BREAKING NEWS!!!

With the Independence Day holiday weekend forthcoming, and the subsequent lack of games due to league byes, it's rather appropriate to take a look back at the first half of the summer season, pick some winners and losers, and comment on a crazy, upset-filled weekend.

The Week That Was (Crazy). 

Based on the Wisconsin Power Rankings, there were 3 big upsets in the state this weekend.  #14 Green Bay Gladiators took down undefeated #4 Fox Valley Force, while the #9 Muskego Hitmen handed the #3 West Bend Junkyard Dogs their first loss.   And the #20 Shorewood Monarchs (they of the 1-3 record) handed last year's IFL runners-up #11 Wauwatosa Spartans an ego-crushing defeat.  This cut the number of undefeateds in half, with only #1 Madison and #2 Chippewa Valley remaining unblemished.

It also seriously shook up the playoff picture in the IFL, and added a dash of intrigue to the NEFL- specifically the East Division.  Boasting a 5-1 record, Fox Valley still sits in the driver's seat for the East title and the #2 seed, but with the win, the Gladiators have upped the ante for their remaining schedule.  If the Glads can win out, including a rematch with the Force, both teams will (theoretically) finish at 6-2.  Holding the tiebreaker, Green Bay will be rewarded with the East title and the automatic hosting seed, while Fox Valley, long considered the beast in the East, would be relegated to travelling for the playoffs.  In addition, the win validated the Gladiators as a team that can no longer be taken lightly, something owner Nathan Smithson has been building towards for three full seasons.

The Hitmen victory, while considered an upset, is less of a surprise, as Muskego has been a powerhouse in the IFL's NFC conference for many years.  West Bend, the newcomers to the league, had started out white hot, defeating the always-dangerous Milwaukee Venom and the Wauwatosa Spartans.  At the time, the victory over the Spartans seemed to serve as the coronation of the Dogs immediately into the IFL's upper echelon.  But now, with three losses, the Spartans no longer loom as the titans they once were, and the loss to the Hitmen has (temporarily) caused a loss in elevation for the heights West Bend had achieved.  Simultaneously, the win reminded folks around the league that Muskego can never be counted out.  Two weeks ago, the Hitmen seemed on the verge of mediocrity, having posted pedestrian numbers against several one-win squads and losing to Burlington.  After Saturday, no one can justifiably bank on the Hitmen being middle of the pack; however, with games against the Spartans, Mustangs and Venom looming large, neither can Muskego sit back confident in their re-found respect.  The next three weeks will establish the pecking order of the IFL.

Largest on the scale of "did I just read that right?" is the 26-23 victory posted by Shorewood.  Underdogs by 18.5 points, Shorewood went up early and refused to yield to a Spartans team that, despite a 3-2 record, was still considered the class of the AFC (a position that now belongs unchallenged to Burlington).  More importantly, it puts Shorewood in good position to stake a claim to the AFC's wildcard, with two games against one-win teams in the coming month.  There is a better than 50% chance that, at the end of week 9, Shorewood could be 4-4 and sitting above Wauwatosa, who could be 4-5.

Of course, everything plays out in due time.  And as this weekend proves, nothing can be counted on early.

The Season So Far 

+ Madison's winning streak, dating back now three years, has reached 29 games following their 30-2 win over Greendale Saturday night.  Twenty-nine consecutive wins officially puts this team in the national record books, cracking the top 12 longest winning streaks of all time.  They have now tied another Mustang team, the Los Angeles Mustangs, who won 29 straight from 1968-1971.  #11 sits two wins away at 31 straight, while #1 would require longevity almost unheard of...the Chambersburg Cardinals won 72 straight from 1977-1984 in Pennsylvania.

+ Chippewa Valley has remained dominant in the NEFL, stretching their winning streak to 18 following a 72-0 shellacking of the Central Wisconsin Spartans.  The game marks the fourth time this season the Predators have won by 35 points or more.  Not surprisingly, CV is making a strong case for dethroning Madison as the top-ranked team in the state.

+ The South Metro Dragons have begun the season 5-1, brandishing a sword that has been used to chop down all the naysayers, including WSP's prediction that the team would struggle following the move from the NPFL to the NEFL.  Of course, with a 6-2 record, including a win over the IFL's Burlington Blue Devils, the Menomonie Thunderhawks of the NPFL are proving that that league is not to be taken lightly.  Having dominated and claimed the crown last year, perhaps the Dragons were more prepared for the NEFL than anyone thought.

+ Speaking of Burlington, the Blue Devils are thumping their chests all over the football messageboards, and so far, rightly so.  Following a loss to Madison, all the Blue Devils have done is take care of business.  Of course, their 3 wins have been at the expense of teams with a combined 4 wins.  But the 22-19 victory over Muskego is a serious feather in the cap.

+ The defending NAFL Champion St Paul Pioneers have looked a little stymied by the competition in the NEFL.  They took consecutive losses to the Predators and the Superior Stampede, but at 4-2 still sit in good position for the playoffs.

+ Fox Valley, despite the loss to Green Bay, continues to look strong.  As do the Superior Stampede, who have come back from a ho-hum season in 2009 to post a 4-1 record to start 2010.  The biggest surprise in the NEFL, however, belongs to the Central Wisconsin Spartans.  Picked to finish well and make a serious post-season push, the Spartans have failed to earn a single W so far.  Likewise with the Upper Peninsula Arctic Blast, who also sit at 0-6.