Hello Predators (Nice to Have You Back!)

It looks like the Parkland Predators are back - complete with the Brutus crest! In an earlier post I mentioned that our High School teams had dropped the Predators name and logo, so that their football teams could carry the same designation as the other sports teams. (That would be Marauders for the Memorial team and Panthers for the Spruce Comp guys.)

It's been a couple of years since that happened but this year it looks like the Predators uniform will be worn by our teams in the CDMFA Midget league.

It's nice to have you back Brutus!

The Old Blogger Wakes Up From a Twelve Month Nap!

It's almost a year to the day since the last blog post. Didn't get much of a chance to watch the local football teams last year, although I did watch the Spruce Grove Bantam Cougars as they capped an amazing season - winning the CDMFA title and then going on to capture the Provincial Tier 1 Championship with a thrilling victory over a Calgary team. That was awesome to see.

This year some of those Bantam players have moved up to high school ball - either with the Marauders or the Panthers. Both of those high school teams have looked very impressive in the two games that I have seen in 2010 - Marauders gutting out a narrow pre-season victory over the JP Rebels and the Panthers dismantling the Scona Lords in their first regular season game. Both games were highly entertaining and the Panthers game drew a very impressive crowd to Fuhr Sports Park in Spruce Grove - great atmosphere and the home town fans had a lot to chear about. (Too bad they haven't quite caught on to the fact that it's ok to chear and make noise! Toward the end of the game they started to get into it though, and I think the excitement will build.)

Keep in mind that this football blog is not officially part of the minor football associations in Spruce Grove or Stony Plain. It's just a fan site and your comments are welcome! (I moderate the comments though - keep it relatively clean and have some respect when posting something. I'm not fond of the "Web 2.0" attitude which seems to prevail these days - the one that says "I can be as rude and offensive as I like and nobody is allowed to disagree with me!")

For official news and pictures, etc - be sure to head over to the minor football association's home page http://www.sgdmfa.com/.

Goodbye Jr and Sr Predators - Hello Panthers and Marauders!

Parkland football fans are probably aware already - the old Blogger isn't exactly serving up a slice of breaking news here. The Parkland Predators are done! They went out with a BANG - taking the 2008 league championship at both the Junior and Senior levels. But they're done, done, done.

For 2009 we have two new teams to cheer for - the Panthers, playing out of Spruce Grove Composite High School, will play in the EPSB senior football league. And the Marauders, from Memorial Composite High School, are playing in the junior division. The good news is that high school kids in Spruce Grove and Stony Plain will still have the opportunity to play for either of the two teams, pretty much the same as previous years.

Of course the two teams are new in more ways than just the names. Both are coming in to the 2009 season with relatively young rosters and huge turnover from last year's championship squads. And both teams have had changes in the coaching staff. And maybe that explains why the Edmonton Journal and Football Alberta have completely ignored the Parkland teams in assessing the top teams in EPSB football for 2009. It's understandable I suppose, but I for one think our guys deserve a little more respect!

Oh well. I guess they'll have to get their respect the old fashioned way - go out there and earn it! And with both teams undefeated to this point in regular season play, I guess they're well on their way.

Predators Players - Moving Up to Junior Football?

The Edmonton Wildcats (www.edmontonwildcats.com) are interested in talking to any Parkland Predators who are eligible to play Junior Football next year. You'll have an opportunity to meet with representatives from the Wildcats on Monday November 24th from 6:30 - 7:30 at Spruce Grove Composite High School. Please contact your Predators Team Manager if you have any questions!

Attention Golfers!

The Parkland Predators are holding their second annual Predators Football Golf Tournament on September 20th, 2008. We're golfing at Cougar Creek Golf Course and if it's anything like last year it's going to be a BLAST! We have a shotgun start at 1:00pm. Entry fee is only $150 and it includes a cart, supper after the tournament, prizes. It's a great fundraiser for Predator Football. If you're interested in golfing contact Jayson. (jdayman@gmail.com)

Another Big Long Silence!

Another long silence from the Old Football Blogger! This time it's because some other projects were on the front burner. Projects like a new web site for Spruce Grove and District Minor Football! Check it out at www.sgdmfa.com.

The new site has space for all the teams that operate under Spruce Grove and District Minor Football - including the Parkland Midget teams and Parkland Predators high school football. (Those two programs are operated jointly with the Stony Plain Minor Football Association.) So in a sense the new site could duplicate what's been going on here at the Parkland Football blog. But I think the SGDMFA web site will be a lot more "feature rich" and will probably have way better content since we have a number of people involved in creating content - not just one tired old blogger.

Anyway - be sure to check back here once in a while because I don't intend to let the blog die out just yet. In fact I think the new web site and this blog will complement each other and I'd like to see both of them kept up.

Midget Football Update

Bandits play their first game of the 2008 season tonight, against the Leduc Ti-Cats. Game time is 7:30 pm at Clarke Park and the team bus leaves from our practice field at 6:00pm sharp! Players should arrive at the practice field at approximately 5:00pm. Be there or be square.

Meanwhile the Outlaws have won their second straight game in the Midget Tier I division, defeating the Sherwood Park Wolverines last night 36 - 20. The game story will be published on the CDMFA web site. There should be a link on their page shortly - look for it here. You should also find a link to read about the Outlaws game one victory over the Black Raiders.