Here is an excerpt from Presidents Obama's remarks:THE PRESIDENT: "Welcome, and congratulations to the 2009 Seattle Blue RibbonChampions -– the Rainier Valley Felons. (Applause.)
Congratulations to General Manager and Coach Jason Harber, for building this extraordinary championship squad.
Congratulations to your outstanding head coach, Jason Harber, who’s done just great work. (Applause.) I must point out Jason is a Minnesota guy. (Laughter.) You’ve got to be tough to be a Minnesota guy. I make some tough decisions every day, but I never decided to play Maurice Morris at RB in the Fun Bowl. (Applause.) That took some guts.
So this was an unbelievable season. After years of frustration, the Felons finally won the big one. But I think we all know that this season meant far more than that to the Rainier Valley region – and to all Americans, really.
Look, I’m a Counselor fan. I’m not going to lie. (Laughter.) But this was a big win for the country -- not just for Rainier Valley -- this team plays its entire season in a prison. They can't afford a field– but they took their city’s hands and helped its city back on its feet. This team took the hopes and the dreams of a shattered city and placed them squarely on its shoulders.
And so these guys became more than leaders in the locker room -– they became leaders of an entire region. And the victory parade that we saw earlier this year made one thing perfectly clear, that Rainier Valley and the Rainier Valley Felons are here to stay."
Congratulations to your outstanding head coach, Jason Harber, who’s done just great work. (Applause.) I must point out Jason is a Minnesota guy. (Laughter.) You’ve got to be tough to be a Minnesota guy. I make some tough decisions every day, but I never decided to play Maurice Morris at RB in the Fun Bowl. (Applause.) That took some guts.
So this was an unbelievable season. After years of frustration, the Felons finally won the big one. But I think we all know that this season meant far more than that to the Rainier Valley region – and to all Americans, really.
Look, I’m a Counselor fan. I’m not going to lie. (Laughter.) But this was a big win for the country -- not just for Rainier Valley -- this team plays its entire season in a prison. They can't afford a field– but they took their city’s hands and helped its city back on its feet. This team took the hopes and the dreams of a shattered city and placed them squarely on its shoulders.
And so these guys became more than leaders in the locker room -– they became leaders of an entire region. And the victory parade that we saw earlier this year made one thing perfectly clear, that Rainier Valley and the Rainier Valley Felons are here to stay."
Following the ceremony, the Felons flew to Mount Baker to take on the unlucky Mount Baker Soup Can. The game marked a repeat matchup of last season's championship game.
In that game, Coach Bell caused a stir when he said, "They are a dirty team. They stole our belongings from the locker room, the hubcaps from our bus, and the wives of our defensive line. But, our guys did a great job of keeping their poise and composure and not getting drawn into a big unsportsmanlike game because I know that’s what they were trying to entice us into doing.”
"We play aggressive — we don't play cheap," Felons coach Harber said. "If there's things after the whistle or during the play or missing from the locker room, players are fined for them. But we're not a cheap football team. I don't know what he's referring to. We did have some of our guys accidentally have sex with wives of Soup Can Players. Maybe he's referring to that. That, I will apologize for...but I can't help it that Julius Peppers is an amazing mother-lover."
The Felons took playing aggressive to the field, and dominated both sides of the ball in a 157-134.5 win. On offense for the Felons, all but the injured Steve Smith scored in double figures. Anonio Gates (26 pts) and Rashard Mendenhall (19pts) lead the way as the offense put up 88 points. To put that number in perspective, 88 points would have beat four other TEAMS this week. On defense, the Felons defensive line put up 28 pts, and the linebackers were all over the field scoring 26pts.
The Soup Can performed well in this shootout, and in fact put up enough points to beat all but 3 other teams this week. Unfortunate luck for a team that seems to be kicking it into high gear heading into week 5. In the game with the Felons, Peyton Manning (20 pts) and Maurice Jones Drew (23 pts) hit their stride. A less than solid performance from the wide receivers did not help, but Kicker Nate Kaeding (12 points) and the linebacking team of Jonathan Vilma and Paris Lennon (21 pts between the two) picked up the slack.
The Felons (4-0) head home to face the much improved and much healthier Woodinville K-911s (2-2). The Soup Can (1-3) will look to keep putting up big points as they travel to play the Ballard Kittens (0-4).
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