This Week in the WFBL—Week 3

.

Amare, Strats Handle Gators; McGrady Given Walking Papers

Chris who?

NEPHI (AP)—The Nephi Stratagem handled the shorthanded Twin Falls Gators this week, handing them their first loss of the season—a seering 7-2 backhand to the cheek. In a league known for its improbable twists and turns, the Strats are one of its biggest surprises of the season so far.

As the Gators come crashing back down to earth, the Strats are on the rise. Picked to finish last in the preseason power rankings, Nephi holds the league's best record after three weeks. How are Justin Banks and co. doing it?

"A lot of owners will analyze stats and juggle lineups endlessly, but that's not what we're about. We're just trying not to do too much," offered Banks. "I told my guys, I don't want you to try to outrebound or outscore the opposition, I just want you to do it. Makes sense, right?"

A little, actually. But perhaps a less amorphous answer is Amar'e Stoudemire, who had his biggest game of the young season in the clincher, dropping 30 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. As the final horn sounded, Nephi's beleagured big man trotted around the court tugging at his jersey and shouting "Chris who?"

It was by all accounts an iconic moment, but in an awkward follow-up scene, Stoudemire was interrupted by an unwelcome tap on the shoulder from team health advisor Tracy McGrady. "Um, Amar'e, I don't want to rain on your parade, but they got this thing called the player rater, and Chris Bosh is 95 spots ahead of you this week."

McGrady was notified by management shortly thereafter that his services were no longer required on the grounds of "trying to do too much."

Around the WFBL

Abominables 6, Jai-Rai 3

Tigers 5, Kings 4

SnowBees 5, Sundancers 4

Iguanas 6, Butchers 3

Underdogs 6, Trojans 2, Everyone 1

Week 2 Game of the Week Voting Results:

Nephi Stratagem 6 (85%)

Twin Falls Gators 1 (15%)

Week 2 EBP:

Chris Paul, Zermatt—6 votes (66% of vote)

________________________________________________________

Fun Facts: Nov 10-Nov 16, 2008

Gallon of gas: $2.22

Gallon of milk: $2.74

#1 Song: "Live Your Life"—T.I. Featuring Rihanna

#1 Movie: "Quantum of Solace"

Each week, This Week in the WFBL looks back and shines a light on a moment in the WFBL's illustrious history. This week, we look at Week 3 from 2008 (Nov 10-16). The Underdogs were fresh off of a dominating 2006-2007 season that ended with a monumental collapse in the playoffs. The 2008 season was not treating St. George kindly, and two weeks in, Dwight Howard and co. were winless and looking for answers.

WEEK THREE, NOV 10-16, 2008

U-Dogs Find Alter-Ego, True Selves in Victory

ST GEORGE (AP)—Most people think that when elderly people flock to St. George, Utah, around November it's because they're trying to escape the snowy weather in colder climates to the north. But people who think that aren't being honest with themselves. The true reason for these "snowbirds'" yearly migration is to cheer for and attend home games of their beloved St. George Underdogs. (Many experts—the honest ones, at least—now believe that actual birds fly south in the winter for the same reason.)

But not all has been well for U-Dog faithful of late. In fact, during their recent match-up with the Richmond Butchers, the tension in Super Energy Vitamin Pill Arena was so thick you could cut it with, well, a butcher knife. As the closely-contested series wore on, a familiar, plaintive cry rose from the anxious crowd: "Oh where, oh where have my Underdogs gone?"

Where, indeed? At 7-10-1, still without a series victory this season, the Underdogs appeared to be a mere whimper of their former selves. Were these the same Underdogs who, just a season ago, rocketed to a league-record win total and coasted into a first-round playoff bye?
Well, no, these aren't the same Underdogs at all. Only center Dwight Howard remains on the roster from last year's team. So to the previous question, "Oh where, oh where have my Underdogs gone?" the answer is "Mostly to other teams."

"But they are the same uniforms, dang it!" insists newcomer James "Pocket Full of" Posey. "And that counts for something." Against the Butchers, it counted enough for a 5-3-1 win.

But what took so long? Why the two-week losing streak? "I think it took us a while to find ourselves," suggests Dwight Howard, who, until this week, while he was still looking for himself, had asked the media to address him as Dwight Coward. "I know I personally was wondering to myself, 'All those powers I have—rebounding, blocking shots—is that the real me?' Am I being true to myself when I do that, or am I really more cut out to be a mild-mannered shoeshine boy or something like that? Do I want to be superhuman, or do I have a better shot with the ladies, ironically, as an average mortal? I know it sounds crazy, but those are the thoughts that went through my head."












According to league psychoanalyst and literary theorist Phil Jackson, it does sound crazy, but it's not that unusual: "It's actually very common for people with superpowers to suffer an identity crisis, especially if they've been trying to blend in with society with an alter ego. In fact, it's so common it's almost archetypal in the superhero genre, and it usually occurs by the second or third episode. Superman, for example, had two identity crises: one each in Superman II and III. Spider-man 3 is another good example."

So what does it take for superheroes like Dwight Howard and company to snap out of it and just be super already? "Often something as simple as finding a glowing green crystal in the snow will do the trick," Professor Jackson says. "Others need an existential, logic-straining, hand-to-hand battle with one's somehow-embodied alter ego. You kind of just have to turn off your brain to understand that one, but it worked for Superman. As for Spider-man, I have to admit I never actually watched that movie, so I don't know how it worked out for him."

Howard says that for him it was really much simpler than all that. "I finally realized that it didn't matter who the 'real' me is. Winning is more fun than losing, and the superhuman me is better at winning." In other words, Howard seems to have just "decided" that he wanted to block 18 shots and grab 58 rebounds and score 81 points and shoot 53%. U-Dog fans are more than willing to turn their brains off every week if he can keep putting up those kinds of numbers.

So with Howard and his true self—or, at least, the self we all like best—firmly found, the U-Dogs welcome Uncle Ben's defending-champion Zermatt Abominables, who haven't lost in a really, really long time. U-Dog fans hope Howard keeps better track of himself this week so he doesn't lose himself again, or, if he does misplace himself and someone else finds him, they hope they will promptly return him so he can put Zermatt's ridiculous win streak to an end.

The Abominables plastered the Underdogs 6-2-1 the following week, and Zermatt's ridiculous win streak continued. But Howard eventually found his true self.