So happy for the team, what an incredible game to finish out this somewhat rocky season.

I contemplated a long time whether I wanted to write this today or not. For those that don't know, real life tragedies tend to bother me quite a bit. My thoughts are with the victims and other participants of the Boston Marathon. I personally know a few people that participated in that race, and know of at least one that finished the race a minute before the explosions. Boston Marathon exemplifies everything that's right about the world. It's charitable, fun for all ages, and memorable goal-driven event. It's still one of my goals to participate in the race myself, and nothing like this would stop my motivation to do it.

I try to tell my team through the highs/lows of the game that it's only a game. We still are alive/healthy/have all of our limbs to enjoy the game win or lose. That's a better hand than what at least 30 people were dealt with in today's tragedy. So to the guys struggling with maintaining a fun environment in the game, take a step back and reflect for a second. This is a game we're playing designed to be fun. Make sure you're having fun playing it.

Heading into the playoffs is always an exciting time. Just like the last season, there are so many story lines to cover. I'll try to hit them all!

End of Regular Season Power Rankings:

1. No Fly Zone(4-2)
Guys have asked me how I maintain an excellent team throughout the season. I think it all starts with the type of guys we recruit at NFZ. We have a strong core who understands the team's goals, and knows what is expected day in and day out. The remaining guys at NFZ are all guys who buy into our system. They understand the sky high expectations at NFZ, and they want to do anything they can to maintain that level of excellence. It's not easy, we throw a lot at our members in terms of situational game play. However, it's astounding how much members who are willing to learn and contribute can grow in this game. I decided to power rank NFZ as #1, because for the second straight season they have clinched the #1 seed without having to play their last game of the season. They had similar results last season getting blown out by a hybrid team of PP (PP/OO) due to their lack of urgency in the game. That dullness carried over to the championship game, and they ended up losing to OO (missed fg/2 bad kickoffs/punts). Will that same pattern continue this season? We'll find out how the members react this time around. Looking at this roster, it just seems to be loaded. However, inactivity has really caught up to this team - half of the roster has not shown up for a single game. The other half has 300 ping on a good day. We will see how this affects their championship hopes. SM has evolved into a high tier player from a being a mid-tier player at the start of season 1. He has taken improving his game style very seriously, and is now able to read the plays in-depth and react accordingly. He has also sharpened his kicking and qbing abilities, making him one of the best clutch kicker in the game. Yahoo is proving himself to be a consistent winner, and his draft stock of a top 4 pick is being proven as completely accurate. He has been a shut down corner in this league, giving Night a run for his money. (Night look at the stats before you argue with me). Best pick of the draft: MTA. I remember that people were laughing at NFZ for picking MTA so early, but Night was really high on MTA. He saw the potential for MTA to grow, and this guy has simply absorbed everything like a sponge. He has consistently improved each week, and the scary thing is he isn't anywhere close to his potential.

2. Oslo Otters (4-2)
Does this sound familiar or what? De-ja VU of last season. Last season NFZ won the tie breaker based off point differential, this time they won it by sweeping OO. If there's one team I respect in this league, it's OO. They always have a unique game plan for every game, even if they don't themselves realize it. OO is very similar to NFZ, where they have a culture around their team. Nate does a great job recruiting players that would fit well within that culture. Do you remember people laughing at OO draft picks? Do you still see them laughing now? Nate has proven himself to be the best QB in the league. His reads react on what the defense gives him, and not what the offense tries to get. (There's a difference, it means he reads the defense instead of his own WRs). Oslo, just like NFZ, also has an incredible core of guys lead by one of the most underrated players in BK. You want to see a great, but non-flashy defender? Just watch BK's tape, he consistently performs at a high level on defense. He's the main reason that OO is consistent from week to week. BG has some baggage with him, but is definitely a high tier player. He is inactive for this season, but will he show for the championship game? There are 2 X-Factors on this team that weren't a factor last season. KP is another really underrated player. He has a GREAT knack of finding holes in the defense as a WR, and makes the defense move with him. If he doesn't catch the pass, he opens up the lanes for his other WRs. Just like any other great WR, he consistently attacks the ball and doesn't wait for the ball to come to him. Finally, the biggest addition for OO this season has to be Based Helloman. He has had ridiculous responsibilities this season for trying to QB with Nate being absent from games. He has not crumbled under pressure, and performed exceedingly well. He has room for growth on the defensive side of the game, and doesn't react to the ball as fast as some of the other players, but has definitely been improving throughout the season. Finally OO also has Mike, who's had an astounding year based on the blocking around him and his incredible cuts as a RB. He gives OO a great balance to the already dangerous aerial attack. He doesn't stand out on defense, which is a good and a bad thing. The good part is that he doesn't make critical mistakes, which would have labeled him as a poor defender. The bad part is that he doesn't make incredible plays on defensive end to stand out either. Overall solid starter of the team.

3. Atlanta Dirty Birds (3-3)
I'll be honest, skill wise, I think PP is better than ADB. This is really shocking when you take a look at ADB roster. Hold on, i'll give you 3 minutes to go ahead and check that roster out. Yep, this team has a roster consisting of Ash, BlasterBlade, Falcons, Glu, Vick, and Hill. All of these members have a skill level of being starter material. (Ash is inconsistent on most days, but good enough to be a starter in my opinion). Vick/Falcon/Blade have consistently been all around great players. Glu, although weak on defense, has some great game changing abilities at RB position. Now it just makes you wonder, how has this team struggled to perform on a consistent basis? I think it's their lack of competitiveness and self confidence. You can tell a team has a lack of confidence in their own abilities when they try to get forfeit wins or try to play teams 4 v 3/4 v 2. It shows that the team isn't 100% confident that they can beat the other team at their best. I am a big believer in that the best teams only thrive and improve by playing the best competition out there. Truly competitive players want to play their competition at their best, so they could talk trash whole-heartedly after beating them. Winning a 4 v 3 gives you a win on record, but it doesn't let you improve and it definitely doesn't give you the confidence to compete week in and week out. This team started out on fire scoring an upset win immediately in the opening game against NFZ in a very close game. That win is probably still memorable, because they won that by playing NFZ at their best, and had some incredible defensive stops to hold off with a win. The pieces of this team is still there on the roster, will this team figure out what needs to be fixed by the playoffs? Will we see the ADB from the opening game, or will we see the pathetic performance from the end of the season? Only time will tell. Also, is anon even alive anymore?

4)Panama Pandemic (1-5)
This team reminds me of a bad marriage. I just don't think Dot/Shakka are big fans of the weekend games, because they can't consistently show up for the games. It's really a shame in my opinion, both seasons I thought this team has the talent to be the best. They also don't have much baggage, and therefore should be consistently good throughout the season. Unfortunately, they have a big Achilles heel, it's activity. PP was able to bolster their roster by taking 2 of NFZ's members from season 1. They took one of the best QBs in the game in Cal Ripken, and they were able to grab a very solid WR in Calvin Johnson. Both of these members bring something more than their individual abilities, they bring great defensive skills. NFZ harps on defensive prowess, and that skill set has carried over nicely in PP. Knox has been a great addition to the team as one of the most hyped newcomer to the league. He definitely needs to improve on the defensive end and some QB decision making, but is definitely a solid (good) contributor to the team. Dot/Shakka are obviously both great skill players, but their activity is questionable. Brisk and Trax are what I consider the anchors of this team. Both have consistently been active in the season, and tried their best to will this team into an active mode. I do think they both have a lot of room for improvement, but their passion for the team shows their leadership abilities. This team is still very dangerous, because I think they're starting to figure out their identity. If they get a chance to play in the playoffs, I will not be shocked at an upset win over OO. In fact, right now I think they have a better shot at beating OO than ADB, but that may change depending on how ADB uses the week to reorganize.


TL;DR - It's going to be a wild ride to the championship fellas. Get ready for a pair of incredible games.

^ I wanna see all the blown calls by ash lol

Hiii bubble's phone!!!

Yahoo's comments were spot-on. I wouldn't be surprised if OO gave us a TD on purpose the very next play to try and mount a comeback (or at least I would if I was in OO's position).

However, I do want to see the play again if at all possible.

Good luck in the future

^ why is he not a site manager yet?

J/k, really though - great job! Just have to do something about those tables.

he did them at one point, hence I stated we outgained them in yards and still lost the game.

So, I've had some experience in running tournaments/leagues with customized games that don't fit in the original game development plans. For example haxball was not designed to support haxfootball, therefore running this league is 2x-3x harder than running a league about hax. A lot more game management falls on refs/gms/and the players themselves, instead of letting the game design handle the management. There are two things I learned from running those leagues.

1) There needs to be buy-in from all parties. It's impossible to enforce the rules if the game doesn't support it, so there has to be buy-in from all of the participants of the league. Yes, you can exploit the time rule easily, kick the ball away, etc. However, ideally you have members that are COMPETITIVE and want to play their opponents at their best. So, they'd show class and bring the ball back to the LOS quickly. (Other exploits include having someone else play under your name because of lack of registration in hax).

2) You must MINIMIZE the amount of rules/management that occurs outside of the game. Ideally your third party clock idea sounds great, but I see it as a recipe for disaster. I can already forsee players complaining about not enough time/ players consistently asking for the time left/ players complaining that they touched out of bounds to stop the time/refs having to review a lot more plays about inc/doc due to the time contemplations. Refs already have A LOT to do on their own, in fact it has a heavy influence on the game that in my opinion the quality of the game depends on the quality of the ref . Adding time would just be an overkill.

I do think that the league committee should discuss the potential of stopping clock on timeouts taken under 30 seconds of halves. This at least allows teams to set up last second plays/drives. However, we've also seen some incredible comeback games in both seasons - so you have to think whether there's a real big need for this rule to get implemented. (I personally want the rule added!)