Lone Soldier
By The Swammi, editor to the MWS.com

I usually don't get tied up in this east vs. west stuff, but the more Madden moons that pass us by, the same results seem to occur when it comes to major tournaments and how deep ballers west of the great divide advance. Not since Nationals IV has the west enjoyed major success at the Nationals. Ballers like Reality, the only west coast baller to ever make it to a final four at Nationals, Slave, and Headbuster used to be names to contend with. But nowadays, its seems that there is only one baller residing west of that great divide that has earned the respect of all the top ballers across the nation. And they call him TFonk.

TFonk poses with the IEBC/LABC Tournament Championship Trophy with Reality (l) and Milkman (r)

R Wynn Photo

While he has yet to capture a major such as MegaBowl, Nationals, or a RCS title this season, Fonk has been consistently advancing deep in just about every tourney he enters.And while he didn't capture a major this season, 2004 may have been Fonk's best. Ballers show Fonk the love he deserves because he will go transcontinental and compete where ever, when ever. Just this year The Fonkster ran up the frequent flier miles traveling to two EA regionals, LA, Sacramento, Vegas, Milwaukee, & Miami just to name a few. Fonk was sporting a well deserved #6 ranking coming into Nationals, and while some people may have questioned why he was ranked so high, just check the credentials.

• EA Challenge Regional Winner
• Final Four HAVOC League
• IEBC Tournament Champion
• MNL League Runner Up
• Nationals 6 Sweet 16
• Top NFC Seed Nationals V/Field of 32
• 2003 West Coast Champion

TFonk's resume is quite impressive, however, he seems to be the only baller on the "wessside" that is carrying any major clout while earning the respect of ballers east of the Rio Grande. While the west, California in particular does sport some formidable names in Shaolin, Save Time, Jigg, Unknown, Ghost and others, neither of the aforementioned command the respect Fonk does. While they have shined on the regional scene, neither has enjoyed the type of national commendations as The 2003 West Coast Champion.

One baller that seems to be stepping up and looks to have a promising future is Panaramic. However, after strong showings at MegaBowl and Milwaukee, Pan failed to make it pass the 3rd round at Nationals 6, bowing out to Birdman.

One of the things that makes crews like the EBC, GTP, BMB so tough is that they have so many top notched ballers stepping up, they help hold each other up, and they work together knocking off the other top comp making it easy for other members in their crew or region to navigate through the field. The West Coast Contingent did come with some quality ballers that can stack up against the best in the nation in Ghost, Fonk, Reality, Pan, 5 Star, and CWebb. However, they may have left some of the best (mentioned above) back home. Nevertheless, each year it seems the one baller that can get in the field of 32 or higher at the majors, or regionals, or that has stepped up to nab an EA regional, has been the Fonkster.

Give credit where credit is due. Advice to the rest of the "wessside!" Get the blueprint from TFonk, get your weight up (as Reality says), and make it a point to end this west coast stereo type nonsense. Because that is all it is....NONSENSE!

But the longer it takes for someone besides Fonk to go deep into the majors.........the more we may start to believe the hype.