Tampa Bay Bumbles Way to 2014 Moldy Carpet

Hey, sorry guys, I see I never posted the results or a final report on the 2014 season. As you may recall, since 2012 I have actually "played" a Doormat Bowl game using a complicated 5-die (one of them a triangle) game that takes the quality of the teams into consideration.

So very late, and my apologies, here are the results from last year:

Bootineers Out-bumble Titanics to take Moldy Carpet in Wild Game on Frozen Minnesota Turf

MINNEAPOLIS--Both finishing the season at 2-14, the Tampa Bay Bootineers and the Tennessee Titanics rolled into Minneapolis, Minnesota for a final punt-fest showdown in the new Vikings stadium. Unfortunately, the stadium was not finished so they had to move the game to the nearest high school (West High), but someone had recently fertilized it with weed killler by mistake. No matter, it was 7 degrees at game time with snow on the ground.

But before we begin the game coverage, here is a look at 5 places you just have to visit in Minneapolis:

Minneapolis Viking Park

Minneapolis Saturday Market

Minneapolis Archery Range

Minneapolis Fitness Center (they like to be fit in the twin cities)

Skating Rinks (OK, she might be at one and she said she likes skating)

And now for the game summary:

LINE SCORE: 

TAMPA BAY  0  7  17  14--38
TENNESSEE  3 22   3   6--41

There were 8 punts and 6 fumbles in the game, two fumbles on kickoff returns. Early in the game Tampa Bay efficiently stayed on the ground for 3 and outs, leaving Tennessee with field position so good they could not avoid scoring, and they took an early 0-3 lead. The Titanics  blew up the second quarter with 22 points, 14 of them after recovering a fumble inside the Tampa Bay 10. The Bootineers looked unstoppable.

By half Tampa Bay was cruising to the Moldy Carpet with a 7-25 lead, but Tennessee managed three punts under 15 yards, missed two field goals, and tossed a pic six as the Bootineers found themselves scoring 17 points in the third quarter. 

Early in the fourth quarter the Titanics expertly worked field position, gifting the Bootineers with two more TDs and a lead of 38-35. It looked like the Titanics would win the Moldy Carpet after all. By the way, the Houston Oilers became the Tennessee Oilers and then the Titanics, so if you go by franchise, Tennessee was about to win its 5th Doormat Bowl.

But it was not to be. With less than a minute on the clock, Tampa Bay fumbled yet another punt at it's own 5 yard line and a Tennessee player fell with it into the end zone. They missed the PA, but it was no help as Tampa Bay let the clock run out.

Final score, Tamap Bay 38, Tennessee 41.

And that's the 2014 Doormat Bowl. Now, after the game, this reporter decided to stay in Minneapolis a few days and enjoy the culture. More about that later....