Week 5 in X1 Super- Battle for Position

As we ended the fifth week of the season, one thing has become apparently clear, as it usually does in Japan, and that is the fact that the top teams remain the top teams (Fujitsu, Panasonic and Obic), while the bottom teams are the ones, like the Suns, who really are quite literally out of their league. 

If the X League ever wants to be taken seriously and fill stands like the LFA and ELF is doing, then they need to address the parity issue that is nagging the league ever since our little podcast here began. Of course the same problem holds true in the college ranks as the KG Fighters win the national title nearly every year. 

Sigh...

Week 4 '24 X League Area- Back on Track

As we kick off the second half of the X1 Area schedule, though the weather is finally cooling off (it has been Mississippi hot here since June) in Japan, the jockeying for promotion and relegation position is just heating up, with the Tainai Deers, As One Black Eagles and Dentsu Caterpillars looking to take the pole position in each of their respective divisions.

The goal for each of the top three is to not just win their divisions, but also remain healthy and operating on all cylinders as they head into the post-season. For the bottom teams, Nagoya, Bulls F.C., and the Blue Thunders their goal for the remaining season has to be to try and improve, remain competitive, and for one team in particular, the Bulls, put some points on the board! Yet, even if they don't I know they will try their best.

Week 4 of '24 X League Super- To Win is a Habit

Week 4 of X League Super had few surprises.

As autumn settles in, the focus of the Japanese sports world is not focused at all on our favorite top-tier gridiron league here in the Far East. Especially yesterday, which was a national holiday called "Sports Day." However, right now, the focus of most has not been on amateur sports, but rather the Dodgers and Mets NLCS, which matters more here than perhaps the World Baseball Classic to Japanese baseball fans, or even the current NPB playoffs.

With that said, the X League is flying so far under the radar that us here seem to be the only ones in the English speaking world covering it.  Before you disagree, just know that the other major English language international gridiron news site simply copies, pastes and publishes (do they really have permission?) X League items. Maybe they think no one notices, but we have. Regardless, we do things here the old fashioned way- we use our own words.

Boogie Down- Week 3.5 in X1 Super

Remember the name "Boogie Knight"

During Week one of the X League Super, the Sekisui Challengers vs. Elecom Finies was postponed due to a typhoon, thus the game was rescheduled so the teams could play in between weeks three and four. For those who watched it, the game proved to be one of the great ones as the Challengers' passing duo of Garret Safron to Boogie Knight hooked up for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a squeaker over Elecom, 21-20.  On the Elecom side, David Pindell passed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for an additional 74 yards and another touchdown with the difference being the missed PAT after that final Finies score, proving again that special teams matter!

Shake It Off- '24 Week 3 X League Area Report

No blowouts in Week Three Area!

In a six game season, which is what the X League Super and Area teams play, every game counts, literally. For all it takes is one or two bad plays, or as what was seen in Dentsu's game against the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, poor officiating (in this writer's opinion), for a season to change. Six games means that time, possessions and opportunities cannot be either squandered or lost.

Such it was during week three Area play in which the games were, by X League standards, relatively close. There were no blowouts, like we always see in the Super, and the margin of victory for the Area games meant that the matches for the most part (at least as seen on paper, as none of the games were televised), remained close until the fourth quarter. With that said, none of the games repeated the aerial assault we saw in Week 2 by the Dentsu Caterpillars.

Week 3 of the '24 X League Super

Week 3 of Super X League play witnessed
the biggest upset since before the pandemic.

In week 3 of X League Super play there was another shake up at the top of the power rankings as IBM Big Blue knocked off the Obic Seagulls to enter into a three-way tie with the Tokyo Gas Creators for first place in the Eastern Division. For the X League, this was a MAJOR upset, as the balance of power in the league (Fujitsu, Panasonic and Obic being the near perpetual top teams in the league for many years), with second tier teams such as Tokyo Gas, the Nojima Rise, and Mike Phair's Big Blue team now challenging the status quo. As a result, and as stated last week, 2024 might be the first season in many years in which the Rice Bowl will not feature a battle of Japan's top computer brands. Yet despite the upset as the six game season reaches the midway point, the perpetual "have nots" continue to struggle, as is seen clear in the standings. Hopefully in week four, the Suns, Minerva and the Lions can break into the win column. 

Caterpillar Rising- Week 2 X League Area Report

In Japan, "kawaii" (cute)
mascots are everywhere

As a football fashionista, I am one of those weird guys who believes that "it is better to look good, than to feel good" as Fernando always reminded us during the 1980s on Saturday Night Live. Among those who appeared on Fernando's hideaway was Howard Cosell, who is one of this writer's biggest sports heroes (right next to Bob Griese). And much like Howard, this writer here will not just regurgitate what the X League says (or in the case of one American football international website- translate, copy and paste). We do more than report scores here, we also write original game summaries and teach people more about the game here in this great country. With that said, lets talk about week two in X1 Area play....

Week 2 of the '24 X League Super

 

In week 2 of X League Super play there was a shake up at the top of the power rankings as the Obic Seagulls, Tokyo Gas Creators and Sekisui Challengers put the top teams in the league, Fujitsu and Panasonic, that they can no longer be taken lightly this season. In fact, this season might be the first one in many years where the final game, the Rice Bowl, will not be another Panasonic vs. Fujitsu meet up in the Tokyo Dome. Unfortunately, this week also sadly brought another painful reminder of why the X League needs to address the on going issue of parity, for the beat down of weaker teams continued. 

Week 1 of the '24 X League Area

Week one of the X League Area (second tier teams) actually took place over the course of two weekends, with two games taking place on August 31 and September 1, respectfully, and three games on September 7.  The teams of the Area X1 subdivision are unfortunately the red headed step children of the X League when it comes to league coverage. Specifically, the league, just as they did last year, does not look to be providing game highlights for the Area teams, which, for gridiron fans here in Japan and abroad, is a disservice to the players and supporters of the league. The players, such as our own co-host, Aaron Ellis, deserve those highlights.

Week 1 of the '24 X League Super

As week one of the X League season approached, one thing was on every gridiron fan's mind in Japan (we are a small community here and therefore wasn't many people), and that was, would Typhoon Shanshan cause league officials to postpone the opening? Fortunately, only one game was scrubbed, that being the SEIKUSUI Challengers (formerly the Asahi Soft Drink) and ELECOM Kobe Finies, which was postponed with no new date announced. Weather impacted the remaining games and caused two of them (Fujitsu v. FUJIFILM and IBM v. All Mitsubishi) to be called in the final quarter due to lighting,. The weather adversely affected playing conditions as well, which in turn likely led some teams to turn back the clock to the 1970s and rely on the run more.