Poisoned! Vipers Shutout Defenders 25-0

After losing their first game to a winless team, the D.C. Defenders looked to reverse course against the only remaining team without a victory, the Tampa Bay Vipers.

Instead, the road to redemption was blocked as the winless Vipers closed that exit in a 25-0 Tampa Bay win.
The Defenders finished with a pitiful 107 yards of total offense in falling to 2-2 on the season.
D.C dropped out of first after a win by St.Louis and with a win by New York earlier in the weekend, the Defenders are now in a tie for second.
The Defenders' chances for a division title could be on the line next Sunday at Audi Field as the Defenders host the first-place Nighthawks.

Defensive Deflections

1) I know the fifth game seems to be early to proclaim that a game is a "must-win", but if the Defenders want to win a division title, it could be.
D.C hosts first place St.Louis and are currently behind the Nighthawks by one game.
Win next week and move into a tie for first, lose it and fall two behind with five to go.
Not insurmountable, but behind the eight ball for sure.

2) I'm not sure what happened to this team in two weeks.
They looked like (along with undefeated Houston) to be the best team in the league and just crushed in back to back games to winless teams?
Befuddled.

3) Pep Hamilton wasn't a coach that I was excited about in picking my team, but the cameras and microphones don't him any favors.
Hamilton gives off the vibe that "Michael Scott" vibe that seems oblivious to the chaos around him and has no idea what to do about it.
Hamilton's calm and while I'm not saying he has to go crazy, a little outward emotion may help.

4) Here's Hamilton at his worst.
Midway in the second quarter, Cardale Jones throws a deep ball to Malachi Dupre on a third down.
Dupre is ruled out of bounds on the catch, which was a good call, but it was worth a review.
The officials look at it and rule that Dupre was out of bounds and kicker Ty Rausa enters for a field goal attempt.
Rausa lines up and just as he kicks the ball, Pep Hamilton has used one of his two timeouts to "review the play".
We know this because the cameras catch all this, Hamilton asks for a review that has been completed, so back comes Rausa for another try.
Kick Blocked.

5) Someone trying to stop the run might be a nice idea as well.
Tampa Bay's starting running backs DeVone Smith and Jacques Patrick each rushed over 100 yards on the evening as the Vipers finished with 266 yards rushing.
D.C. had no clue for the Viper running game, which wasn't overwhelming anyone in their previous three games.

6) Not that they were any better against the pass as Tampa Bay's backup Taylor Cornelius completed 24 of his 31 throws for over 200 yards and a touchdown.
The pass rush didn't register a sack and allowed Cornelius to have as much time as he needed in the pocket.
Other than a nifty interception by Rakim Moore,  I can't come up with anything nice to say about the defense.

7) Cardale Jones continued to struggle as he completed only nine of twenty-two passes for 72 yards and an interception.
The offensive line hasn't given him a lot of time to throw and the communication issues continued in the loss, but some of the inaccuracy has to go to Jones, who overthrew Rashad Ross in the second quarter on what would have easily been a long touchdown and could have shaken some of the mildew off the offense.

8) This was a painful game to watch and for a team with this much talent (for the level) to be demolished like this two weeks in a row is very concerning.
It does seem that (other than Houston) home field is immensely important in the XFL and the Defenders will bounce back next Sunday at home.
If they don't- the playoffs may not be out of hand, but the division title could be.

Boxing Challenge:Chocolatito Regains Title, Garcia, Martinez win

Saturday night from Frisco, Texas, Matchroom Boxing, and DAZN assembled an excellent card of boxing and one that will be difficult to match this year.

When you have a three-division champion winning in his return, an excellent action championship fight, a future star moving up the ladder and a former heavyweight champion ending his fight vis knockout, it's a great night.

However, none of those fights are the story of the night as that honor belongs to Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, who won the WBA junior bantamweight title from Kal Yafai by a ninth-round knockout.
Gonzalez had fought only twice, both against lower-level competition, since his stunning fourth-round knockout loss to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
The knockout defeat for Gonzalez was the second in a row to Rungvisai, who had defeated Gonzalez via a decision in their first fight in which finished in the conversation for fight of the year with most scoring Gonzalez as a decisive winner and combined with knee surgery since, many wondered how much that Gonzalez had lost from the supremely skilled fighter that was so dominant at junior flyweight and flyweight and was still elite at junior bantamweight, if not quite the same at the higher weight.
Despite five successful defenses of his WBA title, Yafai was looked at as the third best fighter in the division at best behind WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada and Rungvisai with some ranking him fourth or fifth behind IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas and/or WBO Kazuto Ioka, as Yafai didn't have a standout win and had scored just one knockout in his defenses.
Yafai was clearly the bigger and taller man and he may have been able to fight off the jab, using his range to keep Gonzalez off him and maybe won a decision, but instead despite his corner's protestations, decided to fight on the inside and try to grind down the veteran.
The grinding process worked well- for Gonzalez, who gradually pounded Yafai and dominated the sixth and seventh before knocking Yafai down late in the eighth round.
The clock saved Yafai in the eighth, but it would not in the ninth as Gonzalez knocked Yafai down with a crushing right within the first few seconds with the referee waving the battle off immediately.

Gonzalez winning was a surprise only due to his circumstances, not his ability and it was one of those nights in boxing that you don't see very often- a great fighter summoning up an unexpected effort to make the viewers remember how great he once was and that he might have more than a bit remaining.
I had Gonzalez leading 78-73 going into the ninth, so it was more than just hurting a fighter and finishing him off and I'll be interested to see "Chocolatito" 's next fight as he has just entered a triangle of exciting 115 pounders with Estrada and Rungvisai with each fighter having scores to settle- Gonzalez holds a win over Estrada (at flyweight), Estrada has defeated Rungvisai, and Rungvisai owns two wins over Gonzalez, so any pairing of the three will have an instant storyline and all should be action fights.

Roman Gonzalez may have won fighter of the night, but the fight of the night had to be Julio Cesar Martinez's unanimous decision victory over Jay Harris.
Martinez retained his WBC flyweight title in a fight that saw Harris fight bravely but was just a bit overmatched against the talented champion.
The fight was often held toe to toe with both fighters landing strong shots, but Martinez landed the bigger shots and more often, bloodying Harris from the nose and swelling the face of the Welshman for the second half of the fight.
Martinez landed a hard left to the body in the tenth that dropped Harris and looked like the end of the fight was near, but Harris managed to grit his way through and last the distance.
Martinez won on my scorecard 116-111 and I'd love to match him against any of the three other champions in the flyweight division, but don't rule out Harris either.
I'm not sure Harris beats any of the other champions in a strong division, but when fighters move up in weight or retire, I think he might be in the mix.

For four rounds of the main event, Jessie Vargas was on his way to a huge upset over Mikey Garcia.
I thought Vargas won three of the first four, the other round was close and just as I started to think upset, Garcia struck with a barrage of right hands that knocked Vargas down and swung the fight his way.
Garcia tried to end the fight in the sixth and seventh with a strong attack against a shaken Vargas, but Vargas rode out the storm and when Garcia put the car into neutral for the final four rounds, content to win a decision, that's what Garcia got- a unanimous decision that thrilled few and proved only that Garcia is capable of defeating top ten welterweights, but not the best of the division.
I scored Garcia a 116-111 winner, but I didn't find him overly impressive in victory and for all of his technical skills, Garcia's workmanlike style hasn't dazzled me since his days at 126 and 130 pounds.
Many things in life, we get paid for things that we are good at, not always things that we love.
Mikey Garcia doesn't seem to have the passion that truly great fighters have and sometimes watchers of the sport have to realize that we may want the passion for greatness more than the men that fight do.

Israil Madrimov entered a junior middleweight eliminator with the reputation of a future star and he did nothing to disprove that with a dismantling of Charlie Navarro in six rounds.
The 40-year-old Navarro isn't at the level of a title eliminator and he gave little resistance to Madrimov, who toyed with Navarro as he would with a novice before two sixth-round knockdowns ended the fight.
Madrimov's next fight will be tougher as he'll face someone in a final eliminator that could see him face recently crowned WBA/IBF champion Jeison Rosario or Julian Williams, should Williams win their contractually obligated rematch.

Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker survived a cut to stop trialhorse Shawndell Winters in five rounds.
Winters gave a game effort, but the naturally smaller fighter could never sting Parker and earn his respect.
Parker knocked Winters down late in the third round with the bell saving Winters and Winters showed plenty of heart in getting through the fourth, but was unable to survive the bigger puncher's fifth-round combination that sent him to the floor and ended the fight.
Parker could be facing British veteran Dereck Chisora next, who he was scheduled to fight last year before falling out due to a spider bite or even WBC top contender Dillian Whyte in a rematch of their terrific 2018 fight that was won by Whyte by unanimous decision.
Whyte could be reluctant to face Parker with a title shot on the line, but a rematch could be another battle.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica eight to seven with the Roman Gonzalez win as the difference in the week.
I lead the challenge 41-37.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing weekend is centered around DAZN and Frisco, Texas with an excellent card with various
stars spread throughout.

The main event will pit former three-division champion, Mikey Garcia, against former WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas.
Garcia, who suffered his first loss last year to IBF champion Errol Spence in what was considered an ill-advised attempt at welterweight glory, has decided to stay at 147 pounds rather than return to 140 pounds against young champions Jose Ramirez or Josh Taylor or drop to 135 pounds for what was once a dream fight against Vasyl Lomachenko.
Garcia has issues with his former promoter, Top Rank, and it is Top Rank that promotes all of the previously named fighters, so I guess I can understand why Garcia would try to stay at 147, but working with Matchroom, a company that has none of the top welterweights, makes little sense in the short run.
Vargas looked good in stopping the naturally smaller Humberto Soto and should gotten decisions in his two fights before that in draws against Thomas Dulorme and Adrian Broner, but skill-wise is a step below Garcia.
If Garcia can adjust to the weight, he is a cut above Vargas, but although Garcia is a deserved
favorite I have a feeling Vargas is sitting on a strong performance.

The undercard is loaded and as a result, four fights join the challenge.
Former pound for pound entrant Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez challenges for a title for the first time since his shocking knockout loss to Srisaket Sor Rungivisai in September 2017 as Gonzalez faces WBA junior bantamweight champion Kal Yafai.
Gonzalez has fought only twice since the Rungvisai loss against low-level competition, so what the Nicaraguan has left to offer is open to conjecture, while Yafai is a smooth boxer without a lot of pop
(four of his five title defenses lasted the distance), which plays to the side of Gonzalez.
It's all about "Chocolatito" here- If the time off has rejuvenated him, I think he's the better fighter, but Yafai is younger and has been more active so if there is permanent slippage, Yafai has the edge.

Julio Cesar Martinez attempts to continue a blazing hot run as he defends the WBC flyweight title for the first time against Jay Harris of Wales.
Martinez knocked out undefeated number one contender Andrew Selby, knocked out Charlie Edwards only to have the fight called a no contest when Martinez hit Edwards after knocking him down in a fight that would have won him the WBC title and won the title after Edwards vacated rather than face Martinez again by knockout over former champion Crisofer Rosales.
Martinez is one of the more exciting fighters in the game and is a coming star.
The undefeated Harris looked strong in stopping former Olympian Paddy Barnes in four rounds but is a decided underdog here.

Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker continues his comeback against Shawndell Winters.
Parker looks to be ready for another shot at a title or top contender and Winters has never faced a fighter of Parker's caliber in the past, so this appears to be a stay busy fight for Parker.

In what will be a WBA eliminator, junior middleweights Israil Madrimov takes on Charlie Navarro.
Madrimov has looked devastating in his four wins and has been compared to Gennady Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko.
That's pretty high company and Madrimov is almost universally touted as a fighter that potentially could be among the best in the game fairly quickly.
The 40-year-old Navarro isn't expected to offer very much resistance in what is a sanctioned squash match.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 33-30.

Welterweights. 12 Rds
Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas
Both: Garcia Unanimous Decision

WBA Junior Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds
Kal Yafai vs Roman Gonzalez
R.L: Yafai Unanimous Decision
TRS: Gonzalez Unanimous Decision

WBC Flyweight Title. 12 Rds
Julio Cesar Martinez vs Jay Harris
R.L: Martinez KO 6
TRS: Martinez KO 3

Heavyweights. 10 Rds
Joseph Parker vs Shawndell Winters
R.L: Parker KO 3
TRS: Parker KO 4

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds
Israil Madrimov vs Charlie Navarro
R.L:  Madrimov KO 5
TRS: Madrimov KO 3

PPM

The week in the XFL continues into week four and this is about the time that the TV ratings and attendance will prove the chances of the survival of the league.
The novelty has worn off, yet the playoffs aren't imminent either, so this is the time that interest in the league will float or sink.

Last Week: 3-1
Overall:184-83

Los Angeles over New York 29-17
St.Louis over Seattle 18-12
Houston over Dallas 23-20
D.C over Tampa Bay 22-16

Cleaning out the inbox

Apologies for missing a few days.
It's been a busy week with lots of things to do and work hasn't helped with some unexpected things at the road office, but things are slowing down a bit.

The inbox cleaning starts with a problem with something dirty-Water.
I know most Americans don't think about water problems often and if they do it's about other country's problems or maybe the issue in Flint, Michigan where the answer to saving some money was to ruin the water supply and make their citizens sick.
The situation is far worse than that and many of those affected are right here in America.
This piece from Time magazine through the Pulitzer Center is just shocking in what people in rural communities have to go through to get clean water and how people live in places that cannot have.
It's ridiculous that we have Americans in this country living in this manner and spare me the 'bootstrap" comments, please.
If anyone on the political spectrum had their entire access to clean water be so limited by the location in which they live, they'd be screaming about it as well.
It's not about left or right- it's about people in this country not having to live like third world residents.
It's sad, sickening and downright terrible.

I stumbled on this article from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from last year that celebrated the then 50-year-old anniversary of the shutting down of the American Falls portion of Niagara Falls.
In 1969, there was concern that the American Falls were endangered by rock erosion, so the Army Corps of Engineers built a temporary dam to divert the Niagara River to the Canadian side of the falls to inspect the rock face for potential problems.
Slate goes into more detail on the project, what it found, and what was done to shore things up a bit without major reconstruction.
I had known about the drying out of the Falls but had never read about it in detail before and found it quite interesting.


Charlie Sykes of The Bulwark writes this for Politico about the similarities of the upcoming Presidential election to that of the 1972 version with Richard Nixon steamrolling George McGovern.
There are parallels, especially should Bernie Sanders earn the Democratic nomination and they make me think of one "What if" question that I place in my top ten of Presidential questions- What would have happened had Edmund Muskie won the nomination instead of George McGovern to face Richard Nixon?
Nixon was a generally unpopular President that instead of facing an opponent that was more palatable to the mainstream, would face an extreme candidate with more limited appeal and won big.
That just might be the result of a Donald Trump-Bernie Sanders race.

In one of the better stories in sports, the Carolina Hurricanes were forced into using the emergency goalie in a recent game in Toronto and managed to win the game.
The emergency goalie is in place for a situation when both (or occasionally three) goalies would be unable to play and the ailing team would not be forced to play a skater out of position and with ill-fitting equipment.
42-year-old David Ayres, who is the Zamboni driver for the AHL Toronto Marlies and practice goalie for the Marlies and Maple Leafs, entered the game in the second period after starter James Reimer was injured in the first period and backup Petr Mrazek left in the second after a collision with a Toronto player.
Ayres entered the game with Carolina leading 3-1 and would make eight of ten saves as the Hurricanes notched a 6-3 win.
Ayres was named the star of the game in a very classy move, received five hundred dollars for his pay and was allowed to keep his game-used jersey after the victory.

And it wouldn't be the NHL if they didn't find a way to find something bad out of something good as the league will discuss potential changes to the emergency goalie rule at the general managers' meetings this week in Florida.
It never ceases to amaze me just how many times sports entities manage to screw up what should be what's good about sports.

Wrapping up with Stan Fischler, who writes of the impact of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" on the New Jersey Devils.
Three players from the 1980 gold medalists would play for the Devils- Mark Johnson, Jack O'Callahan, and Neal Broten, with Broten playing a key role with the 1994-95 Devils, who would be the first of the three Stanley Cup winners for the Devils.
Two various owners of the Colorado Rockies were enticed by the Miracle to bring hockey to New Jersey with the attendance-challenged Rockies a good selection to make the move to the Meadowlands.
Fischler looks at this part of the move as a portion of his weekly columns on the history of the franchise.

Devils deadline deals- Vatanen, Simmonds, Domingue move on

The New Jersey Devils were thought to have finished most of their dealings before the trade deadline but made three minor moves at the deadline day with players that will be free agents at the end of the season for the proverbial "something beats nothing" return for moving players to new locales'.

The Devils traded Wayne Simmonds to Buffalo for a fifth-round draft pick in 2021 that could become a fourth-rounder, should the Sabres rally and make the playoffs.
Simmonds scored six goals with sixteen assists for the Devils this season after signing with the team for this season but was unlikely to return to New Jersey for next year.
I get the Devils doing this one as even a fifth-rounder is something for a non-contender, but I don't understand Buffalo making this trade, who is still unlikely to make the playoffs and yet traded a draft pick for a player unlikely to re-sign.

New Jersey then sent backup goaltender Louis Domingue to Vancouver for goaltender Zane McIntyre.
Domingue played in sixteen games for the Devils after being obtained earlier this season from Tampa Bay for a seventh-round draft pick as the backup to Mackenzie Blackwood.
Domingue's record was 3-8-2 with a GAA of 4.03 and was unlikely to return next season with the Devils, but Vancouver was looking for a veteran backup after the recent injury to their starter Jacob Markstrom.
McIntyre will join AHL Binghamton and can also walk at the end of the season.
New Jersey will save a few hundred thousand for doing the Canucks a favor, but I would have hoped they might have gotten the seventh-rounder that they traded to Tampa Bay for that favor.

The biggest deal of the day was announced after the deadline had passed as the Devils traded Sami Vatanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in return for minor leaguers Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrick Claesson, and a fourth-rounder that can become a third-rounder, should Vatanen recover from his current injury to play an unnamed amount of games.
Vatanen scored five goals and eighteen assists in 47 games but missed chunks of time in each of the last two seasons and was somewhat of a disappointment after being obtained in the trade that sent fan favorite Adam Henrique to Anaheim.

The Devils don't have picks in the second or third rounds in the upcoming draft as they traded the second round to Nashville for P.K. Subban and the third to Las Vegas for Nikita Gusev, so I was hoping Vatanen could at least bring one or the other of those picks, but he'll have to get healthy to add that third-rounder.

The centerpiece of the deal is 21-year-old left-winger Janne Kuokkanen, who was the Hurricanes second-round pick from Finland in 2016.
Kuokkanen has played most of the last three years with AHL Charlotte but played eleven games with the Hurricanes in the previous two years without a point.
Kuokkanen scored twelve goals with thirty assists for the Checkers in 52 games, can play center or wing and is regarded as more of a playmaker than a scorer.
Kuokkanen has been mentioned as a player that was blocked by the Hurricanes depth rather than a fringe prospect, so perhaps the Devils did gain something out of the trade.

Defenseman Frederic Claesson has spent time in the NHL with Ottawa and the Rangers, playing 113 games over four seasons with four goals and sixteen assists during that tenure.
The 27-year-old Swede has spent the entire season with AHL Charlotte, scoring three goals with 16 assists in 47 games, but at 27 years of age, Claesson is considered a depth piece at best and is headed to New Jersey to replace Vatanen on the roster to finish the season for the Devils.

This isn't a poor return for Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils, as Fitzgerald navigates a rebuilding process while at the same time trying to stake his claim to the permanent general manager's position.
Janne Kuokkanen seems like a prospect that could help the team next season and should Sami Vatanen play enough to bump the fourth-rounder to the needed third, the trade looks even better.
The 2021 fifth-rounder for Wayne Simmonds isn't a ton, but it's something for a guy that wouldn't be around next season anyway, but I still can't figure out why New Jersey couldn't even get a seventh for Louis Domingue from a team in need as Vancouver currently is.

Still, looking at these deals in addition to the trades with the Islanders (Andy Greene) and Lightning (Blake Coleman), Fitzgerald and the Devils did pretty well on the overall, so I'm fairly pleased.
Now the Devils pretty much know what they have unless they make a move or two near draft day and the question becomes how will they use those assets to improve a disappointing team with a fan base that could be beginning to forget what winning hockey is like in New Jersey.

Ripped to Shreds! Defenders slammed in L.A 39-9

At the end of the first two weeks of the XFL season, the D.C. Defenders had a case for being the class of the league with the Houston Roughnecks as the only teams to win both of their games.

I agreed with that viewpoint, but I pointed out last week that we couldn't be sure as the Defenders would have to prove it on the road.
They didn't.
The previously winless Los Angeles Wildcats rolled over, up, and through the Defenders on their way to a 39-9 win in Los Angeles.
The only Defenders touchdown didn't occur until late in the fourth quarter on a 39 yard run by Nick Brossette.
Cardale Jones threw four interceptions and finished with only 103 yards passing with Nick Brossette finished with 75 yards on the ground to lead the Defenders.
D.C. drops to 2-1 overall and with St.Louis defeating New York earlier in the day, the two teams are now tied for first in the Eastern Division.

Defensive Deflections

1) If the stat sheet was the entire story, you might think this game was reasonably close.
However, there is more to games than only stats and the Defenders offense seemed very out of sync on offense from the start.
D.C. didn't cross mid-field until their final drive of the first half, threw three interceptions, lost a fumble, and punting three times before their only score of the half on a 32 yard Ty Rausa field goal.

2) And one week after I crowed about the Defenders defense as being the best in the league, they allowed 39 points to a winless team.
The defense didn't play well, but three of the six Wildcat touchdowns were with great field position off turnovers.
They weren't great, but the loss cannot be totally placed on them.

3) The first half "fumble" on the scoresheet may have noted as such, but it was really a stuffed punt when punter Hunter Niswander had no chance to get the punt into the air, took a hit from a Wildcat and turned the ball over at the four-yard line.
Zero blame for Niswander there, but plenty of blame to the blocking unit.

4) There was a brief moment when I felt that maybe the tide could be turning in this loss.
The Defenders kicked a field goal at the end of the first half and at 27-3, it was unlikely, but the Defenders took the kickoff and put together an impressive drive in moving into Los Angeles territory.
I was just starting to think "a quick TD here and a stop, who knows?"
Then Cardale Jones threw interception number three.

5) Cardale Jones didn't play very well.
Four interceptions already said that, but the entire passing game was out of sync.
Some of this goes with Jones, but I saw far too many passes hit the turf without a receiver in the area.
That's a lack of communication and can be spread around to many persons, but it looks worst on Jones.

6) I wonder how much the Anthony Johnson for Bradley Sylve trade affected the Defender offense?
It was just two weeks ago and who better than a defensive back that works against a quarterback every day to know their tendencies?
I wonder how much Sylve was able to prepare the Wildcats for what the Defenders were likely to do?

7) The Defenders ran for 200 yards in this game and lost by 30.
I don't have the statistics on how often that has happened in football, but I'd bet not very often.
Think about this- if a team rushes for 200 yards, they usually are eating clock, rolling up points, and often both.
That keeps the other team from having the ball as often and for as many possessions, so logically it should be difficult to win by 30 and allow 200 on the ground- Unless the losing team turns the ball over often and gives up touchdowns off short drives.
We have a winner.

8) Nick Brossette led the team in rushing (eight carries, 75 yards) with most of it in garbage time, but Brossette showed a lot of wiggle and he was the only Defender that showed inspired play in the fourth quarter.
If I'm Pep Hamilton, I'm rewarding Brossette with more playing time next Sunday in Tampa.

9) One week after smashing every New York Guardian quarterback in sight with sacks and hits, the Defenders didn't register a sack and rarely pressured Josh Johnson.
It's not fair to say the Defenders are overrated, but they looked awful in this loss.

10) The Defenders travel to Tampa to play the 0-3 Vipers and you would think that playing the only team that hasn't won a game yet would be an excellent chance to rebound from this loss.
However, Los Angeles hadn't won a game either and look at how that resulted for D.C.
Still, the Defenders should be favored and a win would put them at 3-1 and should New York lose next week,  the Defenders could have a two-game lead for a playoff spot with six to go.