[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Rock bottom, we're comin'
One more game...

A 34-7 drubbing, all our points from a pick six. The Moontown Darksiders increased our points differrential to -100. Our worst after 16 games in the previous 84 seasons was -81.

That's how bad we were. It's almost like we stopped knowing how to play football. Theodory Bondy has stopped playing like the all-time legend that was supposed to be upon retirement.

I had good hopes we could survive on our old habits, we didn't. Sure, it doesn't help that we've played the (tied) hardest schedule in the league, but that should stop the Merchantmen under normal circumstances. No, we're simply not good enough past the top guys. Because, well, we actually have an elite O-Line, that can't be it. We have an elite collective of pass rushers, that can't be it either. We've got Bondy, we've got Hitchcock. We're clearly not a typical 6-10 or 5-11 team. But here we are.

Division:
1. Paris 8-7
2. Gothenburg 7-8
3. Bordeaux 7-8
4. Maassluis 5-10

We're done, Bordeaux is done, it's Paris at Gothenburg in week 17 for a winner takes all.

The last time we lost 10 games in the same season was in 2033. Yes, that's right, more than 50 seasons ago. We actually had a pretty good roster that season and our points differential was just -3, despite the 6-10 record. In 2030 we went 5-11, our points differential was actually +6 (yeah, I know).

Okay, one more game. At home. We can finish this season with the best record in home games in the entire conference. We'll just need a win and the #2 seed bound Tucker Tigers to lose. #1 bound San Antonio and #6 seed hopeful Atlanta also hope to finish the season with a 6-2 record at home. Crazy stuff.

Our lottery ticket? The Houston Mustangs have improved to 7-8, they won 5 of their last 6 games. No easy top5 pick for us. Our own pick will be top10. That's Merchantmen unworthy. Period. A disgrace for this franchise.

But at the end of the day, it's just a game, we should cherish that we can still do this, still play football, still show our fans we have pride, still honored to wear that orange white and blue, still feeling strong. Still the Maassluis Merchantmen.