoni: 3 Offensive FR

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 1 tackle, 1 FR
David Reshks: 4 tackles, 1 FR, 1 TD
Richie Sola: 2 tackles, 1 FR, 1 TD
Vic Alworth: 5 tackles, 5 for loss, Saftey
David Reed: 4 Tackles, 4 for loss
Jason Middleton: 3 tackles, 3 for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 3 tackles, 3 for loss
Mark Johns: 2 tackles, 1 pass defended
Greg Olsen: 7 tackles, 2 passes defended
Adam Politt: 7 tackles, 4 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 1/1 FG (long of 19); 0/0 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 13 punts, Long of 62, 3 TB, 7 inside 20.
Adam Politt: 4 KO Ret, 19 yds; 4 Punt Ret., 2 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Arroza 3-0 (7) 109 pts
Dancougar 3-0 (7) 107 pts
Kura-Pelland 3-0 (4) 100 pts
Secristan 3-0 (1) 92 pts
Newmanistan 3-0 (1) 91 pts
Cotenshire 3-0 79 pts
Sarzonia 2-1 63 pts
Bluth Corporation 3-0 62 pts
Qazox 2-1 49 pts
Taeshan 2-1 47pts

Others receiving votes: Vephrall (45 pts), Prux (32 pts), Fujisawan Territories (21 pts), Bushdome (5 pts), Cassadaigua (4 pts).

World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)

Griffinville Globe

A very ugly game as unexpected thunderstorms dropped about 3 inches of rain on the field, turning it into a slippery muck. Prux did manage to get the only TD of the game thanks to 54 yard TD return by Mike Higgans early in the 2nd quarter, which put the Statesmen up 10-3. Both teams traded FG's in the 1st quarter, a 48-yarder by the home team and a 41-yarder that just cleared the left upright by Mark Ainey. Prux wound up only with 178 total offensive yards, all but 7 on the ground, while the hosts had only 49 yards, that coming mostly on their scoring drive.

Up next is the last of the 3-games on the raod trip, a visit to Green wombat, whom we beat 16-13 in overtime in our first World Bowl match. At 2-1, the Statesmen are doing better than many, including ourselves, have expected.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat
MD5: Prux @ Arroza
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(2-1-0)

Wombats edged by Arroza

Seven seconds away from argueably the biggest win in Wombat gridiron history, and Arroza managed to steal a 24-20 win, leaving the wombats in 3rd place after the first round of matches. After the Tar Hornets jumped out to an 10-0 lead thanks to a 56-yard TD run by Abraham Chadwick and a 40-yd FG by Drew Albrect. But PoleCat256 threw for a team record 396 yards and 3 TD's as the wombats scored the next 20 points. But a missed PAT by WhiteBoi99 made only 20-10 with about 4 minutes left. Arroza ran back the ensuing kickoff 86 yards, as Rimer Vinings tip-toed down the sidelines for the score to make it 20-17. After the wombats were stopped on a 4th-and-1 and the Arrozan 47 with 1:13 on the clock, Selmon Baliss lead the Tar Hornets on a 53-yard drive capped by a 5-yd TD pass on 4th-and-goal to Vincent Paloma with just 7 seconds left. After the kickoff was returned to the 38 yard line, 1 second was left on the clock, but PoleCat256's hail-mary attempt was intercepted by Orkeys Aurienne at the 5 ending the game.

Now we host the Statesmen, and we need to avenge the 16-13 OT loss from week 1. At 1-2, the wombats need to string together a few wins in a row to have any chance of making the playoffs.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

After running over Greal 36-10 to stay unbeaten in Group F, Dancougar running back Gary Hutchins showed up for his press conference with a relaxed demeanor and an MP3 player. One reporter asked what he was listening to. "Break Out," he replied, "by JAM Project."

How appropriate.

Hutchins had 227 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the victory, and since offensive bursts like this don't come often for the Wings, he was as giddy as the fans after the game. "You're always excited after you make a big play and after you help get a win," he said after the game. "But I've played games before where I put up numbers but I didn't really feel all there. Tonight, I felt a lot of energy out there. Everything I did felt right."

It was fairly typical Black Wing football, and it was it's the kind of momentum they wanted to build before embarking on an other-worldly journey to take on Rymeria away. The offensive line has been playing better, and in this game, they were making it happen for Hutchins, who set the tone early with a 46-yard touchdown scamper to give the Wings a 7-0 lead. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Hutchins drove the team downfield once again. A holding penalty forced them into a throwing situation, and after Fred Uselton was stopped short of the line, on came Seth Cavallo to make it 10-0.

"If you get points early, it makes the rest of the game easier to manage," said coach Will Moohim. "Right away, you start to force your opponent out of their game."

Greal mounted an immediate response, though, making it 10-3 after a drive that was aided by a 37-yard completion over the head of Jeff Buckholt, who has now been twice victimized in the tournament. But a Billy Aveline sack ended their hopes of reaching the red zone, leading to the long attempt. And when Greal forced a Dancougar punt on the next drive, things were looking good. Enter the defense.

On the first play from scrimmage, Alex Isabella forced a turnover. But it wasn't an interception like we're used to seeing from him; rather, he came unblocked on a safety blitz and knocked the ball loose during the follow-through. Big Chris Gifford fell on the ball and the Wings were suddenly in business with the ball on the Greal 26. They would take five plays to advance it to the 11, but that's as far as they got. Cavallo made it 13-3 and Greal had dodged a bullet.

Right before halftime, though, Hutchins left another mark on the game. He lined up in the backfield with Logan Dublin as the up-back in the I-formation. Greal planned a blitz and executed, but the play was designed to go to Hutchins. Dublin swept left and drew some defenders his way, but Hutchins burst through the middle and was suddenly in open space. He made a linebacker miss and then tried to pick up a downfield block from one of his receivers. Billy Leuthold delivered, and Hutchins was gone for a 59-yard score. The teams went into the locker room with Dancougar up 20-3 and cruising.

"I expected to get tripped when I came through the line, and when I saw all that open space, I didn't even think about what my legs were doing," said Hutchins.

The Wings continued to extend their lead through Cavallo. The Wings passed sparingly and continued to run. The clock ticked down and it was 23-3, then 26-3. Even though the Wings weren't finishing drives, they were making it difficult to come back. They held the ball for eleven minutes of the third quarter and held Greal to just eight snaps.

The hosts finally reached the endzone early in the fourth quarter after finding gaps in the Dancougar zone. The safeties played back and gave up the middle of the field, and once they were in the red zone, Greal pounded it home on the ground. But Dancougar responded. Hutchins had his third run of over 40 yards to help set up his final touchdown run of the day, a 4-yard dash with a little under five minutes in the game. At 33-10, the Greali had to be given credit for continuing to try and score. But a deep pass was intercepted by Omar Garry and returned to the Greal 38. The Wings ran a few plays to tick it inside two minutes and kicked a field goal with around a minute on the clock.

"I think the defense did a magnificent job of controlling the game," said Moohim. "It's good to have that to lean on when the offense isn't finishing drives. We had to call [Cavallo] more than we wanted to, but there were still a lot of positives to take away."

For Hutchins, the only thing he's positive about is that he's going to be hard-pressed to duplicate his performance.

"A game like that earns you some coverage," he said. "I'm not always going to hit two hundred, but I'd take two so long as we get the dubya."

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

Go figure! Kosovoe beats Rennidan and then loses to LeQuince? And Rennidan losing two in a row, to anybody? How about Group A, which is shaping up to be a hotly-contested group with the Fujisawans playing inspired football? At the halfway point of "conference play," a few of the traditional powers are breaking away, but we're also keeping an eye on surges from Bluth Corp and Cotenshire.

(1) Newmanistan (3-0)
(2) Dancougar (3-0)
(3) Arroza (3-0)
(4) Kura-Pelland (3-0)
(5) Secristan (3-0)
(6) Qazox (2-1)
(7) Cotenshire (3-0)
(8) Bluth Corporation (3-0)
(9) Taeshan (2-1)
(10) Sarzonia (2-1)
(11) Prux (2-1)
(12) Vephrall (2-1)
(13) Fujisawan Territories (2-1)
(14) Green wombat (1-2)
(15) Cassadaigua (2-1)
(16) Rennidan (1-2)
(17) Bushdome (2-1)
(18) Peisandros (1-2)
(19) Lovisa (1-2)
(20) Colbourne (1-2)
(21) Patetopia (1-2)
(22) West Newmanistan (1-2)
(23) Kosovoe (1-2)
(24) Scandinavian States (1-2)
(25) Rymeria (1-2)
(26) LeQuince (1-2)
(27) Serinite II (0-3)
(28) Tocrowkia (0-3)
(29) Greal (0-3)
(30) Australiah (0-3)
(31) Questille (0-3)
(32) Lurikastan (0-3)

Bluth Corporation begin a 3-game home stand with a 30-24 win over Rennidan, remaining undefeated in preliminary play and pulling out to a two-game lead in Group C. Punter Lamar White had a career day, pinning Rennidan inside their own 5 on every punt to set up the three safeties that were the margin in the game.

BC came out strong, marching down the field with a methodical 8-minute drive that concluded with a touchdown pass to running back Sean Blakley on a crossing route. Rennidan had no answer, as their first drive of the game stalled out near midfield; Clive the Kicker's punt sailed down to the Bluth Corporation 10-yard-line where it was fair-caught by Donald Deputy.

Bluth Corporation's next drive opened with a series of passes, but their running game took a hit when Richard Anthis turned an ankle; he would miss the rest of the game. The Rennidan defense took advantage of this to press against the pass a bit more, and the Bluth offense sputtered around the Rennidan 40. Rather than risk giving Rennidan great position if Devin Shipley missed what would have been a 57-yard-field goal, the Corporation opted to punt; this began White's epic day.

The punt sailed out of bounds at the Rennidan 3-yard-line. The Bluth defense hoped for an easy stop, figuring Rennidan would play it conservatively to give themselves some breathing room. They figured wrong, as Rennidan QB Pat McGraw threw a laser to flanker Marcin Lai to move the Rennidan offense to the 25. The next play featured another completion to Lai, who was able to pick up an additional seven yards after the catch by eluding Lamar Walden's tackle. Lai paid for it, though, as he was slammed to the ground by strong safety Jarrod Bartlett. That would be Rennidan's final positive play on the drive, as the next three plays were incomplete, sack, incomplete, forcing Rennidan to punt again.

Donald Deputy was only able to return Rennidan's booming punt five yards to the Bluth 14, but despite the long field Bluth Corporation decided to test Rennidan's weaker defensive front. The first three plays were handoffs to Sean Blakley that went for 7, 3, and 5 yards. The fourth play was another handoff to Sean Blakley; but as soon as Cain Wells saw that the Rennidan defense was biting on the apparent run, he moved in to pass-block as Sean Blakley was able to throw to Kyler Hayes for a 12-yard completion; Wells managed to knock his man to the ground on the play. "Damn, that felt good!" exclaimed Wells when asked about it after the game. "Normally, being the quarterback you don't get to hit people...that was fun," he grinned.

It became even more fun after a few more plays. Having established that they could still run the ball even without Anthis, Bluth Corporation was able to mix up the play selection again. Four more plays brought them down to the Rennidan 23, where on second-and-eight Wells found a wide-open Norman Shade in the end zone for an easy touchdown.

Both teams traded three-and-outs, with Bluth Corporation getting the better part of the deal as White was able to pin Rennidan at the 4. Rennidan did go with a conservative plan this time, as they managed to move the ball out to the 15 thanks to three successive runs by Jason Yeilds and the lead blocking of Duncan Smie. Desperate to get something going, down 14-0 towards the end of the first half, McGraw threw over the middle to a wide-open Lewis Seffer for what should have been an easy seventeen-yard completion.

It was an easy completion, in fact; but Rennidan would have been better off had it not been. After securing the ball, Seffer turned upfield to run but did not realize that free safety Chaz Livermore was bearing down on him. Livermore's hit was enough to send Seffer into a somersault, and as he was flying through the air the ball came loose. Livermore scooped it up, and made his way to the sideline. With some spectacular blocking by linebacker Kyle Davenport, Livermore was able to punch through the stunned Rennidan offense-cum-defense for Bluth Corporation's third touchdown of the game.

Down 21-0 towards the end of the first half, Rennidan was getting desperate. Still, McGraw kept his composure and avoided making the bad decisions that often plague quarterbacks in pressure situations; they had no problem driving down the field but the clock ran out before they could score. Still, they had built up some momentum and would get the ball back to start the half.

Sure enough, Rennidan picked up right where they left off. They ran back the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, and fifteen seconds into the first half they had cut their deficit to 14. Energized, the Rennidan defense stiffened. On their first defensive series, they were able to hold the potent Bluth Corporation offense to a field goal, which would turn out to be the last offensive score Rennidan would allow for the game.

Rennidan's second drive of the half was reminiscent of their opponent's game-opening drive, as a series of short completions to tight ends Gui and Yecks, and decent runs by Yeilds, took them from their own 14 down to the Bluth 24 in six minutes. The Bluth D-line stiffened up this point, and two successive runs gained a total of two yards before McGraw's pass to Yecks fell incomplete thanks to the home team's aggressive dime package. Clive the Kicker came out for a field goal, which initially missed; he got a break when one of the special-teams scrubs was called for a false start. As this was a dead-ball foul Bluth Corporation could not decline, so Clive got a second opportunity that sailed through easily.

Now it was game on, as the Rennidan defense came out determined to make Bluth Corporation pay for the drubbing they had inflicted in the first half. Donald Deputy managed to return the kickoff to the Bluth 45, but after that the Corporation was only able to run seven plays for 22 yards before being forced to punt again. But the punt was a beauty, as it rolled to a stop at the Rennidan 1.

Rennidan took over, and on their first play they had Yeilds run up the gut for a gain of three. On the next play, the tight ends were sent on crossing routes and the wideouts were on short curls, but all three were well-covered and McGraw had to hold on to the ball for a long time. With the defense converging and finally starting to beat the blocking, LT Rick Sestan got desperate and grabbed DE Jared Sensmeier as he was coming around the edge. Immediately the flag came out, and Sestan realized his mistake. Holding, in the end zone. Safety.

Despite this minor ruffle, the Rennidan defense was not about to give up hopes of a comeback. Their job was to stop the Bluth Corporation juggernaut, and they did it in immaculate fashion, forcing a three-and-out and another Lamar White punt, this time from the Bluth 48. But again, White continued with his amazing day as the ball bounced around before being downed by reserve linebacker James Mason, who displayed his acrobatic grace as he deftly tiptoed just barely outside the goal line to kill the ball at the Rennidan 2.

Determined to avoid another safety, Rennidan took advantage of the speed of its receivers to send them on fly routes. On their second attempt, McGraw rolled out of the pocket and hooked up with Seffer for a nineteen-yard gain. The next play was a decent run off tackle by Yeilds for seven yards, and then a pass over the middle to Tom Gui, who was well-covered in the secondary. Gui fell to the ground as he made the catch, and the linebackers who had been covering him began running back to huddle up for the next play.

But the linebackers never touched him, and no whistle was ever blown. Realizing this, Gui silently got up and began running to the end zone. It was a couple of seconds before anyone on the defense realized what was happening, and that was all the time Gui needed to put an insurmountable distance between himself and his pursuers. He was three yards into the end zone before anyone was able to catch him, as his smart play made the score 26-17.

After the kickoff, the Rennidan defense thought it had Bluth stopped again after stopping one run at the line and sacking Wells for a loss of eight, but on 3rd-and-18 Wells was able to throw a 23-yard completion to Winters to keep the drive alive. They made it out to the Rennidan 35 before the Rennidan defense stiffened back up, forcing another brilliant Bluth Corporation punt, as Marcin Lai fair-caught the ball at his own four-yard-line.

Passing when backed up had worked for Rennidan last time, so it was understandable that they'd try it again. But this time, the Corporation was ready. On the very first play of the possession, a weakside cornerback blitz dropped McGraw for the second safety of the game.

Rennidan was starting to mount a comeback, but their special teams were losing the field-position battle. As they kicked the ball to Bluth Corporation, Larry Daniels threatened his defense to motivate them. It didn't seem like it was going too well, as despite taking over at their own 17 the Corporation, desperate to avoid blowing a 21-point lead, was able to move the ball in big chunks to the Rennidan 38. As Wells dropped back to pass on a first-and-ten play, though, a blitzing linebacker was able to pop the ball up in the air after Wells had fired. FS Dan Cooper was able to snag it out of midair, and with some skillful running and cutbacks took it home.

The Bluth Corporation lead had been cut to 4, and while there were less than three minutes left all the momentum had swung to Rennidan. The only thing Bluth Corporation had left going for it was its special teams, and if they couldn't mount an offensive drive here it would be up to Lamar White to continue his magic and hopefully pin them so far back they simply wouldn't have time for a game-winning drive. The sputtering Bluth Corporation offense continued its second-half futility, and indeed Lamar White was called out one last time.

He answered the call with aplomb, sending the ball to the back of the end zone. An overconfident Lai opted to receive the ball rather than just letting it hit the ground for a touchback, thinking he'd be able to get a good run despite Bluth Corp's excellent kick coverage. But he was farther back than he thought, and as he set himself to make the run he inadvertently stepped on the end line, giving up his team's third safety of the game.

The rest of the game was simple: Rennidan had to free-kick, and the clock had run down enough that Bluth Corporation could simply kneel and end the game.

The three safeties--two of which came about because of stupid mistakes--were the difference in a game that looked to be a blowout after the first half. Rennidan was only stopped from mounting a miraculous comeback by the inspired play of Lamar White, who was unanimously awarded the game ball for his performance.

"Yeah, baby...nice to see the kickers getting some respect," were his only remarks in a post-game interview.

THE ROCKET REPORT

UNDEFEATED AFTER THREE

Woodstock, Sarzonia- Things are going as good as you could expect for the Rockets gridiron team early in World Bowl V, having won all three of their games by at least ten points. The most recent victory came in Sarzonia, where the hometown Stars are expected to be Newmanistan’s main threat at winning Group D. The sounds of the Sarzonian faithful in attendance were music to the ears of Kenny O’Hara and his Rockets as the defense held Sarzonia to just a lone field goal.

Newmanistanian teams have not had an overly defensive trademark about them, but so far in the group stages, the twenty total points in which the Rockets have allowed is third overall, trailing only the very defensive minded team from Taeshan and the Steel Curtain defense of the Black Wings, and even then, the Rockets are not too far behind. The wins over Lurikastan and the Scandavian States were nice, but this was a statement tonight. LoQuan Willard, the one of the brightest Stars of the team was held to a mere 46 yards on eighteen carries. They also made big plays when they needed them most, as with Sarzonia driving down the field already up 3-0, Jesse Savage picked off Gavin Davis on the goal line and proceeded to take it one hundred yards down field for a dramatic turn of events. Savage got some nice blocks on his run block, allowing him to sprint down the right sideline for the score. To their credit, Sarzonia’s defense also played quite a strong game, and contained Kenny O’Hara and Corey Parisi very well. They did put together one very impressive drive, one that ended in a five yard scamper by Parisi, that may have just sealed the deal midway through the third quarter. The defense was heavily inspired by the boos of the hometown fans. Jesse Savage put it best telling us, “When you got the home team’s fans turned on them, especially on their offense. That’s a victory in itself. It becomes a 12th man on the field for you as the defense.” At one point CB Daniel Strasser appeared to be encourage the boos by waving his arms to the crowd in gestures to “get louder” early in the 4th quarter.

So halfway through the in-group play, Newmanistan sits at 3-0 and looks to be in very good shape. They will have their second tour of duty against their group opponents, and while the Scandavian States have been a pesky opponent, the Rockets should be feeling quite good right now. All but Group A have a 3-0 team on top of the leaderboard. Still seven games to go, but with the offense and defense both on top form, we should expect this strong play to continue.

Victory brings back excitement.

After two reasonably close losses, the Peisandros team has managed to score a victory -- propelling them in to second place in group H. They overcame Patetopia 26-17 and were never really threatened. So at the half way stage and Peisandros are a solid chance of progressing. The Sandrian QB has started to find his mojo and is now leading his team around the park well. Also the defence is finding it's straps, so things are looking good for the second round of group games.

GOLDEN EAGLES EARN VICTORY

Fultonville- Brett Nicholson became the first head coach to earn a World Bowl victory coaching two separate countries as the Golden Eagles found their way past 16-7 at home to improve to 1-2 while dropping the disappointing Nordics to 0-3. For as big as this win is for West Newmanistan, it has to be just as deflating for Tocrowkia as they were expecting much better.

Where this game was lost for our opponents was in their 3rd down efficiency, as they converted just one of ten 3rd downs of 3 or greater yards all game long. The Golden Eagles had their own problems of converting their drives with touchdowns, but the three field goals nailed by Scott Kurick were more then enough. Kurick put the Golden Eagles ahead 3-0 with a 44-yarder with 2:53 left in the first quarter, and then 6-0 with a 28-yarder with 10:11 left in the second. The lone touchdown for the home side came with the team executing the two minute drill, and Steve Gannon finding Shawn Waite in the end zone with just 0:21 remaining in the first half. Tocrowkia got their score in the 3rd quarter on a long 64-yard run by Siegfried Vater, but they could not gain any momentum off of it. West Newmanistan answered with an eight minute drive that got all the way down to the Tocrowkia 4-yard line before stalling. Kurick nailed the 22-yarder to make it a two-score game, and West Newmanistan would hold on to the 16-7 victory.

Nicholson played down the victory afterwards calling it, “Nice, but we got a long way to go.”

Katie’s Space

Three games in and we have doubled the amount of wins from World Bowl IV. We are 2-1, and playing pretty good football. We might not be ready to scare Dancougar yet, but the second spot for advancement in this group is there for the taking. Right now, it is ours to lose. Greal has not looked good at all as they are 0-3 and will be our next opponent. Having a two-game lead over them this early is important even though there is plenty of time left. Should we get another victory over them in the next game, we will essentially have a four-game lead over them since we would be assured of the tiebreaker. Rymeria looks like they could become the bigger challenger, and I am pretty impressed with the way we were able to travel all the way to their planet and show no ill-effects of jet lag in the game. All that travel may get to them.

I am sure most of you are wondering what it was like to travel to another planet just to play football. Well I cannot lie, I slept on the ride there. I had a window seat on the spacecraft that I didn’t even know Cassadaigua had, but once you have seen a few stars you have seen them all and it gets a little boring. A couple of my teammates looked around the place once we got there, but the majority of us just cared about the football. We had a ball, and a field to practice on, and that’s what we spent our time doing before the game. It’s a good thing too, because we played a terrific game. We had to rely on our kicker a little more then we would have liked, but a win is a win. If we can go 2-1 through the group again, then I believe we are good to go to the knockouts in Newmanistan. The games against the Group E teams will be tough, but since we all have to play them, it is not likely that anyone in our group will be making up any ground during those games. Regardless, this is a huge step forward from our 1-9 effort in World Bowl IV.

IN COMPLETE CONTROL

Group G is looking like a cakewalk as the Millionaires disposed of Colbourne in a closer then it really was final score of 19-13. The victory gives Secristan a perfect record and many people surrounding the team are continuing to think big. This team may be able to inflict more damage during the World Bowl then outsiders think. Naturally, nations such as Dancougar, Arroza, and Kura-Pelland are mentioned as strongest threats to win a title with Qazox and Newmanistan also in that top tier. At 1-2, Rennidan has fallen off that perch in our estimation. Secristan has earned their spot in that next echelon but that is not enough. It didn’t matter that it was a bitterly cold day at Rogers Field. Gametime temperatures sunk as low as –28 degrees Celsius, but in the words of defensive end Julius Jackson, “We both have to play in it. Bring it on!” Jackson did that, by the way, sacking Jeff Williams twice in the first half, and three times overall. With the Millionaires already up 3-0, one of those sacks led to a fumble that was recovered by Ron Kerker at the Colbourne 8. Secristan could not move the ball and settled for a field goal. In fact, they settled for four such kicks in the first half, leading it 12-3 at the half. Chris Hausler picked up a touchdown on the ground early in the 3rd to make it 19-3, and this is where it stood until late in the fourth. Colbourne kicked a field goal with just under one minute to go, and then got good field position when Nick Chaffin fumbled the kickoff and Colbourne recovered at the two. Javon Grenne scored a TD, but it game was well over at that point, 19-13.

The Secristan Department of Sports was thrilled with the result, and the overall outlook of the team. Perhaps the team will have a bit of a challenge in Bushdome, but expectations now are that the team should go 6-0 through the group play, and win at least three out of four games against the Group H opposition. You won’t find Kura-Pelland scaring anyone here either. 10-0? Maybe so. Katie Simpson, our SDOS representative had this to say about the early play of the team. “I am pretty pumped about it. Advertisers are pouring in dollars now to the paper view telecasts now to the point where we will have to show commercials on every possible opening. This will mean that we will have to limit some game analysis, but the people need to know more what kind of exciting offers that our advertisers have in store for them. The players tell me they are happy with some of the endorsements that they are getting on a smaller scale. Right now this has been a huge success. We are picking up viewers and generating more revenue then we were expecting, which is making up for the disappointment in that other sport that gets called football by some people.” The next game is probably the toughest remaining on the schedule in group play, at Bushdome. We are sure we will get a nice warm welcome there by those fans!

Sports Editorial:

The Path Has Never Been Clearer.

With the narrow victory over Green Wombat, the Arrozan national Football Team has now gone 3-0 in conference play, and has defeated the 2 toughest competitors in their group on the road. I'm not going to rehash the game, other columnists have broke down the amazing play of Rimer Vinings, and Baliss, but I'm going to look ahead at the playoff picture.

And what I see is a unique opportunity for Arroza to take massive advantage.

Being in Group E means that in out half of the playoff bracket we get teams from Groups A, C, E, and G, while the other four groups go into the other half of the playoffs and can't be met until the last game. So who's in the other side of the playoffs?

Dancougar is in group F, and look like they might have to play Qazox in the first round. That's two powerhouses right there. Not to mention that the Hosts, Newmanistan is on the other side of the bracket. So are Sarzonia, Kura-Pelland, and Cotenshire, all on the other half of the bracket beating themselves to a pulp. Who are the toughest teams on our side? Probably Secristan, Vephrall, and Bluth Corporation. All talented sides, but not the wrecking crew that you'll see in the other half of the bracket. So with all tis said, this has almost got to be the year that we get back into the Finals. No other World Bowl has given us the chance to go this far, this easily. We must take the opportunity.

Rematch time! Who's gonna get that revenge? See soon, right after this cutoff.

Group A:
Questille 3-24 Taeshan
Vephrall 30-13 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 3 1 0 59 16 43
2 Vephrall 3 1 0 77 46 31
3 Fujisawan Territories 2 2 0 67 83 -16
4 Questille 0 4 0 33 91 -58


Taeshan over Vephrall on H2H result.

Group B:
West Newmanistan 14-41 Qazox
Cotenshire 17-13 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Cotenshire 4 0 0 83 43 40
2 Qazox 3 1 0 126 59 67
3 West Newmanistan 1 3 0 41 105 -64
4 Tocrowkia 0 4 0 47 90 -43


Group C:
LeQuince 0-27 Rennidan
Bluth Corporation 23-6 Kosovoe


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Bluth Corporation 4 0 0 90 40 50
2 Rennidan 2 2 0 83 50 27
3 LeQuince 1 3 0 26 70 -44
4 Kosovoe 1 3 0 29 68 -39


LeQuince over Kosovoe on H2H result.

Group D:
Lurikastan 16-38 Newmanistan
Sarzonia 34-17 Scandavian States


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 4 0 0 99 36 63
2 Sarzonia 3 1 0 81 68 13
3 Scandavian States 1 3 0 60 87 -27
4 Lurikastan 0 4 0 56 105 -49


Group E:
Serinite II 7-23 Arroza
Green Wombat 17-16 Prux


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 4 0 0 111 39 72
2 Green Wombat 2 2 0 74 56 18
3 Prux 2 2 0 48 60 -12
4 Serinite II 0 4 0 16 94 -78


Green Wombat ahead of Prux on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group F:
Rymeria 10-38 Dancougar
Greal 3-9 Cassadaigua


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 4 0 0 114 27 87
2 Cassadaigua 3 1 0 59 43 16
3 Rymeria 1 3 0 23 81 -58
4 Greal 0 4 0 37 82 -45


Group G:
Bushdome 0-17 Secristan
Colbourne 7-3 Australiah


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 4 0 0 87 26 61
2 Bushdome 2 2 0 44 61 -17
3 Colbourne 2 2 0 51 45 6
4 Australiah 0 4 0 15 65 -50


Bushdome over Colbourne on H2H result

Group H
Patetopia 3-13 Kura-Pelland
Lovisa 20-14 Peisandros


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 4 0 0 83 43 50
2 Lovisa 2 2 0 87 88 -1
3 Peisandros 1 3 0 66 73 -7
4 Patetopia 1 3 0 54 86 -32


Peisandros over Patetopia on H2H result

Gavin Davis normally isn't one to lose confidence after a single match. Not when he was one of the key players in a World Bowl IV side that advanced to the knockouts. Not when some experts considered his right arm more valuable to the team than LoQuan Willard's legs.

But his stinker of a performance against Newmanistan definitely played in his mind a little bit. He looked at Coach Jim Zorn as he trudged off the field for the last time following an 11-yard sack that knocked the Stars out of realistic field goal range. Adam Novak missed from 61 yards, giving Newmanistan the ball on the Sarzonian 49 yard line where they ran out the clock.

He thought coming into World Bowl V he wouldn't have to worry about losing his starting job. But he still didn't know Zorn all that well. He figured Zorn might try something to spark the team -- or at worst, try to send a message to Davis.

Needless to say, he didn't know Zorn that well. Davis was back in the starting lineup for the Stars against Scandavian States in the last match at Hendrix Stadium before repairs forced the team to move its home field to the Iron Bowl in Portland.

They sent Hendrix Stadium to the repair shop with a flourish. Davis completed 21-of-29 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns, Willard rushed 29 times for 152 yards and a touchdown and Sarzonia defeated Scandavian States 34-17.

Before Davis jogged onto the field following a Scandavian fourth-and-10 pass that fell incomplete, he looked over at Zorn. This time, the eyes told the story of a coach who kept faith in his quarterback and a quarterback who kept the faith in himself. Taking a snap and feeling his right knee hit the turf to keep the clock running was sweet vindication for the Stars.

Their first match at the Iron Bowl will be against a Lurikastan side that gave the Stars major fits before Sarzonia rallied to win 24-20.

"They're probably the best 0-4 team in this field," Willard told Davis. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Zorn smiled. He could see his players were already motivated and ready to face a team when he thought he'd have to drum up his best speech to fire them up. Still, Davis knew Zorn had to address the subject of not looking ahead to the away fixture in Newmanistan.

"Lurikastan are more than capable of knocking us off," Zorn said. "We look past them at our own peril."

Fitin' Falcons Defeat Questille 24-3

If you look at the statistics after last nights big wins the Taeshan defense leads the world with only 16 points against them. In second is the Secristani team, followed by third place Dancougar. The Millionares are 10 points behind us with the Wings 11. These stats can show you that if you play good defesne it will show. Right now the Knights are in first place in Group A, the teams with the most offensive points scored on them are Lurkistan at 0-4 and in last place in Group D and West Newmanistan in Group B with a 1-3 record and a third place spot. Also shown by team stats is who scores the most, that team is of course Qazox with 126, followed by the Black Wings and the Tar Hornets of Arroza. Now all three of those teams is in first or secondin there group. Another stat witch shows that Dancougar is first in overall points for-points against gives you the knowledge that all of these teams can use there styles to win. And perhaps it shows you that the team from Dancougar is the best in the world, but as a Falcon fan i won't publicly say that.

Well, how does this pertain to the Falcons defeating Questille 24-3? Well the Falcons won the game by scoring an overall points for-points against of 21. This is something that can go a long way in giving you a win. The Falcons are of course known throughout the world for there defesne, but now with the young man by the name of Max Hope running the offensive shoow with a more running style offense the managment team like to call Run and Gun the Falcons have know moved into the world of all around goodness. The Falcons of course are always expected to win games, and to make it to the next round. In fact they won the first ever Championship now known as the World Bowl. Only once have they failed in there quest for a knockout round spot. World Bowl 2 will always be a bad time in the history of Falcon football.

In yesterdays game the Falcons easily wiped the bug that is Questille's football team of the window of there speeding car of football. The Falcons playing for the first time ever on the rugged field that is the home of the Questille National Football Field managed the young whippersnappers from Questille and ran away with the game after Questille scored and opening drive Field Goal. But as you know the Falcons of course won the game and walked briskly away from the field with smiles on there little faces. Or whatever, the Falcons scored a tieing Field Goal from 48 yards out by Martin Gramatica. Then Gabe Martin found Ricky Zellefrow for a 44 yard revers double pass trick play. Later Max Hope would sniff the goaline out from 27 yards away to make the game 17-3. Then Rudi Johnson put the nail in the coffin with a rumbling, stumbling touchdown from his third down back spot 5 yards out and the Falcons walked away with there 24-3 win. Next the Knights face the Fujisiwan Territories who of course shocked the Falcons by defeating them 10-9.

ROAD WARRIORS

Despite being booed throughout the game by a sold out Bushdome crowd, the Millionaires silenced the home team, 17-0. If only their players could have played with the same kind of passion that their fans did. Secristan scored on their opening possession when Stacie Johnson broke free of her coverage for a 37-yard touchdown reception, more then half of that being yards after the catch. With the ease that the Millionaires appeared to score on that drive it may have looked like the rout was on, but Bushdome's defense really stepped up, and Secristan did not even pick up a first down on their next four possessions. The Bushdome offense could not get anything going, managing only 51 yards in the first half. After recording three sacks against Colbourne, Julius Jackson remained hot, picking up two more sacks in this contest. Ahman Dillon also picked up two, with Shawn Cullari getting one as the Bushdome offensive line could not do anything about it. Credit must also go to the secondary for not allowing the receivers to get open. Curtis Henry completely blanketed their leading receiver coming into the game, holding him to just one catch for a measly six yards. The Millionaires found the end zone late in the third quarter as Mitchell would again find Stacie Johnson, this time in the corner of the end zone from 15 yards to make it 14-0, and Secristan would add a field goal early in the fourth for the ultimate score of 17-0. After a slow start other then the opening possession, Mitchell rebounded to have pretty decent numbers, going 14-for-26 for 193 yards, 2TD's and 1 INT. Johnson led the way in the air with 6 receptions for 84 yards and the two scores. Chris Hausler carried the ball 21 times for a moderate 87 yards.

This game concluded the Millionaires road portion of their schedule amongst the group teams. Up next will be home contests against Australiah and Colbourne. Australiah, despite making the Baptism of Iron final, has been a considerable disappointment during the World Bowl and Colbourne could be the second place team although they seem well below the level the Millionaires are at right now. Following that will come the highly anticipated showdown against Kura-Pelland, which will be on the road. With that, the only real difficultly the Millionaires should face in the next couple weeks is not looking ahead to that big game and overlooking their next opponents. The Secristan Department of Sports hopes that you as fans, will not overlook the next two opponents either. To make sure, they have offered a 10% discount for the Kura-Pelland game for all fans that have purchased both the upcoming matches with Australiah and Colbourne.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Space, the final frontier. These are the games of the Dancougar Black Wings. Their fifth tournament mission - to explore this strange, new world. To seek out new challenges and new World Bowl rivals. To boldly play where no team has played before! Well, perhaps they can't make that claim, but the interplanetary journey was a first for the team and for Dancougar as a whole.

Football fans on Rymeria were undoubtedly disappointed by the outcome, a 38-10 loss that keeps the Wings undefeated and dropped the hosts into a precarious two-game hole. But the fans were finally able to see a Dancougar team finish things it started. Drives were still ended by the foot of Seth Cavallo, but he was finally kicking for one more often than he was kicking for three.

"I was telling the guys that my fantasy numbers were going to take a hit if they didn't stop," he joked after the game. "We know that we're capable of playing at a high level and we're just getting more confident with every win."

The Wings will have to be careful, though, since they've shown the same pattern in past World Bowls. They start slow, steamroll a few teams in the middle of their schedule, then lose a game and hobble into the playoffs with a few close wins. No Dancougar team has ever finished qualifying undefeated, and coach Will Moohim cautions against thinking they can this time.

"Everyone's looking to Arroza as the game of the round for us," said Moohim. "But they're so far in the future that they're not even on the radar. We have to focus on clearing the group games first."

Next up was Rymeria, a team they shutout at home in the opening match of qualifying. The schedulers saved the most arduous leg of the road trip for last, but there were no apparent ill-effects early. The Wings started a promising drive that was killed off by a holding penalty, but they got the ball back quickly and marched 68 yards for a touchdown, with Logan Dublin sweeping left behind a block from Billy Leuthold for a 4-yard score. Rymeria turned it over on the next drive when, after working to the Black Wing side of the field, Scott Maxam intercepted a pass thrown behind the receiver and ran it back to the Rymeria 33. Two plays later, Leuthold was in the endzone to make it 14-0.

Gary Hutchins was not nearly as productive as in the last game, even though 135 yards is nothing to sneeze at. But for the first time in the tournament, Dublin was a big part of the offense. He was used on several screen passes in the first half, the longest going for 18 yards on a drive that led to a Cavallo field goal.

Rymeria responded with a field goal drive that burned six minutes off the second-quarter clock, giving Michael Hussey around three minutes to make something happen. After a few good runs by Hutchins, Hussey went over the top for Leuthold and found his receiver for a 29-yard gain deep into Rymeria territory. But on the next play, Hussey botched the snap and fumbled. Rymeria recovered and ran off the rest of the clock, sending the teams into the locker room at 17-3.

"I just never got a hand to it," said Hussey. "I was so worried about getting the timing right on the next play that I pulled out before I had a clean hold."

Rymeria opened the second half with a touchdown to pull within a single score. A 32-yard run was the key play on the drive, as both Billy Aveline and Christopher Gifford missed tackles. The back was forced to the sideline and then bumped out of bounds. Three plays later, a 15-yard touchdown pass made it 17-10 and the crowd was right back in the game.

If the Wings were going to establish control of the game, now was the time. Hussey responded by extending the lead, and Dublin was the recipient of the final pass. Dublin caught the pass behind two tight ends and then accelerated past everyone for an 18-yard score. Rymeria's next drive ended in disaster, as Maxam came up with his second pick of the game and returned it 35 yards to make it 31-10. The Wings had two touchdowns in 24 seconds.

"It was a critical sequence of plays," said Moohim. "You figure, we put together a good drive to score but there's plenty of time left for them to keep it close. But then [Maxam] makes a huge play and it's a fourteen-point swing."

The two-pick effort by Maxam struck a killer blow. The Rymerians were forced to pass for much of the fourth quarter, and the Wings were ready. On the offensive side, they were focused less on gaining yardage and more on keeping the clock rolling. They did have one more scoring drive which was punctuated by Hutchins from two yards away. That brought the tally to 38-10, which was more than insurmountable that late in the game.

"I had some good reads, and as a defense, I think we're playing well," said Maxam. "You win a lot of games when the defense can put points on the board."

I'm Hot 'Cause I'm Fly...

* Although they themselves may admit that it might be too soon to challenge the Black Wings, Cassadaigua should not be taken lightly. In fact, they should be playing with more confidence. The Dagans have rebounded from a disastrous World Bowl IV and currently sit only a game behind the Wings going into their next game. Lauren Hamilton has been keeping her team in games, but more importantly, they're no longer folding down the stretch.

* Guys like Greg Dannen and Abe Chadwick are fun to watch because they pile up the yards and the plays, which is one of the reasons why Qazox and Arroza are among the most-feared teams in the competition. But there's a lot to be said for the defenses, too. Teams like Dancougar and Taeshan have traditionally gotten the job done on the other side of the ball, and still are. But one team that's standing out for its defensive play is Secristan, which is holding opponents to under a touchdown a game. They may be derided for throwing money (and cheerleaders, that one time) around, but make no mistake... this group can play.

... And You Ain't 'Cause You're Not.

* Rennidan rolled over LeQuince 27-0 to restore some of their swagger, but something still doesn't seem right about this team. We're missing the usual brash attitude... that loud-talking, chest-thumping, bear-wrestling mentality that only this team can bring to the field. Perhaps it's the newfound maturity of quarterback Pat McGraw, who's a lot calmer in the pocket and hasn't pulled any of the wild stunts that brought him so much notoriety - and success - in previous tournaments.

* When Brett Nicholson took the job in disputed West Newmanistan, he probably imagined things would be a little better than this. But although the Reborn Empire may have shaken the Qazox monkey off its back, the breakaway democracy is still at the mercy of the Phoenix. After getting pounded 41-14, Nicholson is staring at two losses in which he's been outscored 79-22, which makes up the majority of West Newmanistan's poor group record. Conquently, it boosts Qazox as they take aim at Cotenshire.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

Cotenshire is undefeated... and drops in the rankings? Well, their win over Tocrowkia wasn't that convincing, and someone has to fall to make room for Bluth Corp - which has returned with aplomb - and Taeshan, who are making that Fujisawan loss look like a fluke. And don't forget the Phoenix, who are playing angry after a surprising loss early in qualifying.

(1) Newmanistan (4-0)
(2) Dancougar (4-0)
(3) Arroza (4-0)
(4) Qazox (3-1)
(5) Kura-Pelland (4-0)
(6) Bluth Corporation (4-0)
(7) Secristan (4-0)
(8) Taeshan (3-1)
(9) Cotenshire (4-0)
(10) Sarzonia (3-1)
(11) Vephrall (3-1)
(12) Rennidan (2-2)
(13) Cassadaigua (3-1)
(14) Green wombat (2-2)
(15) Prux (2-2)
(16) Lovisa (2-2)
(17) Fujisawan Territories (2-2)
(18) Colbourne (2-2)
(19) Peisandros (1-3)
(20) Bushdome (2-2)
(21) Patetopia (1-3)
(22) Scandinavian States (1-3)
(23) Kosovoe (1-3)
(24) West Newmanistan (1-3)
(25) Rymeria (1-3)
(26) Tocrowkia (0-4)
(27) LeQuince (1-3)
(28) Greal (0-4)
(29) Serinite II (0-4)
(30) Australiah (0-4)
(31) Lurikastan (0-4)
(32) Questille (0-4)

Despite a victory against Tocrowkia, the mobs in Homdurung were still restless. Such was the ferocity of the riots that it amounted to a death warrant for one to be in the city and unable to speak the local Gothic dialect. Anarchy reigned, and, lacking police or military personnel, there was nothing city officials could do to stop it. Jails had been raided and all the prisoners freed, the local weapons stockpiles had been looted, and all commerce had ceased to enter the harbour.

A leader emerged from the ranks of the mobs after the game against Tocrowkia. After leading in the beheading of over fifty people that the mobs had seized, he delivered the follow fiery address:

“Townsmen, today you are all patriots, all heroes, all brothers of mine. We have stood against the invading forces and repelled every last one of them. We have held our ranks and turned back the tides. We have drawn swords, guns, knives, and faced down the barbarians. And, by the end of the day, we have driven them all back into that maw of hell from which they crawled.

“What a courageous stand! What bravery was displayed today! What heroism will now enshrine us among our countrymen, gentle us among kings, and cleanse us before God! For indeed it is, true patriots, that the divine Providence has witnessed our fearlessness with exalted admiration.

“Dear brothers, most magnanimous brothers, what we have demonstrated today is much more than skill in combat. We have shown that we will never back down when confronted with evil. When the Qazoxian hordes stormed our gates, did we let them ravage our town? When the malicious Tocrowkians invaded, did we offer up our women to rape and our children to enslave? No, fellow townsmen, we fought with grit and blood, defending our values, our traditions, our livelihoods.

“With but the courage in our hearts did we armour ourselves, and with but the sinews of our arms and the metal of our blades did we attack. Whensoever any villain entreats upon our thresholds, we will band together to send him back into the dark one’s lair. But alas, good patriots, the stench of aliens again thickens the air. When the Newmanistanis arrive tomorrow and cast a shadow upon our town, we shall again rally in arms!”

There was a thunderous roaring from the crowd.

“When, tomorrow, the two teams take to the pitch, we shall overrun the ice and seize the vile rogues of Newmanistan. Their heads shall be lopped off, their bodies flayed, their genitals strung together!”

More cheers erupted from the crowd.

“And any Newmanistani man shall be cast into the sound with iron weights chained to his legs so that he sinks. And every woman and child found is to be boiled alive in an iron cauldron. And, for those pregnant wenches that invade our dear city and wish to spread their race here, their overgrown bellies shall be cut open and the unborn litter fed to vultures!”

There was now more shouting and cheering than ever. Even after the inflammatory proclamation had been delivered, the mobs refused to disperse. The crowds remained in the streets throughout the night.

(OOC: To West Newmanistan, don’t worry your players will not actually be harmed, as will be shown in my next RP post.)

Bluth Corporation continued its domination of Group C with a 23-6 home win over Kosovoe, holding the visitors scoreless until the fourth quarter.

Kosovoe won the coin toss, and opted to receive in hopes of establishing an early lead over the high-flying Bluth Corporation offense. Thanks to Devin Shipley's kickoff going out of bounds, Kosovoe began the game on their own 40-yard line. Knowing they would likely face an aggressive pass rush, they opened the game with three straight runs to slow it down, gaining twelve yards on those three plays to give them first-and-ten at the Bluth 48. Establishing the run early allowed Kosovoe to run a play-action fake, leading to a seven-yard completion that was followed by a five-yard dumpoff to the running back. At the Bluth 36, Kosovoe then sent their running back off tackle, picking up nine yards before he was flattened by strong safety Brian Alldredge. A pass then fell incomplete, and with 3rd-and-1 the Corporation defense loaded up the box expecting a run.

Kosovoe did as expected, and the run was stopped for no gain, setting up a 44-yard field goal attempt. But the snap was high, and the holder bobbled it. The kicker pulled up after seeing he had no chance of making the kick, and the holder tried to run with it but was arm-tackled behind the line for a loss of one and a turnover on downs.

Bluth Corporation took over after the botched field goal attempt on its own 28, hoping to exorcise the demons that had plagued its offense the last half of its previous game. They only needed two plays to cross midfield, and after a pass interference call on Kosovoe they soon found themselves on the Kosovoe 31. Richard Anthis, returning from the injury he had sustained in the previous game, took a handoff from Cain Wells for a three-yard gain, but on the next play was dropped for a two-yard loss as the DT bullrushed guard Matthew Simpson to get to him in the backfield. Bluth Corporation's third-down play called for tight end John Burgess to run a route that should have put him a full three yards past the first down marker. However, a miscommunication resulted in him running the route short; Wells did not realize this and threw to him anyway. Burgess made the reception easily, but was unable to turn upfield for the first down, being run out of bounds a yard short. The field-goal squad was brought out, and Shipley had no problem nailing a 39-yard attempt. "That's the difference between good teams and bad teams," Shipley later said. "Good teams always execute the fundamentals."

Shipley's kickoff stayed inbounds this time, and the Kosovoe returner was able to get it to the 28 before being run out of bounds. Keeping it on the ground, Kosovoe ate up six minutes as nine running plays got the ball to the Bluth 17 before stalling to set up fourth-and-four. Thinking they had figured out the Bluth defense and only down by three, the Kosovoe kicker trotted out for an easy 34-yard-attempt. This time the snap was fine and the kick was solid, but he failed to account for the crosswind as the ball sailed wide right, giving Bluth Corporation the ball at their own 24. The Corporation answered with a long drive of their own, as Anthis and Blakley shared the load to account for 62 yards; the only pass plays were a five-yard dumpoff--to Anthis--and a nine-yard completion to Norman Shade that just happened to be for a touchdown.

Shipley's next kickoff was caught in the end zone, and after a short return Kosovoe drove thirty-seven yards to their own 48 before the Bluth Corporation defense stiffened and sacked their quarterback for a nine-yard loss to set up third-and-twelve. With an obvious passing situation coming up, Bluth Corporation lined up for a safety blitz. But the Kosovoe quarterback recognized it, and audibled into a running play that caught the Corporation defense off-guard. The back was brought down right at the first-down marker, and the crowd booed as the officials initially signalled that Kosovoe had converted by just inches. But coach Jamie Farr wasn't convinced, and a red beanbag told the officials as much. The crowd roared with delight as the stadium videoboard appeared to show the runner down well short of where the officials had spotted the ball, but the final call still rested with the referee and what he saw on his TV screen.

What he saw was the same thing the crowd saw, and the crowd cheered as the officials moved the ball almost a full yard back and called out the chains to re-measure. The re-spot put the play well short of the line to gain, but the Kosovoe offense trotted out to the field intending to make a statement and fight back into the game. With another running play up the gut, the runner appeared to have the first down, except when the officials untangled the pile he didn't actually have the ball. Apparently he had fumbled without even realizing it, as the ball was eventually found between the knees of one of the Bluth Corporation linebackers.

Bluth Corporation took over on the fifty-yard-line. After the last drive, the running backs were too tired to be effective; Kosovoe, knowing this, went into a dime package to stop the pass. It worked, as Wells could not find a single open man on three straight plays. Lamar White came out to punt, and the ball was fair-caught at the Kosovoe 7.

The Bluth defense forced a three-and-out of its own, holding two runs to less than three yards apiece and batting down a pass to one of the Kosovoe tight ends. Faced with a fourth-and-long and with less than a minute left in the half, Kosovoe opted not to attempt to convert and instead sent out the punter; the ball sailed out of bounds at the Kosovoe 48.

Running the ball was not an option with so little time left in the half, so Bluth Corporation went to a hurry-up offense to deny Kosovoe the coverage it had on the last series. A completion underneath to Thaddeus Wilkinson picked up twelve yards, and Erwin Winters on a post route picked up another seventeen. With nine seconds left, Bluth Corporation decided to try a quick pass into the end zone, which fell incomplete; Devin Shipley was then sent out to attempt a 40-yard field goal that barely scraped through the uprights as time expired. The teams went into the locker room with the score Bluth Corporation 13, Kosovoe 0.

Kosovoe opened the half with a surprise onside kick that they recovered at their own 42. The Bluth offense had expected to get the ball to add to its lead, and when that failed to happen a minor skirmish broke out between the Bluth Corporation and Kosovoe special-teams players. No one was ejected or penalized, as the officials and the more level-headed players broke it up before it became too serious. Kosovoe came out gunning it, but once again the Bluth Corporation coaching staff demonstrated its mastery of halftime adjustments as the defense gave up one first down before forcing a punt at the Bluth 44.

Kosovoe's punt was a good one, as one of their reserve linebackers downed it at the 8. By this point, taking up time was just as important as scoring, and the Corporation was able to kill eight minutes with a bunch of stretch runs and short passes over the middle as they marched all the way down the field for their second touchdown of the game, a three-yard run from Richard Anthis. This grind-it-out game wasn't necessarily the spectacular display of offensive finesse the fans had become used to, but winning was winning, and they wanted to extend their lead while ending all hopes of a Kosovoe comeback.

Kosovoe was able to put together a bit of a sustained drive when they got the ball again, as the Corporation felt comfortable enough with its 20-point lead with a quarter and a half remaining to settle into a prevent defense. But as the defense only allowed short passes and runs up the middle, the Kosovoe drive consumed a lot of time as they marched down to the Bluth 23. Feeling desperate, the Kosovoe defensive coordinator called in a long pass play, hoping to catch the Bluth Corporation defense napping so they could get something going quick. The play might have worked, except the quarterback's target tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground after the ball had been launched to him, enabling cornerback Kenneth Lauley to grab the ball himself in the end zone. He took a couple of steps forward as if to run it out, but then thought better of it and took a knee for the touchback.

Another long drive burned up six minutes as Bluth Corporation moved down to the Kosovoe 14 before a sack and an incomplete pass set up fourth-and-nine at the 20--an easy field goal for Devin Shipley, who put through his third of the night. This would be the last action the Bluth Corporation offensive starters would see on the day; after the defense forced another three-and-out the reserves were put in to avoid injury to the stars.

The second-team offense was second-team for a reason, and though they were able to gain a couple of first downs they couldn't do anything more, forcing a punt that gave Kosovoe the ball at their own 32. Unwilling to risk another interception, Kosovoe decided to stick with short secure plays and hope for the best. With five minutes remaining, Kosovoe stuck with sideline routes so that they would have a hope of stopping the clock. Even so, they needed just over three minutes to set up what would turn out to be Kosovoe's lone score of the game, a five-yard touchdown pass followed up by a failed two-point conversion attempt.

(OOC: Newmanistan, you might want to take a look at your point differential for Rennidan. I don't know if you calculate it anew each day or if you just add the new day's diff to the last day's, but if it's the latter you're going to be off if you're not careful).
With less than two minutes remaining, it was obvious that Kosovoe would attempt another onside kick and this time the Corporation was ready. Kosovoe had no chance of recovering as the Bluth Corporation return unit swarmed to the ball, setting up shop at the Kosovoe 44. Once again, Bluth Corporation was able to take a knee to end the game, a dominant victory in preliminary play.

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Howie Strahan: That's more like it now. As West Newmanistan punts it away here with just about a minute left.

Terry Johnson: My toes still have frostbite from Cotenshire.

Howie Strahan: Well at least you didn't have to have your fingers surgically separated, like I had to have.

Terry Johnson: Who would have though a game with temperatures in the teens would seem warm?

Howie Strahan: And there's the final whistle, as Qazox improves to 3-1 in the qualifiers.

Terry Johnson: 41-14, a compete buttkicking, not including the first minute. I think the Pheonix were still frozen when West Newmanistan scored that touchdown on the opening kickoff.

Howie Strahan: Not to mention that Dannen threw for 300 yards again.

Terry Johnson: Well that's the last you'll see from us for a bit, as Qazox finally heads home for games where the temperatures are at least in the 50's!

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Qazox 7 10 17 7 41
W. New. 7 7 0 0 14

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
W. Newmanistan: John O’Donnell 98-yard Kickoff return for TD 14:47. PAT by Scott Kurick good. (7-0 W. Newmanistan)
Qazox: 1 yd TD run by Greg Dannen. 8:23. 11 plays-76 yards in 6:24. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (7-7)

2nd Quarter:
W. Newmanistan: 1-yd TD run by Steve Gannon 14:53. 9 plays-64 yards in 3:52. PAT by Scott Kurick good. (14-7 W. Newmanistan)
Qazox: 40 yd TD pass to Ivan Harvey from Greg Dannen. 6:31. 3 plays-71 yards in 1:52. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (14-14)
Qazox: 42-yd FG by Tryone Chase. 0:00 9-plays 66 yards in 3:23. (17-14 Qazox)

3rd Quarter:
Qazox: 29-yd FG by Tryone Chase. 9:47 11-plays 71 yards in 5:13. (20-14 Qazox)
Qazox: 16 yd TD pass to Ivan Harvey from Greg Dannen. 3:19. 2 plays-22 yards in 0:47. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (27-14 Qazox)
Qazox: 56 yd Punt Return for TD by Adam Politt. 0:52. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (34-14 Qazox)

4th Quarter:
Qazox: 6 yd TD run by Frank Vallens. 6:07. 6 plays-49 yards in 3:47. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (41-14 Qazox)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 24/30, 326 yds, 2 TD; 3 rushes, 4 yds, 1 TD
Frank Vallens: 19 rushes, 96 yds, 1 TD; 2 rec, 23 yds
Jason DeHavel: 6 rushes, 41 yds
Tony Aster: 7 rec, 83 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 5 rec, 81 yds
Ivan Harvey: 7 rec, 120 yds, 2 TD
Nate Sacimoni: 3 rec, 19 yards

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 7 tackles, 1 FF
David Reshks: 4 tackles
Richie Sola: 2 tackles
Vic Alworth: 5 tackles
David Reed: 2 Tackles
Jason Middleton: 4 tackles
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 2 tackles
Mark Johns: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended
Greg Olsen: 5 tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 Fum rec.
Adam Politt: 3 tackles, 1 INT
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 2/2 FG (long of 42); 5/5 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 1 punt, Long of 49, 1 TB.
Adam Politt: 3 KO Ret, 59 yds; 8 Punt Ret., 156 yds. 1 TD

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Arroza 4-0 (7) 108 pts
Dancougar 4-0 (6) 106 pts
Kura-Pelland 4-0 (5) 103 pts
Secristan 4-0 (1) 93 pts
Newmanistan 4-0 (1) 89 pts
Cotenshire 4-0 77 pts
Sarzonia 3-1 67 pts
Bluth Corporation 4-0 58 pts
Taeshan 3-1 52 pts
Qazox 3-1 51 pts

Others receiving votes: Vephrall (48 pts), Fujisawan Territories (38 pts), Cassadaigua (34 pts).

World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)

Griffinville Globe

Thanks to a poor officiating the Statesmen... Sorry let me start that again.

Thanks to a lousy bounce the Statesmen... Nope. not that either.

Despite being outgained 398-196, the Statesmen almost knocked off Green wombat, but a failed onsides kick allowed the wombats to move into 2nd place in the group.

3 Mark Ainey field goals in the first half, was countered by 2 TD's by FreeLongstreetnow and Green wombat had a 14-9 lead at the half. After a 52-yd WhiteBoi99 FG made it 17-9 with 5 minutes left, Jason Ware drove Prux 77-yards in 4:23, and a 7-yd TD pass to George Hall made it 17-15, meaing a 2-pt conversion was forthcoming. But Prux was flagged for excessive celebration in the Endzone and had to attempt the conversion from the 17 yard line. And they did, until a very late flag was thrown for holding, called on Al Burque of all people. So now facing a 27 yard 2-pt conversion attempt, Prux decided to play it relatively safer and kick the 45-yd PAT attempt, which just barley cleared the crossbar.

On the ensuing onsides-kick, Monte Aaron caught the ball just past the 10-yard safezone, but his left foot came down out of bounds, meaning Green wombat took over at the 41 with just 30 seconds left. The Statesmen having no timeouts could only watch as the wombats knelt down for the 17-16 win.

Now the Statesmen have to travel to Arroza, who have looked unbeatable so far. While a loss wouldn't eliminate Prux, it would mark the first losing streak and put them in a hole they might not be able to climb out of.


SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat L 16-17
MD5: Prux @ Arroza
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(2-2-0)

Wombats get lucky bounce

Despite what claims Prux may have about the game, their inexperience at this level cost them the game. After going up 17-9 with 5:11 on the clock, Prux managed to score a TD, (though replays clearly showed that George Hall was out-of-bounds on the play). Hall then decided to dunk the ball over the goal posts, earning a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which the Wombats accepted for the conversion attempt. On the attempt, barracuda178 was basically tackled by Al Burque, leading to the successful conversion, which was properly called back. Then, still down by 2, they kicked the PAT, setting up an on-sides kick, which was promptly touched out of bounds by Prux. So despite the close score, Green Wombat dominated this game holdign Prux to 3 FG's in the 1st ahlf, despite the Statesmen having the ball 5 times inside the 20.

Up next is Serinite II, and at 0-4, they are clearly the worst team in the group. A win would put the Wombats in control of their destiny at 3-2, with the 2nd Arroza game and Dancougar left on the schedule. A 6-4 final record is very attainable, and should be enough to qualify for the next round.

THE ROCKET REPORT

LURIKASTAN BRUSHED ASIDE

Salo, Lurikastan- Playing at the enormous Golden Greens in Salo, the Rockets made sure that the home fans would not have much to cheer about as Newmanistan remained undefeated with a routine 38-16 victory. The loss drops Lurikastan to 0-4 and in the basement of Group D.

The fans showed up in pretty high numbers, which is commendable given the fact that Lurikastan right now has not been faring all that well, and that this match had the potential to get ugly for their country. The start of the game pretty much confirmed that point. Lurikastan had the ball to begin the game, but on their first play from scrimmage, QB Jerry Smith was intercepted by Stanley Bressler, who took it 28 yards for the score. The ball would have been perfectly thrown had Bressler been one of Smith’s receivers, otherwise the ill-advised pass was rather inexcusable, especially at this level. The comedy of errors for Lurikastan occurred on their next possession as well as muffed handoff between Smith and Nick Johnson was recovered by Brodie Colliton at the Lurikastan 14. Two plays later, Kenny O’Hara found Jim Crosby in the end zone. In total, only 1:50 had ticked off the game clock, and already Newmanistan was in the lead 14-0. Things got better for the home team on their next possession though, as at least this time they could punt the ball and not turn it over. Though it didn’t really matter. Corey Parisi ran through the defensive line with relative ease, getting four carries for 62 yards on the drive. They were the only plays of the possession, and his scoring run of 22 made it 21-0 and we were still in the first quarter. The Rockets likely got guilty of sitting back on this lead as the game moved into the second quarter. Lurikastan put together two drives, each ending in field goals to close to within 21-6, while Kenny O’Hara seemed to have some trouble hitting his receivers. In the two-minute drill, O’Hara starting to improve until he was picked off by Hideki Tonazuzu. Tonazuzu brought the ball all the way down to the Newmanistan 8 before he was brought down. Lurikastan could not take advantage, with three pass incompletions, and had to settle for their third field goal of the quarter. Briefly, it looked like the Rockets were letting them back in this.

At halftime, coach Jeremy Thompson regrouped his players. It was pretty clear to him that they had fallen back into a shell because of the early lead and had developed some bad habits. The defense had to be commended for the big plays that they had in the first quarter, and then in being hold the home team to field goals instead of touchdowns. Still, Newmanistan needed to get some momentum back. They would be receiving to start the second half, and this is where they needed to strike.

Corey Brooks got the possession going strong with a kickoff return all the way out to the Lurikastan 41. That would be enough to quiet the crowd a little bit, and for O’Hara to hit four consecutive short passes. Mix in some Corey Parisi here and there, and the Rockets had moved well into the red zone. From 3 yards out, a screen pass to Parisi would find the end zone to demoralize the crowd, making it 28-9. After forcing Lurikastan to punt on their next possession, Newmanistan had driven down the field again. O’Hara was 6-for-8 on the drive that would stall on the goal line. Thompson went for 4th & goal from the one, but Shayne Maddox could not punch it in. Lurikastan gained possession on downs, but the Rockets still were beaming with confidence. The hosts could not move the ball and the Rockets got great field position, and this time they would capitalize with O’Hara finding Matt Bywater in the end zone from 18 yards out, restoring the Rockets dominance at 35-9. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Thompson pulled the starters. Against the backups, Lurikastan managed to get the ball in the end zone on a pass from Smith to the nicely named Dick Bush. We are sure that he got picked on in high school. It was a 21-yard strike, but too little too late, and when the backups put together a time consuming, seven minute drive that ended with a field goal to make it 38-16, the game was all but over.

With this victory, Newmanistan is 4-0 and leads Group D, a game ahead of Sarzonia. The Rockets and the Stars appear to taking a firm hold of the top two spots, regardless of which way the group falls between them. The Rockets will have their next three games at the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, against the Scandavian States and Sarzonia with the group before “non-conference” play picks up with a home game against somewhat disappointing Owen Powis and the Brutes of Rennidan.

Third loss in fourth game = no fun

Peisandros has again lost by a reasonably close margin (six points). They were unable to match Lovisa in most areas of the game and were always behind. They now have an uphill battle to qualify and to do so would be a very good achievement.

Tahlequah Slows Down the Offense at Serinite II
Arroza Wins 23-7 Behind Major's Running

Going into a four-game stretch of the schedule which includes Prux, Green Wombat, and Dancougar coach Andreas Tahlequah took the game against Serinite II as a good chance to rest his players. The second team performed to expectations winning 23-7 in a game that wasn't as close as the scoreboards would indicate. The main course of the day was smash mouth running, served with a side order of clock management, as the Arrozans demoralized the crowd by holding the ball for a total of 43 minutes and 26 seconds. Not the most exciting game of football, but it was more than sufficient.

AMS Power 20 Rankings Out. Is Your Team on them?

1.Dancougar (4-0) - Doing what they're supposed to do and not looking ahead.

2.Arroza (4-0) – Nope...not looking ahead at all.

3.Secristan (4-0) – Brutal defense. Are we seeing the beginning of another Millionaire empire?

4.Newmanistan (4-0) – Waiting for Sarzonia in week 6 to see if they're real.

5.Cotenshire (4-0) – So far the Cotenshires have killed more animals than there are in Llanura. And this is after wins, imagine how mad they would be if they were losing.

6.Qazox (3-1) – We'll see what happens against Cotenshire when the Phoenix gets them at home. We're predicting an earth-shattering BOOM!

7.Bluth Corporation (4-0) – Probably should be higher on the list, but the logjam of good teams in front of them won't get resolved until the late weeks.

8.Kura-Pelland (4-0) – The most underwhelming undefeated team in the game.

9.Sarzonia (3-1) – Zorn and the Stars need to turn it on if they want to avoid coming in second in the group, and probably getting K-P in the first round.

10.Vephrall (3-1) – Claspung. Nope, still can't pronounce it. :) We love the style though.

11.Cassadaigua (3-1) – [sexist remarks deleted by editor.] Abe Chavez would like to have a word with you in a few weeks.

12.Taeshan (3-1) – Group A is a mess, the Falcons doubly so.

13.Fujisawan Terr. (2-2)
14.Green Wombat (2-2)
15.Rennidan (2-2)
16.Prux (2-2)
17.Lovisa (2-2)
18.Colbourne (2-2)
19.Bushdome (2-2)
20.Peisandros (1-3)

Katie’s Blog

Sometimes, pulling off a low scoring defensive battle can be more satisfying then winning a high scoring shootout. On paper, our 9-3 victory in Greal may seem a little underwhelming, but that is only something that those that did not watch the game would say. Both teams played great defensive football. Greal is a tough team and better then their winless record would show. Their defense stepped up, and really frustrated Lauren Hamilton. The defender covering me, wearing #25, did a pretty good job although he did get away with some illegal contact at times. I guess you could say that we got away with some too, so as long as the referees are consistent you can deal with it as a player. Our defensive effort was just as terrific. Our five sacks in the game is a new team record for the World Bowl! Woohoo to that! Steve Ackroyd got two of them. It’s good to see him get in the game. The guys do practice hard and work hard for us, and we appreciate all the hard work that they do. Falling behind 3-0 at halftime wasn’t in our game plan, but thanks to Ashley Harbers’ outstanding kickoff return to start the third quarter, getting us down to the Greal 36, we were able to answer with a 50-yard field goal to tie up the game. On a day where our defense was the story, I feel good that they got the game winning touchdown. Kaitlyn Rinaldi’s 92-yard INT return for a touchdown was huge there earlier in the 4th because they were knocking on the door and were going to take the lead, at least with a field goal. As for the extra point, well Anna Eustache felt real bad about botching the snap. We wanted to make sure that wouldn’t be the difference in the game, and Kaitlyn’s second INT of the game when Greal was in the two minute offense would clinch the game for us. Kaitlyn was a true hero for us today.


Our next game is against Dancougar on the road. They are 4-0 and the only team that has beaten us so far. As most of you are aware, the Black Wings are also the top seed overall, and the winners of two of the four World Bowls that have taken place. They have a terrific defense, led by Kirk Manly and he will cause trouble for us all game long. Scott Maxam will probably be the man covering me for most of the game, and he is a handful. Then they have that great offense to go with it. Michael Hussey is one of the best quarterbacks that you will find and Gary Hutchins is a big threat at running back. As good as we may have played defensively against Greal, we will have to pick up more to have a chance at this upset. We all will, even those of us on offense. Most people out there will say that we have no chance. The odds are definitely against us. We’re still going to show up. Anyone can be beaten on any given day, and we are in search of a defining moment for this World Bowl. We have established that we are a better team then we were in World Bowl IV, now we want to take this next step and show the world that we can be a threat to win this thing. Most just see us as that second place team in a one-team group. A win over Dancougar, especially on the road, will change all that. We’re coming to the “Jay Kay” and not just to show up. We’re coming for an upset!

Your 1st half two-minute drill is over. Time for the halftime cutoff.

Group A:
Taeshan 20-6 Fujisawan Territories
Vephrall 24-7 Questille


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 4 1 0 79 22 57
2 Vephrall 4 1 0 101 53 48
3 Fujisawan Territories 2 3 0 73 103 -30
4 Questille 0 5 0 40 115 -75


Taeshan over Vephrall on H2H result.

Group B:
Qazox 17-3 Tocrowkia
Cotenshire 17-7 West Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Cotenshire 5 0 0 100 50 50
2 Qazox 4 1 0 143 62 81
3 West Newmanistan 1 4 0 48 122 -74
4 Tocrowkia 0 5 0 50 107 -57


Group C:
Rennidan 20-3 Kosovoe
Bluth Corporation 31-10 LeQuince


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Bluth Corporation 5 0 0 121 50 71
2 Rennidan 3 2 0 103 53 50
3 LeQuince 1 4 0 36 101 -65
4 Kosovoe 1 4 0 32 88 -56


LeQuince over Kosovoe on H2H result.

Group D:
Newmanistan 30-10 Scandavian States
Sarzonia 7-3 Lurikastan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 5 0 0 129 46 83
2 Sarzonia 4 1 0 88 71 17
3 Scandavian States 1 4 0 70 117 -47
4 Lurikastan 0 5 0 59 112 -53


Group E:
Arroza 17-13 Prux
Green Wombat 16-7 Serinite II


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 5 0 0 128 52 76
2 Green Wombat 3 2 0 90 63 27
3 Prux 2 3 0 61 77 -16
4 Serinite II 0 5 0 23 110 -87



Group F:
Dancougar 26-23 (OT) Cassadaigua
Greal 27-14 Rymeria


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 5 0 0 140 50 90
2 Cassadaigua 3 2 0 82 69 13
3 Greal 1 4 0 64 96 -32
4 Rymeria 1 4 0 37 108 -71


Greal over Rymeria on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group G:
Secristan 20-3 Australiah
Colbourne 34-20 Bushdome


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 5 0 0 107 29 78
2 Colbourne 3 2 0 85 65 20
3 Bushdome 2 3 0 64 95 -31
4 Australiah 0 5 0 18 85 -67


Colbourne over Bushdome on overall PD. (1-1 H2H)

Group H:
Kura-Pelland 16-17 Peisandros
Lovisa 20-27 Patetopia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 4 1 0 99 60 39
2 Peisandros 2 3 0 83 89 -6
3 Lovisa 2 3 0 107 115 -8
4 Patetopia 2 3 0 81 106 -25


Three-way tie sorted by PD for now.

Woodstock Daily Mail

Stars defence takes over

By Travis West
Daily Mail Staff Writer

PORTLAND -- Playing their first match at the Iron Bowl in Portland, the Sarzonian national gridball team struggled offensively, but the defence forced six turnovers and sacked Lurikastani quarterbacks five times en route to a 7-3 win in front of 47,926.

Sarzonia (4-1) forced five fumbles and recovered three of them and picked off three passes, but could only cash in on one. Safety Chris Horton returned a first quarter interception 29 yards for a touchdown to give the Stars a 7-0 lead. That would be all the scoring as quarterback Gavin Davis completed just 12-of-27 passes for 158 yards and two interceptions.

"It was a very ugly game for us offensively," said coach Jim Zorn. "Defensively, though, we matched their intensity. That team over there is a deceptive 0-5."

Even so, that is likely small consolation for Lurikastan. They can console themselves with two hard-fought games against the Stars, but will have to win out and hope Sarzonia and Scandavian States falter for any chance to advance to the knockout stages. Meanwhile, Sarzonia prepare for their away fixture against the Rockets well aware of their 14-3 loss at Hendrix Stadium.

"They beat us at our place," running back LoQuan Willard (21 carries, 67 yards) said. "We got to get them back at their house."

For that to happen, they'll need a strong defensive effort like tonight's against Lurikastan. Defensive coordinator Greg Blache said he was pleased with his unit's performance.

"I think you saw us really turn up the dial on defence," Blache said. "We've given up more points than you'd like to see until tonight. I'm impressed with what we were able to do. Now we have to play better against an outstanding Rockets side."

Newmanistan is one of six remaining 5-0 sides in World Bowl V. Sarzonia face another, Bluth Corporation, in the match immediately following their second fixture with the Rockets. Despite his struggles, Davis said he's not deterred by facing either side.

"You want to strap 'em on and get after it," Davis said. "I don't care if I go 0-for-21 with five interceptions. If we win the game, I'll be happy. If I go 30-for-30 for 500 yards and seven touchdowns and we lose, I'll be miserable."

Zorn said his team wouldn't rest on its laurels, even after getting two-thirds of its win total from World Bowl IV in half the schedule.

"Our work is just beginning," Zorn said. "We still have a lot we have yet to accomplish. We're going to get right back to work on doing the things we need to do."

Katie’s Blog

The mood on the plane is somber as we head back to Concord Heights. So close. Sooooo painfully close that it hurts, hurts so bad. Save all the moral victory talk, because we aren’t feeling it. We went into Dancougar and nearly came away with a victory. It would have been the biggest football victory in the history of our great nation by a longshot, but instead we’re left thinking about just how close we came. You’ll hear people talking about how we made a statement tonight, that we showed that we are a threat that the others must be concerned with. All that is probably true. It just does not serve as any consolation right now. We all keep thinking about that one or two plays that we could have made in this game to have gotten the victory.

Even though Dancougar scored on their first three possessions, we drew some confidence. Holding them in the red zone each time, and making them have to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns allowed us to weather this storm. They were clearly outplaying us, but only had a 9-0 lead to show for it. When they began to drive down the field once more, many people probably thought they were just going to run away with this game. Michael Hussey finally got his team into the end zone early in the second quarter as he found Fred Uselton for the touchdown. Down now by sixteen, we were out of it. The drive that we put together towards the end of the first half didn’t seem to concern the fans all that much, but at least we got a touchdown on it thanks to the big pass that Lauren Hamilton got to me on 3rd & goal from the 17 for a touchdown. 16-7 didn’t seem too bad as we started to show improvement on defense. Still they were in control, and a late third quarter touchdown by Dancougar put us back in the hole. As the fourth quarter began to wind down, many of their fans began to leave feeling the game was in the bag. With five minutes to go, a 70 yard run from scrimmage by Danielle Regan was a big lift, and after getting the conversion we were back in this at 23-15, but we had to stop Dancougar one more time. They tried to run down the clock, and got it all the way down to 1:28 to go before we got them to have to punt. Lauren was calm, and her confidence in the huddle was amazing. Once we got the ball to midfield we were feeling it. We fed off the frustration that we sensed from their fans, and with only 17 seconds left on the clock, Lauren tossed it to Kim Harden for an eleven yard score on 3rd & 6. Regan punched in the conversion and we had tied the game. The crowd was stunned. That was an awesome feeling. Unfortunately, we never got the ball in overtime. Dancougar won the toss and got into field goal range and made the kick. I guess that’s what championship teams do. Hopefully, we are getting there.

Soooooooooo close it hurts........

Topsy-turvy tournament continues to surprise as Peisandros beats group leader -- regains second spot on the table.

Yes, well, that's about it.

But seriously, Peisandros has scored a last minute two-point conversion to sneak infront of Kura-Pelland 17-16. It left group H in an interesting position with KP still in front, but a three way tie behind them. Peisandros claimed the second spot because of superior points differential, but lawyers are examining the legality of this. Again it was defence which kept the Sandrians in the game. A first half intercept lead to a 68yard drive TD and then in the third quarter KP was forced to punt four times -- virtually gifting Peisandros field position and eventually a TD.

KP, considered a top ten, even top five by some, team, will be, well, shocked by the nature of the loss, the effect it will have and who it was against. It was a game they should have won but perhaps complacency set in, who knows. I do know that now the Sandrians have to keep their heads down and work hard for the remainder of the group stage -- because it's going to be tough. Lovisa and Patetopia are teams very similar to Peisandros and the quality of football is only getting better.

Fitin Falcons Pound Fijusiwan Teritories 20-6

Yesterday was payback time. Just 3 weeks earlier the Fuji's were the first team to defeat the Falcons this season with a 10-9 victory. The Falcons went away with a need for revenge and yesterday they attained it by putting a ounding on the young team from the land of Fujisiwan. The Knights yet again proved to be an all around good team letting only 6 points against there 20. Next up is the team from Vephrall before crossover games to Group B begin. In the coming weeks you could probally see some of the best football ever to be played in are footballing world as teams will look outside of there own groups to win there own.


The game was never really up for grabs. The Falcons were up from the get go after Ricky Zellefrow found Jack Cito on a double pass play from Gabe Martin. Then the Fujis would answer with two field goals, and it was a close game going into halftime. But you should never doubt the Falcons chances in a close game going into the second half. The more physically fit due to there home climate Falcons knocked the wind out of the Hurricanes. Max Hope would later find the endzone with a 49 yard run in the fourth after two Martin Gramatica field goals to make it 20-6. Hope out ran the whole entire Fujisiwan offense on that one play alone.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Cassadaigua forced the world champions to play overtime at home. They came back from a sixteen-point deficit in the fourth quarter. They overcame turnovers, penalties, and made several big plays to keep the Wings out of the endzone. And when all was said and done, the flight out of Dancougar will be full of melancholic what-ifs for a team that was a doormat in World Bowl IV and now looks like a solid playoff contender. Before they hold their heads high and relish their newfound strength, they'll brood over a few plays that could have made the difference. After all, they didn't win, they almost did.

It's a strange, painful roller coaster of emotions which demonstrates perfectly the sickening power of the word, 'almost.'

There were a lot of almosts in this game, starting off right away with the Black Wings almost putting the game to bed early. On each of their first three possessions they marched into the Cassadaigua red zone, and each time, the Dagans pushed them back. Each time, a run for a loss or an incompletion would doom the drive at a critical point, forcing Seth Cavallo to attempt field goals. He made all three, but it was not an auspicious start. The second stop, in particular, was huge for the Dagans. Having held on the Wings' opening possession, they gave Michael Hussey a short field when Laura Hamilton was sacked at her own 23 and fumbled. Kendrick Lynch fell on the ball and the Wings were in business, but then Hutchins was stuffed twice, Hussey threw incomplete, and Cavallo was back on the field. The Wings had two scoring drives under their belts, but it was still only a one-score game. Cavallo's third field goal added to the frustration, and an irate Will Moohim was seen almost sparing his offense an angry lecture.

Hussey responded just into the second quarter. The Dagan offense was still looking as flustered and problematic as it had gainst Greal, and they were handing out field position with each punt. Hutchins finally got going and Hussey capped the drive with a 22-yard pass to Fred Uselton, who caught the ball at the three and fought through Elizabeth Fox for the touchdown. That made it 16-0 and it looked like the Wings finally had the breakthrough they needed. But the next two possessions resulted in no points. The last one ended with a Hutchins fumble that killed a promising drive, setting up Hamilton to march 73 yards for a touchdown. The Dagans did run into trouble after a holding penalty forced them into 3rd and Goal from the 17, but Hamilton calmly picked out team blogger Kate Dupree to make it 16-7 at the break.

The Wings were letting the Dagans hang around, but Hussey started the second half by restoring their 16-point lead. He got the ball moving with the combined talents of Hutchins and Logan Dublin, which set up a huge play-action pass on 1st and 10 from his own 45. Uselton had a step on Fox and made the catch, and his momentum carried him out of bounds at the 22. From there, three more running plays and a pass to tight end Tristan Cray put them on the 2-yard line, and Hutchins punched it home to run the score to 23-7. Even though the Wings didn't add to the lead on their ensuing possessions, the defense held firm against a Dagan comeback bid.

At the fourth quarter rolled around, some fans started leaving the game, and the light drain continued throughout the quarter as neither team added to the score. You would have to figure that one of the world's best defenses could protect a 16-point lead in the fourth. Hamilton's last drive had ended with the ball in the arms of Jeff Buckholt, which added further frustration to the quarterback's afternoon. And so, they left. You know them, the casual fans, the ones who showed up because they'd heard the team was good and Danielle Regan was hot. The new stadium, nearly twice the size as the old Jay Kay, could now accommodate them. As sections of fans thinned out, it got quietier. The diehards were still there, the guys who go shirtless in 20-degree weather, wave Horrible Hand Towels up to an hour after the game, and wear sausages during the pregame tailgate like they're machine gun belts. But the atmosphere wasn't as imposing. And that's where Hamilton began her bid for a miracle.

The Wings were in shutdown mode, both on offense and defense. The offense was just pounding the ball with Hutchins until he was stopped, which kept the clock ticking. Just inside of five minutes, the Dagans had the ball on their own 30. Two incomplete passes into thick coverage set up a huge play. Hamilton saw the loose zone and thin box and called a new play at the line, and halfback Regan must have done a double take. Sweep right on 3rd and 10? It was a gutsy call. And it worked to perfection. Regan burst through the 4-man rush and bounced outside. There, she got a block from Dupree and that opened the sideline. She made one more cut inside Alex Isabella and was gone for a 70-yard touchdown. Matt Colby punched in the conversion to make it 23-15, and suddenly, it was a one-possession ballgame.

Hussey knew he'd have to put a drive together to kill the game, and he almost did. Almost. A few short passes kept the drive alive, and with three minutes to play, the Wings were on the Dagan 38. Two straight runs got nothing but ran the clock inside two. But coach Meghan Connolly saved her timeouts. When Hutchins was stuffed a third time, she called one to stop the clock just inside two minutes. The Wings opted to punt rather than roll out Cavallo for a 55-yard field goal attempt, and Bruce Straczinski almost hit the coffin corner. It was a touchback, giving the Dagans the ball on the 20 for their two-minute drill.

Hamilton looked like a completely different player on the final drive. She was calm, collected, and most importantly, her accuracy soared. She found all the soft spots in the Dancougar secondary and marched the team downfield efficiently. They saved their timeouts for the red zone when they might need them, like when Kendrick Lynch got his second sack of the game and when Dupree was held in bounds on a sideline pass. A false start penalty turned 3rd and 1 from the 6 into 3rd and 6 from the 11, but Hamilton just went with the original plan - go for it all! With 17 seconds on the clock, Hamilton found Kim Harden, who stretched the ball just across the plane for the touchdown. A quick pass to Harden on the two-point conversion tied the game at 23-23, and we were going to overtime.

And this is where 'almost' happens. The comeback was going to go down in Dagan history as their best performance to date. To score 16 unanswered points is impressive, but to do it against Dancougar in the fourth quarter? Almost unheard of! The Dagan sideline was bubbling with excitement for the coin toss, and even though Dancougar won and took the ball, they still liked their chances. After all they'd fought through, a stop was surely in the cards. Well, almost.

It was 3rd and 15 from the Dancougar 31, and Hussey was in trouble. Sarah Patten and Steve Ackroyd both came around the outside and forced Hussey to step up in the pocket. He stepped right into Jim Longretta, who already had a sack on the day and was ready for his second. But Hussey spun free and rolled to the right. He kept the play alive long enough for Billy Leuthold to break free of tight coverage to catch an 18-yard bullet. From there, Hussey was in control. Passes to Leuthold and tight end Tristan Cray set up the run, and Hussey broke through the linebackers and rumbled 39 yards into Dagan territory. After a few short runs put them at the 22 and in the middle of the field, on came Cavallo to earn the win from 39 yard away. He split the uprights to keep Dancougar undefeated; for the Dagans, the harsh defeat dropped them to 3-2.

The Dagans will emerge from this defeat a stronger team, and although they'll be disappointed now, they look more than capable of reaching the playoffs. Dancougar allowed them to stay in the game with their own stagnant tactics, simply running the ball up the middle to try and wear down the clock. They showed little initiative. But Hamilton and the rest of the Cassadaigua team never surrendered until Cavallo's kick went through, and if nothing else, they can say that in a battle of character, they were almost upstaged by the champs.

Almost.

Two Things I Can't Comprehend

1. How Gavin Davis has quickly gone from breakout star to wildly inconsistent. He led the Sarzonians to the playoffs in their first World Bowl, but right now he's working on a three game stretch in which he's thrown for two interceptions and lost, three touchdowns and won, and now two interceptions and won. I suppose next he'll throw three touchdowns and lose. The play of Davis has probably got his team and his fans scratching their heads, but he definitely has the talent to spring back from whatever gets thrown his way.

2. How long is it going to take before we get a decent number of female athletes in Dancougar? Jennifer Sloan was supposed to lead the way when she was purchased by Shuukyuu Kishin, and since then, only four women have made it through the college ranks and into the D-League, and three of them were just this past year. Judging from the reactions from fans inside the stadium yesterday, though, I'm wondering if Cassadaigua holds the key to getting Dancougaran women excited about sports. Footballer Michelle Fuller is already getting the job done in Stoneridge, and the play of Laura Hamilton was nothing short of inspiring.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

For requiring overtime to dispatch Cassadaigua at home, the Wings will fall in the power rankings after more impressive wins by Bluth Corp and Arroza. Kura-Pelland suffered its first defeat of the tournament at the hands of Peisandros, going down 17-16. Without Michael Bernard, the team looks different and has been grinding out wins; we'll see if they can get back on track. That means there are only six unbeatens left in the field, and Qazox hopes to make it five when they go into a big one against Cotenshire for group supremacy.

(1) Newmanistan (5-0)
(2) Arroza (5-0)
(3) Qazox (4-1)
(4) Bluth Corporation (5-0)
(5) Dancougar (5-0)
(6) Secristan (5-0)
(7) Taeshan (4-1)
(8) Cotenshire (5-0)
(9) Vephrall (4-1)
(10) Kura-Pelland (4-1)
(11) Rennidan (3-2)
(12) Sarzonia (4-1)
(13) Green wombat (3-2)
(14) Cassadaigua (3-2)
(15) Colbourne (3-2)
(16) Peisandros (2-3)
(17) Prux (2-3)
(18) Patetopia (2-3)
(19) Lovisa (2-3)
(20) Fujisawan Territories (2-3)
(21) Bushdome (2-3)
(22) West Newmanistan (1-4)
(23) Kosovoe (1-4)
(24) Scandinavian States (1-4)
(25) Greal (1-4)
(26) Rymeria (1-4)
(27) Tocrowkia (0-5)
(28) Lurikastan (0-5)
(29) LeQuince (1-4)
(30) Serinite II (0-5)
(31) Australiah (0-5)
(32) Questille (0-5)

Lord Jyllyn was meeting with one of his constables on the day before the game against West Newmanistan. “My lord, I think if we wait much longer, these mobs might get out of control,” warned the constable.

“I concur, sir, but if I have no substantial threat to present to the Lekasund magnates, I cannot procure the funds to levy the troops. We will simply have to let the mobs continue to slaughter themselves.”

“I may have a solution, m’lud. Do you wish to hear?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Well, there is one demagogue by the name of Torvald Svensson who has rallied the mobs around him and provoked them to violent activity. Svensson is therefore inciting rebellious and seditious activity.”

“So are you saying we should arrest him?”

“No, I am saying that we should use force against the rioters when they assemble tomorrow.”

“Well, I do not think that alone will convince the magnates to grant me the appropriate funds.”

“What if we say that Svensson is also an Archibaldist?”

“That should be enough to convince them.”


Just after dawn on the next day, a few hours before the game against West Newmanistan, the mobs again became agitated throughout the city and several groups marched out and ravaged the countryside. Incoming merchant vessels were commandeered or raided, as were government administration buildings. As the time of the game drew closer, the crowds converged upon the Trøndsung Circus. Several hundred foreigners were gathered and lynched there on the hills of the fjord.

Just as the executions were completed and the crowds were about to make preparations for their storming of the stadium, a large military force consisting of tanks, helicopters, and infantry appeared coming over one of the hills. An officer came over a loudspeaker and delivered an ultimatum to the mobs.

“Attention destructive insurgents. By order of Lord Jyllyn, you must lay down your arms and disperse immediately. Failure to do so will result in your destruction.”

The insults and taunts screamed by the crowd was all the response the army needed. Thousands of troops charged down the hill with their assault rifles lighting up the throngs. The helicopters hovered down into the fjord and sprayed the mobs with machine guns and rockets. While the crowds were lightly armed, the sheer focus of fire by the army prevented them from making any headway and there were few casualties among the soldiers. Thousands of rioters had already died when the most devastating wave was launched.

Rumbling over the hills came hundreds of flame tanks. The tanks began shooting their jets of blazing napalm into the crowd as they closed in. This was sufficient to cause mass panic among the crowds as thousands were burnt alive and their flaming limbs were flailing about. The tanks were unrelenting however, and charged straight through the crowd. Thousands more were mowed down and run over by the tanks in the following hours. More still continued to die to the automatic fire of the assault rifles, machine guns and helicopters.

The massive jets of flames were devastating to the crowd. The area around the stadium was consumed in an inferno of burning bodies throughout the game and into the night. In all, hundreds of thousands of corpses littered the fjord. The Dolphins engaged West Newmanistan with the stench of burning fuel in their noses and the cries of the dead and injured in their ears.

Bluth Corporation maintained its two-game lead in Group C over Rennidan, defeating Le Quince 31-10 at home in a classic aerial exhibition after falling behind early.

Winning the opening coin toss, the Corporation opted to receive the ball in hopes of jumping out to an early lead and forcing Le Quince to play catch-up. The offensive coaching staff thought they had found a wrinkle in Le Quince's run defense and their gameplan attempted to exploit it with lots and lots of lead blocking. However, Le Quince's middle linebacker saw that Bluth Corporation's linemen were leaning forward on their toes rather than back on their heels--a sure sign that they were planning on running the ball. He called for the safeties to come up just as center Robert Winkler snapped the ball, and Bluth Corporation's opening play ended with a two-yard loss as Richard Anthis was brought down in the backfield. The next play was another run, but it never got off the ground as Anthis fumbled the handoff when fullback George Canaan stumbled right in front of Anthis; Wells fell on the ball, but it was another three-yard loss to set up third-and-fifteen.

This was an obvious passing situation, and the boys lined up with Wells in shotgun and trips right. Wells found Jared Meadows wide-open on the left side for a seventeen-yard catch-and-run that gave Bluth Corporation the first down. Offensive coordinator Larry Linville's squad would continue to attempt to establish the run whenever it had the opportunity for the remainder of the drive, but never managed to do so as whatever weakness Linville thought he had found in Le Quince's run defense never materialized as every single positive play on the drive was a pass. Despite having no run game, the passing game had no trouble until they got deep into Le Quincian territory. Erwin Winters was to run a curl route on a 2nd-and-3 from the Le Quince 19, but they had underestimated the agility of the cornerback covering him. Winters's about-face did not faze the corner one bit, as he easily regained position on Winters. Both men leapt up in the air, and Winters initially had the ball but the corner managed to wrestle it out of his hands to take control of it himself.

Being the one to make the tackle was no consolation for Winters, whose four-inch height advantage was completely neutralized by the cornerback's spectacular jump on the play. Le Quince took the field in jubilation, with a chance to go up on the dominant Bluth Corporation team early. They had no problem moving the ball against the shaken Bluth defense, and before anyone knew it they were down to the Bluth 17. This was when the Bluth defense dug in its heels, and in a heroic stand they held Le Quince to just a field goal after that devastating interception.

But Bluth Corporation was unable to answer on its next drive. Still unsuccessful with the run, Bluth Corporation nonetheless continued to use it just to keep the defense honest. They thought they had an answer with an end-around by tight end Kyler Hayes out of the shotgun, but even that surprise play was blown up in the backfield by an alert Le Quince defender, and Bluth Corporation was forced to punt shortly after crossing midfield.

The law of averages caught up with punter Lamar White, and after his brilliant performances over the last two games this first punt of the day was a dud, only netting seventeen yards. Le Quince took over on their own 31 and this time went to a more conservative, grind-it-out style. Trying to turn the game into "keep-away," Le Quince used eight minutes in a 69-yard drive (which was actually longer thanks to a couple of false-starts and a holding penalty) that culminated in a spectacular leaping touchdown from the Le Quince quarterback.

Bluth Corporation would get the ball back with three minutes remaining in the half. Down by ten, the situation was not totally desperate, but they still would have liked to get on the board before the break. The offense finally kicked into gear, as Wells and Winters joined forces in a display of pinpoint precision passing to drive down the field. But they weren't able to move fast enough, and once they got inside the 20 they brought Devin Shipley for the sure three points rather than risk time expiring before they could get a touchdown.

After the half, it was Bluth Corporation all the way. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense had no trouble picking up where it left off and easily moved in for a touchdown, a three-yard completion from Wells to tight end John Burgess that, with the extra point, tied the score. Le Quince managed to mount a decent drive on its next possession, but it was ended with a strip-sack by right end Jared Sensmeier at the Bluth Corporation 29, who returned the ball all the way to the Le Quince 8 before finally running out of steam and being brought down by the Le Quince quarterback himself. Le Quince would not cross midfield the remainder of the game, while Bluth Corporation would score three more touchdowns en route to the victory.

(OOC: Yeah, the ending's kind of abrupt...I was kinda short on time today)

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Troy Buck: And Tocrowkia takes their 3rd and final timeout. It's 10-3 Qazox with 17 seconds left in the game and Tocrowkia has the ball at the Qazox 9 yard-line. Qazox has given up 80 yards on this drive, which started at the Tocrowkia 11. Markus Kash has gone 8/8 on this drive for 80 yards.

Mad Johnnen: Yeah... and BOOM and Mikel Westin has caught 6 of those for 62 yards and BOOM he's making Greg Olsen look like a turducken! BOOOM!

Troy Buck: 17 seconds left and Qazox 10-3 and Kash goes back to pass, scrambles for a bit and the ball is knocked loose by Eric Fan'tu'mala! It's bounced around and picked up by Mark Johns! He has it at the 25.. the 35... he crosses mid-field! Only Siegfried Vater is with in 5 yards of him! Down to the 20... the ten... and Siegfried Vater hits Mark Johns, he almost goes out of bounds, and TOUCHDOWN Qazox! 16-3 lead as time expires!

Mad Johnnen: BOOOOOM! Qazox wins the game! Fan'tu'mala just went BOOOM! on Kash and the ball popped out.. BOOOOM!

Troy Buck: The referees are gathering around the 1 yard-line, and here's the offical to explain the meeting.

<Referee: The play is being reviewed by the booth. The call on the field is a touchdown. They are reviewing to see if the runner stepped out-of-bounds at the 1 yard line.>

[After numerous relpays that are inconclusive either way...]

<Referee: There is no conclusive evidence that the runner stepped out of bounds. The call on the field stands. Touchdown, Qazox. While there is no time on the clock, the Point after must be attempted under the rules.>

Troy Buck: And Chase trots out on the field, and the ball is right down the pipes. Final 17-3 Qazox, as they now await Cotenshire next week for 1st place in the group!


SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Tocrowkia 0 3 0 0 3
Qazox 3 7 0 7 17

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: 34-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 5:13 8 plays-52 yards in 4:19. (3-0 Qazox)

2nd Quarter:
Qazox: 12-yd TD run by Frank Vallens. 9:23 11 plays-71 yards in 5:48. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (10-0 Qazox)
Tocrowkia: 41-yd FG by Xaver Falkenhorst. 0:04 12 plays-76 yards in 5:09. (10-3 Qazox)

3rd Quarter:
NO SCORING

4th Quarter:
Qazox: 83 yd Fumble Recovery for TD by Mark Johns. 0:00. PAT by Tryone Chase good. (17-3 Qazox)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 20/37, 216 yds, 2 INT
Frank Vallens: 17 rushes, 67 yds, 1 TD
Jason DeHavel: 10 rushes, 42 yds, 1 rec, 5 yds
Tony Aster: 5 rec, 52 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 5 rec, 49 yds
Ivan Harvey: 4 rec, 57 yds
Nate Sacimoni: 5 rec, 53 yards

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 7 tackles, 1 FF
David Reshks: 4 tackles
Richie Sola: 2 tackles
Vic Alworth: 5 tackles
David Reed: 6 Tackles
Jason Middleton: 4 tackles
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 8 tackles, 1 FF
Mark Johns: 7 tackles, 1 Fum. Rec, 1 TD
Greg Olsen: 5 tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 Fum rec.
Adam Politt: 3 tackles, 4 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 1/1 FG (long of 34); 2/2 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 6 punts, Long of 49, 2 TB, 1 in 20.
Adam Politt: 2 KO Ret, 19 yds; 5 Punt Ret., 56 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Arroza 5-0 (7) 105 pts
Dancougar 5-0 (5) 103 pts
Secristan 5-0 (3) 99 pts
Newmanistan 5-0 (1) 90 pts
Cotenshire 5-0 89 pts (1)
Bluth Corporation 5-0 (1) 86 pts
Sarzonia 4-1 78 pts
Qazox 4-1 76 pts
Taeshan 4-1 71 pts
tied- Kura-Pelland 4-1 47 pts and Vephrall 4-1 47 pts

Others receiving votes: NONE

World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)
(ooc2: Yes i know the 'poll' totals don't match.. some voters don't rank all ten teams!)

Wombats cruise to easy win

Other than a junk TD with only 16 seconds left, the wombats dominated Serinite II, 16-7, to improve to 3-2 at the half-way point. With Arroza on the schedule next, the relatively easy win allowed some of the injured to heal up a bit.

3 FG's by WhiteBoi99 and another TD from FreeLongstreetnow in the 2nd quarter provided all the lead the Wombats needed, as Serinite II fumbled on 3 consecutive drives, leading to 13 points.

As stated before, next is a trip to Arroza. The Tar Hornets escaped, barely, here in Green wombat, and they will seek to prove that that game was a fluke, as far as they are concerned. But the wombats have a bit more confidence now, winning their last two games. Not to mention that Arroza might have an upcoming show-down with Dancougar on their minds, which may cost them some concentration, and perhaps the wombats will be able to use that to their advantage.

Griffinville Globe

For 54 minutes, the Statesmen were shocking the world. Two Selmon Baliss' Interceptions inside the Prux 30 in the first half, a missed FG by Drew Albrect from 30 yards out at the end of the 1st half and a blocked punt returned for TD, by Louis Annsin with 6 minutes left, had Prux up 13-3 and momentum on their side as they had held the powerful Tar Hornets offense to only 147 yards. An Albrect FG opened the scoring, after Donovan Hailey dropped a sure-TD in the endzone on the opening drive. Prux countered with a pair of Mark Ainey FG's (42 and 39 yards) and the Blocked punt return in the 3rd and 4th quarters to take the lead.

But Arroza is not one of the best teams in the world for nothing. Baliss promptly launched a 7 play, 73 yard drive in only 2:16 to cut the lead to 13-10 with 3:44 left on the clock, but they has used 2 of their 3 timeouts on the drive. So all Prux had to do was either recover the on-side kick or get a first down or two, and the game was salted away. Arroza kicked off deep and Prux could only manage to get it back out to the 23. A Jesse Newton 4-yard run dropped the time to the 2-minute warning. On the next play Mike Penn gained 5 yards, falling just inches short of a first down. After the final Arrozan timeout, Dick Columbia had a brain fart. On 3rd-and-inches, he decided to try a flanker screen to Oliver Gunn, thinking wrongly, that Arroza wouldn't expect such a play. But Arroza's Karon Robinson jumped the route and just seconds later, it was 17-13 Arroza on Robinson's 31-yd Interception return for a TD. Arroza kicked off deep again, and on the first play after the kickoff, Calvin Brandon picked off a deep pass to Marck Conn, ending the game.

Now at 2-3, but done with the road trip, the Statesmen look to get back on track against Serinite II at home.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat L 16-17
MD5: Prux @ Arroza L 13-17
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(2-3-0)

The papers really didn't have much to say about the home win over Questille. Questille hadn't won a game yet, why should they start now? 24-7 proved a comfortable enough margin of victory for the Auric Wolves and did show that the team had managed to not let itself get too caught up in the upcoming trip to Taeshan in the conference finale.

With the Fujisawan Territories beginning to fade a bit, Group A looks like more of a two-horse race now. Taeshan and Vephrall are both 4-1, the former on top thanks to a 10-0 road win over the latter. Rest assured the Auric Wolves will be hoping to rectify that mistake.

Dostey Dispatch Power Poll, Week 5

After a momentary hiatus in week 4 due to an unfortunate incident involving the implementation of a new database system at the Dispatch offices, made worse by the fact that the programmers refused to speak in any other language than German (which is not a very common language in Vephrall), leading to a long night in the Dispatch archives, the Power Poll returns.

1. Dancougar (5-0) - 1759 (12)
2. Arroza (5-0) - 1622 (8)
3. Newmanistan (5-0) - 1600 (8)
4. Secristan (5-0) - 1594 (8)
5. Bluth Corporation (5-0) - 1589 (7)
6. Qazox (4-1) - 1586 (7)
7. Taeshan (4-1) - 1353
8. Cotenshire (5-0) - 1325
9. Rennidan (3-2) - 1161
10. Vephrall (4-1) - 1136
11. Green wombat (3-2) - 1073
12. Kura-Pelland (4-1) - 1065
13. Peisandros (2-3) - 1043
14. Colbourne (3-2) - 1001
15. Cassadaigua (3-2) - 993
16. Sarzonia (4-1) - 922

First place votes in parentheses

The voters are clearly still undecided regarding just who is the best team right now, though Cotenshire's lack of first-place votes seems slightly odd. And why are Qazox and Rennidan ranked so highly? It seems that some of the voters may just be looking at the team names and not the body of work, as neither the Pheonix nor the Brutes have a single quality win* so far. But then how does that explain a 2-3 Peisandros at number thirteen? Simple: they've had probably the toughest schedule out of anyone (rankings are from the Dispatch poll at the time of the game):

Peisandros schedule so far
vs #10 Lovisa (L 16-20)
vs #4 Kura-Pelland (L 10-16)
@ #17 Patetopia (W 26-17)
@ #18 Lovisa (L 14-20)
@ #9 Kura-Pelland (W 17-16)

Three losses, yes, but two of them to top-ten opponents, and all three by six points or fewer. And a win at Kura-Pelland has to count for something, right?

As far as quality wins, only one team so far can boast three - the Tar Hornets of Arroza, at Green wombat (albeit, in the opinion of many, an overrated Wombat team) and in both legs against Prux, which is currently hovering just outside our top sixteen. In fact, here's our quality win matrix for the top ten:

Best 2nd 3rd LOSS1 LOSS2
Dancougar (5-0) Cass @Cass
Arroza (5-0) @GrWo Prux @Prux
Newmanistan (5-0) @Sarz @Scan
Secristan (5-0) @Colb @Bush
Bluth Corp (5-0) Renn @Koso
Qazox (4-1) @Cote
Taeshan (4-1) @Veph Fuji @Fuji
Cotenshire (5-0) Qazx
Rennidan (3-2) @BlCo @Koso
Vephrall (4-1) Fuji @Fuji Taes

But again, there's really not a whole lot to separate those top five. We're going to have to wait at least for the inter-group schedule, if not the knockouts, to figure out which of those is the real cream of the crop.

* Quality win is defined here as a win over a team ranked in the Dispatch top 20 at the time they played them.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: Back to back losses cripple Hurricane’s hopes
The Hurricane dropped two key games, first against Vephrall by a score 30-13, and then in Taeshan by a score of 20-6. All the momentum gained from the shocking upset over Taeshan in their first meeting has evaporated, leaving the Hurricane for dead. The result is that morale is at an all time low among the Hurricane, and fans are enraged about what they view as the rampant mismanagement of the team.

The Hurricane hit a new low on offense against Taeshan in held being without a touchdown, and it appears the upset in the first game was a mere postponement of the inevitable implosion we are now seeing. With luck running out, the players are back to finger pointing and shouting matches. Problem child quarterback Sibura Hiton is whipping his teammates into a frenzy, forcing them to pick sides in a war that doesn’t need to be fought, all but insuring that he will be benched. And now in the latest developments, some players like Osamu Koyami, Toshizane Dazai, and Chi Jisats are openly boycotting team practices in defiance of the coaching staff they say are destroying the team.

“We were two and one. What the (expletive) happened? We are better than the way we’ve been playing and I don’t give a (expletive) what Coach says, because I know what we’re capable off,” the oft outspoken Hiton told reporters after the worst performance of his career in Taeshan.

“See, you have an arrogant quarterback that is better at shooting his mouth than throwing a football and the whole team is suffering as a result,” a clearly frustrated Hurricane head coach Ei’ichi Date retorted.

In fact, the feud between the two nearly came to blows on the sidelines in Taeshan during the fourth quarter after another Hiton interception yielded a key Taeshan scoring drive. Hiton had to be physically restrained and was removed from the game at Date’s request. Daisetsu Kudo replaced Hiton, but played just as bad. Date has restricted Hiton from playing in the Hurricane’s upcoming game against winless Questille, giving the nod to aging domestic league veteran Kudo.

“Frankly, this is a very stressful situation that we find ourselves in, and there is no way to resolve anything without making unpopular decisions and people getting hurt,” Date said yesterday.

With the Hurricane knocking on death’s door, a win against Questille is almost futile, considering that they will still have to face both Qazox and Cotenshire later. While a win against Questille is likely, the Hurricane realistically finds themselves at the end of the road. The best thing the Hurricane can do is give it an honest shot, and then rebuild and prepare for the next edition of the World Bowl. Whether you side with Date or Hiton, both appear to very unlikely to appear in any future World Bowl campaigns, and that is obviously for the better. The two just cannot co-exist. And before we can have a winning team, we need winning management and a true sense of direction. That’s food for thought for the future seeing as there’s nothing much anyone can do to salvage the season for the Hurricane.

Next Game: Fujisawan Territories (2-3) vs. Questille (0-5) (Crosscom Global Arena)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall L 30-13
@ Taeshan L 20-6
vs. Questille
@ Tocrowkia
vs. West Newmanistan
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

ROUTINE VICTORY

Group play is nearing its conclusion and the Millionaires look poised to complete a perfect six-for-six run. Despite making the final of the Baptism of Iron, Australiah has proved to be anything but the second best first time nation. Even heading into the match, they have been a punching bag for Colbourne and Bushdome, making the Millionaires a heavy favorite at in the contest. Secristan did not disappoint, winning the game 20-3, even though some people may have been yearning for a wider margin of victory. The Millionaires seemed to mainly go through the motions on offense. Tom Mitchell’s numbers are the epitome of mediocrity, going 13-for-23 for 162 yards and 2TD passes. One on a screen pass to Chris Hausler for nine yards in the first quarter, and the other on a 68 yard bomb to The Blizzard, over 50 yards in which was thrown by Mitchell. After the score Brian went over to the cheerleaders, picked one out, and did a dance with her and teammate Stacie Johnson, who used to be part of that squad, leading to yet another excessive celebration penalty for him. The Blizzard’s score came in the fourth quarter. Between the touchdowns Brad Hennessey kicked field goals of 28 and 45 yards. Australiah managed three points thanks to Casey Stewart fumble at the Australiah 17. The visitors never moved the ball, but cashed in on being put in field goal range.

Secristan’s surprising defense is getting accolades across the world of late. The Millionaires managed another six sacks, with Julius Jackson picking up three. “JJ” has picked up seven in his last three games. He also picked up 20 million rusa endorsement with a major supplier of fitness equipment. Mark Delmore will also appear in the advertisements, but for 10 million rusas. Coming into the season, most of the endorsement deals had been going to the offensive players, so it is good to see the defense beginning to capitalize.

Group play finishes at home against Colbourne, who is 3-2. They probably will end up the second place team in Group G, but don’t seem at the level of the Millionaires and will probably be easy pickings for the winner of Group C in the first round.

Sarzonia Coach Jim Zorn paced his hotel room nervously. He'd just gotten back from his mountain run near Newmanistan's national stadium and he was still a bundle of energy.

"Darn it! Why did World Bowl organisers delay the match a day?" he fumed. "Now we're going to have a short work week to prepare for Bluth Corporation."

Zorn grimaced again as he read the letter stating that "owing to circumstances beyond our control, Sunday's matches have been moved to Monday night." With Sarzonia's match originally scheduled for Monday night, that meant a rare Tuesday night game against the Rockets.

Thus, the Stars would only have five days between the final gun of the game against the Rockets and the opening kickoff of the game against Bluth Corporation. And Zorn was not happy about that at all.

He pored over his notes again. He was disappointed with Gavin Davis's last game against Lurikastan when it happened and briefly considered benching him, but after looking at the film, he realised that wide receiver Willie Brooks ran the wrong route on Davis's first interception. On the second, receiver Dave Coles slipped trying to make his cut.

Thus, the picks weren't Davis's fault. Neither were the four sacks the offensive line coughed up. Offensive line coach Joe Bugel spent hours working with the line, particularly left tackle Tim Lacker, trying to get his footwork corrected. The 6-foot-5, 330 pounder usually got by with mauling opposing defensive ends, but against Lurikastan, his lack of technique caught up to him.

Meanwhile, Davis studied the game film of the Rockets defence. He looked to see if he could detect some tendencies or some ways they tipped their defensive strategies. That would allow him to audible out of plays that wouldn't work into ones that could take advantage of openings.

As for Brooks, he spent extra time with receivers coach Henry Ellard. Ellard started jawing at Brooks as soon as he left the field following Davis's first interception. He could immediately tell that Brooks ran the wrong route.

"He called Right-30-Jag, not Right-40-Jag!" Ellard snapped, holding his clipboard over his mouth as he scolded Brooks.

As for Coles, Ellard looked at his shoes and saw one of the cleats had come off during the route. Ellard called for the equipment manager to fix the shoe before Sarzonia's next offensive series. Meanwhile, Sarzonia's defence forced Ellard to leave Coles off the field for the next series after forcing a turnover.

"All those mistakes," Zorn grumbled. "And we're going to have a short week to fix them."

As for defensive coordinator Greg Blache, he read a note that Sarzonia was only 1-5 against Arroza, Vephrall, Qazox and Newmanistan, teams in the Associated Sarzonian Press top 10. According to Sarzonian media, the Stars were becoming known as a team that could, and would, beat the teams they were expected to roll over, but had trouble against the elite teams. Even Sarzonia's lone win, a 27-24 win over Vephrall at Hendrix Stadium, was a come-from-behind effort.

"The only way we're going to get people to shut up about that is to beat those guys," Blache said. As for the match against Bluth Corporation, Zorn and Blache met in Zorn's hotel room after Zorn finally calmed down and decided to have only one day of practice. They would have film work on Wednesday, along with players hitting the training rooms and the whirlpools. On Thursday, they'd install the game plan and work on drills to shore up their deficiencies. Friday would be the day for the actual practice session, while Saturday would be a walk through.

"We're not going to get a lot of time to get this right," Blache said.

"I know," Zorn said. "Let's hope this causes problems for them, too."

Prux Overlooked, Almost Leads To Disaster At Home:
Coach Wahlequah Says This Will Not Happen Against Green Wombat.

Atalanta, Arroza – Everyone says that you're going to have a bad game somewhere in qualifying. There's going to be at least one game where your Quarterbacks gets color-blind and starts passing to the other team. One game where your runningbacks treat the football like supposed children from a groupie now claiming to be their baby's mama instead of the valuable item it is. And don't even get me started on the defense. But the difference between the merely good teams and the great teams, are whether they can win the games they're horrible in. The Tar Hornets did just that, beating the Prux Statesmen 17-13.

National Team coach Andreas Wahlequah was not impressed, however. “Man we were bad out there. There was around three quarters of the game where we couldn't have poured piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel. We went into the last quarter down 13 to 3, and it's really only through our defense that we got to claw our way back into the game. We couldn't do diddly-pooh offensively. We couldn't make a first down. We didn't run the ball. We didn't try to run the ball. We couldn't complete a pass. We sucked. We sucked. It was a horseass performance in the second half. Horseass. We need to get on point before we go play Green Wombat next week.”

Even more entertaining was the response from Tahlequah when a reporter asked him about the week seven matchup at the Shin Jared Koeppel.

“Dancougar?! Don't talk about Dancougar! Are you kidding me? Dancougar?! I'm just hoping we can win a game, our next game at home."

After that, the interview was ended rapidly. Obviously the press asked a question he was unready to answer.

Today's Cutoff is brought to you by the Keystone Department of Transportation. "Potholes?! What potholes?!"

Group A:
Taeshan 9-3 (OT) Vephrall
Fujisawan Territories 24-3 Questille


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 5 1 0 88 25 63
2 Vephrall 4 2 0 104 62 42
3 Fujisawan Territories 3 3 0 97 106 -9
4 Questille 0 6 0 43 139 -96



Group B:
Qazox 20-17 Cotenshire
Tocrowkia 20-7 West Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 5 1 0 163 79 84
2 Cotenshire 5 1 0 117 70 47
3 Tocrowkia 1 5 0 70 114 -44
4 West Newmanistan 1 5 0 55 142 -87


Both ties sorted by overall PD. (H2H 1-1 on both)

Group C:
Rennidan 31-16 Bluth Corporation
Kosovoe 13-7 LeQuince


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Bluth Corporation 5 1 0 137 81 56
2 Rennidan 4 2 0 134 69 65
3 Kosovoe 2 4 0 45 95 -50
4 LeQuince 1 5 0 43 114 -71



Group D:
Newmanistan 16-10 Sarzonia
Scandavian States 17-20 (OT) Lurikastan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 6 0 0 145 56 89
2 Sarzonia 4 2 0 98 87 11
3 Scandavian States 1 5 0 87 137 -50
4 Lurikastan 1 5 0 79 129 -50


Scandavian States over Lurikastan on PF (1-1 H2H, even PD)

Group E:
Arroza 13-0 Green Wombat
Prux 20-3 Serinite II


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 6 0 0 141 52 89
2 Green Wombat 3 3 0 90 76 14
3 Prux 3 3 0 81 80 -1
4 Serinite II 0 6 0 26 130 -104


Green Wombat over Prux on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group F:
Dancougar 24-6 Greal
Cassadaigua 23-10 Rymeria


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 6 0 0 164 56 108
2 Cassadaigua 4 2 0 105 79 26
3 Greal 1 5 0 74 119 -45
4 Rymeria 1 5 0 43 132 -89


Greal over Rymeria on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group G:
Secristan 12-13 Colbourne
Australiah 3-16 Bushdome


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 5 1 0 119 42 77
2 Colbourne 4 2 0 98 77 21
3 Bushdome 3 3 0 80 98 -18
4 Australiah 0 6 0 21 101 -80


Group H:
Kura-Pelland 34-17 Lovisa
Peisandros 21-17 Patetopia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 5 1 0 133 77 56
2 Peisandros 3 3 0 104 106 -2
4 Patetopia 2 4 0 98 127 -29
3 Lovisa 2 4 0 124 149 -25


Patetopia over Lovisa due to 2-0 H2H advantage.

Announcement: Matchday 7 has the best matchups, overall, of any date on the schedule for those at the top and for those who are struggling. To encourage as much RP as possible for these games, I'm bringing out "double RP bonus" from the closet. All RP's between now and MD7 cutoff will receive twice as much as they'd normally score.

Woodstock Daily Mail

Stars fall short to Rockets again

By Travis West
Daily Mail Staff Writer

At least this time, it wasn't Gavin Davis's fault.

Sarzonia's quarterback threw for a career-high 392 yards against Newmanistan, but could only connect on one touchdown pass, an 89-yard bomb to Willie Brooks. Sarzonia couldn't generate any push on the offensive line and lost 16-10 to the Rockets.

"We live and die by our running game," said Sarzonia coach Jim Zorn. "Today, we weren't able to win the battle up front." Sarzonia lost the possession battle as the Rockets held the ball for nearly 36 minutes to Sarzonia's 24:09. LoQuan Willard rushed four times for eight yards before he sat out the rest of the match with a sprained ankle.

"It was a precaution," an obviously testy Willard snapped when asked about the injury. "[Trainer] Bubba Tyer didn't want me out there to risk getting it hurt worse." Sarzonia rushed for only 39 yards on 17 carries. Davis finished as the team's leading rusher with 19 yards on six carries. He said afterward that isn't part of his game.

"If all goes well, the only rushing attempts I have are kneel-downs," he said. "If you see me trying to make a play with my legs, you know something's wrong. That something was the play of Stars left tackle Tim Lacker, who gave up three of Newmanistan's five sacks. Zorn said after the game that Lacker would sit out the game against Bluth Corporation at the Iron Bowl in Portland.

"He has not played well in any of the last three matches," Zorn said. "We're going to try to figure out what we can do at that position. We can't continue to have results like this at that spot on the line."

Offensive line coach Joe Bugel said LeAndre Samuels would start for Sarzonia against Bluth Corporation at left tackle. He added he considered shifting right tackle Cody Cross to left tackle, but added Cross's relatively small size (295 pounds) was a deterrant.

"Cody's real strong fundamentally," Bugel said. "On top of that, he's a very smart player. I'm not saying Lacker's not smart, but Cody plays with a lot of experience. Lacker plays with brute size. We need a good mix of both at that position."

Sarzonia needs to come up with answers. Offensively, the team has scored a total of 17 points in its last two matches and has scored 54 points in its last four. Zorn said he wouldn't bench Davis.

"Davis is the big reason we've won as many games as we have," he said. "I don't believe benching your starting quarterback solves many problems. It can create more," by causing the starter to lose confidence, he said.

The only other quarterback on Sarzonia's roster is George Pendry, who has yet to take a snap in World Bowl play. Punter Marco Oliver played quarterback in college and is the emergency third string quarterback, but Zorn said he hoped Davis could work through his problems.

"Gavin was 18-for-22 today," Zorn said. "We were getting passes complete, but we weren't doing that much with them. There's only so much you can pin on the quarterback."

"Final?"

Bunsars Preptyrs tilted his head a bit and looked at the TV from a different angle. But no, the text didn't change:

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth681k/ns/vephrall/bcn-wb5-mdq6.png

"But that's impossible!" he sputtered. "There are still eleven minutes left in the period!"

Scenes like this were common in living rooms, bars, and restaurants throughout Vephrall at the end of the second Taeshan game. You see, Vephrall's gridball team hadn't seen overtime since the original Gridiron World Championships, and as you may recall from that article in the Dostey Dispatch a while back, Vephrallers weren't really paying much attention back then.

The Vephraller Kustriin e Foutbill, the nation's association football cup tournament, resolved its ties in the proper way, a full extra time period followed by a penalty shootout if necessary (or, indeed, in the earlier rounds, they flat out replayed the whole game). It made sense.

So, again, you can imagine the sense of utter shock and disbelief when the Falcons won the coin toss to start the overtime period, elected to receive, and then put together a 74-yard touchdown drive to secure the win without leaving Vephrall any chance to retaliate.

"Horseshit," fumed quarterback Crublig Claspung after the game. "You can't decide a game on a coin toss! This is absolutely unacceptable."

It is rumored that head coach Sperobis Ceedast may be planning to file an official complaint with the World Bowl organizers regarding the overtime regulations, but Ceedast himself couldn't be reached for comment by any of the major media outlets.

But you can bet he wasn't happy, either.

Fitin' Falcons Defeat Vephrall In Overtime

Yes, i do believe that the World Bowl should use the Taeshani system where both teams start a drive at the 40 and drive to try and score, but in some cases such as yesterdays i am happy that the game can be decided by a coin flip. A coin flip witch leads your team into overtime with an advantage and an easy way to win the game by just driving down the field just another time to win the game. I agree that everyone should have a shot to win it, but sometimes you have to sway your standards so they can help you win. Next the Falcons will play Qazox in there most anticipated game of the season. Both the Phoenix and are Falcons are geared to get this regional powerhouse game done with, and then be able to look past it.

The game was an utterly all out defensive stalemate. Before ovetime the score was tied for 39 minutes as after the Vephrese kicker punched one in from 40, and then 5 minutes later Martin Gramatica found the net with a sideswiped kick from 47 out niether team was again able to advance the ball for a score. Niether team had much of any attack and until overtime the game just dragged on and on. Then the Falcons put forth there wisdom by using the old tails never fails trick and they won the overtime toss. Then they proceded to get there only touchdwon drive of the game. Max Hope would punch it in after 4 minutes of overtime from 36 yards out and the Falcons won.

(ooc: Newmanistan, haven't the Rockets offically clinched a playoff berth as Scandavian States and Lurikastan cant catch you in the standings? Just asking.)

AMS Power 20: Brought to you by Seraphi Electric. Seraphi Electric, power from above.

1.Dancougar (6-0)
2.Newmanistan (6-0)
3.Arroza (6-0)
4.Qazox (5-1)
5.Bluth Corporation (5-1)
6.Cotenshire (5-1)
7.Secristan (5-1)
8.Kura-Pelland (5-1)
9.Taeshan (5-1)
10.Vephrall (4-2)
11.Sarzonia (4-2)
12.Rennidan (4-2)
13.Cassadaigua (4-2)
14.Peisandros (3-3)
15.Colbourne (4-2)
16.Fujisawan Territories (3-3)
17.Green Wombat (3-3)
18.Prux (3-3)
19.Bushdome (3-3)
20.Kosovoe (2-4)
____________________________________

The Future: Matchday Seven could be called big game Saturday, as the top teams in the groups go against each other in our first taste of inter-group play. Televisions are going to be going crazy across the country as there are seven games that every football fanatic are going to want to watch. Seven big games, on Matchday 7? Interesting coincidence. Let's look at these stunning matchups:

#9 Taeshan @ #4 Qazox: Qazox's avenged their loss to Cotenshire at home and is somehow coming to dominate group B. While Taeshan needed overtime to take out Vephrall who's lack of knowledge about the rules of the game has to be leading to some hard feelings from the VFA. But Qazox has got to be seen as the vastly better team in this game and should win handily at home. 27-14 Phoenix.

#10 Vephrall @ #6 Cotenshire:
You think you're gangster? Well Cotenshire's pretty gangster themselves. As a matter of fact, they're probably the hardest crew in the tournament. They play on a field of solid ice. The consider a pogrom a good place to take a first date. They've killed roughly 250,000 peoplr this tournament, and 1,000,000 plus heads of livestock. Dolphins 16 – Auric Wolves 10.

#12 Rennidan @ #2 Newmanistan:
Rennidan's lost their swagger, but coming into the hallowed halls of the Tundra Falls Proving Grounds should be enough to stir the soul of any man. Newmanistan on the other hand had been machine like in their winning streak. Maybe the emotions have no effect anymore after being at such a hallowed place for so long. Rockets 22 – Brutes 20.

#5 Bluth Corporation @ #11 Sarzonia:
Bluth Corporation, the surprise team of the tournament going to Portland's Iron Bowl to take on the resilient Sarzonia Stars. The Stars are probably 2 years away, but a win against Bluth could be what they need to become consistent and take themselves to the next level. Stars 21 - Capitalists 14.

#18 Prux @ #13 Cassadaigua:
It's time for the #18 Statesmen to show and prove against the femme fatales of Cassadaigua. One of these teams is going to become a true contender, while the other is going to have their record laughed off as a result of beating “garbage teams”. Even more pressure is on Prux who has Green Wombat hard on their heels. Femme Fatales 17 - Statesmen 9.

#7 Secristan @ #8 Kura-Pelland:
Are the millionares for real? Where's K-P's clutch swagger? How many Secristanis are going to swarm the borders into Newmanistan so they can watch this game for cheap? Newmanistani TV 1 – Secristan PPV 0. Millionaire Boys Club 30 – Arrows 24.

#3 Arroza @ #1 Dancougar:

Tar Hornets vs. Black Wings.
This game is supposedly the pinnacle of gridiron matchups both in this World Bowl, and over history. It's even got a snazzy nickname, “The Backyard Brawl”......but it's been more like:

Nail vs. Hammer.
Coyote vs. Roadrunner.
Russians vs. Moose and Squirrel.
Sanity vs. Alcohol.
Dolph Lundgren vs. Celebrity Status.
Intelligence vs. The State of Tennessee
Rodney King vs. LAPD

After a decade, all of these things have have come to mean one sided-dominance.

These two teams have probably played more times than any two other teams in World Bowl history as this will be their seventh matchup. Unfortunately, this game has been closer to the tragic tale of Coyote vs. Roadrunner than an actual rivalry between equals. The only thing needed was to see Coach Tahlequah with a tiny sign saying “¡Ayudame!” before falling off of the upper deck into some form of shared national purgatory. The key to this game has to be stopping the Black Wings early, and establishing dominance on the lines. If we can stop them, something rare in and of itself, getting ahead early means Tahlequah can put the big uglies in and go on cruise control. If not...well let's not even think about that outcome, okay?

I can't make myself type the prediction....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Black Wings 27 – Tar Hornets 23

(ooc: Newmanistan, haven't the Rockets offically clinched a playoff berth as Scandavian States and Lurikastan cant catch you in the standings? Just asking.)

[in that case, so has Dancougar]

[in that case, so has Dancougar]

(Also Correct, I believe)

Fitin' Falcons Ready For Phoenix

The Falcons coach Ken Whissenhaunt said yesterday that the Falcons are ready to face what is expected to be there biggest test of this World Bowl as the Falcons have not faced a team ranked this high all year due to the fact that the Falcons were one of the pot A teams. As you all know the Newmanistani's have decided to add a 4 game non-group schedule to this years bowl. No announcement has been made on how these game will affect the standings and such, but do not fret. Many predict the will just be added as regular games. The Falcons will only need to win 3 games to get a favorable second round opening matchup and many predict this feat to be an easy one as the Falcons road gets easier after the Phoenix. Evryone is lloking to see wether the defensive Falcons can continue tyhere trek to another championship.

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Troy Buck: 25 seconds left, and we're tied at 17-17. Qazox has the ball, 3rd and 7 from their 46 yard line.

Mad Johnnen: I think the ratings for this game are going to BOOOOM! the competition!

Troy Buck: Greg Dannen drops back, pumps, and throws it deep for Ivan Harvey.. and Caught at the 17! 1st down Qazox. Harvey just out-leaped Otto Kortrijk and came down with the ball inside the Cotenshire 20! Dannen spikes the ball with only 2 seconds left on the clock! A 37-yard pass on 3rd and 7 and Qazox sends out Tryone Chase, who's missed 3 FG's today.

Mad Johnnen: Yeah and he's not kicked well either. Uh.... He's missed some easy kicks today too.

Troy Buck: Right. Misses from 48 and 46 yards out into this stiff 20 mph wind were expected, but to miss a 23 yard chip-shot just before the half was just stunning.

Mad Johnnen: I wouldn't be suprised if we went into OT again against this team.

Troy Buck: A 35-yard attempt by Chase, the wind is blowing right to left, the snap.. the kick is up and... GOOOD! Its GOOD! and Qazox wins 20-17!

Mad Johnnen: I don't believe it. Cotenshire's upset chances just went BOOM!

Troy Buck: And now that Qazox and Cotenshire are 5-1 each, both teams only need to win their next game to qualify for the playoffs. Cotenshire hosts a very good 4-2 Vephrall, while the Phoenix ready themselves for Taeshan, who are also 5-1. It's the BORDER WAR (ooc: if Dancougar and Arroza is the Backyard Brawl, then Taeshan and Qazox can have the Border War) next week!


SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Cotenshire 3 7 7 0 17
Qazox 3 7 7 3 20

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: 26-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 9:53 10 plays-62 yards in 5:07. (3-0 Qazox)
Cotenshire: 30-yd FG by Godfried Dillijk. 4:28 9 plays-68 yards in 5:25. (3-3)

2nd Quarter:
Cotenshire: 19-yd TD run by Boudewijn Geul. 7:05 PAT by Godfried Dillijk good. 10 plays-57 yards in 3:19. (10-3 Cotenshire)
Qazox: 52-yd TD pass to Tony Aster from Greg Dannen 5:19 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 5 plays-71 yards in 1:46. (10-10)

3rd Quarter:
Cotenshire: 2-yd TD pass to Theodor Hoorn from Antoon Kerkrade 8:52 PAT by Godfried Dillijk good. 13 plays-77 yards in 6:08. (17-10 Cotenshire)
Qazox: 8-yd TD pass to Nate Sacimoni from Greg Dannen 3:21 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 11 plays-73 yards in 5:31. (17-17)

4th Quarter:
Qazox: 35-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 0:00 7 plays-50 yards in 2:47. (20-17 Qazox)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 17/29, 239 yds, 2 TD
Frank Vallens: 21 rushes, 101 yds
Jason DeHavel: 3 rushes, 11 yds
Tony Aster: 5 rec, 96 yds, 1 TD
Mathew Cottrill: 3 rec, 37 yds
Ivan Harvey: 7 rec, 86 yds
Nate Sacimoni: 2 rec, 20 yards, 1 TD

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 5 tackles
David Reshks: 1.5 sacks, 3 tackles
Richie Sola: 2.0 sacks, 3 tackles
Vic Alworth: 1.0 sacks, 4 tackles
David Reed: 0.5 sacks, 2 Tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Jason Middleton: 4 tackles, 4 tackles for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 8 tackles, 1 FF
Mark Johns: 3 tackles, 2 passes defended
Greg Olsen: 5 tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 Fum rec.
Adam Politt: 3 tackles, 2 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 2/5 FG (long of 35); 2/2 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 2 punts, Long of 53, 2 TB.
Adam Politt: 4 KO Ret, 64 yds; 3 Punt Ret., 11 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Arroza 6-0 (9) 110 pts
Dancougar 6-0 (7) 107 pts
Newmanistan 6-0 (4) 100 pts
Qazox 5-1 92 pts
Taeshan 5-1 87 pts
Secristan 5-1 83 pts
Bluth Corporation 5-1 73 pts
Cotenshire 5-1 72 pts
Kura-Pelland 5-1 69 pts
Sarzonia 4-2 28 pts

Others receiving votes:
Vephrall (4-2) 23 pts, Rennidan (4-2) 9 pts

World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)

Griffinville Globe

After allowing a early FG to Serinite II, the Statesmen defense held Serinite to only 49 additional yards as Prux evened their record at 3-3. 2 TD passes from Jason Ware and a TD run by Mike Penn provided the scoring for Prux. Serinite did block the first PAT attempt, making it 6-3, before Ware's 2 Td passes.

Cassadaigua is up next, and odds are the winner of this game will have an advantage in terms of making the playoffs.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat L 16-17
MD5: Prux @ Arroza L 13-17
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux W 20-3
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(3-3-0)

Wombats cruise to easy win

Offensively, the Wombats could not get anything done against Arroza, only gaining 118 yards of total offense, and were held to -13 yards rushing. But the Tar Hornets didn't fare much better, as they only gained 193 yards of offense in the game. Excepting a 76-yd TD run by Abraham Chadwick on the 3rd play of the 2nd half, which made it 10-0; the teams basically were even on offense. But Arroza's defense made the game, forcing 4 turnovers, which lead to all 13 of Arroza's points.

So up next for the 3-3 wombats is a trip to 1-5 Greal. This is one of those trap games as the wombats might be looking ahead to next week's showdown with dancougar.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane sinks Questille, yet road ahead looks bleak

Hoji, Iwosaka - There were mixed feelings at Crosscom Global Arena following a 24-3 trouncing of Questille, as a win is always cause to celebrate, yet the death blows for the Hurricane await just ahead. After games against Tocrowkia and West Newmanistan, both 1-5, the Hurricane host Qazox in Crosscom, before heading to Cotenshire for a road game.

With the keys to the Hurricane offense in veteran quarterback Daisetsu Kudo’s hands, the offense surged with explosive production against Questille, leading many fans to question why the switch wasn’t made earlier. Kudo hit Oribaha “Baja” Hini for thirty six and nineteen yard touchdowns, and tight end Namboku Yoshimatsu for a six yard score, and had no interceptions. Hini’s first touchdown came in the opening minutes of the game, and his second just over two minutes from the half. It was 14-0 at the half and a Yoshimatsu’s third quarter touchdown, and an Anenokoji field goal with 3:02 left in the game were the icing on the cake for the Hurricane. The defense took care of the rest, holding Questille to only one field goal, and creating two fumbles and an interception.

Looking ahead, the Territories should have minimal trouble against Tocrowkia and West Newmanistan, but the Hurricane’s last two games are must wins, a virtually impossible feat. Both Qazox and Cotenshire are 5-1 and considered elite teams.

As for the rest of group A, the Taeshan-Vephrall game was 3-3 at the end of regulation, and the Falcons went seventy four yards for a touchdown to win 9-3 in overtime. Taeshan will play Qazox on the road next, while Vephrall will travel to Cotenshire.

Head coach Ei’ichi Date has stated that he will start Daisetsu Kudo at quarterback in the game against Tocrowkia and that Sibura Hiton may not return under center for the duration of World Bowl qualifying. After Kudo made his case in front of the Crosscom Global Arena crowd, the fans cheered their approval of the switch, and many on the Hurricane agree the result was a change for the better. There is no end in sight to the boiling rage between Date and Hiton as Hiton, angry at being benched, spit in Date’s face on the sidelines during the first quarter. And later, Hiton and Kudo got into a shoving match in the Hurricane locker room post game, that had to be broken up before it turned into a full on brawl.

“It’s an important decision and I think we’ve made the right one. It’s never something that I like doing, but it’s something that had to be done,” Date said.

Kudo seemed to click with the rest of the offense, and fell into a comfortable rhythm early on, so he should have little trouble in fully acclimating as starting quarterback. With two games against struggling Tocrowkia and West Newmanistan, Kudo has a prime opportunity to work out any kinks and smooth out any rough patches before the bigger matches. If Kudo plays as well as he did against Questille, the Hurricane should come away with a dominating win, heading into West Newmanistan.


Next Game: Fujisawan Territories (3-3) @ Tocrowkia (1-5)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall L 30-13
@ Taeshan L 20-6
vs. Questille W 24-3
@ Tocrowkia
vs. West Newmanistan
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Bring on the Hornets!

The Wings, of course, still had to deal with the opponents in front of them, 1-4 Greal, in last night's match at the Shin Jared Koeppel. But regardless of what coach Will Moohim and the players have said about focus and taking it one game at a time, there is no way that the Tar Hornets weren't in the back of their minds throughout the match. In fact, I'd wager that when the schedule came out, both teams had this one circled immediately as the game that would really define their qualifying campaigns and determine if they were contenders or pretenders for the World Bowl title.

"We don't want to treat one game differently from another," said Moohim after last night's 24-6 victory. Coupled with Arroza's shutout, it ensured that their game would be the only pairing of unbeatens on matchday seven. "The Tar Hornets have always had a very good team, but we can't go to sleep against the Greals of the world. The only tape we've been watching this past week has been Greal; Arroza's tape starts playing on Tuesday." Right. We believe you, coach.

The defense rebounded from a scare against Cassadaigua and forced three turnovers while constantly frustrating the Greali quarterback, who was only able to really put together one sustained drive in the game. The secondary was much improved and the team showed a little more imagination with its blitz packages. The offense still had its troubles but put together some impressive drives in the first half to build a gap which, this time, stayed wide.

The Wings scored on their second drive of the game on a Gary Hutchins touchdown run, a 5-yard draw in which he burst through the middle, cut past one linebacker, and walked into the endzone. Hutchins had some early success, picking up 62 yards on 13 first-half carries. That helped the Wings extend the advantage to 10-0 early into the second quarter, when he converted two third downs to help get the Wings past midfield. Cavallo was good from 33 yards, but the Greali were able to counter. A broken tackle led to a 37-yard pass reception, the longest play the Wings gave up on the day, which eventually led to a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-3.

On their next drive, Greal tried the same play and Scott Maxam was ready and waiting. His interception gave the Wings a short field, but they were unable to capitalize and ended up punting, pinning Greal inside its own 5. "I think they important thing to do was make sure we didn't let them get in a rhythm," said Maxam. "We weren't moving the ball so [the defense] had to step up."

The score remained 10-3 at halftime, and the fans at the Jay Kay were feel a bit nervous. Were they in for another nail-biter? It looked that way when Greal punched in a field goal on their opening drive of the half to make it 10-6 and then forced the Wings to punt. The momentum, it seemed, had shifted anyway. But on the next drive, the defense came up huge. Nickel back Tony Rorick, who started at corner in World Bowl IV, showed his legs still had plenty of juice left when he intercepted a Greal pass and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown.

With that, the Wings were back in control. The defense forced a three-and-out and the offense took over the clock with short, methodical ball movement. Tight end Tristan Cray stood out with five receptions from quarterback Michael Hussey. None were over eight yards, but they proved crucial. "[Cray] gets off his block so fast and can get those mismatches in the middle of the field," said Hussey. "He doesn't catch the deep ball, but he keeps us moving forward. That's huge."

A Greal fumble led to the final scoring drive of the day, which ended with a Hussey quarterback sneak with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. A combination of runs and short passes worked them into the red zone, and after Logan Dublin took a screen pass to the one, Hussey called his own number to make it 24-6.

All this sets up the start of non-conference play, which will give us a better understanding of where each team stands in the world pecking order. Dancougar and Arroza will headline a day of stellar matchups, as they are two of the three 6-0 teams left in qualifying; Newmanistan is the other. If history is a guide, this game is all but Dancougar's. The Wings have won five of the six meetings, including the only one played in Bradford. But you have to call it a rivalry game, because even though Dancougar has the dominant head-to-head history, almost all the games have come down to one or two huge plays. The last two needed overtime.

The game has been christened the Backyard Brawl, owing chiefly to the familiarity between the two. There have only been four World Bowls, yet three of them saw Dancougar tackle Arroza in the semifinals or later. And given that Dancougar took all three of those games, there's no doubt that bad blood exists when these two take the field.

"The history is there, and we're one of the big reasons why they haven't taken home any hardware," said Hutchins, who helped the team to a 30-24 victory over the Tar Hornets in the World Bowl IV semifinals. "They're a really physical team and remind us a lot of ourselves, so naturally it's a game you look forward to as both a player and a fan."

The students at the University of Sullivan, home of the Shin Jared Koeppel, are already planning a massive tailgate before the game. It's located near the fraternities in a depression on the east side of campus which has been dubbed The Pitt. The source of the extra T is a mystery, but the source of the fandom is quite clear. A rally after the Greal game heard chants of "oh nine one" eminating from the bottom of the hill, and one suspects they'll only get louder as we get closer to game time.

Take It to the ATM

The Newmanistan Rockets are playing like they have every intention of returning to the World Bowl final, and Rennidan will become their latest high-profile victim... In a battle of a rapid-fire offense and a stingy defense, look for Taeshan to overcome Qazox despite the incessant booming of Mad Johnnen... Secristan will shake off a close loss to Colbourne and expose the weaknesses of Kura-Pelland... When Jake Matthews, Dee Torso, and Dirk Spiceroad do World Bowl Gameday here in Bradford next weekend, look for Dee to put on the black angel wings before the first commercial.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

There were quite a few upsets on the day, with Secristan, Bluth Corporation, and Cotenshire all losing their first games of qualifying. Rennidan's 31-16 beatdown of Bluth was the most impressive result of the day, suggesting that maybe it was a bit early to write them off. As we enter non-conference play, it seems like the traditional powers have established themselves in the qualification zone in their respective groups, but we could see some extreme movement over the coming weeks.

(1) Newmanistan (6-0)
(2) Arroza (6-0)
(3) Qazox (5-1)
(4) Dancougar (6-0)
(5) Taeshan (5-1)
(6) Kura-Pelland (5-1)
(7) Secristan (5-1)
(8) Bluth Corporation (5-1)
(9) Rennidan (4-2)
(10) Cotenshire (5-1)
(11) Colbourne (4-2)
(12) Vephrall (4-2)
(13) Cassadaigua (4-2)
(14) Sarzonia (4-2)
(15) Prux (3-3)
(16) Peisandros (3-3)
(17) Fujisawan Territories (3-3)
(18) Green wombat (3-3)
(19) Bushdome (3-3)
(20) Patetopia (2-4)
(21) Lovisa (2-4)
(22) Kosovoe (2-4)
(23) West Newmanistan (1-5)
(24) Lurikastan (1-5)
(25) Tocrowkia (1-5)
(26) Scandinavian States (1-5)
(27) Greal (1-5)
(28) Rymeria (1-5)
(29) LeQuince (1-5)
(30) Australiah (0-6)
(31) Serinite II (0-6)
(32) Questille (0-6)

OOC: Yes, Newmanistan and Dancougar have clinched. Honestly I wasn't looking for "clinchers" yet. ;)

The Dolphins had just suffered their first loss. Normally, massive riots of a kind never before witnessed would have engulfed Homdurung and the surrounding area. Thousands would have been murdered, thousands more raped, and there would have been extensive property damage. Unfortunately for the town of Homdurung, these riots were not to occur. The previous day’s battle had killed four out of every five Homdurung residents. Those who remained were apathetic towards the sport. Everyone who had cared was now dead.

A short practice was held before the Dolphins faced Vephrall. Coach Slues had the players warm up by clearing the practice field of the corpses (some of which were still smoldering) and marking areas where landmines might be hidden. “Consider it a community service,” said Coach Slues.

“But coach, this isn’t our community,” said one of the players.

“Well it is now. Keep movin’.”

Valdemar Olavsson collapsed during this short practice, and a quick medical examination found that he had eaten something covered in napalm. The team medic attempted to get him to recount what he had eaten, but it was of no use.

“He’s eating things all the time,” admitted one of the players.

“I saw him eat a barrel of turnips once. He somehow managed to shove all of it in his mouth in under thirty minutes.”

Despite his condition, Olavsson seemed quite jumpy during practice. At one point he ran under a tree and began digging a hole.

“This doesn’t look good,” informed Coach Slues. “Olavsson must be sensing a sudden change in barometric pressure. We are going to have rough weather tonight…”

Katie’s Blog

The loss to Dancougar isn’t something we could afford to dwell on. It was tough, obviously. There will still be those who doubt whether we have any quality victories or not saying we haven’t beaten anyone of merit yet. Such is a fair argument, and we weren’t going to exactly win any of those doubters over in our game against Rymeria, but we still needed to go out there and this job done. Dancougar was one loss. We didn’t need a hangover to create a second loss. Meghan got us in the proper mindset right away, instead of looking back at the frustrations we may have had, we needed to talk positives out of that game and apply it to Rymeria. She especially noted the composure of Lauren Hamilton on our final drive and Lauren acknowledged that the reason for that was that she felt she had nothing to lose and felt no pressure because everyone, other then ourselves and our fans, thought we were going to choke at some point on that drive. Also the drive before that, where Danielle busted off her 70-yard gain. It was our biggest rushing play of the World Bowl thus far, and a lot of good blocks went with that, both on the line and upfield. Defensively, in a hostile environment, we found a way to make three stops of the Black Wings in the red zone early in that game, hold them to the field goals. We did all that against the number-one team in the world. If we could do the same thing against Rymeria, then we should be able to get the win.

As you all probably know, the Rymerian team puts on the most travel miles of any team in the World Bowl. A few of us were wondering why is it that they feel the need to travel across the galaxy to play in this World Bowl? On their planet, do they not have their own championship? I don’t really know much about their players but Kim Harden had the best explanation for why they likely do this. She said that they are probably the Dancougar of their planet, the national team that is far and away the best, so for more of a challenge, they have opted to travel across the galaxy. Since they have superior technology, the travel isn’t quite as big of a deal as you would think it would be. If that is the case, their 1-4 record would show that we play much better football over here on our planet. They can blame it on gravity-lag, perhaps, but opponents have been able to go to their place and pick up wins, as we did three weeks ago. Our fans at the game gave us a huge standing ovation when we took the field, acknowledging what we had done in Dancougar. That’s when we knew that we had to win this game. If they could be that happy over a game that we lost, then we needed to treat them to a win. We scored on our first possession on Danielle Regan’s 22 yard run, and added a field goal later in the quarter, and a second field goal in the second quarter to be up at halftime, 13-0. Lauren was showing her composure, achieving her highest first half passer rating of some crazy number that I can never understand of her international career. 130 something, it was. We gave up a field goal to start the second half, but responded immediately, with my longest play from scrimmage, a 74-yard touchdown pass that was a quick outside slant that was about 10 yards deep. I had cleared the defender, and Lauren hit me right in stride, allowing me not to miss a step in taking it to the end zone. Lindsay Privitt made the touchdown possible with a great block on their safety. We were definitely feeling it, and even though my celebration with Lindsay and Kim Harden got us penalized fifteen yards, it was well worth it. We took the 20-3 lead into the fourth, and after their touchdown, we made sure that they weren’t going to have a comeback the way we did, going on drive of about eight minutes or so they said it was. Whatever the specific length of time the drive was, we ran the clock way down and kicked a chip shot field goal. Rymeria never recovered and we win the game 23-10! We improve to 4-2.

Group play is over, but the World Bowl is not. We begin intergroup play now, and the nations from Group E in which we will be facing are have been very competitive. Arroza is another Dancougar, although the Tar Hornets aren’t quite as good as their nemesis as the head to head history between them proves. That game will come on matchday nine in their house. The very interesting games on our schedule are the ones against Prux and Green Wombat. The countries, who are also regional rivals, are tied for second in the group with records of 3-3. They are probably both looking at our group as “we will probably beat Greal and Rymeria and probably lose to Dancougar, making the games we have against Cassadaigua what’s going to decide which of us finishes second.” Don’t think we aren’t aware of that, but we want these games more then to be the spoiler of Group E. We want it for ourselves. At 4-2, we are probably going to finish second even if we did not win another game as I doubt either Rymeria or Greal will take three out of four from that group. That likelihood doesn’t deter us. We want it because we want to show the world we can beat good teams. Prux and Green Wombat are a step above what we have faced in the group. Both are coming here, both host Dancougar, so neither can say home field advantage against their Group F opponents favored the other. Prux up next and Green Wombat in the last game. If we can show we can beat them, it will be a step in the right direction. Showing we could beat Arroza, would be a decisive step.

The Backyard Brawl. The Border War. Rockets-Brutes. Who will win these fine matches? How about the plenty of other interesting games. Find out soon. Super Saturday is now cutoff.

Group A/B:
Qazox 10-13 Taeshan
Cotenshire 13-27 Vephrall
Tocrowkia 7-20 Fujisawan Territories
West Newmanistan 22-6 Questille


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 6 1 0 101 35 66
2 Vephrall 5 2 0 131 75 56
3 Fujisawan Territories 4 3 0 117 113 4
4 Questille 0 7 0 49 161 -112 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 5 2 0 173 92 81 Q
2 Cotenshire 5 2 0 130 97 33 Q
3 West Newmanistan 2 5 0 77 148 -71 E
4 Tocrowkia 1 6 0 77 134 -57 E


Qazox over Cotenshire on PD. Both have clinched (and actually both did after MD6, as the worst both could do would fall into a tie, but both hold tiebreakers over West Newmanistan).

Group C/D:
Newmanistan 20-34 Rennidan
Sarzonia 24-20 Bluth Corporation
Scandavian States 23-3 Kosovoe
Lurikastan 31-13 LeQuince


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Rennidan 5 2 0 168 89 79
2 Bluth Corporation 5 2 0 157 105 52 Q
3 Kosovoe 2 5 0 48 118 -70
4 LeQuince 1 6 0 56 145 -89 E


Rennidan over Bluth Corporation on PD.
Though highly unlikely given the point differentials, clinching is not official for Rennidan, though is for Bluth Corporation since they are 2-0 in H2H over Kosovoe.


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 6 1 0 165 90 75 Q
2 Sarzonia 5 2 0 122 107 15 Q
3 Scandavian States 2 5 0 110 140 -30 E
4 Lurikastan 2 5 0 110 142 -32 E


Newmanistan actually clinched after MD6.
Scandavian States over Lurikastan on PD

Group E/F:
Dancougar 30-27 (OT) Arroza
Greal 6-10 Green Wombat
Cassadaigua 14-10 Prux
Rymeria 0-17 Serinite II


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 6 1 0 168 82 86 Q
2 Green Wombat 4 3 0 100 82 18
3 Prux 3 4 0 91 94 -3
4 Serinite II 1 6 0 43 130 -87 E


Arroza is 2-0 in H2H over Prux, therefore has clinched.


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 7 0 0 194 83 111 Q
2 Cassadaigua 5 2 0 119 89 30 Q
3 Greal 1 6 0 80 129 -49 E
4 Rymeria 1 6 0 43 149 -106 E


Dancougar actually clinched after MD6.
Greal over Rymeria on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group G/H:
Kura-Pelland 13-20 Secristan
Lovisa 27-14 Colbourne
Patetopia 15-17 Bushdome
Peisandros 33-7 Australiah


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 6 1 0 139 55 84
2 Colbourne 4 3 0 112 104 8
3 Bushdome 4 3 0 97 113 -16
4 Australiah 0 7 0 28 134 -106 E


Colbourne over Bushdome on PD. (1-1 H2H)


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 5 2 0 146 97 49
2 Peisandros 4 3 0 137 113 24
3 Lovisa 3 4 0 151 163 -12
4 Patetopia 2 5 0 113 144 -31

Woodstock Daily Mail

Stars, Davis back on winning track

By Travis West
Daily Mail Staff Writer

PORTLAND -- Both the Sarzonian national gridball team and quarterback Gavin Davis shook off three up and down matches in their game against onetime World Bowl stalwarts Bluth Corporation at the Iron Bowl in Portland.

Davis completed 21-of-29 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Stars to a 24-20 victory in a game that wasn't as close as the score suggested.

Sarzonia led the game 17-3 at halftime and 24-10 at the end of the third quarter and only allowed the final 10 points when coach Jim Zorn removed his starting defence to give them some rest before thier away match to Rennidan.

"I wanted to give some of our guys some experience," Zorn said. "We played the first 55 minutes of this game about as well as you could expect, but I'll take the blame for the last five minutes not going the way we'd like to see it."

Both Zorn and Davis said the re-emergence of running back LoQuan Willard was vital to Sarzonia's offensive exploits in this match. Willard ran 27 times for 119 yards and a touchdown just before the first half expired.

"We needed to get LoQuan going," Davis said. "Once we do that, it opens up the passing game for myself and the receivers."

That it did. After Willard ran seven times for 31 yards on the opening drive, Davis was able to use play action passes effectively. According to Willard, the play actoin passing slowed down the Bluth Corporation pass rush, allowing Davis time to find receivers.

"It was huge," Willard said. "The key is we won the battle up front. You do that, you're going to win your share of gridball matches."

Sarzonia (5-2) clinched a spot in the knockout stages with three matches to go, but Zorn said he would continue to play his starters until either the Stars or Newmanistan clinched the Group D title. The Rockets lost to Rennidan (5-2), dropping their record to 6-1. However, Newmanistan defeated the Stars in both meetings, so Sarzonia would have to finish a game ahead of the Rockets to win the group.

For his part, Davis isn't deterred by that prospect.

"We just strap 'em up and play," he said. "We don't worry how good our opponent is. We like to think we're not a bad team ourselves."

The Dostey Dispatch - Sports News

Wolves finally get big win

COTENSHIRE -- A fan could probably be forgiven for being resigned to a Vephrall loss before this game even started. After all, the only elite defense the Auric Wolves had faced so far was Taeshan, and Vephrall contrived to score all of a field goal in two entire games against them. Granted, the Cotenshire defense wasn't exactly the juggernaut that Taeshan was, but they had still managed to hold Qazox to under 21 in each of their two meetings, so they couldn't be too terrible.

Sperobis Ceedast opted for a "back to basics" approach against Cotenshire, noticing that his new passing initiative didn't work well against a Taeshan defense that had been able to put massive amounts of pressure on Claspung in the pocket. So it was back to the ground, and sure enough, the good ol' option got it done. Vephrall's 279 yards rushing helped guide them to a 27-14 win over #9 Cotenshire.

"That was certainly a relief," said Ceedast after the game. "I knew this offense was capable of having a big day, and it did today. We weren't able to do much against Taeshan, but that's just because they have one of the best defensive units in the world, it'll keep anybody in check. But the performance today gives me a lot more confidence going into the next game."

Let us hope Ceedast's players are as confident as him, because the schedule certainly doesn't let up yet. Up next: #5 Qazox comes to Ellime e Vephrall fresh off a home loss to #6 Taeshan.

Final score: Cotenshire 14, Vephrall 27
Player of the game: Vephrall HB Thwante Cliriputed (14 rush, 127 yds, TD)

Dostey Dispatch Power Poll, Week 7

So now that nonconference play has started and a few of the heavyweights have played each other, what do we know now?

1. Dancougar (7-0) - 1772 (22)
2. Arroza (6-1) - 1697 (15)
3. Rennidan (5-2) - 1612 (2)
4. Secristan (6-1) - 1590 (7)
5. Qazox (5-2) - 1483 (1)
6. Taeshan (6-1) - 1463 (3)
7. Bluth Corporation (5-2) - 1439
8. Peisandros (4-3) - 1375
9. Vephrall (5-2) - 1348
10. Newmanistan (6-1) - 1345
11. Cotenshire (5-2) - 1087
12. Cassadaigua (5-2) - 1043
13. Green wombat (4-3) - 1021
14. Fujisawan Territories (4-3) - 1012
15. Sarzonia (5-2) - 996
16. Bushdome (4-3) - 955
First place votes in parentheses

Dancougar a deserved #1 after their victory in the Backyard Brawl over Arroza, although can we really be certain that they're actually better than the Tar Hornets? I mean, come on, they won by a field goal. At home. In overtime. That's pretty much a wash, and the voters seem to agree. Similarly, it's hard to separate Qazox and Taeshan after the Pheonix fell to the Falcons by a field goal. Meanwhile, a lot of voters still seem to think that Bluth Corporation is the real deal despite back-to-back losses to Rennidan and Sarzonia. Speaking of the Brutes, after a slow start, they've managed to work their way back up into the top three, though only two of the fifty voters were willing to call them the absolute best. Oh, and I hope none of you voters twisted an ankle jumping off the Newmanistan bandwagon after the formerly #3 Rockets' loss to Rennidan.

Parting note: What's the deal with Kura-Pelland? They just lost their second game, again to a top-ten opponent, the other loss being to Peisandros. And yet the preseason #2 doesn't even appear in our top 16! Just why do the Arrows seem so unimpressive?

..::INN Sports Extra::..
Smoke n' Mirrors Explained

The Smoke n' Mirrors offense is fairly typical of many IFL systems in that it is a 70/30 pass/run Run n' Gun variant with a heavy Spread-Option influence. It is a more balanced (if such a pass-heavy offense can be called balance) offense than other such RnG variants such as the Shock n' Awe in that it doesn't rely on personnel advantages (although those are always helpful), but uses various schematic techniques to create mismatches. Beyond the usual spread and option packages, the Smoke n' Mirrors uses several very odd formations to confuse the defense as the situation requires. Further, situational personnel packages are used to further exacerbate a potentially bad situation for the defense. As a final touch, when the QB lines up he will often read the defense and, based upon observed tendencies, call audibles to his receivers so that they hit soft points in zone coverage.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Cerberus.png

Cerberus is the standard shotgun ace trey bunch set for the offense, although in certain situations the ace back will be sent into motion and lined up behind the center of the bunch to create a quad bunch. Another common use for the ace back is as a blocker or third option when the left flanker is sent into a jet motion.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Chimera.png

Chimera is the offense's quad bunch formation, with the forward three receivers running a route combo known as a left flood clearout and the rear flanker running a fade streak. The motion jet option is also a possibility in this formation, however because the defense will be balanced to the right side already the production potential is reduced.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Eagle.png

Eagle, also sometimes called Phoenix, is an extreme example of a five wide spread, with the two wide backs (far outside receivers) a mere ten yards from the sidelines. The slot back, because he is five yards deep, is often the fastest wide receiver on the team and is often sent on a streak route against the opposing free safety. Because the safety has to stay deep in order to keep in coverage range of the receiver, over the middle routes are often open.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Orthus.png

Orthus is a two back, three wide shotgun set that, with the right QB, can be both a strong option threat or a great passing formation based entirely on the line-up read of the defense. Because defenses have to respect both the pass and run, the defense cannot line up in any formation that moves to prevent any one aspect without potentially opening themselves up to a big play.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Tower.png

Tower has much the same purpose as Eagle, but instead of spreading the defense completely out at the start, it forces the D to pinch along two axis of attack that are aligned to the flankers and then running route sets that spread the defense out in as the play develops.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Phalanx.png

Phalanx is a quad bunch formation that happens to be an "obvious" screen formation. Obvious is in quotes because while the defense much respect the threat of a rocket screen and call their set appropriately, it exposes the defense to fakes that lead to deep passes.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Sphinx.png

Sphinx is a twin trips bunch formation that is actually only used in the one and five zones, because the removed open side tackle exposes the QB to an overload blitz that is impossible for four blockers to stop. A snap read and release is a requirement, and a mobile quarterback is almost as much a one because broken plays are frequent occurrences.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Namea.png

Namea is a three wide, three running back spread-option formation with the third RB lined up as a slot back. The formation options are essentially unlimited, although in the base set one back is actually a QB, the two back is typically the bruiser, and the slot back is the speedster. In short yardage or zone five, the two back becomes aa TE and the TE becomes a defensive tackle (essentially a "Miami" goal line set).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Hydra.png

Hydra is a full house set with two tight ends as slot backs. It is not a strong passing formation, intended primarily to use in short yardage or zone 1/5 situations. However, because it is such an obvious run formation, defenses can be induced to bite on a play action if they fall victim two or more times.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/NSFlags/Odysseus.png

Odysseus is the primary goal line set of the Smoke n' Mirrors offense and is unusual in that QBs are not used. It is intended as an entirely smash mouth set, with the RB receiving the snap reading the first hole and hitting it as quickly as possible. No coach who uses it honestly expects more than four yards a play, but then that's the exact situation it's used in.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

And then... there was one.

Dancougar remains the only unbeaten team in group play, but for the second time in three games, they needed overtime at home to do it. Some will say it points to a weakness that will be undoubtedly exposed in the playoff round, others say it's the mark of a champion that even on an off-day they find a way to win. One thing's for sure, though: Coach Will Moohim will find both the positives and the negatives when it comes time to review the tape.

"This is what the Backyard Brawl is all about," said Moohim. "If you make one mistake, you're creating an opportunity for the other team. Neither of the teams on the field was going to waste anything they were given, and neither was going to be content with just what they'd earned."

And both teams were earning everything in the early going. Dancougar won the toss but elected to defer, giving Selmon Baliss his first crack at the Black Wing defense. The Hornet's new quarterback has played well in World Bowl V, and having both Abe Chadwick and Donovan Hailey has made his life easier. Hailey, in particular, was running the ball earlier, having said something during the pregame warmups about "walking the walk." When he bowled over Kendrick Lynch on a 3rd and 2 to extend the opening drive, one suspects he had to hold back his glee to avoid a taunting penalty. Arroza reached the endzone after an 80-yard drive and it ended with Chadwick sweeping for 3 yards behind a pair of tight ends.

Michael Hussey and the Black Wings responded. They didn't hesitate to slam Gary Hutchins into the Arrozan 4-4, but this resulted in several third downs that Hussey had to convert through the air. Starting from their own 22, Dancougar inched upfield. Two yards from Hutchins, maybe two more, and then a pass. Tristan Cray was indispensable on the drive, but Hussey also connected with Billy Leuthold for two plays of over 10 yards. With the Horrible Hand Towels swirling and the ball on the Arroza 6, Hussey faked a handoff to Hutchins and rolled right, finding Cray in the corner to make it 7-7.

Both defenses settled down after that, but there was still room to run. Baliss lured them in and then found Taesean Malone over the top for a 35-yard gain. They were held to a field goal, but the Wings looked a little rattled. Kirk Manly was still without a tackle. Hussey's response died around midfield, and Arroza drove for another field goal to make it 13-7. Hussey again failed to put points on the board after taking an 11-yard sack from big Joe Reed that dropped them out of field goal range.

Leave it to the defense to make a play. Another play action pass saw Malone get a few steps on Scott Maxam and Baliss went for the big play. But he didn't see safety Alex Isabella coming over to provide assistance. Isabella flashed in front of the pair and snatched the ball on its way down, returning it all the way back to the Arroza 33 before being tackled by Hailey. With a short field, Hussey was finally in command. Two completions to Leuthold and Cray were followed by three runs by Hutchins. This put the ball inside the five, and Hutchins punched it in for a 14-13 lead. The Wings added a field goal before halftime.

"We were having some trouble with them," said Manly. "They have so many ways they can wear you down, and they were doing a really good job mixing in their passes."

Dancougar opened the second half with the ball but it was their turn to commit a mistake. Hutchins fumbled at the Arroza 40 to kill the drive, and a defensive stand was required to prevent the Hornets from taking advantage. Later in the quarter, Hutchins fumbled again on what was quickly turning into an uncharacteristically bad day. Antwan Lineville scooped it up and ran it back into Dancougar territory before getting dragged down by Leuthold. Baliss got the lead on the first play, firing a screen pass to Chadwick who picked up some blocks and beat everyone to the pylon.

"They were hitting harder than the other guys we'd played so far," said Hutchins, who finished with 80 yards and a touchdown to go with his fumbles. "I think I'd forgotten what it felt like." Moohim started to feature Logan Dublin a little bit more after that, and the shifty back provided Arroza with some discomfort.

The Wings tied the game 20-20 on a field goal late in the third, and that set the game up for the kind of finale we'd come to expect from these teams. Ever since an embarrassing 37-7 loss to the Wings in World Bowl III qualifying, no game has been decided by more than a single score. Dancougar would strike first. Dublin caught two screen passes for 28 yards on their drive, and after an 8 yard run that threatened to be more, the Arrozan defense backed off a little. Hussey used the opportunity to connect with Fred Uselton, who only caught two passes on the day, but none bigger than a 14-yard touchdown with a little over seven minutes left.

But could the defense hold back a determined Arroza with the Backyard Brawl on the line? Baliss thought not. He stuck to the plan and continued to run Chadwick and Bailey. The clock began to disappear and the chains kept moving. With 1:14 left, Baliss found Malone in the back of the endzone with a 9-yard strike to tie the game at 27-27.

"There were some things we need to do better defensively," said Moohim after the game. "Our blitzes weren't working and that was giving them a lot of running room in those first five yards. That was killing us on the last drive."

The Wings had a chance to get the winning field goal. Hussey put together a drive with two timeouts at his disposal and was not afraid to work the middle of the field via Cray. But the Arrozan defense held and with four seconds left, Seth Cavallo came on to attempt a 55-yarder. The kick was wide left and, for the third straight time, the Wings and Hornets would play bonus football. Arroza won the toss and started the drive that would surely end their run of frustration.

Enter Alex Isabella. On 3rd and 11 from the Dancougar 42, Baliss threw for Ikraam Maximiano on the sideline and Isabella jumped the route. His second interception in the game couldn't have come at a better time, and Hailey bumped him out of bounds when he'd already run the ball back into field goal range.

"He comes out of nowhere sometimes," said Manly.

The Wings worked the ball inside the 15 to give Cavallo a better chance of converting, and once again, the kicker was clutch in the extra frame. The 31-yard attempt delivered the victory. A bitter pill to swallow for the Arrozans, who now have a winning percentage of 0.083 against principle rivals Dancougar and Kura-Pelland.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

Dancougar's victory over Arroza may not have been decisive, but it showed that the Wings are still a very difficult team to beat and will likely remain so on their way to the playoffs. We'll likely see the backups get some playing time as they close out the schedule against the rest of Group E. But the most impressive result on the day, in my mind, is Taeshan's victory over Qazox. Holding the Phoenix to ten points in their home stadium is more than enough to see the original champs leap into the #1 position.

(1) Taeshan (6-1)
(2) Dancougar (7-0)
(3) Secristan (6-1)
(4) Arroza (6-1)
(5) Qazox (5-2)
(6) Rennidan (5-2)
(7) Newmanistan (6-1)
(8) Vephrall (5-2)
(9) Kura-Pelland (5-2)
(10) Sarzonia (5-2)
(11) Bluth Corporation (5-2)
(12) Cassadaigua (5-2)
(13) Peisandros (4-3)
(14) Cotenshire (5-2)
(15) Fujisawan Territories (4-3)
(16) Colbourne (4-3)
(17) Green wombat (4-3)
(18) Lovisa (3-4)
(19) Bushdome (4-3)
(20) Prux (3-4)
(21) Lurikastan (2-5)
(22) Scandinavian States (2-5)
(23) West Newmanistan (2-5)
(24) Patetopia (2-5)
(25) Kosovoe (2-5)
(26) Tocrowkia (1-6)
(27) Greal (1-6)
(28) Serinite II (1-6)
(29) Rymeria (1-6)
(30) LeQuince (1-6)
(31) Australiah (0-7)
(32) Questille (0-7)

Fitin' Falcons Defeat the Phoenix

In an awesome display of defense last night the Falcons walked away from Qazox with a big 13-10 win in the big first round of crossovers win. The Falcons wiped the Phoenix away with some inspired play and an enormous ammount of pressure on the Quaterback. No matter what the media says from the Scandinavian States, there are just some teams who are to good at defensive, even to let an allstar team put lots of points up on them. Yes, the Falcons are the team of defense and when you play them you know what your going to get, screwed.

Next week the Falcons will probally be playing Contenshire in yet another big match. Today i will again take a look at the scoring stats. The Falcons of course are way ahead in the points against stat as the closest team to there low 35 is Secristan and a paltry 55. In offensive scoring the Falcons are way down in that story, but as they are wining there battles on defense there is no real reason that they need to score a lot, and on the overall department the Falcons are somewhere in the middle.

Yesterdays game was a show of prowress as the two bitter enemies on the football field, and great allies in the world of politics tried to better each other in one of there greatest events. Qazox would lead the Falcons most of the time with an early field goal followed by a touchdown just minutes before the half, but the second half was all Falcons. Max Hope ran in there only touchdown in the third with a 33 yard touchdown. Then Martin Gramatica scored two field goals from beyond 50 and the Falcons won.

It's finally over. The Nordics nightmare of a World Bowl debut is finally come to an end as the team, gasping and gagging stumbles over the finish line...into elimination from playoff contention. None of the players were available for comment, and the best Tocrowkian gridiron had to offer has been put to shame...for now. Everyone remembers a similar finish to the Tocrowkian WBC team in their debut, and guess what? In the very next tourney, they made the play-offs. The Nordics will be back, and better and more driven ever to erase the harsh memories of World Bowl V.

"I'm gonna' wreck you! I'm gonna' wreck you!"

When you're standing in a bustling stadium, with tens of thousands of fans either cheering your name or yelling of your demise, it takes nerves of steel to not buckle under the pressure. Only the strongest of souls can survive in the atmosphere of the gridiron. But sometimes, even the strongest of men can slip. Take Kenny O’Hara, for instant. The wonderman quarterback for the Newmanistan Rockets stepped out onto the gridiron that day with scores of fans from his home nation throwing their devotion down upon him. And now the only thing raining down on him is three hundred pounds of Owen Powis' arse.

That pretty much sums up how the Rockets fared when they went up against the Brutes. They were supposed to bring about a definitive full stop to a lackluster start by Rennidan's finest underdogs, but even the best plans can go awry, and those dastardly Brutes managed to clinch a 14 point lead over Newmanistan, with Jason Yeilds running for 3 touchdowns, all in a single quarter. Whether this could be a sign that the tide is turning for the Brutes again still waits to be seen, but we can only hope that things will continue to go up from here.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk176/rennidan/Untitled-2.png

Back to Brutish Ways

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk176/rennidan/pwosi2.png
Powis' loutish dance outside Tundra Falls



Tundra Falls is considered an incredibly sacred place to the people of Newmanistan. The ghosts that dwell there are known for their curses on rude, corrupt and just plain right nasty sportsmen. So perhaps sending the Brutes there wasn't the finest idea anyone has ever had. Following the 34-20 defeat the Rennidan side handed Newmanistan, Owen Powis, World Bowl celebrity and big mofo, decided to stand out on the streets and danced like only the dirtiest stripper knew how. Gyrating his hips at the Tundra Falls stadium, Powis continually insulted passerbys by flipping them the bird whilst chasing them with his groin. Police were reportedly called, but the heavy set player left the scene before he could be apprehended for breaching the peace.

(ooc to Scandavian States: except in High school, your Sphinx formation is illegal. There must be 5 players lined up between the tackles. If the LT or RT was a TE, then it would be legal or if the either tackle(s) were eligible.

A Look At Qualifying So Far
Pieter Van Kindeln

It has been a most surprising tournament so far, to say the least. In fact, some have even ventured to point out that the actual results contradict what was predicted by our computers. While it may at first seem like there was a bug in the circuits, that would in fact not be the case. I am now joined with Harald Slues to explain these discrepancies.

HS: Yes, it has been a very tumultuous event so far. I hope that I can be of some assistance to reconcile the computer’s claims and the actual results.

PK: Now, then. Let us go group by group, shall we? What happened in Group A?

HS: Well, if you remember, the computer had shown that Questille would win the group with a 6-4 record, but it is currently winless. There was a factor involved which no expert could have predicted. Questille obviously possesses the superior team, but was extremely intimidated by its opponents. They had World Bowl veterans Taeshan and Vephrall in their group, as well as the Fujisawan Territories. While the latter team is not particularly strong, it would be quite frightening to go up against a team made up entirely of yellow people.

PK: And Questille’s weakness allowed Taeshan and Vephrall to assume their current places at the top of the group. But I know everyone is wondering about Group B. The Dolphins were supposed to go undefeated, were they not? Now they have lost two in a row.

HS: Well, there is a good explanation for that. As you know, their “field” is actually a frozen over body of water.

PK: But they have won most of their home games.

HS: I know, but when they are alternating between grass and ice, it is hard to build up any consistency. If it was not for the ice, the Dolphins would be winning the group and having a three digit point differential.

PK: I suppose that is a suitable explanation. Let us not rest on that unsavory topic and instead look at Group C. Rennidan has recently knocked Bluth Corporation from its perch atop the group, but the computer predicted both teams to end up at the bottom of their group, with LeQuince winning it out with an 8-2 record.

HS: This unpredictable scenario only transpired because of malicious cheating on the part of the top two teams. Bluth Corporation is notorious for bribing every game official, as well as the press and the organizers of the World Bowl. That is why so few people know that they cheat. The press never reports about it and the World Bowl officials never investigate. As for Rennidan, it is obviously their concrete “field.” That is blatant and ridiculous in its illegality. Is there any explanation as to why a field made of concrete can be allowed? The only reason that they have managed to keep it up is that the heads of the World Bowl feel sorry for them.

PK: Interesting, and I agree completely. Now on to Group D. The computer thought the Scandavian States would come out on top, and yet they have already been eliminated from contention. I know you have been following this group closer than I. What happened here?

HS: Well, to put it simply, the scoring system is unfair. The gameplan that the Nordics have implemented assumes higher scoring games than the ones we have been seeing.

PK: That sounds reasonable. The computer seems to have figured out Group E correctly, so let us move on to Group F where Dancougar is dominant. I would like to provide my analysis for this one. When we were discussing our predictions before the qualifiers began, we said that Dancougar would be last in their group because they did not have the Jew Divalerio to cast hexes for them. As we have seen, however, the opposite is true. With the Jew gone, the team now plays as a cohesive unit and they trust each other.

HS: Now on to Group G. Far from being the powerhouse everyone expected, Bushdome has been a lame duck. Their players just do not seem to want to win. They just seem to take plays off whenever they want and are not motivated. The computer assumed that every team would want to win.

PK: I suppose that is an adequate explanation. I personally cannot figure out Group H, however.

HS: Well the computer was not far off in Group H. It predicted Peisandros to win and Kura-Pelland to be second, whereas it is actually the other way around. Peisandros is supposed to go 6-4, while Kura-Pelland will end up with a 5-5 record. Both outcomes are still mathematically possible. I am sure the computer has predicted it correctly.

PK: I see. Well thank you, Mr Slues, for joining me again to ease everyone’s worries. As we have just shown you, the computer is in fact correct. I am sure that the coming weeks will be more reflective of its forecasts.

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Troy Buck: And with that incomplete pass on 4th and 7, Taeshan will win the Border War.

Mad Johnnen: ..........

Troy Buck: Nothing to say Mad Johnnen?

Mad Johnnen: ..........

Troy Buck: Mad?

Mad Johnnen: ............

Troy Buck: Mad, (checks Johnnen's pulse) Oh my god!

<Quick cut to comerical>

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Taeshan 0 0 7 6 13
Qazox 3 7 0 0 10

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: 41-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 3:11 13 plays-70 yards in 6:29. (3-0 Qazox)

2nd Quarter:
Qazox: 5-yd TD pass to Mathew Cottrill from Greg Dannen 1:52 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 7 plays-62 yards in 4:37. (10-0 Qazox)

3rd Quarter:
Taeshan: 33-yd TD run byMax Hope 8:23 PAT by Martin Gramatica good. 9 plays-68 yards in 6:37. (10-7 Qazox)

4th Quarter:
Taeshan: 51-yd FG by Martin Gramatica 14:23 5 plays-19 yards in 3:19. (10-10)
Taeshan: 53-yd FG by Martin Gramatica 4:59 8 plays-37 yards in 3:28. (13-10 Taeshan)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 13/40, 183 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT
Frank Vallens: 20 rushes, 53 yds
Jason DeHavel: 5 rushes, 8 yds
Tony Aster: 3 rec, 52 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 4 rec, 49 yds, 1 TD
Ivan Harvey: 5 rec, 83 yds
Nate Sacimoni: 1 rec, -1 yards

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 3 tackles
David Reshks: 0.5 sacks, 3 tackles
Richie Sola: 1.0 sacks, 3 tackles
Vic Alworth: 1.5 sacks, 4 tackles
David Reed: 1.5 sacks, 2 Tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Jason Middleton: 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 8 tackles, 1 FF
Mark Johns: 3 tackles, 2 passes defended
Greg Olsen: 4 tackles, 6 passes defended
Adam Politt: 3 tackles, 2 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 1/2 FG (long of 41); 1/1 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 9 punts, Long of 57, 4 TB, 1 inside 20.
Adam Politt: 4 KO Ret, 78 yds; 5 Punt Ret., 29 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Dancougar 7-0 (20) 200 pts
Taeshan 6-1 173 pts
Arroza 6-1 168 pts
Secristan 6-1 143 pts
Newmanistan 6-1 122 pts
Vephrall 5-2 121 pts
Sarzonia 5-2 104 pts
Qazox 5-2 99 pts
Bluth Corporation 5-2 86 pts
Rennidan 5-2 84 pts

Others receiving votes: Kura-Pelland (5-2) 79 pts, Cotenshire (5-2) 68 pts, Cassadaigua (5-2) 41 pts, Fujisawan Territories (4-3) 6 pts


World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)
(ooc2: Mad Johnnen was so stunned by Taeshan's win over Qazox he had a heart attack)

Griffinville Globe

The Statesmen were caught looking ahead in the schedule, as they were knocked off by Cassadaigua 14-10, as the team allowed 375 yards passing. But 4 Cassadaigua fumbles kept the game close, but in the end, the failure of the Statesmen to score after those turnovers allowed Cassadaigua to get the win.

Now comes the easiest game on the schedule, against 1-6 Rymeria at home. Once again, the Statesmen probably have the Dancougar match on their minds, but to take a team like Rymeria, though beings from another galaxy, unseriously, will spell trouble, in a game Prux must win.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat L 16-17
MD5: Prux @ Arroza L 13-17
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux W 20-3
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua L 10-14
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(3-4-0)

Wombats cruise to easy win

Maybe the wombats were looking ahead, or maybe Greal's defense decided to finally show up for once, or the blizzard caused the 10-6 final score, we'll never know the real answer. But the Wombats improved to 4-3, thanks to that win, sparked by xXXXXXx69's 17-yard fumble recovery for a TD, Johnson123's 2-pt conversion and You_Suck_@$$'s blocked punt in the endzone which squirted out the back for a saftey.

Now is the 3rd toughest game on the wombat's schedule. Third you say? Well after having to face Arroza twice, any game will be easier by default, but the Black Wings have proved that whomever is in their way, they beat, as they seek to become the fist back-to-back champions.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: Kudos for Kudo

The Hurricane dropped Tocrowkia 20-7 on the road in what had been billed as a warmup for new starting quarterback Daisetsu Kudo, earning him praise and elevating him to near divine status among fans and head coach Ei’ichi Date.

“Oh, the fans are just enamored with him. Just about everyone is tired of Sibura Hiton this, Sibura Hiton that. We can say Sibura who? We’ve got a real quarterback now,” Date said.

Kudo threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Oribaha “Baja” Hini twice for scores, in what was one of the better offensive production days for the Hurricane. The running game was adequate, and the defense continued to play well in surrendering a single touchdown. The end result was a well played game all the way around in a surprising show of unity and teamwork.

Kudo has all but secured his place as starting quarterback in the next edition of World Bowl qualifying, and apparently, the search for a solid backup for Kudo next year is almost complete. Leaked documents reveal that scouts for the Hurricane’s next World Bowl team are considering Kismo Jit, a rookie with the Ukinaria Outlaws, Neeheeoeewooti Yamanouchi of the Hoji Hurricane, and Yoshitoyo Itaka of Territorial Bowl champions Kaichi Fire to replace troubled quarterback Sibura Hiton on the roster.

And officially, it has been announced that Date’s contract as head coach will not be extended, beyond World Bowl V, and the search for a new head coach has begun. Date will remain as head coach for the remainder of the current season. Current speculation is that popular offensive coordinator Rai Lo will take the reigns, but an official decision is not expected before the end of the season.

To make matters worse for Date, new allegations of verbal harassment are surfacing to haunt him. It is alleged that Date told Hiton at one point during the season that place kicker Okayaken Anenokoji is more of a man than Hiton will ever be. Anenokoji is the Hurricane’s only female player. Anenokoji said she was absolutely displeased with Date’s statement, and has said she has lost all respect for her head coach.

Next up for the Hurricane is a final test run for Kudo’s offense before hosting Qazox in Crosscom Global Arena. A win will bounce the Hurricane to 5-3, but the Hurricane must win all three of their final games to have even a fighting chance at making the playoffs. And they’ll need at least one Vephrall loss which doesn’t seem likely. The Hurricane won’t admit it, but they’re really playing for pride at this late stage, rather than playing to make the playoffs. The next edition of the World Bowl seems promising for the Fujisawan Territories, but I think it’s fair to say that we were unofficially eliminated this time round when we lost to Taeshan 20-6. Whether the iceberg is Qazox or Cotenshire, the loyal fans of the Hurricane will go down with the Titanic that is our World Bowl V qualifying. Like the aforementioned ship, the Hurricane’s attempt at glory was a voyage doomed from the start.

Next Game: West Newmanistan (2-5) @ Fujisawan Territories (4-3) (Crosscom Global Arena - Hoji, Iwosaka)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall L 30-13
@ Taeshan L 20-6
vs. Questille W 24-3
@ Tocrowkia W 20-7
vs. West Newmanistan
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

(ooc to Scandavian States: except in High school, your Sphinx formation is illegal. There must be 5 players lined up between the tackles. If the LT or RT was a TE, then it would be legal or if the either tackle(s) were eligible.

[This is sorta why I asked about what goes. When the answer was "pretty much everything" I threw the formation in. In the Imperial game, any player may receive a lateral (which is essentially what a snap is), but only six players are eligible downfield and one QB must always be declared ineligible. The Sphinx formation was pretty much the precursor to the A-11 offense, which is where I took inspiration for a couple formations from.]

Tar Hornet Practice Facility, Orient, Capital District.

It had been a rough week and everyone knew it. No one even wanted to talk about last week's game, and the intensity of this week's practices approached something out of a gladiator movie. The players worked and worked, and even fought each other to get last week's game out of their mind. They honed their skills up to a level they didn't even know they had. They became a well oiled machine with one thing on their mind, revenge. May God have mercy on whoever gets in the Tar Hornets way this week, because this team certainly won't.

Anyone going to come out flat after their big game in MD7? Find out soon with this MD8 cutoff.

Group A/B:
Taeshan 7-10 Cotenshire
Vephrall 24-27 Qazox
Questille 3-24 Tocrowkia
Fujisawan Territories 31-21 West Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 6 2 0 108 45 63
2 Vephrall 5 3 0 155 102 53
3 Fujisawan Territories 5 3 0 148 134 14
4 Questille 0 8 0 52 185 -133 E


Vephrall over Fujisawan Territories due to 2-0 H2H advantage.


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 6 2 0 200 116 84 Q
2 Cotenshire 6 2 0 140 104 36 Q
3 Tocrowkia 2 6 0 101 137 -36 E
4 West Newmanistan 2 6 0 98 179 -81 E



Tocrowkia over West Newmanistan on PD (1-1 H2H)

Group C/D:
Rennidan 20-10 Sarzonia
Bluth Corporation 31-38 Newmanistan
LeQuince 10-24 Scandavian States
Kosovoe 0-6 Lurikastan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Rennidan 6 2 0 188 99 89 Q
2 Bluth Corporation 5 3 0 188 143 45 Q
3 Kosovoe 2 6 0 48 124 -76 E
4 LeQuince 1 7 0 66 169 -103 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 7 1 0 203 121 82 Q
2 Sarzonia 5 3 0 132 127 5 Q
3 Scandavian States 3 5 0 134 150 -16 E
4 Lurikastan 3 5 0 116 142 -26 E


Scandavian States over Lurikastan on PD

Group E/F:
Arroza 40-7 Greal
Green Wombat 16-24 Dancougar
Serinite II 3-17 Cassadaigua
Prux 17-6 Rymeria


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 7 1 0 208 89 119 Q
2 Green Wombat 4 4 0 116 106 10
3 Prux 4 4 0 108 100 8
4 Serinite II 1 7 0 46 147 -101 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 8 0 0 218 99 119 Q
2 Cassadaigua 6 2 0 136 92 44 Q
3 Greal 1 7 0 87 169 -82 E
4 Rymeria 1 7 0 49 166 -117 E


Greal over Rymeria on overall PD (1-1 H2H)

Group G/H:
Secristan 27-23 Lovisa
Colbourne 7-20 Kura-Pelland
Australiah 3-13 Patetopa
Bushdome 20-9 Peisandros


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 7 1 0 166 78 88 Q
2 Bushdome 5 3 0 117 122 -5
3 Colbourne 4 4 0 119 124 -5
4 Australiah 0 8 0 31 147 -116 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 6 2 0 166 104 62 Q
2 Peisandros 4 4 0 146 133 13
3 Patetopia 3 5 0 126 147 -21
4 Lovisa 3 5 0 174 190 -16


Patetopia over Lovisa due to 2-0 H2H advantage.

Bushdome Times

Peisandros = Poop
The Bushdome world bowl team, gave us yet another reason to be proud to be from Bushdome. The Bushdome team defeated Peisandros 20 -9 match which saw our boys dominating. This win thrusts Bushdome into the second place in our group with only our rivals Secristan infront. It is still unclear if we will qualify or not, but what ever happens we are proud!

Are the Arrows quite the same team without Bernard, without Illingworth and without some other veterans?

No, they're not, looking at this evidence. But they're doing enough, a routine 20-7 defeat of Colbourne taking them through the group stages. Question marks remain, mostly over the new-look offense. Dick Vernasse has shown an almost Roethlisberger-esque reliance on scrambling, and his long passes haven't always hit the mark. Fans are now starting to wonder if the real problems are not with the quarterback or running back, but with the offensive line.

It's on the other side of the ball where greater success has generally been displayed - seven sacks in the Colbourne game, plus two fumbles (both recovered) and an interception, testament to the defensive success at least against weaker opposition.

The real damage was done in the 17-16 defeat to Peisandros at Shanvley Stadium. Hot on the heels of the national soccer team reaching the last 16 of World Cup 44 - a remarkable performance on their debut - came this sensational result. Peisandros haven't maintained that form, and are now 4-4 and second in the group after Bushdome comfortably defeated them 20-9, but that just makes the defeat at Shanvley the more galling.

The knockout stages await, and improvement is required...

The questions started coming in rapid fire succession.

"Coach, did you give any thought to benching Gavin Davis?"

"Coach, how are you going to address your team's offensive struggles?"

"Coach, aren't you concerned that Davis threw three interceptions tonight?"

Visibly annoyed, but determined not to take it out on reporters he knew were doing their jobs, Zorn decided to answer each question.

"At the end of the game when we'd already given up six sacks, that's when I was thinking of keeping Gavin off the field," Zorn said. "That really would have been to give him some rest after a long day out there. Gavin will start next week.

"As far as the team's offence is concerned, we're going to continue to do the things we've done so far. The thing is, we're facing much stronger teams in this World Bowl than we did in the last one. The fact we're struggling to move the ball against outstanding defences is not a complete shock to us. We haven't gotten to this point by changing who we are as a team."

"Coach! What about the interceptions?"

"Well, there's only one that could be considered Davis's fault. I haven't looked at the tape, but on the first interception, LoQuan Willard was supposed to run his route to the inside, but he ran it to the outside. If he runs his route the way he's supposed to, it's a completion. On the third one, it was a long bomb on third and 17 from our own 21. The ball ended up on the Brutes 17-yard line, so it basically had the same effect as a punt.

"On the second interception, Gavin tried to force the ball into the end zone a little bit, but I'll take the blame for calling that play instead of trying to get a first down from the Brutes 19 yard line."

Davis threw one touchdown pass, to Willard from the 21-yard line, to cut the Brutes lead to 20-10, but he also faced the questions from the media about his performance.

"I need to do a better job to ensure that we don't flame out in the playoffs," Davis said. "We now know that we're not going to win the group since Newmanistan beat Bluth Corporation and they're now two games ahead of us with two remaining. Plus, they've got the head-to-head tiebreaker over us. Now we've got to make sure we play our last two games and try to get some momentum before the playoff opener."

"Gavin! Do you think the team kind of took it easy after clinching a spot in the playoffs against Bluth Corporation?"

"No," Davis said. "Next question."

"Gavin! How do you respond to critics who say you're 'wildly inconsistent'?"

"Well, they watch the games. They see it. I'm the quarterback, I'll take the blame for it."

Cornered at his locker, LoQuan Willard disagreed with his quarterback's assessment of his performance.

"It's a team effort," Willard said. "As a team, we're not doing the things to help Gavin that we should be doing or that we did in the last World Bowl. I'm not running like I should be. The line isn't blocking for me and Gavin the way it did the last World Bowl. Our receivers aren't running as good a routes as they did the last World Bowl.

"When we win, we do it as a team. When we lose, we do it as a team. There's no 'I' in team."

Fitin' Falcons Fall To Contenshire

For the second time this season the Falcons failed to beat a team they were far superior to and thus recorded there second loss of the season this time it was a home game and the fans booed onan on. How can you lose to a team from Cotenshire where they don't seem to care about the team enough to report about them every week like we do. It was diapointing game, but really they didn't need to win it to advance. Anyways in the next game the Falcons will take on a team they should easily defeat the Tocrowkia Nordics.

[As disapointing as the game was i still have to right about it. The Falcons started the game down 10 to nothing and never could seem to get back into it. Like most games the defense slacked off in the first half and this time it ended badly. After and early field goal and a late TD in the first half the Falcons could only score a singular touchdown when Gabe MArtin trying to lead his team back to victory found nRicky Zellefrow deep for a touchdown, but alas it was not enough. The Falcons failed to win perhaps there third easiest game of the season.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Arroza responded to their defeat to the Black Wings by smashing Greal. For their encore, the Wings ground out a tough win against a bunch of fantasy nerds.

The team from Green wombat was a surprise at the last World Bowl, as they ran counter to the notion that a bunch of applied statisticians couldn't possibly be a threat in an actual athletic competition. The Wings weren't playing all their usual starters with a playoff berth secure, and today's win should wrap up Group F as well. But Will Moohim won't accept "the backups were in" as an excuse.

"It's important to have depth in a competition like this," said Moohim. "You may watch us play and assume that the chief strategy is 'hit the other guy in the mouth,' but there's a lot more to it than that. Teams are constantly evolving, even during the course of the game, so every one of the guys we dress could have a role to play. So they always need to be ready to go."

The game gave us our first good look at Booker Tilghman, who sat on the bench during World Bowl IV as a 19-year-old who'd just finished his freshman year in college. Now he's playing semipro ball in Lunarossa like the majority of his teammates and still has a lot of room to grow. Logan Dublin was also the featured back in the first quarter, and with him carrying the bulk of the load, the Wing offense looked completely different. Dublin's a shifty finesse back, and while he did break a pair of runs of over 10 yards, he didn't have the reliability of Hutchins to keep drives moving.

But for all their early troubles, the Wings still got on the board first. Tilghman found Norm Callahan in single coverage against InsaneKilla_77 and went over the top for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give Dancougar a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter, and then made it 10-0 after a turnover led to a field goal. But that's as big a lead the wombats would allow. PoleCat256 put together an impressive 73-yard drive that saw him avoid a bullrush by Travis Whynne and complete a 12-yard strike to Oppen56. The two-point conversion was good to make it 10-8.

"[Whynne] has shown a lot of promise on the end," said Moohim. "He was creating some good pressure and that's the kind of energy we need on the defensive line." Whynne is playing for the first time as a 19-year old, and he stood out at Sullivan State for his combination of speed and size. But he's still a little rough around the edges, even though he's good at hitting them on the blitz.

The Wings would stumble offensively for the rest of the half, never crossing midfield, but Green wombat was also held back by the Black Wing defense, which started to get to PoleCat256. He was sacked twice and nearly threw an interception to Tony Rorick, one of the most experienced players getting a start off the bench.

The second half saw the introduction of Casey Pendleton at halfback, and Pendleton is more of the vertical-style runner that opponents expect. But at seven years Hutchins' junior, Pendleton exhibited a little more mobility than the wombats were expecting. The team put together a 7-minute, 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with Pendleton driving it home from 5 yards away to make it 17-8. After the defense forced a stop, the Wings were driving to put the game farther out of reach when Tilghman made his first real mistake of the game. He threw the ball behind Thomas Langley on a crossing route and Waffle9999999 picked it off.

"The timing on plays like that is critical, and I was half a second off," said Tilghman. "Waffle had his eyes on it the entire way."

Waffle9999999 ran the interception back into Dancougar territory and PoleCat256 was handed a short field to close the gap. The team did after a 6-play, 29-yard drive that ended with PoleCat running a bootleg to the left, cutting inside, and stretching for the goal line while being brought down by a cadre of Wings. Initially ruled down at the 1, the wombats challenged the play and the call was reversed to a score. Once again, they went for two, and this time a screen pass to FreeLongstreetnow was the method of attack. That cut the lead to 17-16.

But even the backups have learned something about how to scrape together a win. Tilghman shook off the error and responded to make it 24-16. The drive was kept alive by a third-down run by Pendleton and aided by a face masking penalty on FadingFast11. He ended it by finding the veteran tight end Ed Mendenhall from 7 yards away. This was still a dangerous lead to defend because of the wombats' attacking style, but it was the defense's turn to make a play. Rorick got his interception on the wombats' next drive, and their last drive ended with a batted down pass on fourth down.

"When the playoffs come, the ability to win close games like this is absolutely needed," said Moohim. "We're always looking for things we need to improve, but we've got some confidence given all the tight spots we've gotten out of so far."

The Wings will close qualifying against Prux and Serenite II as they continue their bid to be the first Dancougar team to finish qualifying undefeated.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

A 33-point blasting of Greal is enough to redeem the Arrozans in this writer's eyes. They're on top of the poll despite having a loss to the team behind them, the Wings. Newmanistan is back near the top after beating Bluth on the road, although the Corporation is starting to fade and perhaps victories over them aren't worth as much as they once were. Other movement of note is the dropping of Taeshan. Their defense was superb once again against Cotenshire, but they need to start generating some offense to be a real threat in the postseason.

(1) Arroza (7-1)
(2) Dancougar (8-0)
(3) Secristan (7-1)
(4) Newmanistan (7-1)
(5) Qazox (6-2)
(6) Taeshan (6-2)
(7) Rennidan (6-2)
(8) Kura-Pelland (6-2)
(9) Cassadaigua (6-2)
(10) Vephrall (5-3)
(11) Cotenshire (6-2)
(12) Sarzonia (5-3)
(13) Bluth Corporation (5-3)
(14) Fujisawan Territories (5-3)
(15) Peisandros (4-4)
(16) Green wombat (4-4)
(17) Bushdome (5-3)
(18) Prux (4-4)
(19) Colbourne (4-4)
(20) Lovisa (3-5)
(21) Scandinavian States (3-5)
(22) Lurikastan (3-5)
(23) Patetopia (3-5)
(24) Kosovoe (2-6)
(25) Tocrowkia (2-6)
(26) West Newmanistan (2-6)
(27) Serinite II (1-7)
(28) Rymeria (1-7)
(29) LeQuince (1-7)
(30) Greal (1-7)
(31) Australiah (0-8)
(32) Questille (0-8)

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Howie Strahan: We want to remind everyone that Mad Johnnen is still in the hospital recovering from his heart attack.

Terry Johnson: Qazox takes another knee, and they'll escape Vephrall with a 27-24 win.

Howie Strahan: I'm just glad that Qazox didn't have to play a game in -50 degree temperatures this time.

Terry Johnson: Well anyway Qazox improves to 6-2 and the remaining two games should be rather easy, as compared to its last three.

Howie Strahan: You're saying that Fujisawan Territories is an easy game? They've done very well these qualifiers.

Terry Johnson: I am. Qazox will whomp Fujisawan Territories.

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Qazox 7 10 3 7 27
Vephrall 14 3 7 0 24

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Vephrall: 1-yd TD run by Crublig Claspung 10:42. PAT by Sartiros Spelaad good. 7 plays-79 yards in 4:18.(7-0 Vephrall)
Qazox: 11-yd TD pass to Ivan Harvey from Greg Dannen 6:07 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 8 plays-70 yards in 4:35. (7-7)
Vephrall: 12-yd TD run by Idaleis Going 1:42. PAT by Sartiros Spelaad good. 9 plays-68 yards in 4:25. (14-7 Vephrall)

2nd Quarter:
Qazox: 5-yd TD run by Frank Vallens. 8:59. PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 13 plays-74 yards in 7:43. (14-14)
Vephrall: 31-yd FG by Sartiros Spelaad. 4:09. 7 plays-79 yards in 4:50. (17-14 Vephrall)
Qazox: 27-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 0:36 8 plays-70 yards in 3:33. (17-17)

3rd Quarter:
Vephrall: 59-yd TD pass to Siestanin Preptyrs from Crublig Claspung 9:42. PAT by Sartiros Spelaad good. 2 plays-57 yards in 0:42. (24-17 Vephrall)
Qazox: 43-yd FG by Tyrone Chase. 5:19 9 plays-40 yards in 4:23. (24-20 Vephrall)

4th Quarter:
Qazox: 54-yd TD run by Frank Vallens. 5:19. PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 3 plays-58 yards in 1:27. (27-24 Qazox)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 18/31, 229 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT; 2 rushes, -3 yards.
Frank Vallens: 19 rushes, 143 yds, 2 TD
Jason DeHavel: 2 rushes, 19 yds
Tony Aster: 4 rec, 39 yds
Mathew Cottrill: 7 rec, 86 yds
Ivan Harvey: 7 rec, 104 yds, 1 TD

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 1.5 Sacks, 3 tackles
David Reshks: 3 tackles
Richie Sola: 3 tackles
Vic Alworth: 0.5 Sacks, 4 tackles
David Reed: 2 Tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Jason Middleton: 2.0 sacks, 4 tackles, 2 for loss
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 5 tackles, 1 for loss
Mark Johns: 4 tackles, 2 passes defended
Greg Olsen: 4 tackles, 6 passes defended
Adam Politt: 4 tackles, 2 passes defended
Jamal Henderson: 5 tackles, 1 pass defended

Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 2/2 FG (long of 43); 3/3 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 3 punts, Long of 51
Adam Politt: 5 KO Ret, 81 yds; 1 Punt Ret., -2 yds.

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Dancougar 8-0 (20) 200 pts
Arroza 7-1 154 pts
Secristan 7-1 145 pts
Newmanistan 7-1 141 pts
Qazox 6-2 116 pts
Rennidan 6-2 108 pts
Taeshan 6-2 90 pts
Kura-Pelland 6-2 79 pts
Cassadaigua 6-2 75 pts
Cotenshire 6-2 74 pts

Others receiving votes: Fujisawan Territories (5-3) 53 pts, Vephrall (5-3) 42 pts, Bluth Corporation (5-3) 38 pts, Sarzonia (5-3) 17 pts


World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)

Wombats cruise to easy win

A 24-16 loss to Dancougar is bad, but converting two 2-pt conversions was good. But now at 4-4, Green wombat is still in the playoff chase, but is the qualifers ended right now, guess whom we'd have to play? Dancougar. So over the last two games, the Wombats need to improve their ranking or else the first round of the playoffs will be as far as they get.

Griffinville Globe

Prux escaped with a 17-6 win, thanks to 140 yards rushing by Mike Penn, who also had 2 TD's. Prux dominated this game, leading 17-0 by hlaftime, but a late-afternoon rain storm made for slippery conditions and Dick Columbia pulled most of the starters in the 4th, to avoid injury.

Now comes the biggest game on the schedule, Dancougar, the defending champions, and the lone unbeaten team. Lately though, the Black Wings have struggled a bit putting away teams and with the announcement by the coach that replacements will most likely play, perhaps the Statesmen can pull off a big upset.

SCHEDULE
MD1: Green Wombat @ Prux W 16-13 OT
MD2: Arroza @ Prux L 6-27
MD3: Prux @ Serinite II W 10-3
MD4: Prux @ Green Wombat L 16-17
MD5: Prux @ Arroza L 13-17
MD6: Serinite II @ Prux W 20-3
MD7: Prux @ Cassadaigua L 10-14
MD8: Rymeria @ Prux W 17-6
MD9: Dancougar @ Prux
MD10: Prux @ Greal
(4-4-0)

Narrator: And now, it’s time for YOUR Pocono City Sports, here’s your host Meghan Traynor!

Traynor: Hey there everybody, it’s Meghan and I brought along a friend.

Collins: That would be be. Voiceover, would you start mentioning me, too.

Traynor: That is Kevin Collins, my co-host.

Collins: What’s this Di Bradini crap? Newmanistan has played two games and has won neither? And the World Baseball Classic is about to get underway.

Traynor: That it is, but how about we start off with the World Bowl?

Collins: I still can’t get over the Di Bradini Cup. Could you imagine Dancougar not making it out of the Group Stage of the World Bowl?

Traynor: Well no, but that’s an entirely different style of Cup. And Dancougar is doing just fine.

Collins: They are 8-0, the only team so fortunate. They are also fortunate not to have to watch Owen Powis dance. Great player, should be a hall of famer. But he needs to work on those moves.

Traynor: Certainly Dancougar is cruising, but the Rockets are looking strong with a 7-1 record after a 38-31 win over the Bluth Corporation.

Collins: Who says there isn’t enough scoring?

Traynor: Well the fans certainly got their money worth in an entertaining match. O’Hara rebounds from a sluggish performance against the Brutes to go 24-for-32 for 377 yards and 4 TD passes.

Collins: It was a nice rebound over a strong opponent. But the Bluth Corporation is one of the most streaky teams I have ever seen.

Traynor: They started 5-0, have now lost three in a row.

Collins: They have a history of this, check out their stats from previous World Bowls. Perhaps the Brigadiers should play.

Traynor: The who?

Collins: We have football playing cheerleaders, lets see football playing marching band members.

Traynor: Still never heard of them.

Collins: You need to follow the AIDBCA, my dear.

Traynor: The what?

Collins: Nevermind. It’s something Taeshan won a championship in because they didn’t have to worry about us competing in it. Anyway, it’s big in the Bluth Corporation. Not as much here. Lucky if .1% of Newmanistanians have heard of it. Marching bands are not our thing.

Traynor: Hey there are plenty of good marching bands in Newmanistan.

Collins: Name one.

Traynor: Uhmm.

Collins: That’s what I thought. Whoever they are, they make up the .1% of Newmanistanians who have heard of it.

Traynor: Anyway….

Collins: Anyway, we’re 7-1 and have won this group, should we play the backups now?

Traynor: Absolutely not. I am not a believer in that. I don’t need the regulars getting rusty on the sidelines just because the games are meaningless. Kosovoe and LeQuince should be walkovers anyway.

Collins: Kosovoe did beat Rennidan.

Traynor: Big deal. We cruise in both.

Collins: How about playing the backups for half the game?

Traynor: That I can deal with.

Collins: Let’s take a look at the potential first round matchups. Game A has the winner of Group A and the second place of Group E, and Game C is the reverse of that.

Traynor: This is why winning Group A is important. Group A is tight, but if you finish second, you’re getting Arroza. I don’t think that’s as preferential as getting Prux or Green Wombat.

Collins: Agree, watch that Group A battle. Vephrall vs Arroza could be looming, that should be good and closer then 51-3, but still I like Arroza. Taeshan is a more scary opponent for Arroza given their defensive style.

Traynor: Taeshan should hold on to their group lead with their final opponents being West Newmanistan and Tocrowkia. Same opponents for Vephrall though, so Taeshan can’t slip.

Collins: Yeah, Vephrall-Arroza and Taeshan vs Q Continuum rival seems apparent. Game B is 1st Group C vs 2nd Group G and Game D is the reverse of it.

Traynor: This makes the first place battle in Group C very important. Do you want Secristan, or a weaker second place team?

Collins: Rennidan and Bluth Corporation are both streaking, and doing so in different directions. Rennidan-Secristan has great history, but it will probably be Rennidan against either Colbourne or Bushdome, while Bluth Corporation battles the Millionaires.

Traynor: Colbourne-Bushdome could go either way. Bushdome has done well for a debutant.

Collins: Group B and Group F opponents will meet, and this is where the Qazox-Cotenshire battle is critical.

Traynor: Who wants Dancougar in the first round? Qazox-Dancougar would feature winners of three of the four World Bowls immediately. I think Qazox has enough of a cushion though in point differential, but the Fujisawan Territories is an opponent for both.

Collins: The Territories have beaten Taeshan, so they are scared of no one. Qazox needs to be careful there, and they are on the road. It’s a very meaningful MD9 game for sure. The Territories will also be Cotenshire’s MD10 opponent.

Traynor: Qazox holds on and meets Cassadaigua while Cotenshire and Dancougar do battle. Credit the Dagans on a good run.

Collins: I agree with that, they’ve done well. Then you have Group D and Group H’s teams meeting. Sarzonia vs Kura-Pelland is a lock. Almost.

Traynor: Kura-Pelland hasn’t officially clinched the group yet, but they will since they play winless Australiah in MD9. That should be a good match. Then its us against who knows.

Collins: All of Group H after the Arrows is still in with a chance fighting for the second place spot and the right to go to knockouts and play Newmanistan in Newmanistan. I am sure they are looking forward to that.

Traynor: Hey, you get to the knockouts, its better then nothing.

Collins: I guess so. Well it’s time to go to commercial break. After this, Meghan and I will break down what’s going wrong in the Di Bradini Cup.

Traynor: Swans are pretty. Be back after this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ImmortalDragonProductions/Hurricanefootball.png
Hurricane Football

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: 31-21 win rife with heart attack moments, Vephrall downed by Qazox

Hoji, Iwosaka - On the verge of being eliminated, every second of every game counts. That’s precisely why sporadic moments throughout the Hurricane’s ten point win over West Newmanistan had fans on the edge of their seats, hearts pounding. West Newmanistan jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and by the half, Kudo & Co. had cut it to 14-7. The second half unquestioningly belonged to the Hurricane, who outscored West Newmanistan 24-7, with touchdown strikes to Oribaha “Baja” Hini, and Toshizane Dazai in the third quarter, and Shibawa Fujitsu’s interception return for a touchdown and an Anenokoji field goal in the fourth.

Daisetsu Kudo had the Hurricane’s lone first half touchdown, on a quarterback sneak on third and goal from the one yard line. Chants of “Kudos for Kudo” echoed through Crosscom Global Arena. The frequently heard chant has become an unofficial slogan adopted by fans, ever since the storybook rise in status by Kudo after replacing embattled Sibura Hiton at quarterback.

It wasn’t all fun and games however. Moments of suspense crept in upon the hometown crowd. For example, after the Hurricane had pulled ahead 21-14, and taken their first lead of the game with 1:48 left in the third quarter, West Newmanistan started a ruthless, über-efficient drive that resulted in a touchdown near the top of the fourth to tie it up all over again. Those kinds of moments hushed the Crosscom crowd into deafening silence.

Fans held their breath after Fujitsu’s fourth quarter interception and forty six yard touchdown return made it 28-21, and when West Newmanistan couldn’t generate points afterward, Anenokoji hit a twenty two yarder for three points. The Hurricane’s ten unanswered points proved to be what was needed to pull out the win, but in reality, a score that close against a 2-6 team is enough to scare even the most optimistic of Hurricane fans hoping for a win against Qazox.

Knowing that everything is on the line, that dim ray of light that is the Hurricane’s playoff hopes, (based on the absurd improbability that both the Hurricane will win against Qazox, and somehow, Vephrall will fall to another team in one of their final two games) has sparked a primitive superiority attitude. See, the likelihood of the Hurricane making the playoffs can be equated to a child’s misguided dream. Well intentioned, but not probable. And when the Hurricane players open up to reporters, it’s the adrenaline talking.

“This is our house. We aint going down without a fight. This is Crosscom Global Arena, baby! It’s showtime, it’s showtime. So show me what you got,” receiver Oribaha “Baja” Hini said.

“You come in my house and disrespect me, I’ll hunt you down and break your neck, guaranteed,” defensive end Fujira Bei chimed in with a wide grin.

Baja and Bei’s rallying calls for their troops may get their teammates fired up as they lead them into battle, but how long will it be until reality sets in? And how long into the game before the riots break out? Will we even see halftime before chaos literally erupts and the streets become bloodbaths?

It wouldn’t have been enough just for the Hurricane to win all of their remaining games. Vephrall would have to lose at least two, and Vephrall did lose to the very same Qazox team the Hurricane will be facing next. Vephrall lost 27-24 in a game that was closely monitored by Hurricane management in the Crosscom Global Arena’s executive skybox. In order for the Hurricane to even entertain the thought of advancing, they must win against Qazox and Cotenshire, certainly a tall order. And in addition, Vephrall must lose another of it’s games, since Vephrall beats the Hurricane on both head to head results and point differential, but the odds of that happening are astronomically against the Hurricane’s favor. The Hurricane are able to score in the thirties, but what about against Qazox? Or Cotenshire? All questions, no answers. Yet.

Next Game: Qazox (6-2) @ Fujisawan Territories (5-3) (Crosscom Global Arena - Hoji, Iwosaka)

Schedule
vs. Vephrall L 27-13
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall L 30-13
@ Taeshan L 20-6
vs. Questille W 24-3
@ Tocrowkia W 20-7
vs. West Newmanistan W 31-21
vs. Qazox
@ Cotenshire

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Security for Qazox game in Crosscom Global Arena largest undertaking in stadium’s history

Hoji, Iwosaka - As a note to all fans attending the upcoming game against Qazox in Crosscom Global Arena, the Hoji Police Department, Iwosaka Interisland Police, and Hoji County Sheriff’s Department have announced they will join forces with Fujisawan military troops to provide intensive security inside Crosscom and to quell possible rioting should the Hurricane lose the game.

HPD has announced they will introduce checkpoints at all the entrances to Crosscom Global Arena, as well as the SkyTransit public monorail boarding and offloading stations, and intend to arrest any individual attempting to enter the stadium in possession of any of the following items:

Alcoholic beverages
Narcotics
Firearms and/or ammunition
Fireworks or personal pyrotechnical items
Grenades
Pepper spray and/or mace
Brass knuckles
Display swords to include katanas
Knives of any blade length to include pocket knives and Swiss Army knives
Chains, ropes or any similar items which can be used to strangulate or swing with deadly force
Baseball bats
Tire irons
Scissors
Any sharp object which can be used to stab
Any object which can be used to club
Any article of clothing with anti-government or anarchist slogans, statements, or pictures

The following acts will not be tolerated:
Affray
Homicide
Suicide
Rioting
Vandalism
Photographing security personnel
Obstructing official duties of security personnel

You will need to present a valid driver’s license or picture ID and a ticket to the game to enter the stadium. Though marijuana is legal within the city of Hoji, you will be arrested if you have it in your possession on arrival to the stadium under new provisions of federal law. You will also be arrested, and charged with felony reckless intoxication at a national security event (federal code), if you are deemed to be under the influence of marijuana or alcohol at the time of your arrival to the stadium, even if you do not have marijuana or alcohol in your possession. Alcohol will absolutely not be served in any capacity on the property of Crosscom Global Arena to include concession booths, public parking lots, and the stadium’s SkyTransit public monorail stations. Hoji police authorities will be on hand to conduct pat down searches of every individual entering Crosscom Global Arena including participating teams. Be prepared to empty out your pockets. No bags or backpacks will be allowed inside Crosscom Global Arena and only one cooler per person is allowed, subject to inspection.

Seating will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis, and Qazox fans will be separated from Hurricane fans. You will be led directly to your seat by security personnel and cannot change seats from what you have been designated. You will not be allowed to talk to security personnel during the game, so all complaints must be aired before the start of the game. To prevent electronic interference with the equipment of the security personnel, all cell phones must be turned off upon reaching the initial checkpoints.

Should the Hurricane lose, you are to quietly remain seated while Qazox fans are escorted from the stadium, and you will not be allowed to leave the stadium until instructed by security personnel. All city, island, and federal laws will be strictly enforced, and an orderly exit from the stadium is mandatory upon the completion of the game, regardless of the final score. Any unlawful activity will be met with force and Qazox fans are not immune from prosecution of any crime committed.

A no fly zone has been established over the stadium. Fighter jets from the Territorial Air Superiority Force will be specially assigned to protect the airspace over Crosscom Global Arena, while Sheriff’s Department helicopters will monitor protestors outside the stadium and keep an eye out for the formation of mobs.

For the safety of everyone, officers from the HPD Bicycle Patrol Division will be patrolling the parking lots outside of Crosscom Global Arena to prevent cars being broken into or set on fire, and mounted police officers will be standing by for crowd control purposes.

Rioting in the City of Hearts has occurred before, but never on the massive scale anticipated.
Unpopular Hoji mayor Mitushide Kawasie has already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of a Hurricane loss. Military troops will be stationed throughout the city, armed with assault rifles and shoot to kill orders, all in the name of stopping rioters dead in their tracks.

“This city will not be made a world mockery of, and you can quote me on that,” Kawasie said. “Anarchy will not rule the night. We will.”


Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record
Letters to the Editor

Due to the overwhelming amount of letters to the editor regarding the Hurricane’s upcoming game against Qazox, we have decided to run an entire section devoted to the fans' take on the Hurricane season and the odds of pulling off an upset against Qazox in front of a hometown crowd.

Crosscom is where magic is made
I have been to many games and events at Crosscom Global Arena from World Cup qualifying matches (don’t roll your eyes) to Olympic trials, to rock concerts, and of course, Hurricane games. This is our home. Crosscom Global Arena. The home of the six letter word known as belief. It’s the soul of the city we call the City of Hearts. It’s where magic happens. It’s the house we beat Taeshan in, by a single point, when nobody thought we could. This is our home. A special place that is uniquely Fujisawan.

Kami Nagasawa
Hoji

Welcome to Hoji
The biggest game to ever be played in this sacred stadium we call the Global Arena is upon us, and we will undoubtedly have a fair number of Qazoxian fans making the trip to the Territories. Which Hoji will we present to our visitors? A corrupt, morally bankrupt city of arrogant anarchists, or a compassionate city filled with dignified people who live up to their city’s nickname? Are we or aren’t we the City of Hearts? Let’s show Qazox fans what Hoji is all about, let’s welcome them to Hoji. And for God’s sake, let’s not riot if we lose, for the sake of everyone.

Mokana Daichi
Hoji

Odds too great to overcome
Think about it. We’re going up against an elite football team that actually has a shot at making the World Bowl. Sure we beat Taeshan in Crosscom Global Arena and we loved every second of it, but look again at the score. It was 10-9. Taeshan had the ball at the end with a shot a winning that game. If we can barely upset Taeshan and can’t win either game against Vephrall, how are we supposed to win against Qazox? The odds are just too great to overcome. My prediction: Qazox 24, Fujisawan Territories 23.

Heichiro Asatomi
Hoji

Kudos for Kudo
Let’s give credit where it’s due. Coach Date’s benching of Sibura Hiton was about the best thing to happen to the Hurricane yet, except for that sweet, sweet upset over Taeshan at home. Hiton is a disaster, our worst nightmare visualized. Daisetsu Kudo breathed fresh life into the Hurricane, and if you haven’t noticed the resurgence, you’re living under a rock. Kudos for Kudo! And kudos for Date to have the vision to make decisions for the long term instead of making quick fixes, while we’re at it.

Junchiro Nakamoto
Tijuku, Narasaka

Inspiration + Kudo = Category 5 Hurricane
Can we call the Hurricane a certified “Category 5" if we beat Qazox? If we can pull off an upset, we might be able to prove once and for all that we’re legit. This is the biggest game ever played in the Crosscom Global Arena in any sport. With an inspirational upset over Taeshan behind us, we can take this moment and show the world what we’ve got. And with Kudo running the show, we’ve got a chance to win this thing. What will the world think if we can beat Qazox? Do you honestly think that any of the Hurricane players aren’t going to give their all? Let me tell you something. They’re going to play like they’re in the World Bowl.

Michitoshi Dakata
Coastal Atsuzai

Log onto www.hojimetrodr.com.fjt for more letters to the editor.


KLVE News 8
Live coverage: Massive security detail posted at Crosscom Global Arena on morning of game

Akeno Ni’ijima: Police state or modern necessity? That’s the question many in downtown Hoji are asking and that’s our top story this morning. I’m Akeno Ni’ijima.

The police and military presence at Crosscom Global Arena is quite extensive but how much is too much? KLVE News 8's Isaki Kitao is live at Crosscom Global Arena with details.

Isaki Kitao: Akeno, I’m standing here live in the west parking lot of Crosscom Global Arena and as you can see behind me, fans are lined up to be searched by police officers as they reach makeshift checkpoints while military soldiers stand by. To my left a row of police in full riot gear, batons and tear gas at the ready, as they funnel crowds into a single file line to enter the Global Arena’s west gates. I’ve heard reports of people standing in line upwards of an hour because security checks have been extremely thorough, and ID cards are being verified and names on the lists of fans who bought tickets are checked off. Police are saying that every person who enters the stadium absolutely needs to be accounted for.

Some fans have been camping in tents outside of Crosscom Global Arena, a few of them have been here for days, along the outside perimeters of the stadium, just to be first in line and get through the security checkpoints early on. Of course, folding chairs and tents being confiscated by police officers early this morning, and fans are being told to pick them up after the game from the Evidence and Property Division of the Japantown 13th precinct station. Police say they fear people could be stabbed by tent poles and various other things in the event of rioting, if people are allowed to carry personal property into the stadium. Again, we’re seeing pencils, glass juice bottles, even baby strollers, generally anything that can be used as a weapon being confiscated. Complete and absolutely total disarmament of the people. Backpacks being emptied, fans being given two minute patdowns. Fans are unable to leave their personal items in their cars according to police because they want to discourage auto breaks ins.

I’m told each fan is being patted down by three different officers at three different checkpoints before being allowed into the stadium. So everyone must be searched three times before they can finally enter the stadium.

Ass you see...excuse me...as you see, armored police vehicles passing by to my right, police helicopters above us, just a total barrage of police and military might. And Akeno, this is all in the name of keeping civil order and preventing riots.

Akeno Ni’ijima: Certainly an amazing spectacle out there. Now what sort of contingency plans do law enforcement officials and the military have in place to stem any rioting that may take place at Crosscom Global Arena?

Isaki Kitao: Well Akeno, police are hoping disarming fans and selective arrests will prevent an outbreak of violence. Many police are praying for a win for the mere sake of preventing bloodshed in our beloved stadium. Police say by taking the measures they have, the worst fans can do is vandalize the Global Arena by breaking windows and trashing bathrooms, and God forbid storming the field and tearing down goalposts en masse.

However, I do have a list of offenses that police have been given authorization to open fire on people for at will, if necessary, and after all peaceful resolutions have been exhausted. Let’s see, reading from the list, those offenses are homicide, attempted suicide, affray, rioting, and vandalism.

As for the rest of Hoji, all local government agencies have been put on full alert, and the domestic terror warning level has been raised to severe. Mayor Kawasie has already declared a state of emergency, and military troops have been strategically placed throughout the city in a maximum effort. A sunset to sunrise curfew has been imposed in the impoverished neighborhoods of Magiku and West Atlantis, with Fujisawan army tanks scheduled to patrol the streets there tonight. K-9 infantry units from the 93rd Infantry Division will be patrolling the beaches and Waterfront district during the game, and many shops and businesses in downtown Hoji will close down early today. Police are set to block off the busy intersection of Corporate Boulevard and Merchant Street to pedestrian and vehicular traffic starting at ten in the morning and lasting indefinitely in an attempt to discourage looting in the downtown Business District after the game.

This is the impact one game can have on an entire city.

Akeno Ni’ijima: Absolutely breathtaking. Now, as you know, Hoji is a liberal city, and Fujisawans love their protests. Can you confirm there are protests ongoing at Crosscom, and if so, just what are they protesting?

Isaki Kitao: Yes, that’s right. A group calling themselves Hoji Citizens Against Police Brutality is at the moment protesting at the entrance to one of the main parking lots here at Crosscom Global Arena, shouting slogans at cars passing through, and holding signs. Spokesman Soza’atsu Kon says that his group will offer peaceful resistance in support of any rioters who may clash with the police.

He says this is something right out of a screenplay from a Hojiwood movie, and that the police are overreacting to riots that may not even occur. He says he implores police officers to remember that Hurricane fans are people too, and deserve to be treated with equal human rights. The group is reportedly protesting what they consider to be excessive police and military mobilization against the people.

Akeno Ni’ijima: Very interesting. Isaki Kitao reporting live from Crosscom Global Arena. Stay with KLVE News 8 for live and late breaking news. When we come back, we’ll go back to Crosscom Global Arena with more on this developing story.

TAYLOR’S HANDS TIED

Matthew Taylor is faced with a dilemma. His team is 7-1 and have clinched the Group G title since they would have the tiebreaker against Bushdome even if the Millionaires would choke in their final two games. Taylor wants to be able to make a decision that the other first place teams have made, but he cannot because for him there is an added problem. His starters, when they placed their bids, bid for the right to play ten group stage games, barring injuries or worthy suspensions or punishments, such consequences which need to be approved by the Secristan Department of Sports. Tom Mitchell, the starting quarterback is extremely number-conscious. While many athletes will tell you that they don’t pay attention to their personal numbers, Mitchell certainly does. In fact, Tom told us a few weeks ago that he keeps a spreadsheet file of the categories that concern quarterbacks to compare himself to the likes of Dancougar’s Michael Hussey, Arroza’s Selmon Baliss and every other QB of nations ranked in the top 20. Even though some of the other QB’s are also being rested right now, Mitchell has vowed that it better not happen to him. In a recent comment he told us that, “If I do not play all ten games in the group stage and get the majority of snaps in all the contests, then I will file a lawsuit for breach of contract. Coach has done a good job, but I am the man, I bid for this and of course everyone knows that I am by far the best QB on this team.” We weren’t kidding around when we called Mitchell arrogant, but he is right and that sentiment has been shared by the majority of the starters. So what’s Taylor to do? “I’m going to have to keep playing the starters and hope no one gets hurt.” He said. While Secristan should be able to get victories over Peisandros at home and in Patetopia, those nations will be playing hard. “Peisandros will be going all out to knock us off. They may have had the great World Cup run, but we did beat them twice in that group stage. If they are going to go on a World Bowl run, it’s a game they must have. Patetopia is more of a longshot, but they will give us all they got too.” Taylor said.

The Past: You knew the Job Was Dangerous When You Took it, Greal.
Severly Pissed-Off Tar Hornets Demolish Greal 40-7.


In their first game back from their overtime loss to Dancougar in interleague play, the Tar Hornets faced Greal, the supposed second seed in group F. They were sent home with their tail between their legs as Abe Chadwick looks to finish this World Bowl in a blaze of glory, scoring three touchdowns for the home team. Selmon Baliss connected with Malone for a throwing touchdown, and after the entrance of the second team in the middle of the third quarter, Vaughan Harley scored his first touchdown of the tournament from the fullback position.

The shutout attempt was canceled by a Greali touchdown coming at the tail end of the game. After the match, Coach Tahlequah released a statement saying that he was, “proud of the effort that his team has shown over the last three weeks, and is especially proud of the mental resilience that they showed against Greal. Now more than ever, we can't afford to be complacent, with another playoff team coming to The Hive next week.” More on that later...

First Quarter
8:53 – Arroza: 5 Yd TD Run by A. Chadwick. Albrecht XP Good.
4:28 – Arroza: 44 Yd TD Run by A. Chadwick. Albrecht XP Good.

Second Quarter:
11:01 – Arroza: 27 Yd TD Pass from S. Baliss to T. Malone. Albrecht XP Good.
4:36 – Arroza: 32 Yd Albrecht FG.

Third Quarter:
9:57 – Arroza: 21 Yd TD Run by A. Chadwick. Albrecht XP Good.

Fourth Quarter:
13:47 – Arroza: Safety – Holding Penalty in Endzone on Greal.
7:05 – Arroza: 3 Yd TD Run by V. Harley. Albrecht XP Good.
1:13 – Greal:

The Present: AMS Department of Statistics and Time Wasting Present “Possible” Playoff Bracket

Atalanta, C.D. - The men of the underground basement of Warehouse 42 have come out with their observations of what will be the playoff bracketing for the Newmanistani stage of World Bowl V. While the lower half of the bracket is still ridiculously tough, the top half seems to be shaping up as well, with the Taeshani defense proving themselves to be as good as advertised. More importantly, Arroza looks to be seeded against the Auric Wolves of Vephrall in the first round of the playoffs, a meeting that went disastrously in the first round of World Bowl I playoffs.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1126/wbvpredictionsiw5.gif (http://imageshack.us)


The Future: Mothers, Lock Up Your Sons. Femme Fatales Come To Town.
Chadwick Slated to Play “1 Quarter Or Less”

With qualifying coming to a close, and the team having won the right to be the first seed from Group E, the team may have earned the right to kick back on the beach a bit for their last two games against Group F. Cassadiagua though, is looking to beat a big name team after losing to Group F leaders twice. The National Team though, is looking to minimize injuries ahead of what will hopefully be a tough four-game playoff run. Abe Chadwick who was injured in a game against Cassadaigua two years ago, will probably only play in the Hornets' first series before giving way to Hailey and Malone. Expect the game to be a last call for Chadwick as this will be his last international game at Fletcher Field before going to play solely for his club side, Pine Forest United.

The game will be Saturday at 7:30 Arroza Standard Time. Please remember to use MARTA unless you're going to be a dedicated tailgater, and bring alcohol. Extra trains will be provided on the Crimson Line between Commonwealth Square and The Hive, and extra boats will be on the Cross Sound Ferry from Fletcher Dock to Northland Center for the game.

It's crunch time. It's cutoff time.

Group A/B:
Taeshan 7-0 Tocrowkia
Fujisawan Territories 27-31 Qazox
Questille 3-34 Cotenshire
Vephrall 20-8 West Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 7 2 0 115 45 70 Q
2 Vephrall 6 3 0 175 110 65 Q
3 Fujisawan Territories 5 4 0 175 165 10 E
4 Questille 0 9 0 55 219 -164 E


Vephrall has tiebreaker over Fujisawan Territories (2-0 H2H), therefore has qualified.


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 7 2 0 231 143 88 Q
2 Cotenshire 7 2 0 174 107 67 Q
3 Tocrowkia 2 7 0 101 144 -43 E
4 West Newmanistan 2 7 0 106 199 -93 E



Both ties by PD (1-1 H2H on both)

Group C/D:
Rennidan 17-13 Scandavian States
Kosovoe 10-19 Newmanistan
Bluth Corporation 27-3 Lurikastan
LeQuince 0-30 Sarzonia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Rennidan 7 2 0 205 112 93 Q
2 Bluth Corporation 6 3 0 215 146 69 Q
3 Kosovoe 2 7 0 58 143 -85 E
4 LeQuince 1 8 0 66 199 -133 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 8 1 0 222 131 91 Q
2 Sarzonia 6 3 0 162 127 35 Q
3 Scandavian States 3 6 0 147 167 -20 E
4 Lurikastan 3 6 0 119 169 -50 E


Scandavian States over Lurikastan on PD

Group E/F:
Arroza 30-17 Cassadaigua
Prux 0-24 Dancougar
Green Wombat 20-17 Rymeria
Serinite II 10-23 Greal


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 8 1 0 238 106 132 Q
2 Green Wombat 5 4 0 136 123 13
3 Prux 4 5 0 108 124 -16
4 Serinite II 1 8 0 56 170 -114 E




Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 9 0 0 242 99 143 Q
2 Cassadaigua 6 3 0 153 122 31 Q
3 Greal 2 7 0 110 179 -69 E
4 Rymeria 1 8 0 66 186 -120 E



Group G/H:
Secristan 34-13 Peisandros
Australiah 3-24 Kura-Pelland
Colbourne 17-9 Patetopia
Bushdome 10-14 Lovisa


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Secristan 8 1 0 200 91 109 Q
2 Colbourne 5 4 0 136 133 3
3 Bushdome 5 4 0 117 122 -5
4 Australiah 0 9 0 34 171 -137 E


Colbourne over Bushdome on PD (1-1 H2H)


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 7 2 0 190 107 83 Q
2 Lovisa 4 5 0 188 200 -12
3 Peisandros 4 5 0 169 181 -12
4 Patetopia 3 6 0 135 164 -29


Lovisa over Peisandros due to 2-0 H2H advantage.

Scenarios heading into MD10. For simplicity I am not going to consider ties. We haven’t had one yet, but unlike the QB of my favorite team, I am aware that its possible.

Warning: You’re likely to get a headache after reading.

Group A:

Taeshan- Wins group with win over West Newmanistan. OR a loss to West Newmanistan and Vephrall loses to Fujisawan Territories, or beats Fujisawan Territories but doesn’t make up the point differential. (Presently +5)

Vephrall- To win group, must beat Fujisawan Territories AND West Newmanistan must beat Taeshan AND they make up a -5 point differential. Finishes 2nd otherwise.

Group B:

Qazox- Wins group with win over Questille AND Cotenshire loss OR with win over Questille AND Cotenshire win does not make up (+21) PD. OR loss to Questille AND Fujisawan Territories defeates Cotenshire does not make up PD.

Cotenshire- Wins group with over Fujisawan Territories AND Qazox loses to Questille OR if they defeat Fujisawan Territores and make up PD OR loss to Fujisawan Territores AND a Qazox loss to Questille and make up PD.

Group C:

Rennidan- Wins group with win over Lurikastan OR loss to Lurikastan and Bluth Corporation loses to Scandavian States. OR loss to Lurikastan AND Bluth Corporation the latter doesn’t make up PD (+24)

Bluth Corporation- To win group, must defeat Scandavian States AND Rennidan loses to Lurikastan by enough to make up PD.

Group D:

Newmanistan and Sarzonia are locked into 1st and 2nd respectively.

Group E:

Arroza- Has won group title.

Green Wombat- Clinches with win over Cassadaigua OR if Prux loses to Greal. OR if they lose to Cassadaigua, and Prux wins but does not make up PD (+29)

Prux- Must defeat Greal. Cassadaigua MUST defeat Green Wombat AND in the process must make up the PD.

Group F:

Dancougar and Cassadaigua are locked into 1st and 2nd respectively.

Group G:

Secristan- Has won group title.

Colbourne- Clinches with win over Peisandros AND Bushdome loss to Kura-Pelland OR if win over Peisandros AND Bushdome defeats Kura-Pelland but doesn’t make up PD (+8) OR with loss to Peisandros AND Bushdome loses to Kura-Pelland and doesn’t make up PD.

Bushdome- Clinches with win over Kura-Pelland AND Colbourne loses to Peisandros. OR win over Kura-Pelland AND Colbourne over Peisandros AND they make up PD. OR loss to Kura-Pelland AND Colbourne loss to Peisandros but they still make up PD.

Group H:

Kura-Pelland- Has clinched group title.

Lovisa- Clinches with win over Australiah. OR loss to Australiah AND Peisandros loses to Colbourne AND Patetopia loses to Secristan. Clinches with loss to Australiah AND Peisandros loses to Colbourne AND Patetopia loses to Secristan.

Peisandros- Clinches with win over Colbourne AND Lovisa loss to Australiah OR loss to Colbourne, Lovisa loss to Austrailah AND Patetopia win over Secristan to force 3-way tie. They must then finish with the highest PD amongst the tied team. Lovisa MUST LOSE to Australiah for any possible scenario for Peisandros to advance due to Lovisa’s 2-0 H2H advantage.

Patetopia: Clinches with win over Secristan AND Colbourne beats Peisandros AND Australiah defeats Lovisa to force three-way tie. They then must earn the highest PD within that tie. (-17 deficit to both Lovisa and Peisandros.) They have a 2-0 H2H advantage on Lovisa which is what still keeps them alive in the event of a 3-way tie.

Woodstock Daily Mail

Stars shatter LeQuince

By Travis West
Daily Mail Staff Writer

After a stretch of offensive malaise that saw the Sarzonian national team address questions about their starting quarterback, Gavin Davis went out and put those questions to rest for one night.

The Stars signal caller completed 21-of-29 passes for 314 yards and four touchdown passes and Sarzonia dominated LeQuince 30-0.

"Gavin really felt he had to prove himself all over again," said Stars coach Jim Zorn. "He put on a great display of poise and accuracy out there."

Davis wasn't the only Stars player who stood out. The offensive line gave Davis plenty of time to throw the football and Davis wasn't sacked once, just a week after Rennidan sacked him six times.

"Big ups to the O-line," Davis said. "They blocked well for me and made things real easy. It was just a matter of finding receivers."

Sarzonia's defence took it from there, sacking LeQuince quarterbacks five times and added a second quarter safety following an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone. They held LeQuince to nine yards rushing on 19 attempts.

"We wanted to respond after losing the game to Rennidan the way we did," said defensive coordinator Greg Blache. "To a man, we all felt we had to step up, we were all challenged and we stepped it up."

Sarzonia (6-3) faces its final match of group play against Kosovoe (2-7), but Zorn said he would continue to play his usual starting line ups.

"I don't believe in resting guys unless it's a blowout," Zorn said. "We need to build on tonight's performance before we face our first knockout match." According to the bracket established for this World Bowl, that first round opponent will be Kura-Pelland, who currently have a 7-2 record and have already wrapped up the Group H title.

The Arrows finished third in World Bowl IV after a perfect group stage record of 10-0, falling in their semifinal fixture 28-24 to World Bowl finalists Newmanistan. After a reporter asked if Zorn was concerned that Kura-Pelland would learn too much about the Stars if he played his starters the entire match, Zorn laughed.

"I don't think that's a big concern, to be honest," he said. "They have us on film already. They already know what we want to do. One more match isn't going to make a difference in their preparation."

Blache said the team would try to shake off the perception they couldn't beat an elite team.

"We beat Vephrall last World Bowl," Blache said. "We damn near beat Qazox away. Playing in arguably the toughest group in this World Bowl has given us a lot more mental toughness than some teams might have. I think we'll be ready to suit it up."

While some Stars supporters could be excused if they looked past the Kosovoe match to the fixture against Kura-Pelland, Davis said his team was focused on Kosovoe.

"If we get caught trying to prepare for Kura-Pelland, we're going to be in trouble against Kosovoe," he said. "We have to take it one match at a time."

Running back LoQuan Willard (87 yards, 12 carries) agreed.

"Each match in this World Bowl tests you," he said. "We ain't passed no tests yet."

Fitin' Falcons Advance With One Game LEft

And already it is time to gear up for a big group of playoff round games in a few weeks. With 1 game left in the Group Stage schedule the Falcons have asured qualification and as far as i have been led to believe should have won the group based on having a 2-0 record head to head vs Vephrall the only other competitor for the group title. The Falcons final game next week will be in West Newmanistan with shall provide an easier trek into Newmanistan after what is expected to be the biggest throw away game of the season. The Falcons should easily win, but as shown many times before the shouldn't expect it they should play for it.

Yesterday the Falcons played yet another enticing game vs the team from Toccrowkia known as the Nordics. The two nations have met many times before in the sport of Baseball, the last series of witch the Nordics stunned the Falcons for forth place. Yesterdays game was a lot like Baseball in the fact that the Falcons won the game 7-0 a baseball score. They also used a term first copined for baseball the shutout. And like many close games in baseball the score was decisive as the Falcons controlled the game all the way and spent most of it toying with the Nordic offense. The Kn ights would win on an Ohco Cinco touchdown on the defensive side of the ball and would sit on it for the rest of the game.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

After holding off Green wombat on the road, the Dancougar second team is starting to gel, defeating the Prux Statesmen 24-0 to set up a chance to finish unbeaten at home.

"Teams like Prux and Green wombat are pretty evenly matched and they're always capable of springing something on you," said coach Will Moohim. "I thought our team got a lot of good experience out there today, and I think it'll really show when we get to playoff time."

It was only the second shutout for the Wings in the tournament, the other coming against Rymeria in the opener. And the Wings have given up more than twice as many points as Taeshan, far and away the best defensive team in the competition. But they still had the answers to all the questions posed by Jason Ware and the Prux offense, forcing four turnovers and only allowing two first downs in the opening half.

Prux went three and out on their opening drive, but the Wings also failed to score on theirs. Casey Pendleton averaged under a yard on his first five carries as the offense struggled to gain traction, but a Mike Penn fumble gave the Wings a short field of which they took full advantage. After Pendleton broke an 8-yard run to get inside the 10, Booker Tilghman found Tom Langley on a short curl route to get the early 7-0 lead.

"Sometimes it takes a quick shot like that to get going," said Pendleton, who would finish with 68 yards in one half of work. "We got the ball right in the red zone and didn't want to waste that kind of opportunity. And I think that got us rolling a bit."

After holding Prux to another three-play drive, Tilghman put together a 72-yard touchdown drive to double the lead. At one point, he strung together six straight completions, all under 10 yards per play. The drive ended with Pendleton scoring from 4 yards away. After Prux were stopped again, Tilghman picked up right where he left off. Orie Hilo was waiting for it, and the first time Ed Mendenhall tried for a short pass over the middle, Hilo stepped up for the interception, giving Prux an opportunity to start from midfield. Ware opened with a 25-yard pass Paul Mass and came close to finding the endzone on the next play. But on 2nd down, Ware was intercepted by Devin Knill. The Wings would run out the first half clock and take a 14-0 lead into the locker room.

There was no scoring until the fourth quarter, when Seth Cavallo hit from 31 yards to make it 17-0. The third quarter had been a battle of field position. Ware was starting to move the ball a bit and the Wings were no longer the impenetrable force they'd appeared to be in the first half. Penn's running game, though, was virtually non-existent. The Wings dropped more and more men into the secondary and eventually earned their second interception, this time through Tony Rorick. That led to the field goal drive.

The Wings got a third interception midway through the fourth when linebacker Rod Danbury sniffed out a short pass across the middle and got his hands up for the catch. Tilghman then ran six minutes off the clock on the final scoring drive of the game, which saw Albert Edgeman get some action at halfback. "Edge" had 23 yards on 5 carries on the drive.

"We were in full control of that game," said Tilghman. "We were able to dictate the pace on defense, and that really relaxes you as a quarterback, because you're not under any real pressure to run it up."

Dancougar will attempt to finish unbeaten in qualifying for the first time in team history against Serenite II in the Shin Jared Koeppel.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

Not too much movement at the top. The teams that we expected to win won, and after brushing aside the Dagans, Arroza figures to be the favorite going into the playoffs. Of course, Dancougar fans will be paying very close attention to Group B to see if they get Qazox or Cotenshire in the first round. Both are currently 7-2, although the Phoenix may be a bit more dangerous right now.

(1) Arroza (8-1)
(2) Dancougar (9-0)
(3) Secristan (8-1)
(4) Newmanistan (8-1)
(5) Qazox (7-2)
(6) Taeshan (7-2)
(7) Kura-Pelland (7-2)
(8) Rennidan (7-2)
(9) Vephrall (6-3)
(10) Cotenshire (7-2)
(11) Sarzonia (6-3)
(12) Cassadaigua (6-3)
(13) Bluth Corporation (6-3)
(14) Fujisawan Territories (5-4)
(15) Green wombat (5-4)
(16) Colbourne (5-4)
(17) Peisandros (4-5)
(18) Lovisa (4-5)
(19) Bushdome (5-4)
(20) Prux (4-5)
(21) Scandinavian States (3-6)
(22) Patetopia (3-6)
(23) Kosovoe (2-7)
(24) Tocrowkia (2-7)
(25) Lurikastan (3-6)
(26) West Newmanistan (2-7)
(27) Rymeria (1-8)
(28) Greal (2-7)
(29) LeQuince (1-8)
(30) Serinite II (1-8)
(31) Australiah (0-9)
(32) Questille (0-9)

QOX WORLD BOWL V Coverage

<Game joined late in the 4th Quarter...>

Howie Strahan: The Hurricane have the ball with just 18 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts. They line up at the Qazox 27. Sibura Hiton drops back, scrambles and incomplete. And now its 4th down and 5 with just 14 seconds left.

Terry Johnson: This has been a game that will go down as an instant classic. Both teams came back from double-digit deficits and now this last gasp for the Hurricane.

Howie Strahan: Sibura Hiton takes the snap, dodges David Reshks no one is open, 8 seconds left now, throws it to Namboku Yoshimatsu at the 3, and he dives for the pylon, is hit by Eric Fan'tu'mala ... is he in? The referees say yes! And Fujisawan Territories has knocked off Qazox 33-31.

Terry Johnson: Wait just a second there Howie. The other lineman is saying no TD. The referees are arguing about it. Ei’ichi Date has called the players over to his side of the field as has Lonnie DeVant. I guess this is going up to the booth, but let's hear from the offical.

<Referee: The call on the field is Touchdown. However the replay booth is checking to see if the runner's knee touched before crossing the goalline.>

After a very lengthy review...

<Referee: The runner's knee was down at the 1-yard line. The ball had not crossed the plane of the goalline at the time of the knee hitting the ground. Therefore the runner is down by contact at the 1. Time had expired during the play. The game is over.>

Howie Strahan: Wow. Even I think that Namboku Yoshimatsu was in. Qazox escaped with this one, right Terry?

Terry Johnson: He was down once Fan'tu'mala hit him. He just reached forward after being dwon to make it look like he scored. But the referee says he was down, and Qazox wins.

Howie Strahan: With this controversial win, Qazox is now 7-2 and finishes up qualifying back home against 0-9 Questille.

SCORE BY QUARTER:
1 2 3 4 F
Qazox 9 3 13 6 31
Fuji. Terr 0 17 7 3 27

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter:
Qazox: Safety, Offensive holding in Endzone 11:16. (2-0 Qazox)
Qazox: 17 yard TD pass from Greg Dannen to Tony Aster. 7:03 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 9 plays-56yards in 4:13 (9-0 Qazox)

2nd Quarter:
Qazox: 48 yd FG by Chase 14:52. 9 plays-41 yards in 4:10. (12-0 Qazox)
Fujisawan Territories: 94 yd KO return for TD by Hisayuki Sarumara 14:39. PAT by Okayaken Anenokoji good. (12-7 Qazox)
Fujisawan Territories: 4 yd TD run by Osamu Koyami 10:52. PAT by Okayaken Anenokoji good. 5 plays-37 yards in 2:11 (14-12 Fujisawan Territories)
Fujisawan Territories: 50 yd FG by Okayaken Anenokoji 0:00. 11 plays- 58 yards in 5:07. (17-12 Fujisawan Territories)

3rd Quarter:
Fujisawan Territories: 44 yd TD pass from Osamu Koyami to Toshizane Dazai 8:04. PAT by Okayaken Anenokoji good. 8 plays-80 yards in 4:27 (24-12 Fujisawan Territories)
Qazox: 59 yard TD pass from Greg Dannen to Ivan Harvey. 5:58 PAT by Tyrone Chase good. 5 plays-77 yards in 2:05 (24-19 Fujisawan Territories)
Qazox: 67 yard punt return for TD by Adam Politt 1:49 2-pt conversion pass failed. (25-24 Qazox)

4th Quarter:
Qazox: 36 yd FG by Chase 10:16. 8 plays-52 yards in 3:59. (28-24 Qazox)
Fujisawan Territories: 38 yd FG by Okayaken Anenokoji 6:52. 7 plays- 58 yards in 3:24. (28-27 Qazox)
Qazox: 40 yd FG by Chase 2:11. 10 plays-49 yards in 4:41. (31-27 Qazox)

Qazox Offensive Stats:
Greg Dannen: 29/47, 385 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT; 2 rushes, 1 yards.
Frank Vallens: 9 rushes, 17 yds
Jason DeHavel: 8 rushes, 27 yds
Tony Aster: 5 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD
Mathew Cottrill: 5 rec, 41 yds
Ivan Harvey: 10 rec, 159 yds, 1 TD
Adam Langehorn: 5 rec, 78 yds
Nate Sacimoni: 4 rec, 22 yds

Qazox Defensive Stats:
Jasyon D'Angelo: 1.0 sacks, 3 tackles
David Reshks: 2 tackles
Richie Sola: 0.5 sacks, 1 tackle, 1 for loss
Vic Alworth: 0.5 sacks, 2 tackles, 1 for loss
David Reed: No stats recorded (left with shoulder injury in 1st Quarter, replaced by Akana)
Jason Middleton: 5 tackles
Erik Akana: 7 tackles, 1 FF, 1 Fum Rec.
Eric Fan'tu'mala: 2 passes deflected, 2 tackles
Mark Johns: 4 tackles, 1 INT
Greg Olsen: 3 tackles, 1 for loss
Adam Politt: 5 tackles
Jamal Henderson: 4 tackles


Qazox Special Teams:
Tryone Chase: 3/4 FG (long of 48); 2/2 PAT
Oliver Toppens: 2 punts, Long of 57
Adam Politt: 6 KO Ret, 104 yds; 3 Punt Ret., 95 yds. 1 TD

QOXSports.com POWER TEN POLL
# of 1st place votes in () of 20 voters

Dancougar (9-0) (20) 200 pts
Arroza (8-1) 149 pts
Secristan (8-1) 147 pts
Newmanistan (8-1) 145 pts
Qazox (7-2) 122 pts
Rennidan (7-2) 109 pts
Taeshan (7-2) 95 pts
Kura-Pelland (7-2) 82 pts
Cotenshire (7-2) 78 pts
Vephrall (6-3) 69 pts

Others receiving votes: Bluth Corporation (6-3) 59 pts, Sarzonia (6-3) 52 pts, Cassadaigua (6-3) 51 pts, Fujisawan Territories (5-4) 9 pts, Green wombat (5-4) 1 pt


World Bowl V Wikipage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_V)
(ooc I'll update the Wikipage again after the 10th game)

(ooc to Fujisawan Territories: I set it up for ya for a riot, if you'd like...)