IBM Big Blue got off to a good start in their X-League season opener defeating the All-Mitsubishi Lions 24-12.
IBM’s offense was led by second-year American football quarterback Dimitrios Synodinos, who joined the team this year.
Sinodinos, a native of Canada, played Canadian football at McGill University. After that, he played American football for the first time with a Finnish team, the Helsinki Roosters, in Finland’s Maple League. Canadian football and American football have very different rules and styles of play.
The transition is difficult for quarterbacks in particular.
“The transition from Canadian to American football was difficult,” he said. “In Canada, where the play clock is 25 seconds, you have to play quickly and you are allowed to have unlimited motion in the backfield, but in American football, you are only allowed one player in motion and the play clock is longer. It took me a few games in Europe to get used to all the rules, but after that I really enjoyed it.
The 27-year-old, who joined IBM in April, is still working on syncing with his receivers, but he completed 10 of 17 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns (one interception) in a successful X-League debut and was named Game MVP.
IBM HC Mike Fair looking at the game situation ©X LEAGUE
IBM head coach Mike Fair was also pleased with Sinodinos’ performance, saying, “He’s been able to find players on the field well.”
Ahead of the upcoming matches, we expect to see further growth between Synodinos and IBM BIG BLUE. It will be interesting to seeing how they perform in their next game (September 13 against Tokyo Gas Creators, Tokyo Dome).