TB XV Draft In the Books
posted Sunday October 26th, 2014 by Crooks

The only ever sports related event overseen by both the Virgin Mary and two pugs, the 2014 TFL 100 Days Meeting, which, incidentally, convened thirty-three days prior to TB XV, was an unquestionable success. It was not particularly "the first(s)" that the meeting saw that made the night prosperous, though Ron Delino actually paying for food and a Marcelli-on-Marcelli arm wrestling match was impressive, but it was the productiveness and decision making of the TFL members involved that spurred an enjoyable and decision-driven convention.

119 Ohio Avenue, the former residence of legendary TFL coach and forgettable TFL player Sean "Horse" Kelly, would play host to this year's pregame meeting of minds. With Sean's parents on hiatus in beautiful Vero Beach, Florida, the Horse was more than willing to give the 2014 100 Days Meeting a home; dueling televisions, homemade roasted red peppers, courtesy of the elder Marcelli, ice cold domestics, and Hunt's Annex wings welcomed the TFL Board of Commissioners (Marcelli, Marcelli, Dougherty, Dinofia, Trill and Crooks) and their constituents.

The evening proceeded precisely as planned. Delino showed up in an attempt to access free food and beverages, Trill hated on every animate and inanimate object, the wings showed up 30 minutes late, and half the cigar smoking membership neglected to bring turds; like I said, exactly as planned. The early portions of the meeting concentrated on viewing large amounts of college football and stomach lubrication. Appetizers, drinks and entrees were served, both on the scenic deck overlooking the beautifully landscaped Milmont Park Fire House and in the Kelly's country themed family room and kitchen. Eventually, as the wing count fell and beer count rose, it was time to get down to business.

Awoken from a peaceful slumber on the family room couch, I found myself being called to the deck to begin tackling the questions at hand: Draft date/time, captaincy, etc, with the draft being the first order of business. After two years of holding the draft at Pritchard Field, Thanksgiving morning, the members in attendance voted to move the draft back to its originally conceived format; the draft would now take place before gameday, in particular, as it relates to this year, the draft would take place at the 100 Days Meeting. Captaincy was the next motion on the table. Two sets of captains had been tabled: Doc-Trill and Marcelli-Marcelli. Membership decided upon the latter; Mark and Matt would serve as the TB XV captains. With the captains set and the draft scheduled to proceed this very evening, the matter of draft order lay yet addressed. In an unprecedented move, the membership, on whose recommendation I can not currently recall, decided that an arm wrestling match between Mark and Matt would assure the draft proceedings. Tim Dougherty, self-appointed Lincoln Hawk of the TFL, reviewed the arm wrestling rules set forth by PAL (Professional Armwrestling League) with the combatants. Dougherty had the Marcelli brothers lock hands on what I can only assume is a Pottery Barn kitchen island, placed his banana hands over the interlocked fingers of Matt and Mark, then swiftly pulled away, yelling "break": It. Was. On. A stalemate ensued for what felt like an eternity before Matthew overwhelmed his younger genetic counterpart, forcing Mark's hand towards the beautiful piece of artisan kitchenware. As the victor, Matt would choose the second two picks in the draft, leaving Mark with the top pick. It was draft time.

Going into the draft it was agreed upon that the quarterback position was a conjoined pick; once one QB was chosen, the other must immediately be picked by the opposing side, avoiding one team dominating the position (#orioing). The 2014 TFL Draft resulted in the following round by round choices:

MARK: Paul Middleton
MATT: Rob Orio and Tim Dougherty
MARK: Mike Trill
MATT: Chris Crooks
MARK: Keith Cottom
MATT: Rich Dinofia
MARK: #ConnMan
MATT: Tom Orio
MARK: Sean Kelly
MATT: #TheLion
MARK: #Steve

Mark will lead the team of Middleton, Trill, Cottom, #ConnMan, Kelly, and #Steve, while Matt will be tasked with supervising the Old School-esque Orio bros., Crooks, Dinofia, and #TheLion.

*Both teams remain unnamed

The 2014 TFL 100 Days Meeting went swimmingly. Outside of a beer being thrown at the Kelly's shed, by a Kelly, things went off without a hitch. We are sad to say that TFL members Kevin Rayer and Joe "Freon Bombs" Simcox will be unavailable for participation this year, but still look forward to yet another successful year of TB football.

*If you were not mentioned as one of the participants we are remiss to list as inactive consider yourself graciously accepted as unavailable.