“by Stoned Phillips,
Apothecary Press (AP)

Stupidity. Pure, unadulterated, stupidity cost the Syndicate this game and it was solely the failure of their head coach, TSteamer.

It was looking rough after a first half where the Syndicate Offense was in complete control in a great cage, but the stubborn Dwarven defense would not relent and the Syndicate Mummies could not clear the pitch. The first half ended with a stalled pileup basically at midfield. Typical Dwarven-Khemri game, but dissappointing not to score in 8 turns none-the-less.

In the second half the Syndicate were determined to bounce back. At kick off their opportunity came and they pulled off a Perfect Defense! This allowed them to force a quick turnover!! Looks like a 1-0 victory if the Syndicate could just play better ball control than in the second half. However that all came to a screeching halt in Turn 6. Feeling the pressure to score, and not end in a 0-0 tie, coach TSteamer gambled and it didnt pay off. He had Koohpac break for the endzone without appropriate coverage. This degraded into a quick turn over. However, there was still hope for the 0-0 tie as the Dwarves were not quite as fast as the last opponents the Syndicate faced and Tarolem the Blind picked his dusty bones off the pitch and scrambled after the Dwarven runner. He had closed the distance and was in range to strike, when a stubborn Longbeard stepped in the way. It was tough, but it would be possible. So Tarolem ran for the ball. "He had a path to their ballcarrier in Turn 7 of the 2nd half...AND he pulled off an incredible dodge to get there..." said coach TSteamer, "but when he got there, I had told him to just run, not blitz. It was the single thing that cost us the game."

Betrayed, bewildered and bedraggled, the Syndicate watched as the Dwarf walked into the endzone for a Turn 8 score. It was horrible to lose that way.

Now, sure, maybe a Khemri Throw-Ra with an AG of 2 shouldnt make that dodge, and there was no guarantee that a 1 dice block would have made a turn over but it was a 3 in 6 chance. And there was no guarantee the the Dwarves wouldnt just recover the ball in turn 8, grab the ball and score, but you gotta give the player the chance, and I blew it.

Bunnypuncher was a great coach and a lot of fun to play and chat with both in the game and after (although, there was a bit too much "woot"-ing at my CASes that didnt regen--especially the niggle...but I guess his kharma paid him back with a niggle of his own) :)

Regardless, it was definately fun. Its still more fun to WIN, but it was fun nonetheless. I'd play with Bunnypuncher again any time!

”