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CHAMPIONSHIP NOTEBOOK Super Bowl XXXII was a treasure trove for those with a soft spot for championship game minutia. The Malverne Bills’ 7-0 victory over the Westbury Haulers was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl since 1990, when the Bills beat the East Meadow Potters 7-0. See the chart on page 4 for more on low-scoring title tilts...Pete Annarumma’s TD pass with 52 seconds left avoided what would have been the Super Bowl’s first regulation scoreless tie and what would have only been the third overtime in Division I championship game history. The Bills beat the Rockville Centre CIs 19-13 in an extra session in 1969. In 1974, the New Hyde Park Omega beat the Bills by the same score…The one link between the low-scoring Super Bowls: Miserable weather. The conditions for Super Bowl XXXII were tropic compared to those that greeted the title game participants in 1970, 1989 and 1990. Tom Feliney called the 1970 title game "the coldest game [the NCTFL has] ever played," which is saying something since the 1989 and 1990 games were played with the wind chill at 21 below zero and 29 below zero. The wind was so bad in 1989 that Cablevision’s cameramen left at halftime after one of their cameras was blown off its stand…Twice as nice: Bills DE Derek Broadnax recorded consecutive sacks of Haulers QB Anthony Ricevuto in the third quarter to knock the Haulers out of field goal range. Last year, Broadnax sacked Ricevuto on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter…Twice as nice, part II: The Bills’ consecutive Super Bowl wins over the Haulers mark the fourth time a Division I team has recorded back-to-back title game wins over the same opponent. The others: The Levittown Brothers/Westbury Sprats over the Bills in 1987-88, the Bills over the Sprats/East Meadow Potters in 1989-90 and the Massapequa Stallions over the Merrick Mavericks in 1992-93…Congratulations to Barry Bekoff, who refereed his 30th straight Super Bowl…Life begins at 40: All three title-winning QBs—Annarumma, Holmes Bohringer of the Mineola Colts and Bill Belmont of the Lynbrook Buckeyes—are 40 years or older...The Colts and Buckeyes are the first perfect expansion teams since the Herricks Hellcats went 12-0 in Division III in 2003...Congratulations to the Buckeyes, who became the sixth straight no. 1 seed to win Division III…Competitiveness was the theme throughout the playoffs: Of the 13 games, eight were decided by seven points or less...Time to look ahead to 2008. Can the Bills reach the rarefied air of the Mavericks and Manhasset Steelers by winning three straight Super Bowls?…The East Meadow Seasons, who went 9-0-1, should be hungrier than ever to win their first Super Bowl. Ditto for the Haulers. The Levittown Lions improved dramatically in the second half of the season, but the Franklin Square Falcons faltered down the stretch for the second straight year. Do they need to add to their small core in order to return to the top?...Are the Colts the new Falcons—a young Touch Bowl champion that later wins Division I?...The Wantagh Regulators and Manhasset Vikings should be better after tough seasons and the Mavericks will be right in the mix if Jim Ambrosio returns...Which Division III champ will become the first to also win a Division II crown? We might find out next year. The Hellcats and Buckeyes project as the early favorites along with the old standbys, the Plainview Panthers and East Meadow Titans. The Hicksville Vengeance gave the Colts a scare in the semis and the Freeport Fire should be better. The Brookville Brawlers will look to regain the form they enjoyed in ‘06...A trip back to Division III might be in the offing for the Bellmore Vipers, who have won two games since winning the D-III title in ‘05. The Bethpage Chaos would be favored to win D-III if they don’t move up. The Valley Stream Wolverines seem primed to break out while the Hicksville Havoc and Elmont Seminoles should continue building. And can the Valley Stream Bengals take a page from the Fire and emerge after growing pains?...Thanks again to team reps for promptly delivering their recaps to the NCTFL Report…We wish you a happy and healthy 2008. See you in the fall. |