Saturday, March 31, 2007

Season Opener: Outlaws 14 - Rams 12

"Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
O Caesar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them."


I'm pretty sure Shakespeare knew that he was laying it on a little bit thick, when he had Calpurnia say all that stuff in Act II Scene II of Julius Ceasar. But the point is, there are some things that just don't happen every day, and some people get a little freaked out when they do.

After building up a 14 - 3 lead in the first half last night, the Outlaws held off a hard-charging Rams team in the second half to win their first game of the season. In the process, they handed the Sherwood Park Rams their first loss ever in Midget football league play. The victory did not come easily - a critical timeout by Parkland helped our guys regroup after the Rams scored their only touchdown in the fourth quarter. (It also may have taken some wind out of the Rams' sails at a time when they seemed to be building momentum.) After that, Brayden's huge "911" block helped to keep Parkland's final offensive drive going, so that we could eventually run out the clock.

Other game highlights (for me) - electrifying passing plays from our offense that seemed to catch the Rams by surprise at times. Awesome defense (not a surprise for Parkland fans!), with our guys shutting down the Rams several times inside the Red Zone, and disciplined play with Parkland taking very few penalties.

To sum up - what a great start to the season!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Boys On the Bus

I had the chance yesterday to ride on the team bus, to and from the tournament at Clarke. It's the first time I've done that. And you know what? This is a pretty impressive group! The talk was fairly "spirited" at times - the language a little bit salty, the humour very much in evidence. But I think that Parkland Football parents can be proud of the conduct and behavior of our guys. Maybe some of you aren't surprised to read this - you might have more faith in our kids than I did.

:-)

Anyway, well done. Kudos to the Parkland players and coaches.

Tournament at Clarke Park

We got back fairly late from the tournament at Clarke Park last night. (Well... late for an old guy that has to get up for work the next morning and hasn't had his supper yet!) The Outlaws played four "mini-games" and I thought they looked good in all of them! This should be a great year for the Outlaws and for the Bandits. All Parkland Football fans should make it a point to come out to Clarke on Friday night to see the Outlaws take on the Rams and on Saturday when our Bandits play against the Leduc Chill. Click on the calendar link at the right for game times and other scheduling information.

Another One From the "Where Are They Now" File...

A lot of Parkland football fans know about Keith Shologan - they know he's playing for the University of Central Florida Golden Knights. The UCF web site has a pretty cool bio of Keith, with his stats and accomplishments, as well as a summary of his high school football at Spruce Grove Composite. Check it out!
http://ucfathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/shologan_keith00.html

Monday, March 26, 2007

New! Online Calendar for Parkland Football!

Parkland Football has a new Online Calendar for practices, games and special events. Click on the link to the right to view the calendar and to subscribe. (Subscribing allows you to set up automatic reminders and alerts to your email, cel phone, etc)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

From the "Where Are They Now?" File...

So what is Ryan Karhut up to these days? (Ryan played minor football with the Cougars, high school ball with the Predators, coached the Cougars, and coached the Parkland Outlaws in their first year of Midget Football competition.) Check out this posting (http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=roster&func=display&ros_id=1049) on the official CFL web site. Looks like Ryan had a tryout at the CFL selection camp! We'll have to watch the draft and see if he gets picked. (I'm not sure when the draft actually happens. Anybody know?) Whether or not he is selected in the draft this year, I think Ryan is still eligible for at least one more year with the University of Manitoba Bisons where he has been twice selected as a conference all-star.

Parkland Football Is On Line!

Hey! Guess what? Parkland Football has a BLAWG, that's what!

I'm a football parent, and I thought that a web site to keep track of schedules, special events, stats, rumours and complaints would be really useful. But I'm way too lazy to actually bother with learning how to build web sites - this seems a lot easier. Besides, everybody is BLAWGING and I want to do what everybody is doing. (Hey gang. Let's all try this new thing!)

Now, I just click Publish and this thing should post, and we're away to the races.

Jayson

Parkland Football - Scheduled Events