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We are back to the polls to give respect to those who we believe have earned the achievements below. While some polls are limited to choices, some have write in ballots. Please consider what these players do on the field, what they do for their team, the stats they accumulate, and how they impact the game each time they walk on the gridiron.

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MVP Candidates

Gronk: On offense or defense, as QB or WR, when Gronk’s head is in the game he will lead his team to victory and make it look simple and effortless. Gronk has had a career year and has been an MVP front-runner all season long.

Pray: Reigning MVP, Pray is a well-rounded player, a threat at QB when he is making a pass or on his feet, and is equally as talented on defense, posting a league-leading 19 ints. There’s nothing wrong with Pray, who has excelled the second half of this season.

Singer: It is hard to ask for a better teammate than Singer, considered by most to be the league’s all-around best player. Singer commands his team’s defense and make the big plays to lead (block) his team to victory, and carries the leagues highest win %.

Munch: The league’s #1 overall pick is a menace who changes the entire game when he is on the field. Whether you are safe behind him or running from him, he has heart and an engine which never quits. Munch smashed all existing sack stats record this season with 54 in 19 games.

Yaron: Yaron takes this game more seriously and strategically than most, with a cannon arm, he is a large-caliber player who aims to win. Returning from injury with some season highs and lows, Yaron still leads the league in TD passes thrown (66) and was awarded a league-high 7 Jewballs.

MVP will ultimately be determined by the Commissioner

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For the best sticker award, please click the link below to see the stickers referenced

Stickers

A PJ’s perspective…

Jordan will do us all Justice when he recaps the season, so bare with me on this one. In 2013 I made a tough decision by walking away from Jewball for good and decent reasons. My 2nd child was born and I just founded a high school and couldn’t justify limping Monday’s anymore. Jewball needed to be in my rearview mirror. I had given Jewball everything I could. I recruited talent that recruited even more talent. Jewball would be fine without PJ’s, oh so I thought lol. Fast forward to 2019 and I had this urge to play in a few games. The resurgence of Jewball was real and I was in better physical shape and I missed the game. But if you would’ve told me then that I would’ve played the whole 2021-22 season outside of 1 game Becuase of an injury, I would’ve said you were crazy. I honestly consider this season to be a miracle for me. Yes my stats are down, Dave-O! But to hear guys compliment my game and believe in what I can do week in and week out, I am truly honored. To even write this recap is an honor.

Jordan is thousands of miles away in the holy land with Zez. He’s scouting out Jewball 2026 in Israel for all of us! But on this side of the world there is chaos of guys signing up and backing out and guys not signing up but trying to jump in. So we end up Rabin the vet of all Vets getting a lineup of Jewballers who he could only dream about. Probably more than Yaron dreaming about having Solo on his line and I’m not talking about football… Rabin lines up with MVP candidates in Gronk, Singer, Mighty, Munch/Pray, and really good rook in Ernie, and finally PJ’s. Singer designs the defense and Rabin just needs to get the ball to the playmakers. Feit on the other hand has a stacked team on his side. Ivry, Prime, Zada, Storm, Bert, and Sam. These were not the original teams but with Commish away these were teams that we went with. Oh did I mention TD leader was the story of the day. Mighty and Ivry tied and Prime not far behind. Who would walk out as leader after 3 hours of football?

The first game started with some heavy wind action and both QB’s were sensing the issues with the deep ball. Feit stalled early and often. Rabin was able to move the ball down the field on his second possession. Mighty took a mighty screen for a loss of 3 yards into a 10 yard gain. But the play felt like it was 20 minute of Jukes and misses. Next Rabin finds singer on a streak past prime for a big 25 yard first down. Rabin hits Gronk for a gain of a bunch of yards. Finds singer again and now they’re in goal line territory. Who do you get the ball to? It’s Mighty time…. Screen to mighty with great blocking by Singer and Munch and In for the score and TD leader. Feit wanted to respond but some pressure by Munch and the change up of Singer/Gronk from MLB blitz complicated the day for Feit. Munch would end up with 3 sacks for the 75% of the game he played. Feit had storm on a great pass that storm reeled in only to have only one foot in. Rabin works another drive down the field and this time it’s Ernie who gets screen and block to make it 2-0. After that score, both teams trade a few 3 and outs. Feit is still in this game but makes the mistake of forcing a pass that Gronk came from nowhere to pick off. Rabin has great field position and first and goal at 3 after a great catch by Gronk. 4 plays for 3 yards and they can ice this game. Rabin fails score and Singer avoided a real injury to his back. Ivry’s defense on Mighty was more about the TD lead than the game. Feit gets the ball back at around 9:15 and Munch leaves in comes Pray on the D-line. Feit throws a bad pass and it’s picked by Singer who starts taking it back and but it’s called back Because Pray got the sack first. Rabin’s squad is getting matched up well by the D. Feit finally gets a drive going to atleast end the shutout. Hitting storm for a big 30 yard catch and pumping up the team. Prime makes a great sliding catch though he was out of bounds and not even close. Feit on 4th down wants a score and is pressured into heaving the ball up and who catches but Ivry who is tackled by Singer and preserves Mighty’s TD lead. 2-0 Rabin and gets the win. Now Rabin isn’t a starting QB in this era of Jewball but he served his role well today. So who should get the Jewball? Mighty? Rabin? Gronk? The Jewball belongs to Singer, big catches all game and his blitzing of Feit which lead to a sack and other pressures. He read every screen and was the QB of the defense. He is the heart of every team he plays with. And there is a reason why he wins, he is going to do the everything on every play. Singer earned this Jewball

Game 2, needed some fixing as well. So Saturday night, Pray and Yaron played commissioner as PJ’s did in game 1 😉. They drafted their teams and they were ready to face off. Yaron lined up with Ivry, Salem, Rook, Eddie, Beast, and Gronk vs Pray with BOP teammates Prime, Legs, PJ’s, along with Zada, Rabin, and Storm. This game had a lot of action right away. Yaron moved the ball the down the field with ease. He hit Beast for a first down, and Gronk as well. Finally on 3rd and goal he wanted Ivry to tie the TD leader but forced a ball and it’s dropped. 4th and goal and forced to Ivry at goal line who hauls it in and takes a 1-0 but more importantly ties Mighty for TD leader. Prays first drive looks good and they move the ball a bit down the field with screens to Prime and Zada but eventually they have to punt. Yaron’s very first play is deep pass to Rook who takes it to the house for a 70 yard TD and a 2-0 lead. So if your Pray and it’s windy and you’ve get Legs and Prime what do you do? You run it yourself down the sideline for a big 70 yard run and his teams first score. Yaron instead of sticking to what works for his team decided to get cute and keep Gronk engaged. So he screens to Gronk for a pass. But Gronk the MVP candidate decides to throw it Zada whose on the other team. Zada takes it to the house for a pick 6 and just like that we are tied at 2. We would be tied at 2 for a while. Scoring stopped until 10:50. Good plays on defense for both teams. Beast and Salem played well on line and Legs was a monster for his defense. Yaron calls a QB run who gets great blocking and looks like he might get close to scoring but a holding call is made. Play stops. Rook and Legs get into a shouting match about what is deemed a hold. Yaron is upset that his run is called back and Prays team is confused. A couple of plays later PJ’s gets in on Yaron tips the ball and Pray picks it in the endzone but this time another hold is called and pick is taken back. Legs and Rook are getting into again. But this time Rook is happy since it hurt Legs team this time. Yaron gets another chance and finds Gronk in the back of endzone for the lead. I want to get into a Rant on this sequence but tune into TBI! It’s 3-2 and Pray has a chance to tie the game. He marches down the field and gets within 5 yards of the endzone. Its 3rd down and run play to Legs is called but Legs isn’t there Pray sees PJ’s in the endzone open but Yaron plays it well nearly picks the ball off to preserve the lead. On 4th down Pray finds Storm at the 2 yard line who makes a move and dives into the endzone only to find that Gronk got his flag at the 2. Yaron wins and on this day with his great throwing in the wind, spreading the ball around to all receivers, and diving to stop a TD at the end. Yaron gets another Jewball! Beast is an honorable mention who made a lot nice catches throughout the game.

While the recap made these games sound better than they were. These games were tough to Enjoy. It was cold, windy, but very little excitement. Jewballer always play hard but this game lacked emotion. If you asked me why? It’s Because we all know what’s next week. It’s Playoff season. Today felt like a practice rather than a preview. Next week is all that matters. Stats are done and whatever you’ve done all season means nothing. Playoffs are a different bread. BOP vs LH and FC vs Cronies, these teams are all built differently but every player has one thing in mind and that’s playing for the chip. Looking forward to previewing the game with the TBI crew. Congrats to Mighty and Ivry on the TD leader tie. And let’s go BOP!!

Apologies to Jewball that I’m fading in these final weeks. No show on Week 18/20 and Recaps are delayed and written distractedly. I’ll make up for it in the final analysis.

Week 17 was a League Week. The 6th and final game of a League Season that had a lot going for it but also in need of a few adjustments. What started with a bang in Rabin’s backyard in late September, ended with a whimper at Hewlett High School. 2 games with a lot on the line, but neither amounted to much in terms of competition. The first game had more potential being that it was for the 1 seed. A Prime and Tomless BOP v. a Godlberg and Steveoless Cronies. The strength of Cronies – it’s defense – was on full display. Munch and Solo getting after Pray. Gronk clogging up the middle. Logan, Waldo, Maor and Klink wrapping up and pulling flags. Jordan keeping an eye on things from the safety position. Really….Pray had no where to go. Or at least he made it seem that way. Because he kept going to Mighty. Mighty is great and going to him is an obvious choice….except when it becomes so obvious that that is where he is going. And he went there a lot. Deep balls were over thrown on the entire day was short passes that couldn’t get them any scores. Gronk got bored after scoring 3. Two to Maor in the back of the endzone and one to Jordan on deep cross. Cronies played well and showed the League that they are the 1 seed for a reason. They will he hard to beat. It’s a combo Jewball to the line of Munch and Solo. With Goldberg and Steveo out, the defense would not have done so well if Pray had time. He didn’t. The star power of the Cronies is their line. And they got their team a much needed W.

Walls on Game 2:

Lionhearts captain came into this game on a low. In the previous game Yaron was torched in two snow games, so he had something to prove. Feit, was on a high, there was no more talk of what is wrong with Feit, it was all about Yaron is trash. This day, the table was turned. With Effie and Kuti late to the party, Feit’s boys were left with only Rabin to partner with O on the defensive line. With all the time in the world, Yaron quickly came up with a strike to Jack for the first TD and then just started piling on after that (Ivry – the Jewball TD leader scored next with Singer lead blocking on a reverse). The work of the defense was really the tale of the tape here. Dobs and Beast were absolutely fantastic penetrating to the QB. The heart of the Lionhearts, Singer, once again proved why he is in the running once again for MVP. On the second down of the game, Singer got a safety on Feit and ended the scoring with a TD in the back of the endzone. Jack had 2 and Ivry had 2, but their shutdown D forced FCFT to very few down the field deep completions. After this game, no one is asking what is wrong with Yaron, everyone is jealous that Singer is not on their team (except for Maor).

It felt like a privilege to write last week’s recap. This week feels like an obligation. I have very little in the tank right now but want to get this done for you deserving Jewballers. Perhaps the best thing about last Sunday, Week 20 to be followed by Week 17 makeup – is that it was a winter wonderland. A fresh coating of snow lay on the turf with shimmer frozen crytals falling throughout the game. Yaron had a bad week. He is lucky I am not at my full powers. He lost two. Didn’t look sharp. Didn’t give his teams a chance. In the opener he lost to Feit who needed a win and a positive performance in the worst way. He got it. He threw 4 TDs to 4 different receivers. Dobs made a great TD grab over Zada for one of them. Feit ran one in. Jordan finally got his 12th. Feit just looked very good. A lost season is temporarily found. But it’s about what he does next. Whatever it is, he does it with a shiny new Jewball on his mantle. Welcome back to the Club, Feit.
Game 2 was a tad more competitive in that the score was closer. But Yaron was off again. He was picked twice. Once in the endzone. The other was a Dobs P6. Decision making is definitely an issue that needs fixing right now. Pray had a stacked team and won without much trouble 3-1. Jewball isn’t easy since everyone did a little. Let’s go with a defensive juggernaut right now who is racking up the sacks and hosted us all for a superbowl BBQ after the game. Jewball to Salem – a man who demands to be remembered!

There was talk on the Vets chat before last Sunday about pressure. In particular, the inability of the Rooks to bring any. And the unstoppable amount that would be brought by the Vets. This pressure inequality would surely carry the day for the Vets. So it was alleged.

How this turned out – we know.

But there was pressure Sunday outside of that related to line-play. Pressure for the Vets to continue a winning streak that spanned three years and made the Revolution a Jewball era that welcomed in many Rookies, but at the same time kept them in their place. And the pressure was felt by the Rookies to break that chain, stem the tide, stop the trend – and flip the script. 

Now there is the pressure on this recap writer to do justice to a Sunday that would defy Homer and Virgil to tell such epics within the physical limitations of the page, let alone the screen. But here we go-

I took some time this week to look back at the origin of Vets Rooks and listen for its echo to inform anything I may come up with here. Not only did I find the very day in 2006 where the idea was born and presented, I found the recap and results of 11 contests. If they were played every year since 2006, I guess we played Vets Rooks XVI a few days ago. Whether its number 14 or 15 or 16 – it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that – like everything in Jewball – we make it more than a game. No, not a cult. A family. A family tradition. A family tradition where half the family leaves inspired and the other half leaves miserable. 

Of course what gets to me most reading the old Vets Rooks recaps is the names. I recalled the sting of many many losses. The disappointment with my contemporaries who seemed to be slowing down and couldn’t go next gear to compete. I recalled the excitement leading up to the game and the good spirited but venomous trash talk that always ensued. Sure, all that was apparent and felt afresh. But…it’s the names that really blow my mind. Klink, as he mentioned – was a Rookie in the first game. But by Vets Rookies II he was with the Vets. And he was with me and Rabin on Sunday. As he was in 2007. That’s fifteen damn years ago if you are counting. FIFTEEN years ago, the Vets team featured 3 of the same 7 players that played last week. That’s almost half the team! God Bless Jewball! And as I read it’s like a montage of moments being played – feeling at the same time imminent and ancient. Uri is perplexing the Vets. Yoni bests his brother Yirmi. Doggy can’t keep up with Yehuda. There goes Joey…bye. Mighty and Zez dominate for the Rooks for a decade. Bye Yakir. Bye Yoni. Bye my generation. Snow and Singer add to the Vets’ endless woes. But you live long enough and you are merited miracles. You stick around and put in the work and there are rewards…Rewards that are satisfying because on one level they feel earned.
But just as much they feel overwhelming and very much stolen. Like there must be some mistake. How am I playing on a Sunday with Vets like Steveo, Mighty, Singer, Kut, Munch, PJs, Tom, Daveo, even Gronk. Gronk feels new to me. We’ve been playing together for 5 years! The rest of em….my God! I remember the first time they stepped on the field with us. I remember sizing each of them up, analyzing what they might be, writing them up in some recap. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they’d be running it back with me year after year with the Vets like Doggy and Yoni once did. I know this is becoming about me and that’s not my intention. I’m just trying to convey the enormity of what we are accomplishing together. If Vets Rooks is about anything it is that we are all in this together. Whether this is the game or THE GAME – it’s together. It. Is. Together. Who is with me? We are in this together. We push each other to (our version of) greatness. That is the theme. Vets Rooks is Vets telling the Rooks you will have something to offer even when you are up here with us and it is the Rooks telling Vets you cannot underestimate anything or anyone. We must grow. We must strive. And we do that by pushing each other. It’s support by way of contest. It’s also of course storytelling. It is another chapter in the great and infinite Jewball mythology. 

So, let’s get to legendizing:

I will get the hardest part out of the way. The Rooks won the day. That can’t be argued. Two games were played. The Vets won neither. The Rooks won one and tied one. So the won the day. Period. I compliment the Rooks and I temper my bitterness. This will not be a recap of excuses – although I would not be completely out of line to go there, since…well….I’m not – like I said.

Vets Rooks has never been a double header but The Revolution is all about new awesomeness. Over the years, we have done V/R as an age cut off thing and a years of service thing – last Sunday we did both. Game 1 was Vets being over 31 and Rooks being 31 and under. Game 2 was Vets being 5 years of service and Rooks being 4 and under. We have reached an unimaginable stage of this moed  (time/holiday) that even with many prominent Jewballers failing to make the pilgrimage, we still had two games of 8s with only Pray playing both. Let that sink in. God Bless Jewball. 
For the Seniors: Yaron at QB, E, Munch, Sam, Beast, Tom, Steveo, and Singer. Let’s talk about Singer for a second. To begin with…I love this guy. I told him I am desperate for him to win an MVP so I can soliloquize about him for a few pages. He is always right there, but something goes awry – which is of course so Singer. The guy is such a special player and person….well….I’m gonna save it. Wait for that MVP announcement whenever it comes. Another reason I can’t retire yet. On this particular day he did something remarkable – perhaps with that MVP in mind….He is in Florida for the weekend for a family simcha…..HE FLIES BACK IN FOR VETS ROOKS – He leaves for the airport from the field after doing everything he could in Game 1 to give the Vets a W. So…some might say…he’s crazy. But….it’s never crazy to live a great life. How can anyone think that? We should all aspire to greatness and Singer is showing us how that is done. Life has rules, sure. But so many of the rules we live by we place upon ourselves and they are based on expectations of others. Whenever you think you want to do something great but can’t….think of Singer getting on that flight on Saturday night, coming to the field bright and early, and playing his ass off….then racing over to JFK. And don’t think about how funny it is or belittle it as being a quirky anecdote. That’s an insult. That’s self-defeating. Instead, think about how life can be lived on terms that are transcendent! And f***ing achieve that!

The Juniors were lead by the embattled Feit and comprised of Bert, MK, Effie, Tabak, Zada, Pray, and Solo. 
The bottom line is these teams are stacked. Incredible assemblage of talent.  I will say that the old v. young game is naturally going to favor the young because…y’know….they usually can move a lot faster than their elders. But we have a Hulk! Well two Hulks. One named Munch and the other named Singer. That gave the Vets a punchers chance. Add to that an all around talented team. Yaron is a hot and cold QB (usually within the same game) who can throw passes of pure fire and just as readily burn his team. Steveo has something forever Rookie about him. You just always believe he is some high school kid who can run for days. Tom has been on a tear. E is just super competitive and angry and that always plays. And Sam can rip off your arms and replace them with realistic other arms. 

Yaron and Feit are similar in a way. The problem is never their arms or their play calling. It’s always their decision making. They don’t take what the defense gives them. They scan and scan for something great perhaps, but on 1st or 2nd down sometimes you should just take what is good. 

Early in the game Yaron had one thing working very well. Passes to Singer. They hooked up for big yards a number of times, but when he looked elsewhere the result was disappointing. Feit was struggling similarly. He could get a few completions, but was unable to sustain drives. Twenty minutes into the game it was scoreless when disaster struck for the Vets in about 4 different ways. Munch injured his thumb and pulled himself from the game to assess the damage. Yaron dropped back to pass from the Rooks’ 10 yard line and got clobbered by….maybe Bert…and threw a pick to MK who easily took it in for the score. Rooks took the lead while Yaron was on his back. It was deflating moment and the Vets had to consider whether this was going to get ugly fast. It did get a bit uglier. Yaron’s offense was still flailing. Feit looked good in the first half. He had a beautiful fade to MK in the right corner to set up a Zada TD. The Rooks were off and running with a 2-0 lead. Steveo of course made a vintage Steveo pick and the hope was that it was the sign of a turnaround…and it kind of was.

Munch came back in and – although he was not 100% – he was effective in chasing Feit and making him really uncomfortable. Munch would stay in and Feit would not put up another score for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, Yaron and Beast started to put their differences aside and create some magic. For a good two drives it was the Yaron and Beast show. Beast was taking the Rooks to school with great hands, speed, shiftiness, and stiff arms. Although Yaron did his best to squander Beast’s efforts by going impotent in the red zone, Pray decided to drop a pick and tip the ball to Tom…who caught it for a TD. Vets trailing by 1. 

Like Munch, Steveo took himself out for a thumb injury, but unlike Munch, Steveo is human, so he remained on the sidelines for the remainder of the game. Jordan, PJs and Mighty rotated in, with Mighty being the most effective. Basically, he came in and it looked like a different team. Fresh old legs in a game that was an hour and fifteen minutes old. At some point Tom kicked Bert – which everyone liked. We will learn more about this in our recap of Game 2, but Mighty  was took the Vets Rooks game as an opportunity to go old school assassin. He picked Pray and nearly took it all the way. With the dynamic duo back together, Singer stepped up and made the catch that tied the game with minutes left. With that….our hero…Snow Pup Singer dashes off into the sunrise – his aura bright and radiant. In OT, Feit still could not rediscover that first half magic and Yaron had the ball last with an opportunity to win the game and give the Vets their 4th win in a row. A spectacular drive ensued of which I can tell you nothing about other than that I was sh***ing in my pants the whole time. Once again, the red zone became his kryptonite and the a 1st and goal stunningly turned into a 4th and goal. As Mighty jumped for a laserbeam in the back of the endzone, the hearts of every Vet from B-sh to BD to Zez to Spira jumped along with him…..but as his cleats landed at least partially on the white strip that marks the back of the endzone….the hopes of a win died. But it was also a non-loss. It was left to the Vets of Game 2 to make seize the day…or not. But that tale is for another day.

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Three reasons why Vets Rooks matters (or at least feels like it does). 1.) The Challenge: Everyone has something to prove. 2.) The Tribalism: Like Leagues, the feeling of being part of a defined group rallying united. 3.) The Trash Talk: Every nerve-ending is at attention responding to the digs and barrage of provocations.  It heightens the drama like no other game.

But,  that is all in the pre-game analysis. Once the ball is snapped,  the game itself will dictate whether it mattered or not. This past Sunday,  Vets Rooks mattered; both in the pre-op and in the postmortem.

The challenge was real. Gronk v. Pray. Two MVP contenders with pride – going head to head. The Vets being Mighty, Jordan, Rabin, Klink, PJs, Daveo, and Kut. Each bleeding Vet pride more than the next. Wanting to prove that they still got it for themselves and for the Vets of today and yesteryear. The Rooks being Prime Storm and Salem representing a more experienced brand of Rook. Irv,  a bit seasoned himself and the standard for talent for the next decade. And true Rooks, Ernie, Waldo, and the namesake Rook himself. Trying to prove that they belong and are going nowhere. That one day they will battle for the Vets. That they will not fade away like so many pretenders have before them.

The Tribalism was real. The Vets were breathing as one. A single organism with so many games and years of Jewball under their belts. Each one knowing how much it meant. Each one knowing exactly what the others were thinking. The Rookies as well, bound by their up and coming status. The chip being large and heavy but shared and resting with its weight divided evenly across their shoulders. The Rookies are usually weakened by their inability to get on the same page. To find common ground. To think like a team. The elder statesmen Rooks made sure that wasn’t going to happen. There was something different about this Rookie team because of what Prime, Pray, Salem and Storm brought to the table this year. Vets Rooks is always about youth v. experience. Well, look the f*** out when the youth HAS experience.

The Trash Talk was real. There are no hard feelings in Jewball. It is all love. But there is healthy competition. And there is aggression between certain players. A desire to best the other. And the Rookies had to eat it for the past three years. They did so. But it had to have been frustrating to take the boasting from the Vets year after year and leading up to the game. They could not respond. They could only think – maybe whisper – “you’ll see…”
To the game.

If it wasn’t on the very first drive that Pray and the Rooks scored, it was the second. Throwing screens and blockers, mostly to Jordan’s side and with Pray running when he needed to….the ball just moved on the Vets. It was a sort of bullying tactic that set the precedent early on. A wise move to make a statement: We may be Rooks but we will not be intimidated. We will impose our will. First downs came very easily. In the end, with Pray at the 5, he does his usual thing running ten yards back and to the right side. The defense shifts over to bottle him up and cover his commitment to the right side of the endzone. But…Pray does something a bit different. He swivels his shoulders and spots Salem wide open at about the line of scrimmage on the opposite side of the field. Pray guns it cross body and Salem makes the catch. Only Klink was patient enough to stay home on the rollout by Pray so he is still there, between Salem and the goal line. Salem at the 5, Klink at the 3. Mano a Mano. Rook v. Vet. Salem ducks in, then out, Klink falls. Salem takes it in. Rooks take a 1-0 lead.

Vets got the ball and did the very same thing the Rooks had done. Marched down the field quite easily. We didn’t use screens because we have Mighty to just run around defenders. And we have Gronk who just finds people open wherever they may be. With Jordan and Mighty running deeper routes, Daveo was open a lot in the first half and making big yard catches. Gronk is also a master of the hips (a hipster) and he can evade flag grabs with a shimmy. Whereas Pray closed the deal on his opening drive with a TD, Gronk feeds the burgeoning Rookie Beast by throwing a pick in the endzone to the Rook himself. Talk about a bad omen. From there it got worse. Vet drives were fruitless when it came to scoring and the Rooks were piling up TDs. Prime was so good on Sunday. I’ll tell you right now he’s not getting Jewball, but I feel like Jewball would not be good enough for what he was on Sunday – if that makes sense. He was the soul of his team. There is no award for that. He (with Salem also very much in that supernatural realm) made sure of the result. The result late in the 2nd quarter was 3-0 Rooks because Prime and Pray had put up 2 more unanswered points. 

The Vets called a Time Out! The Defensive scheme wasn’t working. The Rooks were going shot so Mighty at safety was taken out of the game. The line wasn’t getting to Pray. Gronk rushing from the LB was too little too late. New Defense: Mighty plays middle LB. Gronk spies QB and doesn’t rush. PJs and Kut will go after the QB. It changed everything. All of a sudden. Screens were being blown up. Pray couldn’t run (as much). And PJs and Kut were getting real pressure on the QB. At one point PJs put his league QB on the turf with Vet-geance! The Vets knew that Gronk would eventually put up TDs. He always does. So it was a matter of getting stops. The Vets got a stop. Gronk found Kut underneath and Kut made a move with a stiff arm and took it to the house. Vets are on the board 3-1 going into half time.
As the second half started, the Vets had some hope. And that hope went into overdrive when Jordan picked Pray on a deep ball to Ernie and ran it back to the Vets 26. Gronk and Mighty quickly cashed in the turnover with a TD. Mighty, like Prime, came to play on a level that few Jewballer can touch. It’s something some players just have – are born with. Big game fierce. If Gronk put the ball anywhere near Mighty he caught it and turned into bonus yards. And he always covered – just mattered if it was single or double. All of a sudden with 40 minutes to go it was a once score game. The momentum had shifted way over to the Vets. But it still didn’t feel comfortable. The Rooks had a fire that would not go out – and certainly not while they held on to the lead. And as momentum in sports tends to do – it swings in an instant. That instant was an inexplicable pass from Gronk to Waldo. I don’t know what Gronk saw. I mean, Waldo was wide open, but still….he was on the other team. He wears a very unique hat. Every Vet is short. Whatever they case, Waldo with the pick. Perhaps it was another one of those bad omens. Perhaps it was a day where a madenning Waldo pick needed to be foreshadowed. The Vets are barely recovered from the shock when Pray somehow does what he always does – rolls right – and gets past all defenders for a score. It is 4-2 Rooks.

The Vets strike right back but now the clock is at 30 minutes to go. It’s Mighty again. Just making crazy catches and crazy runs and refusing to be denied greatness. He returns the score to a one point Rook advantage with 25 minutes left.

Pray scored again, I don’t really care how, but it made it 5-3. Gronk was under a lot of pressure from Salem and he could not really do as he pleased, but MIghty was always reliable throughout the game. Like I said…throw it to him…he will catch it. When the Vets needed him most in the waning minutes of the game, Gronk tosses a ball to Mighty who was covered stride for stride by two Rooks and he made the catch and left them in his dust. 15 minutes left. 5-4 Rooks.

The Rooks were driving to ice the game with 10 minutes to play. The Vets defense was doing a good job keeping the Rooks from the big play, but the clock was ticking. Vets would get ball last either way, but a score by the Rooks would make last licks meaningless. At midfield, the Rooks faced a 4th and short and decided to go for it. Go for the W. Pray rolls left and looks to dump the ball to Salem underneath, but then decides to run. Of course he is way back because…that’s what he does. Jordan bolts in from the corner and evades Salem’s late breaking block. He meets Pray a yard before the line and manages to get the flag for the 4th down sack and hold. 3 plays later Gronk finds Rabin – the VET of all VETS – to tie the game!
The Vets hold the Rooks to a quick 3 and out. With 3 minutes left, Gronk and the Vets have the ball and with a single drive can win the game and keep the streak alive. Can provide an amazing capper to the recent run of the Vets. And everything came crashing down right away. Right away. On the first snap of what was poised to be a step toward greatness, Ivry rushes and gets a hand on the ball…it sinks instead of zips. Mighty can’t adjust in time. Waldo can adjust in time. Waldo dives for the ball while somehow staying on his feet. I guess that’s a tall person thing. He picks it off his shoe tops. He dashes into the endzone which is 6 yards away. Waldo races through the back of the endzone and spikes the ball in celebration with his teammates racing in behind him like fireworks into the night sky. It is astonishing. For this Vet, it was beautiful and tragic.

There is still time on the clock so the Vets get another drive. But much like when Zada scored that TD in a similarly awesome and hyped game last month when the Cronies faced the Lionhearts…you just knew. Waldo had won the Rooks that game. Whether it was in OT or regulation – you knew. Gronk and Jordan made it interesting, twice converting on 4th downs with desperation throws (pitches). But, like I said…you knew. In the end, the Vets got to about their 22, but failed to tie up the game and send it into OT. The Rooks pulled it out and made their statement. I didn’t even have the heart to remind them to take a picture.

Jewball is not easy. As I said…Pray, Prime, Storm, and Salem lead by example – showing the kind of commitment that is needed as well as playmaking. But…when I look at that game, when I remember that game, there is only one play that is gonna shatter me to my core. There is only play that didn’t make any sense in the flow of the narrative. Every single play in that game I can process. Except for what Waldo did in that final Vet drive. That he got that ball, didn’t fall on his face, and lead all the Rookies out the damn back of the endzone to an after party that they hadn’t even earned yet. If you are a stat-head he also had 2 sacks and the other stupid pick. Jewball to you Waldo. Love that you are now part of this family. As well as your other true Rookies. Congratulations again to all the Rookies who played this year. From the Veterans: We give you a hard time, but we know you are the future. One day this will be yours and it will only continue and be able to do great things if you stick to your craft and our traditions. We really want to beat you next year but in the meantime….thanks for joining us and making it feel like it was meant to be.

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So many storylines were created after the first meeting of FC vs BOP that the What’s Wrong With Pray segment on TBI gained steam. Feit was riding great statistics from that game and Storm looked like an MVP candidate. O and Kut had 2 straight league games of dominance – and BOP looked like a lost team. ​However, 2 months is a long time in Jewball. And what comes up must come down. Feit and Storm each missed time and Vegh and O each had issues with Feit prior to a league game with the Lionhearts. FC would be without Feit against the Cronies and they were blown out. And with FC now in last place and BOP looking to make a run. What would the results be?

Mother Nature said that this game would be the coldest game possibly in Jewball history. Salem had to sit out. Eddie would as well. Legs had a siddur play which would make him leave early, And for FC, Vegh was and is still in Jersey (his bed ). But 15 Jewballers braved the climate and met for what was primed to be a real tough matchup. Pray started with the ball and showed that he wanted to utilize the run early but FC grabbed some flags and a 3 and out ensued. FC would follow the same path. BOP’s second drive was highlighted by Tom calling for the ball and Pray throwing it with ease for 75 yards and an early 1-0 lead. FC was definitely feeling the effects of a cold QB coming back in the cold from broken ribs. But Feit hung in there until a big Dave-O sack forced them to punt. Speaking of Dave-O, he would get himself some handoffs and take one to the house for a 2-0 lead. Next FC possession was looking good and they were driving down the field with throws to Storm, MK, and Tabak. 4th and 10 and Feit was ready to get his team on the scoreboard after a 3rd down blitz by Dave-O that sent them back, Dave-O jumped on 4th and the line called a free play. Feit kept playing but BOP didn’t. TD to Storm was called off and the redo down got a PJ’s hit on Feits arm that Dave-O nearly picked off.  BOP would give the ball back but this time Pray was waiting for his chance on D and picked off Feit for a pick 6. 3-0 BOP. FC looked lost. BOP would get the ball again but this time Pray found Mighty deep to make it 4-0. Mighty on the next FC possession would pick off Feit but Pray threw a bad ball to Storm who had the pick. FC gave it back. Pray would find Tom again for a bobble and toe tapping TD. 5-0 BOP and Legs would leave after a sack and great pressures all game. In comes Walls. FC would have some good drives at the end with TDs to Tabak and Storm. Prime would get in on the action as well with a TD reception. Final score 6-2 BOP. Great to see Feit back… FC has work to do… Jewball goes to my fellow TBI, Dave-O as he was tenacious and instrumental in the win. Honorable mention to Tom Pray and Mighty! But Dave-O made the difference!

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Jewball is an education. In a lot of things. We all know that. One of the first lessons it taught me was that adapting is necessary and expectations are a trivial pursuit. You never know what’s going to happen. I certainly didn’t know what was going to happen 21 years ago when I stepped onto an oblong patch of grass in Flushing Meadows Park – most certainly in sneakers. It’s two plus decades later and I still don’t know what will happen in the next decade or even next week. Week 17 was on the schedule up until a few days before the game. But things change. Things always change. People come and go. Sometimes over the course of years. Sometimes within a season. Sometimes within a span of a few weeks. Jewball has an uncanny ability to audible.

I remember when the Cronies started coming down. But it wasn’t always this exact group. There was a crony named Chadow and he may been the best of em. Certainly the most likeable. Certainly the most competitive. He was a keeper. I remember really hoping he’d stick. I definitely thought he liked Jewball more than Goldberg. I was wrong. Jewball is an education.

We make plans. We call Week 15 a League Game and we circle it on our calendar. Babies are born. Trips are planned. Things change. Week 16 is now a League Game. All the better. It’s the Commish’s 44th birthday. A great day to celebrate. Gronk v. Yaron! The two powerhouse teams coming into League Game 5. The buildup has been enormous. But then we get real life. Tragedy enters the picture and that same Chadow who Jewballed with us at the Revolution’s pre-dawn hours….loses his sister at 28. And Gronk is now out witha funeral to attend. And there goes the game as it was “meant” to be. 

But it was played and it was a really good one – all things considered. There is not typo in the next sentence: The Cronies picked up Waldo as a last minute QB replacement for Gronk. Tall, calm, and can throw the ball. Good qualities for a QB. Gronk has those 3 plus a lot of other advantages, but the show goes on – Cronies hoped to give Liohearts a game. And they really did.

It was still cold but not nearly as frigid those who played Game 1 had it. Even though the Cronies were without Gronk and Goldberg – two great players on both sides of the ball – their defense is always formidable simply due to the combined menace of Munch and Solo at the line. Yaron’s options are somewhat limited. Plus he was down Ivry – a leading talent in our league right now. I wish I had the patience to go through the slugfest that was this game. I know it was back and forth. I know it was Logan and Ross over and over and over again for the TDs.

I know Yaron put up 1 right away – even before Logan showed up. Logan came late to the game of his life. Imagine if he could have made it one time! But he was responding to a fire emergency so good him. Pray stepped in for the hero. Jewball adapated. But Pray got pushed around by Singer and the Cronies adapted to the tune of a 1-0 hole. 

Waldo actually looked good right away. Jordan – looking 44 on the first drive – dropped two balls and the prospects on offense seemed dim for the Cronies. Once Logan arrived and was there to gnash his teeth at his teammates the defense picked up. Yaron was doing a lot of screens with Singer blocking, which works well, but Munch and Solo are masters of the lateral pursuit.

Waldo then started making serious strides as a QB. Fitting passes into tight windows and making nice decisions. Sliding grab by Jordan. Acrobatic catch by Maor. TD to Logan! Cronies are on the board and the game is tied!
Time for some Steveo Island action. The momentum shifts even further in the Cronies direction as Steveo drapes himself over Ross and gets a pick to show for it on the sideline streak. Waldo converts the turnover into points – once again finding Logan in the endzone. Yaron would soon test that Steveo/Ross matchup again….this time throwing the ball a bit higher and farther and Ross does what he does – uses his size to scoring effect. The game is tied. 

Both defenses clamped down for the second half and yards were hard to come by. The injuries started mounting on both sides. Yaron and Solo were limping around between plays. Logan reinjured his groin. Jordan pulled his glute in pre-game warm ups. And Zada took a shot early on that slowed him down. No one made any excuse and everyone kept at it – but when the game would end – only one side would be recovering with something to be proud of. And that side seemed to be the Cronies. Waldo gutted out the 3rd quarter – making smart plays and finding open men. A huge 1st down to Steveo. A pump and go to Logan for another score. A dump off to Logan and a wolverine loping sprint for yet his 4th TD of the game. Could the Cronies hold on? They found themselves clinging to a 4-3 lead with 10 minutes left. The impossible seemed to be happening! A win without their leader and the current MVP of Jewball.

Maybe Waldo had been asked to do too much and it was only a matter of time before the house of cards came crashing down. At midfield – a ball – a catchable ball – high, but catchable – especially for someone like Maor – glances off Maor’s hands and Yaron picks it. And so Yaron begins a drive that will decide the game. They need a score to keep the game going. Everyone knows what happened next. Everyone watched the video 100 times. Slowed it down. Took countless screenshots. Wait….that was just me? And speaking of that video….PJS giving new meaning to a PJS Perspective. The perspective of a man who needs a nice restraining order served on him. Anyway – for those who don’t know – after a sack that drove Yaron back and seemed to have iced the game – Yaron was faced with a 4th and 25 and the prospect of a loss. I can hardly bear to write this….

Waldo had played nice man coverage on Ross after Yaron was picking on Steveo a bit too much – Steveo is a great cover man – but a foot advantage is a foot advantage. Waldo stuck Ross and had batted a few balls away. On this final play of the game….Yaron went to Ross. It was a jump ball in the corner of the endzone. Waldo faded with Ross and the ball was placed deep. If untouched it would have likely landed in the back of the endzone and bounced out. A perfect pass to – say Prime – if Prime were running a deep route to the corner being chased by – say MK. But the dynamics are different with tall leapers. They don’t need to run top speed to a spot to meet the ball when it finally drops into their hands. Tall leapers can stop at a point well earlier. Stop. Leap. And be tall. That’s what Ross did. And that’s why this game went into OT. Waldo was behind him. The pass was a great pass to Waldo if he was the receiver. The problem was….he acted like the receiver when Cronies needed him to be the defender. While Waldo was waiting for the ball….Ross went up to get it. His jump, concentration, and ability to seize the ball from the grip of the sky was a thing of beauty. Heartbreaking beauty. As Logan said…when that catch was made…the game was over. OT would do the Cronies no favors. They were in shambles.

In the OT it was all Lionhearts. Yaron with an incredible flag pull on Jordan in the open field going full out dive that maybe saved a TD. And final play of the game – pump and go to Zada. Prefect throw – perfect hands….TD. Lionhearts win an OT thriller. One of those games where Ross should be content with the stats and the heroic shit at the buzzer. 

I never asked Yaron why he named his team the Lionhearts. I just assumed it was because he is and always will be cheesy AF. But I can’t deny what I saw two Sundays ago (And 3 Sundays ago as well). Call it cheesy. Call it a cliché. Yaron played with the heart of a lion. The pick. The TD throw. The flag grab. Three plays that were absolutely essential. 3 plays in all facets of the game that – if any were not made when they were made – his team loses. Yaron WILLED his team to that win. Should it have been that difficult to win? That’s another story for another day. For today, he gets another very well deserved Jewball.

I guess I’ll end with a personal note so as not to disappoint Steveo. As mentioned, Week 16 was touched by both death and birth. The untimely death of a Jewballer’s sister, may her neshama have an Aliyah. An the long ago birth of myself. It makes you think. Birthdays in general make you think. Especially as you get older. Mortality – all that fun stuff. What am I doing here? Has it been worth my allotted time? And – oh shit! – how much time do I even have? And of that time….how much is y’know…gonna be quality time? Birthdays used to be balloons and cake. Now they are systems checks and existential analyses. In a very legit way…it makes them better. Certainly, more meaningful. Before 30 birthdays are Purim. 30-40 they are Rosh Hashanah. 40 and up they are Yom Kippur.

For those of you in the Yom Kippur bracket – this isn’t for you. For the next generation. My wish for you – is that when you get up there and you need to take stock of how you lived (cuz – let’s be honest – 44…you pretty much made your bed) that you have something as fulfilling and unconflicted as Jewball to reference – so you can do that scan once a year and be confident you done good.

Jewball needed a charge going into the final stretch of the season and Week 15 was supposed to be that. First, because it was going to be a League Game. Then, because it was going to be a tackle game. In the end, it was neither, but I think it still found a way to wake us up from our long mid-season slumber. Because just like that we are looking down the barrel of another Jewball season being laid to rest. Just like that. The Draft Party feels like yesterday. How young and naïve we were. Feit taking Kut no. 2 overall. Yaron still expecting to be the top QB in league. Rabin hadn’t penetrated me or anyone in my family. Laura Curran had a job. And then….in a flash, everything changed. In a Flash, Feit needed a backup QB. Yaron lost a lot. Curran lost a lock. And Rabin took my ass all the way to the bank.

This isn’t to say we haven’t had our moments. We have. Great ones. A few of them were even on the field and related to playing the sport of football. But I’m not gonna kid myself. We have not had many great games of late. The motor got going a bit in Week 14 when Game 2 proved to be a hard fought battle between Yaron and Gronk that Yaron managed to just squeak out the loss. A week later in another wild contest in Game 2, the result was the opposite versus Pray.

Hard not to begin with the tackle game that wasn’t. There was snow. It came down midweek and it was the right amount. Just the right amount. Two very cold but sunny days followed and, though a tackle game was called for, it became a race against time. Would the snow stick around or would it melt under pressure like Yaron in a big game. We looked good for tackle. Singer transformed into Snow Pup and went to the groomer and everything. He was buffed and fluffed and ready to take on the world. Your commissioner checked the field on Saturday night. Still plenty of snow and forecast called for freezing temps until game time. Forecast was wrong. Snow melted over night and by the time PJs and Yaron checked the grass on Sunday morning, we had a windy but bright day and the grass could be seen on the field. The good news was, the turf was deemed playable and we adjusted on the fly as Jewball is adept enough to do. Some parts move around. Tom to early for Effie. Jack and Waldo to late for Storm and Legs. And play ball. 

I didn’t see all of Game 1, but I did see enough to know that Pray has made adjustments that are suiting him well. Sam’s excellent defensive play a few weeks ago injuring Pray’s throwing arm may just be the turning point of the BOP season. We shall see this Sunday. A Pray that is forced to think more about the short game than the long game is a dangerous Pray. His playbook has not completely eliminated the forward pass, but he’s certainly embraced the virtues of the run/screen game. They may make for boring football, but they certainly can engender consistently winning football.
It was cold out there for Game 1. Windy and bitingly cold. I couldn’t hang around the whole time. I had seen Pray take off and run one through Yaron’s defense for a score, but I had to go. Before I left I had the opportunity to see Big E stop Yaron on a 4th and short. The dude has quick hands. He may not catch up to you, but if you cross his path, he will pull your flag. I’ve seen him do it every time. What I also saw was Pray miss him for a TD. E is not quick of course, but he runs routes like a receiver. They are direct and his head is on that swivel eyeing the QB ready for the pass. On a 3rd and goal, E slanted underneath looking for the pass. He was open at the 1. Maybe Pray thought Zada would show up and stop Bigs, so he elected to throw elsewhere incomplete. 

When I returned to the game a few minutes before the start of Game 2, I was told Pray was up 3-1 and that E and O were having themselves a game. Later that week Munch would talk about I, but that’s a vowel for another day. Pray was running O out from the TE spot and picking up all kinds of yards. And E had caught a TD pass! Had blocked a ball! Had earned a Jewball. 

A little history. I met E in Israel. He was not my roommate, but by chance we were neighbors in the dorm. Like he said on TBI, we became closer in YU because he was an out-of-towner (Seattle) and my parents were very hospitable. My friends would go to my parents even (and perhaps purposely) when I wasn’t around. Fast forward 20 years and we get a chat going for my Israel year crew. E and I are reunited. He says he’ll play football. I humor him. It’s a miracle that I can still get out there and I’ve been doing it straight for 21 years. He came down, but I thought he’d break something in his first game and that would be that. Well, he has proven me wrong. And last week he proved himself as a player in this game. He’s not young and he’s not in the best shape. But he is a tough angry bitter son of a bitch. And he grits his way through shit. Jewball to you, old friend. 

Yaron lost that game 3-1. I was told his play calling was bizarre and self defeating. Sounds about right. How would he do in Game 2?

Game 2 was madness. Back and forth until the final buzzer in OT. It was once again Pray v. Yaron and Pray was happy to continue to do what worked in Game 1. His first score was a screen to Prime that Prime took down the sideline for 63 yards, thrashing people along the way. Prime protects that sideline like its made of weed. If you are a defender intimidated by his bark and his bite….you have no chance. And Yaron’s crew looked intimidated. It helped that Prime had the metallic purple fangs mouth guard going.

Pray scored again while Yaron was still figuring his shite out. On the ground again, but with Pray running it’s less about intimidation and more about reflexes. How quickly can your brain react to the fact that the QB is….and he’s passed you – flying down the opposite sideline and gone into the distance. 2-0 Pray. It was looking like another stress-free win for Pray and demoralizing loss for Yaron (his 6th in a row). I wish I could say what happened next that turned the tides. From the box score, it seems that Yaron’s squad contributed on defense (despite the numerous missed flags which lead to half of Pray’s points on the day) and Pray’s team did not. Pray was picked twice (both by Jack). Pray was sacked three times (Daveo 2 and Beast 1). Yaron threw zero picks and was sacked zero times. And he started to find his receivers in tight spots. The scoring was kicked off when Yaron found his safety blanket Jack on a cross to make it a one score game. Shortly thereafter, he slings a well-placed ball to Zada on the out from the 6 and we have a ball game.

Bron was on the comeback trail and soon, with the score knotted, the game took on a different dynamic.  Although there was an expectation Yaron would eventually do his thing and lose, Pray was forced to make something happen and dig a little deeper. Prime and O were still reliable for the screen/TE roll out combo and – with Yaron’s team missing flags in the first half – drives were easy. From Yaron’s 15, Pray runs right and zings one cross body to a counter-cutting Waldo. What’s Wrong With to Where’s for the score! The giant from Pitt makes a nifty catch using his big frame and mitts and gives his team the lead once again.

Yaron punched right back with an incredibly timed 20 yard pass thrown before MK turned his head but settling into his arms at the precise moment when Waldo had nice coverage but imperfect field awareness. Yaron became really excited and confident. You can tell he’s feeling it when he rushes his team down the field in a way that signals a hurry up offense, but once they get to the spot he calls his players into a 4 minute huddle.

Game tied again which is prime time for Prime time. I wish I could say it took anything more than Prime being Prime. A screen and hardnosed dash to the end zone. The first half ends. Pray takes a lead into the locker room. 

The second half starts with a big play by Daveo – who had himself a hell of a game from TE slot. Both teams had made a defensive adjustment. For Pray, they went to a man, with Jordan covering the TE. For Yaron, they stopped missing flags. Jordan watching Daveo worked very well to limit his touches….except for the one time. Daveo springs from the TE slot as if he has the ball, which had been a running joke for a while…except this time he stops and cuts back. Precisely on the cut back Yaron feeds him the ball and the kid takes off. Jordan is still recovering from the cut. Now it is Pray’s team’s turn to miss flags. They oblige and Daveo is through. He has one man to beat. Jordan has tracked him down and MK is blocking some ghost at midfield while Daveo and Jordan size each other up down the sideline. When Jordan is about to close in, Daveo jams on the brakes and – for the second time in the same play – Jordan flies past him. Daveo scores. Game knotted again.

Yaron was really pumped. Pray was confident these scores were mild setbacks. He seemed right. With ease, he put up two quick TDs. One to Tom. One to Jordan. With a half hour to go in the game, chances seemed good Yaron would suffer another almost W. Pray would not score or really do much on offense for the rest of the game. Yaron did a lot.

He starts with a TD to Jack. Routine stuff. No big deal. But it took a while and the clock was not his friend, having been chasing two scores with only fifteen minutes left. Pray was also guaranteed ball last because of….well….yknow….because Jewball. So, on his final possession – Yaron reads the defense and maybe realizes that it’s man coverage and nobody is taking him. Or maybe he just panicked. But, either way….in a big spot and with everything on the line – the man who is broken both emotionally and physically……SPRINTS to the right sideline and gets the edge. He flies down that sideline like his life depended on it and he silences the crowd and his critics and most importantly the millions of voices in his head. Wait…..wait…no….they are still there. Like I said, Pray didn’t do much on offense the rest of the way so the best ending we can come up with here for Pray is a tie. 

In OT – which was agreed to be a one and one – Yaron throws a really sloppy bad idea of a pass to…probably Jack…that Waldo picks off at the 20. Yaron hangs his head and starts muttering to himself. He wonders where he left his favorite noose. Pray will surely punch it in from the 20 and another loss will be hung on him before he hangs himself. BUT WAIT! Waldo had it….and then he didn’t. Yaron’s favorite linemen BEAST to the rescue. As  heady play as you will ever see….On the catch Beast wraps his arms around Waldo from behind and the ball comes out and hits the floor. No Catch! No Pick! Yaron lives! 

And MK lives as well. One thing you can say about Yaron. He never gets scared off by failure. He will keep going back to the long ball. He believes in himself and his receivers. MK on a deep route and the hook up is consummated. Catch and run. 7-6 Yaron. Pray’s final gasp is a pick by Jack. That’s your shoot out of a ball game. Second week in a row I go home with an L but feeling like there was a reason to show up regardless. Jewball to…..I guess Yaron, even though Daveo played very well and Jack had a nice stat line. Yaron gets it because he lead his team. Never more-so than on that final do or die drive when he took off down that sideline with six guys on his back.

The year has just begun but I’m starting to get that sinking feeling. Another Jewball Season is 3 quarters done. All 3 Bowl Games behind us. So much to look forward to, but even more to look back on. These recaps get harder and harder to write. Not just because keeping it fresh this late in the year becomes challenging, but because…well…it’s depressing that a Jewball season – like all good things – is finite. So be it. Week 14 was very much needed. It sets the stage for the final lap of this 2021-2022 season. My hope is that our best football is ahead of us. 
While there are plenty of races still up for grabs and storylines to be written…Who will win the League Championship? Rookie of the Year? Most Improved? TD Leader? One question seems to be answered on a weekly basis – each time with emphasis added. Change the formula, the motivation, the role, the narrative, the players, the pieces, the field position, the weather…Change it all! And yet no one has been able to knock Gronk off his firm position of dominance atop Mount Jewball. For those gunning to do it – 6 Weeks Left. Clock is ticking. 
You may be saying….this is supposed to be the recap. Not an Ode to Gronk. Not a ballad of praise for one player when there are so many players having big seasons. Well, you must be right – let’s get to the recaps so I can stop talking about Gronk.

Gronk had a hell of a Week 14. He was slotted in for a both doing double duty as receiver for Pray in Game 1 and QB v. Yaron in Game 2. Yaron, meanwhile, took the ball and manned the huddle in both the early and late game.
No question, Yaron has been on a bad run. He’s not exactly throwing badly, but he’s been stuck in a very Rabin of the Renaissance period category: Just Enough To Lose. You can break down certain things he does well and conclude that he should win the games he starts. No one is more engaged. His arm is brilliant. His will is undeniable. His play-calling is….um…..it’s….y’know….it’s….creative! But you take these pieces – and it’s confounding because they don’t translate into wins as much as you would think. I’m sure Daveo can tell you what his W-L record is as a Jewball starting QB….and…I’m gonna guess it’s hovering around .500. And that shouldn’t be the case for how good he is. 
He did just enough to lose both Games on Sunday.
Game 1 it was two egregious picks early in the game that Pray converted into TDs with Gronk to put Yaron in a 2-0 hole before he could catch his breath. Pray to Gronk just looked too easy. That being said, both early TDs came as a result of non-calls (which we like) where Yaron’s squad for sure could have benefitted from calling a pick play on one and a hold on the other. We play through. Back to Pray and Gronk. Pray would basically throw it up in the air and unless Gronk decided to straight drop it (which happened twice), he’d just post up and come down with the ball. I told Mighty – who was in on those plays – there was a time when Mighty would definitely make you think twice about catching a ball over him. You may catch it, but it would be a very violent encounter. May those days return!
While Pray was scoring with relative ease (he looked really good and poised and had an excellent synergy with both Gronk (2 TDs) and Singer (3TDs), Yaron was just unable to find the answers on offense. The final is 6-4 but it was 6-1 for most of the game. Pray had the game won at the half. This week’s TBI guest had a special game with a TD and a sack and a very good showing considering he was up against Munch. Munch got his stats by the end of the game (3 sacks) but I don’t think he had any (or maybe just had 1) while Pray put up his 6 TDs. Too little too late.
Jewball without doubt to the injured Pray for looking uninjured and inspired. Crazy line – 5 TDs thrown, 2 Picks, and a sack! Heal up bro!!! BOP needs you to repeat!
Game 2 was the better game by all accounts, but a tough one to swallow personally as I lined up with Yaron and once again it was a JETL game. Proud to say I was part of it, even on the losing end. It was the first close game that didn’t result in a tie since Week 8. Even better, the score was kept low. Both teams prioritized defense and TDs were hard to come by. As they should be! 
In this game, as mentioned, Gronk was throwing for his team and if there ever was a game that shows you why he is in the driver’s seat for season MVP…
I guess we need to start from the end. Tom is getting the Jewball. Why? He scored 2 of his teams 3TDs. He didn’t miss flags on defense. He blocked. And he picked up a bunch of big 1st downs. 
I know Tom has gotten Jewballs before, but it is a testament to Gronk’s greatness as a QB this season that he makes everyone look good. Attention Jewball QBs: Gronk gets in the huddle and doesn’t start with a.) who are my best receivers and b.) how can I expose the defense to get those guys the ball. He gets into the huddle and starts with a.) Holy S***! there is huge mismatch here and b.) There is a huge hole in the defense there. He starts with: I’m throwing to the receiver with the mismatch. It’s his job to catch it. I’m throwing to the space in the defense desperate to be exploited. I’m throwing where there is ALREADY an opening.
I feel like some QBs (Yaron, for example) calls plays as if all things are equal. Jordan run a pump and go is a neutral play call. It’s just a thing. It’s words. If Jordan is matched up with someone who will bite (I know who you are)…hell yeah. It’s guaranteed. If Jordan is matched up with Logan…it’s the same play call but it’s just not gonna work. A QB needs to see that it’s Logan out there and either send Jordan to the other side or….do something else.
Same concept, different angle: It’s easy to see which side of the defense is stronger. So how about this…never run a screen to the stronger side. Never. Not once. Make the defense adjust. I feel like some of our QBs do the defense too many favors in the name of “mixing it up.” It’s a good recipe for going home frustrated with an L around your neck.
I’m saying this with no offense to Yaron or anyone, but really as a compliment to Gronk. Tom is tall. Klink is not as tall. Throw it up to Tom. That’s how Gronk’s first TD was scored. By him seeing something and knowing it was virtually a sure thing. I encourage our other QBs to stop making their lives so difficult. If you are play-calling without actually taking into account the defenders – who they are where they are – you are hopelessly spinning your wheels.
Unlike in Game 1, the score was not run up on Yaron. In fact, Gronk was a bit stymied. The fierce combo rush of Legs and Kut produced 7 sacks! Yaron was sticking around, eventually cashing in with a remarkably awesome 4th and long laser beam to Kut in the back of the end zone. And even more fairness to Yaron, his players let him down on a number of occasions. Legs and Rook had almost TDs that a little extra effort and focus would have brought to actualization. Indeed, Prime seemed to have a TD but his world famous stiff arm was called a flag guard by Irv. The same Irv that extends his TD Leader status by scoring on an out, beating Jordan in man coverage easily and putting his team up by 1. Prime would not be denied the next time he got his hands on the ball. Like all of the players in Game 2, Prime was locked in. It felt like a warzone out there. Bodies were flying. Pants were coming down. Yaron, ankle tackle on Logan. Logan, collision with Rook saving a huge game changing gain. Gronk taking a Yaron bullet pass to the face from a yard away and shaking it off.
In the end, it was Tom who made the difference Getting open. Keeping it simple. See the ball. Catch the ball. Gronk will find you. Tom scored on a catch and run to put Gronk up 3-2 and the defense did the rest. Excellent game that stings still for all the best reasons. 
Week 15 coming up next. Gronk is out. Who will step up?