Final Four!

[OriginalOutlaw]

The 4 best teams in the NIFL made it this far. Unusual indeed. Make your predictions:

Rapid City Flying Aces at Billings Outlaws
Tough to beat a team 3 times in a row. So they say. But we did that to Tri-Cities, last years champs. And we'll do it to Rapid City. The better team is Billings. Outlaws win 44-36.

Fayetteville Guard at RiverCity Rage
RiverCity is a proven tough team, but have already been beaten at home once by a very good team. The Guard have a chip on their shoulder, but it still won't be enough. Rage win 44-36.

[PIONEERSFAN101]

Not making any predictions until I see the NIFL site update the Rapid City/Katy score.....Even then, I might wait until like Friday at 6:30PM lol Nothing is for sure with this league.

[#1 Guard Fan]

Well the Guard will win a big road game next week and hopefully be able to host the Indoor Bowl In Fayetteville

[OriginalOutlaw]

I'll be rooting for you...

[OutlawsFan]

Home cookin' continues to be the best course. The Guard need two miracles to happen to host the big game...not likely.

[viking]

Congratulations on a great season for the lakeland T bolts.
I have to agree that the best four teams are still around inspite of the league debacles.

Who hosts if Guard and Aces make it to the championship?

What will be the next stunt by the NIFL?

Any chance this title won't be settled on the field?

Tune in tomorrow as the NIFL turns.

I would like to see owners of all of these teams get together at the championship game and decide what teams are going to be in what leagues next year. It could be a reality show.

[goguard88]

The Guard need two miracles to happen to host the big game...not likely.
Whoa! You're kidding, right? First of all, if we beat the Rage in St. Louis, it's no miracle. It's not an upset, either. We're talking about the top two teams in the Atlantic Conference battling it out, and that's as even as you can get. Second, if you think it'll take a miracle for Rapid City to beat you guys, think again. In two matchups this season, they've played you tough. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, my friend.

Who hosts if Guard and Aces make it to the championship?
We do.

[goguard88]

Hey, you're discounting your own idea, Dan! Those milk jugs are pretty useful if you ask me. :D

Seriously, though, I agree with him. We're a different team now. That was officially proven today, when we showed that we can beat a great team, and blow them out to boot. It'll be a long trip, but this game is for a trip to the Indoor Bowl, so I think we'll definitely be ready.

[GoAces]

Home field means nothing in the playoffs! OK, just joking, I would rather have the Aces play at home but it's all about taking advantage of mistakes and making the other team turn the ball over! I'm still bitter about my Broncos losing at home last season to the Steelers in the AFC Championship. Time for my hometown team to get some revenge for me and grab a win up in Billings!!! As much as I wanna see the Rage go down I gotta root for them. This is getting interesting though. Too bad they aren't televised!

[OriginalOutlaw]

Wow, Aces, a Donkey fan? You aren't helping your trash. How do you deal with the Donkeys being the only NFL team in recent history to be convicted of cheating? Twice. At least it got them 2 Super Bowls. Bring your NIFL trash, not your stanky NFL trash...

[PIONEERSFAN101]

I'm taking Fayetteville vs Billings in the Indoor Bowl and Fayetteville to win.

[OriginalOutlaw]

I would like to see that game, but the results would be different...

[sportznut]

I really wanted to see an Oseola v Billings battle Royal for the use of the name.... But i guess they lost that battle with the NiFL too...( Lost the right to the name and the right to advance after being awarded a forfiet win)

[OriginalOutlaw]

Nutz! Nice to see you. Sorry about your teams, we hoped for better...

[OutlawsFan]

'88: until you beat a great team on the road, all of this means nothing.

[sportznut]

Thanks... what ya gonna do... round 1 they play each other.. one has to go home.. round 2, Katy has the trip from hell just to get there for the game, 90 minutes before kickoff.... shorthanded.. But they did hang in there and gave a good game until the last qtr when RC put them away...... I was surprised that it was a running game that did Katy in.. Higgs is falling into true playoff form again.. Good Luck over them next week!

[goguard88]

'88: until you beat a great team on the road, all of this means nothing.
So our win yesterday meant absolutely nothing? Uh, no. We beat a 13-2 team yesterday. No, we crushed a 13-2 team yesterday. What will it take to get the respect we deserve?

[chef hardy]

beating the likes of lincoln/st.joe's, twin city, big sky, etc. the quality opponents of the league lol. maybe if we would have played them ( a pac. conf. team) then maybe just maybe we'd get some. DOUBT IT LOL. don't sweat it, lets see what happens next weekend.

[GTDREW]

It appears that we are talking again about "quality versus great" team wins. I define them as wins against teams who made the playoffs. To see how things are check the NIFL stats as you might be surprised. This is what I have but please feel free to check behind me. The stats are from the regular season.
No order to this just the facts,

Billings, 7-1 against 3 teams in the playoffs, 4-0 at home, 3-1 on the road, only loss was to TC.
River City, 5-1 against 4 teams, 2-1 at home, 3-0 on the road, only loss was to Billings.
F'ville Guard, 5-1 against 3 teams, 3-0 at home, 2-1 on the road, only loss was to Lakeland.
Rapid City, 4-3 against 4 teams, 3-1 at home, 1-2 on the road, two L's against Billings and one at Wyoming

Looks as if GREAT=QUALITY if you are a Rage fan on the road, and Billings considering location/conf. (in other words no one else to play) everything else might not matter.

[OriginalOutlaw]

Nice post, Drew. The Lakeland win was huge for your team. Not just to keep you going in the playoffs, but you took out a rival and built a lot of confidence going into RiverCity, where they have shown they can be beaten. I believe you will play them very tough and I have a hunch they will give you a chance to take it at the end. Good luck.

[OutlawsFan]

You guys need to relax, all I'm saying is let's see what happens when you play a good team on the road. Now's your chance. I always had the Guard as one of the top two teams over there. The top four teams are still alive, the way it should be. Billings hasn't gotten much respect either, just check out how many people picked the Fever to win last weekend's game. Did anyone, besides the uneducated, pick Lakeland to win? Good luck in St Louis. May the refs not decide the games this weekend.

[guardwins]

are you trying to say the refs decided the game between the guard and lakeland?

[GTDREW]

OO and OF you are right and I am not excited a bit except on how to get to each game. Thanks for the prop though and I wish you guys the best of luck no matter who wins this weekend, I know it will all come out in the wash.

I also know that it is hard on any team to travel the distances they have too in this league. BTW, I checked out your airport, major carriers include Delta, United, and Northwest, which are plenty just not many that come to my area of the state. It seems to be in the almost too hard category to go from the Atlantic coast to Yellowstone, without selling your first born or giving an arm or leg with such a short notice. I guess time will tell in the long run and whatever happens was meant to be.

[OutlawsFan]

are you trying to say the refs decided the game between the guard and lakeland?
Absolutely not. There were a fair amount of people that thought Billings got all the calls last weekend, even though Billings had nearly twice the penalties. I just hate all of the controversy (see Katy-RC) some like to cook up.

[guardwins]

understandable....the stat is misleading.....lakeland commited a few very obvious p.i. penalties down field.

[OriginalOutlaw]

It seems as though a lot of Guard fans are bristling at the thought of penalties deciding the Lakeland game. The penalties did not decide that game, the Guard did. I merely want to point out the reasoning for the gripes. Lakeland had 14 penalties for 104 yards while Fayetteville had 5 penalties for 16 yards. Home field advantage. A logical person must assume that the score would have been a heckuva lot closer if the numbers were reversed, but they weren't. GWINS, you actually opened yourself up by saying it was due to Pass Interference - the most disputable call in football at any level. Your better argument would have been off-side, false-start, etc. due to crowd noise. Thus giving the credit to the FANS for such a lop-sided officiated game. Look to Drew or Go88 for posting advice. They rock. Stay away from the Dark, Noizy side...

[guardwins]

Nah you cant question tackling wide open recievers. Although the fans did help with several of their false start penalties. I just dont see how its logical to post a comment from a box score?

[GTDREW]

I think the noise helped a bit in getting the Bolts timing off, I believe it was about 3 false starts. They also had problems in the secondary on Defense, our guys seemed a step faster than them and made cuts they could not handle. PI is a true judgement call, but most were obvious ones and I would say only one could have not been called at the most. The D-line was trying so bad to get a jump on our O-line they were jumping off, but that too could have been Shawn changing his count. For the most part the Guard palyed a complete game for the final three qtrs and Lakeland just could not catch up.

[OriginalOutlaw]

GWINS - Logic dictates that when 2 sides dispute something based upon opinion, turning to simple game fact can be enough to solve the issue. Box Score means game statistics, nothing more, nothing less. Penalties cost Lakeland over 100 yards - about twice as many yards as they had passing and 6.5 times more yards than the Guard. That is an ASTRONOMICAL stat at any football level. My comment was based upon my investigation following another Guard fan (dark side) commenting that Lakeland got all the calls. All I see is a huge disparity in the stats - for the Guard, but I wasn't at the game. I don't think the penalties gave the Guard the win simply because I use other stats from the Box Score (such as total yard and turnovers) to indicate that. So, the attitude that you "just dont see how its logical to post a comment from a box score" is gonna give you some serious heartburn in future posts.

[guardwins]

hmmm looking at the box score again are we? I am sure that if you follow football that close that you know you cant always tell alot from the box score?

I have an idea about this issue.....leave it in the past?

I would say I hope that we play each other for the championship...but I would rather have it at home!:D

[OriginalOutlaw]

OK, you got me, are you what?
And I do believe that the past is what the vast majority of comments on this web site are based upon. Free thinking. Respond to comments. I'm giving you every opportunity to make some sort of sense...