BLACK DOGS LOSE, CLINCH 8TH JORGE DIVISION CROWN Linardo division still up for grabs

East Nashville coach Jim McMahon, who has three championship rings and 
has never had a losing season, is the winningest coach in NFFA history.

By R.E. Porter
Associated Web Press

EAST NASHVILLE—Relaxing over a cup of coffee at the Barista Parlor Tuesday morning, East Nashville head coach Jim McMahon considered the fact his team had backed into the Jorge division title with a loss at Cambridge last weekend and a loss by West Nashville, who fell at home to 12th Avenue in the annual Bacchanal to the Future contest.

"I'll take it any way we can get it," he said of his eighth division title in nine seasons as coach of the Black Dogs. "As far as our loss goes, well the Animals' awesome awesomeness has shown up the past two weeks and we were one of its victims. When that happens, you just take the whupping and move on."

The 4-9 Cambridge Animals and the 3-10 12th Avenue Bakers, both of whom had already been eliminated from championship playoff contention, have played the spoiler role, knocking off the Jorge division leaders over the past two weeks. Cambridge owner Dave the Animal, who predicted the win over "the Dogs of Black," was unavailable for comment, although it's a safe bet he considers the 206-158 smackdown of East Nashville one of the greatest games in league history. 

Reached by phone at The Cherry Bomb Café, Bakers owner QCurl Sharif said of his team's victory over West Nashville, "It was special. In fact, we haven't had a win that meant this much in a long time.

"These two franchises are joined at the hip, really, and so it's bittersweet in one respect," Sharif continued. "That's why Faith insisted on sending some girls over to the 'Bubbas' front office Monday night after the game. I heard that they wound up at The Treehouse with some of West Nashville's marketing people and tore up some shit. Got in a fight with the Russians and were generally fucked up. I think one of the girls got hurt pretty bad. I haven't had a chance to see the damage, but it's all cool. I understand the pain.

Looking to the weekend, the Bakers owner added, "Now, if we can just close out with a win over a hot Animals team, I'll feel pretty good about next year."

The 7-6 Black Dogs host the 6-7 Beelzebubbas at the Dawg House in the season finale, and even if the Beelzebubbas win to finish in a tie for the division lead, the Dogs have the tiebreaker advantage. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head records, and the Dogs won the first meeting, so with a 'Bubbas win, the two teams would split their season series. The second tiebreaker is division record. The Beelzebubbas are currently 2-3, which means they would improve to 3-3 with a W. Whereas the Black Dogs have a 4-1 division record going into this weekend's contest, so even with a 'Bubbas' win, their division record still would be better at 4-2.

The Atlanta Smack Daddies and the defending champs Downtown Corsairs are tied atop the rival Linardo division with 9-3 records and have clinched playoff berths. Both teams go on the road to close out the season, with the Smack Daddies visiting the 7-6 Village Green, while the Corsairs go cross-country to the 7-6 Fidaldo Island Sea Hogs. If the two teams remain tied after this weekend, the Corsairs will have the tiebreaker advantage. The teams split their two regular season games, and the Corsairs have a 4-1 division record compared to the Daddies' 2-3 mark within the division.

The Linardo division winner will be the number one seed in the playoffs, while the Black Dogs, as Jorge champs, will receive the number two seed. The third seed, a wild-card spot, will go to either the Daddies or the Corsairs, whichever team is not the Linardo division champion. 

The Green and Sea Hogs are both still in the running for the fourth seed and final wild-card spot. Although the Beelzebubbas could potentially finish with the same record as The Green and Sea Hogs, they would lose the three-way, head-to-head tiebreaker. For the Sea Hogs and The Green, if one wins and the other loses, the winner will get the final wild-card spot. If they finish the season still tied, The Green have the tiebreaker advantage, but that could change after this weekend. The Green and Hogs split their season series, so the second tiebreaker kicks in, which for wild-card spots is total points scored. Going into the final weekend, The Green have a 62.5-point lead over the Sea Hogs, which might appear to be an almost insurmountable margin except for the fact the Hogs outscored The Green by 82 points last weekend in their final head-to-head matchup.

As the playoff picture currently stands after 13 weeks, there will be three former champions in the running for the 2013 title, including the reigning champs (Corsairs), and two three-time title holders (Daddies, Dogs). And if the Sea Hogs, who have two rings, make it, it will be an all-champion playoff derby — something that has never happened in the league's 12-year history.

There's one other thing that has never happened in NFFA history — a reigning champion has never worn the crown in consecutive seasons. That little fact has come to be known as "the curse of the champion."