CT Wildcats crushed by injury but Axemen advance to semi-final

[danno]

I am happy and sad at the same time.  Hopefuly they will get something scheduled for Sat the 14th!

From: http://jaxaxe.com/Home/tabid/129/newsid540/414/Default.aspx

The CT Wildcats, who ended the season at 7th spot and earned the right to face off against the Axemen in Jacksonville on August 14th, have been decimated with injuries in the last three weeks. The Wildcats have suffered injuries that sidelined a large number of their players and they had their biggest fears confirmed late Friday afternoon when medical reports showed that almost all their key players would not be healthy in time to make the trip to Jacksonville. This has left the Wildcats team with minimal eligible players due to the "three game rule" that applies to all AMNRL teams. The rule states that "all players must play at least 3 regular season games to be eligible for any play-off game" and was implemented to ensure teams could not use "ringers" from other international competitions once they learned they had made the playoffs.

The Wildcats faced a bruising end to their 2010 campaign having to face off against the Boston 13's, the New Haven Warriors and then the War at the Shore tournament on July 31st. Their situation became obvious when they had sustained so many injuries they had to withdraw from their final game during the War at the Shore even after posting a win against the New England Immortal all-star side.

Due to all other teams having made plans and paid for travel and accommodations for the 1st round match-ups, the Axemen have been granted an automatic win and will advance to the semi-final round with a home game on August 21st. (See notes below on early game time)

The AMNRL confirmed the injury issues to the Wildcat players and said in a statement late last night, "We have looked at all the options to restructure the playoffs and have decided that the fairest thing to do for all teams is award Jacksonville the win and for them to advance. We factored in the Axemens record over the season based on possible opponents as well as the cost involved in forcing a team to make last minute travel arrangements to Florida on top of already having paid for travel to other cities. The decision was reached after determining the most likely outcome of a team traveling to the Axemen and that adding the approximate $10,000 travel bill to any team would be more a penalty than a promotion. All other playoff match ups will stay the same."

The Axemen, although happy to accept the win have sent their wishes to the Wildcats and especially their players who battled so hard all season, only to have this effect them so severely. "It is tough to end any season out of the playoffs", said Spinner Howland, "but to have your season end like this and with so many players injured is a tough way to bow out after making the post season. I feel for them and hope their players use this as motivation for the future."[The Axemen are now trying to plan an exhibition game for August 14th and are reaching out to known sources to secure an opponent. "It is nice to get a week or two off, but with our bye falling at the end of the regular season and now this, we have had too long away from contact", Spinner commented. "We need to get the guys some kind of game with contact to prepare for the semi-final. We have been bashing hard at practice but it is just not the same"

The Axemen will announce any progress as it develops however they do want to confirm that the August 21st home game will take place at UNF.

They are also looking into moving kick-off forward to 2.30pm in an effort to allow their fans to make the first Jaguar pre-season game as well.