Happy New Year 2008

Well, the time for the first post of 2008 has come. Not a lot happening right now except for the team's new years party. After a season in which we finished 3rd in our block, we did have a good end of season with the special games. Winning the final three games I played in Japan felt pretty good as well.

As I look forward to the 2008 season playing minor league football in the North American Football League (NAFL), I have begun to train. It will be quite different going against guys who are bigger, stronger and a lot faster than most of the ones here in Japan. My current plans are to play with the King Country Jaguars (www.kcjags.com), a team which has won the Northwest Football League (NWFL) the last three years and finished in the quarterfinals of the NAFL championships this year.

I am currently training every day here in Japan, running, lifting and stretching, preparing for what will be my last season. After a career spanning 20 years and 7 teams, I am looking forward to this last season. Look here for more posts in the coming months as I start upon this new adventure.

Last post for 2007 Season

It has come. The time to close out the 2007 season. And while it was not the most desirable season from the championship perspective, it did not end badly. I am healthy, 22 pounds lighter than when I started and feeling pretty good.

My ribs healed up pretty well, I had a minor ACL strain in my right knee a month ago and a slightly sprained right wrist at the end of the season. This is to match the two sets of bruises on my biceps from helmets I took in the arms. Not bad considering my age and the fact that I played like a mad man at the end.

I was finally able to get my pull speed up to the point where I was able to make good blocks on the sweeps and didn't have to rely on someone else to make the blocks for me. It was by all rights, a good hard season for which I am grateful. And while I am being grateful, I will take this time to wish all those who have followed my exploits this season, a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.

And with this post I close out 2007 and look forward to 2008.

Two Games, Two Wins

A grueling day of football on any level. Not one game, but two were played. One might ask, why would anyone do that? Well, it is football after all.

In the first game, the East finally beat the West in the All Star game for the first time in 5 years. Fueled by the hard pressing running attack of the Outlaws and the Red Scorpions play style, the East was able to completely man handle the West for four quarters.

Elegant sweep blocking and quick draw plays made the offense go like a maelstrom. On a reverse, I made quick work of the defense on the running side of the play, blocking three defensive players allowing our running back to score from 25 yards out. The final score of the game was 19-0.

In the second game, the Gull Fighters took on the Dream Team. With both teams consisting mostly of older players well into their 40's and 50's, the play was both rough and unbridled. Many of these guys can still play but to the extent that the one game a year allows.

Of course, being in the same age range, means that I feel the pains like they do, except that of course, several of us who are still playing in the league are quite fit.

Our dream team ran out to a 19-0 lead at half with two flubbed point after attempts. It didnt get much better with the Gull fighters finally scoring four minutes into the fourth quarter. After they scored again three minutes later on an interception, we got serious again and scored a final touchdown making the score 25-12.

For those of you who have played the game, try this once. Play two games back to back (2 hour rest during stadium relocation) and then let me know how you feel. IT WAS A GOOD DAY FOR FOOTBALL!!!

Mid Week Reportt

I am happy to say that the season is finally winding down and that the winter recovery time will begin, although it will be likely short thanks to the fact that I am looking at a February start to my next season. For those of you who missed my games in Tokyo, you will find me Playing in Auburn Washington next season if I can manage to stay healthy. At this point, I am going to take a month or so to swim a bit and get myself up to spec to start lifting a bit again. But of course, that wont start until the end of this weekend's games:

2007 JPFF All Star Game
12/23 at 9:30 am
Kawasaki Satadium

2007 Old Boy Association Game
12/23 at 1pm
Yokohama Stadium

Between these two games, I will likely be absolutely exhausted and likely to take Christmas eve off to recover.

Outlaws Win 7-0

In a game which was played under cold windy conditions at Kawasaki Stadium, the Tokorozawa Outlaws powered to a final score of 7-0. The game was pretty much one sided for the first half, with Tokorozawa managing to keep the opponents bottled up in their side of the field until mid way through the second quarter. After giving up a long pass to put the All-Stars on the 35 yard line, the Outlaws defense once again got stingy stuffing the All-Stars at the line of scrimmage on two consecutive plays. With the all stars needing 8 yards for a first down, they went with a play instead of a field goal and wound up getting stuffed once again.

The game continued much in this fashion until an All-Star fumble on their own 35 yard line gave the Outlaws a much needed break. After an incomplete pass on the first down of the drive, Tokorozawa pounded the ball 6 consecutive plays off tackle scoring the only touchdown of the game with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. with the game seemingly over at that point, the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds. On the re-kick, the all-Stars moved right up to their own 45 yard line and quickly rattled off 12 yards on the first play from scrimmage. With everyone getting a bit edgy, the Outlaws buckled down and stuff the drive with four consecutive hard hits on the All-Star running backs.

As for me, I am sore today and it was a fun game but it definitely was not one of my best games. December is a rough month to play football in and I still have two games to go. See you guys next week. Video of the game to come later this week.

Last Team Practice

Well, this will be my last practice report for 2007. The season is ending with only games and a year end party left to participate in.

The schedule is as follows for the rest of the season

12/16 Outlaws vs JPFF All-Star Team (Made up of 3 teams)
12/23 JPFF Kansai All-Star Game
12/23 Old-Timers Game at Yokohama (Old Guys vs Young Guns)

Thats about the end of it. Two games in one day on the 23rd. Luckily they are both all-star type games and I shouldnt be too tired as the first game will be 8 minute quarters.

As for this last practice, I am sore and it was a good intense practice even though there were several members of the team who had other commitments. Of course those in attendance were fully committed to performing the tasks at hand and with the 65 degree sunny weather, worked up a good sweat.

Then it was off to Yaki-niku (Korean Barbeque) for lunch and good beer and food for those in attendance. Not a bad way to close out a final practice. Now it is back to training and getting ready for these last few games.

Mid Week Post

It has been a week full of push ups and squats and other exercises designed to get me ready for the up coming games. I really need to get out and run. Especially after this last week's practice. For a change, I was throwing the ball rather than snapping it, and I found that after a dozen or so throws that I could still throw.

But my passes were anything but crisp. The timing was off on several of them and I wanted to bury my head in the sand by the mid point of practice. Although it was fun, if I really expect anything more to come of the quarterbacking skills I have, I really need to get my speed up and throw a lot more. While the steps are there, I really am glad I did not have to perform any hand offs as I probably would have tripped over my own feet.

But on to this week's practice and hopefully another beautiful day to practice on. It was 65 last week, just warm enough to work up a good sweat and nice with no wind so it was not a typical December day.