Broadview Hawks Football Club

Eagles Victorious Again June 21st, 2010

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It is a refrain in a song that has been overplayed by the radio stations: Eagles Victorious Again. Does it bug you? It bugs me. The Hawks battled it out on their U of T Scarborough home ground against last year’s champs. From the opening bounce, Broadview looked good: they got the ball out of the centre and funneled it into the forward line right away. For a team that has not lost a game this season yet, the Eagles didn’t seem so invincible with the Hawks seemingly having more possession of the ball in the opening few minutes of the game and first on the scoreboard.

The tides turned early. All of a sudden it was as if all the players on the field switched jumpers. It was the Eagles winning the ball more than the Hawks. Just because the Toronto Eagles had the ball doesn’t mean that it was an all-you-can-kick goal buffet at the Hawks’ end. Again, Broadview’s stellar backline stepped up to the plate and foiled many an attempt. However, like the walls of Troy, they couldn’t stop everything.

The more field time this reporter sees played on this ground, the more he sees how dangerous this field is. Here an umpy’s calls can easily translate into a goal. Let’s face it, in the heat of the moment with no instant replay to go by, one cannot always be perfect in how you tackle or play nor can the umpy’s calls be similarly perfect. One thing is for sure though, an umpy never changes his call. Unless, of course, his arm accidentally pointed in the opposite direction than intended. Broadview had several fiftys called on them throughout the game that turned into Eagle goals. One fifty was done right after an Eagle goal so that the ball didn’t even go to the centre bounce. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail. I applaud the fierce intense passion of our Hawkers, but back chatter to the umpire never results in the Hawks’ favour, quite the opposite.

The second quarter saw the Eagles mostly shut down but the Hawks similarly could not get anything going on offense with a solid Eagles defence doing well. For a man whose leg has a mystery swelling all over, Taylor “The Philanthropist” Matthew was doing well in the ruck. Captain Adam “Cracky” Verdurmen had numerous spoils in defense actually reminiscent of the play of currently concussed Stefan “Captain Canada” Leyhane. Last year’s Broadview rookie of the year Erik “Have you found your cup yet?” Juhasz had some great breakthroughs through the pack. Ben “Angry the Sequel” Carter had a fantastic hit in the centre. I’d hate to be on the other team with that man barreling down on me … they should really just give him the ball when they see him coming. I would.

Against the wind, the Hawks were able to close the gap between the point spread in the third. This was completely unexpected. The Hawks have a history of quite the opposite: releasing the gas in the last half or quarter, especially when they’re not winning. And this is against the big, bad invincible Eagles. Alas, the Eagles pushed back hard afterwards, scoring more goals to push the point spread farther apart.

In the first five minutes of the 4th quarter, the Hawks scored 2 quick goals. Somehow, Henry “Fresh Off the Bus” Chen had made 2 good plays that had translated into goals. Unfortunately, the Hawks’ push for goals was short-lived with the Eagles playing mostly in the Hawks’ end for the rest of the quarter. Yes, the Eagles won again. It goes without saying that Broadview’s Aussie contingent played spectacularly. But a team who relies solely on its Aussies is like a chess player who relies solely on his queen: the queen is both the most dangerous tool and one’s greatest weakness . The Canadian Hawks need to practice more and shed that winter fat… and then the Hawks will be devastating. I kid you not. This game revealed a lovely secret truth: the Eagles are beatable. Don’t psyche yourself out. Train hard my Hawkers. Strive for being better always. Thirst for the ball and victory shall come.