Football Eh?? - The NFL Comes to Canada - Madden 11

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TORONTO HAWKS TRANSACTION REPORT

HAWKS SIGN MLB BRENDON AYANBADEJO TO A 1 YEAR DEAL WORTH $900K

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TORONTO EXAMINER - 09-13-10

HAWKS FALL SHORT IN OPENER

Toronto - The Toronto Hawks hosted the Miami Dolphins for their first ever game. Toronto Municipal Stadium was packed with fans eager to see the first ever game played by a Canadian NFL team. Expectations are mild for the team with most experts predicting they will win less than 5 games. The thin roster has not kept fans away, the first half of the home schedule has already sold out and with yesterday's strong performance the remainder of the season will likely be sold out in short order.

Chester Dawson played a solid game under center, going 15 for 25 with 227 yards and a score to Danny Hart. Hart looked like he will become a solid target for Dawson as he and tight end Martin Danielson were receipients of 5 passes each. Hart was expected to go late in the draft but NFL scouts were concerned that his 5-9 170 pound frame could not survive the rigors of an NFL season. Hart, who excelled at Hofstra, has drawn comparisons to fellow Hofstra alumn Wayne Chrebet and has been called "a poor man's Wes Welker." Hart lacks astonishing straight line speed but is quite shifty and his small stature makes him difficult to hit cleanly.

The Phins took a 21-9 lead into halftime with scores coming from a pair of Ricky Williams runs and a Henne to Bess 9 yard TD. Kris Brown hit 3 field goals in the first half and added another in the 3rd quarter. His 4/4 and 2 point after performance likely made him a fantasy favorite.

The Dolphins were able to run the ball with relative ease, amassing 200 yards on the ground to the Hawks 86. Toronto ran only 45 offensive plays (25 passes, 20 rushes) though Tye Hill's interception return TD gave the offense one less possession. Miami ran 50 plays (20 passes, 30 rushes) which is slightly below the NFL average. The interception and 2 long scoring plays kept their numbers down.

After an 80 yard Henne to Hartline TD pass early in the 3rd quarter Henne was knocked out of the game with a partial roin tear. With Pennington already out for the season with a fractured elbow the team turned to Tyler Thigpen. Thigpen threw the pick to Hill for the Hawks first ever TD and made the score 28-19. After stopping Miami the Hawks put together a solid drive capped by a Dawson to Hart 15 yard TD pass to pull within 2 points. The defense could not hold off the Miami rushing attack and they scored late in the 4th on a 1 yard Polite run to put the game out of reach at 35-26.

The Hawks travel to Green Bay next week to face the 0-1 Packers who fell to the Eagles 31-14 in Philadelphia. The Packers will bring in a battered offensive line with starting center Scott Wells and the teams top two reserves out. Third receiver James Jones is also out. Toronto will be without third string QB Gillum and MLB Potts. The Hawks picked up free agent MLB Brendon Ayanbadejo to fill the spot and add depth.


TYE HILL EN ROUTE TO THE HAWKS FIRST EVER TOUCHDOWN

[Deuce2223]

Man Colt Brennan can't even win the starting job for the Hawks. Would've loved to see Ryan Leaf make a huge comback.

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NFL Scoreboard - TORONTO (0-1) at GREEN BAY (0-1)

September 19, 2010 1 2 3 4 F TORONTO 07 10 00 03 20 GREEN BAY 14 7 00 03 24 Top Performers TORONTO - Stats D. HART - 6 REC 125 YDS L. LITTLE - TKL, SACK GREEN BAY - Stats C. WOODSON - TKL, 2 INT N. BARNETT - 8TKL, 2TFL	Team Stats Comparison TOR GB First Downs 14 11 3rd Down Efficiency 5-12 1-7 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 0-0 Total Yards 442 365 Passing Yards 252 162 Rushing Yards 68 110 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-15 3-40 Turnovers 3 1 Time of Possession 24:42 11:18
Scoring Summary First Quarter TOR GB GB 5:11 J. KUHN 1 YARD TD RUN (M. CROSBY KICK) 00 07 TOR 3:26 C. DAWSON 6 YARD TD PASS TO D. LINDSAY (K. BROWN KICK) 07 07 GB 3:09 A. RODGERS 75 YARD TD PASS TO K. HALL (M. CROSBY KICK) 07 14 Second Quarter TOR GB TOR 6:27 K. BROWN 30 YARD FIELD GOAL 10 14 GB 1:50 A. RODGERS 11 YARD TD PASS TO J. KUHN (M. CROSBY KICK) 10 21 TOR 0:09 C. DAWSON 12 YARD TD PASS TO M. DANIELSON (K. BROWN KICK) 17 21 Fourth Quarter TOR GB TOR 8:04 K. BROWN 31 YARD FIELD GOAL 20 21 GB 0:05 M. CROSBY 36 YARD FIELD GOAL 20 24
TORONTO Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT C. DAWSON 16/28 260 2 3 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD W. PARKER 12 42 3.5 0 B. LITTLE 8 19 2.3 0 C. DAWSON 2 4 2.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD D. HART 6 125 20.8 0 M. DANIELSON 4 66 16.5 1 T. KIRKLAND 2 48 24.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD T. FULCHER 3 0 0 0 J. RANDLE 3 0 0 0 P. WATKINS 3 0 0 0 L. LITTLE 1 1 0 0 M. HARRIS 2 0 1 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG D. HART 5 89 0 23 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG D. HART 2 27 0 14 E. PIERCE 1 6 0 6 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG K. BROWN 2/3 2/2 8 31 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 R. PLACKEMEIER 1 46 46.0 1 GREEN BAY Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT A. RODGERS 10/24 168 2 1 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD B. JACKSON 9 52 5.7 0 J. KUHN 6 48 8.0 1 D. NANCE 1 9 9.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD K. HALL 1 75 75.0 1 B. JACKSON 3 30 10.0 0 D. DRIVER 2 27 13.5 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD N. BARNETT 8 0 0 0 N. COLLINS 5 0 1 0 C. PEPRAH 5 0 0 0 R. PICKETT 3 1 0 0 C. WOODSON 1 0 2 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG J. NELSON 2 51 0 26 S. SHIELDS 2 39 0 23 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG T. WILLIAMS 1 3 0 3 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG M. CROSBY 1/1 3/3 6 36 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 T. MASTHAY 5 174 34.8 0

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LEONARD LITTLE RECORDS THE HAWKS FIRST EVER SACK

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TORONTO HAWKS INJURY REPORT

TE M. DANIELSON DISLOCATED ELBOW 1 WEEK
LB S. POTTS BROKEN HAND 4 WEEKS

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NFL Scoreboard - TORONTO (0-2) at NEW ENGLAND (0-2)

September 26, 2010 1 2 3 4 F TORONTO 00 00 03 03 06 NEW ENGLAND 21 10 00 03 34 Top Performers TORONTO - Stats S. KEGLAR - 13TKL, 5TFL, 2DEF M. HARRIS - 10TKL, 2TFL, NEW ENGLAND - Stats B. MERIWEATHER - 2TKL, INT, TD W. WELKER - 5REC 119YDS	Team Stats Comparison TOR NE First Downs 5 20 3rd Down Efficiency 1-14 9-21 4th Down Efficiency 0-2 2-2 Total Yards 295 458 Passing Yards 118 361 Rushing Yards 48 44 Penalties-Penalty Yards 3-20 7-75 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 20:18 39:36
Scoring Summary First Quarter TOR NE NE 9:43 F. TAYLOR 2 YARD TD RUN (S. GOSTKOWSKI KICK) 00 07 NE 1:29 B. GREEN-ELLIS 3 YARD TD RUN (S. GOSTKOWSKI KICK) 00 14 NE 0:31 B. MERIWEATHER 23 YARD INT RETURN TD 00 21 Second Quarter TOR NE NE 9:15 T. BRADY 1 YARD TD PASS TO J. EDELMAN (S. GOSTKOWSKI KICK) 00 28 NE 3:58 S. GOSTKOWSKI 53 YARD FIELD GOAL 00 31 Third Quarter TOR NE TOR 3:57 K. BROWN 41 YARD FIELD GOAL 03 31 Fourth Quarter TOR NE TOR 14:27 K. BROWN 48 YARD FIELD GOAL 06 31 NE 10:31 S. GOSTKOWSKI 47 YARD FIELD GOAL 06 34
TORONTO Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT C. DAWSON 10/23 119 0 1 C. BRENNAN 1/3 4 0 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD B. LITTLE 9 26 2.8 0 W. PARKER 9 18 2.0 0 D. LINDSAY 3 4 1.3 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD D. HART 3 59 19.6 0 T. KIRKLAND 2 38 19.0 0 R. ELLIS 2 15 7.5 0 H. SHELTON 1 4 4.0 0 L. CROSS 2 4 2.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD S. KEGLAR 13 0 0 0 M. HARRIS 10 0 0 0 L. LITTLE 6 1 0 0 C. KEMP 4 0 0 0 P. WATKINS 2 0 1 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG H. SHELTON 5 86 0 23 D. HART 2 35 0 22 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG D. HART 1 8 9 8 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG K. BROWN 2/2 0/0 6 48 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 R. PLACKEMEIER 9 366 40.6 0 NEW ENGLAND Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT T. BRADY 30/46 367 1 1 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD B. GREEN-ELLIS 20 2 1.0 1 F. TAYLOR 11 18 1.6 1 S. MORRIS 2 6 3.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD W. WELKER 5 119 23.8 0 A. CRUMPLER 9 83 9.2 0 J. EDELMAN 6 51 8.5 1 M. SLATER 3 34 11.3 0 S. MORRIS 1 28 28.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD J. MAYO 6 0 0 0 R. NINKOVICH 6 1.5 0 0 P. CHUNG 5 0 0 0 B. SPIKES 3 0 0 0 B. MERIWEATHER 2 0 1 1 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG W. WELKER 1 17 0 17 B. TATE 1 14 0 14 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG J. EDELMAN 1 9 0 9 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG S. GOSTKOWSKI 2/2 4/4 10 53 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 Z. MESKO 8 318 39.7 3

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TORONTO HAWKS INJURY REPORT

LB S. POTTS BROKEN HAND 3 WEEKS
DE V. LARGENT PARTIAL PCL TEAR 4 WEEKS

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TORONTO EXAMINER

HAWKS FANBASE STILL SOLID

Toronto - Despire an 0-3 start to their existence the Toronto Hawks fanbase is as solid as ever. Most fans were realistic about the teams likelyhood of wins right from the get go. The Hawks are expected to enjoy a lengthy "grace period" as the Toronto is quite frankly giddy just to have a team. In other cities where the teams have been around for a while interest drops quickly when the product is poor. However, for the Hawks, fans will remain excited for some time. The team certainly helped it's own cause by playing Miami very close in week one. They also played a tight contest in Green bay before getting outplayed in New England in week three. A few stars in the making have stepped up. Danny Hart has played quite well and has the best selling jersey to this point in the season. He also has made the largest jump in fantasy ownership of any player through week three.

Toronto has done many things right that will keep the fans coming back for more even if (when) the team continues to struggle. If profits and revenue sharing prove to be what they are estimated at the team should be able to make a splash in free agency in the offseason. Couple that with an expected high draft order and the team could contend for a playoff spot in a few years.

The 0-3 Hawks will host the 3-0 Jets in week 4. I'll certainly be there and I hope you will too.