The dramatic 7-on-7 intramural football season concludes on Wednesday, March 7 in the Varsity Gym. The champion will be decided in a playoff, with the victor gaining bragging rights as the league’s first ever championship.
Seven teams competed for five regular season weeks in 7-on-7 indoor league, trying to beat everyone in the playing field. Now is when it really matters: the playoffs. Every team is determined to win it all in order to win the first championship trophy.
Every team is excited about the playoffs in this first time intramural. “There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm by the kids,” says intramural director and assistant varsity basketball coach, Jonathan Alexander. “Moreover, it is always a great element when you have to play the playoffs. It just adds to the excitement to the final tournament.”
I also asked Coach Alexander why he put the playoffs in place and why not base the champion solely off regular season records. “It’s always fun to have a tournament in the end” he explained, “because it puts a little more pressure on the teams. [Also] There is always a Cinderella Story in the playoffs. Who is the last seed moving into the top?”
I asked DJ Udofia ’12, intramural footballer for The Scrubs, which team could pull off an upset. “I think it will be the freshman team ‘FudRuckers.’ They have enough talent to win it all.” However, Coach Alexander said that “the seedings will take care of themselves and the top seed will win it.” The disagreement establishes a possible Cinderella run in the playoffs, making the playoffs really enticing.
When asked which team will capture the trophy, Udofia boldly claimed: “My team [The Scrubs]. We have good talent and our defense is really strong.” As the saying goes, defense wins championships, and DJ hopes that will carry over to the 7-on-7 league. The Scrubs are the real frontrunner, and even Coach Alexander picked them to win it all since they had the best record over the regular season.
Team names or team talent, which one is the most pivotal in the 7 on 7 football league? Udofia says talent takes over the game, but the intramural commissioner said, “It is a little bit of both. Kids like to come in and have a goofy name and just like to mess around and have fun, but others take it seriously.”
Both do contribute to the league because The Scrubs have a trivial name, but they are the best in the league according to students all over campus. Then you have the intimidation factor of the names. Some names like “Orion’s Belt” have that factor of superiority and the feeling that the team knows what it is doing.
If you would like to watch the hype of the playoffs, you can arrive at the Varsity Gym at six o’clock Wednesday, February 29th to watch the teams give it their all for first place title. Also, if you would like to participate in this intramural next year, you can contact Coach Jonathan Alexander at [email protected] or visit the JCP INTRAMURAL Moodle page for more information.
