The Royce Files

The final chapter of the season closes on a whimsy note for Team Unglaubich. It could have ended at the previous webisode and i would have been satisfied. Of course the team had not played yet so this one completes the story. Its a bit of a denouement to me. It smooths out the arc and even gives Danny Myers some decent camera time. The strange part for me is not knowing if the Ledge was being honest or trying to win sympathy. And what about Cougar? He silently fades to the back. Old Guy and Rob don't even show for the game- probably embarrassment. This is the most chatty webisode of the series. It seems that this one time everybody wants to say something curt and witty. Boima of course is the master of this technique. As for the game, it looked phenomenal even if it was a blow out. Did Shelby's speech really inspire these guys to step it up? Oh well, I hope there'll be a season 2. Thanks Humdinger!

T he penultimate episode of Intramural Glory finds the team coming to terms with the failed expectations as they prepare for their final game. It also seems to be a 2 part conclusion of the the series, but no word on when the conclusion will come or if Humdinger will roll it into a 2nd season. So there's a bit of a cliff at the end. This by far is one of the best episodes of the series. There are so many great commentaries and get this- there's even drama. Yep, the violin would seem to be playing as Ledge attempts to discuss his friends. However, what tops that dramatic display is Shelby. Yep, Shelby comes back with strong performance. In fact it is Mark Anthony like speech to inspire the team which she nails. Too bad the Ledge misinterprets it. I think one could also see the Shelby speech much like the G.I. Joe's "Knowing is Half the Battle" epilogues. The Owen and feral cat caper could be another spin-off show after the confession he makes about handling his an...

The Intramural Glory detective gets his own one-off extra feature. A bit of a tribute to the old school noir detectives, this video is almost exclusively a narrative through the finding of the colprit who assaulted Cougar back in episode 9 (I think).

Looks like Intramural Glory has been nominated for a regional Emmy for broadband something or other. Not sure if Team Unglaubich's losing ways will end with an Emmy victory. I am sure there will be drinking either way. The show has been hot but viewer ship seems to sputter at times. Perhaps it will be critically acclaimed. Then of course I'll get part of that limelight. Although some would argue I am talking out of both sides of my mouth. In other IM news, Owen looks like he's in a contest to win a spot on an ABA Team. I'm not sure if his parole officer is for or against this. However, I believe he got lots of help from Ross. And don't you think Ross looked more thugish during the pre-season. Or at the very least he was hiding some dark murderous secret from his past.

W ow. This is the 2nd full episode this month! Once again you can find it on the Intramural Glory website. I blogged in February about the making of this episode here . Also don't read further if you haven't seen the episode. There are spoilers here. Click here for the latest episode, We're Talkin' About Playoffs. By making a incredible comeback in the previous game, Team Unglaublich land themselves in the playoffs. However, a snowstorm attempts to block their progress and not even the Ledge can prevent that. Well, maybe if he had a weather machine. So the team is missing a few players, notably Owen, Boima, Old Guy, and Rob. Kyle makes a surprise visit but cannot be coaxed to play. The Cougar attack saga is still being milked. To try to get to the bottom of things Shelby hires a detective. However, by some miraculous act, Cougar is ready to play. I don't think he contributes much during the game but he certainly gets lots of face time in this episode. So does thi...

Intramural Glory returns again with an episode on its own website: http://www.intramuralglory.com If the episode's title is any indication, then we're in for an epic dramatic climax following the "brutal" attack on Cougar. Well, I'm not sure there was a moment of clarity much less truth. Maybe Owen's moments may have represented something akin to a super villain considering his wrongs and turning around. Whatever the case, Team Umglaubich won. This episode continues to follow the players' antics with Shelby, a spiritual guide, Owen's parole officer, and April the sports psychologist, interspersed with the actual game. I must admit I was wrong about Shelby also being the psychologist. Clearly they are 2 different people. Shelby and April also appeared in a shot together. But where have I seen April before? She almost reminds me of a former classmate of mine name Tara Mandich. Ah, what does the world care? So they win and probably make it to the playoffs...

The producers of Intramural Glory decided to push back a YouTube release of the latest episode and instead released from their own website: www.intramuralglory.com In addition to the release from their own site there is also a contest/feedback thingie going on. $50 dollars of something will be won by some lucky viewer. Maybe an expense paid date with Bobby Ledge. Nevertheless, our latest episode finds the Team Unglaublich trying some new approaches to get primed to make a push for the play-offs. So far their on court performances have been lackluster. Leave it to distant ownership to bring in a psychologist and a spiritist in addition to having Shelby lecture on good manners to prepare the team to win. Coach McCue cannot believe it. Owen's parole officer also makes an appearance and the Ledge has been sheared. And to top it all, a mystery assailant whacks Cougar. This is a pretty beefy episode. I almost expect there to be outtakes coming sometime. Great ensemble performance. I...

Owen gets his own one shot feature in "Thug Love" Although not as complex as the Ledge, Owen is shown living a life of suburban elitist thuggery at its best. As the team's Thug, Owen certainly throws around his brawn. He, however, has not featured much in the soap opera portions. I think mostly because Ledge has been running the show. This could change I believe. I can only imagine Owen stating emphatically- "The Ledge has reached his pinnacle, its time to fall." He would say all this while brandishing a chain saw. My one question, however, how much love is there for Owen? We see the same thugish moment again in this special as has been seen thrice before: Owen goes ballistic on some cowardly opponent. 3 years in the pen and that is all he can do? Or is Owen's thuggery not often caught on camera? What redeems this Thug in my mind are his adulatory comments from the Ace Schonrock special concerning how to block a shot. He kind of seems like a friendly thug as...

I skipped reviews for the very special Ace Schonrock Intramural Glory episodes since I think the show might jump the shark. I was wrong. Ace showed the team some class and brought a tear into my root beer. Best moment was Owen's comment on the block- simple yet effective. Nevertheless, I've got another episode to review. So let's dig in. There's nearly 10 minutes of footage to episode 8 which features some decent game shots. I think this is the first episode where the flow of game shots aren't just slugs to fill space but actually get more of the story across. However, the Cougar flipped part is a bit confusing. My assumption is he threw up but there is nothing backing that up. All we see is angry, riled Cougar fuming. Besides gameplay, we also get a string of vignettes one in particular returns Kyle to the show. The Boima and Kyle knee scenes are great and for some reason Kyle looks like he just came from filming another show. Old Guy and The Ledge also was a good ...

In Intramural Glory Episode 5 we meet their arch rivals, Team UnglaubHass, who are their former teammates. In this episode we see Team U players from the heroic 2006 championship team- Alan, Justin, Polish and a few unrecognized players - give the current Team U a run for their money. Before the game Coach McCue and Rob deconstruct Team Unglaubhass while Cougar still is confused about biting players. It seems Rob channels George Clooney in a this Ocean's Eleven like scene. Hands down one of the best scenes of the entire series. Unfortunately for those looking for some pure basketball game turned into "Hack a Polish." The whistles kept blowing and Unglaubhass kept scoring. However do take note of a phenomenal basket by The Ledge. I nearly missed it but he makes a sort of under the basket backward lay-up for 2. A decent episode except nary any glory. Now for this the kudos: Best Emerging Actor: Cougar. Has he been getting lessons or watching the likes of Hoosiers, Teen Wol...

S ince episode 5 premieres today I need to post my review of episode 4 of the epic basketball documentry Intramural Glory . Things are looking up for Team Unglaublich although Kyle is out indefinitely. In this installment he claims he will be making a comeback but we'll have to see about that. For insurance GM Kevin brings in Matt, a former All-American Division III player. I met up with Matt a few weeks ago. He doesn't say much. Unlike Ledge, his play does the talking. Not to get down on Ledge, he brings a certain attitude that a team needs to crush the opposition before and after the game. During the game, I am not sure Ledge turns his tude into points, rebounds or assists. Probably the biggest highlight is that Team U actually wins! Has this pack of Internet chosen ballers has now broken ground to emerge as a dominant team? Perhaps. Coach McCue may liken it to directing a soap opera/circus rather than ascending the road to glory. Now for some pseudo-awards: Best Scene- Coug...

Last night opened my return to the pitch in competitive soccer. It was not very glorious. It has been nearly 20 years since I donned a jersey. A few years ago I played pick up recreational games with some internationals. My company squad lost handily to a group of Concordia College men and women who appeared to have much more experience than us. To be honest, they were better dribblers and passers although they lacked a bit of creativity in goalscoring. Nevertheless there were positives to this match. Our goaltender impressed me by making some stunning saves albeit he allowed 10 goals. To our credit we did score 2 goals. I played about 3 minutes out of 50 in sort of a mid-fielder stopper position and had an unfortunate ball go through me for a goal. For a group of mostly 30+ year olds with little to no experience we did well. However, it looks like we will switch leagues to be with competition more fitting to our age levels. In other intramural leagues, Team Unglaublich took to hard...

This weekend I had the privledge to see most of Team Unglaublich of Intramural Glory fame in action. In order to do so I had to fight my way through the biggest and baddest snow storm of the year. Fortunately my father loaned me a 4WD vehicle so I had the power to defeat this weathery adversary. With the weather bringing disorder to the whole metro area, only about half the team showed. The Ledge was particularly enthralled by this predicament. Kevin and Coach McCue could only wonder why the others weren't hungry enough for glory. Due to the lack of hands available I was drafted off the sidelines to run the camera. So be looking for some of my footage out there soon, I hope. I don't think I did tremendous camera work. It was awkward to say the least. I may have even missed a few glorious shots. I certainly hope the Ledge or Owen aren't going to hunt me down and rough me up. For the avid fans of Intramural Glory look for the new episode shortly. The production crew is a lit...