[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Theo! Theo! Theo!
Sometimes things happen in football that you don't see coming and sometimes things you hoped to see happen, well, happen.

With Ellis McAlister limping (a sore knee) and the division title locked up, it was the golden opportunity for us to give Ernest Andrews his first regular season action in a sold out Oranje Haven against the reigning IHOF champions.

And boy, was he nervous? Maybe he was, but nobody noticed. First drive of the game, Andrews scrambles for 8 yards, find Theo Bondy for 20 yards and on the third play executes the Blazewicz special: 47 yards for the a touchdown. The Williamsburg Colonials responded with a quick touchdown drive on their own. Little could the teams on the field and people in the stands presume that they had seen the only two offensive touchdowns of the entire game already.

Amidst the defensive supremacy, Gabe Broady got has revenge with an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown, silencing all the critics of him being past his peak. Clearly the fumbles were just a streak of bad luck, Broady was back. Not quite back, but continuing his strong season, Theodore Bondy made 14 catches for 182 yards, making the crowd consistently chant 'Theo! Theo! Theo!"

It must be a pleasure for a young quarterback to come into the league and have the opportunity to have your main target be a guy like Theo. He's already secured his second 2,000 yard season. He'll still need 138 receiving yards to tie J.R. Mills' franchise record, needs 1 receiving touchdown to tie Terry Haskell's. The receptions record is secure already though, he's already 4 catches past his own previous franchise record of 153.

Andrews obviously wasn't the only rookie with a prominent role on the offense today. Reggie Thongchanh had 18 carries for 76 yards, but also pulled his groin and as we'll likely rest him in week 17, will come 11 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark. Right tackle Howard Humphrey continues to be rock solid, 41 key run blocks puts him only 3 behind the league leaders. Tucker Gaylor continues to be our third wide receiver, he's just unlucky that we've decided to throw him in a lot of formations and plays where he's going to be a run blocker or third or fourth receiving option. Obviously we believe strongly in him, he's a fifth round pick after all!

So, week 17 up next and we'll still have something to play for, kind of. Third seed is on the line, a win secures it for us. It's no major issue, but it could be slightly better to be third if we somehow manage to end our one-and-done curse of the past two decades or so. We actually lost in Bordeaux last season, after eight straight wins there. They won't let us cake walk to victory at all.

Still, we just beat the last two IHOF champions in back to back games, that's pretty rare and a huge confidence boost. And 10-6 looks just so much better than 9-7 for a record to go into the post-season. Although, it won't mater at all anymore if we drop out right away, nor does it matter if we manage to win four straight playoffs games en route to a second IHOF Bowl victory. I think we've got the guys to make it happen. That defense with Hitchcock, McCorkle, Brewer, Guthrie, the loaded defensive line, and then the offense with Thong and Belin from behind a strong line anchored by rookie Humphrey, a better than ever before Ellis McAlister and then the guy he loves to throw to.

Theo, go get us that ring.

Theo! Theo! Theo!