Woody Cavenaugh

From Phoenix @ Xpl...

Witness the POWER of the world's smallest tailgate party!

The tier two Phoenix come into this game 6-0 for the season, on a twelve game winning streak with their eyes firmly affixed on the championship. The Xplosion, tier one veterans of the championship and winners themselves have had something of a hit and miss season with so many veterans retiring at the end of the last season. They want a win, and they see the Phoenix as easy pickings.

The Xplosion lost a bunch of veterans last season, but they are a huge squad with over 40 dressed out and ready to play. They are also veterans of spectacle and the psychological game. For instance when we arrived the scoreboard read Home 35, Visitors 0, 4th quarter 1st and 10, home team's ball. They had a special area for their veteran players, making it look like a homecoming as much as anything else. VIP sections in the stands, swag (last home game of the season the Xplosion were having a "blowout sale"). They had an actual cheer leading squad. 18 strong, five of them men. No children, not a high school squad. Xplosion squad uniforms. Let me take this moment for a public service message: Please give to the starving cheerleader fund. They have spirit, what they need is a steak. Also, a few Twinkies wouldn't hurt either. Lets fill those bellies so they can fill their uniforms! Kidding aside, they were a competitive squad with abs you could count from the highest reaches of the stands.

The Xplosion bring nine coaches to the field compared to the Phoenix's two. The Xplosion have fans, they also have a "self proclaimed" Pep Squad, instruments, signs, and all. Bad assed!

Back to the game. Xplosion win the toss, Phoenix receive. Phoenix gained good yardage but had to punt. This doesn't normally happen until the second half. Oh yes, this is gonna be a good game! The punt goes deep and the Xplosion take over on the 5. This is where the Phoenix defense shine! But not today. Xplosion break free and make it up to the 42. It is at this point the Phoenix fans numbering in the 20's realized that what we were seeing here was what it looked like when two strong teams played together.

With seconds left in the first quarter the Phoenix fumble in the backfield making for an Xplosion possession in scoring range. Folks...its brown trouser's time. I hope I packed my emergency pants.

11:50 in the second quarter I witness something I don't think I've ever seen before. A team scoring before the Phoenix. Extra point is good, Xplosion up by 7.

7:46 in the second a rattled Phoenix let another go by, but the Xplosion are having to work for it, maybe not as hard as I would like, but it isn't free. The extra point is good, the Xplosion are now up by 14.

This is a game defined by small Phoenix mistakes capitalized by a well disciplined team. If you always make the same mistakes, sooner or later someone is going to train specifically to exploit them.

1:28 in the 2nd quarter in "The Pass That Should Not Have Been", the Xplosion literally fall across the line for their third touchdown, extra point is good, Xplosion 21, Phoenix 0.

Half-time, congratulations to the mens and women's cheerleaders of the year. It was kind of a homecoming king and queen feel, the whole thing. Then came the entertainment. Fiona Simone, or as the folks in the stands said, "Who?".
Due to the distortion of the sound system and the fact that I'm Celtic American, I have no idea if she was good or not but I liked her look, I liked her sweet purple mohawk, and now I know that there is a genre called "Lesbian Hip-Hop". Cool. The crowd in the stands, better than three hundred by my estimate, seemed to like her, and that's good enough for me. I also got a free CD. Someone went around the stands passing them out. I am going to have to give it a listen before I hand it off to someone who knows about this "hippity hoppity musicky euniquey(?)" thing.

On to third quarter, 7:44 to be exact, things get a little hot on the field and I'm not just talking about the temperature. I get the feeling that the Xplosion hadn't been hit in a while. The Xplosion have the ball on the one yard line and it took a full four plays to cross the line...well, truth be told you'll never convince me that they actually crossed the line, but they got their touchdown anyway. Its the first time I have ever heard of a touchdown being awarded when the football was found at the bottom of a pile of bodies still on the one. I guess they tried real hard and that counts for something. Xplosion 28, Phoenix 0.

Tonight's magic number is "30", that is where the Xplosion always took possession, that is where our offense always got stopped.

Forth quarter someone turned the Phoenix defense up to eleven. I don't know where they found it, the Phoenix Defense has been playing the whole game...almost literally. 7:27 in the 4th their second wind runs out. Xplosion 35, right where the scoreboard said it would be in the 20 minutes before the game even started.

The IWFL has rules about sportsmanship. They frown on end zone antics and showboating in general. I realize that this is the Xplosion's best game this season, but come on, you guys were national champions. How about some class?

4:35 left in the 4th the Phoenix defense find an extra 200%, but when all they had left was 10% that isn't much. Final score Xplosion 42, Phoenix 0. This makes the Xplosion bid for a wild card slot in tier one much more certain, while the Phoenix are counting the points up wondering if they can hold on to second in division two.

To sum up, the Xplosion was the first real look at what women's football can be. They ran a great show with very high production value. They had a strong support base with staff, vending, half time entertainment, terrific organization, and one of the best announcers I've heard anywhere. The fans were all class acts, and everyone went the extra mile to show us terrific hospitality. I honestly can't wait to go back and watch how the Phoenix fair against them next season.

Next week, Durham Stadium, come see the Phoenix finish up their regular season when they face the Cape Fear Thunder! I'll have the grill hot, and the chickens standing at attention.