Interview with Jason

Pre-Week 10 interview with Jason of the Reapers by Nat Bly

Nat. Good afternoon Jason, how are you feeling?

Jason. Pretty good, just landed in Atlanta, it's such a playoff atmosphere here already!

N. Aside from your recent plane ride, your time in this league with the Reapers has been quite the ride. In 2010-2, you came in as a rookie with really impossible expectations, how did you deal with that?

J. It was tough, lucky I had another rookie with me in Joseph. He had it worse than me as a center and a higher draft pick. We were really able to bond and fight the hate together.

N. Speaking of hate, how did you guys cope with a winless season on an organization that had never experienced a time where they were not in playoff contention?

J. I think the OKC fans were a bit more understanding than the media made them out to be, but there was a big adjustment period  to understand that we were just starting to build for the future.

N. And build you did! After that 0-10 season the Reapers went 6-4 and ended the Interceptors undefeated season in the first game of the playoffs. What was that season like?

J. It was definitely a big growth year for me personally. My bud Joseph went to the Cat's so it was really on me to be the face of this team. We turned heads early on that season, we really had a nice unit. When we beat the Dizzy Devils, we knew we had the squad to do big things. Just to get to the playoffs was a blessing, but to beat our rivals when they were  having THE best season ever has no words. We will always be the spec of dirt on their historic season. That gives motivation to all other teams aiming for perfection.

N. Well said, you guys had the biggest win total turnaround in league history at 7. So after that season, you guys know you are marked. How did that fuel off-season workouts?

J. We stressed signals, plays, body language. We knew the skill was around us, we needed an extra factor to get elite.

N. How was the Hong Kong trip?

J. Man, you know how it was! Amazing! Who knew we had it in us to navigate to a championship, even though it was preseason. It gave us profound confidence.... Maybe too much.

N. The Reapers were confident indeed, they blasted off to a 4-1 start ranked #2 in the league. But currently sit on the longest losing streak in the league at 4 games.

J. Growing pains. When you are sitting at 4-1, you're not thinking about making the playoffs. You're thinking about what to do to win in the playoffs. I think we got caught with our pants down, trying new things. But as the losses piled up, we forgot what made us win.

N. Do you guys realize the situation you are in? It is absolute do or die for the Reapers, not to mention Margays and Dizzy Devils. Is there any league pressure felt?

J. All week we have stressed focusing only on us. I have friends on both teams but I don't care about their plight at the moment. We gotta figure out how to win.

N. With that said, you come into Atlanta to play a team with aspirations of gaining #1 for the season, it can't get tougher than this. How will you guys play it?

J. We can't forget they are a simple dodgeball squad like us. We know us better than anyone else, we have to hit on all cylinders. And I personally have to have the crowd shook.

N. Best of luck to you and the Reapers.

J. Thanks

Catch the Flex Final as the Reapers and Skylarks meet for the first time ever! On ZBS