Houston Gamblers 36 Philadelphia Bell 3

World Bowl XXXII was held in Orlando, Florida today, the 3rd time they've hosted. Stop me if you've heard this before, but the 2005 USFL/WFL Champions are the Houston Gamblers, who defeated the Philadelphia Bell in decisive fashion 36-3. This was the 9th time the Houston franchise has played in the World Bowl and they have won every...single...time. All but one of those 9 have been won under the ownership of Cjfred68. CJ was gracious enough to take 5 seasons off between championships so others can get a taste, but that was enough as he takes the title back.

I won't be spending much time going drive for drive, but the start of the game saw both defenses come out strong as the first 5 drives were three and outs. Philadelphia was pinned deep in their own end after the 5th punt when Robert Patton came up with the play of the game, intercepting Joel Jasso at the Philadelphia 18, returning it to the 4. Randy Savage ran it in on the next play and the XP gave Houston a 7-0 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The game stayed 7-0 until we approached the middle of the 2nd, when Mark Merlo scored on a 24 yard run to push the lead to 14-0. A couple of drives later, J.J. Kilroy sacked Jasso in the end zone for a safety to make the score 16-0. Kilroy had 3 sacks and a hurry today plus the safety, and in a narrow decision, won the World Bowl MVP and will drive home in a brand new 2006 Corvette as is tradition.



I usually just go with whomever MFN lists first but they went OL. QB is usually the default but Dale Baber had his worst game of the playoffs and no single skill player went off for a huge game. Houston moved the ball methodically, outgaining the Bell 405-150 with 19 first downs. Philadelphia went with a bold strategy of not running the ball, instead opting to pass every down. Jasso completed 33/61 for just 190 yards, getting sacked 4 times with 1 costly INT. Robert Patton had the first big play to turn the tide but Kilroy was a pain for Jasso and the Bell OL to deal with all game, hence him getting the honor and the car.

Philadelphia's defense did a good job in the first quarter of keeping the potent Gamblers offense in check, but all of the three and outs by the Bell offense didn't allow the defense much time to collect their breath and they started to crack in the 2nd. Overall the Bell made Houston work for their yards, but the Gamblers had too many weapons and it was the unheralded, 20th ranked Gamblers defense that carried the day.

Dale Baber completed 33/54 for 281 yards and a TD, good numbers yes, but as I said before this was his worst game this post season...and he doesn't care. Randy Savage had 116 combined yards and a TD while Mark Merlo scored twice on just 6 carries.

Houston, we have a problem.....we are out of room in our trophy case.