Broadview Hawks Football Club

Eagles Shred Hawks in Disappointing Loss June 16th, 2009

Post a comment

The Hawks' Division 1 and 2 teams both hit Humber North to take on the Eagles on one of the first Saturdays that one could say that yes summer has arrived. The Division 2 team started the day off with a complete domination of the Eagles' Division 2 team. Led by the likes of Ryan "a gajillion surgeries can't stop me from playing" Tackleberry and Andrew "I thought this was the benefit of playing 2nds" Ackles in the centre, the Hawks fed the forward line with opportunities with full forward Seamus "Goal-zilla" Hoban answering in kind. Long passes, 1% ers, pushing the envelope: it was all there. The support was so reliable that at one point Bruce "I can still kill it" McMonnies, had three shepherds escorting him to the goal that one would think he was an Australian, older version of Britney Spears with her bodyguards out for a jog, except without the fame, the fake breasts, and tour dates. At the half, visiting coach Danny "Cat Drawer" Walker explained to the team what they had been doing right and what they should do ensure victory. The answer was whiskers and wouldn't you believe it, he was right: the Hawks Division 2 won by a fair margin.

Then the Hawks vs Eagles Division 1 game commenced with the smell of barbeque wafting in the air. Little did anyone know, this was an omen of the game to be: hawkburgers on the grill. The first quarter almost seemed like a dream or nightmare both on and off the field. On the field, nothing was coalescing into reality: the ball escaping from Hawks' possession like figments of their imagination and without the ball, there would be no goals. The people on the sidelines could not believe their very eyes: were these really the Broadview Hawks or did someone replace the team with uninspired clones? Was there a huge all-night raging party the night before and no one had actually slept? Broadview was definitely not performing up to par and the mystery remains as to why? How? One player appeared out of nowhere several times like a superhero out of a comic book to quell the inferno that was the Eagles' offence with some impressive tackles. If the first 3 quarters were to be described as a Hawkburger barbeque, Danny "I can't hold my pee on this busride" Walker was the one keeping some burgers off the grill. Other players also kept a few hawkburgers off the grill, but a few players is not enough against an entire Eagles team that simply wanted the ball more.

The game also saw more additions to the team's injured list. Chris "Angry" Phyland received a hand injury that would result in protruding bone, stitches, and an immediate trip to the hospital and a hole to be filled in the Hawks' defence. Although, this reporter wonders how fingers could be injured by an opposing player's foot when attempting to get the ball and not have a free kick. Instead, the Eagles scored a goal with the man down advantage. Chris will recover with no broken bones, and return and bring back the hurt to the field eventually.

There were of course moments of hope: a good tackle here, a good launching kick there, or a mid-air collision featuring flying hobbit Rhys "Frodo" Harris, but these were few and far between. The abnormal amount of "50's" awarded out by the referees to the Eagles also did not help matters either. As Humber North lacks Jumbotron screens and camera replays, it was hard for this reporter to see what was really going on with these calls. Regardless of what could have been or should have been, the Hawks left the 3rd quarter with but 1 goal and 6 behinds on the scoreboard to the Eagles' excess of 90 points.

The fourth quarter served to further confuse the mystery of this Hawks vs. Eagles game. The crowd had murmured throughout the game as to where the Hawks of Old, Strong and Bold, were that day? The crowd had given up as much as it had appeared the Hawks players had already. People just wanted to get this thumping over and done with. Seeing one's team being annihilated is hardly the most motivating Saturday activity. And then they appeared. Indeed, the Hawkers were not finished until the final siren had gone. In a surreal turn of events, the Hawks floored the gas just when it seemed that the Eagles had stopped for a smoke break. With 7 or 8 unanswered goals, the Hawks dominated the last quarter like slaves turning on their masters who had flogged them one too many times and had not heeded the "safe word". Play after play, possession after possession, the Hawks were coming out ahead and laid out destruction in their path. Someone had cried Havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Alas it was too late, the irrevocable damage was done and eighty points in 20 minutes was just not in the cards.

I will never know what truly happened on June the 13th with that game. Perhaps no one will. It is undeniable that it was not a good game. However, potential was also undeniably there. And properly cultivated, potential can turn lackluster into devastating.