*THE DOGHOUSE Vol. 5

Brad Woof

BITING BARBS BEGIN BANNINGS/BOWL BRUTAL BREAKUP?

Despite improving to 1-1 in Week 2, it looks like tensions are running high behind the scenes for the Orange County Otters. Anonymous sources claim that Otters QB Lloyd Bannings (@bowl0)and TE Bread Bowl (@WALDO) were seen and overheard shouting at each other at length in the Orange County locker room in the lead up to their Week 3 home opener against the San Jose Sabercats. Still so early in the season, what could've possibly sparked this spat?

The Otters came into the season rated very highly amongst ISFL analysts and were considered by most to be the best offensive team in the league, if not the best team overall. Their reputation apparently had no effect on their opponents however, as the Outlaws sent Orange County packing with an opening day loss. Despite an throwing an early interception eventually resulting in an Outlaws touchdown, Bannings was able to lead his team to 17 unanswered points and a two-score lead by the end of the first half. Past that point, however, the offense sputtered and only managed a single field goal for the rest of the game. Arizona outscored the Otters 17-3 in the second half and handed them a tough-to-swallow 24-20 loss.

Orange County's Week 2 win against the New York Silverbacks followed a very similar pattern. Despite a shocking six turnovers from the Silverbacks, Banning and the Otters' offense stalled again in the second half and the squad had to nervously watch as their defense allowed New York to score two fourth quarter touchdowns to tie the game at 17-17 with under six minutes remaining. Luckily, this time the Otters were able to scrounge up a couple field goals and hold on to the win, but some on the team are uncomfortable with the teams performance.

Bannings had another two interceptions against the Silverbacks and Bowl was overheard mocking his QB for his turnover woes. Sources at the scene say Bowl was particularly upset at his lack of usage in the redzone and accused Banning of playing favorites, to the teams detriment.

"Everyone is running away from the tight end position," said Bread Bowl in an interview with The Doghouse. "I am the most important and the bestest [sic] one left on the board. For Lloyd "Toss it to Whoever" Bannings to not give me the red zone targets I deserve is just proving that he is afraid of my talent! I've had to put up with him for so long and I am sick and tired of my numbers being held down. I deserve more touchdowns and more yards, but he won't give me the ball! Even when I tried to be nice about asking him, he went on to say that he 'doesn't care' and that he 'hopes my soup leaks out my holes', whatever that means. I'm getting sick and tired of him!"

Bowl was livid in his brief conversation with The Doghouse and he is somewhat justified in his frustration. Bowl is certainly in the conversation for top tight end in the ISFL along with Wraiths' Detective Crashmore and Sabercats' Kenny Symborski, yet he is being outpaced in receptions by nearly every other starting TE in a league that objectively undervalues the position. Remarkably, Bowl has never had more than five drops attributed to him in any of his 3+ seasons with the Otters, so can the slow start instead be attributed to his signal caller?

Bannings had this to say about the incident: "Bread Bowl has been underwhelming ever since he came up to the Otters. Just five touchdowns scored over 3+ seasons at this point. He's just not getting it done so far. The offense could be great if he just puts the work in that everyone else is right now, but it hasn't happened yet."

While Bannings is correct that Bowl has had very few touchdown receptions in his early career, it certainly can't be said it's for lack of effort. Just last season Bowl finished with 97 receptions and an almost unfathomable two attributed drops.

Locker room vitriol such as this is never good for a team's morale, especially when that team seems to be struggling to find its offensive rhythm like the Otters are. Will the disagreement get in either players' head and affect their decision making? Will Bannings be able to see past the anger and get Bowl a touchdown if he's the best option on a play? Will Bowl try to force a trade to a team more willing to focus on him? Will Bannings audible out of plays where Bowl is the primary read?

The possibilities are endless when it comes to such strong bad blood between teammates, and fans can only hope that Orange County GMs can get a handle on the situation before things begin to unravel. When asked about the situation, Otters GM UptownCord (@UptownCord) was clearly frustrated, but claimed to be unconcerned. "I think this is an issue that will easily be overcome after we gel together more as the season progresses."

As always, The Doghouse will update as the situation progresses.