Turkey Bowl 2008

I just got back from playing in the 11th annual Turkey Bowl game at Greenlake. Sunny skies and 50 degree temps made for an unusually warm and dry Turkey Bowl. This year we reverted back to full-on tackle football. I'm not sure why I played, because I have no health insurance and I will be proper fucked if I get injured--but play I did! It was another amazing turkey bowl, but before I get into that, I want to take a look back at past Turkey Bowls:

Turkey Bowl 2007
Last year was a lot of fun, but a little on the tame side.

Turkey Bowl 2006
Not much of a recap for 2006, but I did mention my push up bet with Brandon, and how much push ups on Black Friday SUCK!

Turkey Bowl 2003
2003 was amazing. I don't think I'll ever have another Turkey Bowl like I did in 2003. 5TDs, 1INT, 2sacks--in an 11 on 11 tackle football game?! Come on! Also, watching butterball own Marc--it was an amazing year of football.

2007 might be my second best effort over the years. To start off the day, I was not really sure if we would have a game this year, because all of the usual suspects had morning plans this year. I headed down to Greenlake anyways, just in case the old Garfield crew showed up. When I got to the fields, there were big FIELD CLOSED signs all over the place, much to my dismay. But then I spotted a group of scruffy looking guys on the side of the field. I only recognized one guy from past Turkey Bowls, but the group was welcoming, and started picking teams right away.

Now, I'll let you in on a little secret... I'm not the most menacing football player. I'm pretty much a stick. Which isn't bad for flag football, but when it comes to tackle football I'm probably not the best choice to be on your team. So I've got one knee on the ground, putting in my contacts when I get picked... 2nd overall, first pick for the dark team... WHAAAT?!? I expected to get picked last or second to last, but I'll take it!

As the first pick, I felt obligated to step up. This year I surpassed my yearly quota of one tackle. If I get one tackle, I'm happy. I finished the day with probably five tackles, one sack, two interceptions and a TD on defense. We were playing 8 on 8, so I was very pleased with my defensive performance. On offense, I played a lot of offensive line (again, I'm a stick--but a stick that is willing to mix it up!), I caught a few passes at wide receiver, and also got to QB a few sets. I think my first set we turned the ball over on downs, and the second set I threw a screen pass to Frank "The Tank", who rumbled about 80 yards for the score, breaking multiple tackles along the way.

All in all, it was another great Turkey Bowl, even though none of my friends were able to go. I am going to be beyond sore tomorrow, and I am thankful for the day of rest between football Turkey Bowl and frisbee Turkey Bowl on Saturday. In one of my dumbest moves in a long time, I started a push up challenge on Thanksgiving Day. I'm an idiot. I'm so sore from football, I'll barely be able to move for the next 24 hours, yet I'm expected to do 200 push ups. I've got frisbee all day Saturday and an all-day hike on Sunday, how the fuck am I supposed to do 400 pushups over the next four days???

Start lining the charity coffers, chumps! Bet against me! You can't lose!

*edit* sadly, there were no TV crews this year--maybe next year!

Football!!!!!!!!!

Football is awesome. I forgot again how much fun football season is, and everything that goes into a season. I'm in three fantasy football leagues this year, one which drafted last Thursday. I got the first pick for the first time since Peyton Manning carried me into the playoffs single-handedly (must have been his record-breaking year in... 2005? 2006?). This year I grabbed LT. The only other real option for me was Tom Brady, but I think he'll take a shot or two and go down sometime this year. I grabbed Brady's backup just in case my hunch plays out. I also picked Ricky Williams before it was known whether he'd be the starter in Miami--that hunch played out swimmingly. My other two fantasy football leagues draft this coming week.

Another reason football is awesome is playing football video games. I've been playing since NFL Gameday 97 with my good friend Marc, and we play a co-op franchise each year. Today Marc finally crumbled and bought his first Madden game. He's been a big boo-bird of EA Sports and the Madden franchise for buying the exlusive NFL rights a few years back, thus monopolizing the NFL video game industry. We've been playing NFL2K5 for the past four years and he needed to upgrade, so we went down to the store and bought a used copy of last year's Madden 08 because the Wii version of Madden 09 apparently doesn't have create-a-player.

Creating players is vital to our franchise's success, especially when my perennial all-pro linebacker, Brick Wall, steps onto the field. Marc made a 6'6" 190lbs side-arm throwing left-handed quarterback to go along with my speedy running back, Nacho Cheese, and my wide receiver Sytbythe Pool. The first two games we dusted off some rust, and to spice things up we added in a push-up bet on defense because he also made a linebacker. Two points for a forced fumble, fumble recovery, interception and defensive touchdown; one point per tackle--loser each game has to do 10 push-ups. We split the first two games, but the third game Brick Wall went crazy. 7 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, and 2 defensive touchdowns!

I am also a big fan of college football. I just can't stand the blowouts and the poor sportsmanship. 66-0, 55-2, 45-0. How could those games be any fun to watch? Unfortunately for Washington State, we watched both UW and WSU get crushed today. I feel like this year will be another year of UW playing close games until the 4th quarter and just getting shalacked in that final quarter. Jake Locker is an amazing quarterback, but our wide receivers must have dropped a dozen passes and our offensive line couldn't handle Oregon's defensive scheme. I've learned to channel my irritation from college football into bone-crushing tackles delivered by the Brick Wall. It is a good therapy. It also reminds me of Terry Tate: