[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Cold as Ice
We're still alive, but a longshot...

Two more games, against the fifth and sixth best franchises of the 2090's. (We barely make the top10 of that metric, or all things considered it's a miracle we're top10 material?) We visited the Orlando Talons and came close to tying the score in the final 15 seconds, but we came a couple of plays short. Or 8 yards, whichever way you see it. And would have still had to make the two-point conversion. In which case we would have tied up a game that we deserved to lose. Orlando beat us 21-13, a fitting final score. The 34-10 final score at home against the Gothenburg Giants was much more of a disappointment. Yes, Orlando (like us) is only 4-6, while Gothenburg has reached 9-1, but at home against the Giants is a must win game, but certainly not a game where we should get crushed the way we did today. Merchantmen unworthy. I spoke of hot and cold before, the game against Orlando was chilly, the one against Gothenburg was as cold as their old stadium used to be (the Palace of Ice and Frost).

European Division:
1. Gothenburg 9-1
2. Bordeaux 6-4
3. Maassluis 4-6
4. Paris 3-7

So, scoreboard journalism, or whatever, we're still alive, but barely. Really, just barely. With 4 road games still to go, the odds are not in our favor. Neither does our divisional record help to even think about getting past Bordeaux. The final wild card will be tough as well, as we're unlikely to catch up in conference record with the Northeast second place finisher. At least we have that win in Augusta to give us tie-breakers over some of the competition...

Doug James returned to action against the Giants (yay!), but was underwhelming. But really, what can a punter do to make a difference? Well, do what James was capable of before the knee injury. But that's the past, we have to live by the kind of player he has become. Earnest Ashley is struggling, not doing better than his rookie season, which is kind of bad. Theodore Bondy is, well, he doesn't feel like "Theo" anymore. Don't be surprised if he ends the season only 5th on the team in receiving yards. It might be tricky to get much more than 500 yards receiving. Imagine that, a four-time 2,000-yard receiver...

Rookie cornerback Ernie Grant is still out with a broken clavicle, he might not be able to return in time for the crucial week 15 clash with the Bordeaux Vineyards. More certain will be the absence of Isaac Delgado, our guard playing left tackle. A concussion rules out Delgado for the remainder of the regular season, and then some. He might only be able to play if we make it to the bowl game...

Lastly, for now, the complete lack of progress by Ed Schulz continues to disappoint me. Our staff still thinks he's roughly 58% developed, but he has been since our last game of the 2093 season. You read that right: not last season, but the one before that. At least his performance continues to improve, which is still something. But this third year pro with Theo as his mentor, he should show progress, I think. It's almost as if becoming the leader of the receivers group is holding him back...

On to week 12, a visit to the Chicago Norsemen. Last time we visited them was a 30-13 victory in the 2037 season. Ellis McAlister was still our quarterback, Francisco Patter a backup to Reggie Thongchanh and Theodore Bondy already was our offensive star. That day he caught 10 passes for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. It would be nice to see him do something like that again, but odds of that are slim. Theo is about to find out that he'll be demoted to the WR3 role behind George Stuckey. Yes, even when the season is only mathematically still salvageable, we're not shy of making an all-time great lose his starting role. That too is part of what can happen with the Merchantmen.