While the Dallas Diesel have been successful on the field this year, off the field they have encountered scheduling problems. It started for owner Jewell Portwood in May when the Port City Jaguars chose to play a TUFL playoff game rather than a scheduled game against the Diesel.
“They [the World Football League] should have made them [the Jaguars] choose,” Portwood told me by phone.
If that was all that would happen, the Diesel could recover from a lost game, but three weeks later, a scheduled game against the Houston Cardinal was cancelled. The recent storms had put another wammy on the schedule. The Diesel would lose that game too.
Courtesy of dfwdiesel.com
Following that game, the Diesel played back-to-back games with Austin teams, the Gamebreakers and the Vipers, picking up victories in each contest. And then, on cue, another game was lost win the Southeast Texas Demons forfeited the game on July 11.
Portwood blames the economy on some of the games lost.
“I’ve never seen anything like it [the forfeits],” he said after explaining he has been involved with semi-pro football for 20 years.
The Diesel beat the Texas Bulldogs the next week, and then, the following week, the Texas Sharks were a no-show. If the WFL calls the game a forfeit, that will be three forfeits on the Diesel schedule and one Did Not Play (DNP). The DNP game was against the Cardinal, who is not a league team, therefore, makes no difference in their playoff standing.
As of earlier this week, the Diesel stands as the third seed in the WFL, but the first tie-breaker comes down to points scored. With three forfeits on the schedule, it would severely hurt the Diesel’s shot at a top seed for the playoffs. Forfeited games result in only two points for the winner.
The Diesel will start their run toward the WFL Championship on August 15 after games with the Gamebreakers and the Bay Area Gamblers. Maybe then, they will get the play the games on the schedule.
The Diesel will return to Clark Stadium in Plano for their final game of the season, August 8 against the Bay Area Gamblers at 7:00 p.m.
