Season #45

Admirals 1 final result : 15-1
Another AC West division title, gained passing over our arch-friends of Melittlemenon Thepitchhitchin, who remain the most loved rivals of Lakers. As it always happened in the recent history, the rush for the Division was again between these two teams who easily clinched two spots at playoff. We came up on top of the division and with the best record of the Conference.
Like the previous season, in the divisional playoff we matched the Melittlemenon for the third time in the season and we won for the third time after another fratricide match.
At the Conference Championship, Lakers met BobBoy Magpies, relegated from RZA Elite and eager to ramp up againg and go back to the Elite. A final that was openly lead by Lakers in the initial and central part with the Magpies trying a long comeback in the last quarter, that fell short at 0:38 in the 4th Quarter on a 4th and 11 at 14 yards from the End Zone to send the match to Overtime. A great match against a strong opponent that will look his revenge in the next seasons.

After 3 seasons, Lakers were about to play their 6th Bowl match with a 0-5 score so far. The risk is that Lakers could be considered one of the best runner-up of RZA history, since they have lost alla the finals played so far... including a legendary Supercup final.
The good news were that Historians shocked Admirals beating the Green Mark Packers in the Conference Final, which was an unexpected result for a team that had lost 0 matches until that moment. Packers have always been one of Lakers' dark beasts. That's why playing against the Historians was a morale inspiring information. Our rivalry against Historians were about to start, since there were few meaningless matches in the record books so far.
Lakers played on the wing of enthusiasm and dominated the match in the first three quarters, with an outstanding 3rd quarter that nailed the Historians' coffin.
With a resounding 48-17 the Admirals' Bowl moved to Bracciano for the delight of the fans. Our first victory in Admirals has a special taste: the taste of your preferred cake that you have waited for a long long period, while the "maitre patissier" was cooking in front of you with an excessive calm and with measured movements, while you were watching all preparations and waiting obsessively for the sublime moment of the first mouthful. The party started with an orgasmic sensation of well-being.

SuperCup : 15-0
SuperCup division was a flawless ride of 15 victories.
In the playoffs Lakers had one of the franchise traditional runs: won against Venom and Mulheim Steelers, only to be stopped by TigerCats after an hard fought match.

Champ of Champions : Not qualified

No Friendly Cups success to register

Seasonal individual titles:
Player Giacomo Rebellin received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league RB, rank: 3
Giacomo has collected many trophies season after season and he is carving his own legend in the Hall of Fame of the team. His results are the evidence of a great team cooperating to reach the highest results in the Admirals league.

The season started with many new assets to be assessed in the team, the most challenging was the change of the QB at the helm. Luca Vezzani replaced Leo Saguatti with charisma, leadership and will of sacrifice. He played a key role in the team equilibrium and deserved a title, who was never reached by his legendary predecessors, and the following run to Elite that is following that marvelous victory.
Financial nightmares are not scary anymore.

A good season helps morale and finances with the same beneficial elixir, which is the fans' affection.

Elite competition is as challenging as always, and the Admirals' division is filled with teams that have numbers to compete at the top level. We will try and learn which is our place in the food chain, but the objective is to stay competitive and remain in the Elite.

Only one player wanted more money than Lakers' balance could permit, therefore we lost one of the first string OT. We cannot afford to keep salaries above a predefined threshold and players must learn it if they want to show love and respect for this franchise.

Youth Academy has been a prolific forge of new talents and we can count on another good generation of possible stars. Veterans have always been replaced with continuity so far. This is our strategy for a long-term success history.

Hall of Famer for season 45 class: Pasqualino Todesco will represent the 45 class in the team HoF. He has beaten all WR stat records in all categories, replacing the legend Tad Vickers in all first places of the historical rankings.

Coaching staff:
No change. After a phenomenal season every contract has been renewed with joy. The coaching staff di an outstanding job with a partially rebuilt team.

Objective is to remain in Elite. We assess that an even record W-L could give us this minimum result, so Lakers will rush to gain 8 victories as soon as possible and by then learning if we can say something more in the Season 46 final ranking. It will be hard, but Lakers have all ingredients for the recipe. If players can keep their concentration and they can preserve the team spirit of the past season, the management will take care of the rest, providing easy sleep for everyone.

Here starts a season with many expectations and a bit of pride. With a Bowl award won, the past seems less a burden and Lakers can look at the future with some perspective. We only need to find some rhythm in the season and wipe off the negative thoughts to focus on the many, positive qualities we can put in the game.

In RZA Elite MediaCenter is a solid income generator and the difference in earnings with last Admirals season should be quite evident immediately. A long playoff SuperCup rush would help us so much, so priority is to gain a long playoff streak that can sustain our economy in the long off-seasonal weeks.
Fans are enthusiast and after the Bowl victory this is easy and hopefully long-term lasting. Difficulties in Elite will arrive soon. The team will fight with all its forces, but we know that it cannot be a long ride with only Ws. Their love for the team must be kept and demonstrated when times are harsh and the cloud are gathering above our heads... it is too easy to be loving and caring when everything goes in the right direction. As long as people are with us, Lakers fear nothing.

Last season economical choices have brought their fruits and, with a rational management, Lakers should be out of financial troubles for a couple of seasons. Going back into troubles can happen in any moment so Lakers must keep an high level of attention and monitor frequently the ins and the outs.
Lakers, Season #46 could be our season of consecration. Playoffs in both competitions would mark a definitive grow of the franchise. Remaining in Elite seems finally at our grasp, so let's make any possible effort to make this dream come true.

Keep positive thoughts, train hard, play harder and keep the right balance when the difficult days will come to scare us.

Season #44

Admirals 1 final result : 15-1
AC West division of Admirals 1 hosts the historical franchise of Melittlemenon Thepitchhitchin, who are the most loved rivals of Lakers. The rush for the Division was between these two teams who easily clinched two spots at playoff.
We came out on top of the division and with the best record of the Conference, tying the rivals Mascots in the other Conference at 15-1 record.
In the divisional playoff we matched the Melittlemenon for the third time in the season and we won for the third time after another hell of a game, but this time dominating with a big score gap.

At the Conference Championship, Lakers had the worst match of the year and were dominated by the Ralph's Warriors that played a masterpiece of game. Defense of the Lakers held the light on with turnovers that kept the score on knife's edge, but the comeback was halted 3 points short of the tie and it gave Warriors access to the Bowl and to the RZA Elite.

SuperCup : 13-2
Lakers went through a competitive SuperCup division with 2 losses. After the shining outcome of Season 44, it could sound like a poor result, but expectations and reality are seldom telling the same story.
In the playoffs Lakers went back to a more usual run: won against Wolflings and Leed Celtics, only to be stopped by Highland Wildcats after a close and hard fought match.

Champ of Champions : Not qualified

No Friendly Cups success to register

Seasonal individual titles:
Player Giacomo Rebellin received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league RB, rank: 2
Player Buonfiglio Masiero received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league OL, rank: 3
Two podiums that meant so much for the team, who played great running games throughout all the season.

A season that went in the wrong way only at the very end, when the return to Bowl was the objective and it was denied by a real bad game played in the Conference final.

Now financial nightmares have become real, again, and if the objective on the field for Season 46 is to come back to Elite, from a financial point of view is to fight to survive and come out of the swamp of bankrupt.

Admirals 1 competition is challenging, as always, and we still are in a division with our friends-rivals Thepitchhitchin. We will fight with them for the Division spot, but this season they seem much more stronger than our rebuilding team.
It will be, as always, a long season full of decisive games also because Leo Saguatti left the team. He refused a renewal with fewer money than he expected. We wish him all the luck he deserves and Lakers owe him very much for what he did at the helm of the team. Sabino Sperotto is the new promise for the future and he will lead the team in next seasons, while he grows as a leader behind the great guidance of the veteran Luca Vezzani.

Many players wanted more money than Lakers' balance could permit, therefore we had a lot of important losses in our roster. Some of them, like Leo, deserved a place in Hall of Fame of the team, but they decided to move elsewhere.
Luckily Youth Academy is providing talents and stars year after year and we can count on a generational renewal with continuity. That's the great hope we are counting on to prolong the string of good seasons we are marking so far.

Hall of Famer for season 44 class: Bertoldo Antonetti and Andrea Passoni will represent the 44 class in the team history. They made successes in a great defense for the last years.
Bertoldo, in particular, covered the second string as a kicker of the team: a great defender and a versatile, humble professional player.

Coaching staff:
We replaced the retiree Felix Brendell (LB) with a young talented coach. We will see if Simon Norgaard will be capable of taking this crucial role over. The promises are brilliant, but only seasons will tell. The rest of the staff has been confirmed, after a decent season, despite of a missed promotion and the lost semifinal.

Objective is to raise up again up to Elite. It will be harder than last season because of the diminished quality level of the players and because of financial worries, but Lakers can do it in both aspects of the team performances.
Players must stay focused on perfect playing, while the management will take care of the balance and the expenses.

Here starts a season with many question marks to be answered. Lakers have the management, have the players, have the coach to come out of this borderline situation.
We only need to find some rhythm in the season and wipe off the negative thoughts to focus on the many, positive qualities we bring with us.

After a MediaCenter disaffection shown by Admirals teams, we will need all the possible extra income we can bring to our pockets. A long playoff SuperCup rush will help us so much and the extra-income of playoffs would prevent the management office to take supplementary drastic decisions in the next post-season.

Fans demonstrated that they are with us in bad and good moments. If they really love the team they must show up at the stadium even, and mostly, in the harsh days after the defeats we will collect along the way. As lon as they are with us, Lakers fear nothing.

After some season of relative tranquility, financial troubles have arrived. They were always flying like vultures above our head and after the lost Conference finals came down to claim their food. Lakers' administrative staff is already at their desks night and day to repel them and build some solid reserves for the seasons to come.

Lakers, Season #45 will be a point of decision. Playoffs in both competitions will save our team. If we miss that minimum level, we will sink, both from football and economics point of view.
Keep positive thoughts, train hard, play harder and keep the right balance when the difficult days will arrive..

Season #43
RZA Elite final result : 7-9
AC West (Admirals) division is historically ine of the most balanced and competitive. PAckers, MAgpies amd MAscots are three franchises full of trophies and well established in the RZA Elite. We know since the promotion day that we'd need a miracle to gain a ticket for a second round in Elite. The first half of the season was dramatic 2-6 score condemed us to a miracle run in the second half. Lakers tried with all their remaining forces and almost did it. The loss against Dragons removed the residual hopes to play a decisive direct match against Magpies in the last turn and condemned Lakers to demotion. Lakers won the last match and tasted completely the bitter flavour of demotion for a single loss.

Playoff were never in reach and they were classified as an impossible objective at the start of the season.

SuperCup : 15-0
Lakers won their SuperCupo division with a 0 loss score.

In the playoffs we set a new franchise record reaching the Global Bowl final. It was unexpected and happened through a serie of convincing victories, showing the sensation that the second half of the season was not ended with the almost miraculous run in the League.

Lakers have beaten up:
Hopfenperlen, Stone Mountain Hawks 2, Hell Hounds, Fredericksburg Comanches, Sunrise City Prairie Dogs, Istanbul Whitings in a spectacular semifinal and then arrived to the Grand Final against Chelt Nam Bobbers.

Bobbers are among the longest active franchises and a well guided team of champions that have reached lots of brilliant results during their long history in RZA.
The final was a thrilling ... Bobbers left the blocks with a commanding start and were up 21-3 at half time.
Lakers re-entered the field with the attitude of a team that has nothing to lose and scored 2 TDs and 2 FGs going 23-21 at few minutes from the final whistle.
A last long drive of the Bobbers nailed th coffin, since Lakers' defende couldn't stop the rolling stones of the Chel Nam team.

That was a demonstration of performing a comeback. Lakers should learn that you only waste efforts if you score points without playing hard until the very hand.
Unfortunately this final goes among the lost ones, making a bigger denominator for a fraction that has 0 at victories cell...

Champ of Champions : A run with a different story to tell, two turns passed against Blue Bombers and Ergodicity. In quarter finals match, Leeds Celtics (another strong, long-history franchise) sent us back to the floor with a decisive victory. No glory from CoC.

In Friendly Cups a final lost in the Vaccination Cup against "2020 - The return of the Jedi". An equilibrated match decided by an intercept thrown by Lakers on a 3rd and long, which allowed 2020- TRoyJ to score the TD that sealed the victory for them.

Seasonal individual titles:
Desiderio di Stasio received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league and regional RB, rank:3
Desiderio is the Punter of the team. His kicks gave Lakers room to breathe during all the season, giving opponents tje worst possible positions to start their drives. This prize acknowledge the importance of his contribution on an absolute level. He deserved that.

A season starting with punishing lows that was about to be recovered in the second half.
The final in SuperCup was something that turned a bad season in a good one, even if we lost the final match. Finally Lakers removed the curse of being beaten out in three rounds from that competitionn. A bad confirmation is that we continue to collect loss in finals, demonstrating that we do great runs and always fall short at the last effort.

The objective for Season 44 is to come back to Elite. We cannot afford not to do it, even from a financial point of view.
Admirals competition is challenging, as always and we landed in a division with our friends Thepitchhitchin. We will fight with them for the Division spot, hoping that the second team will reach the playoff too.
It will be a long season full of decisive games. Leo Saguatti has reached a level of maturity to guide us back to Elite. We all count on him.

In the offseason we lost few players: one youngster that has not renewed, three first string that are now playing in other teams (may they have luck for their new adventure) and Scevola Zamagni.

Another good Youth Academy class has been promoted to the main team. Lakers have high expectations on them for the Seasons to come. Lakers need all of the possible talent around to go on with another generation of future champions.

Hall of Famer for season 43 class: None

Coaching staff:
We lost two retirees Qabel Abdul (QB) and Hapo Jack (SF) both of them raised good youngsters to first string players and first string to champions.
Substitutes have already been hired, we hope they can take the job over and raise our team to new levels.
The rest of the staff has been confirmed, after a n overall positive season, despite of demotion and lost finals.

Objective is: raise up to Elite again. It is within our grasp, we need the right determination and the right mentality to go and get it.

We know that replicating a SuperCup run like this season would be a good signal to all the RZA world, but we'd need more than a good team to do so, we need a perfect one.

Here starts a challenging season. Lakers have the management, have the players, have the coaches to do it. We only need to find the winning chemistry among all components and that's the tricky part of the situation.

After a MediaCenter disaffection of other Admirals teams, we will need all the possible extra income we can bring into our pockets.
A long playoff SuperCup rush will help us so much and the extra-income of league playoffs would prevent the management office to take drastic decisions in the next post-season.

Fans demonstrated that they are with us in bad and good moments. If they really love the team they must forgive the teams' bad days.
Their support is the key to move on and try to bring trophies home.

Financial troubles are at bay so far, but at the first misstep we will fall in a blood and tears situation, Lakers' administrative staff will work night and day to avoid it.

Lakers, Season #44 is a moment to build up our future. A return in Elite will give us all the fuel we need, both from football and economics point of view.

Keep focus, train hard, play harder and keep right mentality in winning days like in difficult ones.
Season #44 is going to tell the RZA world if Lakers are another not-so-bad team or a top tier.

Season #42
Admirals 1 final result : 14-2
NC South Division winner and second seed clinched in the rankings. A little step back from record of Season 41, but an overall good regular season. We lost against Vamosahi and Roma Wolves that were direct opponent in the Conference.
A flawless second half of the season was the right passport for the playoff rush.
After the cold shower of the last season in the Divisional Playoffs, Lakers received Vamosahi at home with an unpleasant sensation of deja-vu. But we reversed the result of the regular season loss and advanced to Conference Final against AS Roma Wolves (the second team we lost to in the season).
Again, with a tight and little scoring victory, Lakers shook the ghosts off of their back and won the Conference.
At the last event of the season we encountered our arch-rivals Green Mark Packers and fought another battle. This time the Austrian tank (fresh World Champions) steamrolled over the poor Lakers, forcing them to a terrible 0-5 record in bowl played: a negative world record, probably.

SuperCup : 14-1
Lakers won their SuperCupo division with a single loss. In the playoffs, after winning at home against Morgantown Mad Dogs, were beaten out of the competition by the Bernsfield Hornets in the second round. For another year, the SuperCup playoff race ended abruptly before the fourth round.

Champ of Champions : Not Qualified

No relevant events in Friendly Cups to record.
Another victorious event of the season was the conquer of the All-Stars Challenge trophy in MOTY mode, after numerous attempt, Lakers finally did it. Cheers for this difficult trophy that only a dozen of teams own in the RZA Leagues.

Seasonal individual titles:
Giacomo Rebellin received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league and regional RB, rank: 2
After the retirement of the star Pepe De Silvestro, the heritage was taken by Giacomo Rebellin who started with a top-runner performance in Admirals 1. Let's follow his progresses in RZA Elite's stage.
A very good season overall that give Lakers another chance in RZA Elite. We still miss very much the first victory in a Bowl game, which means we always fall short at the last effort.
0-5 is a severe punishment for us, but we always met teams well above our level in those matches.

The objective for Season 43 is to beat our Elite previous winning record of 7, which will mean that we end up with an even record or better.
Admirals competition in RZA is top level, as always. Despite of Comeback Kids gone in the wind, the level of competition is not lowered at all. The three opponents we will meet have history, have titles, have rosters and management. It will be a long season full of decisive games. It is the time for Leo Saguatti to show he has the leadership and the skills to guide Lakers to a positive season.

In the offseason we lost players.
Two retirees that we will miss very much : The OLs Amintore Martena and Gelindo Piazza two great players that allowed our line to score the second best number in Pancakes statistics. of the season. They will be remembered with great respect, but none of them will join the Team Hall of Fame.

4 veterans (2 defenders and 1 WR) has left the team, everyone for different reasons. 2 of them were running straight to the Hall of Fame. but their wages were growing too big to keep the financial asset of the team in a sustainable status. They wanted money that probably they deserve, but the team finances are always running on a knife's edge. We owe them very much for the last season successes and wish all of them the luck they surely deserve.

Another good Youth Academy class has been promoted to the main team. Lakers have high expectations on them for the Seasons to come. Lakers need all of the possible talent around to go on with another generation of future champions.

Hall of Famer for season 42 class: None

Coaching staff:
All the staff has been confirmed, due to the winning season and the new run to the Elite league.

Objective is clear: an even record is required. Perhaps it is enough to stay in Elite, perhaps it won't be enough. This is the minimum level to declare the season as a positive one.
We count on every component of the team, starting from the management up to the new guys entering the Academy this season. Only if we pack together and stand up as a real Team (with capital T) we can reach such a challenging goal.

For sure we need a winning SuperCup rush to balance the loss of income due to the disaffection of fans while we overcome the inevitable losses.

Fans are delighted today, but we know that some hard match-days are ahead of us and they need their full support to fight and try to subvert the predictions against us. If they really love the team they must forgive the teams' bad days. Only with their support we can try to shine.
Financial troubles are vulturing above team's heads, Lakers' administrative staff will work night and day to keep it in good shape and health.

Lakers, Season #43 is the right occasion to make it to heaven of RZA football. We cannot wait for another chance. The time is here and now.

Keep focus, train hard, play hard and keep positive attitude in difficulties. Season #43 is going to be one to be remembered, whichever the outcome.

Season #41

Admirals 1 regular season result : 15-1
Best record of NC Conference and winner of the NC South Division. First seed for the playoff. Best Lakers franchise performance in Admirals 1 and great expectations for a post-season with some chance to run for a Conference Title.
The elimination in the Divisional playoff match home with a disaster in the offensive game was an expected cold shower. All hopes for the season vanished in a horrible night of poor football.

SuperCup : 15-0
Another flawless performance in the SuperCup Division to enter another season of SC playoffs, looking for a better record in the number of turns forward in the playoff rush.
In the playoffs, after beating Vipers in the first round, BoneCrushers crushed our bones in the second match away. A match well fought, but lost for unexplicable inconsistency of the offense.

Champ of Champions : NA

No relevant events in Friendly Cups to record.

Still missing the All-Stars Challenge trophy in MOTY mode, but no attempt was tried.

Seasonal individual titles:
Pepe De Silvestro received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league RB, rank:2 and regional RB, rank: 3
Amintore Martena received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league OL, rank: 2
Diego Ghirardi received an award for his performance shown on the field - category league LB, rank:1 and regional LB, rank: 3

In a season with few but intense disappointments, some good rewards from both offense and defense roster to fuel our hopes for the future.

The unexplicable difference between excellent regular season and dramatic playoffs was astounding. Almost perfect season followed by two awful matches that sent Lakers off with a one-two combination for a boxe.like KO. The season closed with another complete disaster..
We fixed Season 41 objective to regain a good playbook and a satisfactory level of play. It seemed successful until the final matches when we collapsed without any possible explanation, but a mental and physical debacle. Something that was investigated during the off-season and hopefully fixed. In the playoff the mental energies are the key factor and we run out of fuel in the worst possible moment.
Result: we are still in Admirals NC South division, asking ourselves how to come out of the swamp we have lost ourselves into. Are Lakers ready to get off their knees and stand up properly again? This is the question that we must answer in Season 42.

In the offseason we lost some successful players. Four retirees that are going to leave an enormous blackhole in our gameplan effectiveness: The veteran OL Giuseppe Reagan, the all-time pro DE Romeo Pin, HB Pepe De Silvestro owner of franchise records for carries, rushing TDs and broken tackles, LB Luca Bletrame great OLB, feared by all leagues QBs. Romeo, Pepe and Luca earned the right to part of the Lakers’ Hall of Famers for the season 41 class.

4 veterans left the team without a contract. A season with poor playoff performances means salary totals to be reduced and some painful decisions to be taken. All of them deserved respect, because they contributed greatly to the team successes in the last years. We hope they will find all they hope for.

Luckily, we can count on a Youth Academy that has prepared another skilled class of future champions. We hope they can give the team the right mentality and the good results Lakers are looking for.

Hall of Famer for season 41 class:
Romeo Pin Just right after the “Monstrous Trio” of the 30s seasons (West, Cazzato, Folse) Romeo kept their inheritance and brought excellence on the field hunting down opponent runners and QBs with great successes and numbers.

Pepe De Silvestro has recorded n°1 results in every statistics for a ball carrier (with exception of Lost Fumbles) which is another key statistic in his favour. He marked new reference numbers for wannabe Elite HBs.
Luca Bletrame recorded the maximum number of sacks in a single player career of Lakers history. Enough to be remembered and honored in Bracciano forever. His record will be beaten quite easily after the season 42 by another player, but it will not overcome the absolute exceptional performance of Luca.

Coaching staff:
Despite of the debacle of the season, all the staff has been confirmed under scrutiny and it is the second season in a row. Every position is now under examining procedures and the season will tell if some change is needed. Patience is a virtue that has a limit…
Lester Baker DL retired. It was sad to see him walking away from the field of the Divisiona playoff match crying for frustration. We will keep him in our memories for the great performances of Romeo Pin and the “Monstrous Trio”. He was the smith of many hard DLs and his successor will have to overcome his legend.

Objectives for the new season: survival.
Without playoffs Lakers will need an hard reset, meaning that the team will be dismantled and rebuilt from ashes. So we will keep a matchday-by-matchday approach trying to squeeze the best possible from a do-it-or-die season.

Leo Saguatti was a great disappointment in the last season and the coaching staff decided to put him on the market. Unfortunately he didn’t find another team to play for and he is still at the helm of the team. This is a crucial season for him and his expressed will to play again with Lakers. He must demonstrate that his contribution is still the one of the champion we admired in past years..

Fans are angry and they are right. The great expectations of the last season were dismantled in a couple of playoff games that were senseless lost in a total offensive debacle. There is no possible explanation and it is the worst part of the picture. There are no promises we can make at this point, because we expect a tremendous start of the next season with a starting schedule which is awful to say the best. People true love for the team will be demonstrated if we will have still fans at the stadium after starting 0-4 in the season.

We are definitely in financial troubles. Probably they will determine an hard dismantling of the current team, which will require a new foundation of the roster. It is sad to say goodbye to many veterans that played so many season, but if it is necessary the team board will do whatever is needed to keep the franchise in financial equilibrium. There is no surprise if we say that Lakers need any dollar income from any possible source, but we know that the team is probably not in the conditions to gather them.

Lakers, Season #42 is a no-turning-back point before the collapse. If players are bond to the franchise, this is the season to demonstrate it and perhaps we will be able to avoid the reset, otherwise a great purge will be necessary to restart from scratches.
There are no possible advice but to give 120% and outperform any idea of football we are going to play.