It has been my absolute pleasure to come up with the idea and help sustain the operation of the Springfield chapter of the Sunday Open Football Association for the past 11 months.

Together, we have all seen this group go from six to over thirty participants, and although they don’t all show up at the same time, we have been able to look forward to mixing and matching up different people on different teams each week.

The fun for me in SOFA wasn’t winning close games or making a memorable play every now and then, but rather being able to use our times at football to foster friendships and give us all something to look forward to each week.

As I leave this Friday to go to Washington, along with my belongings I will take a treasure trove of memories. Personal memories include my nearly impossible catch over Pete’s back in Week 10, and the catch just two weeks ago that I hauled in somehow after Kenny tipped it and it rolled off my face. Corporate memories include our first game at Kickapoo that saw a 58-56 double-overtime win, and my last game here, in which the Original Six retired with a 35-29 win that came with a great defensive play by Kurk.

I want to give credit and thanks to each and every one of you, the SOFA participants, players and family members, who have made every week possible. Without you SOFA would not exist, period. My utmost gratitude goes to you for devoting three hours of your Sundays to join in.

With this letter, I hereby cede control of the Sunday Open Football Association – Springfield Chapter to Ian McGibboney as Commissioner for the 2009-10 year. I trust that Ian will continue to keep the spirit of SOFA alive and that you all will do so as well.

I also hereby announce that the sofafootball.wordpress.com site will transfer to the new Vancouver, Washington chapter of SOFA, due to begin in September. For recaps, I urge you to please visit our Facebook page, where I have made Ian an administrator and given him the ability to write recaps and post events.

Once again, thank you all for the memories, and please continue to make good ones from here on out. I appreciate you all, and will miss each one of you.

Chris Brewer

The Original Six were able to retire on a good note in Week 43 of SOFA action by virtue of a come-from-behind, too-close-for-comfort 35-29 victory over the Desperadoes — by a mere three inches.

The final play of the game may have just been the defensive play of the year. Kurk, in his first game back in over two months, made a superb flag pull on newcomer Cody three inches from the goal line with no time on the clock and the O-6 clinging to a six-point lead.

The Desperadoes had seized control a mere five minutes earlier with a long touchdown drive led by Joe to take a 29-21 lead. But under the admonishment of his teammates, Chris performed the best he had at quarterback all year, throwing accurate passes to all teammates and opening up a 25-yard touchdown catch by Jerome as he toed the line in-bounds.

The conversion pass to Jack was good for a 29-29 tie, and the O-6 held on four straight plays on defense. Jack had a nice defensive play on fourth down, breaking up a pass intended for Kenny at the very last second.

With 1:20 to go in the game, Chris dinked and dunked to his teammates, getting down to the 30-yard line with 20 seconds to go.

It was then that Chris threw his final pass in SOFA — a deep out route to Jerome at the 5-yard line, just over the head of Cody who had come over to attempt the interception. Jerome caught it and ran into the endzone with twelve seconds left.

Of course that score set up a crazy set of events where the Desperadoes marched to the two-yard line, and setting the stage for that crazy final play.

With that victory, the O-6 officially retires as a team and carries an 11-1 all-time record into the sunset.

After today, Ian assumes the Commissioner title of SOFA. What this means is that he will have posting responsibility for recaps and events, and as such he can use whatever venue he chooses. This site will transition to the Vancouver chapter of SOFA after tomorrow.

For us SOFA people today, today was one of those days where we didn’t catch the breaks until it was a wee bit late.

We fell to my brother’s team 40-28 today, and while the score looks respectable, our team never really got into too much of a flow. We were plagued by five interceptions thrown by various QBs, and on defense we were burned by several good catches by their offense. Our D got it going in the second half but our offense couldn’t match it and we fell.

I will just say we were working out the kinks for tomorrow’s SOFA action.

Week 43, my final week as commissioner and as a member of the Springfield group, is tomorrow at 1:30. In honor of my final week, the Original Six including Jack, Jerome, Emily, Ian, Pete and Chris will give it one last hurrah before the team is retired. Please join us!

If you have a SOFA shirt, please bring it and wear it.

But I just may have had the catch of the year on a Kenny tip that I hit with my left hand and caught off the left side of my face in the endzone. Pete planned it thatway, ask him about it.

Next week will be my last as SOFA commissioner, and my last week in Springfield in general. Folks today overwhelmingly voted in Ian as next commish, but in the interest of fairness I will wait until Friday to hear from anyone else on the matter. If no one objects horribly, Ian will wear the dunce cap for a year term.

Also everyone please be sure to make it out next Saturday at noon. My brother’s church folks are expecting a good game so let’s make it so. Kickapoo practice field at noon on August 1…we will also be playing our normal SOFA matchup the next day.

Aloha!

From here on out, your three choices for Commissioner will be Jack Phillips, Jerome Nakagawa and Ian McGibboney. If you have already voted you may not change your vote; if you have not voted, you have until next Friday.

Vote NOW!

ELIGIBILITY FOR POSITION

As to who may be elected the new Commissioner, the criteria are as follows.

• An attendance that marks faithful membership in SOFA.
• The ability and willingness to schedule games, events and gatherings.
• The willingness to be a upstanding representative of SOFA to the outside public.
• A history of good sportsmanship and fair play, and a commitment to maintain good conduct in the future.
• The willingness to be in charge of contacting the group.

The Commissioner is not in sole charge of updating the SOFA website, writing recaps or carrying all game equipment unless he/she wishes to have those responsibilities.

Once elected, the Commissioner has full control of what goes on in SOFA – Springfield from this point forward, with me still acting as Founder and Advisor-at-large.

THE VOTE

We will elect a new Commissioner via private ballot by text, e-mail or private Facebook message. This is to ensure no one influences another person’s vote, and people’s votes are strictly their own.

ONE PERSON = ONE VOTE. All members are required to vote, under the condition one may NOT vote for themselves.

The vote shall be conducted by sending a short email with who you think should be Commissioner and why to me via text message, or via e-mail at chris -at- chris-brewer.com — or you may send it in a Facebook private message.

One shall win the election with a 2/3 majority among voting constituents. If this is not achieved, there will be a run-off vote between the top two candidates. If the run-off does not result in a 2/3 majority, the Commissioner will consult with the top two and ask if they wish to share Commissioner duties. If not, I will pick the winner between the two.

PRIVACY OF VOTE

Under no circumstances shall I reveal who voted for whom. Doing so would be a violation of the confidentiality of a private ballot.

Voting shall end on Friday, July 31 at noon. Votes will be certified by two members of SOFA selected at random in conjunction with the commissioner, prior to the second game on August 2.

Text me, email me at chris -at- chris-brewer.com or send me a direct facebook message with your vote as soon as possible.

Let the voting begin.

Chris Brewer