The State of Women's Football

California Quake defense stopping Danielle Moyes short of carrying the ball over the goal line.

by MICHAEL RAMOS

What is the state of women's football when one team beats another 81-0? It's a legitimate question, because every Saturday, scores like this can be seen across the women's football landscape.

If you look closely, our game against the California Quake provides a couple of answers on what's going on with the game.

The first is there are a lot of teams with a great deal of heart, and passion for the game. The Quake exemplified this in every way. They agreed to play is when others backed out. They knew we had 45+ on our roster, and agreed to meet us with 13 players. You want to be impressed? Watch a team like the Quake play nearly the equivalent of iron-man football.

Regardless of the score, those ladies were impressive. Furthermore, they were well-coached. For a short-handed team, they flew around the field, and gang-tackled. And even though they didn't have any subs, it was offset by the fact they were well-conditioned. The Quake players didn't commit the mental mistakes most teams in that situation normally do. There were few holding or offside penalties, there weren't any pass interference calls because their cornerback was lazy and didn't play good coverage.

What gets lost in the lopsided score is the disciplined brand of football the Quake played. They did the little things. In football and in life, the little things are the difference between winning and losing. Don't believe me? Look at the Olympics, where the gold and silver medal is decided by hundredths of a second. The NBA Finals have been won by a jumper inches from being blocked. This year's Super Bowl was decided by a diving interception at the goal line.

So if you find a team that doesn't jump offsides and swarm-tackles, don't sleep on them. I'll take a team like that all day. Disciplined football is what championship coaches preach.

So a big shout out to the Quake. They earned the respect of every player on the Falconz. If they continue to heed their coaches' advice, and if they can increase their numbers in talent-rich California, they're going to be a handful. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a strong, clean rivalry.

The flip-side to that coin, however, is there are a lot of cowards out there. There are a number of opponents with larger numbers than the Quake which refuse to play us. And while there is a lot of bickering back and forth about which league is the best and which ranking system holds the most weight, the bottom line is teams from the "superior" league backed out of playing us.

Some say it's political, but I'm calling b.s. We steamrolled every team we've played from the WFA, and this year we've done nothing but add size and depth to our roster. If rankings haven't taken that in to effect, they're not worth the paper they're printed on.

But that's a blog for another day.

For now, it's off to Denver to pay the Mile High Blaze. Of all the teams we've played, the Blaze has been able to consistently move the ball against us. They're tough at home, so this is going to be a good game. A tough team that wants to play us? That's great for women's football.