(S24) - PT 1 - Trivia Night

[kingsleigher]

No one remembers the teams that do just okay. People remember the greats. They remember the dynasties like the Orange County Otters or before the days of the ISFL when the New England Patriots laid claim to the now-defunct National Football League. No one ever really remembers the losers, the teams that went out on the field each week and gave it everything they had just to come up short time and again. But not me, I’ll never forget my time with the Tokyo Drifters.

Before the Prospect Bowl began, the Drifters were believed to have one of the most loaded rosters in an historically deep prospect draft class. After turning in a perfect preseason, going 4-0 and defeating their opponents by two scores on average, the Drifters were flying high. Nothing could stop us en route to our, albeit meaningless, Prospect Bowl championship.

Week One of the bowl season saw the Drifters take on the Calgary Calvary on the road in what turned out to be a tightly contested affair, the outcome of which came down to a missed Tokyo field goal late in the fourth. Calgary took the victory, but the Drifters kept their heads held high as they went on into Week Two. Taking on the Liverpool Llamas in England, the Drifters dropped a close game against a tough opponent, losing by a single score in a game that included three interceptions thrown by quarterback Jackie Daytona, two of which were returned for scores. Sitting at 0-2, the Drifters had fallen to the bottom of the standings alongside the Brooklyn Atlantics. Unlike the Atlantics however, who rallied an epic comeback and finished at 2-2, the Drifters continued to fall and they headed into the postseason as the only winless team at 0-4.

The locker room didn’t have the energy that it once did. Players were tired, and they were tired of losing. Rallied by superstar defensive lineman Albert Ruschmann, the players came into their playoff game hopeful and fired up. Knowing it may be their last game together, the team gave it their all and played their hearts out. The offense was unfortunately held to 0 points in a 16-2 loss to the Llamas, Tokyo’s only two points being scored on a safety recorded by Ruschmann. The 0-5 Tokyo Drifters may one day fall to the forgotten annals of ISFL history to most, but to the members of the team, it will continue to serve as a reminder of where we’ve been and how much further we all have to go.