Comma Drama in the Fight for the Playoffs

Yes, I realize that posting an update for winter football in May is a bit ridiculous. My excuses for procrastinating include a severe bout of the flu (which began during the final game), eye surgery, and basic laziness.

Here is the story: The Commas were above .500 for a brief time before tough losses to The Family and Sexy Coco put them at the edge of the playoff hunt. After some fuzzy math, we realized that a win in our last game, along with a loss by another team, would actually put Oxford into the post season.

With that in mind, Oxford jumped to an early 15-0 lead over Agent Orange in the first half, thanks to touchdowns by Brian and Jon; Daniel scored on the two-point conversion. The Commas defense had the Orange quarterback flustered. He was unable to see over the Jon's long reach, and Oxford may have set a record for the most passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.

In the second half, the Commas offense stalled in the rain. Orange was able to intercept a pass and score with a replacement QB. Later, Oxford was denied at the one-yard line, preventing them from adding to their lead. With about two minutes left, Agent Orange broke through again to make the score 15-14. Then they converted a two-pointer, putting Oxford in a tough spot.

In the closing minute, the Commas rallied for a long drive that required two first down conversions in order to stay alive. But, on fourth down, and with no time left, Agent Orange picked off a pass to seal the win.

As it turned out, the Commas would have been out of luck, anyway. The team that we needed to lose was facing the Heismen, a friendly but winless squad that showed up with only six players. I haven't checked the website, but I'm assuming that the game did not end well for them.

So, the season came to an end sooner than we wanted. I would like to thank everyone for braving the elements, hustling, having a sense of humor, drinking, bringing friends, organizing events around the league (like barbecues and Super Bowl parties), and drinking. Oh, did I say that already? Anyway, I would take an illegal pick for any of you.

Here are the highlights:

Brian scores the first touchdown.



Dayne completes a pass to Brian.



A fake handoff to Daniel almost makes it into the endzone.



Jon with the TD catch--or is he sliding into home?




Dayne catches a pass over the middle.




A pass to Alex barely misses.




Dayne throws to Robert, who is stopped just before the goal line.



Agent Orange picks off a deep throw to Daniel.



The final drive begins, but a deep pass to Brian falls short.


Daniel drives deep into Orange territory.



A fade pattern to Daniel almost scores the winning touchdown.




Dayne keeps the Commas alive with a short completion.



On fourth down, Robert tries to float a pass to Matt, but it is picked off.