Official EFLI schedule and further expansion news

Kurt Warner and his wife Brenda
delivered footballs to school children
throughout India.

Yea, I know I've posted numerous iterations of what the Elite football League of India's schedule was, but this time -- instead of me guessing based on conflicting newspaper accounts -- the news comes from an EFLI press release.

The July games are not preseason games, they are the league's first season. From an earlier post of mine: [t]he season has been moved up to kick-off on July 15th with 4 games. Also, the 8 teams for the inaugural season have been finalized and split into 2 divisions:

East - Dehli Defenders (India), Colombo Lions (Sri Lanka), Kandy Skykings (Sri Lanka), Kolkata Vipers (India)
West - Mumbai Gladiators (India), Bangalore (India), Pune (India), Pershawar Wolf Pak (Pakistan)

However, they are also still playing their games starting in November. They're calling that their second season and it will have an expanded number of teams, although I'm not sure which extra teams will play in in that season.

As for the expansion news, Kurt Warner has been involved with EFLI for some time and is increasing his involvement in the league. From the press release:

Earlier this year the famed football star, Kurt Warner and his wife, Brenda invested in the EFLI procuring a small piece of the league and delivering footballs to school children throughout India.

Based on the overwhelming reception throughout Southeast Asia, the EFLI has chosen to accept the request of the Nation of Bangladesh to become the next country to participate in the league. The Warner Family has decided to significantly increase their ownership stake of the EFLI and will be the first and only team owner to date of the first team of Bangladesh. Few people realize that the population of Bangladesh is the world's 7th largest. Consider that this is a population larger than that of Russia encompassing a land mass the size of the State of Illinois.

"In 2001, Brenda and I established our First Things First Foundation to impact the world around us! Yet, we have always dreamed of doing more. We believe our investment in the EFLI is a unique opportunity to see our dream realized! We believe the EFLI can impact Southeast Asia through both the introduction of the great game of football, and it's philanthropic potential. We look forward to the EFLI, and to the development of the game of football, as we hope to help many young athletes and families achieve success they have only dreamed of."

So, Kurt Warner is the owner of a new team from Bangladesh which will start playing in the November season. It's a shame, Bangladesh is a team I could pull for, but as a Packer fan I still have nightmares about the 2002 Packers/Rams playoff game where Favre threw 20 or 30 interceptions. Well OK, it was only 6, but it sure seemed like 20 or 30 at the time.

Speaking of teams I am a fan of, regular readers will know I am a huge fan of the Chennai Swarm. The only problem being -- the Swarm any or may not exist anymore. I've heard rumors that they may have been absorbed by another team. If so, I like to think they absorbed the other team and the league just got mixed up and gave the combined team the wrong name.

What can I say? I'm an eternally optimistic football fan. Just like I watched that 2002 playoff game and kept thinking to myself, "Favre can't possibly throw another boneheaded interception", I refuse to believe that my beloved Swarm are but a memory. So, as always, I'll sign off with... 

Gooooo Swarm Go!!!

My EFLI schedule confusion returns

Picture from the Post Noon

I must say, it has been an adventure trying to cover the new Elite Football League of India (EFLI) from afar. In my May 23rd EFLI post I thought I had the teams and schedule finalized. 

However, the May 29th Post Noon article American Football comes to town throws that all into question. From that article by G Aparna Sai (aparna.s@postnoon.com):

The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) happens to be the first men’s professional American Football league in India. Backed by the Sports Authority of India(SAI), the EFLI has nine teams from India alongside three foreign sides participating — a team each from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The league is set to hold its pre-season in Sri Lanka during the month of July while the inaugural season is set to kick start in November in India.

So we're back to 12 teams and the July schedule, which only features 8 teams, are preseason games? To deepen the mystery, my beloved Chennai Swarm updated a graphic on their Facebook page on June 1.

Looking further, EFLI also updated their Facebook graphic on June 1st and their About page lists 12 teams: the Bangalore Warhawks, Bengal Tigers, Chennai Swarm (Whoo-hoo!!!), Colombo Lions, Delhi Defenders, Hyderabad Skykings, Kolkata Vipers, Lahore Badshahs, Mumbai Gladiators, Peshawar Wolfpak, Pune Marathas and Punjab Warriors.

So, as near as I can tell, they're having a preseason in July played in Sri Lanka that only consists of 8 of the League's teams which oddly ends with some playoff games; and then they're having their full inaugural season which will still start in November. But I might be wrong about all that -- Lord knows I've posted about a bajillion different listings of the teams in the league so far, so there's no reason to conclude I have a handle on any of this yet.

Either way, there's plenty of time to hone our EFLI tailgating traditions and maybe, just maybe, the mighty Chennai Swarm are back!

Go Swarm Go!!!

 

EFLI 2012 teams & schedules finalized, as well as a new EFLI fan site

On these pages there has been a considerable amount of confusion over the teams in the new Elite Football League of India (EFLI), which is an American style professional football league being formed in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The first post at a new fan site, EFLIfans, deepened the mystery when he pointed out a newly posted EFLI schedule at the EFLI website that moved the start of the season from November to July, and indicated that there were now two Sri Lankan teams as well as one from Pakistan in the 8 team league.

I'm happy to report that I can now clear up the confusion. Crack internet sports journalist that I am, after much procrastination, I finally emailed EFLI and asked if they could clear up the matter. I got a prompt reply from Janice Foreman, the COS/Executive VP Business Development for the EFLI, to which she attached the 2012 EFLI brochure (which, to my embarrassment, I discovered can be can be downloaded from the EFLI website).

The season has been moved up to kick-off on July 15th with 4 games. Also, the 8 teams for the inaugural season have been finalized and split into 2 divisions:

East - Dehli Defenders (India), Colombo Lions (Sri Lanka), Kandy Skykings (Sri Lanka), Kolkata Vipers (India)

West - Mumbai Gladiators (India), Bangalore (India), Pune (India), Pershawar Wolf Pak (Pakistan) 

You'll notice that my beloved Goa/Chennai Swarm are not on the list of teams. Needless to say I was distraught, but then I remembered, "wait a second, I'm a sports fan. If there is any group as full of mindless optimism as sports fans I don't know it. I spent the 70s and 80s convincing myself on a yearly basis that the Packers were a playoff caliber team, why should I let the nonexistence of my favorite EFLI franchise discourage me from continuing to root for them?"

So, I've handled the problem by telling myself the Swarm are just in hiatus until the 2013 season, which all things considered is but a bump in the road, and by falling back on those two sports mantras: "we waz robbed" and "wait until next year!" So...

Go 2013 Swarm Go!!!