 129 |
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 69 |
129 |
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69 |
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Third Team's the Charm BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS--Tim Biakabutka began the preseason with Bakerfield. He was cut from their running backs roster in favor of Greg Hill, Lawrence Phillips, Leroy Hoard, and Gary Brown. From there, he drifted to Sin City, but couldn't hang on a team accustomed to Terrell Davises, Jamal Andersons, and Ricky Watterses. Finally he found a home in Waterworld. There's no place like home. The Wombats are effortlessly moving
"No one expected us to go anywhere," Wombat defensive lineman Warren Sapp laughs. "There's no pressure on us, we just go out and play. It's the guys across the hall who have it rough." Following Waterworld's draft, most experts picked the Wombats as one of the bottom two teams in the league, forcing a series of trades to bring in better talent. A loss in week one to weak Beijing seemed to cement the Wombats' fate. Then something happened. They stopped caring. Sam Wyche was honest in telling his team no one expected them to win. No one feared Kurt Warner, an arena football quarterback. The rest of the team was overaged, over-rated, and/or over-hyped. The goal was no longer to win a title. It wasn't even not to embarrass themselves. The goal was just to have fun playing football, which they are, and if they make the playoffs along the way, so be it. |
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ATHENS, GREECE--Something happens when these teams get together. Generally, it isn't pretty. While most of the time a game like this might be called a rivalry, Sin City and Athens prefer the term "grudge match." Both teams' defenses stole the show, four interceptions and two touchdowns for the Seahawks and seven sacks for the Broncos. Each attributed their strong showings to returns. The Seahawks gave credit to Chuck Cecil's return as defensive coordinator after the resignation of Tony Dungy. The Broncos are back in Athens after a trade put them back with their team from 1997-98. Sin City's win is the first of the season, leaving only Athens winless in the league.
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MAYBERRY, NORTH CAROLINA--At midseason, both Bakersfield and Mayberry were staring at dangerous absences on their rosters. Bakersfield's running backs combined for seven yards rushing last week, causing the team to trade for Week One Player of the Week Duce Staley. Troy Aikman's week off, combined with a general distrust of Aikman by the fron office, led the Fifes to bring in quarterback Kordell Stewart. At first look, both trades seem to be busts. Stewart threw three interceptions and was unable to gain any of the rushing yards which rated him so highly in Mayberry's minds. Staley gained only 6 yards on the ground. Both players are new to their teams and haven't had much time to learn the playbooks. "It's a new system," said Stewart. "I was limited to some of the simpler plays, which make them easier to defend. By next week, I hope to be better... it'll be hard to be worse.
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 Kordell Stewart Mayberry Fifes Team's "savior" throws 3 INTs and manages only 60 yards passing. Runners-up Randy Moss - Late TD overshadows 1 catch for 3 yards for 95% of game. Emmitt Smith - Pulls no-show leaving rushing duties to injured Bam Morris. |
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TOLEDO, OHIO--Statisticians are still digging through old boxscores to confirm, but Toledo may have made history Sunday afternoon. The Neanderthal brought home a victory without scoring even one touchdown. "A win is a win," said coach Sam Rutigliano. "I wouldn't get too excited about beating a team without a running back, but it moves us up in the standings." Beijing was left with no rushing attack when Bam Morris went down with a hamstring injury. Emmitt Smith was nowhere to be found, despite being an announced starter.
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