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.