Early Game – 8am:

Team Dark:

Yaron, Kut, Jordan, Rabin, Goldberg, Vegh, Munch

vs.

Team Color:

Prager, Zada, Tom, Sam, Josh, Singer, Beast

Late Game – 945am:

Team Dark:

Rabin, Yaron, Vegh, Ari, Prime, Mo, Tom

vs.

Team Color:

Pants, Jordan, Brody, Eddie, Daveo, Dobs, Zada/Beast

Week 3 had everything you want and need early on in a season that started on rocky footing. Talented players, competative games, full teams on time, and decent weather. In a word: stability. Week 1 was postponed and wound up in some tournament style chaos. Week 2 was equally chaotic in a failed bid at simultaneous games. But Week 3 was about right. 2 games, one early one late, stacked with talent. QBs who can handle the role and are adept signal callers. Yes, some cancels, but people stepped up (GOLDBERG! You can have come a long way, homes!) and….I think….b’a’h…..no injuries. Stability. Its important in Week 3 to find that footing. And it was definitely needed and now we can build off the model.

Game 1 looks like we can lock in Sholom v. Yaron as battle that will go back and forth the entire season. Flip a coin as to how the Ws and Ls will shake out at the end of the year. What I love so far about that matchup is that their skills will force the other to bring it on every set. Yaron cannot take it easy and assume the comeback if he gets down. He needs to throw his best because Sholom has a real skill set. Last week, Yaron was not “on” and he took the loss. This week, he was sharp and the win was his for the taking. On a cold(ish) and windy(ish) morning, Yaron took the ball and commanded a dark squad of Zada, Effie, DK, Steveo, Tom, and Beast. Sholom and colors started in a zone that was beyond their grasp. Sam and Goldberg were rushing. Jordan and Skully played the sides. Sholom and Evan played back. MK manned the middle. But it was chaotic. And Yaron is too smart for a zone defense to work. Especially a poorly strategized one. Darks opening drive march to the 7 yard line was effortless. Patient mid range passes mixed in with QB runs. Eventually, Steveo sneaks behind the zone and Yaron hits him the endzone for a 1-0 lead. Truth be told, Sholom did not have the zip or accuracy he displayed in Week 2. The wind seemed to affect him. Certainly less than it affected Yaron. Also, the QB runs and elusiveness that allowed him to break open big plays in Week 2 were snuffed out by a collective swarming effort by Zada, Yaron and DK. Tom and Effie and Beast brought a lot of pressure. Sacks abounded. Yaron got the ball back and drove quite easily against the zone one again. Zada was the beneficiary this time and scored. 2-0 Dark. Colors switched to a zone and it did slow down Yaron’s barrage of scoring. With a Skully pick being the only early highlight for Colors, it did not translate to points. At the half it was still 2-0. But straight out of halftime Sholom and Jordan finally hooked up and exploited Steveo’s cheating close off the line on man coverage. Deep post, caught and down at the 5. Fake sweep and shovel to the TE Skully in the opposite direction. Easy score for Colors and we have ourselves a ball game. 2-1. But damn if Yaron doesnt take that personally. And Steveo and Jordan have been going mano a mano for a loooong time. Always an honor. And Yaron started finding him deep. Although one drop by Steveo in a cluster and a sure TD drop by Beast kept the score close, Yaron eventually zipped a beauty into Zada in the back of the endzone. After a bobble a secure and a toe tap, Zada’s grab was ruled a score. 3-1 Dark with a half hour to play. Soon enough, Sholom punched back again. Its Jordan and that post this time caught and manages to avoid the Steveo tackle, stays in bounds on the sideline and 40 yard run to pay dirt. 3-2. Yaron is all about pride and says to Steveo….whatever they can do we can do better. And he unleashes a massive bomb to Steveo down the left sideline. Jordan is with him. Even thinks the pick is possible. But instead of thinking like a reciever, he thinks like a defender – jumps, gets a finger tip on the ball – slowing it down just enough to make the catch easy for Steveo 

. TD for Dark. 4-2 with 20 minutes to go. Turning point of the game coming up. Sholom tries to go back to Jordan on that post and the ball is under thrown just enough that a Zada leap brings it down one handed and back breaker for Colors. To drive the point home, Yaron gets a 20 yard pass to fall into the awaiting arms of Effie (who is developing into quite the player) and just like that – without much time left on the clock – Dark is up 5-2. Sholom runs one in for Colors late, but not a difference maker at that point. MVP is Yaron for the 5 thrown and generally giving his team every opportunity to win – which is what everyone wants from their QB.

Game 2….I did not stay for, but thrilled Yaron lost. Thrilled Gronk is looking like an all star caliber QB. Thrilled my neighbor Mo is Jewball winner and put up great numbers. 

Who wants WEEK 4? Early, Late or Both (if both must say preference or I give you what works better for us. Also, preference does not guarantee preferred time. Both means I can put you in either game but will try to accomodate preference).

Game 1 – 8AM

Team Dark:

Yaron, Steveo, Tom, Katz+1, Beast, Effie, Zada

vs.

Team Color:

Prager, Sam, Katz, Evan, Jordan, Skully, Kut

Game 2 – 945AM

Team Dark:

Gronk, Effie, Katz, Katz+1, Mo, Beast, Vegh

vs.

Team Color:

Yaron, Prime, Zada, Brody, Goldberg, Dobby, Ari

Evan called it greedy. I said I was trying to be generous. For sure it was both. Greedy in that I was trying to keep as many people in the loop as possible so that when we start losing numbers in the cold and wet, there are enough ballers left to take us through the winter months coming up. I have learned to be greedy, because when you can’t get 10 guys for a game of 5s for a few years….u never forget. The lean years always stay with you. And so you learn to get greedy to survive. But I was also being generous. I see the hunger out there for games and no one knows that hunger more than me. I get it. And how could I turn away someone who just wants to play a game? So we pushed things to their limits. Which brings us to the right word – Week 2’s experiment was presumptuous. It did not work – and we learn from it. We presumed a lot. Too much. Having 26 guys on the field from 8-11:15 presumes a lot (everyone shows, no injuries, no lateness). And we arent there yet. And a part of me – and I think a lot of the vets agree – doesnt want to get there. As much as we love growth and stats and success….we dont want to lose our heart – the flavor of the game. We dont want to sell out. Go corporate. Become a monster. Like I said, it’s a tough balance. But, luckily – in that regard – last week did not work, so the reality on the ground dictated our path. We will go back to a regular doubleheader to try and accommodate as many guys as possible. At the same time, I am going to have to make tough decisions in who gets in to the games (if that many are interested). For example, I cant give u a spot if you come late, or dont show, or leave early, or generally are not reliable. I have to show deference to the Vets who have seen us through the years where we weren’t the popular choice. I have to show deference to talent because I want the games to be as competitive as possible. In other words, for the good of the games, I need to start being the bad guy. Stop being greedy. Stop being generous. And stop being presumptuous. Dont get me wrong – there were awesome things about last week – Game 2 was a classic – the fact there was a moment where 26 guys were playing Jewball – but the double doubleheader thing did not work. So we will go back to 8am and 945. Everyone gets at least one game. That’s enough. QBs can play both if we need them to. And the rest of the both spots (if any) will be on a rotation so that they are evenly distributed throughout the season. Recap and Sign Up to follow at around 5pm.

<Later that day….>

It’s cold, dark, and I already wrote today. I am really in no mood to recap. However, the show must go on. My bigger reservation is now that we are a stat based league, the recaps dont matter. But let’s keep it short and sweet. The Warm Up starter late as Prime had car trouble. He made it, but not right away. So was 5s for a while. Then 6s. I was told the teams I made were $#!& because @⁨Joshua Friedman⁩ is “the best player ever ever” so it was all him or something. I know he is very good. I heard he scored 4 TDs….so let’s give him a Jewball right there. I also apparently gave one team all the height. So just unfair. Anyway, the warm up game happened…and thanks for trying eveyone. 

. That’s the bugle they play at military funerals.
Okay on to the main stage. First things first. @⁨Sholom Prager⁩ looked very good. Love that we have a new legit QB. Welcome and hope to see a ton of you. You v. Yaron was a battle. Too bad Yaron was off….well, his whole team was off. Something was just wrong. One of those days where if the player was open the pass was either not in the right spot or if the pass was on it was dropped. Just ugly. Evan, Kut, Jordan…all with drops. Munch did his thing. Blocked and schemed and the defensive effort was generally competitive, but nothing to show for it. Was the kind of game where @⁨Eli⁩ and Jordan had a momentum swinging picks, but the momentum lead nowhere. On the other side of the ball, Sholom is colors was throwing some beauties. His team was doing him no favors either with a few drops of scoring chances. But, unlike Yaron and Dark, Colors used their momentum to put up a point. It was Singer with 2 picks and a TD. It was 1-0 for about an hour and 15 minutes. Crazy low score for that long. With a minute left @⁨Sholom Prager⁩ iced the game for his squad with a QB keeper and made it down the sideline and gone. 2-0 win…Colors over Dark.
Sholom may deserve an MVP but Singer gets it. Why? The stat line plus the play at Safety. One reason Yaron may have been off is that Singer made him feel squeezed. There seemed to be no window in which to place the ball. Well done, @⁨Meyer Singer Football⁩. Great to have u back. Expect big things.
I’ll recap Game 2 later. Was a shoot out! Dinner time in the Hiller home. Who wants WEEK 3? Early? Late? Both? (If both say a preference).

Game 2 happened on the main stage. It was the only game featured at 945. The After Party never materialized for various reasons. The good news was, the 945 needed spare parts from the After Party including a starting QB. Yaron stepped in and within a few minutes hooked up with Ari on a BOMB TD that may have just made up for all their failures in Week 1. May have. Malik came about 10 minute into the game and was off and running from there. Meanwhile Al and Jimmie split at line (with a rotation of Danny, Kito, Tomaz, and Josh to take over for John) so the 7s became a robust 8s. One very annoying thing about playing simultaneous games is that the lines are all messed up….so happy that is over. We widened and adjusted the field so this game could get the normalcy it soon deserved. Gronk looked super sharp and poised, making good decisions, when to run and when to throw. His passes were crisp and Brody was giving him a reliable target. Daveo was just a terror on both sides of the ball, but mainly getting his on defense. Malik was feeling it with Vegh on some nice crosses and comebacks but otherwise was having trouble in the passing game. Lucky for him, his running game is out of its mind. Basically, if u haven’t seen it, the closest I can compare it to is Mighty circa 2009. Virtually impossible to catch. Between the jukes, speed, escapability, and sheer brilliance….once he takes off, it’s only a matter of time that his legs will find the endzone. Between Veghs receptions and Flash’s running, Gronk and co were down 3 scores at the half. But what looked like a blow out soon turned into a duel. Daveo went next gear and became the hardest working man on the field. Once he made a catch, no one could lay on hand on him. He put up two scores in short order. Malik answered with a bomb TD of his own to Vegh and the lead was comfortable again. Gronk stayed calm and once again found a way to claw back. He actually was let down a few times by the usually reliable Danny. Maybe could have pulled this one out if a few things swung his way. We had a tie game with only a few minutes left. But Malik decided it was time to go home. Like in the first game, we end on a QB keeper. If Gronk and co won, would have been a more difficult call at MVP. Gronk threw and called as good a game as I’ve seen. Daveo was a force. Brody is a very welcome addition to our game. Those 3 came to work. But, Malik gets the MVP. The 3 scores and the the throwing TD did it. Also commendable work on keeping the rotation moving so the guys who got screwed by the After Party fail could get some ball in. TOP PLAYS: Dobby’s shirt. And Gronk telling him to go back to Staten Island for really no good reason. But it was all funny. WEEK 3 is currently locked out.* 

*Just need a QB for Game 2.