World Bowl XXXIX ~ Everything Thread

by **Drawkland** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:40 pm

THE TWO-TIMERS CLUB

A special report on the nations who've won exactly two World Bowls

The World Bowl is approaching its 40th edition coming next cycle. Over the course of this storied tournament, hundreds of nations have competed for the ultimate gridiron glory of winning the World Bowl. Alas, there can only be one winner per cycle, and thus only 39 professional gridiron trophies have ever been awarded.

Over the course of World Bowl history, 25 nations have come home with the silverware, meaning the World Bowl has had a repeat champion 14 times. In these 14 times lie the escapades of the elite champions, nations who topped the footballing world not once, but twice ... or even more. The most dominant nation in World Bowl history is undoubtedly Allamunnic States, with their astounding 6 titles. Half of those were earned in a 5-cycle period from World Bowl XXIII to World Bowl XXVII. It's unlikely that any nation will be able to achieve such a feat again, unless the landscape of the World Bowl changes dramatically. Even then, the States have won over 15% of all contested World Bowls. Isn't that something?

In a distant second is Dancougar, the stalwart of the early World Bowls that undoubtedly was the First Dynasty on the gridiron. They took home 3 championships, including the first "World Bowl", but not long after their third title in World Bowl VI, they faded away into the annals of history. After Dancougar, there's an astounding seven nations who've taken home the glory twice ... and today, we'll be looking at these elite seven, and what their chances are at finally tying Dancougar, over 30 cycles from when they became the first to win three. As for Allamunnic States ... we'll talk about them some other time. Maybe when a few more people get to three titles.

For the purposes of this list, we'll be counting the Gridiron Football World Championships, which served as a primer for what would become the World Bowl. It's been colloquially known as "World Bowl 0," and there's a bit of division among historians on whether or not it counts. Unless you ask any historian from Taeshan, I'm sure they'd unanimously agree it counts.

We'll be listing nations in the order in which we believe they'll win their third championship, if ever. This'll mostly be based on their current rank, since that's the only indicator on how well a nation will do. Nobody can account for shock runs or lucky playoff draws or huge upsets, so we're going to ignore those in our predictions. After all, who would've predicted that Drawkland would win the World Bowl in only their third cycle?

QAZOX
Champions: World Bowl III, World Bowl XXI
Current Rank: N/A
Prediction: Never

Qazox were one of the powerhouses in the early history of the World Bowl. Like most tournaments in their infancy, the World Bowl was dominated by nations who'd participate every cycle. In the days when new championships begin, their future is uncertain, as is their place in the sporting world. Many nations don't know if they should bother training and sending out the best their nation could offer. Because of this, nations who do give the competition their all rise to prominence very quickly. Such was the story of Qazox. This isn't to say that there were no nations giving their best effort in the early Bowls, or that the titles from those days are cheapened, it is true that perhaps subpar squads could win titles with less trouble. After all, Qazox participated in nearly all the early World Bowls, but they didn't win another title until almost twenty cycles later in World Bowl XXI.

The nation of Qazox was much maligned through their history in the sporting world, from both infamous escapades in the World Cup and a very fluctuating reputation in other sports. Eventually, the straw broke the camel's back, and the nation resolved to resign their involvement in international sports for good. Once the second half of the Allamunnic dynasty came and went, Qazox was already a relic of the past. And while some nations like Newmanistan, Cassadaigua, Sarzonia, and Delaclava have returned from their sporting hiatus, there seems to be no signs of Qazox ever returning. Out of all seven two-time winners, Qazox is the only one that didn't participate in this current World Bowl. It's unlikely that Qazox will ever complete their World Bowl trifecta.

SARZONIA
Champions: World Bowl XI, World Bowl XIV
Current Rank: UR
Prediction: World Bowl XLVII

The next two teams on the list are linked in many ways. Both Sarzonia and Delaclava recently returned from hiatuses in this World Bowl after being away from the sporting scene for many years. Both of these nations found their success and championships in the early 10s of World Bowl history, and both disappeared soon after. Not to mention, both teams had a pretty intense rivalry across multiple sports. In fact, the Stars and the Phoenixes faced off in the World Bowl championship twice, and split the series 1-1.

It's funny that both teams came back at the exact same time. This World Bowl XXXIX was Sarzonia's first World Bowl since World Bowl XXI, the won that Qazox took home. It's reasonable to suspect that a team like Sarzonia won't take very long to get back into the thick of things. Really, that can be expected from any of these squads, but Sarzonia are certainly no exception. The only reason they're so low on this list is because they are the only ones unranked besides Delaclava. They'll likely crack the Top 10 sometime after World Bowl XLI, and it won't be long before they're favorites to get a title.

DELACLAVA
Champions: World Bowl XIII, World Bowl XV
Current Rank: UR
Prediction: World Bowl XLVI

We already went over most of the history with Sarzonia and Delaclava in that last section, so there's not a whole lot to add here. They're not exactly the same though - Delaclava left the World Bowl and greater sporting scene much earlier than Sarzonia. Delaclava's last World Bowl entry before this one was World Bowl XVI, only one cycle removed from their second championship. One might wonder how history would be different had Delaclava stayed ... XVI was Allamunnic States' first title, and they repeated the Bowl after that. Maybe they wouldn't have become such a massive dynasty had their early history panned out a little differently thanks to nations like Delaclava.

Whatever, that's all in the past anyway. Like we said earlier, both Delaclava and Sarzonia are newly back in the World Bowl, and they'll be back on their elite winning ways soon enough. Delaclava gets the edge on Sarzonia because they made the playoffs this edition while Sarzonia didn't. This means Delaclava will be just a little bit ahead of Sarzonia rank and success wise, and that'll be the edge that theoretically gets them title number three before Sarzonia.

CASSADAIGUA
Champions: World Bowl VIII, World Bowl XXII
Current Rank: 11th
Prediction: World Bowl XLIII

Cassadaigua, similar to Delaclava and Sarzonia, came back from a hiatus. The difference is that they've been back for long enough that they've once again turned into a stalwart in the upper echelons of international sport. Hell, they barely fell short of winning yet another World Baseball Classic title last cycle here in Drawkland. And if you think their winning of two titles in the World Bowl wasn't impressive enough, they've won two titles in every "Big 5" tournament except for the International Basketball Championships, where they only have one title.

However, as far as having three titles, Cassadaigua has only achieved this in the World Baseball Classic. So they're basically total noobs! Try winning three of everything, you bastards! Their ascent to making the World Bowl Top 10 is nearly complete, and depending on their playoff run, could be confirmed at the end of this cycle. Once they're up there, they could be in striking distance at any moment. There's still many nations vying for the Bowl though, and especially a trio of two-timers further ahead on the race.

TAESHAN
Champions: World Bowl 0, World Bowl XXXIV
Current Rank: 7th
Prediction: World Bowl XLII

Taeshan is a nation as old, if not older, than all the nations preceding them on this list. Unlike them though, the Taeshanis have been participating on-and-off in the World Bowl since before it was called the World Bowl. It was just recently that they returned to being a dominant squad though, and they've made the most of it. Their second title came nearly out of nowhere in World Bowl XXXIV, over thirty cycles removed from their first title win, in World Bowl "0". Since then, they've constantly threatening to make another championship run.

Their defensive mindset is killer to many lesser and greater squads, and not unlike the next team on our list. The only reason they're not listed in second is because our next time has more "recent" success, as well as being ranked just a tad higher. They could easily flip-flop though, especially pending our current Bowl's playoffs.

KO-OREN
Champions: World Bowl XXVI, World Bowl XXXVII
Current Rank: 6th
Prediction: World Bowl XLI

Speaking of powerful defensive squads, look no further than Ko-oren. The Dragonflies are not quite as old a team as the other nations on this list, but that is by no means a knock on their skill. Their first win was in between Allamunnic States' last two wins, so credit them with helping break up their dynasty to not be quite so ridiculous. They remained one of the class of World Bowl since then, but they couldn't necessarily get the pieces together to be dominating in this time.

Ko-oren finally broke through to claim their second title in the recent World Bowl XXXVII, and taking the number one ranking in the process. In the quirky format of the following World Bowl XXXVIII, they did not thrive. They didn't even advance beyond the first group stage, which stopped their chance of a repeat win, and dropping them way back down into sixth. Their momentum was shot, but at least they bounced back this Bowl. Obviously, the playoff results will be most important, but it's certainly enough to think they'll be able to get Number Three soon enough.

DRAWKLAND
Champions: World Bowl XXX, World Bowl XXXV
Current Rank: 2nd
Prediction: World Bowl XL

Finally, the last team on the list is yours truly, who happens to be the youngest nation competing. Even the second-youngest competitor of the two-time winners, Ko-oren, had already won their first title a couple cycles before Drawkland entered the fray. Still, you can't deny how the Drawkians shot into the World Bowl scene really quickly. They debuted XXVIII, co-hosted XXIX, and then won World Bowl XXX. Unfortunately for the Grid Corps, the next few cycles were hallmarked with almost being good enough to make their second title, which finally came in World Bowl XXXV. Of course, they promptly almost won two more Bowls, XXXVI and XXXVIII.

They top this list thanks to the fact that they've competed in a World Bowl championship most recently, and are currently ranked 2nd. It's not outlandish to think they'll be competing for this World Bowl championship, but it's also not outlandish to think they'll fall short again and add another final loss to make Drawkland one step closer to becoming the Audioslavia of the World Bowl (for those counting at home, we've got two wins and two losses - only five more final losses to go!). We've predicted a win in World Bowl XL, both because we don't want to jinx our current run, and because we won XXX and XXXV ... so logically, we'll win XL since it's in the five-Bowl interval.

Really though, any of these teams have the talent and the luck to win the World Bowl not once, but twice. Any of these teams are within striking distance of a title at any time ... so Dancougar will likely have some company very soon. Allamunnic States though ... well, let's just hope we can stop them from winning seven titles before one of us can get to three. Good luck in the playoffs, everyone!

by **Delaclava** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:43 pm

The playoffs have begun! Double elimination is right around the corner, but tonight is a must win. Play hard and clean, do what got you here, and always make sure you have a trick up your sleeve.

Round of 16 cutoff!

Round of Sixteen
Ranoria 17–24 Jeckland – The Standard (25,000), Coleport
Allamunnic States 17–17 Torisakia (17–24 OT)* – Van der Veil Amphitheatre (35,000) Haarward*
Free Republics 20–0 Abanhfleft – Chiefs Stadium (30,000), Kitsuartat
Taeshan 18–14 Delaclava** – Pediomachis (60,000), Athens
Main Nation Ministry 11–17 Ko-oren – Bears’ Den (65,000), Bosmond
Terre Septentrionale 3–10 Newmanistan – New Catalon Bowl (50,000), Corcorran
Drawkland 33–10 Geektopia – MountainEsc Stadium (40,000), Santa Lourdes
Cassadaigua 17–3 Vangaziland – Tigers Stadium (62,000), Laurelum

* For the Golden Bowl lineal championship.
** Scorinated by The Royal Kingdom of Quebec.

Thank you to the eight teams who say good-bye at this stage - we're sure you'll be back better and stronger!

Congratulations to the eight teams who have extended their stay in Delaclava and now enter the double-elimination quarterfinals! As previously described, the eight teams will be seeded by their group stage performance, which gives us the following:

Free Republics
Taeshan
Drawkland
Cassadaigua
Newmanistan
Ko-oren
Torisakia
Jeckland

With no group rematches that would come from this seeding, the next games are:

Quarterfinals
(1) Free Republics vs. (8) Jeckland @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
(4) Cassadaigua vs. (5) Newmanistan @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester

(2) Taeshan vs. (7) Torisakia* @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville
(3) Drawkland vs. (6) Ko-oren @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville

* For the Golden Bowl lineal championship

As a reminder, the schedule for this stage is as follows:

Winners' Bracket
Monday 7/13 — Day 1: Quarterfinals @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville and Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
Tuesday 7/14 — Day 2: Semifinals @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville and Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
Wednesday 7/15 — Day 3: OFF
Thursday 7/16 — Day 4: Winners' Final @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Friday 7/17 — Day 5: OFF

Losers' Bracket
Monday 7/13 — Day 1: N/A
Tuesday 7/14 — Day 2: First Round (quarterfinal losers) @ Branten Bowl (80,000) and Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Wednesday 7/15 — Day 3: Second Round (First Round winners vs. semifinal losers) @ Branten Bowl (80,000) and Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Thursday 7/16 — Day 4: Third Round (Second Round winners) Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Friday 7/17 — Day 5: Losers' Final (Third Round winner vs. Winners' Final loser) @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Grand Final
Saturday 7/18 — Day 6: World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Winners' Final winner vs. Losers' Final winner) @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Sunday 7/19 — Day 7: World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Game 2, if Losers' Final winner wins Game 1) @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Best of luck to our eight remaining teams, and we'll kick this off tomorrow!

by **Ko-oren** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:44 am

The Dragonflies roll on to the Quarterfinals!

Back again in a round that's somewhat familiar to us, the Dragonflies have truly gone from good Bowl to bad Bowl to good Bowl to awful Bowl - and now back to good Bowl. The Ministry has been on the rise for a while, to the point where they easily rivalled our own team in terms of quality. It all came down to the conditions of the day - that extra minute of sleep, that extra minute of downtime between games, that one single tell spotted by a scout in an opponent's backup defensive lineman, and even then you could replay the game with the exact same conditions five more times without ever once getting a similar result.

Main Nation Ministry 11–17 Ko-oren

Thankfully, the actual result went our way, and so we're readying ourselves for Drawkland, which means that the road to the final four runs through top-10 nations only.

Eleven points for the Ministry - a rare score to finish on - amassed through a touchdown, two-point conversion, and a field goal. All recorded in the first half of the game, during which it really did seem like the Ministry had punched its ticket to the quarterfinal. While the defence did keep out three out of five first-half drives, Reeman was not successful at all with his passing attempts, and the five Ko-orenite drives of the first half ended in punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt. Reeman was 5 for 14 and 61 yards.

The second half was much more his half, luckily. The very first drive strung together completion after completion: Labey for 6 yards, Fineman for 11 yards and a first down, Voorhorst for 3 yards, Suthmeer for 2 yards, Junstarin for 29 and a first-and-goal, punched in by Galway from four yards out. The jet sweep wasn't in the playbook for any of the last four games, taking the Ministry's scouts by surprise. Labey and Reeman faked left, Galway took the ball around to the right, past Antonsen and Voorhorst, lining up on a very lopsided wing. That's the first six points, Bennett added the PAT, and the score looked much more salvagable at 11-6.

The defence responded with a 3-and-out, and even though the defence couldn't get a takeaway all game - for the first time this World Bowl - they came through in the second half by making the Ministry's offence do this: punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt, punt, punt, end of game.

In the meantime, Reeman gave Whitlock a 5-yard pass which the agile receiver took for another 13 to the house, and another drive ended with a Bennett 41-yard field goal. At 11-17 with a minute and a half to go, faced with a 3-and-22 (a tackle for loss, penalty, and a sack) on our own 27, Reeman launched an infamous 'arm punt', a 50-yard interception. Recovered at the Ministry's 25-yard line (2 yard gain on the pick). What were they going to do? Let it fall incomplete, and waste even more time on a punt that could land even further than that? Relying on the defence is what the Dragonflies do best, and they shone once again. Bending and never breaking, deep overtop coverage meant that all they could muster was a field goal, but that wouldn't be enough. Touchdown or bust, and time ran out on them on the Ko-orenite 20-yard line.

Ever thought of moving to the Dragonfly Archipelago for its wonderful landscape and versatile climate, great employment prospects, fantastic sports and culture scene? These are all very valid reasons to relocate to Ko-oren. And it doesn't stop there, we also have...

- Affordable real estate, still being developed, even in prime locations
- Excellent public services, transport, and works
- A growing economy ready for investments

In short, there's something here for everyone.

No matter the reason for your move, you'll probably want to find out what area of Ko-oren is best suited for you. We've got you covered: we have several flows, whether your move is for culture, education, and language, or if it's for economy, employment, or investments, or even if it's for climate and landscape. You could even take all three and see whether your results line up!

by **Drawkland** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:37 am

The Golden Bowl

The Golden Bowl is the progression of the gridiron champions of the World. Starting with the Gridiron Football World Championships, whenever the current champion is defeated, in any round of the most official gridiron competition at the time, the team that defeated them takes up the new mantle of the Golden Bowl holder.

If a team has the title, and then disappears (doesn't sign up for the next edition), the reserve champions (second place) gets the Golden Bowl. I don't expect this to ever happen.

If a player disappears and reappears later, they start a second progression, which is technically lesser than the main Golden Bowl. If the holder of a lesser Bowl disappears, the lesser Bowl progression ceases (unless they reappear). The Bowl would be named the Silver Bowl, but that was an actual competition around the early post-Jolt era. Bowls from reappearing nations will be dubbed after the nation (The Examplestan Bowl, for instance). This has happened twice, once as Nephara took the Golden Bowl from Allamunnic States in XXV and didn't return until World Bowl XXXII. Unfortunately for those of us who want things to merge, Nephara once again stole the Bowl away from a playoff-eligible team on the final MD and disappeared again. Space did the same, taking the Bowl on the last matchday of the World Bowl XXXIV group stage. They also reappeared in World Bowl XXXVIII, but took the Bowl at the end of the first group stage before being eliminated.

For the purposes of match counting, the team who has the Bowl at the end of a match is credited as having the Bowl for said match, even if the opposing team is the one which possessed the Bowl prior to the game.

(For IC purposes, the Golden Bowl is a literal Bowl made of Gold, atop a large black Marble Base. On the base there is an inscription plate which lists the progression of the Bowl. It looks similar to the progression listing at the bottom of this post. It fits 4 columns, and each column can hold up to 20 lines. When a plate runs out of space, it moves on to the next plate on the base. When all 4 sides are filled, I'm really not sure what we'll do.

The Golden Bowl Organization (GBO) will henceforth be located in Quinnaber, Drawkland, the home of gridiron in Drawkland.

PROGRESSION DESCRIPTION

The format for World Bowl XXXVII would be an interesting one. Teams were split into 3 leagues based on their rank and then into groups - 4 groups of 4 in each case. Each league was filled with teams about the same skill level, so the Golden Bowl was bound to bounce around as there would be no easy wins to inflate the carry numbers. Pridnestrovia started with the Bowl, but after an opening win, lost to Ko-oren. Then Ko-oren lost to Cosumar the next matchday, who lost to Pridnestrovia the next matchday again. This time, the Pridnestrovians kept their bearings and held the Bowl for the rest of the first stage and into the second stage. Velstrania valiantly defeated at the end of the stage, only to be beaten on the final day by Taeshan, who carried the Bowl to the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Taeshanis, they’d meet up with none other than Drawkland in the first round, who promptly took their Bowl back. The Drawkians were none-too-happy the next round though, when Ko-oren won the Bowl in the quarterfinals and carried it all the way to a championship.
(League A, Rokani Group/John Nampoza Group, 6 + 6 Games; R16)

World Bowl XXXVIII was another to feature a multiple-stage tournament. Another plus about this tournament is that Space finally returned, marking the creation of the Space Bowl (similar to the Nephara Bowl) to track the return of the “real” Golden Bowl. Ko-oren did not have a good World Bowl. Not only did they lose the Golden Bowl in only their second game, but they ended up not even making it past the first stage. Fortunately for the Bowl, Newmanistan picked it up again just to lose it to Anthor, who made a shock run. They remained undefeated for the rest of stage one and into stage two, where they fell to Cosumar on the final MD and missed the playoffs. Cosumar’s shock win not only netted them the Golden Bowl, but also a playoff berth in XXXVIII’s double elimination final tournament. They were drawn against none other than Drawkland. In a shocking upset though, Cosumar managed to come away with the first round win and went on to play the Free Republics in the second round of the double-elimination. The home field advantage was too great, however, and FFR took the Golden Bowl for themselves (for the first time in their history). And a game later, they took the World Bowl home as well thanks to an unprecedented 65-39 win over Drawkland.
(Nicholls Enterprises Group/Dr. Spice Group, 5 + 3 Games; Semifinal Double Elim)

The Free Republics, having their first championship, made decent headway in their first true group stage carry. The seven-game win streak to start was quite comfortable, but disaster nearly struck when unranked returners Sarzonia upset the FFR at home 13-16. Sarzonia was already nearly eliminated from playoff contention, so it was a mad scramble for trying to save the Golden Bowl from falling out of the playoffs. And judging by the track record of playoff-missing nations who hold the Bowl, this is something we want to avoid. Sarzonia took another win, but were now officially eliminated from playoff contention. There was a very specific scenario for the Golden Bowl to make the playoffs, and that’s exactly what happened. The Greater Nordics beat Sarzonia on gameday 9, and then played Torisakia in the final gameday. The group situation was that the winner of this game would not only take the Golden Bowl, but make the playoffs. Torisakia won 15-13 in a close one, and went on to face none other than Allamunnic States. Everyone assumed Torisakia was dead to rights, including the Torisakians, but they somehow pulled off the 17–24 win in overtime to retain the Bowl and make it to the double elimination playoff … but how much further can they go?
(Group G, 10 Games; R16, Double Elim starting at QF)

PROGRESSION LISTING

NEPHARA BOWL
United States of Devonta (3)
Abanhfleft (2)
Abhichandra (1)
Nephara (2)

SPACE BOWL
Xann (1)
FFR (2)
Space (2)

XXXVII
Pridnestrovia (1)
Ko-oren (1)
Cosumar (1)
Pridnestrovia (7)
Velstrania (1)
Taeshan (1)
Drawkland (1)
Ko-oren (3)

XXXVIII
Ko-oren (1)
Newmanistan (1)
Anthor (5)
Cosumar (2)
Free Republics (2)

XXXIX
Free Republics (7)
Sarzonia (2)
The Greater Nordics (1)
Torisakia (2+?)

BOWL RECORDS

Longest Carry in One Bowl: Drawkland (15, WB XXXI) / Delaclava (15, WB XV)
Longest Consecutive Carry: Drawkland (16, WBXXX-XXXI)
Times the Bowl didn’t reach the Playoffs: 3
Longest National Drought from Bowl: ~~Rennidan (25, IV-XXIX)~~ Newmanistan (29, IX-XXXVIII)
Most Bowl Changes: 12 (WB XVI)
Least Bowl Changes: 0 (WB XV)
Nations which are <Nation> Bowl Eligible: 3 (Lanceo, Nephara, Space)

List of Nations by Games Held
At the time of posting

by **Newmanistan** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:36 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

TEAM PREPARES FOR RIVAL

by Brianne Henry,

Well, they are not really a rival in gridiron. After defeating Terre Septentrionale by the score of 10-3, making their opponent possibly think they should have played us in drunk mode, the Rockets will be taking on the Fillies of Cassadaigua in their next game. Head to head matchups between the Rockets and Dagans have occurred on the gridiron in the past, but this is not the sport where the rivalry (a friendly and competitive one) has been strong. However, coming relatively soon after one of the most intense semifinal series in the World Baseball Classic that you will ever see, where Cassadaigua eliminated us in five games, the most loyal supporters of the Rockets are bound to get a little extra excited seeing the pink and black on the other side of the field.

Cassadaigua is arguably the greatest sporting nation in the world. Wow, that was just a big statement to make, but think about it, they have a feat of winning the World Bowl, the World Baseball Classic, the World Cup of Hockey, the International Basketball Championships, and the biggest of them all, the World Cup. In fact, they have won all of them at least two times, except for the International Basketball Championships. They can toot their own horn a little more, as they have also won a championship in NSSCRA. So, if the day ever comes that another nation equals them for the big five, they can then mention more titles in other sports. It is something that we would love to be anywhere near in accomplishing. Two of the sports we have been very successful in, but both versions of what different societies call football have been very unkind to us. And we don’t even try the World Cup of Hockey anymore. Our NSSCRA program, despite hosting the series, has not been an elite team in the series. To make matters more frustrating for us in terms of comparing ourselves with Cassadaigua, they returned to the World Bowl well after us, but already have about the same rank as us.

We have to accept the fact that they have surpassed us now, even though they accomplished that long ago. Each nation had a lengthy hiatus, and it is debatable if we have been better then them in terms of winning championships after the hiatus. For us, they have come mainly in sports where we have proven ourselves. The Dagans took a stock car title and a second hockey title while re-establishing their national soccer program as one to better ones to beat. We could take that, but for them to be equal with us on the gridiron again, that is a little frustrating.

This game against Cassadaigua could help keep them from rising above us in the ranks even further. In this double elimination format, the loser of the game could eventually have a better run but hopefully there is a little bit of a grudge match here, at least from our perspective. The team has been hot and cold during the World Bowl thus far and can thank their defense for getting this far. Offensively, they have not been poor, and I do believe that Stephon Sutton has played a big part in having them be a little more efficient in moving the ball. They are not completely there yet, and have a tough assignment against the strong secondary of Cassadaigua.

I am expecting that there will be a lot of supporters from both sides making the trip. Each nation is known to send high numbers of fans to games like this, and the head to head matchup between us is definitely appealing to anyone that may be on the fence about going. The organizers are playing us in the same city as the Free Republics and Jeckland, two nations that are probably also sending a good amount of supporters. You almost feel as though we should be in two different stadiums, but that is not the case. Can Eagles Stadium in Manchester handle all of this? Time will tell!

by **Jeckland** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:25 pm

OOC: Anything written in quotation marks and bolded is from Ranoria's RP, with the following non bolded text in quotation marks from an online generator.

Technology has come a long way in recent years. Artificial Intelligence has taken over many tasks which humans used to do. But can it write like a human? Can it tell a story? Let's test that out...

Well, well, well. Who would have thought we'd be doing this again?

Ranoria vs. Jeckland was the biggest mismatch on paper in the World Bowl Round of 16 by a long shot. It was probably one of the biggest in knockouts in the tournament for a while. And yet the Spuds somehow, inconceivably to everyone including themselves, pulled off what will probably go down as the upset of the tournament - unless they pull something bigger off in one of their next two games.

Before the match, Ranorian media seemed very confident that victory over Jeckland was highly likely. Whilst this was of course the logical and correct way to view the match, that's no reason I can't take the piss out of it now - particularly as I jokingly interpreted the computer's output to indicate a forthcoming Jeckland victory. That being said, maybe it was right.. Anyway, let's look through that report once more, with the help of the AI once more.

"Jeckland is unranked, yes, but their own media is, boldly, predicting them to beat Ranoria, and make our national team a laughingstock of both the tournament and the world. The U.S. is no pushover, but it's not nearly as well-oiled as its European rivals, nor as well prepared for the challenge. It's been a tough season for the team, with the injury to midfielder Chris Pontius a blow to the back line."

I'm going to have to make the assumption that the 'U.S' refers to us, Jeckland and that 'Europe' refers to Europponents, Ranoria. That seems to make sense, particularly in its assessment of the game - we're not a pushover, but going into the game we looked second favourites. The second sentence makes much less sense, claiming that we have had a tough season. An injury to a midfielder who plays in the back line harkens us back to The Sport, which I've long since given up understanding, but as we figured out before the positions in it seem fairly fluid, so this isn't a surprise.

"And the roster has been thin and inexperienced. It has been a tough season for the United States, but the roster has been thin and inexperienced. And the roster has been thin and inexperienced., and the squad was without the dynamic midfielder, and the team had little chemistry, or chemistry in general between the back line, and between the center back duo."

The Ranorian writer seems adamant that our team is thin and inexperienced, like a starving child. A lack of chemistry is also apparent, with the talking down of our team a horrifically miscalculated move. Or perhaps the all knowing computer Ranorian writer has seen the results already, and is either repeatedly shouting out the same line in a fit of blind rage at the result or using the relative weakness of the Jeckish squad as a springboard to a stinging critique of the Ranorians. Who knows?

Let's move on (or rather backwards, as it comes earlier in the article) to the line that has come back to slap the writer square in the face the hardest:

"Expect a cruise of a victory that will get our team ready for the tougher matchups that are soon to come later. In the event we do not get a win, it will serve us as motivation to work on a few more things that need to be fixed. We have plenty of time before the end of the tournament.
For a full write-up on the team's performance in the finals, please see our blog post."

Well, that came out surprisingly humbly. In fact, this seems to be a recognition of some of the chinks in their armour that were exploited in that fateful game. As for having plenty of time before the end of the tournament... ah, sorry about that chaps. If we assume the finals to be the games held in Delaclava, that full write up isn't going to be pleasant to do or read if you're from Ranoria, it must be said.

Let's now feed in a more positive line about Jeckland to see what happens. This line could also be applied to our upcoming quarter-final against Free Republics, so I'm going to do that - let's see if we can get another prediction out of this thing.

"Granted, Jeckland has a blowout victory to their name, but this team is a severe underdog...hell though, I'd take the bet!" They beat the best, but they're going to have to win a game or two against the weak teams to make it."

Wow, that's a bold claim to make. Ranoria were neither the top ranked team nor the champions going into this game (that honour goes to our next opponents) - and certainly won't be either at the end of this World Bowl. Free Republics appear to be seen as one of the 'weak teams' which makes no sense, but maybe the computer knows something we don't. Maybe Jeckland are the best team left in the World Bowl, and the knockout rounds is just where we start to see it. Now I'm not saying we're going to win the World Bowl, I'm just pointing out the computer wasn't wrong before...

Make sure to Watch the upcoming game to find out if the computer really is right, or if we'll finally get the hiding that we all know deep down is coming.

by **Cassadaigua** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:47 pm

Awesome game all around,
by Hannah Rafferty- SS

Heading into the game against Vangaziland, we were well aware of their offensive prowess during the group stage. They had put up more points then anyone else in the tournament, and even though no one knows their names, they would be a great test for us as a defense. Even if we did know their names, I am guessing that I would not be able to mention any of them in as far as scoring. That would not be a problem, as we were excellent as a unit, picking up three turnovers, two via interception. I did not have any of them personally, but it always a joy watching the opposing quarterback take off his helmet after you pick him off. The Ashley Wilbanks interception in the second quarter could have changed the entire complexion of the game. We had just a 3-0 lead at the point, and the Vangazis had driven down the field to get themselves in a first and goal situation. With less field to cover we were confident that we could come up with a big play, and Ashley read the play perfectly, outleaping the receiver for the ball. That was a fun one. Our offense took care of business often enough, and we got the win by the score of 17-3. Absolutely incredible. I would love to say we eliminated Vangaziland, but now they can head to the loser’s bracket while we get ready to take on Newmanistan.

The Rockets have been in the World Bowl for a long time now, but have never been able to win the competition. I was reading a publication from Brianne Henry in The Rocket Report that really hyped us up as a nation, patting ourselves on the back better then we ever could. I am honored to play for a nation that has accomplished such great things in the past, and hope that we can continue doing that in the future. Do we see Newmanistan as a rival? In a way, but like they even admit, it is really more in baseball then anything else. Our greatest rival, historically, in the World Bowl, has been the Allamunnic States, by far. Rivalry with Newmanistan is mainly centered on baseball, but when we have won a combined nine World Baseball Classic championships, I guess it is easy to hope that it rubs off in other genres. For me, they are just another team in the way. They are not as prolific in scoring points as Vangaziland was, but we need to be ready for them anyway. There have been a few occasions, though against lesser opponents, where they have been able to put up a lot of points on the board. Well, I hope that a lot of you have been able to come to Manchester for this game, but we will hear your support no matter where you are watching from!

by **Torisakia** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:47 pm

So I've been away from the site for roughly a week or so. Reason being is that there wasn't much to talk about since I wasn't assigned to cover the World Baseball Classic. And because Torisakia's time in the World Bowl was coming to an end. After we beat Greater Nordics to make the playoffs, I was ecstatic. But when I saw we would be playing #2 seeded Allamunnic States in the Round of 16, I died inside. We went from "possibly having a chance" to "having no chance at all" in a flash. I think most Torisakians came to grips with the fact that we were going to see a first round exit. Sure, we beat Allamunnic States in World Bowl 37, but that was in the group stage. This time it was do-or-die. The only benefit we had going into the game was that it was going to be neutral site and not in a hostile environment. Other than that, we had less than 0.01% chance of winning. I honestly debated about whether or not I should've watched it. I eventually decided that I would watch the first quarter and if things started to get bad I could just turn it off and pretend it never happened. I think we all would have done that and tried to convince everyone else it didn't happen either.

Well, it didn't happen. Somehow we didn't get the brakes blown off of us by a powerhouse like Allamunnic States. We managed to stay neck-and-neck with them the whole way. Thanks mostly in part to our defense who pulled out plenty of key stops against the typically aggressive Allamunnic State offense. We seemed to have figured out that stuffing the middle slowed down their offense, so for 95% of the game we just blitzed right up the middle. The sides were left wide open, but apparently Allamunnic States never got the memo. On top of all of that, our defense got the stop that sealed the deal in overtime. Yes, overtime. There's no ties in the World Bowl, you know. The offense also contributed to the win, don't forget. If it weren't for Aaron Spady's heroics in the 4th quarter, we wouldn't have anything to celebrate. His 22/35, 3 touchdown, 353 yard performance was the best of his national team career. He was basically our sole producer on offense. While Michael Prickett and company contributed a good bit as well, most of our success can be attributed to Spady and the receivers.

Torisakia scored on their opening possession, shockingly. Spady led an 8 play, 77 yard drive and connected with Jay Abaroa to put the Ice Birds up 7-0 early on. Allamunnic States would have a promising ensuing drive, but ultimately in stalled and they had to punt. Torisakia had a chance to extend their lead, but a few plays into their drive a bad snap from center caused the ball to hit Spady in the facemask and bounce into the hands of RE Theodur Waalturs for the recovery. This would be the kick Allamunnic States needed as they punched the ball in a few plays later on a 9 yard run by HB Fredrik Eriksunn to tie the game. The remainder of the first quarter would simply consist of stalled drives by both teams. Allamunnic States attempted a 47 yard field goal near the end of the quarter, but it fell just shy of the crossbar and the score remained deadlocked. Both teams began to play more conservatively, either by design or due to nervousness surrounding the stakes of the game. Throughout the entire second quarter, neither team had a drive that lasted longer than 7 plays. And neither team got further than the opponent's 40 yard line. It was a combination of good defense by the Ice Birds that kept Allamunnic States from moving the ball, and good defense by Allamunnic States and questionable play-calling by Torisakia that kept the Ice Birds from moving the ball. We went into halftime with the score tied 7-7, much to the surprise of Torisakians and the chagrin of the Allamunnae.

Box Score	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	OT	Final
Allamunnic States	7	0	3	7	0	17
Torisakia	7	0	7	3	7	24

The second half started a bit slow. Neither team did much of anything, mostly still showing signs of playing conservatively. The Ice Birds finally broke the tension midway through the third quarter when Spady connected from 35 yards out with Theo Shepherd on a post route against a single safety over the middle to put Torisakia up 14-7. Allamunnic States would respond with a lengthy 15 play, 77 yard drive that ultimately culminated in a 41 yard field goal by Sofya Torrus. Torisakia's ensuing drive started fine with back-to-back-to-back first downs, but by the end of the quarter the Ice Birds were facing a 3rd & 25 after giving up a sack and a false start penalty. Not wanting to risk a turnover, the Ice Birds went with a simply HB Draw to try and pick up some yards to pin Allamunnic States deeper with a punt. The draw play caught the Regulars' defense off guard and Michael Prickett picked up about 15 yards, enough to get back to the original line of scrimmage. However, while Prickett was being tackled, the Regulars' defender grabbed a hold of his facemask just enough for the official to see it and throw the flag, giving Torisakia a first down. This shifted the momentum entirely as Allamunnic States initially thought they had a stop and their fans already started to celebrate the defensive stand. The Ice Birds would continue to drive and, with about 8 minutes remaining, lined up for a 38 yard field goal. The snap, hold, and kick were good, but the blocking not so much. SS Fausteno Pelayes was able to break through and block the kick, sending the ball bouncing backwards. Thankfully, Matthew DeBerry was able to catch up to it and fall on it at the Regulars' 36 yard line, but Allamunnic States had great field position with time winding down and a chance to take the lead.

The Regulars did just that, as an 8 play drive led to a 22 yard scramble by QB Edwyrd Kaarlsunn to give Allamunnic States their first lead of the game with a little over 5 minutes remaining. The pressure was now on Spady and the Torisakia offense to drive down the field and either get into field goal range to potentially send the game to overtime or try to get into the endzone for the win. Starting at their own 25 yard line, the Ice Birds went on an 11 play, 81 yard drive that almost came to a halt with 2 and a half minutes remaining. Torisakia faced a 4th & 5 at their own 48 yard line at the 2:32 mark. With only one timeout left and having no other choice, the Ice Birds had to go for it. On what was supposed to be a normal pass play, Spady dropped back and immediately saw a hole on the right side where he could scramble for the first. He was able to go for the corner and got it with a few yards to spare to give Torisakia a first down and keep their hopes alive. The Ice Birds would attempt to move the ball downfield in a hurry while also trying to milk some clock to get Matthew DeBerry in range for a tying field goal. With a little over a minute remaining at the Regulars' 23 yard line, there seemed to have been a mishap with the hold and David Ramos fell on the ball, which normally would result in a turnover on downs and Allamunnic States seemingly holding on for the victory. However, there was no actually mishap with the snap. Ramos intentionally messed up the hold as he was aware that an Allamunnic States player was lined up in the neutral zone just next to the long snapper, basically giving them a free play. The penalty was called and the Ice Birds moved 5 yard closer, where the snap, hold, kick, and blocking were all perfect and DeBerry nailed a 35 yard field goal to tie the game at 17-all. Many expected Allamunnic States to try and get down field for a game winning field goal with the minute they had remaining, but ultimately seemed content with going to overtime as they ran out the rest of the regulation clock.

Going into overtime, Allamunnic States won the coin toss and, as expected, chose to go on defense first. Starting at the 25, the Ice Birds went with their coveted "run up the middle on first down" scheme and picked up a decent 4 yards. For whatever reason, they decided to do it again but only got 1 yard this time. So now on 3rd & 5 from the 20 yard line, Torisakia needed to pick up the first down to keep the drive going or settle for a field goal, putting a lot more pressure on the defense. David Swango called a play that his offense at Douglas-La Pryor often had success with, called "Auerila". It's basically a janky version of Four Verticals but with a post route in the slot. Why run a deep pass when you need only 5 yards, I'm not sure. Anyway, Torisakia ran this play and the post route threw off the safety's timing allowing for Cliff Bolden to get open and Spady hit him right in stride for the touchdown. Now up 24-17, Torisakia had to keep Allamunnic States out of the endzone to secure the victory. At first it didn't seem like that was going to happen, as a 15 yard pass from Kaarlsunn to SE Harlyn Wyrnur got the Regulars down inside the goal line at the 5. They would attempt a run on 1st down, which got stopped at the line of scrimmage. Another run on 2nd down, which also got stopped, And then a pass on 3rd down, but here the pocket collapsed and Kaarlsunn got sacked for a 4 yard loss. Now facing 4th & goal, Allamunnic States had to either get into the endzone or the game would be over. On 4th down, Kaarlsunn dropped back to pass and, facing heavy pressure, just chucked the ball to the endzone where it was easily batted away by Cedric Troy, and Torisakia pulled off the upset. Gregory Debay got the Ratorgade bath and a few Torisakian fans tried to storm the field, but were promptly asked to leave.

GAME SUMMARY OF ALLAMUNNIC STATES VS. TORISAKIA

1st QUARTER
12:05 TOR - 18 yard pass from A. Spady to J. Abaroa (DeBerry PAT)
6:34 ALS - 9 yard run by F. Eriksunn (Torrus PAT)
END OF 1ST Allamunnic States: 7 Torisakia: 7

2nd QUARTER
No scoring
END OF 2ND Allamunnic States: 7 Torisakia: 7

3rd QUARTER
7:42 TOR- 35 yard pass from A. Spady to T. Shepherd (DeBerry PAT)
2:57 ALS - 44 yard field goal by S. Torrus
END OF 3RD Allamunnic States: 10 Torisakia: 14

4th QUARTER
5:19 ALS - 22 yard run by E. Kaarlsunn (Torrus PAT)
1:19 TOR - 35 yard field goal by M. DeBerry
END OF 4TH Allamunnic States: 17 Torisakia: 17

OVERTIME
-:-- TOR - 20 yard pass from A. Spady to C. Bolden (DeBerry PAT)
END OF OT Allamunnic States: 17 Torisakia: 24

Torisakia now moves on to the quarterfinals where they will take on Taeshan, who defeated World Bowl 39 host Delaclava in the Round of 16 by a score of 18-14. Taeshan finished first in Group B with an overall record of 9-1, and statistically has the best defense in the competition with only 65 points given up (not including the 14 against Delaclava). While it now seems unlikely for Torisakia to win this game, we can take solace in knowing that we're now at the double elimination portion of the playoffs. So if we lose against Taeshan, we'll still have one more shot at making it further in the playoffs. If we do lose, I'm not actually sure who we would play. I think if I'm following it right, we would play the loser of the Drawkland-Ko-oren match. I've never been good at comprehending double eliminations. Especially when the damn tournament website doesn't coherently explain it. Regardless, we at least have two more chances at glory. Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Welp, that's all I have for today. I'll be back with another edition of Sports with Bort soon to discuss the Torisakia-Taeshan matchup as well as take a look at other happenings around the tournament in the other quarterfinals games and preview the next match. Take care and the Ministry of Environmental Affairs is threatening to take Jules away if I don't stop trying to teach him how to spin. Why do these tree huggers always have to ruin the fun? First they say I'm not allowed eat any kind of animal product despite the fact that these tree huggers eat plants that are basically food for the animals they're trying to get me to stop eating the products of, and now they want to take away my chimpanzee all because I'm trying to teach him how to spin? This would have been avoided entirely if it had only be legal for me to own a gorilla. How the turntables.

by **Free Republics** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:49 pm

Chiefs Stadium, Kitsuartat, Delaclava

In the group stage, Abanhfleft had gone 7-3 and had effectively averaged a 13-10 game. The Republicans had gone 9-1 and had effectively averaged a 30-10 game. Just like last year's second group stage game, this game started out as a defensive struggle. Going into the fourth quarter, the only scores on the board were 2 Takehiko Susui field goals. Abanhfleft's kicker had missed a field goal and a Hanna Ostrowska interception in the end zone right before half had also denied the underdogs a score. The offenses had produced little in the way of offense, combining for just 243 yards in the first 3 quarters. The fourth quarter would open with an Abanhfleft punt that seemed like it was going to be downed at the 1 yard line but one of their coverage men screwed up and had a foot in the end zone when he downed the punt. This meant the Republicans would start with the ball at the 20.

On the first play of the drive, Park Han went into motion before the snap and would run clear to the other side of the field before receiving a pitch from Dania Sandberg. Han would gain 9 yards on the outside before being brought down. On second down, a Makharbi Barsukov run up the middle would be stuffed for a loss of a couple yards. This set up a 3rd and 3. Sandberg faked a handoff, rolled out to Han's side of the line and then faked a pitch to Han before finding Jonas Hetland across the middle of the field for a first down. The next set of downs started with a Sandberg keeper for a gain of 5 followed by a Marianna Szep reverse that would pick up a first down and move the ball just shy of midfield. Sandberg would then drop back for a pass and find Wang Pan to bring the ball to the Fleftic 42.

With the ball now in Abanhfleft territory, Sandberg handed off to Yuan Chien up the middle on consecutive plays for gains of 4 and 5. On 3rd and short, she would keep it herself on a sneak up the middle for the first down. The new first down would see Sandberg compete a screen to Rita Alaja that would move the ball into the red zone. Then Jonas Hetland would pick up 7 followed by a Barsukov run for 4 to set up first and goal. On first and goal, Barsukov would move the ball to the 2 but would be stopped. The fourteenth play of the drive was an incomplete pass intended for Wang Pan. Then the Republicans finally scored on the 15th play of the drive when Sandberg took it in herself. Susui's extra point was good and the Republicans led 13 to 0 following a 15 play drive that had used up around 9 minutes of the game clock.

Abanhfleft would come back out in the hurry up offense and would quickly march into Republican territory. But then their quarterback made a critical mistake and overthrew one of their receivers straight into the hands of Masuo Nakashima who would return this mistake for a Republican touchdown that sealed the 20-0 win. After Abanhfleft's quarterback threw yet another interception, this time to Tranquillo Romani, the Republican offense would literally run out the clock, primarily using reserve fullbacks Emori Kuhabara and Leroy Barnard with backup quarterback Selam Hamer handing the ball off to avoid risking injury to Sandberg in garbage time. 20-0 would be the final score and would earn the Republicans a quarterfinal match against Jeckland. The remainder of the World Bowl was set to be contested under double elimination rules which would mean that opponents would have to beat the Republicans twice to prevent a repeat. Katakin Maier's team was hard to beat once, let alone twice and definitely did not appreciate the insinuation from Jeckish computer models that they were overrated and a weak team that would be easy to beat...

by **Delaclava** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:09 pm

Double elimination is upon us. Eight teams, two lives each, one championship. You can't win this tournament today, but you won't lose it either. Consistency is key, so focus now - it's in your best interest to get off to a fast start.

Finals Day 1 cutoff!

Quarterfinals
Free Republics 20–19 Jeckland @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
Cassadaigua 17–10 Newmanistan @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester

Taeshan 8–24 Torisakia* @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville
Drawkland 7–0 Ko-oren @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville

Semifinals
Free Republics vs. Cassadaigua @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
Torisakia vs. Drawkland* @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville

Elimination First Round
Jeckland vs. Newmanistan @ Branten Bowl (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Taeshan vs. Ko-oren @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

*For the Golden Bowl lineal championship

by **Ko-oren** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:11 am

Where'd you live - Climate and Landscape Edition

Either you've already gotten a job offer from the Dragonfly Archipelago, or you're close to moving here, or you're just planning a vacation... or maybe you're just bored and this is as close as it gets to any old internet quiz.

So, if you could freely choose, you would...

Also, the map should do you a lot of good for this one: Map

a warm area
Live in a cold area
Live in the best of both worlds

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by **Torisakia** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:52 pm

I don't get it. What is it with our national sports teams and doing the complete opposite of what we expect? First we start out expecting them to do good, but they end up doing bad. Then we expect them to be bad, and they end up doing good. What is with this bipolar style of play? We expect nothing and we're still let down. We expected to be a one-and-done in the World Bowl playoffs, but now we find ourselves in the semifinals with a chance to make it to the championship even if we lose. Do you know how hard it is to have to flip-flop your writing every game? One game I'm talking shit about the team and the next I have to praise them. Can you please be consistent for once in your lifetime, Torisakia?

So yeah, we beat Taeshan to move on to the semifinals. There weren't many dramatics like there were last game against Allamunnic States. We stayed in the lead for pretty much the entire game, riding on the ground game most of the way. Michael Prickett and Ben Flint had 147 and 114 yards respectively and a touchdown each. Aaron Spady had a touchdown through the air on top of a 210 yard game. Overall we didn't play that badly, things just happened to fall into place, I guess. While I'm not going to fully complain, I still would have liked to see us be more dominant. Maybe win by 70+ points or so.

Box Score	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Final
Taeshan	0	0	0	8	8
Torisakia	0	10	7	7	24

The first half was pretty boring. Not much action aside from a turnover by either squad. Spady threw what looked like a pick-six early in the first quarter, but a block in the back call took the score off the board and Taeshan had to punt a bit later. Torisakia got an interception of their own not long into the second quarter, and while Bailey McNiel was able to return the ball into Taeshan territory, it would ultimately lead to a field goal by DeBerry despite the hurricane force winds that were blowing. Sure it was only blowing at around 10 MPH but god damn that's the hardest 10 MPH winds I've ever seen. So the Ice Birds were up 3-0 for most of the second quarter until the 4 minute mark when Michael Prickett broke off a 38 yard run on a counter sweep. Despite the four-man front Taeshan was playing, they had a difficult time stopping our running attack. To have two players over 100 yards rushing is an amazing feat that isn't easily accomplished. Torisakia went into the half with a 10-0 lead.

The second half was more eventful, as I've said many times throughout this competition. After some dead time, Torisakia scored again when Spady hit A.J. Bryce on a TE Screen inside the 20 that was executed just right. The Ice Birds now held a three score lead and all they had to do was not mess up. In perfect timing, they did mess up. On the ensuing kickoff, Taeshan returner Patrick Wantanabe took the ball all the way to the Torisakia 34 yard line after poor coverage allowed them to find a crease. It sure did seem like we would be letting the other team back in the game as we often do, but not if Taeshan themselves had anything to say about it. On the very next play, Taeshan attempted a speed option and QB Alexandre Forrest mistimed the pitch and it went flying right past RB Parson Newberry and Elijah Rose fell on it. The Ice Birds began to get conservative, just trying to not make a mistake and kill some clock. It worked to perfection as they held the ball for almost the rest of the third quarter and a few minutes in the fourth. The defense held their own to keep the shutout in tact and helped the offense score once more on a strip sack by Kyeon Wilkerson while Taeshan was backed up inside their own goal line. Ben Flint punched in the touchdown a few plays later and Torisakia led 24-0 with around 10 minutes left to go. An exchange of three-and-outs would occur but Taeshan would finally score near the 4 minute mark on a 24 yard pass from Forrest to WR Issac Smallwood. Taeshan went for two to make it a two possession game, only needing two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to tie if they converted) and were successful on a simple read option by Forrest to make the score 24-8. Taeshan would then attempt an onside kick but to no avail as Torisakia ran out the rest of the clock and punched their ticket to the semifinals.

GAME SUMMARY OF TAESHAN VS. TORISAKIA

1st QUARTER
No scoring
END OF 1ST Taeshan: 0 Torisakia: 0

2nd QUARTER
13:22 TOR - 44 yard field goal by M. DeBerry
4:08 TOR - 38 yard run by M. Prickett (DeBerry PAT)
END OF 2ND Taeshan: 0 Torisakia: 10

3rd QUARTER
8:33 TOR - 18 yard pass from A. Spady to A. Bryce (DeBerry PAT)
END OF 1ST Taeshan: 0 Torisakia: 17

4th QUARTER
10:05 TOR - 3 yard run by B. Flint (DeBerry PAT)
4:34 TAE - 24 yard pass from A. Forrest to I. Smallwood (2-pt conversion successful)
END OF 1ST Taeshan: 8 Torisakia: 24

Torisakia will play Drawkland in the semifinals, who defeated Ko-oren in the quarterfinals in a low scoring bout of 7-0. Drawkland finished first in Group A with a respectful record of 8-2. They play much like Torisakia: a good, high scoring offense with a strong, but submissive, defense. I have a feeling this game will be a shootout. One because of what I said about Drawkland being like Torisakia, and two because we haven't really had any shootouts this World Bowl. At least not like we did last time. We were having lopsided scores like 51-37 and that kind of stuff. Sure we beat Northwest Kalactin 51-10 the first time around and gave up 40+ points to Free Republics both times, but that's more of a blowout than a shootout. A shootout has a lot of scoring (the 'shoot' part) by both teams. A blowout has a lot of scoring by only one team while the other does absolutely nothing (the 'blow' part). Should Torisakia somehow win, they'll play the winner of the Free Republics-Cassadaigua match in the Winner's Final. If they lose, they would play either Taeshan or Ko-oren in the loser's bracket, whoever wins that match. I believe if Taeshan wins then we'd actually play the winner of the Jeckland-Newmanistan game since the bigwigs want to avoid rematches in the loser's bracket. Regardless, we'll still have a shot at making the championship, believe it or not.

Welp, that's all I have for today. I'll be back with another edition of Sports with Bort soon to discuss the Torisakia-Drawkland matchup as well as take a look at other happenings around the tournament in the other winners and losers semifinal games and preview the next match. Take care and now the Ministry of Environmental Affairs has sent me a cease & desist letter ordering me to stop teaching Jules how to spin and to stop insulting environmentalists with my talk about them being "tree huggers" and saying that they eat plants. Who the hell are they to tell me what groups of people I can and cannot insult? There's no bigotry or racism involved. It's a group of tree huggers for God's sake. What feelings could they possibly have? They obviously don't care about the animals' feelings if they're going to eat their food.

by **Cassadaigua** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 7:32 pm

Victory Comes Late,
Hannah Rafferty- SS

Hello again, it is Hannah and I am hear to talk about the thrilling 17-10 win over Newmanistan that brings us into the semifinals of the winner’s bracket. There was a lot of hype that surrounded this matchup, to our long standing history with the Rockets, and it was great to come out on top over them once again. Now that baseball semifinal series was intense as you know, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that this game also came down to the wire. Defensively, we had played a strong game, as the Rockets were on the predictable side in as far as some the plays that they were calling. We had good reads on their receivers all game long, and while they did have some moments against us in spots, it was a win for us. Unfortunately, their defense did the same to us, and we found ourselves down 10-7 going into the fourth quarter.

Beginning with nine minutes left in the quarter, we put together a key drive that would ultimately lead to a 42-yard field goal by Kiersten Baker to tie the game at 10 with 5:19 left to play. The key play in the drive was a 26-year run by Stacey Carlson that brought us to midfield, and from there, we got close enough to the end zone to set up Kiersten’s kick. Now, on defense, we needed to come up with a stop to try and get the ball back, but we would do better then that. Newmanistan was almost at midfield when Brian Scanlon hoped to find his tight end, Geoffrey Poindexter on a crossing route up the field. We read this, because it was actually not the first time, or one of the first five times the Rockets tried this play. This is where I make my point that they were kind of predictable to us. Anyway, we read it, I read it, and jumped the passing lane. I knew it was coming, there was no doubt in mind. I went for the pick and I got the pick. Then I got pretty awesome block from Ho-Sung Kim to set me free for the pick six. Awesome feeling, all around. With that, we were up, 17-10, but there was still 2:57 left to play. Newmanistan got the ball again, and they tried to come down the field one more time. But one more time, we would get the pick, this time from Kenzie Gibbons. All that we had to do then was run down the clock, and that we did. We found a way to get the victory.

On our plate next is Free Republics. The matchups only get tougher, but we’ll do everything in our power to get the win and stay alive here in the winner’s half.

by **Delaclava** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:07 pm

Eight teams enter today. Six teams leave. Who gets one step closer to the World Bowl, who takes advantage of their second chance, and who's left watching from the sidelines?

Finals Day 2 cutoff!

Semifinals
Free Republics 13–3 Cassadaigua @ Eagles Stadium (75,000), Manchester
Torisakia 21–26 Drawkland* @ Sullivan Stadium (70,000), Quinniville

Elimination First Round
Jeckland 6–9 Newmanistan @ Branten Bowl (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Taeshan 10–16 Ko-oren @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

*For the Golden Bowl lineal championship

Final (Thursday)
Free Republics vs. Drawkland* @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Elimination Second Round
Newmanistan vs. Torisakia @ Branten Bowl (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Ko-oren vs. Cassadaigua @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Eliminated: Jeckland, Taeshan

Congratulations to the eliminated squads for their successful runs which ultimately see them finish in 7th place! Tomorrow, while the winner's bracket - and the world #1 and #2 - gets a rest, two teams will settle for fifth, and two teams will prolong their chances of final victory.

by **Torisakia** » Wed Jul 15, 2020 6:18 pm

Drawkland is what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We saw how they played in the group stage. Who takes the group stage like it's fucking bullshit? We played them in the semifinal, everyone played three quarters. Drawkland is who we thought they were. And that's why we took the damn field. Now if you wanna crown them, then crown their ass. But Drawkland is who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook.This is what's great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is. YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. Hello? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. You don't play to just play it. That's the great thing about sports, you play to win. And I don't care if you don't have any wins, you go play to win. When you start telling me "it doesn't matter" then retire, get out. Because it matters.

What happened was that in the second half we got our ass kicked. We just got our ass totally kicked. We couldn't do diddly shit offensively. We couldn't make a first down, we couldn't run the ball, we didn't try to run the ball, we couldn't complete a pass, we sucked. The second half, we sucked. We couldn't stop the run. Every time Drawkland got the ball they went down and got points. We got our ass totally kicked in the second half. That's what it boiled down to. It was a horseshit performance in the second half, total horseshit. I'm totally embarrassed and totally ashamed. Coaching did a horrible job, the players did a horrible job, we got our ass kicked in that second half. It sucked. That was a disgraceful performance, in my opinion. We threw that game, we gave it away. We gave them the fucking game. It's pitiful, it's absolutely pitiful, to perform like that. We cannot make decisions that cost the team, and then come off the sideline and it's nonchalant. No. You know what, this is how I believe. I would rather play with 1 person, and just get penalized all the way until we gotta do something different. Rather than play with 11 when I know that most of them aren't sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them, than it is about the team. Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win.

Box Score	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Final
Drawkland	6	8	6	6	26
Torisakia	7	7	7	0	21

But you know, everybody's got such a high expectation for what our team should be. But it doesn't really matter what you think. And it really, if you want to know the truth about it, pisses me off when I talk to people that have this expectation that they're disappointed we only lost a semifinal game 26-21. You all don't remember the Pridnestrovia from World Bowl 37 do you? I don't think we had a player on that field who wasn't a first or second team All-Pro. And about 4 or 5 of them are reigning MVPs. And I think that team went all the way to the quarterfinals in their first World Bowl appearance in years, but I'm not sure. And Pridnestrovia ran through our ass like shit through a tin horn and we could not stop them. And incidentally, don't ask me anymore questions about it because that's all I have to say about it. I don't have anything else to say about it. You can ask the SwiftShave bottle, but don't ask me. Because if it were up to you all we'd be six feet under already. We're dead and buried and gone, GONE.

GAME SUMMARY OF DRAWKLAND VS. TORISAKIA

1st QUARTER
10:19 DRK - 45 yard pass from D. Beck to T. Miller (2-pt conversion failed)
7:36 TOR - 14 yard run by M. Prickett (DeBerry PAT)
END OF 1ST Drawkland: 6 Torisakia: 0

2nd QUARTER
8:47 TOR - 37 yard pass from A. Spady to  Q. Loris (DeBerry PAT)
3:52 DRK - 22 yard pass from D. Beck to D. Madison (2-pt conversion successful)
END OF 2ND Drawkland: 14 Torisakia: 14

3rd QUARTER
11:16 TOR - 10 yard pass from A. Spady to C. Bolden (DeBerry PAT)
5:24 DRK - 5 yard run by J. Hoy (2-pt conversion failed)
END OF 3RD Drawkland: 20 Torisakia: 21

4th QUARTER
6:08 DRK  - 31 yard run by D. Beck (2-pt conversion failed)
END OF 4TH Drawkland: 26 Torisakia: 21

Torisakia plays Newmanistan in the second round of the loser's bracket. If they win that, by some miracle, they'll play the winner of the Ko-oren-Cassidaigua match to determine who will go on to the World Bowl Championship. If we lost, we're finally out of this god forsaken tournament. Torisakia would finished with a 5th place finish, which honestly isn't that bad given how just a few weeks ago we thought Torisakia had no shot at making the playoffs. We would finally be able to focus on other things, like the World Baseball Classic. Baseball is a better sport anyway. Especially the fights. Those are fun. I love to see the dugouts clear and the bullpen come sprinting out like they're going to do something.

Welp, that's all I have for today. I'll be back with another edition of Sports with Bort soon to discuss the Torisakia-Newmanistan matchup as well as take a look at other happenings around the tournament in the other loser's second round game. Take care and environmentalists still have no feelings, regardless of what the Ministry of Environmental Affairs tells you. Fuck you I'm keeping Jules and I will teach him how to spin and I will gladly go to jail for it.

by **Delaclava** » Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:04 pm

We started with forty-eight teams, and tonight, six becomes four. Can the losing semifinalists bail themselves out, or will their opponents continue winning streaks in their mad dash to snag a championship?

Finals Day 3 cutoff!

Elimination Second Round
Newmanistan 23–20 Torisakia @ Branten Bowl (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Ko-oren 6–0 Cassadaigua @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Final
Free Republics vs. Drawkland @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Elimination Semifinal
Newmanistan vs. Ko-oren @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Eliminated: Cassadaigua, Torisakia

Congratulations to our fifth-placed teams! They got so close, and came so far. But now it's down to the final four teams to clinch this championship! After Thursday's games above, the following schedule remains:

Friday 7/17 — Elimination Final - Free Republics/Drawkland loser vs. Newmanistan/Ko-oren winner @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Saturday 7/18 — World Bowl XXXIX Championship, Game 1 - Free Republics/Drawkland winner vs. Elimination Final winner @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Sunday 7/19 — Day 7: World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Game 2, if Elimination Final winner wins Game 1) @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

by **Ko-oren** » Thu Jul 16, 2020 2:03 am

After a loss early in the World Bowl knockout stage, the Dragonflies have taken their second opportunity, courtesy of a revolutionary format, and are now one of just four teams left in the Bowl.

Sure, not in the position we wanted to be in. Drawkland and the Free Republics play one game, and the winner goes straight into the Final - the loser gets a second chance as well. For us, we first have to defeat Newmanistan, then defeat that Drawkland/Free Republics loser, and then win twice more in the final, versus an unbeaten foe - who still have their second chance owed to them, and will take theirs in the final if necessary.

To get here, the Dragonflies first lost to Drawkland (7-0), then beat Taeshan (16-10). Somehow, the Taeshan fixture yielded more points, with both defences briefly letting up to allow a touchdown each. Whereas the Taeshani only scored a single field goal, Ko-oren got Bennett in the right position three times for the win. After that, as teams kept dropping down from the winners' bracket, Cassadaigua was next. In front of a woefully bored audience of eighty thousand, the Dragonflies secured a spot among the final four with a 6-0 victory. Two field goals in the third quarter was all that was needed, and so Bennett has been responsible for all of the last 15 points scored. Hopefully we can enjoy a touchdown going forward. Speaking of going forward: the Rockets are next. The winners will go into the 'semifinal', and the losers go home.

Just four more games to win. For the 'two-time'-watchers: Drawkland and Ko-oren can still grab their third title, with the former in a significantly better position to do so.

Where'd you live - Economy, Employment, Investments edition

You would have never considered it just a decade or so ago, but Ko-oren's employment options are now a valid reason to live here. From a small, service-oriented economy, the Dragonfly Archipelago has diversified, now including several agricultural sectors in addition to the aforementioned service sectors (education, mostly), as well as transport, financial services, and a quickly developing IT environment. All, obviously, with the eco-friendliness that our nation deserves, and with a touch of meritocracy: the government has given more economic freedom, but if studies show that our nation is going in the wrong direction, these freedoms might just as quickly be taken away.

The largest difference between our economy now and a decade ago is our ability to invest in foreign nations. Money earned here had to stay here, deterring foreign investors, but crippling Ko-orenite companies as they couldn't sell their goods abroad.

This small exercise can tell you, based on your economic activity, where you'd fit best.

In what sector of the economy are you active?
Primary (agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry)
Secondary (manufacturing, processing, construction)
Tertiary (retail, transport, media, hospitality, financial services, healthcare, law)
Quaternary (education, technology)
Quinary (government, police, fire dept)

Again, a map is going to be useful here.

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by **Delaclava** » Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:03 pm

One more team exits the competition tonight, one team will stamp their ticket into the World Bowl Championship, and the remaining two teams will be left to fight for the lives. Who gets the inside track on lifting the trophy?

Finals Day 4 cutoff!

Final
Free Republics 14–7 Drawkland @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Elimination Semifinal
Newmanistan 0–10 Ko-oren @ Swarzreng Stadium (80,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Elimination Final
Drawkland vs. Ko-oren @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Saturday)
Free Republics vs. TBD @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Eliminated: Newmanistan

Congratulations to Newmanistan, our fourth-placed finisher! The podium is now decided - all that's left is to fight out the final positions. Free Republics will be no worse than second, but all three teams have the chance to win it all!

Saturday 7/18 — World Bowl XXXIX Championship, Game 1 - Free Republics vs. Drawkland/Ko-oren winner @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina
Sunday 7/19 — Day 7: World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Game 2, if Free Republics loses Game 1) @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

by **Ko-oren** » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:17 am

With twice as much time to recover from their previous game, the Free Republics and Drawkland finally got to play the round called the 'Final'. It's not really the final - as in, it would have been, in a conventional format - but since every team can suffer one defeat and live on, it was the last game involving two unbeaten teams. That status had to end for one of these teams, and after 21 points scored all game, that team turned out to be Drawkland.

Seeing as the Dragonflies beat Newmanistan 10-0 in another low-scoring loser bracket tilt, that means we will get a rematch from that quaterfinal. 7-0, it was, at the time, with the victorious team going on complete media silence since then. Drawkland has since beaten Torisakia - and that's all for them in the knockouts. Ko-oren has beaten Taeshan, Cassadaigua, and Newmanistan since that fateful game, only for it to come full circle.

And that's not all that's at stake. The Golden Bowl Organization has put out a small communiqué on the Bowl's lineage, passed down from winner to winner, not necessarily tied to the World Bowl winners at all, until finally, it landed with the Free Republics at the end of last World Bowl. Since then, the World Bowl finalists have held it for weeks, until Sarzonia beat them. The Stars couldn't hold on either, losing to the Greater Nordics. The Greater Nordics, then, on the last day of group stage play, lost to Torisakia - if they had won it, they still wouldn't have gone on to the knockouts, but the Bowl would be out of contention until XL - who carried it to the Round of 16. There, they held on for a game, beating the Allamunnic States (who, by the way, are the all-time longest Golden Bowl holders with 39 games, courtesy of that insane dynasty that put them at 6 World Bowl trophies), and beating Taeshan (tied with us at 18 games), but then lost it to Drawkland in the semifinals. Even though Torisakia was then eliminated by the Rockets, and the Rockets by us, that all doesn't matter, because the Golden Bowl has been sitting comfortably in the winners' bracket, with far fewer games played, with the Free Republics grabbing it from Drawkland along with a second chance at the final.

The Drawkland-Ko-oren rematch winner will not only get to play the Free Republics (possibly twice), they will also be the one that can take the Golden Bowl off the Free Republics, even if it's just for a single game.

In World Bowls XXVII and XXXVIII, the Dragonflies held the trophy. We have an opportunity to make that three World Bowls in a row of at least one day of possession, after getting our first interaction with the silverware in World Bowl XXVII - when we held it for 13 games, and coughed it up in the final. That still accounts for most of our Bowl carries - we only added the final 5 in the last two World Bowls, the title-winning campaign, and the dramatic follow-up.

All things considered, it will take a while before we get up there with the historical big boys of the World Bowl: the Allamunnic States, arguably the biggest national team to play the sport, have 39, closely followed by Dancougar's 38, who had already left the competition before we started out in it. The current hosts, Delaclava, have 33 in third place, with our current opponents right there in fourth on 30 carries.

In a perfect scenario, we take it from them now, and hold on to it through the Championship games, adding three more carries to our total - landing us on 21 - which is good for a joint fifth place on the list, tied with Cassadaigua. It's safe to say that even if we haven't competed in nearly as many Bowls as a lot of other nations, we've still made our mark, with a possibility to make that mark even bigger. 5th place, 21 Golden Bowl carries - that's still dwarfed by the fact that we could get our third World Bowl, ranking us in 3rd place in that regard, ahead of the flock of our fellow 2-time World Bowl champions.

Before we're there, we have three games left to play, starting with that rematch. Ko-oren's defence hasn't allowed a point in 10 quarters - let's make it 14. Our offence is specialised in wasting chances, but with a defence this good, that doesn't matter. Two or three mistakes from the Drawk, and we're right in it. Last time, it was only 7-0, too. As long as Reeman can get this show on the road, driving down the field at least twice, we're staring at a meeting with the Free Republics - who, by the way, have a few revenge tackles waiting for them, too. By all means, let's not make the upcoming final a rematch of the last one (65-39 Free Republics).

by **Drawkland** » Fri Jul 17, 2020 9:00 pm

An Interview With Dustin Beck

Hi, this is Tracy Fey for DNSN. I'm with Dustin Beck, the starting quarterback for Drawkland's Grid Corps. How are you doing tonight, Mr. Beck?

I'm doing fine, thanks. You don't have to call me that.

My bad. Can I just call you Dustin?

Please.

Alright then. So, let's start with the obvious. We're about to head into the Loser's Final against Ko-oren. How are you feeling about this game?

I'm 100% ready for this game. We've played Ko-oren once already, so I know what to expect from their defense. A fantastic defense at that. For me, it'll just come down to execution.

How has your gameplan changed from your first time around against the Dragonflies?

Like I said, we know what to expect now. We've planned around what they've shown us and what we've seen on film. It's clear, from their quarterfinal loss, they've managed to adapt. They've made some changes too, but we've seen the film, and I think we'll be ready for whichever looks they throw at us. I'm not going to be very explicit about what we're planning to do, since I don't want to be the one giving it away. Just know that we have some unconventional looks to try and get them off guard.

Sounds exciting! You said that you're worried about your execution. Some fans and critics have also expressed their misgivings about your ability to perform in clutch situations, especially after the Free Republics loss.

I never said I was worried. I said that I know what to expect and that my execution will be the factor that distinguishes our gameplan from a success or a failure. As far as the talking heads, I don't give a damn about what they say. There's a million ways to analyze a game after it's over, but in the heat of the moment, it's an entirely different dimension. I'm not going to apologize for my performances. I was just trying to do what I thought was right at the time.

It seems your confident in what the coaching staff has put together for tonight. What do you think of their work so far this campaign?

I couldn't be happier. I love this team, and I especially love Quentin Averfel and his staff. They're the engineers that keep our squad together and make it run in the best way possible. Playing both in college and in the league I've been unhappy with coaching decisions, but I don't think I've ever felt that way during a World Bowl run.

Say the Corps takes care of business against Ko-oren tonight. How do you feel about a rematch with Free Republics, and the third one in two cycles at that?

I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. Their defense is very skilled and knows how to keep us at bay, and it's scary how fast their offense can get up the field. I'm just going to take it one game at a time though. I don't keep my head in the clouds, because it would distract me from my opponent right in front of me. I think I had trouble with that early in my career, keep looking down the schedule to see who we had yet to play and playoff situations and all that. Playing with Dak Waterman, before he retired, was great to calm me down from that. He was the master of keeping a level head and devoting his energy to what he needed to devote it to. I learned from the best.

Since you mentioned your early career, let me segue a bit. It seems a big crop of Sadeg State fans are trying to bring back one of your old college nicknames, have you heard anything about this?

Ah yeah! I think I saw a few signs in the crowd these past few games. "We Love The Cropduster!" or something like that. Gave me a kick for sure.

Could you explain that nickname to some of our fans who weren't familiar with you during your college career?

Sure, sure. For a lot of my life, people have called me Dusty, since it's shorter than Dustin and kinda rolls off the tongue better. People kinda rolled with that, because of my speed on the field. I'd leave people in my dust! Sometimes when I'd get wide open touchdown runs I'd stretch my arms out like wings, and I think somebody somewhere was like, "hey, isn't there a plane called a cropduster?" and it became a thing. I dunno, I wasn't there, I just sorta noticed it on signs and when talking to fans around my sophomore year.

It's certainly been awhile since then. How much longer do you think you'll be able to stay at this level?

As long as it takes. I want to win another World Bowl title for sure, whenever that happens. After that, we'll see. These wheels keep turning, and I'll keep revving them until they fall off. I'm sure many think that because of my mobility, it'll be sooner rather than later, but I think they'll stop saying that after a couple years. I'm used to proving people wrong.

I'm sure we'd all love to see that. I think that's all the time we have for tonight. Good luck against Ko-oren tonight! You'll need it.

Thanks ... I guess. Nice to talk to you.

by **Delaclava** » Fri Jul 17, 2020 9:19 pm

Typically, the bronze medalist wins their last match in the third-place playoff. Not in this tournament. Just a heartbreaking loss, although an impressive accomplishment nonetheless. But the winner of this game goes on to the World Bowl Championship. Let's see what we've got!

Finals Day 5 cutoff!

Elimination Final
Drawkland 3–6 Ko-oren @ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Eliminated (3rd): Drawkland

World Bowl XXXIX Championship
Free Republics vs. Ko-oren
@ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Free Republics wins World Bowl XXXIX if they win this game. If Ko-oren wins, they will rematch on Sunday for the championship.

by **Free Republics** » Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:20 am

The score was tied at 7, minute to go in what would have been the World Bowl championship game under a normal format, and Drawkland was marching down the field led by their quarterback Dustin Beck. Drawkland had completely shut down the Republican offense on this day so far, their lone score being a punt return for a touchdown by Marta Remer back in the 2nd quarter. Beck dropped back, went through his progressions and was likely about to throw to a wide open Trey Council in the end zone when Pasi Pappila blind-sided him with a vicious hit from behind that put the ball on the grass. Dagman Bisliev would fall on it bringing the Republican offense onto the field.

The Republicans came out in a 3 wide receiver, 2 slotback formation completely eschewing the fullback. There was no point in even having an inside runner on the field when everybody in the stadium knew they'd be throwing the ball trying to get the 40 or so yards they needed to bring Takehiko Susui on for a potential game winning field goal attempt. Sandberg dropped back and found Nedeljko Jovic along the sidelines for a 14 yard gain. On the next play, she would find Jonas Hetland down the middle of the field for 22 more and a Republican timeout. On the third play of the drive, there was nobody open so Sandberg scrambled for 7 yards and then ran out of bounds. Now Makharbi Barsukov came back onto the field as it appeared the Republicans would just run the ball up the middle, call timeout and bring on the kicker to win it.

Sandberg took the snap from Tao Tu, took a couple steps back, appeared to hand off to Barsukov who ran right into a wall of Grid Corps defenders but he didn't have the ball! Sandberg looked downfield and found Marianna Szep uncovered in the end zone. The official put his hands in the air, signaling touchdown, and the Republicans had a 14 to 7 lead over Drawkland after Susui's extra point. Susui would send the kickoff right through the uprights for a touchback and then Tranquillo Romani would seal the Republican win by picking off Dustin Beck allowing Sandberg to take a knee.

In the halls of power in Republica, it was a very busy time. New consul Nova Hellstrom-Hancock was wasting no time passing her policy agenda into law. First off had been a new law called the Stop Rape Act which repealed the nearly 20 year old Ending False Accusations Act while also making it illegal for a boss to require his employees to have sex with him in order to keep their jobs. This had been especially important to Nova because she'd been put in that very position by the late but unmourned Jasper Chuter, former editor of Sporting World. Chuter had been killed by the Main Nation Ministry after he started publishing some fake news about them in Gossip Magazine including allegations that the teenage adopted daughter of their Leader was a slut who has having sex with numerous men in the Free Republics. Nova seemed to be going to the hospital almost every day to visit the still recovering Scarlett Nicholls who would sign pretty much anything put in front of her in her current state. The Ending False Accusations Act had introduced severe penalties for making false accusations of rape or sexual assault and had defined "false accusations" as any accusation that could not be proven. This effectively discouraged women from even bringing forward a rape or sexual assault claim unless they had overwhelming proof.

The most significant piece of new legislation, however, was the Continuity of Office Act which handled circumstances where there was only 1 consul because of death or resignation. The Continuity of Office Act permitted the remaining consul to appoint an Acting Consul who would remain in office until such time as an election could be held to fill the office. In the past, the appointment of Scarlett's father Robert Nicholls had been by the legislature in order to restore stability to the Free Republics after Reino Kulseth's death by preventing the winner of the next election (who would eventually be Caleb O'Reilly) from holding absolute power. The elder Nicholls had remained in office for nearly 9 years without being elected due to O'Reilly's resignation. In fact, it had just been weeks ago that Kyle Bolton had become the first elected consul to serve a full 8 year term since Hilarion Vasin, who would later serve as president of the World Bowl Assembly. The death from natural causes of his junior consul Gilbert Savard and the assassination of his successor Venicio Piazza had paved the way for the tyranny of Kulseth and O'Reilly. When Nova came by the hospital and asked Scarlett to sign the Continuity of Office Act, the senior consul signed it without even bothering to read it or ask any questions about its contents.

Meanwhile, the Federation Investigation Bureau had cleared Samuel Izmailov of any involvement in the attempt on Scarlett's life. The bulk of the evidence now indicated that Nordernious was responsible though they had yet to conclusively prove this and had hoped to keep it quiet. Unfortunately for the agencies, Senator Izmailov had been briefed and decided to go to the floor of the Senate and call out Nordernious for an "attack on the Free Republics" and call for an invasion of Nordernious to punish them. The fact that these Nordernians were hired mercenaries on the payroll of Izmailov's private army and that Izmailov's campaign had registered millions of Nordernians for absentee ballots somehow remained a secret as the Nat-Gres had done a fantastic job of destroying the evidence of their plot. Despite his frustrations over not being elected consul, Izmailov had declared himself a loyal ally of Nova Hellstrom-Hancock and had used the resources at his disposal to help Nova get her agenda through the legislature. Being seen as a loyal ally of the consul was essential because it would help him cover up the truth about his plot to seize power by assassinating the senior consul.

The Republican National Football Team watched as Ko-oren defeated Drawkland to set up a battle of the last 2 World Bowl champions. While the Republicans were known both for their explosive triple option offense and their ball-hawking defense, Ko-oren was known as a traditional ball control and shutdown defense team. The victory of the World Bowl XXVII champs meant that another 65-39 championship game was probably off the table. Ko-oren's 6-0 win over Pridnestrovia had been the lowest scoring World Bowl championship game ever but less widely remembered was their 44-9 rout of the Republicans in the semis that year. Now, Ko-oren was back in the title game after a first group stage exit in the Free Republics due to a couple of upset losses to Newmanistan and Karditan.

The 44-9 game had been one of the worst performances by Dania Sandberg in her career. Ko-oren shut down the Republican running game by putting 7 or 8 in the box but Sandberg was unable to consistently complete passes. Although the score was just 14-6 at the half, the game would get away from the Republicans in the second half. Katakin Maier played the film of the game from 2 years ago, rewinding numerous times to show how Ko-oren had approached that semifinal. The Republicans would also study the film of the Ko-oren-Drawkland game.

The Republican gameplan for game 1 of the World Bowl Championship had a script to start the game that was heavy on pass plays, including a play action rollout for the first play from scrimmage. Sandberg was to either find an open receiver or scramble for whatever she could get. Once the Republicans had run their first 15 plays on offense, they'd adapt based on how Ko-oren was approaching the game...

by **Ko-oren** » Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:37 am

"Robin! Just a few questions for the folks at home. Are you expecting to start in the first Free Republics game?"

"Well yes, I am..?"

"What are your expectations for the rest of the tournament?"

"That we'll win it."

"Come on, Robin, that's not selling any copies. What are your expectations going forward?"

"Haha, well, I think there's about a 9 in 44 chance that the Republicans are taking the trophy home, Dathalu."

"Now we're going somewhere. What's the gameplan for game one?"

"Unfortunately, we know that the Republicans have far more film on us than we have of them. Has kept our coordinator and coaches up all week. Of course, it's affected us players as well. It's the topic of every single meeting in the QB room. How do we keep our opponents guessing, even after playing so many games, without changing so much that we lose our own team in the process? I'm not saying it kept me up at night, but it's a factor. We know what we're good at, the problem is, so do our opponents."

"Any news on some injuries and other problems within the offence? Suthmeer didn't look a-ok on that tackle, and Galway couldn't have landed well on the 3rd-and-2."

"Suthmeer is 100%, training and all. Galway, not sure, he keeps saying he's ok but he spends far too much time in the medical room for that to be true. Some you've missed: Fragoso and Couturier..."

"O-linemen, for those at home-"

"Yeah, they're restricted in training as for this moment. I believe they can make the first final game, but it's not up to me, is it?"

"I don't think so. Also, Robin, say that the Dragonflies win two more to grab the title. You're 36, in the last year of your Sterrenwolde contract. What are the odds of you signing a new contract in the league? What are the odds that we'll see you here for the 40th World Bowl?"

"Ooh, didn't see that one coming. I'm still far from done with Sterrenwolde, actually. Making the playoffs was pretty good, but I don't think anyone was happy with what happened there. All in all, I've played in three Ko-oren Bowls, but I feel I've lost too many-"

"Robin is 1-2 in the Ko-oren Bowl-"

"I didn't necessarily need to hear that, but yeah. I'd love to make it back one more time."

"And the national team?"

"I'm still undecided. It's a fantastic group and we're writing history as we speak. At the same time, I've got kids now, I don't want to run a lot of injury risk anymore. I like what I'm earning here, it's just that club play pays a lot better. It's not all about money, though... it's the travel, the being away from home for weeks on end. What's more, there are a few good QBs that I'm keeping from properly developing."

"Good luck on your decision. Who would you like to see in this position?"

"Sylvestre, obviously, from the Caspians. They run a very similar offence to mine, it'd be plug and play. I'm also feeling good about Enkwist, on the most successful team of the last three seasons. He hasn't gotten a call yet because of injuries - but he'd be a really nice change of pace for the offence. Don't count out Plasman either."

"Where do you see the offence in a few seasons? Right now it's just about gaining a lead, running out the clock, and letting the defence do the rest."

"Hey, I've heard that line before, and I take offence to it."

"Nice pun."

"Unintended. Anyway, this offence can put up a lot of points. We've got a lot of drives going the distance. With our play style - and our defence's, mind you - there's just not a lot of time for chuck it, fudge it, fire and forget football. It's what we try to bait our opponents into, in fact. And I'm happy with it, gives us short fields."

"Thanks for your take, Robin, best of luck in the first final!"

by **Delaclava** » Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:01 pm

Two teams remain. We start the next 60 minutes, not knowing how much longer this tournament will last. Will Free Republics take care of business now, and go 2-for-2 in major championships over the recent days? Or can Ko-oren continue their remarkable run from the quarterfinal loss, and force a rematch with all the chips on the table?

World Bowl XXXIX Championship cutoff!

World Bowl XXXIX Championship
Free Republics 3–10 Ko-oren
@ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

Ko-oren takes the Golden Bowl from Free Republics. Because this is the first loss for Free Republics in the double-elimination format, the result gives us a rematch tomorrow:

World Bowl XXXIX Championship (Game 2)
Free Republics vs Ko-oren
@ Royster Field (110,000), National Athletic Complex, Catherina

The winner of this game is the World Bowl XXXIX Champion.

by **Ko-oren** » Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:57 am

Despite losing in the quarterfinals, the Dragonflies have gone on to stun friend and foe with a combination of ruthless, shutdown defence, excellent special teams, and an offence that understands its role and never bites off more than it can chew. Remarkable.

Main Nation Ministry 11–17 Ko-oren
Drawkland 7–0 Ko-oren
Taeshan 10–16 Ko-oren
Ko-oren 6–0 Cassadaigua
Newmanistan 0–10 Ko-oren
Drawkland 3–6 Ko-oren
Free Republics 3–10 Ko-oren

That's 32-6 in points since the Taeshan game - in four games! The average score for that span is 8-2. 'Unsustainable', they said.

The highest scoring game was our Round of 16 game versus the Ministry. The second highest scoring one was versus Taeshan... a team with almost the same philosophy as us. How we scored 26 points and then kept these other games from going 10+ is unbelievable. And before you say that we've gotten easy opponents: the Ministry is 4th, Drawkland (2 games) is ranked 2nd, and the Free Republics are 1st in the world right now. The other opponents are ranked 7th (Taeshan), 10th and 11th (Newmanistan and Cassadaigua, respectively), but then again you expect to play teams that are ranked this high - it's the knockouts. Still, 2 games versus the two highest ranked teams each is harsh.

Unfortunately for the World Bowl - nobody likes to see a lot of repeat winners - we will see either last Bowl's champion take two consecutive titles, or see a team win two out of the last three.

Luckily for the Golden Bowl it has made its way into the Final - as long as it makes it to the knockouts, it will, obviously - with the Dragonflies taking it from the Republicans in Game 1.

Where'd you live - Culture and Language edition

And this marks the third out of three versions! Previously, you've seen where you'd likely end up based on your economic activity, or based on your ideal climate and landscape. Today, we'll look at that third element of what can make your residency here ideal: culture and language. Ko-oren is a nation that simply rejects homogeneity, so there's a lot to unpack here. Let's get started!

You'd like to live in an area...
Where you likely already recognise the language (even if you don't speak it)
Where you could maybe pick out one or two words
Where you'd have to start learning from scratch

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World Bowl XXXIX ~ Everything Thread

The Two-Timers Club

Golden Bowl Update

The Cropduster

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