2009 Year in Review Slideshow October 19th, 2009
Here's the video we showed at our Awards Night on Friday for those that missed it:
Bridgy did a great job on this again. Huge thanks go to him for putting it together.
Hawks Shot Out of the Sky by Eagles September 30th, 2009
Eagles 11. 19. (85)
def. Hawks 5. 4. (34)
Sunday descended upon the Toronto Eagles versus the Broadview Hawks in an OAFL Preliminary Final match or, as some backwards people like to call them: a semi-final; this was déjàvu from last year's playoffs. Anticipation was high in the air as to how the game would unfold. The Hawks had been flaring back into swing, regaining the semblance of the 3rd seeded team that it was last year, while the Eagles were still the favourite to win this game.
From the opening horn, the ball was quickly won out of the centre and fed downfield towards the Hawks' forward line. It was a promising and exciting start to see the possibility of our boys finally beating the Eagles after years of defeats. The records show that the Toronto Eagles have faced and beaten the Hawks in the OAFL Grand Final 3 times since both the respective clubs' inception into the league in 1989. Alas, the ball was turned over and effectively passed down the field into the Eagles' forwards. There was a precision to their keeping possession of the ball that made the impression that this would not be an easy game at all for the Hawks. Every time the Eagles scored a goal it was like watching Bill Murray bowl in the movie, Kingpin: you just didn't want him ever to get a strike and, at the same time, you couldn't reduce his exploits down to blind luck. The end of the quarter saw the Eagles with an oppressive lead with 3 goals and 7 behinds to the Hawks' solitary point.
The next quarter, the Hawks' defence was fired up more and did a better job of quelling the Eagles' attempts at goal. Mario "Death-metal and Little Rat-Dogs Together at Last" Pareja, Stefan "Insert Gajillionth Pale Joke Here" Leyhane, Rhys "New Hobbit Civic" Harris were all notable in their effectiveness of regaining possession for Broadview. However, on the other side, the Eagles were able to completely shut the Hawks out of scoring even a behind this quarter.
Hawks Eliminate the Wildcats in the Hammer September 21st, 2009
Hawks 7. 16. (58)
def. Wildcats 7. 12. (54)
On a brisk 7°C morning, the Hawks made the journey to "the Hammer" to take on the Hamilton Wildcats for the first of two elimination finals that day, to determine who would take on the two top seeded teams: the Eagles and the Kangaroos. From the din in the air, you could feel that every person, Hawker or Catter, thought that their team was going to win this game. In finals footy, expectations are one thing and the reality of premiership-hungry players quite something else. No quarter taken, none given. On a side note, that idiom originates from a victorious commander ordering that the army "will not quarter (house)" captured soldiers, meaning none can be taken prisoner and all enemy combatants must be killed.
After driving past many of the 300 waterfalls that Hamilton boasts, the Broadview Hawks were in a state of perfect chi, balanced with nature and the world (there really should be a sarcasm font). In truth, the Hawks were ready to dole out some wrath that you only see in agitated pitbulls poked one too many times by a toddler wielding a stick. Stupid waterfalls.
From the sound of the horn that signaled the beginning of the match, the Hawks and Wildcats went at the ball with a fighting fury; each anxious to drive hope away from the other team's playoff ambitions. The end result of the quarter would see the Wildcats having scored 3 goals and 1 behind to the Hawks' 4 goals and 2 behinds. Seven points isn't a big lead but being ahead is still being ahead.
The second quarter saw the Wildcats come back with a vengeance, scoring 22 points to the Hawks' four. It almost seemed like, indeed, that it was the wind that won games as both times the wind was with their kicks, each team was able to capitalize on that advantage. At the half, one would think the tires of the Hawks would have been slashed; they had begun with a lead of 7 and were now down by 11. That's a loss from top of 18 points in day-trading terms.
Blues Unable to Shutdown the Hawks' Momentum September 15th, 2009
Hawks 14. 9. (93)
def. Blues 8. 5. (53)
A game of surprises and firsts would be the best way to describe the final regular season game for the Hawks. The Central Blues were to battle it out with Broadview on the Hawks' home ground at U of T Scarborough for Round 14. Again, the footy gods were smiling down with a bright blue sky with the odd random cloud drifting awkwardly along, wondering where all his mates had gone. Statistically, in order claim 5th place, the Blues needed to win this game with 116 pts while completely shutting out the Hawks of points. Basically, Central needed to have the best game of their entire season in order to advance in the standings.
The first quarter saw a certain kind of magic occur on the field again. Like the week before against the Dingos, the ball was constantly being both won and kept in possession by the Hawks. Not only was Broadview hungry for the ball but also being smart in keeping the ball with only yellow and brown jumpers. The end of the first quarter saw the Hawks having scored 4 goals and 2 behinds to the Blues' solitary goal.
The second quarter was the beginning of the oddball events that would continue into the night. There was the emergency player switch off, as Stefan "forces recovering alcoholics to go to open bar functions" Leyhane had lost a contact and luckily had an emergency pair ready to go. There was the crushing collision between Danny "Flip-flops are Business Casual" Walker, some poor Blues player in the middle, and Sven "Random is an Understatement" Henrycoff of which to the Blues player's credit was able to walk away from said Terminator muscle manwich. And, of course, how could we forget the possibility of the game being halted until another umpire could arrive as the umpy had to call time for his own possible sprained ankle. One Hawk fan said she had never seen such a thing in 12 years of watching footy. This quarter the Blues floored the gas and activated their nitrous oxide only to be returned in kind by the Hawks; this quarter was more of a see-saw duel rather than the domination experienced in the first quarter.
Hawks Rip the Bark out of the Dingos September 11th, 2009
Hawks 15. 16. (106)
def. Dingos 8. 3. (51)
Squaring off at Humber North, the Toronto Dingos met the Broadview Hawks on the oval field on what was a gorgeous summer Saturday. This was slated to be an interesting matchup. The Dingos have been, for the majority of the season, where the Hawks were last year (until their close loss to Hamilton): third in the league — only defeated by the golden boys of the OAFL, the Eagles and the Roos. After two straight losses with a narrow three-point loss to the Hamilton Wildcats and another against the Etobicoke Kangaroos, the Dingos were hoping to trounce the Hawks and get back into the winner's circle. As reported by the CNN Dingos correspondent, they were missing six key players but their coach still expected to win the game.
The Hawks, on the other hand, were the clear underdog with 2 wins in their last 6 games... one win against the Swans and a forfeit win over the Demons. However, anyone who was there at the game the week before against the second-seeded team in the league, the Eagles, would know that this was not a game "in the bag for the Dingos." With more and more people off the Hawks' injured list, the Broadview team has become a creeping threat late in the season, like one of those well known gaseous anomalies that Forbes "New Guy" Gemmell was praised for last year: Silent but Deadly (SBD).
From the opening horn, it didn't take a footy expert to tell which team was dominating the ball. What this reporter was seeing was that the Broadview Hawks were not what popular opinion had so easily concluded: just because a serial monogamist succumbs to a couple of one-night stands, it doesn't mean he/she's gonna be given up that easily all the time. The first quarter showed such a Hawks' supremacy over the ball that it almost looked like a half-court basketball game. The ball seemed eternally in the Dingos' end of the field; occasionally it would sail past the half-line only to be re-fed back to the Hawks' forward line. Half of the points scored by the Dingos this quarter was from a "50" penalty against Broadview: Hawks 22 to Dingos 12.
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