More of my coverage of Women’s College Flag Football and my second round of covering WNBA results. The first time was years ago and interest quickly died, so we’ll see if it goes better this time.
NAIA
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – The final day of the 2024 Flag Football playoffs saw the OTTAWA (KS) UNIVERSITY BRAVES needing a pair of wins to take their 4th straight National Championship. The 1st Game was against the WARNER UNIVERSITY ROYALS. A 7-7 opening Quarter tie remained unchanged at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Braves up 14-7, and in the 4th, Ottawa defeated the Royals 21-13. QB Madysen Carrera went 31 of 39 for 271 yards and 3 Touchdowns.
In the climactic game the Braves clashed with the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS. After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Ottawa U. led 13-6 at the Half. From there the Braves shut out Keiser while scoring 13 more points for a 26-6 victory with Carrera going 34 of 41 for 246 yards and 4 Touchdowns. OTTAWA UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN THE ONLY CHAMPION IN FOUR SEASONS OF NAIA FLAG FOOTBALL.
WNBA
BATTLE AT BARCLAY’S CENTER – Yesterday the NEW YORK LIBERTY hosted the INDIANA FEVER.
By Halftime the Liberty were on top 57-37, but the Fever cut that to a 73-58 difference to end the 3rd Quarter. Ultimately New York won out 91-80 led by Breanna Stewart with 24 points. Her teammate Jonquel Jones logged a Double Double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. CAITLIN CLARK led the Fever with 22 points. Continue reading
BLACK LIGHTNING Vol 1 #1 (April 1977) 
Jefferson Pierce was a gifted athlete from high school on up and even won medals in the Olympics. Disdaining celebrity, he became a teacher and ultimately moved back to the slums where he grew up and taught at Garfield High. 
TRADER HORN (1927) – This book was the quasi-autobiographical account of Alfred Aloysius Horn (1854-1931), a British trader in Africa during the 1800s. Ethelreda Lewis added pertinent commentary to each chapter. 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The NJCAA’s defending champs of Women’s Flag Football – the FLORIDA GATEWAY COLLEGE TIMBERWOLVES – took on the HESSTON COLLEGE LARKS for the 2024 title. 
FANTOMCAT (1995) – This animated adventure series is pretty much the overlooked stepchild of Cosgrove Hall’s much more well-known and longer-lasting series Danger Mouse. No spy antics in Fantomcat, however, but anthropomorphic cartoon animals represent all the characters. 
Fantomcat’s archenemy was the sword-wielding sorcerer Baron Hugo von Skelter. On the night of December 31st, 1699, a battle between our hero and von Skelter and his henchmen ended with the villains mystically trapping Fantomcat in a painting on the wall in Fantomcat’s castle. 
ROGER CORMAN (April 5th, 1926 – May 9th, 2024) – Many words have already been said about the passing of this film industry legend and I’m sure many, many more are yet to be said. From the 1950s to the current year – and with projects still in production – Roger William Corman was a Hollywood fixture. 
Roger was never known as someone who lacked talent, he was just in it for the money most of the time, and therefore kept his budgets tight and his schedules tighter. From 50s monster movies to Raging Youth films to whatever horror trends were ascendant to big-screen soap operas that could be more explicit with their content, Roger Corman was there, raking in bucks and working with future giants of the industry. 
BATTLE ROYAL – The WARNER UNIVERSITY ROYALS clashed with the WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WARRIORS. 
AND AT THE OTHER EXTREME … – The THOMAS UNIVERSITY NIGHTHAWKS were anti-drama in their game against the REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (should be the Rottweilers). 
This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog is a Double Feature. The main event is a look at the early adventures of Marvel’s neglected hero El Aguila (the Eagle). 
EL AGUILA 
Through trial and error, Alejandro found that long, slender metal objects were the best conductors for his bioelectricity and gave him the most accuracy with his energy blasts. He began using a sword through which to shoot his rays but to conceal his mutant nature publicly pretended his swords contained micro-generators that accounted for the rays he projected. 
THE VIOLET FLAME (1899) – Here is another of the science fiction works written by THE Frederick Thomas Jane, of Jane’s Guides fame. Previously, Balladeer’s Blog reviewed Jane’s works 
FRANCOIS VILLON PART SEVEN – We pick up this time in 1460, as Villon’s roaming career as a highwayman and armed burglar among the Coquillards was fast approaching its end, though the poet seems not to have realized it. None of his poetry from 1458 and 1459 has survived, unfortunately.
Balladeer's Blog 