Hawks Win the Tourney, Showing the Wisdom of Team Mergers

Greetings, Novaffl crew and players. Madcap here, reporting from Alexandria. I want to begin, by giving a big "hells yeah" to all who made it possible for the Pre-Season tournament this past Saturday 14 Mar 09.

A special thanks has to go to Inspector Yang for taking footage of the day's events, as well as Andy B and Coach D, who were part of the defensive crew that overcame the interference of several co-ed football leagues that are charging extraordinary fees, as well as rogue soccer clubs that have formed in the hallows of DC. They made this all happen by countering the S-League scouts (looking for retribution on the old maddawg). Surely, I speak for all when we all offer our humble thanks for arriving at 6 AM to set-up the fields.

So who won the tournament? Will the Hawks return, that is the question!!Apparently, some Novaffl elders, Damon, and Bennet were able to distract, confuse and exile the S-League coeds into other parts of the Polo fields, thus cementing Novaffl's rule on the hallowed grounds of Ohio Drive. Such chaotic and confusing tactics make this old dog proud, and am duly impressed.The Office as the Commish has termed it, Grover, Rum, Damon, Mike, Billy and D12 have successfully secured fields this season in Annandale Va.Such great operating condition will likely allow for better media attention as well as more camaraderie as teams' battle it out within earshot of each other. This is in contrast to last season's field shuffling.Let's get into the recap shall we?Is it really a surprise that the Hawks won the tournament? They were featuring a brand new look via a clandestine merger with the Upper Deckers and an unlikely recruit, Cody W. The Hawks have always been known for their high-flying ways, but will their commitment droop as the season ends?Lets take a look at some of the highlights:First we see Cody, complementing the dangerous banker (who we hope isn't approving sub-prime loans so the government can bail us out) Rob lane in the WR corps wearing orange. Is Cody (click link for history) a team hopper for joining three teams in three consecutive seasons? Is it ironic he's back with Coach D, or just coincidental? Perhaps he did what he had to do, utilizing evolutionary instincts -- sorely disappointed with the disorganized 7-Point Spread. Only time will tell.Old Coach D does not seem immune to criticism even though he was part of the "the good deed crew" disenfranchising the S-leagues from using the fields, but let's listen closely to the following clip where DNELS (a Nova Force Player) is heard opining in some humorous commentary.The casual observer must think it odd to see this likely "gchat" formed "Hawks posse," but one way or another they overcame the leagues arguably-the-best defense "Young Guns" in the championship this past weekend.

Many new teams sported some tough linemen and if they would have responded to my interview requests, rather than blown it off, perhaps their publicity would have been even greater. They even showed prowess with the long ball, seen here.In fact, hearing from the "No-Namers," there was one monster lineman who after smashing into the Namer QB, PilotRon he exclaimed, "Aggressiveness should be rewarded not penalized." On the contrary, Novaffl protects QBs more than the NFL due to the position being so critical to league success. As seen in the past, QB scrambling in Novaffl eventually rules the day in big games and this writer predicts more of the same -- until the Novaffl office changes QB scrambling rules to allow the defense to tackle the running QB. A novel an interesting idea proposed by some of the erudite sportswriters and Novaffl veterans.

Speaking of the Nonamers, I will use this forum to allow Mod extrordinairre, Mr. Abel to analyze the following clip where Behrooz jumps into the endzone. Perhaps Mr. Abel will provide us some educated discussion in what constitutes endzone jumping and what the rules are exactly this season on ball carriers leaving the ground.

While we are at it, maybe we can even have some in depth discussion on whether this blocking play, with Mr. B.Hidd fighting through it to make a flag pull was legal or not.

Additionally, I ask everyone to take a look at this CLIP to note two things, one Cody W's "D'Angelo like catch" and whether in the beginning of the video, whether Bwynne was inappropriately hit in the face. Such aggressive line play may be a pre-cursor for the season and is even more of an argument as to why Novaffl legal staff should mandate use of mouthpieces on the 2-man line or face the civil tort of negligence for failing to take necessary safety measures. Waivers only take you so far, when creating a hazard. I say this with concern not criticism.

Perhaps the esteemed Novaffl veterans can comment on appropriate lineplay. One of the videos I wanted to post was disallowed because a Novaffl lineman, I think Orr claimed, "he f---ing head-slapped me." Video post outlets, other than blip.tv tend to not to like profanity.

Next, I want to mention the Young Guns as likely back to their old tricks with plays utilizing the lightning fast running crew. Will anyone be able to stop the full endine of their roster?

In sum, I look forward to seeing you all out there. In the meantime, please tell the Head of Operations and Recruiting Mr. Lynch, if you have any intelligence worthy of my pen. Good luck to you all, and congratulations to the Hawks.Don't forget to visit Inspector's Yangs video blog.And the video that showed the HAWKS in their most dangerous form, study Ott's use of (Boss Tweed) Rob Lane and you will learn how to defeat the Birds of Prey.
For now the whole litany of video clips can be seen here