Presently the Bucs are playing the Patriots in New England and Tom Brady is down by 1 in the 4th. It is a strange homecoming for the man who is now the all-time passing leader (after supplanting Brees and so many others along the way). You gotta believe this was setup from the get up. For Brady to get that honor in the stadium he built (and built him) is a miracle of algorithmic scheduling to know just when this man would break the record. Of course, Brees is there as a commentator. The only person missing the party is Gronk. Broken ribs held him out of the show. Supposedly he didn’t even make the trip.
Locally, the youth game is heating up as teams separate themselves from the pack. This is supposed to be the week they announce divisions for specific age groups. My squad wanted D2, but after moving to 3-0 it looks more like we are going to be fitted into that D1. That is not entirely unpleasant. I welcome the competition, but I fear we are not ready for it. My boy’s former team, The Argos, have been tearing through the league, twice now ending games with the mercy rule. For that to happen you need to score 42 points on a team. We didn’t score 42 points in the first two games combined, and this latest 26-6 win is the most lopsided victory we’ve had. Here are the standings as I’ve recorded them:
| Team | Win | Loss | Ties | PF | PA |
| Raiders | 4 | 0 | 99 | 26 | |
| Argos | 3 | 0 | 134 | 6 | |
| Liberty Lions | 3 | 0 | 104 | 13 | |
| Irish | 3 | 0 | 57 | 6 | |
| Mustangs | 2 | 1 | 39 | 52 | |
| Jr Eagles | 2 | 1 | 30 | 26 | |
| Dragons | 2 | 2 | 75 | 53 | |
| Spartans | 1 | 1 | 13 | 12 | |
| Force Football | 1 | 1 | 27 | 19 | |
| Yuma Coyotes | 1 | 2 | 13 | 53 | |
| Ridge Army | 1 | 3 | 26 | 95 | |
| Peoria Panthers | 1 | 2 | 47 | 56 | |
| Elite Reapers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 105 | |
| Jr Huskies | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| Devilbacks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | |
| Mesa Toros | 0 | 3 | 0 | 55 | |
| Outlaws | 0 | 2 | 6 | 61 |
This is not a true power point standings, because it lacks the more detailed Opponent Win and Opponent’s opponent win categories that help to shape the quality of victories. To be honest, we haven’t really beaten one of the top teams. We beat the top Pop Warner squad, and the lesser PWs have gotten some league wins, but one of those PW squads got ransacked 42-0 by the Argos. The Liberty Lions and the Raiders are also undefeated, and the Mustangs also were destroyed by the Argos. In short, the Argos are the standard and it remains to be seen where we fit in this complex 14u hierarchy. According to the numbers, we fit at 4. Let’s see what sort of competition that earns us this week.
Some Thoughts:
- Being this deep into the revision process makes me look at books differently. I’ve never been a heavy reviser. Now that I am in that process I can recognize the moments in a text where an editor and author found compromise.