WEEK 1 RECAP

Great football weather this Sunday morning.”

Allan “The Oracle” Milchman


If there is ever a Week where competitive play matters the least, it is Week 1. Not that competitive games are ever unimportant. They are always the most important, but unlike every other Week of Jewball, Week 1 might just be about something else (and lucky for us since the games were not close). 

Week 1 is about renewal. Week 1 is about reunions. It is about clean slates, untapped potential, untold stories, unfulfilled destinies. It is about optimism. Where anything is possible. Where a kid named Brody and a kid named Pants, who we never heard of before, can grab the first two Jewballs. Where Mo, playing in his first game, now leads the league in scores. Where these three players become an integral and unalterable part of our story. A story which goes back to the early to mid 90s. Where rookies find their way amongst veterans and by the end of the game it feels like they have been here forever. Where the family grows – long live the Jewball family.

And we had plenty of that growth in Week 1. The perfect mix of youth, age, new faces, and incredible comebacks. Me, B-sh, and Rabin coming out for our 17th or 18th opening day together….and then old school vets like Meir, Munch, O, PJs, Singer and Mighty in the mix. New school Vets like Kut, Tom, and MK. Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen. 28 in all. 28! Has to be a record. All the generations blending for the game we call Jewball. As it should be. Here is to many more Week 1s!

As foretold by The Oracle, the weather Sunday was great. Sunshine and low 50s. Hardly any wind. LHS turf was open for the taking. 

(We now go to the words of our Jewball poet laureate – Kut):

After the hype, anticipation and ultimate letdown of opening day, guys were itching to get out and play. Not wanting to tempt the football gods, Commissioner Jordan decided to forego any talk of a tournament and just allowed guys to sign up for the early or the late game. (Not Both, Ademar) Within 15 minutes, the 8am game was closed out. Took about 3 days for the 9:45 game to fill up. (what used to be a lazy man’s game with a late start has turned into early risers greeting the day.) 
The teams looked decently matched on paper. Getting on the field it appeared as if one team was slightly more stacked than the other. Imagine lining up against Munch, O and Meir (Stein, not singer) they are big, fast and quite skilled. Kind of like Arya going against the Whitewalkers (Rooks should remember them from last year’s game, the one where Vets won!) I would love to tell you that they combined for 6 sacks, I’d love to tell you that they forced countless interceptions, I’d even like to tell you that they gave their QB plenty of time to throw many TD’s. Sadly, this was not the case. However, that was the case for the surprisingly dominant opposing line consisting of MK, Sam and Kut. Individually they may not have been as tough, skilled or dominant, but as a team, they were a force to be reckoned with. 
The game started with Rabin throwing for Dark. Quick interception and Colors go up by 1. Rabin takes it again, nice running play behind the big 3 for 25 yards. Pressure coming in, throw is out and …..Interception number 2. Yaron, throwing for Colors takes over and quickly turns in another score. Rabin takes over again, not feeling too confident, and……3 and out, passing game is just not there and the D-line is creating heavy pressure. Yaron gets the ball again, feeling pressure on a 3rd and long, he throws one up and the wrong team comes down with it. (Will it be one those games?) Gronk takes over at QB, things are looking good, until they’re not. Interception #4 for the day. Yaron gets the ball back and throws a beauty of a pass way down field to Brody. TD! Dark gets the ball, new QB, one of the legends has returned, Meir Stein, hell of an arm and lots of passion. (Called pass interference is still under review) Couple of complete passes, ball moving down the field, things are looking up. 3rd and 2, no where to throw, Meir starts running to his left, about to pass the line and Kut, chasing from behind dives and grabs the flag for a sack and turnover on downs. (if I’m writing the recap, I can put myself in it) Yaron gets the ball again and launches a rocket downfield, jump ball to Singer who easily handles the catch and gets the TD. Game didn’t change much at that point, more turnovers for Dark, including a pick by Asa, more TD’s for Color. Gronk takes over QB, again and manages to put together a very nice drive, capped off with a TD pass to Vegh, finally Dark is on the scoreboard. Icing on the game was Mighty catching a quick pass and flying past the depleted and tired defense (Hi Goldberg, wanted to get you in the recap,) to run in another TD. 
Final score of the game 7-1. Jewball goes to Brody for 2 picks and 2 TD’s. 
Decent game, should’ve been better. 
Shout out to Rabin who showed up to the game even though he was hosting an RCCS breakfast at 9:30.  Good to see a lot of faces out there on the field, looking forward to many more. 
(Back to Jordan)

Watching Game 1 come to a close was semi-depressing. If it wasn’t Week 1 and the high that goes along with it, it would have been very depressing. The losing team, lead by Rabin and Meir and Gronk was down by 6 scores and listless. After an exciting drive by Gronk (which should have been the type of game played by Dark all day) Mighty scores a late cheap one (and for those watching stats, it sucked to see!) and the Game 1 folks traipsed off the field.
The hope was that Game 2 would have more bite. And, with such a low bar, it did.
It was the reigning MVP Yaron against the 16 (SIXTEEN!) year old upstart Davy Pants, progeny of Eddie, brother of Ari. It takes a lot of guts to step into the ring with grown men and I give Pants all the credit in the world. But there is no way he could beat Yaron, who had just won 7-1 in the previous game. How could he outsling the gunslinger? But that’s why you play the game.

Pants starts his Jewball career with a 3 and out and Yaron and Colors take over, but not before a truly sad and scary moment as John goes down with a knee injury. Really tough to see. The guy is fire and explosive talent. If we all brought it like John, Jewball would be its best self. So…we wish him a speedy recovery. The 7 on 7 became a 6 on 6 with Colors rotating. Dark goes zone and it proves a tad porous. A methodical drive ends up with a Sam TD and Colors takes a 1-0 lead. 
From the 5, Pants calls a reverse – Jordan to Mo. We like the gutsy call. And wouldn’t u know it….Mo breaks free…makes his way through the line, then the secondary, and then it’s a footrace. And Mo is some athlete. Tall (at least for Jewball  ) and fast. Game is tied at 1s. And the Dark defense starts to lock it down, with honorable mention of MK and stellar flag pulling over the middle. Pick 6 by Pants. 90 yard screen and run to Jordan for a score. MK on the pitch and dive for more points. Before Yaron knew what hit him, he was in a 4-1 hole. Beast and Jordan started the presumptuous trash talk because, why not? Yaron is fun to beat up on and getting in his head couldn’t hurt. But Yaron is mentally tough. He and Tom start hooking up on TE roll out and eventually Danny is found in the endzone in a clever manipulation of the zone. 4-2 Dark. With some pressure, Dark goes 3 and out. And the game changes on the next drive. Maybe. Ari, who had been having a very rough game, including a dropped DIME from Yaron and a dropped easy pick that got tipped to Jordan and eventually wound up in the MK score, catches one on the sideline and does his bulldozer thing and gets in the endzone. Lead would have been cut to 1. But what’s that? A flag back at the line of scrimmage! Beast calls holding! Bring it back. Yaron regrouped and throws a TD pass to Danny but play isn’t made and the 2 score lead is maintained. Even worse, with a drive kept alive by a scrambling Pants, Jordan gets a TD thrown stat as he takes the handoff and finds Mo wide open in the endzone when the zone defender pops out to stop the run. 5-2. Yaron once again fights back and Danny busts one open for a score. At which point Yaron declares that he will win the game. But Pants stayed poised and put up 2 more scores with Beast on the TE roll out and a final hat trick to Mo. Yaron kept battling but the clock was against him. Two more points was all he could muster before the buzzer sounded. Pants gets a Jewball and a W in his debut! Jewball to Pants for the TD, Pick, and 4 thrown.

WEEK 1 Rosters Set



Game is on, weather is guaranteed to be “great”!

Game 1 – 8am:

Team Dark:

Rabin, Gronk, Tabak, Vegh, Munch, Eli, Goldberg, Big O, Jordan

vs.

Team Color:

Yaron, Mighty, Asa, Brody, Singer, Sam, Kut, MK

Game 2 – 945am

Team Dark:

Pants, Mo, John, Beast, Jordan, B-sh, MK

vs.

Team Color:

Yaron, Eddie, Zada, Primetime, Danny, Tom, Ari



Week 1 Rolling Headcount

Currently enrolled:

Game 1 – 8am (16, locked)

Kut, Tabak, Brody, Asa, Goldberg, Vegh, Munch, Singer, Sam, Mighty, Gronk, Eli, Rabin, Yaron, (Oren vs. MK)

Game 2 – 945am (13, 1 spot left)

Beast, Yaron, Jordan, MK, Eddie, Ari, Pants, Tom, Primetime, Zada, B-sh, Mo, Danny

JEWBALL MOMENTOUS OCCASION!!!

Today, October 29, 2019, the man, the myth, the legend, THE ORACLE Allan Milchman joined the Jewball Chat!! Thanks to Jordan and his team of PI’s, secret service, blood hounds, YINW mobsters, countless days being camped out in god-knows-where Queens (credit that to Salem), he was located and even accepted the chat invite. The Oracle is single handedly responsible for starting this Jewball family 30+ years ago (as legends have it), and got to witness his creation many generations later.

A quote from today:

“I do remember Rabin. This pickup game probably started in the early to mid 90’s. I’ll drop you guys some lines a little later.”

-Allan Milchman

And just like that, he was gone.

Remember these words and this day, as October 29th will go down as Milchman Day.

WEEK 1 – REDUX



Week 1 will have its do-over! Rolling headcount is LIVE now. We will have a double header on Sunday – an 8am game and 945 game.

Sign up and see you on the field for the real Week 1



WEEK 1 Recap

Courtesy of Kuti

The game that almost was

The golden season was set to begin. Months of anticipation, weeks of preseason and countless gifs and memes lead to this moment. “Week 1! Who wants some?” Were the words we were all waiting to hear from Commissioner Jordan. Like birds to seeds, the “Ins” started streaming in, but wait, false start! Sign up will begin Wednesday morning, not Tuesday night, as originally planned. (Much to the delight of those on the West Coast) Rise and Shine pretty boys! The official count has begun, 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 14….Games full, in only a matter of minutes. Perhaps a double game? was the request. 15, 17, 20….Could it be possible?! Is this Jewball? Maybe it really is the Golden Season. The commissioner throws out a Hail Mary…Should we go Tourney? Maybe, if we can get 4 more and have at least 4 decent QB’s. Apparently, Eddie’s got another son who knows how to throw. Count is locked at 24. 6v6 tournament is official, teams to come Friday.

With bated breath we waited like sheep at the petting zoo. Teams are announced, each one stacked more than the next. Getting 24 guys out on the field is a miracle in and of itself, but the quality and talent that signed up was even more impressive! On paper, it looked like Cleveland going up against New England  (Before the season started …what a disaster) The hype was real, the teams were real, Quality Jewball was back in session.

Rumor has it that Beast was in the gym 24 hours straight, fri night-sat night. (Rumor also has it that he bathes in his pink juice every sat night bef game day.)

But wait….Game 1 was too good to be true, we had the numbers, we had the talent, we had the field, only thing we couldn’t control was the weather. Forecast was calling for early light showers and heavy storms at game time. But the call wouldn’t be made until Sunday morning. It was a fitful night for those 24 Jewballers, much like Davy Crocket the night before the Alamo.

The Sunday sun rose and with it rain clouds, not heavy, but looming darkness. 7:30am…Maybe….7:45..not looking good….8am…Game is canceled. We’re not sure if it was the heavens opening up or Yaron’s tears hitting the ground but with a mighty fury the rains came rushing down.

It appears that the tournament is not gonna happen, but…. The rain isn’t too bad, if we can get 14 guys to come, we can still have a game. For a few moments, the sun came out and there was a chance, but that was short lived, like the Dothrake charging through Castile Rock, within moments it was clear that a game just wasn’t going to happen. It was a nice effort and promising potential for what the season has to offer. Looking forward to next week.

.

.

.

Unless…..

Anyone up for a night game? Never in the 73-year history of Jewball, was a game ever played at night. But hey, this is the golden season, anything is possible.

We have a field, we have lights, do we have the numbers? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8…9, 10, 11, 12!! Wait…. 2 are out…. We have 10, for an 8:30 PM!! Game. Can we get 4 more? 75 guys on the chat…just.need.4. it’s like the Giants comeback against the Lions, could it be possible?

Not looking promising, but don’t give up hope yet. Guys are heading to the field, maybe we can recruit a few there. Just need a few more.

8:45PM, much like week 1, the lights have been turned off.

But hey, we can put this in the “Almost Game” stat column. (Right Beast?)

Week 1 Tournament

24 in, 6v6 tournament to start the season. Not too shabby:

Prelim 1

Team Red – Flash, Kut, Mighty, Tabak, Asa, Ross

vs.

Team Blue – Yaron, Dobkin, Vegh, Sam, Tom, Borgia

Prelim 2

Team White – Gronk, David, Goldberg, Beast, Ari, MK

vs.

Team Black – Shai, Primetime, B-sh, Skolnick, Eddie, Jordan

Kickoff is 9am sharp!

MAZAL TOV ZADA

Mazal tov to our very own Zada on the birth of his daughter !!! May there be many jewballs for you and your family in the near future!

Rolling Headcount – WEEK 1

24 in for a WEEK 1 TOURNAMENT

9-1130 at Lawrence HS

GET THERE BY 845. Don’t let your team wait for you to start.

Jordan

Yaron

B-sh

Mighty

Ari

Adamar

Shai

Eddie

Goldberg

Dobkin

Flash

MK

Sam

Naftali

Vegh

Gronk

Tabak

Skolnick

Eddie’s other son (“David”)

Jon Borgia

Primetime

Kut

Tzvi

Jack Ross

Welcome back Jewball 2019-2020!

credit intro to Jordan

Jewballers, unite! Arise and awaken! The 2019-2020 season is upon us. Personally speaking, my 19th consecutive WEEK 1, praise be to the weekend warrior gods. The beauty of this season – and, granted, we have been here before (though not often) is that I really dont need to hype it that much. I dont need to pull out the aggressive sales pitch or market this from a low leverage position. Quite the opposite. 2019-2020 Jewball may be our most anticipated yet. Probably not, cuz the golden age had its rabid excitement as well – but let’s go with it. Let’s go with this era being the comeback that surpasses all prior incarnations. Let’s go with this being the season that will define the future of our game and bring about the redemption and usher is into a transcendence never before imagined. The biggest difference being….in a word…Yaron. sure, we can say the website and all the new players, but I’ll just give Yaron the credit he is due. Our well deserved optimism is a product of his efforts and there is nothing more we can do to say thank you than 1.) Show up 2.) Show up ON TIME (cuz, we do not need to tolerate your diva behavior – there are 5 guys who want your spot) 3.) Play like you mean it (again, we want competitive games above all – if you cant cut it, someone else is ready to try) 4.) Bring positive energy to our game. You know what I mean. Whether to the chat, on the field, or on the street – be someone who raises the quality of the Jewball experience. Keep the chat tight. Also keep an eye on the website for Stats and updates and lists of who is in each week. I’m guessing that we will have a lot of people in which means double headers. Double headers means you get a guaranteed one game a week. If you say both, and don’t get both, that does not mean I messed up. Finally, I know we have new guys and I am the LAST person to be stubborn and hold on to the past over the future, but – provided that they still can play the game at a level that makes our games good – I will have to give spots to vets over rookies (if each sign up basically on time). Meaning, if 14 vets sign up today but 3 rookies signed up before 3 of the 14 vets, I’m not gonna lock out a guy who has played for 5 years…I cant do that. That’s why we will have the double headers. To make sure eveyone gets a game. 
Enough with the technical $#!&. Jewball is back! Life is good! Nothing like games that mean something. And now with stats and awards being back as well, the excitement level is amped. Away we go. The stories of 2019-2020 are about to be written. What will they say? What will they say about you? Pages are empty. Blank slates for all of us. It’s on you. It’s on me. Let’s do this. Who wants Week 1?