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| Wow what a week! The first rounds of the playoffs were definitely the most competitive day of flag football ever played in the UFFL! Lots of excitement, intensity, upsets, and nailbiters that left you on the edge of your seat! The league is abuzz with talk about the younger teams coming into their own and beginning to take over. I'm already looking forward to next fall and we haven't even crowned a champion yet! Why don't we get that out of the way...? __________________________________________________________________________________________ WHO: Bombers (8-2) vs Barbarians (9-1) TIME: 9am SERIES: First Meeting LINE: Bombers by 6.5pts POWER RANKINGS: Bombers #1; Barbarians #3 KEY MATCH-UP: Barbarians O-Line vs Bombers D-Line THE SKINNY: Hold on young ones, there is still one more team left that can put those next generation takeover talks to rest...at least for one more season! That team is the 2-time champion Bombers! With Joe Stellato out of the season with an injury, the Bombers' season looked like it was in trouble. But QB Mike Gruber made his full comeback last week and came to rescue his squad from possible certain doom, and that he did. He looked a little rusty at first in his first full game all season against The Nutz but it didn't take long before Gruber settled in and began picking away at The Nutz hopes of returning to the championship. He then led his team to avenge their regular season loss to PrimeTime in another nailbiter. And with all the 1st round upsets, the Bombers are now looking like the frontrunner to win it all again! The Barbarians have deceived us all, they had an easy regular season schedule that included upsetting The Nutz. It appears that upset was no fluke now. In the first round, they upset Steve Parr and Kresge Electric in a great defensive battle. Then they knocked off the Petko-less Bad Boys, coming off an upset of their own against the Legends, in the 2nd round. Now there are here in the Atlantic Conference Championship, ready to play underdog and prove us all wrong again by pulling off another upset against the 2-time champs! Their offensive line had better step up this week, they got away with sloppy play in their 2 games last week, but that's not gonna fly against Nick Morris and the Bombers D-Line! WINNER: They are champions for a reason but I expect the Barbarians to keep playing at the level they played on last week. That should make this one close, the Bombers should survive another nailbiter. Great season though Barbarians! Bombers - 30 vs Barbarians - 24 __________________________________________________________________________________________ WHO: Wild Cheetahs (9-1) vs Ef U Boys (7-3) TIME: 9am SERIES: Wild Cheetahs lead series 1-0; Wild Cheetahs won last meeting 62-20 LINE: Wild Cheetahs by 25pts POWER RANKINGS: Wild Cheetahs #2; Ef U Boys #4 KEY MATCH-UP: Eddie Scipio vs Roshon Means THE SKINNY: Once I saw Eddie Scipio warming up before his first game against Shoey's Jeep, I knew it was over. Thought to have been lost to injury in another league's game, he came out like he was 110% and easily knocked out Shoey's Jeep in the first round. Then after a sluggish start against the Playboys, rallied back and then made a run of their own to knock off the defending champs again. Now the Cheetahs find themselves one game away from glory. Like the Barbarians, no one expected the Ef U Boys to be here today. They proved once again they were the better team in their first round match-up against Team Hammer. Then they fought tooth and nail to wear down and defeat the mighty Blue Dog, who once again couldn't bring any bodies to the field. How about that for a first year playoff team? Now they get a rematch against the Wild Cheetahs, who decimated them in their regular season meeting. Can they find a way to win this one too? WINNER: It was a great run Ef U Boys, I hope you make it a good game, but I think the Cheetahs are gonna run wild this Sunday. Wild Cheetahs - 45 vs Ef U Boys - 18 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Ultimate Bowl VI TIME: 10:30am THE SKINNY: Here are the scenarios... __________________________________________________________________________________________ Bombers-Ef U Boys: Bombers. This match-up would be the most lop-sided of the possible 4, but it'd certainly be an easier game for the Ef U Boys than the challenge the Wild Cheetahs pose. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Barbarians-Ef U Boys: Barbarians. Yeah upsetting the Bombers is pretty big, but there's still one more game to play, they'll need to stay focused and keep their defensive intensity up as the Ef U Boys (in this match-up) can run with them pound for pound. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Barbarians-Wild Cheetahs: Wild Cheetahs. A match-up between the 2 most athletic teams of the final 4, a match-up that would make for a great fast-paced championship game and the match-up I would most like to see. When this team was known as East Side, they upset the Cheetahs a year ago and the Barbarians are looking a lot better than that East Side team a year ago. It was a great run for them to get here but the Barbarians are gonna come up short in the end. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Bombers-Wild Cheetahs: Wild Cheetahs, Skinny's Upset Pick of the Week! To me, generally speaking, this is like a Celtics-Lakers match-up, an aged but experienced team of all-stars with great chemistry and resilience against an MVP and his talented, young role players. Either team could blow each other out easy, but I'm hoping this'll be another great championship game to remember, like the Bombers-Blue Dog game a year ago. Like the Lakers, it will be up to the Cheetahs' role players to step up and play their best game of the season if they want to take home the championship. Sure Scipio could do it on his own if he turns it up, but that is going to be tough against the experienced & resilient Bombers defense. On the other side, winning a second UFFL championship in 3 seasons would be a great comeback story for Bombers' QB Mike Gruber after missing most of the regular season with an injury. Can the Bombers carve another championship into their small dynasty in the UFFL or is it finally time to pass the torch on to the next generation of flag football?...in our region anyway haha! Best of luck to the Final Four, let's end another great season with an intense, exciting championship game, and another great story of our most competitive season to date, to talk about until next fall. See you Sunday gentlemen! |