December 18, 2024 • 51 mins
IFL Championship weekend is almost here!
Richard and Malc get ready to head to Vegas for the big game, but first, they recap the Conference Championships, go over the All IFL Teams, and share their thoughts on the matchup between the Arizona Rattlers and the Massachusetts Pirates.
Plus special guest, Sam Castronova of the San Antonio Gunslingers!
Richard and Malc get ready to head to Vegas for the big game, but first, they recap the Conference Championships, go over the All IFL Teams, and share their thoughts on the matchup between the Arizona Rattlers and the Massachusetts Pirates.
Plus special guest, Sam Castronova of the San Antonio Gunslingers!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Shu shu.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You know, I really don't know how to start this one,
Like I just I don't like we've been away for
a bit, but it's the matchup. Mm hmmm, dude, I
don't know. I just like, I'm sure you were watching
(01:00):
and these games laughing being like, oh man, this is
gonna be fun, and I'm like, this is not gonna
be fun. So it's oh, season has come to this where,
you know, I feel like that's karma. I've dug myself
into a hole. The best part is that people won't
(01:22):
even know if this is like how I really feel
or a character that I play on this show. But
either way, okay, all right, So hello everyone, and welcome
to the Fan Show. I am your host, Richard Teman,
aka the team Man and the man in the other
(01:44):
box who's laughing hysterically at my pain and my suffering.
Is a man who you're around him in the sports
bar every preseason they get so hyped about how well
their team does on that crucial first drive, and he
is just so expectant of of what the Washington Commanders
are gonna do. This is mister preseason hype Father, MALC
(02:07):
Malcolm McCoy how's it going, man.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I'm doing great, man, especially after that preseason game. You know,
I'm a I hate to see those fans and you
know it's a super Bowl time and like all that,
bro rob but you know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I mean, I can't help, but you know, be optimistic
about what my team got going on.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I'm saying some some some good things in that future.
I go a lot to you, brother.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Green Bay fans have been the worst, and I actually,
like I have a soft spot for the Packers. I
really do the team. It's history. I've been to Lambeau
for a tour, and there's it's there's just certain places
in certain aspects of culture and for sports and for football.
(02:56):
Lambeau and the Green Bay Packers are are one of
those teams in places where it's just like you may
not like them, but you respect them. But at the
same time, Jordan loved through one pass and they're like, oh,
super Bowl here we come. I just do it, man,
I can't.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
See, you know, you get those things that just it
is like playoff hungry, man, Like just postseason. You know
it's been been deprived of it so long. You know
you can't you can't help, but just have those those
spurts of just over optimism, and I think I think
Green Bay kind of falls in that same bucket as
us in that situation, because I mean, the city is hungry, man.
(03:38):
We need we need something, we need something to keep
sharing for. If not, I'm gonna just go ahead transition
to baseball, so you know, I'm on my last leg
right now, I need something.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Back to the topic at hand, which is of course
indoor football. This is episode four hundred and ninety eight,
so we are off scheduled just by one. Episode four
ninety nine will be our championship recap, and that'll give
us a little bit of time to figure out what
we're doing for the Big five, oh, which I didn't
really selfishly, I didn't want to share with championship recap coverage.
(04:12):
So it all kind of worked out a little bit
better this way. But we'll see what the plan is
for five hundred anyway. Four ninety eight is about the
championship matchup, which is my least favorite of all the
possible matchups that we had, but that's I think everyone
kind of knew that that's how I would feel about it.
And then also the all IFL teams first second in rookie.
(04:34):
We've got some things to discuss there. But before we do, man,
I was thinking, like, is there anything because it's a
new month, is there anything that we would want to
put to bed? And honestly, like, we're going to this
championship and it'll be my first one in a few years.
But I was counting since I started covering ifl if
(04:54):
you don't count twenty twenty, which I don't know many
who do, this will be my fifth championship of the
eight that I could have gone to. So that's pretty
legit as far as being there for the big game.
And I would really like there to not be awkward
moments this weekend, so I would like to put together
(05:16):
I would like to put to bed some of the
some of the pettiness, But I just I don't know.
I don't know if it if it can, if it
can be done, But I guess we'll see. Malcol and
I are both hoping to have a good time. We'll
be there for media Day obviously, and we'll see about
the rest of that day, and then for the championship game,
(05:37):
we'll do a pregame live stream possibly and after media
day live stream and interview some of the people that
are there. But yeah, I'm just going to kind of
feel it out. I've been out of it for a minute.
Malk's never done it, so it'll be a learning experience
for him and that'll be that'll be good. But Malcola,
(05:57):
is there anything last minute in the season that you
wanted to maybe put to bed that you just didn't
want to waste any more time on Now that we're
getting ready to wrap up another IFL season.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I hadn't really thought too much about it, honestly, with
it being the you know, the end of the season.
But the kind of piggyback off of what you said,
I would certainly, you know, like to keep it drama
free over there. You we eve indirectly or for some
people a little more directly, created some what you would
(06:32):
call like healthy animosity. I think in the sports world
is it's important to have like a little bit of static,
a little back and forth. It gives you something to
talk about, what you know, while we're there at the
championship game. I'm hoping that you know, we're able to
keep it cordial. I don't doubt that we'll be able to.
But you know, on the other side, I mean just
(06:54):
keep it as professional as possible, and hopefully guys can
keep their they're their personal feelings to the sad and
you know, like I said, just keep it football, man.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'm looking to have a good time down there.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, the matchup is set for the championship. It will
be a rematch from a few seasons ago, the Arizona
Rattlers and the Massachusetts Pirates. Mass beat Green Bay convincingly,
I mean the Green Bay. I texted Mouth during this
game and I was like, where the fuck has this
Pirates team been all season? Like Jesus fifty one twenty
(07:31):
eight in Green Bay? I mean, apparently postseason football in
the IFL is just a different beast. I mean we've
seen it in the NFL, but normally what you see
all season long in the IFL is typically what you
get in the postseason because there's not that switch. But
I guess there is now. So mass represents the East
(07:54):
and for the West it's Arizona. They defeat the San
Diego Strikeforce fifty eight twenty three. I mean, these were
not close games, and I think we expected both to
be extremely close, especially different outcomes. Malco and I were
both wrong on our pick em and so for San
Diego to get held the twenty three points, man, that's
(08:17):
saying something about Arizona, And so now we get a rematch.
It was my least ideal matchup of the possible matchups.
I want to is this how everybody that wasn't a
Chiefs or forty nine ers fan felt last year, because
you know, I was like, why you guys hating? This
(08:40):
is gonna be a great matchup. We get a shot
at revenge and they're so I feel like I'm now
in their shoes. But that is what has inspired today's fit.
Some more care package swag from Quad City, who I
believe said is going to send you something, but they
(09:01):
were a little hesitant because they were mad at you
for picking against them. But thank you Steam Wheeler fam
for that. And then of course we're transitioning from one
form of football to another. It's forty nine er seasons.
Preseason has started, we're still talking indoor football and preseason's going.
(09:23):
But yeah, man, we were away for a little bit
longer than we expected, and Mount had a trip like
a family reunion he went to and then we had,
you know, that kind of extra bye week that we
normally don't get in the indoor world, and so I
was like, we can do two episodes, but honestly, I
don't know what we're going to talk about for two
episodes worth going into a championship when we're going to
(09:45):
be doing so much down there. So you know, people
are all over the place. The teams that are not
in the championship have dispersed, so we're running down people
now that are back to like their everyday lives or
at training camps or workouts or something like that. So
you know, that's fine and dandy, but we are here
and we're going to talk about that matchup, which I
(10:05):
mean it will still be a good one. Both teams
are stacked. I got the notification. You can see the
article for media day on the ifl's website. So for Arizona,
they're gonna have Dylan Winfree, DeVante Merriweather. These guys are
studs man. As much as I may not like the
team they play for, I like them. And then Dalton
(10:27):
Snead of course will be there, and he's from Montana.
I congratulated him via Twitter last year when he won
with the Panthers, and so it's like, I'm excited to
see these guys, are they going to be excited to
see me? I don't know, and then shout out Ron Miller,
formerly of the Bucks. He's going to be there for
(10:49):
the Massachusetts Pirates as their head coach. Great to see
him doing well. The rest of the Pirates. I don't
know all that well. I haven't had a chance to
meet Benafield, so that'll be interesting. But yeah, some combustible
elements on media day that Malcolm will be like, all right,
so what do we do now? What happens like, but
you'll probably be a lot more welcome than I will.
(11:11):
That's that's all I gotta say. Any final thoughts from
the two conference championship games, Like I said, you know
mass against green Bay, and green Bay just wasn't in
it like the whole game, and they had a lot
of self inflicted wounds in that game too. But Arizona
(11:33):
and San Diego, I don't know how they shut Nate
Davis down for four quarters like that, but many they
ended up getting an onside kick, one of the most
insane on side kicks I've ever seen San Diego did,
and then it was picked off later. So it was
just a lot of bad on top of like good.
So it's like, hey, oh, you know, it's like you
(11:54):
gotta do something with it. But the onside kick, I
don't think it was intentional, but he drills it at
one of the guys on the special teams for Arizona
nails him in the helmet ricochet's off right into the
arms of a guy for San Diego. I mean, I
don't think you could try it up more perfectly than that,
like wow, and so I'm like, okay, here we go.
San Diego's got a spark now. And then for them
(12:15):
to drive down and throw a pick that was tough.
So I don't know, it could be postseason experience. But
malk what was your knee jerk reaction to these outcomes?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, just kind of staying on topic with the Arizona
and San Diego game. I was surprised wouldn't even express
the full feeling of what I felt while watching that game.
It's hard to say that San Diego wasn't ready because
you know, there, they've been playing at the highest level.
(12:48):
They've been playing the entire season. I want to say,
these past three games really so they walked in there
for sure right to get a w and you know,
take it home, but Arizona is just a different breed
man when it comes to the postseason. I know this
is burning you up to see for me to say that,
you know what I mean, you can't the history shows, man.
(13:13):
You know you can't count Kevin guy out. He's a
He's a guy who knows he's no he's no stranger
to the postseason. He knows what to say and what
to do to get a team ready for those big games.
And you know, fortunately for them, they showed up. One
thing that caught me by surprise for sure, is like
you said, you talked about the one exception that Nate
(13:36):
David do. I want to say, he threw two pick
sixes actually.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, I mean like you would think that somebody is
seasoned and as experienced as Nate well, and not to
say that he's perfect, none of us are perfect, but
you know, for a guy who has been around as
long as he has, has the NFL experience, has multiple
championships and i FL, you know, you would think that
(14:03):
he kind of has that uh that I guess that
I for what needs to be done, and he certainly
doesn't lack the clutch. Fact that we've seen it several times,
but you know, I guess this just wasn't one of those.
The matchup wasn't in his favor in this case because
he kind of at times looked a little flustered, and
I mean, that's that's something that I'm not used to
(14:25):
seeing from Nate Davis. So you know, congratulations to Arizona,
for sure, many.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
They earned every bit of that.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
It was no contest almost at no point in time
after I think that after that once the half hit,
I mean, it was kind of no question that was
gonna win for me. I just couldn't wait to see
your reactions. But you know, added back over there on
with Green Bay and uh, you know the Pirates, I
(14:53):
knew that game could kind of go either way because
they both beat each other in the regular season, so
you know, it was kind of a toss up for me.
But I mean, of course, with me being such a
coach roverson Fag, you know, a shout out to him
for winning Coach of the Year man for sure, but
with me being such a fan of his, I mean,
(15:14):
I was definitely rooting for Green Bay all the way.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
But you know, I mean, Max.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Just had their number for sure, and like you said,
there's no shortage of dogs over there that their rosters stacked,
so you know, they put their their time on full display,
and you know it worked out in their favor. So
great games leading up to the championship game. But you
know we'll see what happens in the in the big game.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And so yes we will. And Malcolm, actually nice segue there,
Roverson is your Coach of the Year, Coach Moran Assistant
Coach of the Year. Very well deserved on both. They
did announce also, and I'm sure they'll announce a few
others before this actually airs, so we'll have time to discuss.
Who are picks for those could be but Defensive Rookie
(15:59):
of the Year from Vegas Bryce Hampton, Offensive Rookie of
the Year from naz Is Josh Jones. I didn't know
Jones was a rookie. That's crazy though, just how well
he did. He's the pick for all IFL Rookie team
as well for the quarterback, which we'll talk about here
in a second. But what's funny is that when it
(16:20):
comes to the Coach of the Year, I remember Roberson
got it the first time, and the other coach that
people thought could get it was coach Kevin Guy, and
I said, no, what Robson's done with this team, Like
you just can't, you know, pick anybody else. And people
are like, yeah, I have but Kevin Guy who went
on this undefeated streak and blah blah blah, and he's
going back to the playoffs. So I picked Robson. In
(16:43):
the league picked Robson, and people were upset about you know,
well some people were upset that it wasn't coach Kevin Guy.
But I was thinking about it before this one came out.
I was like, you could honestly give it to coach Robson.
I think that was the obvious pick. But the irony
is that I was like, you could almost give it
to Guy too, because he got his team to the
(17:04):
postseason without a healthy, you know starter that is Dalton
sneed all season long. Yeah, So that, you know, is
something just interesting to kind of look back at that
year and then how it kind of replicated itself this year,
but kind of opposites like Roberson cloud through the season
with a great team and Guy had to like really
(17:26):
figure stuff out along the way. And so for MVP,
which they have not announced, I mean, I still like Miler.
I don't know if he'll get it, but I feel
like he I almost would prefer him get MVP over
Roberson getting Coach of the Year for the simple reason
that I feel like Miler was the missing piece for
(17:48):
what Green Bay struggle has been in all these times
that they've fell kind of flat. You know, it's that
great consistent quarterback play. Now, these are supposed to be
regular season awards, so he's still very much has a
great shot at it. But I don't know, man. I mean,
if you want to play the card of well, you know,
(18:11):
who's the guy that without him their team struggled and
with them they were great, you could make that argument
for Dalton Snead, But I would say, on that note,
how many games do you give a guy to miss
before they're like disqualified from the conversation. And I feel like,
you can't miss more than like three games before it's like, Okay,
I get it, your team struggled without you, but you
(18:33):
can't just you know, play half the season and get MVP.
It just doesn't seem like fair to me. Not that
he's not deserving, but that's just my take on it.
So Miler is definitely in the conversation for MVP, and
then of course you have guys like Nate Davis and
(18:54):
Jerome Johnson for Vegas could be in the conversation, it
feels like a quarterback of ward. I don't know, Malcolm,
if there's anybody I didn't mention quarterback wise, or if
there's anybody not quarterback that you think could possibly get it,
I very.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Much agree that it seems almost a little agreedis to
not give it to a quarterback. I mean, that's traditionally
been the quarterback award, but I mean it's a few
unsung heroes out there that I feel like, traditionally, you know,
bail their teams out and in situations where they needed.
(19:29):
One of which is the most interesting man in the world,
Ernest Alkayo.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
That guy.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And I'm not entirely sure how many points he's put
up on the season, but it has to be up there,
rivaling at least some running backs or something. I mean,
because he's a lot of a lot of times he's
been the one to get them over that hump, you know,
of like they're they're like within two or three points.
You know, he's kicking a dude, so he's doing a
(19:57):
dropkick or something, and you know he's putting it seeing
right back where you need to be or giving them
an opportunity to get back where you need to be.
So guys like him, Craig Peterson, you know our guy. Uh,
I think those special teams guys need a little more
love when it comes to these postseason awards because a
lot of times they're they're they're playing a bigger role
(20:19):
than we really acknowledged. Like I said, it's just there there.
There are a number of players that could think of
that could very well get the MVP Award, But like we,
like we said, it's kind of like traditionally been a
quarterback thing, So I mean that's appropriate as well.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So we'll go through them real quick. The All if
L rookie team don't need to spend too much time
on but obviously offense, we mentioned Josh Jones' quarterback running
back was E. J. Burgess from Green Bay. I was
surprised it wasn't mccorker, but then again, we kind of
stopped really focusing on the individual stats about midway through
the season, and I didn't notice Burgess like I've seen
(21:00):
him come across my feed a lot. But you know,
we were convinced it was going to be mccorkor, and
I don't know if that was just a dropped ball
on voting there or if maybe mccorkor fell off and
Burgess stayed consistent all the way through the season. I'd
have to go back and look at the numbers, but
that one kind of surprised me. And then we've got
John Maldonado for wide receiver from nas Quian or Kwan
(21:23):
Williams from Iowa is actually listed three times twice on
the All IFL Rookie for wide receiver and kick returner,
which I didn't think was possible, and then once on
a second team All IFL for I think kick returner
as well. So we didn't pay nearly enough attention to
Iowa apparently because that dude was cooking. And then Kobe
(21:46):
White wide receiver from nas and there's a few other
names that I don't quite recognize for the rookie ones,
but you know, congrats to all of them. It was
a pretty nas heavy offense, which just goes to show
how well they were coached for having the success that
they did this season despite just missing the postseason. And
(22:08):
then for the defense, you know, Keishawn Moore from Quad City,
which I think we both saw coming. The man whose
name I do not know how to pronounce either from
Green Bay guy Thomas from mass So a good one there.
He'll be in the title game. Calhoun from Vegas as
a linebacker. So there's one of your guys, Ethan Castleberry
(22:31):
of the Fighters, linebacker dB Bryce Hampton who got Defensive
Rookie of the Year. And I don't know how to
say Fox's first name. What is with me in these
first names for rookies that I don't know how to pronounce.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
But he's.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
A Tola Fox. Okay, see you got you're the You're
the man with the names right there. So a couple
of Bay Area, a couple of Vegas Nighthawks, and then
strike Force on there. So I mean all around, pretty
well balanced all IFL rookie offense and defensive team. So
now let's get to the second team, which I don't
(23:07):
think I gotta prepare people for what we're about to say,
which is a name that is on here that we
don't think belongs on here. So Jerome Johnson gets a quarterback,
which you know well deserved. We knew Jerome was gonna
be one of those players that got some kind of
postseason award, Shannon Brooks for running back, DJ Myers for
(23:30):
wide receiver, and Arthur Jackson the third second team All IFL. Dude,
you and I had the same reaction to this, like
what like, okay, no disrespect to those listed on second team,
but okay, if he's second team, then who's first team?
And we'll get to that here just the second. But
(23:52):
so there's Williams for wide receiver not kick returner on
All IFL second team, which I didn't know if you
were rookie you could qualify for second or first team.
But you know that's good for him still, like I'm
not docking him or anything. And then let's see Elijah
Lilly got it for kick returner for second team, Kyle
(24:13):
Kaplan got kicker for second team. We both know those
guys from their highlights this season. And so then all
second team or All IFL second team defense Jaikwan Artists
from San Diego, Abdul Waheed from Green Bay, Kishawn Moore
from Quad City, Calhoun from Vegas, Different Calhoun, and then
(24:37):
we had castle Berry listed on there again at toa
Fox listed again. So it's just kind of funny that
you have these rookie second and first teams, but some
of the names are the same. And I'm not saying
that if you're a rookie you can't be on there,
but it would just seem like you would make one
specifically for this and that way you could have this
dedicated to everybody else. But you know, I'm not mad
(25:00):
at it. So there's your second team and so the
first team. And this is the answer to me and
Malk's big question. Sam Castronova is your QB, which I
think we duh, Like we all knew that was coming.
Jimmy Robinson running back. I thought maybe Simpson would get
it from from Bay Area, and then Nikwan Murray wide receiver,
(25:23):
also from San Antonio. So first team has a few
San Antonio gun slingers, which is awesome for them this
being their first year in the league. So the wide receivers,
John Maldonado from NAS, I've got no qualms with that.
We've we've talked about him, mentioned him on the show,
but it's Alexis Rosario. You and I love Tulsa. But
(25:45):
this is a name that I don't think for either
of us came up and this is the name that, honestly,
I feel should be swapped with Arthur Jackson the third.
But Malk, I mean you see the skill a little
bit better than I do when it comes to the
play on the field. Liked, did we miss something or
did the people that vote missed something on this?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I'm gonna boldly say I think they clearly missed something. Man,
I mean we watched these games pretty closely. I can
definitely say we called the majority of the games the
San Diego games. You know, like I said, Alexis like
you said, Alexis Sory definitely a great player, standout player,
(26:26):
a pivotal piece to that Tolsa offense. But man, thirty touchdowns? Man,
what can you say?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Brother? I mean, like what more?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
This is one of those situations that you like to
highlight where you know, what more can you do?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Really?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I mean, he missed three games because of the nonsense
that went down earlier in the season, you know, but
came back and didn't miss a beat. I think after
once he came back that first game, bag he jumped
right back in the lead. I don't know if he
ever lost the lead even after missing the three games.
So huge part to the San Diego defense. And not
(27:09):
only that, you can stick him on any team really
in like thirty touchdowns and I don't know how many
receptions that's that's you know, just this it speaks for itself.
I kind of I might have lost some words really
because I couldn't understand for the life of he went
into that selection process. But hey man, we're not the
(27:30):
only one that's confused in this situation.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, and then so Gabriel Rui got Kicker and like,
I'm just like, okay, did they forget or Nesto like exists,
Like I'm just I'm a little confused by that kick
returner Jared Harrington. That one makes like the most sense.
So we have Sam Castronova and Harrington that make the
(27:54):
most sense of any of these picks. But then Kicker
and one of the wide receiver spots were like, okay,
we're we're either missing something or somebody dropped the ball
on these votes because how or Neesto isn't listed on
either first or second team and Ernesta's got like every
record in IFL right now for a kicker, I'm just like,
what else can you do? So that's the offense. We're
(28:15):
not again, we're not taking anything away from people that
made first team, you know, in place of people that
we thought would be there. We're just saying, like we
saw things a little differently. And Ruey is a great kicker.
I'm not going to take anything away from him. You know,
for Iowa, he's great. So defensively, there's a couple of
oilers listed on there. Good for them. Jones prides himself
(28:37):
on his defense. Noah Lyles is on there, and Jordan Jones.
I was surprised Hawkins didn't make it, but I think
he's we saw more of like his highlights than like
his game to game play, and so clearly, you know,
there's there's times where you see a highlight and you know,
like with with Red for the Storm and we were like, oh,
(28:58):
this guy is just like a du dude. But you know,
he had a couple of highlights moments in key moments
that changed the game. But that doesn't mean that consistently,
game to game the game you're that guy. So it's
a little harder on defense for sure, but mustin for
Green Bay that one I fully agree with. Antoine Kincaid,
who I think you and I both discussed as possibly
(29:20):
defensive Player of the Year was on here, So no
qualms about that. Bryce Hampton made first team and he's
a rookie, so good for him. And then Rivers from
Green Bay is also on there. So I mean, all
in all, first, second and rookie teams, pretty good crop
of players. But there's just some discrepancies that Malcolm I
(29:43):
when we read this list and there were names missing
from certain teams who were like, what, like, it's just
I'm not sure, man, I don't know. So here here's something.
There are no San Diego Strikeforce players listed on first team.
I mean, if you want to talk about something that
(30:04):
is just like wait what, that's definitely something. There's one
Arizona player listed on the offense, but they had they
struggled this season to say the least. But San Diego, man, dude,
that offense, like, I mean, just throw a rock and
you could hit like four players that could easily qualify
for first team, and there's none. So obviously Arthur Jackson
(30:27):
the third is the biggest like question mark. But San
Diego fans were not happy when that list was released.
I don't blame them personally, I really don't, because that
team offensively was stacked to have two Gunslingers is great,
so proud of them. Sam Castronova is probably going to
be Offensive Player of the Year. Ernesto I hope he's
(30:48):
at least Special Teams Player of the Year. Man. It'll
probably come down to like him and Harrington, which is
tough because they two different skill sets, right, but the
same aspect of the game, which I've never thought was
very fair. But oof, it's going to be tough for
the awards as we get into the big ones. You know,
(31:09):
the Big Three or I guess the Big four. So
that is your all ifl first second in Rookie Teams,
the championship again is set. MALC and I. We're not
going to do necessarily a prediction. We'll basically break down
what could be some things to watch for these games,
but we want to leave most of it up to
our big live pregame at the actual game before kickoff,
(31:32):
which we'll have more details on as we get closer
to the actual game. But now it is time to
welcome a very special guest to one of our final
episodes of the season. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. He
is the quarterback for the San Antonio Gunslingers and recently
announced the quarterback for the All IFL First Team. It
(31:55):
is Sam Castronova. Welcome back, sir. How you doing.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Great? Thanks for having me guys.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah, man, it was a crazy season for you guys
to start and finish the way that you did. Nothing
to hang your head about, obviously, though the goal every
season is to have a winning season, then make the postseason,
and then hopefully championship appearance at the end. But I mean,
you guys, you know, really gave a lot of teams
to run for their money. Did phenomenal your first year
(32:24):
in the IFL. So I think the obvious question is
you being named to first Team All i FL your
first year in the IFL, Like, how does that feel
knowing that you've accomplished that your first.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Go It's a great honor.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
I could have done it without that brought my coaches,
coach flour offensive Cornator did a great job, and without
my big boys checking me up front, and obviously my
receivers making me look good a lot of times. Best
receiving quarter in the league in my opinion. I think
the stats proved that too. But it's a great honor
and it's cool to kind of a lot of people.
(33:01):
Said a lot of different things about the different leagues
back and forth. So it's cool to kind of be
able to come here and also win first team in
this league as well.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah. Man, you guys a couple of gunslingers on first team,
all I felt, which is great. There were no Strike
Force players that made first team, which a lot of
strike Force fans are upset about. Malcol and I were
confused about that because we thought Arthur Jackson, the third
would be for sure on first team. He is on second.
But man, I.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
Don't know how he didn't. I don't know how he
didn't get first team. He had we have six touchdowns
in one game one time.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, man, it was insane stats. But you know, high
powered offenses this year, we were well on display. So
I'm just glad that there was some recognition for the
guys that even if you didn't make the postseason. These
are regular season awards, yes, but you know, the timing
of their announcement and whatnot can make you kind of wonder.
But no, we felt you were a lock for sure,
(33:56):
and Malcol, I know you got a question for him.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Yeah, but I so, like you said, I mean, we definitely, uh,
you're you're my front runner for m VP for sure, Bro,
I mean, I'm a I'm gonna save you the trope
of being the cocky quarterback and saying it yourself.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
But you know, me and Rich, we definitely feel like
you're you're one of, if not the front runner for
m v P. So I mean definitely rooting for you there.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I gotta ask though, for sure, like what if you
if you didn't choose yourself obviously, who would you say
is in your top place for potentially getting MVP.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
Uh, It's really difficult because if you're gonna do it
based on regular season, there's a bunch of guys you
could have done it, like, Uh, I think Jerome from Vegas.
I think Nate Davis should be in the running. I
mean two for almost as many touchdowns as I did.
And he some type of rolls down offense down down
the field, whether it be bombs or just picking teams
(34:59):
apart because he's been doing it for a while.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Josh Jones had a great year.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
I mean, even you, I would consider Jimmy Robinson because
he's a he makes that offense go.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
I mean, he's the dog. So and it's they're looking
there in the championship.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
So I think you can make an argument there too,
So it's hard to pick one person, but it'll be
interesting to see to see how they how they do it.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Now, we picked you for a lock for Offensive Player
of the Year, which a lot of times people feel
that could be obviously the MVP as well because it's
a quarterback award nowadays. But I mean, for you, would
you feel like you deserved MVP if you were to
get it, because I feel kind of like the first
All IFL team is almost like a spoiler for who
(35:41):
might be getting what awards.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I tried everything in
my power to help us win football games, and sometimes
it was I just came down to the last play
where we lost on and it was tough. I think
we lost. We lost four games when we scored every
possession but one. We lost four of those games, and uh,
and that's pretty heartbreaking as an offense. But stuff like
(36:04):
that happens, and we could have easily been twelve and
twelve and fours out of eight and eight.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
But that's just how it rolls.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
But I mean, I feel like, yeah, I feel like
at the end of the day, I I the.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Stats are the stats. I mean it's not got somebody.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
I think somebody saying that we were stat padding, which
I'm not really sure how that's possible is almost every game,
so I don't really know about that. But no, I mean,
if I was to get it, I would think I
deserve it. At the end of the day, we didn't
make the playoffs, so I would totally understand if somebody
else was to win the Most Valuable Player.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Okay, all right, humble. As always, we love talking with Sam,
so we know your time is precious. Our last question
me and malk we want to know who you're rooting
for in the championship game. I know you don't have
a dog in the fight, but it's hey, it's welcome
to the i FL time. Man. You gotta you gotta
put up the team.
Speaker 5 (36:57):
Okay, so I'll give you. I can give you the
all of an answer, but I'll you like this. I
met Daldin for the first time. We played them for
the last game. He's a great dude. I think he's
a great player, and I'm rooting for him to have
a great game. But at the end of the day,
I think I might be rooting for mass just because
we're two to zero.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Against mass and if they're in the championship, we could
kind of say.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
I like you, I like you dude.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
That is such a player answer right there, like, hey,
we beat this team, and if they beat the team
to win the championship, then we technically beat the team
that won the champions There there were Seattle fans that
pulled that card when the Giants and Eli Manning won
the Super Bowl one of the two years they beat
Tom Brady, They're like, hey, we beat the Giants in
(37:45):
the regular season, you know. All right, Man, Well, hey,
congrats again on first team all I fl a tremendous honor.
We enjoyed watching you play all season long. We can't
wait to see what the future holds for you, where
you go, if you stay, and then just what you
do next year now that you've got a full year's
(38:06):
experience under your guys's bell. But Man, from me and Malk, like,
thank you so much for all the fun we had
this season and for coming back on the show.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
Absolutely, thanks for everything you guys do. Man, appreciate you
having me.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
All right, well, once again, he is quarterback for the
gun Slingers and quarterback for your first team all IFL
and he probably has a jersey you can go auction
on and then bid on it what you want. Yeah, yeah,
the jerseys they didn't wear, but hey, you know, it's whatever.
He's a great guy, And thank you so much again,
So Sam Castronova, everybody would enjoy your off season, my friend.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hey sir, every going guys, And one.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
More big thank you to Sam Castronova for returning to
the show and giving a little time. It's always great
to talk to the guys, you know, after they're kind
of settled in and everything. But man, so he's got
some picks there for MVP. He did not say Max Miler.
So I don't know. And maybe we're in the wrong here.
I don't know. We've we've been wrong before. It's not
(39:05):
the first time. Yeah, I do wonder, you know, if
the first team all IFL is a spoiler for the awards,
because it, I mean, it would raise the question, wouldn't
it like how they get MVP or Offensive Player of
the Year Defensive Player of the Year if they weren't
(39:26):
even on first team all IFL. But you know, it's
like you have all these things in my mind, it's
supposed to be to kind of like reward as many
people as you can, because there's a lot of people
in the league, right, so you know, you don't want
to just have like three awards and be like, you know,
better luck next time. So, in my opinion, having a
(39:47):
guy like Williams on All Rookie IFL twice was kind
of weird. I think it, if anything, shows that it
was a true vote, like it was truly based on vote.
But at the same time, you should have somebody check
and being like, okay, we don't want to have the
same person have it have two spots, so like which
(40:08):
one should it be? And then who was the runner
up for the other? I mean, that's how I would
do it, And that's kind of a little bit of
like interference, if you will. But I don't know, I
would sleep better at night knowing that, you know, there
was kind of something for everybody. As far as you
don't have a guy that gets named twice, it's a
tremendous honor that he's on there twice and then on
(40:30):
second team on IFL. But man, that's just crazy to
have a name pop up multiple times like that. I
don't think I've ever seen it. But Defensive Rookie of
the Year Offensive Rookie of the Year. You can only
win that if your rookies. But you know, MVP Defensive
and Offensive Players of the Year, those can I guess
(40:52):
be won by anybody. It's weird, like I have my criteria.
You know that, and I'm sure you do as a player.
But anyway, that's my soapbox. In the time that we've recorded, though,
they did announce Special Teams Player of the Year. Congrats
to Iowa's own Gabriel Rui did have a great year.
Was not me or Malk's pick for the award. He
(41:12):
was first team All IFL. But like, are we missing
something here? It just I keep going back to that,
Like I swear we watched these games. I promise we did.
So maybe we just need to pay more attention to
the tulsas in Iowa's of the league. Next time we'll
see so congrats to him, but Malk, it is that time.
(41:35):
We're not gonna make a pick for this just because
it's championship. Kind of won't enjoy it. But I will
say that it's a rematch. Both teams are stacked. Rematch
not of last year, but of a few seasons ago.
Both teams know each other, Both teams don't like each other,
I can tell you that much for sure. I think
the sexy matchup, like the matchup on paper that everybody
(41:58):
wants to watch, is going to be the mass offense
against the Arizona defense, because, like I said, Arizona's defense
has got some players, right, Dylan Winfree, Devonte Merriweather. Those
are some dudes that made big time problems for the
San Diego Strikeforce offense, which we thought was one of
(42:20):
the best in the league. And so that's the sexy matchup.
But I think the matchup that it's going to ultimately
come down to is going to be Arizona's offense against
Massachusetts defense. Ken Dalton Snead. Move the ball down the
field against the defense that quite honestly has been kind
of quietly making moves all home stretch of the season
(42:42):
and definitely through the postseason, like they've they've been a
nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. So that's my knee jerk reaction.
Initial takeaway. What about you when you look at this matchup?
Speaker 1 (42:53):
I definitely think you can't you turn your head at
what you just said about defense been a quiet move
maker obviously to have gotten to this point. You have
to have a pretty complete team, a pretty solid bunch
of guys on both sides. I was thoroughly surprised when
(43:15):
I looked and looked at some of the stats for
Mass's defense, and they're actually leading a lot of statistical categories,
if not there like in the top three, as far
as you know, total tackles, takeaways, you.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
Know, interception, stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
And I mean, it's no like I said, it's no secret,
because that's that's the kind of stuff that you want
your defense to be made of in a championship caliber team.
But it's just funny how they've kind of done so
and State managed to stay under the radar up until now,
which is kind of funny and really cool to see
to me, honestly, Like you said, the sexy matchup is
(43:56):
Wich kind of stands out to me, you know, Arizona's
defense versus Mass's offense. And I mean, I say Arizona's
defense mainly because I certainly didn't see them, you know,
bringing it to San Diego in that way, and I
just want to see how exactly they match up in
the in the big game. So you know, I certainly
(44:19):
don't think that it will be something that they think.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
Is a tall task.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
But Mass, I mean, they know what's a stake, they
know what they're trying to do, and there I'm sure
they'll be coming a place so it will be fun
to see how their best matches against Mass is best.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
So yeah, yeah, this I think could be a game
where the MVP goes to a guy on the defense,
like I really do, just because that's been kind of
the history before when it comes to heavy hitters like this,
where you don't know a lot of the names on
offense like you do other teams. So it could be sneak,
(44:58):
it could be benefield. Obviously, quarterbacks are tremendous, you know,
they play a tremendous role in the outcomes of these games.
But you can't deny that defense could be somebody on
the edge, a linebacker, a dB, somebody to win. This
is going to have a big game, probably on the
defensive side, and if it's MVP worthy or power to them,
(45:21):
but it's I just feel like this is going to
be one of those defensive matchups. I don't think it's
going to be like a lower scoring game, but I
do think there's going to be momentum swings from half
to half, Like, I think we're going to see one
team with like a two score lead going into halftime,
and then the third quarter is kind of this lull,
(45:42):
and then the fourth quarter is just this explosion, which
would be kind of uncharacteristic for both teams. We talked
earlier in the season about how Arizona had gotten outscored
in the fourth quarter so many times, and I obviously
think that they've learned from those mistakes and made the adjustments.
So how does Mass handle that? We'll see, But it's
gonna be I think a great matchup in all aspects
(46:06):
of the game. Don't know much about their special teams.
We don't really talk about either team's kicker, but I
do know Henry Nell kicker for Mass, been around the
league for a while. Great dude, got a great leg
on him. So I don't know. Maybe you give the
edge special teams wise to them, but you know, Arizona
doesn't just go and pick up guys off the street
(46:26):
to play kickers, so that should be a good one too.
But yeah, I like how this one is as far
as the matchups that we have, Unfortunately, there's not really
like any storylines, like how we talked about it, at
the beginning of the postseason. It's like every storyline that
we thought we could potentially have, we're left with none
(46:47):
of them because every guy and the Ratlers made it
past the first round, so his future clearly not in question.
But the big one, I guess, the low hanging fruit
would be that this is a rematch Arizona looking to
get revenge from that last championship game that they were in,
which was Mass's first time being crowned champion in the IFL.
(47:08):
But they're no strangers two championships. So the coaching, the offense, defense,
special teams, their histories together, and then just in championship games.
I mean, this does have the makings of a classic.
As much as I would have maybe preferred any other
two teams to be in this game, this is what
(47:29):
we got. So alcon I. We get there Friday morning
and then there will be media day and then we'll
see what the rest of the day holds. So watch
for us to pop up maybe on Facebook Live after
the media day to go over you know, everything that
was discussed and if there were any key moments or
heated debates or quote worthy kind of things like that.
(47:54):
And then the day of we will get there and
we will do our pregame show live on Facebook book,
you know, before kickoff from the field, and yeah, it
should be a good time. But uh, I know Malcolm
shares my enthusiasm and gratitude thinking our donors for the
go fundme they are clutch right now. It gets started
(48:15):
off really slow and it got pretty shaky where I
was like, I don't know if we're gonna be able
to do this. And then just like in the fourth
two minute drive, man, we had a Hall of Famer
future Hall of Famer and then Malcolm's church group coming
in clutch. You gotta be happy about that for sure.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
For sure, man, I couldn't like you said, I mean,
it's it's not it's not a lot that that we
can say about. I mean, like a sad from thank
you man. I mean, it's been it's been a journey
for us, you know, getting here and since the conception
of the ADDA up until now, you know, certainly been
a roller coaster. But you know we couldn't have done
(48:57):
it without you guys, And uh yeah, just thank you man.
I'm looking forward to it and you know it's going
to be a good one again.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
So awesome, Thank you so much for me and malk
like it's going to be a fun weekend. It is
still up. We are looking to probably close it out
after tomorrow, just to make sure that we've got our
budget squared away. It does take time for the donations
to process and be put into the account that we'll
be using for the trips, so we don't want to
(49:25):
leave anything out there lingering kind of too long. But again,
thank you guys so much. It's been fantastic the response
that we've received. And it's not how you start, it's
how you finished. Finishing strong and that's exactly what we're
looking to do this weekend. And we will have a
full championship recap once we get back, and we'll have
(49:45):
probably a lot of stories. I'm hopefully nobody getting in
too much trouble between Molock and me, But boys, weekend,
you know it's going to be a good time. I'm
excited for this. But you guys, make sure that you
have liked and followed and subscribed to all the fan
show things so that you don't miss any of it.
But we're looking to have a lot of really good
(50:07):
content coming out of the weekend and a champion will
be crowned and it'll be a great uh ribbon to
tie on an otherwise great comeback season for the show,
and having malc along for the ride has been a
true blessing. So Malk, you know, have a safe travels
from the other side of the country to Vegas. My
flight significantly shorter than yours, but you know.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
It's gonna be fun. Man.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
I always stay up the night before a long flight,
so yeah, I'm gonna get plenty of sleep on on
my five hour.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
Light So it's gonna be oh wow, Perth Vegas.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
Okay, Well, him and I were both wrong on our
picks last week to set up the championship game, so
maybe if there's a karaoke bar, we can do a
cope punishment the only way we know how one and
get everybody going. But it'll be a good weekend. I'm
excited for it. So we will see you guys, and
(51:11):
next time we see you, we'll be live from Vegas
for the twenty twenty four IFL Championship game. So until then,
for Father Malk, Malcolm McCoy, I'm the team man. Richard Teaman.
This has been episode four hundred and ninety eight, of
the Fan Show and we will see you next time.
Shu shu.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You know, I really don't know how to start this one,
Like I just I don't like we've been away for
a bit, but it's the matchup. Mm hmmm, dude, I
don't know. I just like, I'm sure you were watching
(01:00):
and these games laughing being like, oh man, this is
gonna be fun, and I'm like, this is not gonna
be fun. So it's oh, season has come to this where,
you know, I feel like that's karma. I've dug myself
into a hole. The best part is that people won't
(01:22):
even know if this is like how I really feel
or a character that I play on this show. But
either way, okay, all right, So hello everyone, and welcome
to the Fan Show. I am your host, Richard Teman,
aka the team Man and the man in the other
(01:44):
box who's laughing hysterically at my pain and my suffering.
Is a man who you're around him in the sports
bar every preseason they get so hyped about how well
their team does on that crucial first drive, and he
is just so expectant of of what the Washington Commanders
are gonna do. This is mister preseason hype Father, MALC
(02:07):
Malcolm McCoy how's it going, man.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I'm doing great, man, especially after that preseason game. You know,
I'm a I hate to see those fans and you
know it's a super Bowl time and like all that,
bro rob but you know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I mean, I can't help, but you know, be optimistic
about what my team got going on.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I'm saying some some some good things in that future.
I go a lot to you, brother.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Green Bay fans have been the worst, and I actually,
like I have a soft spot for the Packers. I
really do the team. It's history. I've been to Lambeau
for a tour, and there's it's there's just certain places
in certain aspects of culture and for sports and for football.
(02:56):
Lambeau and the Green Bay Packers are are one of
those teams in places where it's just like you may
not like them, but you respect them. But at the
same time, Jordan loved through one pass and they're like, oh,
super Bowl here we come. I just do it, man,
I can't.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
See, you know, you get those things that just it
is like playoff hungry, man, Like just postseason. You know
it's been been deprived of it so long. You know
you can't you can't help, but just have those those
spurts of just over optimism, and I think I think
Green Bay kind of falls in that same bucket as
us in that situation, because I mean, the city is hungry, man.
(03:38):
We need we need something, we need something to keep
sharing for. If not, I'm gonna just go ahead transition
to baseball, so you know, I'm on my last leg
right now, I need something.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Back to the topic at hand, which is of course
indoor football. This is episode four hundred and ninety eight,
so we are off scheduled just by one. Episode four
ninety nine will be our championship recap, and that'll give
us a little bit of time to figure out what
we're doing for the Big five, oh, which I didn't
really selfishly, I didn't want to share with championship recap coverage.
(04:12):
So it all kind of worked out a little bit
better this way. But we'll see what the plan is
for five hundred anyway. Four ninety eight is about the
championship matchup, which is my least favorite of all the
possible matchups that we had, but that's I think everyone
kind of knew that that's how I would feel about it.
And then also the all IFL teams first second in rookie.
(04:34):
We've got some things to discuss there. But before we do, man,
I was thinking, like, is there anything because it's a
new month, is there anything that we would want to
put to bed? And honestly, like, we're going to this
championship and it'll be my first one in a few years.
But I was counting since I started covering ifl if
(04:54):
you don't count twenty twenty, which I don't know many
who do, this will be my fifth championship of the
eight that I could have gone to. So that's pretty
legit as far as being there for the big game.
And I would really like there to not be awkward
moments this weekend, so I would like to put together
(05:16):
I would like to put to bed some of the
some of the pettiness, But I just I don't know.
I don't know if it if it can, if it
can be done, But I guess we'll see. Malcol and
I are both hoping to have a good time. We'll
be there for media Day obviously, and we'll see about
the rest of that day, and then for the championship game,
(05:37):
we'll do a pregame live stream possibly and after media
day live stream and interview some of the people that
are there. But yeah, I'm just going to kind of
feel it out. I've been out of it for a minute.
Malk's never done it, so it'll be a learning experience
for him and that'll be that'll be good. But Malcola,
(05:57):
is there anything last minute in the season that you
wanted to maybe put to bed that you just didn't
want to waste any more time on Now that we're
getting ready to wrap up another IFL season.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I hadn't really thought too much about it, honestly, with
it being the you know, the end of the season.
But the kind of piggyback off of what you said,
I would certainly, you know, like to keep it drama
free over there. You we eve indirectly or for some
people a little more directly, created some what you would
(06:32):
call like healthy animosity. I think in the sports world
is it's important to have like a little bit of static,
a little back and forth. It gives you something to
talk about, what you know, while we're there at the
championship game. I'm hoping that you know, we're able to
keep it cordial. I don't doubt that we'll be able to.
But you know, on the other side, I mean just
(06:54):
keep it as professional as possible, and hopefully guys can
keep their they're their personal feelings to the sad and
you know, like I said, just keep it football, man.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'm looking to have a good time down there.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, the matchup is set for the championship. It will
be a rematch from a few seasons ago, the Arizona
Rattlers and the Massachusetts Pirates. Mass beat Green Bay convincingly,
I mean the Green Bay. I texted Mouth during this
game and I was like, where the fuck has this
Pirates team been all season? Like Jesus fifty one twenty
(07:31):
eight in Green Bay? I mean, apparently postseason football in
the IFL is just a different beast. I mean we've
seen it in the NFL, but normally what you see
all season long in the IFL is typically what you
get in the postseason because there's not that switch. But
I guess there is now. So mass represents the East
(07:54):
and for the West it's Arizona. They defeat the San
Diego Strikeforce fifty eight twenty three. I mean, these were
not close games, and I think we expected both to
be extremely close, especially different outcomes. Malco and I were
both wrong on our pick em and so for San
Diego to get held the twenty three points, man, that's
(08:17):
saying something about Arizona, And so now we get a rematch.
It was my least ideal matchup of the possible matchups.
I want to is this how everybody that wasn't a
Chiefs or forty nine ers fan felt last year, because
you know, I was like, why you guys hating? This
(08:40):
is gonna be a great matchup. We get a shot
at revenge and they're so I feel like I'm now
in their shoes. But that is what has inspired today's fit.
Some more care package swag from Quad City, who I
believe said is going to send you something, but they
(09:01):
were a little hesitant because they were mad at you
for picking against them. But thank you Steam Wheeler fam
for that. And then of course we're transitioning from one
form of football to another. It's forty nine er seasons.
Preseason has started, we're still talking indoor football and preseason's going.
(09:23):
But yeah, man, we were away for a little bit
longer than we expected, and Mount had a trip like
a family reunion he went to and then we had,
you know, that kind of extra bye week that we
normally don't get in the indoor world, and so I
was like, we can do two episodes, but honestly, I
don't know what we're going to talk about for two
episodes worth going into a championship when we're going to
(09:45):
be doing so much down there. So you know, people
are all over the place. The teams that are not
in the championship have dispersed, so we're running down people
now that are back to like their everyday lives or
at training camps or workouts or something like that. So
you know, that's fine and dandy, but we are here
and we're going to talk about that matchup, which I
(10:05):
mean it will still be a good one. Both teams
are stacked. I got the notification. You can see the
article for media day on the ifl's website. So for Arizona,
they're gonna have Dylan Winfree, DeVante Merriweather. These guys are
studs man. As much as I may not like the
team they play for, I like them. And then Dalton
(10:27):
Snead of course will be there, and he's from Montana.
I congratulated him via Twitter last year when he won
with the Panthers, and so it's like, I'm excited to
see these guys, are they going to be excited to
see me? I don't know, and then shout out Ron Miller,
formerly of the Bucks. He's going to be there for
(10:49):
the Massachusetts Pirates as their head coach. Great to see
him doing well. The rest of the Pirates. I don't
know all that well. I haven't had a chance to
meet Benafield, so that'll be interesting. But yeah, some combustible
elements on media day that Malcolm will be like, all right,
so what do we do now? What happens like, but
you'll probably be a lot more welcome than I will.
(11:11):
That's that's all I gotta say. Any final thoughts from
the two conference championship games, Like I said, you know
mass against green Bay, and green Bay just wasn't in
it like the whole game, and they had a lot
of self inflicted wounds in that game too. But Arizona
(11:33):
and San Diego, I don't know how they shut Nate
Davis down for four quarters like that, but many they
ended up getting an onside kick, one of the most
insane on side kicks I've ever seen San Diego did,
and then it was picked off later. So it was
just a lot of bad on top of like good.
So it's like, hey, oh, you know, it's like you
(11:54):
gotta do something with it. But the onside kick, I
don't think it was intentional, but he drills it at
one of the guys on the special teams for Arizona
nails him in the helmet ricochet's off right into the
arms of a guy for San Diego. I mean, I
don't think you could try it up more perfectly than that,
like wow, and so I'm like, okay, here we go.
San Diego's got a spark now. And then for them
(12:15):
to drive down and throw a pick that was tough.
So I don't know, it could be postseason experience. But
malk what was your knee jerk reaction to these outcomes?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, just kind of staying on topic with the Arizona
and San Diego game. I was surprised wouldn't even express
the full feeling of what I felt while watching that game.
It's hard to say that San Diego wasn't ready because
you know, there, they've been playing at the highest level.
(12:48):
They've been playing the entire season. I want to say,
these past three games really so they walked in there
for sure right to get a w and you know,
take it home, but Arizona is just a different breed
man when it comes to the postseason. I know this
is burning you up to see for me to say that,
you know what I mean, you can't the history shows, man.
(13:13):
You know you can't count Kevin guy out. He's a
He's a guy who knows he's no he's no stranger
to the postseason. He knows what to say and what
to do to get a team ready for those big games.
And you know, fortunately for them, they showed up. One
thing that caught me by surprise for sure, is like
you said, you talked about the one exception that Nate
(13:36):
David do. I want to say, he threw two pick
sixes actually.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, I mean like you would think that somebody is
seasoned and as experienced as Nate well, and not to
say that he's perfect, none of us are perfect, but
you know, for a guy who has been around as
long as he has, has the NFL experience, has multiple
championships and i FL, you know, you would think that
(14:03):
he kind of has that uh that I guess that
I for what needs to be done, and he certainly
doesn't lack the clutch. Fact that we've seen it several times,
but you know, I guess this just wasn't one of those.
The matchup wasn't in his favor in this case because
he kind of at times looked a little flustered, and
I mean, that's that's something that I'm not used to
(14:25):
seeing from Nate Davis. So you know, congratulations to Arizona,
for sure, many.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
They earned every bit of that.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
It was no contest almost at no point in time
after I think that after that once the half hit,
I mean, it was kind of no question that was
gonna win for me. I just couldn't wait to see
your reactions. But you know, added back over there on
with Green Bay and uh, you know the Pirates, I
(14:53):
knew that game could kind of go either way because
they both beat each other in the regular season, so
you know, it was kind of a toss up for me.
But I mean, of course, with me being such a
coach roverson Fag, you know, a shout out to him
for winning Coach of the Year man for sure, but
with me being such a fan of his, I mean,
(15:14):
I was definitely rooting for Green Bay all the way.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
But you know, I mean, Max.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Just had their number for sure, and like you said,
there's no shortage of dogs over there that their rosters stacked,
so you know, they put their their time on full display,
and you know it worked out in their favor. So
great games leading up to the championship game. But you
know we'll see what happens in the in the big game.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And so yes we will. And Malcolm, actually nice segue there,
Roverson is your Coach of the Year, Coach Moran Assistant
Coach of the Year. Very well deserved on both. They
did announce also, and I'm sure they'll announce a few
others before this actually airs, so we'll have time to discuss.
Who are picks for those could be but Defensive Rookie
(15:59):
of the Year from Vegas Bryce Hampton, Offensive Rookie of
the Year from naz Is Josh Jones. I didn't know
Jones was a rookie. That's crazy though, just how well
he did. He's the pick for all IFL Rookie team
as well for the quarterback, which we'll talk about here
in a second. But what's funny is that when it
(16:20):
comes to the Coach of the Year, I remember Roberson
got it the first time, and the other coach that
people thought could get it was coach Kevin Guy, and
I said, no, what Robson's done with this team, Like
you just can't, you know, pick anybody else. And people
are like, yeah, I have but Kevin Guy who went
on this undefeated streak and blah blah blah, and he's
going back to the playoffs. So I picked Robson. In
(16:43):
the league picked Robson, and people were upset about you know,
well some people were upset that it wasn't coach Kevin Guy.
But I was thinking about it before this one came out.
I was like, you could honestly give it to coach Robson.
I think that was the obvious pick. But the irony
is that I was like, you could almost give it
to Guy too, because he got his team to the
(17:04):
postseason without a healthy, you know starter that is Dalton
sneed all season long. Yeah, So that, you know, is
something just interesting to kind of look back at that
year and then how it kind of replicated itself this year,
but kind of opposites like Roberson cloud through the season
with a great team and Guy had to like really
(17:26):
figure stuff out along the way. And so for MVP,
which they have not announced, I mean, I still like Miler.
I don't know if he'll get it, but I feel
like he I almost would prefer him get MVP over
Roberson getting Coach of the Year for the simple reason
that I feel like Miler was the missing piece for
(17:48):
what Green Bay struggle has been in all these times
that they've fell kind of flat. You know, it's that
great consistent quarterback play. Now, these are supposed to be
regular season awards, so he's still very much has a
great shot at it. But I don't know, man. I mean,
if you want to play the card of well, you know,
(18:11):
who's the guy that without him their team struggled and
with them they were great, you could make that argument
for Dalton Snead, But I would say, on that note,
how many games do you give a guy to miss
before they're like disqualified from the conversation. And I feel like,
you can't miss more than like three games before it's like, Okay,
I get it, your team struggled without you, but you
(18:33):
can't just you know, play half the season and get MVP.
It just doesn't seem like fair to me. Not that
he's not deserving, but that's just my take on it.
So Miler is definitely in the conversation for MVP, and
then of course you have guys like Nate Davis and
(18:54):
Jerome Johnson for Vegas could be in the conversation, it
feels like a quarterback of ward. I don't know, Malcolm,
if there's anybody I didn't mention quarterback wise, or if
there's anybody not quarterback that you think could possibly get it,
I very.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Much agree that it seems almost a little agreedis to
not give it to a quarterback. I mean, that's traditionally
been the quarterback award, but I mean it's a few
unsung heroes out there that I feel like, traditionally, you know,
bail their teams out and in situations where they needed.
(19:29):
One of which is the most interesting man in the world,
Ernest Alkayo.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
That guy.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And I'm not entirely sure how many points he's put
up on the season, but it has to be up there,
rivaling at least some running backs or something. I mean,
because he's a lot of a lot of times he's
been the one to get them over that hump, you know,
of like they're they're like within two or three points.
You know, he's kicking a dude, so he's doing a
(19:57):
dropkick or something, and you know he's putting it seeing
right back where you need to be or giving them
an opportunity to get back where you need to be.
So guys like him, Craig Peterson, you know our guy. Uh,
I think those special teams guys need a little more
love when it comes to these postseason awards because a
lot of times they're they're they're playing a bigger role
(20:19):
than we really acknowledged. Like I said, it's just there there.
There are a number of players that could think of
that could very well get the MVP Award, But like we,
like we said, it's kind of like traditionally been a
quarterback thing, So I mean that's appropriate as well.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So we'll go through them real quick. The All if
L rookie team don't need to spend too much time
on but obviously offense, we mentioned Josh Jones' quarterback running
back was E. J. Burgess from Green Bay. I was
surprised it wasn't mccorker, but then again, we kind of
stopped really focusing on the individual stats about midway through
the season, and I didn't notice Burgess like I've seen
(21:00):
him come across my feed a lot. But you know,
we were convinced it was going to be mccorkor, and
I don't know if that was just a dropped ball
on voting there or if maybe mccorkor fell off and
Burgess stayed consistent all the way through the season. I'd
have to go back and look at the numbers, but
that one kind of surprised me. And then we've got
John Maldonado for wide receiver from nas Quian or Kwan
(21:23):
Williams from Iowa is actually listed three times twice on
the All IFL Rookie for wide receiver and kick returner,
which I didn't think was possible, and then once on
a second team All IFL for I think kick returner
as well. So we didn't pay nearly enough attention to
Iowa apparently because that dude was cooking. And then Kobe
(21:46):
White wide receiver from nas and there's a few other
names that I don't quite recognize for the rookie ones,
but you know, congrats to all of them. It was
a pretty nas heavy offense, which just goes to show
how well they were coached for having the success that
they did this season despite just missing the postseason. And
(22:08):
then for the defense, you know, Keishawn Moore from Quad City,
which I think we both saw coming. The man whose
name I do not know how to pronounce either from
Green Bay guy Thomas from mass So a good one there.
He'll be in the title game. Calhoun from Vegas as
a linebacker. So there's one of your guys, Ethan Castleberry
(22:31):
of the Fighters, linebacker dB Bryce Hampton who got Defensive
Rookie of the Year. And I don't know how to
say Fox's first name. What is with me in these
first names for rookies that I don't know how to pronounce.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
But he's.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
A Tola Fox. Okay, see you got you're the You're
the man with the names right there. So a couple
of Bay Area, a couple of Vegas Nighthawks, and then
strike Force on there. So I mean all around, pretty
well balanced all IFL rookie offense and defensive team. So
now let's get to the second team, which I don't
(23:07):
think I gotta prepare people for what we're about to say,
which is a name that is on here that we
don't think belongs on here. So Jerome Johnson gets a quarterback,
which you know well deserved. We knew Jerome was gonna
be one of those players that got some kind of
postseason award, Shannon Brooks for running back, DJ Myers for
(23:30):
wide receiver, and Arthur Jackson the third second team All IFL. Dude,
you and I had the same reaction to this, like
what like, okay, no disrespect to those listed on second team,
but okay, if he's second team, then who's first team?
And we'll get to that here just the second. But
(23:52):
so there's Williams for wide receiver not kick returner on
All IFL second team, which I didn't know if you
were rookie you could qualify for second or first team.
But you know that's good for him still, like I'm
not docking him or anything. And then let's see Elijah
Lilly got it for kick returner for second team, Kyle
(24:13):
Kaplan got kicker for second team. We both know those
guys from their highlights this season. And so then all
second team or All IFL second team defense Jaikwan Artists
from San Diego, Abdul Waheed from Green Bay, Kishawn Moore
from Quad City, Calhoun from Vegas, Different Calhoun, and then
(24:37):
we had castle Berry listed on there again at toa
Fox listed again. So it's just kind of funny that
you have these rookie second and first teams, but some
of the names are the same. And I'm not saying
that if you're a rookie you can't be on there,
but it would just seem like you would make one
specifically for this and that way you could have this
dedicated to everybody else. But you know, I'm not mad
(25:00):
at it. So there's your second team and so the
first team. And this is the answer to me and
Malk's big question. Sam Castronova is your QB, which I
think we duh, Like we all knew that was coming.
Jimmy Robinson running back. I thought maybe Simpson would get
it from from Bay Area, and then Nikwan Murray wide receiver,
(25:23):
also from San Antonio. So first team has a few
San Antonio gun slingers, which is awesome for them this
being their first year in the league. So the wide receivers,
John Maldonado from NAS, I've got no qualms with that.
We've we've talked about him, mentioned him on the show,
but it's Alexis Rosario. You and I love Tulsa. But
(25:45):
this is a name that I don't think for either
of us came up and this is the name that, honestly,
I feel should be swapped with Arthur Jackson the third.
But Malk, I mean you see the skill a little
bit better than I do when it comes to the
play on the field. Liked, did we miss something or
did the people that vote missed something on this?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
I'm gonna boldly say I think they clearly missed something. Man,
I mean we watched these games pretty closely. I can
definitely say we called the majority of the games the
San Diego games. You know, like I said, Alexis like
you said, Alexis Sory definitely a great player, standout player,
(26:26):
a pivotal piece to that Tolsa offense. But man, thirty touchdowns? Man,
what can you say?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Brother? I mean, like what more?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
This is one of those situations that you like to
highlight where you know, what more can you do?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Really?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I mean, he missed three games because of the nonsense
that went down earlier in the season, you know, but
came back and didn't miss a beat. I think after
once he came back that first game, bag he jumped
right back in the lead. I don't know if he
ever lost the lead even after missing the three games.
So huge part to the San Diego defense. And not
(27:09):
only that, you can stick him on any team really
in like thirty touchdowns and I don't know how many
receptions that's that's you know, just this it speaks for itself.
I kind of I might have lost some words really
because I couldn't understand for the life of he went
into that selection process. But hey man, we're not the
(27:30):
only one that's confused in this situation.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, and then so Gabriel Rui got Kicker and like,
I'm just like, okay, did they forget or Nesto like exists,
Like I'm just I'm a little confused by that kick
returner Jared Harrington. That one makes like the most sense.
So we have Sam Castronova and Harrington that make the
(27:54):
most sense of any of these picks. But then Kicker
and one of the wide receiver spots were like, okay,
we're we're either missing something or somebody dropped the ball
on these votes because how or Neesto isn't listed on
either first or second team and Ernesta's got like every
record in IFL right now for a kicker, I'm just like,
what else can you do? So that's the offense. We're
(28:15):
not again, we're not taking anything away from people that
made first team, you know, in place of people that
we thought would be there. We're just saying, like we
saw things a little differently. And Ruey is a great kicker.
I'm not going to take anything away from him. You know,
for Iowa, he's great. So defensively, there's a couple of
oilers listed on there. Good for them. Jones prides himself
(28:37):
on his defense. Noah Lyles is on there, and Jordan Jones.
I was surprised Hawkins didn't make it, but I think
he's we saw more of like his highlights than like
his game to game play, and so clearly, you know,
there's there's times where you see a highlight and you know,
like with with Red for the Storm and we were like, oh,
(28:58):
this guy is just like a du dude. But you know,
he had a couple of highlights moments in key moments
that changed the game. But that doesn't mean that consistently,
game to game the game you're that guy. So it's
a little harder on defense for sure, but mustin for
Green Bay that one I fully agree with. Antoine Kincaid,
who I think you and I both discussed as possibly
(29:20):
defensive Player of the Year was on here, So no
qualms about that. Bryce Hampton made first team and he's
a rookie, so good for him. And then Rivers from
Green Bay is also on there. So I mean, all
in all, first, second and rookie teams, pretty good crop
of players. But there's just some discrepancies that Malcolm I
(29:43):
when we read this list and there were names missing
from certain teams who were like, what, like, it's just
I'm not sure, man, I don't know. So here here's something.
There are no San Diego Strikeforce players listed on first team.
I mean, if you want to talk about something that
(30:04):
is just like wait what, that's definitely something. There's one
Arizona player listed on the offense, but they had they
struggled this season to say the least. But San Diego, man, dude,
that offense, like, I mean, just throw a rock and
you could hit like four players that could easily qualify
for first team, and there's none. So obviously Arthur Jackson
(30:27):
the third is the biggest like question mark. But San
Diego fans were not happy when that list was released.
I don't blame them personally, I really don't, because that
team offensively was stacked to have two Gunslingers is great,
so proud of them. Sam Castronova is probably going to
be Offensive Player of the Year. Ernesto I hope he's
(30:48):
at least Special Teams Player of the Year. Man. It'll
probably come down to like him and Harrington, which is
tough because they two different skill sets, right, but the
same aspect of the game, which I've never thought was
very fair. But oof, it's going to be tough for
the awards as we get into the big ones. You know,
(31:09):
the Big Three or I guess the Big four. So
that is your all ifl first second in Rookie Teams,
the championship again is set. MALC and I. We're not
going to do necessarily a prediction. We'll basically break down
what could be some things to watch for these games,
but we want to leave most of it up to
our big live pregame at the actual game before kickoff,
(31:32):
which we'll have more details on as we get closer
to the actual game. But now it is time to
welcome a very special guest to one of our final
episodes of the season. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. He
is the quarterback for the San Antonio Gunslingers and recently
announced the quarterback for the All IFL First Team. It
(31:55):
is Sam Castronova. Welcome back, sir. How you doing.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Great? Thanks for having me guys.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah, man, it was a crazy season for you guys
to start and finish the way that you did. Nothing
to hang your head about, obviously, though the goal every
season is to have a winning season, then make the postseason,
and then hopefully championship appearance at the end. But I mean,
you guys, you know, really gave a lot of teams
to run for their money. Did phenomenal your first year
(32:24):
in the IFL. So I think the obvious question is
you being named to first Team All i FL your
first year in the IFL, Like, how does that feel
knowing that you've accomplished that your first.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Go It's a great honor.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
I could have done it without that brought my coaches,
coach flour offensive Cornator did a great job, and without
my big boys checking me up front, and obviously my
receivers making me look good a lot of times. Best
receiving quarter in the league in my opinion. I think
the stats proved that too. But it's a great honor
and it's cool to kind of a lot of people.
(33:01):
Said a lot of different things about the different leagues
back and forth. So it's cool to kind of be
able to come here and also win first team in
this league as well.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah. Man, you guys a couple of gunslingers on first team,
all I felt, which is great. There were no Strike
Force players that made first team, which a lot of
strike Force fans are upset about. Malcol and I were
confused about that because we thought Arthur Jackson, the third
would be for sure on first team. He is on second.
But man, I.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
Don't know how he didn't. I don't know how he
didn't get first team. He had we have six touchdowns
in one game one time.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, man, it was insane stats. But you know, high
powered offenses this year, we were well on display. So
I'm just glad that there was some recognition for the
guys that even if you didn't make the postseason. These
are regular season awards, yes, but you know, the timing
of their announcement and whatnot can make you kind of wonder.
But no, we felt you were a lock for sure,
(33:56):
and Malcol, I know you got a question for him.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Yeah, but I so, like you said, I mean, we definitely, uh,
you're you're my front runner for m VP for sure, Bro,
I mean, I'm a I'm gonna save you the trope
of being the cocky quarterback and saying it yourself.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
But you know, me and Rich, we definitely feel like
you're you're one of, if not the front runner for
m v P. So I mean definitely rooting for you there.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I gotta ask though, for sure, like what if you
if you didn't choose yourself obviously, who would you say
is in your top place for potentially getting MVP.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
Uh, It's really difficult because if you're gonna do it
based on regular season, there's a bunch of guys you
could have done it, like, Uh, I think Jerome from Vegas.
I think Nate Davis should be in the running. I
mean two for almost as many touchdowns as I did.
And he some type of rolls down offense down down
the field, whether it be bombs or just picking teams
(34:59):
apart because he's been doing it for a while.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Josh Jones had a great year.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
I mean, even you, I would consider Jimmy Robinson because
he's a he makes that offense go.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
I mean, he's the dog. So and it's they're looking
there in the championship.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
So I think you can make an argument there too,
So it's hard to pick one person, but it'll be
interesting to see to see how they how they do it.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Now, we picked you for a lock for Offensive Player
of the Year, which a lot of times people feel
that could be obviously the MVP as well because it's
a quarterback award nowadays. But I mean, for you, would
you feel like you deserved MVP if you were to
get it, because I feel kind of like the first
All IFL team is almost like a spoiler for who
(35:41):
might be getting what awards.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I tried everything in
my power to help us win football games, and sometimes
it was I just came down to the last play
where we lost on and it was tough. I think
we lost. We lost four games when we scored every
possession but one. We lost four of those games, and uh,
and that's pretty heartbreaking as an offense. But stuff like
(36:04):
that happens, and we could have easily been twelve and
twelve and fours out of eight and eight.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
But that's just how it rolls.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
But I mean, I feel like, yeah, I feel like
at the end of the day, I I the.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Stats are the stats. I mean it's not got somebody.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
I think somebody saying that we were stat padding, which
I'm not really sure how that's possible is almost every game,
so I don't really know about that. But no, I mean,
if I was to get it, I would think I
deserve it. At the end of the day, we didn't
make the playoffs, so I would totally understand if somebody
else was to win the Most Valuable Player.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Okay, all right, humble. As always, we love talking with Sam,
so we know your time is precious. Our last question
me and malk we want to know who you're rooting
for in the championship game. I know you don't have
a dog in the fight, but it's hey, it's welcome
to the i FL time. Man. You gotta you gotta
put up the team.
Speaker 5 (36:57):
Okay, so I'll give you. I can give you the
all of an answer, but I'll you like this. I
met Daldin for the first time. We played them for
the last game. He's a great dude. I think he's
a great player, and I'm rooting for him to have
a great game. But at the end of the day,
I think I might be rooting for mass just because
we're two to zero.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Against mass and if they're in the championship, we could
kind of say.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
I like you, I like you dude.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
That is such a player answer right there, like, hey,
we beat this team, and if they beat the team
to win the championship, then we technically beat the team
that won the champions There there were Seattle fans that
pulled that card when the Giants and Eli Manning won
the Super Bowl one of the two years they beat
Tom Brady, They're like, hey, we beat the Giants in
(37:45):
the regular season, you know. All right, Man, Well, hey,
congrats again on first team all I fl a tremendous honor.
We enjoyed watching you play all season long. We can't
wait to see what the future holds for you, where
you go, if you stay, and then just what you
do next year now that you've got a full year's
(38:06):
experience under your guys's bell. But Man, from me and Malk, like,
thank you so much for all the fun we had
this season and for coming back on the show.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
Absolutely, thanks for everything you guys do. Man, appreciate you
having me.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
All right, well, once again, he is quarterback for the
gun Slingers and quarterback for your first team all IFL
and he probably has a jersey you can go auction
on and then bid on it what you want. Yeah, yeah,
the jerseys they didn't wear, but hey, you know, it's whatever.
He's a great guy, And thank you so much again,
So Sam Castronova, everybody would enjoy your off season, my friend.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hey sir, every going guys, And one.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
More big thank you to Sam Castronova for returning to
the show and giving a little time. It's always great
to talk to the guys, you know, after they're kind
of settled in and everything. But man, so he's got
some picks there for MVP. He did not say Max Miler.
So I don't know. And maybe we're in the wrong here.
I don't know. We've we've been wrong before. It's not
(39:05):
the first time. Yeah, I do wonder, you know, if
the first team all IFL is a spoiler for the awards,
because it, I mean, it would raise the question, wouldn't
it like how they get MVP or Offensive Player of
the Year Defensive Player of the Year if they weren't
(39:26):
even on first team all IFL. But you know, it's
like you have all these things in my mind, it's
supposed to be to kind of like reward as many
people as you can, because there's a lot of people
in the league, right, so you know, you don't want
to just have like three awards and be like, you know,
better luck next time. So, in my opinion, having a
(39:47):
guy like Williams on All Rookie IFL twice was kind
of weird. I think it, if anything, shows that it
was a true vote, like it was truly based on vote.
But at the same time, you should have somebody check
and being like, okay, we don't want to have the
same person have it have two spots, so like which
(40:08):
one should it be? And then who was the runner
up for the other? I mean, that's how I would
do it, And that's kind of a little bit of
like interference, if you will. But I don't know, I
would sleep better at night knowing that, you know, there
was kind of something for everybody. As far as you
don't have a guy that gets named twice, it's a
tremendous honor that he's on there twice and then on
(40:30):
second team on IFL. But man, that's just crazy to
have a name pop up multiple times like that. I
don't think I've ever seen it. But Defensive Rookie of
the Year Offensive Rookie of the Year. You can only
win that if your rookies. But you know, MVP Defensive
and Offensive Players of the Year, those can I guess
(40:52):
be won by anybody. It's weird, like I have my criteria.
You know that, and I'm sure you do as a player.
But anyway, that's my soapbox. In the time that we've recorded, though,
they did announce Special Teams Player of the Year. Congrats
to Iowa's own Gabriel Rui did have a great year.
Was not me or Malk's pick for the award. He
(41:12):
was first team All IFL. But like, are we missing
something here? It just I keep going back to that,
Like I swear we watched these games. I promise we did.
So maybe we just need to pay more attention to
the tulsas in Iowa's of the league. Next time we'll
see so congrats to him, but Malk, it is that time.
(41:35):
We're not gonna make a pick for this just because
it's championship. Kind of won't enjoy it. But I will
say that it's a rematch. Both teams are stacked. Rematch
not of last year, but of a few seasons ago.
Both teams know each other, Both teams don't like each other,
I can tell you that much for sure. I think
the sexy matchup, like the matchup on paper that everybody
(41:58):
wants to watch, is going to be the mass offense
against the Arizona defense, because, like I said, Arizona's defense
has got some players, right, Dylan Winfree, Devonte Merriweather. Those
are some dudes that made big time problems for the
San Diego Strikeforce offense, which we thought was one of
(42:20):
the best in the league. And so that's the sexy matchup.
But I think the matchup that it's going to ultimately
come down to is going to be Arizona's offense against
Massachusetts defense. Ken Dalton Snead. Move the ball down the
field against the defense that quite honestly has been kind
of quietly making moves all home stretch of the season
(42:42):
and definitely through the postseason, like they've they've been a
nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. So that's my knee jerk reaction.
Initial takeaway. What about you when you look at this matchup?
Speaker 1 (42:53):
I definitely think you can't you turn your head at
what you just said about defense been a quiet move
maker obviously to have gotten to this point. You have
to have a pretty complete team, a pretty solid bunch
of guys on both sides. I was thoroughly surprised when
(43:15):
I looked and looked at some of the stats for
Mass's defense, and they're actually leading a lot of statistical categories,
if not there like in the top three, as far
as you know, total tackles, takeaways, you.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
Know, interception, stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
And I mean, it's no like I said, it's no secret,
because that's that's the kind of stuff that you want
your defense to be made of in a championship caliber team.
But it's just funny how they've kind of done so
and State managed to stay under the radar up until now,
which is kind of funny and really cool to see
to me, honestly, Like you said, the sexy matchup is
(43:56):
Wich kind of stands out to me, you know, Arizona's
defense versus Mass's offense. And I mean, I say Arizona's
defense mainly because I certainly didn't see them, you know,
bringing it to San Diego in that way, and I
just want to see how exactly they match up in
the in the big game. So you know, I certainly
(44:19):
don't think that it will be something that they think.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
Is a tall task.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
But Mass, I mean, they know what's a stake, they
know what they're trying to do, and there I'm sure
they'll be coming a place so it will be fun
to see how their best matches against Mass is best.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
So yeah, yeah, this I think could be a game
where the MVP goes to a guy on the defense,
like I really do, just because that's been kind of
the history before when it comes to heavy hitters like this,
where you don't know a lot of the names on
offense like you do other teams. So it could be sneak,
(44:58):
it could be benefield. Obviously, quarterbacks are tremendous, you know,
they play a tremendous role in the outcomes of these games.
But you can't deny that defense could be somebody on
the edge, a linebacker, a dB, somebody to win. This
is going to have a big game, probably on the
defensive side, and if it's MVP worthy or power to them,
(45:21):
but it's I just feel like this is going to
be one of those defensive matchups. I don't think it's
going to be like a lower scoring game, but I
do think there's going to be momentum swings from half
to half, Like, I think we're going to see one
team with like a two score lead going into halftime,
and then the third quarter is kind of this lull,
(45:42):
and then the fourth quarter is just this explosion, which
would be kind of uncharacteristic for both teams. We talked
earlier in the season about how Arizona had gotten outscored
in the fourth quarter so many times, and I obviously
think that they've learned from those mistakes and made the adjustments.
So how does Mass handle that? We'll see, But it's
gonna be I think a great matchup in all aspects
(46:06):
of the game. Don't know much about their special teams.
We don't really talk about either team's kicker, but I
do know Henry Nell kicker for Mass, been around the
league for a while. Great dude, got a great leg
on him. So I don't know. Maybe you give the
edge special teams wise to them, but you know, Arizona
doesn't just go and pick up guys off the street
(46:26):
to play kickers, so that should be a good one too.
But yeah, I like how this one is as far
as the matchups that we have, Unfortunately, there's not really
like any storylines, like how we talked about it, at
the beginning of the postseason. It's like every storyline that
we thought we could potentially have, we're left with none
(46:47):
of them because every guy and the Ratlers made it
past the first round, so his future clearly not in question.
But the big one, I guess, the low hanging fruit
would be that this is a rematch Arizona looking to
get revenge from that last championship game that they were in,
which was Mass's first time being crowned champion in the IFL.
(47:08):
But they're no strangers two championships. So the coaching, the offense, defense,
special teams, their histories together, and then just in championship games.
I mean, this does have the makings of a classic.
As much as I would have maybe preferred any other
two teams to be in this game, this is what
(47:29):
we got. So alcon I. We get there Friday morning
and then there will be media day and then we'll
see what the rest of the day holds. So watch
for us to pop up maybe on Facebook Live after
the media day to go over you know, everything that
was discussed and if there were any key moments or
heated debates or quote worthy kind of things like that.
(47:54):
And then the day of we will get there and
we will do our pregame show live on Facebook book,
you know, before kickoff from the field, and yeah, it
should be a good time. But uh, I know Malcolm
shares my enthusiasm and gratitude thinking our donors for the
go fundme they are clutch right now. It gets started
(48:15):
off really slow and it got pretty shaky where I
was like, I don't know if we're gonna be able
to do this. And then just like in the fourth
two minute drive, man, we had a Hall of Famer
future Hall of Famer and then Malcolm's church group coming
in clutch. You gotta be happy about that for sure.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
For sure, man, I couldn't like you said, I mean,
it's it's not it's not a lot that that we
can say about. I mean, like a sad from thank
you man. I mean, it's been it's been a journey
for us, you know, getting here and since the conception
of the ADDA up until now, you know, certainly been
a roller coaster. But you know we couldn't have done
(48:57):
it without you guys, And uh yeah, just thank you man.
I'm looking forward to it and you know it's going
to be a good one again.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
So awesome, Thank you so much for me and malk
like it's going to be a fun weekend. It is
still up. We are looking to probably close it out
after tomorrow, just to make sure that we've got our
budget squared away. It does take time for the donations
to process and be put into the account that we'll
be using for the trips, so we don't want to
(49:25):
leave anything out there lingering kind of too long. But again,
thank you guys so much. It's been fantastic the response
that we've received. And it's not how you start, it's
how you finished. Finishing strong and that's exactly what we're
looking to do this weekend. And we will have a
full championship recap once we get back, and we'll have
(49:45):
probably a lot of stories. I'm hopefully nobody getting in
too much trouble between Molock and me, But boys, weekend,
you know it's going to be a good time. I'm
excited for this. But you guys, make sure that you
have liked and followed and subscribed to all the fan
show things so that you don't miss any of it.
But we're looking to have a lot of really good
(50:07):
content coming out of the weekend and a champion will
be crowned and it'll be a great uh ribbon to
tie on an otherwise great comeback season for the show,
and having malc along for the ride has been a
true blessing. So Malk, you know, have a safe travels
from the other side of the country to Vegas. My
flight significantly shorter than yours, but you know.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
It's gonna be fun. Man.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
I always stay up the night before a long flight,
so yeah, I'm gonna get plenty of sleep on on
my five hour.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
Light So it's gonna be oh wow, Perth Vegas.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
Okay, Well, him and I were both wrong on our
picks last week to set up the championship game, so
maybe if there's a karaoke bar, we can do a
cope punishment the only way we know how one and
get everybody going. But it'll be a good weekend. I'm
excited for it. So we will see you guys, and
(51:11):
next time we see you, we'll be live from Vegas
for the twenty twenty four IFL Championship game. So until then,
for Father Malk, Malcolm McCoy, I'm the team man. Richard Teaman.
This has been episode four hundred and ninety eight, of
the Fan Show and we will see you next time.
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