Game Preview: The "Back in Blacksburg" Campaign Kicks Off

Yukon Gold Rush (0-0)
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Blacksburg Ballers (0-0)

BLACKSBURG, VA - The fans in Blacksburg will be rocking to AC/DC when the Ballers make their entrance onto the field for tomorrow's game. The season 4 marketing campaign "Back in Blacksburg" has hit the Blacksburg airwaves showing season 4 highlights to AC/DC's "Back in Black". The campaign focuses on 3 key things: the return of many Baller veterans, the hopes of more home playoff games and the return of another Western Conference championship to the city of Blacksburg. Offense Co-Ordinator Ryan Betesta Sr. is very excited at what this season has in store.

"The video and the song sums everything up. This is our season once again and we really hope to bring another championship home. Many of the boys from last season have returned and that will definitely be instrumental to the success of our team in season 4. We're in a new league, with new obstacles, but we'll take it to the field every game with a solid effort and make the most of every opportunity." Ryan Betesta Sr.

The Ballers will unveil their season 4 home uniforms on Sunday afternoon comprised of the maroon, burnt orange and black (replacing the white) to go with the theme for season 4. This is the 5th set of Ballers jerseys to be released. They have the regular home/away jerseys, as well as the special Canada Day red and white jerseys and also the 16-0 undefeated season special commerorative edition jerseys that the Ballers wore in the playoffs last season.

The new marketing campaign coupled with the success of season 3 has jampacked the much expanded Ballers Bowl and the Ballers have already sold out all the games for the regular season. The Ballers Bowl saw a major overhaul this season and now sits at a capacity of 38,720 and the place will be rocking each and every home game.

They don't get much bigger and better than week #1 as the season 2 AAA Western Conference Champs, the Yukon Gold Rush, are set to do battle with the season 3 AAA Western Conference Champs, the Blacksburg Ballers. Coming off their first season in the Canadian Pro League, the Yukon Gold Rush are looking to improve on their success of last season where they lost the first two games of the season before going 14-2 and making it to the Western Championship Finals, only to lose to the Moose Jaw Fighting Hobos who went on to win the League. The Ballers enter the Pros after going undefeated in the regular season before losing in the AAA league finals to the Arctic Bay Yetis. Sparks are sure to fly as these two teams meet at a higher level.

The Preseason

The Ballers have had an impressive showing this preseason defeating the 16-0 OOTP Ballers who won the AAA #1 Western Conference Championships and then followed it up with a 177-0 slaughter of the Miami Energy. The defense has looked good and the offense has continued to score when needed, although the passing game has not looked as great as last season.

The Yukon Gold Rush have looked equally impressive defeating the Arctic Bay Yetis 48-26 and then followed it up with a 17-3 victory over the Carol City Cartel. QB Jacob Stuart has looked mighty impressive in both outings and will look to continue his ways against the Ballers.

The History So Far...

The Ballers met the Yukon Gold Rush halfway through the second season. The Yukon Gold Rush's offense was too much to handle for the Ballers defense scoring a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in each the 2nd and the 3rd quarter taking a 28-0 lead to the 4th. The Ballers rushing game would struggle all game long only amounting to 29 yards as well as 3 fumbles. Khari would find Sterling Driver twice in the endzone in the 4th to cut the lead to 14 but it would be too little too late. Khari had an impressive game throwing for 267.5 yards on 64 pass attempts, 38 of which were completed.

The Returning Cast

The Ballers have seen much of their season 3 roster returning to the sidelines as well as a who's who of AAA greatness including 13 Pro Bowlers (including newcomer Jonathon Starr) and Western Conference Offensive MVP Khari Jones. The only Pro Bowler not to return is kick returner and wide receiver Ballhogg Irwin-Owens who was traded to the Rwanda Royal Knights for DT Demonic Lily. Owens duties will be taken over by long-time Baller Gordon D'arcy.

The Dearly Departed

Although much of the roster looks the same, a few trades and releases have occurred over the offseason and the roster has been slightly bulked and then trimmed.

Offense

- WR Ballhogg Irwin-Owens traded to Rwanda Royal Knights
- TE Marc-Andre Gionta
- G Halo Three traded to the Kamloops Caribou
- OT Jumbo Shrimp
- WR John Wilson and WR Bo Szilaj traded for WR James Vita
- P Mr. Man retired due to injury.
- OT Steve Tratoruthinsin

Defense

- DT Sir John Law-Rosa
- DE Tommy Canada traded for CB Mr. McKelvin
- DT Elite Rusher contract expired.
- SS Dinkin Jones was released.
- LB Lawrence Julius Taylor and CB Slasher Evans contracts expired.
- LB Kaiser Soyze and CB Marlin Jackson traded to Dallas Destroyers
- DT Big Beef Eater

Making Their Debut

Being week #1 of the regular season, many of the new additions will be making their regular season debut as a Baller.

WR James Vita - A two for one deal with the Texas Bigga Bois (Wilson and Szilaj) brings Vita to Blacksburg where he has made an immediate impact in the preseason, 11 receptions and 3 touchdowns have proven that Vita is a very nice compliment to Ryan Betesta as a #2 WR.

WR Chris Barlow - After spending last season with the North By Gawd Texas Tornado Humpers, Chris Barlow was picked up the Ballers. Barlow had a great showing against the Miami Energy scoring twice on 4 receptions.

TE Dirk Ilicious - After having a breakout season last year with the London Knights, Dirk was looking for bigger and better things and was excited about the opportunity to join the Ballers. A speedy receiving TE, Ilicious has yet to be able to make a strong impact yet, with all of the TE's rarely seeing passes in the first two games. Khari has been working on new patterns with the receiving team and should incorporate Dirk into this explosive passing attack.

OT Henry George and Josh Pushman - The fall of the Saskatoon Raiders saw a big, and we mean big, signing for the Blacksburg Ballers picking up both OT's Henry George and Josh Pushman. This is a big addition for the Ballers o-line who will now be able to protect Khari more so than ever.

DT's Demonic Lily, Mike Flores, Ucantru Noverthis, Jonathon Starr - A trade for Ballhogg Irwin-Owens brings Demonic Lily to the d-line while the other three were brought over by free agency. Jonathon Starr, a season 3 pro bowler with the Abbotsford Miners, is familiar to this Ballers team who never lost to the Abbotsford Miners. This dominating D-line will look to continue to shut down the run with these new additions. These 4 combined for 10 sacks against the Miami Energy in preseason game #2 and will make a big impact on the field this year.

LB Bryce Rotzell - Free agent Rotzell joined the team early in the offseason and had a big impact in game #2 forcing 2 fumbles and returning another fumble back for a touchdown. This is on top of his 10 tackles.

LB Billy Joe Mandibal - A trade between the Dallas Destroyers saw Billy Joe Mandibal join the Ballers for Kaiser Soyze and CB Marlin Jackson. Mandibal will be a big addition as the team switches to the 3-4 defense.

CBs Robin Caze, Mr McKelvin and Johnathan Evans - With Marlin Jackson and Slasher Evans gone, the Ballers have done some mighty recruiting and trading bringing in Caze, McKelvin and Evans to help out D'arcy and Beast Baily, the only returning Ballers CBs.

SS Icky Thump - With the retirement of Dinkin Joens, Icky Thump has stepped in to take his spot and had a mighty big performance in game #1 forcing a crucial turnover as the Ballers edged out OOTP 17-16.

P Shia Lebouf - A familiar face to Canadian ball, Shia played for the Vancouver Darksiders before taking over from the injured Mr. Man this offseason.

Return to Grace

Khari Jones is looking to return to his last season form after struggling to get over 50% in both of the preseason games. Although throwing 10 touchdowns and running one in, Khari has not looked as impressive this preseason, despite the newest additions in the receiving team. Perhaps its the chemistry changes with the new players or the new routes that the team has been running or the stiffer competition in the Pros but Khari is looking to improve and be one of the top QBs in the Pro leagues.

The Ballers may have their toughest test of the season in week #1 and it will be a real good chance to prove how good of a team they really are. With the pundits expecting them to finish 5th in the conference, the pressure is on for this team who has never missed the playoffs to go out there and prove them wrong and once again bring a home playoff game back to Blacksburg. The road to the championship starts in week #1 and the Ballers are looking to strike gold when they host Yukon.