aalogo2.jpgThere’s an old saying that goes, “If you come out of Itaewon standing up, then you never really were in Itaewon.”

Okay, I just made that up, but it applies here as the Anyang Andres pranced into Itaewon only to be handed their first defeat of the season, falling 71-53 to the Sweet Life.

Looking at the big picture, the loss was not too damaging as the Andres still have a two-game lead over division rivals BuPyeong and Konkuk, both of whom also lost.  But Bossman Andre is not too happy.  Noting that the defeat felt like, “being kidnapped by Park Chung Hee’s henchmen from the Korea Central Intelligence Agency, blindfolded and put on a boat, then tied down to a cross-shaped wooden board while his capturers debated ways to sink the boat*,” a nonplussed Andre said,

“Iceberg likely wouldn’t return as coach unless Anyang reaches the IKKFL championship game for the first time in three years ever.

“His job is on the line,” the owner was quoted in Sunday’s editions of The Record of Anyang. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in fantasy football, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this league.”

Asked for a response, Iceberg replied,

“You’re not surprised by whatever comes down the pike,” Iceberg said. “You don’t always get used to it, but you understand if you want to work here - and there’s a great deal of upside to working here - that there are certain things you have to deal with. We’ve had ultimatums during the season, early in the season. This obviously is down to a game we need to win, and you’d like to believe everybody’s trying to pull in the same direction.”

My greatest regret concerning the loss was not starting the Seahawks defense.  Their 22-point effort would have put the Andres on top.  That’s what I get for not sticking with my team.

Still, the league has reached its midway point and if you asked me at the beginning of the season if I would have taken a 6-1 record I would have answered, “I guess so.”

Overall, I’m satisfied with the performance of my team, but there are a few questions heading into the second half of the season.  They are:

Will Tony Romo escape his funk of the past three weeks?
Can Adrian Peterson keep up his remarkable pace?
Can frickin’ Kurt Warner hold onto the ball enough for Edgerrin James to get his carries?
Will Andre Johnson come back one-hundred percent from his injury?
Will Torry Holt be able to continue to ignore the disappointment of playing for a truly crap team (the Rams) and put up solid performances?  Or will he say, “Screw it!  I’m just gonna have another knee surgery!” and be done with it?
Will the Seahawks defense ever discover its true identity?

The answers to these questions are waiting in the second half of the season.

This week’s IKKFL standings:

BAEKCHE DIVISION                            W   L   T   PF   PA   GB
Anyang Andres                                   6   1   0   508   432   -
BuPyeong Silverbacks                          4   3   0   456   397   2
Konkuk Blood Mages                            4   3   0   454   426   2
Hwayng Wangjabyungs                       3   4   0   407   416   3

SHILLA DIVISION
Busan Power Outage                           4   2   1   381   402   -
Ansan Blue Poo                                    3   3   1   457   380   1
Wonju Wobblers                                  3   4   0   424   466   1.5
Hahoe Mask Drama                              2   5   0   378   427   2.5

GOGURYEO DIVISION
Gangnam Georiae Namjas                   6   1   0   445   378   -
Oh Roh Gi Boong Oh Baang                 3   4   0   469   452   3
Itaewon Sweet Life                             2   5   0   364   446   4
Songdo City Galbitangs                       1   6   0   376   497   5

Next week’s opponent:  The Andres craft war versus the Konkuk Blood Mages.  (Had to look up what a Blood Mage was.  Not a big gamer.) 

*More on that story here.