Monday, July 10, 2006

Pride Dominates 34-18 in Season Opener, Grim Reaper Claims Another Body Part

This past Sunday was the 2006 summer season opener for Pride is Forever against NWA. A glorious, summer day it was ... sunny, cloudless and a warm 90 degrees on the field turf. With my collarbone feeling good (i.e. no feeling/limitation), I was ready to return to the field at 100% since my exit five weeks ago.

Without our current starters, PIF had to reallocate skill positions a bit. I moved to QB, Brian Z moved to the #4 spot and our sub Joe moved to #5. The ladies stayed in the same spots: Kellyn, Maggie, and Nicole. It was a tremendous performance by everyone, I mean everyone. Every single person made a big play or several big plays.

I'd have to single out the ladies collectively for MVP where they had the biggest impact on our play. Throughout the game, I was able to find them readily open after going through my progressions. Specifically, when the #1 or #2 receivers were logjammed in the secondary, the ladies always moved to the open space where they became easy dump offs. It was key to pick up those extra yards and completions to create future open plays by hitting the ladies. Props to Nicole for the outs, Maggie on the sweet TD catch, and Kellyn for running the turnarounds. I did have a couple blatant overthrows/picks which were mental mistakes - I tried to rush things too quickly and didn't set up properly.

Defensively, we were on lockdown with exception to two broken long plays. The score should have been 34-6. Nonetheless, we had some big INT's that kept the offense on the field and which were critical to running down the clock towards the end of the game. Mike D stepped up like Charles Woodson on a pick at right corner, as did Brian Z for a deep corner pass, and the ESPN play of the game ... think Chris Berman shouting "Whoop! She could go all the way!" where Kellyn shifted back as linebacker, plucked the errant ball from the sky, and made a b-line to the left corner of the endzone. On that play, the door to victory was slammed shut for NWA. Actually, it was shut aways back but that was simply the dot on the exclamation point.

One disappointing event in the 1st half. It happened on my QB scramble to the endzone where I made a hard cut on my left knee and tweaked it (pop sound I felt). After that point, I had to play on one leg and could not move laterally. I felt like Byron Leftwich in that Akron Marshall game where he played with a broken fibia. Somewhat dramatic I know. Cool thing was that it forced me to play more strategically, not relying on my legs to get out of sticky situations. I had to shift around the pocket like a big brown bear (think Dan Marino or Big Ben) looking for the quick throw downfield. I can dream, right?

Anyway, looks like I am out for at least 3-4 weeks before I return to any gait-like activity. Lots of RICE these days (not the white Asian kind but the gimp kind) lieing on the couch while sporting a cane minus the top hat around town. According to my physical therapist friend, I likely have a Grade II medial collateral ligament sprain (MCL). It's not actually that bad of an injury given that the ligament does regenerate and 98% of athletes incurring the injury return to their normal form. Yes, the Grim Reaper has cast another dark cloud over my summer plans.

Looks like my guitar calls me back after my departure from my clavicle mishap. Nope, you won't be finding me on the field anytime soon, but maybe at Zoka strumming my acoustic for all the Java heads and tree huggers.

Ah, life goes on.

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