Sunday, June 5, 2011

Wild Finish to the Italian Football League Regular Season



Final 2011 Regular Season
Italian Football League Standings
The top four teams will play in the 2011 IFL Playoffs.

Bologna Warriors 9-0
Parma Panthers 7-2
Catania Elephants 6-3
Reggio Emilia Hogs 5-4

Ancona Dolphins 5-4
Milan Rhinos 5-4
Bolzano Giants 3-6
Milan Seamen 3-6
Lazio Marines 2-7
Bologna Doves 0-9

Week 11 Results - Final Regular Season Games
Catania 61 - Bolzano 19
Parma 42 - Milan Seamen 13
Bologna Warriors 56 - Lazio 53
Reggio Emilia 62 - Ancona 42
Milan Rhinos 58 - Bologna Doves 25


2011 IFL Semi-Final Playoff Games
Saturday, June 25th
#4 Reggio Emilia (5-4) at #1 Bologna Warriors (9-0)

Sunday, June 26th
#3 Catania (6-3) at #2 Parma (7-2)

2011 IFL Championship Game
Saturday, July 9th
at Parma's Stadio XXV Aprile - Via del Popolo

IFL Notes: Another high scoring weekend to close out the 2011 IFL regular season saw a total of 431 points scored in the five games, an average of 86.2 points per game!

Our favorite team, the Catania Elephants, did what they had to do by beating the Bolzano Giants convincingly, 61-19. The victory earned the Elephants the #3 seed in the playoffs with a final record of 6-3. This is the Sicilian team's third playoff appearance in just their fourth season playing in Italy's top division.

The big noise of the weekend was the Reggio Emilia Hogs (5-4) stunning 62-42 victory over the Ancona Dolphins (5-4). This result, coupled with the Milan Rhinos (5-4) 58-25 win over the hapless Bologna Doves (0-9), created a three way tie for the fourth and final playoff spot.

How to break the tie?

Head-to-head competition, as always, would be the first tie breaker. Let's see. . .

In Week #2 the Rhinos beat Reggio Emilia 60-24
In Week #6 Ancona beat the Rhinos 62-42
In Week #11 Reggio Emilia beat Ancona 62-42

Since the three teams beat each other, head-to-head competition could not break the tie. What interesting method would the IFL now use to break the tie?

Best record against the top three seeds perhaps? Seems logical to me, have another on the field situation determine which team gets to move on. Let's see now. . .

The Ancona Dolphins lost to the #1 Warriors and #2 Panthers but beat the #3 Elephants = 1-2
The Milan Rhinos lost to the Warriors and Panthers as well but also beat the Elephants = 1-2
The Reggio Emilia Hogs lost to the Warriors, Panthers and Elephants = 0-3

Thus, in this model, the Hogs are out and now you revert back to head-to-head competition between the Dolphins and the Rhinos. Again, the Dolphins beat the Rhinos 62-42 back in Week #6, so the Dolphins earn the trip to the playoffs based on their on the field play.

No.

Perhaps the IFL would break the tie based on most points scored during the season, the IFL is a very offensive minded league afterall. Let's see again. . .

Ancona scored 490 points in nine games, Milan totaled 356 points while Reggio Emilia tallied 330 points.

Tie Breaker, Ancona!

No.

The IFL wouldn't go by the best defense would they? If so. . .

The Rhinos allowed a mere 309 points, followed by the Hogs at 323 points and the Dolphins porous defense gave up a whopping 419 points.

Adavantage, Milan Rhinos!

No.

O.K., I've got it, point differential! It would give a look at each team's relative strength on both sides of the ball. Let's see yet again. . .

Ancona, 490 Points Scored - 419 Points Allowed = +71 Point Differential
Milan, 356 Points Scored - 309 Points Allowed = +47 Point Differential
Reggio Emelia, 330 Points Scored - 323 Points Allowed = +7 Point Differential

Ancona goes to the playoffs!

No.

Maybe the IFL would go by the hottest team at the end of the season. Again. . .

The Hogs won their last three games.
The Rhinos finished on a one game winning streak, but were 2-1 the last three games.
The Dolphins ended the campaign on a two game losing streak, going 1-2 down the stretch.

Based on this, the Hogs are in!

No.

The IFL's second tie-breaker, after head-to-head competition, has nothing to do with any on the field standard or measurement.

The Reggio Emilia Hogs edged their way into the 2011 IFL Playoffs based on. . .
THE YOUNGEST AVERAGE AGE OF THE THREE ROSTERS!!!

I wonder where this concept ranks in NFL's list of tie breaking criteria?

I LOVE ITALIAN LOGIC!!!

As for the IFL Semi-Finals, the Saturday, June 25th game is a rematch of a Week #4 game that saw the #1 seeded Warriors (9-0) beat the #4 seeded Hogs (5-4), 49-12 at Reggio Emilia.

As for our #3 seeded Elephants (6-3), in Week #1 they defeated the #2 seeded Panthers (7-2) in Parma 54-51.

As for "hot" teams, the Bologna Warriors are still riding their nine game winning streak into the playoffs. The Parma Panthers have won their last four games since losing to the Warriors 34-23. Catania is on a modest two game winning streak since also losing to the Warriors 42-35. Finally, the Hogs, as mentioned earlier, are on a three game victory skein since dropping their game against Parma 50-22.

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

3 comments:

David said...

If I'm either of the other teams, I'm asking to check the Hogs' birth certificates.

George said...

Sorry, they were lost in the last flood. . . or maybe it was a fire, I can't remember exactly.

No, it was that Visigoth raid a few years ago!

It makes you think twice about the make up of your roster. I think that Catania had 4 or 5 players over 40 years of age the last time I looked.

YIKES!

Ted Seay said...

I'd say "unbelievable" or words to that effect, but hey -- this IS Italy we're talking about...

;)