10-19-2021, 01:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-19-2021, 01:37 PM by Big_Papi. Edited 1 time in total.)
Quarterly Review:
Every four games Bill likes to take time away from the daily grind to reflect and review his performances for each game. It is a process which allows Bill to grow as a player, learn from his mistakes, and speak about his goals for future games. Without further ado, I present Bill’s Quarterly review of games 9-12 of Season 31 of the ISFL, which also happens to be his rookie year with his team, the Orange County Otters.
Week 9 vs Chicago Butchers:
Going into the second half of the season, I had my eyes set on turning our season around as we had begun the season with a slow start. The playoffs were still within reach, however we were damn near going to have to win out the rest of our games to be able to have a chance at making the playoffs. Prior to our matchup against the Butchers, I was feeling extremely motivated and confident in our chances of beginning the second half of the season with a win. We were going against the Butchers, which were a team that had been struggling in recent years. But boy did that overconfidence quickly come back to bite us in the rear. Once the game began, it quickly became clear which team was taking the game serious, and it wasn’t our team. The Butchers jumped out to an early lead and weren’t able to let go of it. It became an onslaught as the defense was unable to stop their potent offense. And to add to this humiliation, our team was wearing our awesome black color rush uniforms this week. So not only were we getting spanked up and down the field, but we were doing it while wearing my favorite uniforms. By the end of the game, I was ready to throw the uniform away and never wear those colors again, no matter how much I liked them. We got beat all around that game and afterwards in the locker room, you could’ve confused it with a library with how quiet it got in there. No words were spoken because we were all left on shock. It was the worse whooping that we had gotten in a very long time. After the game I literally just went right home, and just sat on my couch in the dark. Didn’t even bother turning the lights or tv on, it’s what I deserve after my poor performance.
Week 10 at Berlin Fire Salamanders:
Coming off our worst performance of the season thus far, we knew it was imperative that we show up this game and play our asses off. Unfortunately for us, however, we were playing against a very good Berlin team. Although their record didn’t reflect it at the time, the Fire Salamanders had stars on every side of the ball including offense, defense, and special teams. We didn’t have an answer for their high-powered offense and Berlin was able to jump out to an early lead that they would not relinquish. On a personal level, I played decently. Although anytime your team gives up over 30 points one never really has a good defensive game. It seems we didn’t have an answer against the pass or the run, as the running back was running all over us throughout the game. We were in big trouble now as our playoff hopes had all but disappeared. You could just see it on the faces of my teammates. You could tell how defeated they look. Many of them were already talking about next year and at least we would have a good draft pick. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever listened. The sound of losing, giving up hope, is something that I hope to never get used to. Honestly it was getting quite demoralizing being around my teammates afterwards so I didn’t even shower in the locker room afterwards. I left immediately and went home and did the same thing as last week. Except this time I sat in the dark silence still drenched in the stinky sweat clothes from the game. It’s what I deserved. I sat there all night and just thought about what I needed to do to become a better player. Before going to bed, I went to the garage and got in a hard workout. I didn’t deserve to sleep until I had maxed my body out to its limit.
Week 11 vs Honolulu Hahalua:
With the playoffs essentially out of reach, our teams goals had begun shifting from the goals we set for ourselves at the start of the season. At this point we were trying to figure out just who we were as a team, because over the past 10 weeks our sense of identity had been knocked out of us. We came into the season with high hopes and had our sights set on a championship trophy. And by week 11, we were simply trying to figure out what went wrong along the way, and why we weren’t competitive each week. We were losing not just to the good teams, but pretty much every team that year. In hopes of stopping the bleeding, our focus this week was in establishing where our strengths and weaknesses were, where we needed to make adjustments, and what we needed to change about our game plan. To our surprise, we were actually not been getting destroyed this game. In fact, by the final drive, we had put ourselves in a position to win the game. Unfortunately on our last drive, I could notice that the stadium had not been anywhere near as loud as I felt it should be in this situation. I looked around the stadium and could see that maybe half of the seats were filled with fans.c the other half were empty. Our fans had already given up on us before the game was even over. I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t a distraction a a blow to our morale. You never want to see that your fans have given up on you. However there we were in a position to take the lead on the final drive of the game. However, our efforts were shot down thanks to a sack that cause a fumble on our quarterback and the defense recovered to seal the game. Despite losing, I was actually pretty happy to even be close to winning at that point.
Week 12 at New Orleans Second Line:
Now despite our season being a bust, and besides being on a long losing streak, the opponent we were facing this week was our personal rival. It did not matter what our records were, it never does. It did not matter how low morale was across our entire team, it never does. And it certainly did not matter that we were playing an away game in one of the most hostile environments to play in, it never does. When it comes to playing our rival, the Second Line, all of that other stuff goes right out the window. This game wasn’t for a playoff spot, it wasn’t anything to us except one thing, personal. For as long as I can remember, the Second Line had been our biggest rivals and unfortunately the history of the rivalry has heavily favored New Orleans. However this year was different, this year there was a different energy that was lifting our team into our matchup. We no longer felt the pressure to win. We didn’t get caught up in the tabloids that hyped this game up. We also didn’t have the huge chips on our shoulders from carrying all this negative pressure we had developed all season. Nope, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered to us was that we hated the other team and we absolutely didn’t not back from the challenge. I played a hell of a game, contributing on a lot of key defensive stops and playing out of my mind. By the end of the game, we had came out on top and it wasn’t necessarily close. We had just beaten our long-time rival and even our poor record wasn’t enough to dampen our celebration after the game. We all went downtown and hit all the clubs up in New Orleans. It was a great way to end an absolutely incredible day!
Every four games Bill likes to take time away from the daily grind to reflect and review his performances for each game. It is a process which allows Bill to grow as a player, learn from his mistakes, and speak about his goals for future games. Without further ado, I present Bill’s Quarterly review of games 9-12 of Season 31 of the ISFL, which also happens to be his rookie year with his team, the Orange County Otters.
Week 9 vs Chicago Butchers:
Going into the second half of the season, I had my eyes set on turning our season around as we had begun the season with a slow start. The playoffs were still within reach, however we were damn near going to have to win out the rest of our games to be able to have a chance at making the playoffs. Prior to our matchup against the Butchers, I was feeling extremely motivated and confident in our chances of beginning the second half of the season with a win. We were going against the Butchers, which were a team that had been struggling in recent years. But boy did that overconfidence quickly come back to bite us in the rear. Once the game began, it quickly became clear which team was taking the game serious, and it wasn’t our team. The Butchers jumped out to an early lead and weren’t able to let go of it. It became an onslaught as the defense was unable to stop their potent offense. And to add to this humiliation, our team was wearing our awesome black color rush uniforms this week. So not only were we getting spanked up and down the field, but we were doing it while wearing my favorite uniforms. By the end of the game, I was ready to throw the uniform away and never wear those colors again, no matter how much I liked them. We got beat all around that game and afterwards in the locker room, you could’ve confused it with a library with how quiet it got in there. No words were spoken because we were all left on shock. It was the worse whooping that we had gotten in a very long time. After the game I literally just went right home, and just sat on my couch in the dark. Didn’t even bother turning the lights or tv on, it’s what I deserve after my poor performance.
Week 10 at Berlin Fire Salamanders:
Coming off our worst performance of the season thus far, we knew it was imperative that we show up this game and play our asses off. Unfortunately for us, however, we were playing against a very good Berlin team. Although their record didn’t reflect it at the time, the Fire Salamanders had stars on every side of the ball including offense, defense, and special teams. We didn’t have an answer for their high-powered offense and Berlin was able to jump out to an early lead that they would not relinquish. On a personal level, I played decently. Although anytime your team gives up over 30 points one never really has a good defensive game. It seems we didn’t have an answer against the pass or the run, as the running back was running all over us throughout the game. We were in big trouble now as our playoff hopes had all but disappeared. You could just see it on the faces of my teammates. You could tell how defeated they look. Many of them were already talking about next year and at least we would have a good draft pick. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever listened. The sound of losing, giving up hope, is something that I hope to never get used to. Honestly it was getting quite demoralizing being around my teammates afterwards so I didn’t even shower in the locker room afterwards. I left immediately and went home and did the same thing as last week. Except this time I sat in the dark silence still drenched in the stinky sweat clothes from the game. It’s what I deserved. I sat there all night and just thought about what I needed to do to become a better player. Before going to bed, I went to the garage and got in a hard workout. I didn’t deserve to sleep until I had maxed my body out to its limit.
Week 11 vs Honolulu Hahalua:
With the playoffs essentially out of reach, our teams goals had begun shifting from the goals we set for ourselves at the start of the season. At this point we were trying to figure out just who we were as a team, because over the past 10 weeks our sense of identity had been knocked out of us. We came into the season with high hopes and had our sights set on a championship trophy. And by week 11, we were simply trying to figure out what went wrong along the way, and why we weren’t competitive each week. We were losing not just to the good teams, but pretty much every team that year. In hopes of stopping the bleeding, our focus this week was in establishing where our strengths and weaknesses were, where we needed to make adjustments, and what we needed to change about our game plan. To our surprise, we were actually not been getting destroyed this game. In fact, by the final drive, we had put ourselves in a position to win the game. Unfortunately on our last drive, I could notice that the stadium had not been anywhere near as loud as I felt it should be in this situation. I looked around the stadium and could see that maybe half of the seats were filled with fans.c the other half were empty. Our fans had already given up on us before the game was even over. I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t a distraction a a blow to our morale. You never want to see that your fans have given up on you. However there we were in a position to take the lead on the final drive of the game. However, our efforts were shot down thanks to a sack that cause a fumble on our quarterback and the defense recovered to seal the game. Despite losing, I was actually pretty happy to even be close to winning at that point.
Week 12 at New Orleans Second Line:
Now despite our season being a bust, and besides being on a long losing streak, the opponent we were facing this week was our personal rival. It did not matter what our records were, it never does. It did not matter how low morale was across our entire team, it never does. And it certainly did not matter that we were playing an away game in one of the most hostile environments to play in, it never does. When it comes to playing our rival, the Second Line, all of that other stuff goes right out the window. This game wasn’t for a playoff spot, it wasn’t anything to us except one thing, personal. For as long as I can remember, the Second Line had been our biggest rivals and unfortunately the history of the rivalry has heavily favored New Orleans. However this year was different, this year there was a different energy that was lifting our team into our matchup. We no longer felt the pressure to win. We didn’t get caught up in the tabloids that hyped this game up. We also didn’t have the huge chips on our shoulders from carrying all this negative pressure we had developed all season. Nope, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered to us was that we hated the other team and we absolutely didn’t not back from the challenge. I played a hell of a game, contributing on a lot of key defensive stops and playing out of my mind. By the end of the game, we had came out on top and it wasn’t necessarily close. We had just beaten our long-time rival and even our poor record wasn’t enough to dampen our celebration after the game. We all went downtown and hit all the clubs up in New Orleans. It was a great way to end an absolutely incredible day!
“My name is Dauterive comma Bill, I am also insane.”