02.03 This Week in Whirled Football

Well, that was a longer break than anticipated. Several months and a new laptop later, and here we are …

Overall, the Northish Division is diverging: 3 teams are undefeated (London, New York, and Amsterdam) and 3 others are winless (Boston, Rome, and San Francsico). Things are closer over on the Southish side, where only Istanbul is undefeated, and only–quite shockingly–Addis Ababa is winless.

#AMS

Amsterdam is struggling a bit in the secondary, with both Yale Lary and James Ihedigbo going down to injuries. Glover Quin and Robert Lester should see time in their place.

#BER

Kevin Butler kicked 2 50+ FG’s, then got injured for 4 months. We’ll see if Neil Rackers can fill his shoes.

#IST

It is very dangerous to be a RB in Istanbul: Franco Harris, Le’Veon Bell, Rocky Bleier, and Charlie Seabright all went down with injuries this week. That leaves Jerome Bettis to carry the load, along with newcomers Denard Robinson, Mack Herron, and Cory Schlesinger.

#RIO

Rio’s offensive line–the best in the WFL–has suffered its first significant challenge, with Lou Groza looking to miss the next 2-3 months. Look for Ryan Seymour to step up at T.

#SFO

The Sea Lions lengthy injury list got even longer, with injuries to Chris Davis, Bob Fry, and Jessie Tuggle. Look for Taveze Calhoun, Chris Hinton, and Derek Smith to fill in.

#TOK

Tokyo’s injury list is even longer than San Francisco, and it did not get any better. While Evan Dietrich-Smith, Randy Gradishar, and Bernard Pollard should all be back within a week or 2, Bud McFadin will miss 4 months, and reserves Mike Jordan and Paul Cornick are also out for extended periods. Right now, the Swallows’ depth is holding, but that’s a lot of talent on the sidelines.