By: Coop DeVille (LFL360.com)
Photo: Joe Petro/LFL PHOTOS
Well how about this? It’s déjà vu’ all over again. Thank you, Yogi. Back on November 11, 2011 a rivalry started to simmer between LA and ‘Vegas. With the Sin pulling off the then so-called upset, both teams find each other once again in the Western Conference playoffs with the temperature rising to a full-rolling boil.Each team brings their own unique twist into this match-up. Las Vegas Sin coach Dion Lee looks like the second coming of Nostradamus while the Temptation makes getting to the playoffs look like a daily occurrence. Regardless of records and even the previous meeting, the season for both teams begins Sunday.
Let’s do the thing.
I’m beginning to think that the City of Orleans is granting parking spaces to the Temptation outside of Citizens Business Bank Arena. Possibly a key card to get in, meal tickets and private restroom entrances. Why not? They have made this a common theme. This isn’t a Cleveland Browns situation, however. And I’m showing my age, but many moons ago, the Browns made it a habit of getting to the championship game but never advancing. L.A. doesn’t have that problem. In fact, not only do they move on to the big game, they end up bringing home the hardware.
Earlier in the year I picked a rematch of last years Lingerie Bowl that would feature Los Angeles and Philadelphia. I’m looking pretty good so far, but based on performance, I don’t feel as strongly about the Temptation as I had. The team is resilient; I will give them that. But it’s not the dominating force we witnessed the previous two seasons. The league watched the Temptation steamroll through their opponents and no one really could step in their way, save a resilient Philadelphia Passion team who almost dethroned the defending champs in last year’s bowl. This year however, several teams exposed glaring weaknesses and go toe-to-toe with an actual game plan, rather than “Tebowing” and hoping for the best.
One thing that I don’t try to do against ‘Tui’s Terrible Defense’ is run. If anything, run the other way. I’m not putting myself in front of that Redwood Forest and take a beating from that defensive line, namely Tessa Barrera and Amber Reed. I am however, even with some playmakers like Ogom Chijindu in the secondary, going to toss the piggy around the field. That is L.A.’s vice. You can throw the ball on this team. I’m not saying Nikki Johnson is going to challenge Norm Van Brocklin’s single game passing record, but she will be able to put up some numbers.
The field will be flooded with playmakers on both sides of the ball for the Temptation. I’m sure that it wouldn’t be hard to field an All-Fantasy team based on L.A. players alone. When you have two titles under your belt, that’s pretty good ammunition to say that your franchise has the best players in the league.
So what do I think is going to happen on Sunday? I have to stick to my guns. I mentioned earlier that I picked L.A. to make it to Lingerie Bowl IX. There is a difference though about when I picked them last year versus this year. I wouldn’t be stunned if the ladies in black don’t make the trip to Vegas. I’d like them to go ahead in put a sock in my mouth with a strong performance, but like everyone else, we’re all wondering what team will show up on Sunday.
So who saw this coming? Well, I know of at least one person!The Sin has yet to lose, they made the playoffs, they are the feel good story of the league to this point and have a shot to play in Lingerie Bowl IX as the home team. That’s not a bad racket by any means. They definitely won’t have to worry about travel arrangements. This game is definitely marked as a ‘Win or Go Home’ situation. Well, in the Sin’s case, if they win, they do go home. There is not much analysis that I can do on behalf of ‘Vegas because they’ve done all that they have had to do.
They already beat L.A., so there’s not much I can say there. The Temptation coaches are going to be the one to have to look at film to see what can be exposed. The best point I can make for Las Vegas’ ladies is what I touched on in my last article when they took on Green Bay. This is not an instance where you can lose the game and be fine with it, because no one thought your team belonged here in the first-place. At least not until the dismantling of L.A. in a defensively dominating second half.
There is a ton of pressure on the top-ranked Western Conference team because the person that did think they would be here was their coach. People will not shove that to the side. The public chomps at the bit for games like this. A prominent figure within the organization makes an extremely bold prediction and everyone on the outside waits to see if it fails. If you need any reassurance of that, please give my friend Rex Ryan a call in New York. In the Sin’s defense, it’s great motivation to know that your coach has the utmost faith in you to go out and win. The possible backfire to that though is that I’m sure that ‘guarantee’ will be taped up in every nook and cranny in the Temptations locker room. And if they weren’t going to do that, after reading this article, they probably will. I know I would.
I’m impressed with the Sin. I like how they play. They don’t really blow you away in any one particular fashion, but they just play solid football. My only concern for them is that the playoff atmosphere is a completely different monster. The stakes are higher, the crowds are rowdier and the pressure is almost immeasurable. It would be great to play in Lingerie Bowl IX in your own backyard. The one huge obstacle you face however; is that you have to play a game against the two time defending champs on their turf.
That’s going to be tough. Really tough!
Tags: 2012, coop deville, game 26, Las Vegas Sin, lfl playoffs, Los Angeles Temptation, Western Conference
