Battlefield Promotions in The Legion
LEGION of DEFENSE – There’s been a pair of ‘battlefield promotions’ in AF’s all defense league, the LoD, this pre season. The Legion is unique in the Association not only in that it exclusively utilizes Team Defense and IDP players, but also in that it uses a tiered division structure, in which teams compete from seson to season to make it into the elite Premier Division. Almost all of the regular season matches in the Legion are in-division match-ups, so the tiering of the divisions means the elite get to beat up on each other all season. Being in the Premier Division also gives teams an extra shot at the Championship Tournament as the division has it’s own wild card bid, while the other wild card is an at-large slot.
Earlier this pre season in the Legion, last year’s Cheifs and 49ers batalions were expelled for inactivity, opening up two spots for incoming challengers, and now, as the check-in deadline has elapsed for returning teams, two more spots have opened up. Shockingly both of those teams failing to check in were Premier Division teams. Panther on the Prowl and last years Legion Bowl Champion, Public Enemy have both been removed from the Legion for the upcoming season. By League Rules, the removal means a pair of battlefield promotions for the two highest finishing combatants from 2015; the hand of fate falls on the shoulders of Insane Clowney Posse and Battering Rams.
Battering Rams was a Premier Division squad last season, finishing the regular season with a 6-5-1 record and the Premier Division Wild Card berth. They lost that slot to 2016 Premier club jlm loves defense, but then went on to sail through the Play-In Bracket…until they faced the Insane Clowns in the final round, which they lost 25 – 32. Insane Clowney, tore through the regular season with a 7-5-0 record – the only team to beat the eventual champion Public Enemy…twice. But they were edged out of a wild card berth by none other than jlm. After beating the Battering Rams in the Play-In Bracket Final, the Clowns went on to lose the Premier Bowl to the Panther 40 – 52. (Full 2015 Play-Off results can be viewed here) What all this boils down to, is that bad blood and rivalries already exist among 2016’s (finalized) Premier Division teams: jlm loves defense, Insane Clowney Posse, and Battering Rams. And the fourth team? That would be the veteran, Sacks Fifth Avenue. All Sacks did last season was plow through the season with an 8-4 record and then sweep through the Championship Tournament 3-0. Unfortunately they suffered an upset loss in the Legion Bowl that they’ll be primed to make right in 2016.
The new line-up of 2016’s Premier Division means the All-Pro Division will be filled with Chinese Bandits, Gates of Delirium, Mighty Pats, and Htown99; which opens up the newly renamed Reserve (now Rookie) Division to 4 new recruits. The four newbies for 2016 are: Animal Kingdom, Suspension Freaks, The Cavalry, and Sleeper Agent – may God have mercy on their souls……the Legion won’t.
