AMERICA, JACK YEAH! (USA Football Photo)If you get a chance to see live football in July, you take it. Better yet if it features future Buckeyes. Throw in the fact that today's game against Canada is for a gold medal and it's icing (and not of the "here's a free faceoff in our zone" variety).
The 1pm final of the IFAF World Junior Championship will be a battle between the tournament's top seed in Canada, and the United States, the country that invented and perfected the sport. The name "International Federation of American Football" should provide a clue as to who might be favored, but the Canadians bring a surprising 7-5 all-time record against USA into the game (including three-straight wins, though those came in a defunct annual series taking place Super Bowl weekend and the talent level of those American teams was very meh).
With the game taking place in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it's only fitting that the inaugural Junior team roster is well-stocked. Future Buckeyes Storm Klein, a captain, and Jack Mewhort are part of the most talented national team roster to date and it's shown in complete ass-kickings handed out to France (78-0) and Mexico (55-0) earlier in the week. Thanks in no small part to future Hokie David Wilson and his 327 yards and 7 TDs in those two games, of course.
Canada advanced to the championship after squeaking by Japan 35-31 earlier in the week. Before you spit out your coffee, consider that the Japanese have been playing American football since the 1930s (or about six decades before the Florida Gators). It was a pesky Japanese team that Team USA had to rally past to win the last World Cup of American Football, if you will. If only Reggie White had known this!
So count me in. I've got popcorn, plenty of sodas and some free time after taking care of what I needed to over the long holiday weekend. There's only one problem: I don't get Fox Sports College. Unless you have DIRECTTV or subscribe to a sports tier, chances are you don't either. Thankfully, the games will be streamed over the tubes, and the announcers are supposed to be fantastic:
If by chance you are available on Sunday to watch the championship game, I highly recommend you tune in. The play-by-play commentators are bad. I mean Best In Show bad. So bad they actually started openly apologizing at one point. It's really something to witness.
