I can't really resist the temptation to open this point task by gloating about a mistake a different team made. That would be Orange County's baffling decision to punt on 4th and 4 from the Sarasota 34 with 0:46 remaining in the first half. Dallas Dole used beautiful "coffin-corner" punting technique to drop a kick that bounced out of bounds at the 7. The Sailfish were pinned deep with less than a minute remaining in the half, and ran out the clock. At the time of the punt, the Otters were up 13-7, and they successfully prevented the Sailfish from tying the game before halftime, which was probably the goal. From that perspective, it was a well-executed special teams play. But why? They could've attempted a 51-yard field goal to extend their lead instead. Dole isn't known for his accuracy from distance (9/23 from 50+ yards in his career), but the Strongest Leg in the League has more than enough power to attempt it. If he missed, the Sailfish would still have to go at least 40 yards in less than 40 seconds to get into range for a field goal attempt of their own before halftime. Did Orange County really have so little faith in their defense? They had allowed a 39-yard TD run by John Huntsman earlier, but apart from that one play they had been putting the clamps on the Sailfish offense the entire half. According to the ISFL Surrender Bot (@ISFL_surrender on Twitter), this punt by Orange County was in the 95th percentile (Top 5%) of all-time cowardly punts. Sarasota went on to win the game 14-13. Those 3 points just before halftime would've come in handy, huh Otters? Rumor has is that Orange Country's special teams coach might be on the hot seat after that one.
OK, maybe it wasn't very nice of me to devote most of a point task to someone else's mistake, but you know what? I just can't really think of any serious mistakes that Spike or Sarasota has made this season. That doesn't mean there weren't any, there definitely have been! Spike in particular hasn't played as well as he'd like. But the thing is, champions have short memories for this type of thing. Mistakes will happen, but endlessly reliving them in your head can only lead to more mistakes. Make your mistakes, then learn from them and move on. Champions keep their mistakes in the past where they belong!
OK, maybe it wasn't very nice of me to devote most of a point task to someone else's mistake, but you know what? I just can't really think of any serious mistakes that Spike or Sarasota has made this season. That doesn't mean there weren't any, there definitely have been! Spike in particular hasn't played as well as he'd like. But the thing is, champions have short memories for this type of thing. Mistakes will happen, but endlessly reliving them in your head can only lead to more mistakes. Make your mistakes, then learn from them and move on. Champions keep their mistakes in the past where they belong!