[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes
Yay! We win and in a nailbiter.

It was a fourth quarter comeback win and maybe undeserved after the first half, but once again we'll take the 'W'. I have good hope that we'll get back to the late 2007 form of steamrolling over our opponentns, but so far we've got to settle with narrow victories. Beating Paris is always nice, since the Musketeers owner and I always love to talk trash on the days leading towards the game. But after having beaten them the last 2 times on the road and last 3 times at home, is it still worth the energy? (eye-wink to Darkiller)

Our 23-20 last second win not only helps us back in the race, but other results make this divison closer than ever before. The Bordeaux Vineyars lost 20-23 at the Conyers Condors (3-3 now). The Gothenburg Giants got home as 23-20 winners from a trip to the Orlando Knights (2-5 now). Giving some pretty close standings for now.

European standings:
4-2 Bordeaux
4-3 Gothenburg
3-3 Maassluis
3-3 Paris
Maassluis holds tie-breakers on head-to-head record (1-0)

Schedule:
With the next round of games, we could face an amazing standings next week. The Gothenburg Giants are on a bye week, thus they stay in the middle of the pack. The Paris Musketeers go to the Tucker Tigers (0-6) in hopes to catch up with the Giants. The Maassluis Merchantmen host the Conyers Condors (3-3) trying to move into second place. And the Bordeaux Vineyards hope not to slip to 4-3 as they are playing at home against the Georgia Gridlock (4-2).

Player of the year:
We beat Paris and it was not difficult to hand out kudos to the five best players. Going from fifth best to best the were: receiver Devin Henson (1 touchdown, 26 yards per kickoff return, 3 catches for 37 yards), safety Broderick Schultz (1 defended pass, 0 catches, 2 tackles), linebacker Bernie Surry (1 interception, 2 passes defended, 5 tackles, 3 assists), left tackle Ivan Jacques (4 key run blocks, 50% blocking, 0 sacks) and defensive tackle Charles Gomez (1 sack, 2 hurries, 1 forced fumble, 7 tackles, 2 assists).

Standings:
10 points - Charles Gomez
9 points - Devin Henson
7 points - Louie Flannery, Lincoln Gilmore
5 points - Omar Gougeon, Bernie Surry
4 points - Cody Cluff, Ivan Jacques
3 points - Bryce Ewald
2 points - Xavier Clyburn, Cary Coles, Broderick Schultz, Tai Wayne
1 point - Mike Kershner

Stats?
Well, we suck in individual stats, none of our passers, rushers or receivers rank in the top20. Cody Cluff is still going strong in the tackles tables (43 tackles), Charles Gomez is moving up the sack machine charts 4.0 sacks), but all other defensive players have no top20 positions. And we also suck in team stats, as the only thing we seem able to do is making turnovers on defense and keeping the opponents from scoring inside our red zone. I can only hope things will change soon, but I've got little hope for that so far...