Dogtown

Dogs down the PowerSleds in Dogtown

DOGTOWN, AL - To set the record straight, the first "Dogtown" in Alabama was establishhed in Jefferson County, not DeKalb County. For those not well-versed in unincorporated Jefferson County lore, Dogtown is located west of Fieldstown past El Dorado and Jew Hollow and east of Brookside. Dogtown is bordered to the east by Lassiter Mountain, to the south by the under-water bridge near Republic, to the north by the old DuPont dynamite plant and to the west by Sharon Heights. In the neo-cosmopolitian world we live in today, some would say Dogtown is a suburb of Brookside, but its identity is much greater. The U.S. Postal Service established a post office near Dogtown in 1903, but couldn't come to grips with the town's original name, therefore the Feds labeled it the Watson, Alabama post office (zip code 35117) after a neighboring town. Dogtown was home to Jefferson County's Mineral Springs School. The school fell victim to arsonists in the late 1960s and never re-opened. The area still gets called Mineral Springs and Watson, but mostly by those who don't know any better. The apex of Dogtown is the two-way stop at the intersection of Powder Mill/Republic Road and the Brookside Coalburg Road. At the cozy intersection is Alford's Grocery, once owned and operated by Larry "Big Al" Alford, a legend in his own right. The classic country store still sells Coca-Cola in the glass bottles and anything else a weary traveler may need. Dogtown actually borders three BDFL teams, the Brookside Dogs, the Mineral Springs Grenadiers and the Fieldstown Bellcows. So each season the town hosts the annual "Battle for Dogtown", a neutral site, rivalry game played during the league's regular season. In 2022, "The Battle" was played during Week 1 to help kick-off the season. The Dogs defeated the Grenadiers (34-29) in a hard-fought thriller. In Week 13 of the BDFL, Five Mile Creek flooded, but nothing like the "Great Flood" of 1973, so the Dogs had to move their home game from the Brookside Ball Park to Dogtown to take on the visiting PowerSleds, who arrived on Sunday via Highway 78 West to Cherry Avenue and then down Cat Mountain to Dogtown. The Dogs remained undefeated in Dogtown by downing the Sleds (39-16) and chasing the Mean Machine all the way back to Fairfield afterwards, but this time through Cardiff, Docena, Mulga and McDonald Chapel.

Small Town by John Mellencamp (1985)

Pony Watch List

The BDFL's 2023 Pony Draft Watch List

TITLETOWN - The BDFL is built on integrity, but thrives on innovation. The BDFL invented the Pony Draft. The BDFL drafts incoming college players even before the NFL does. Along these lines, the BDFL monitors the college game and the players that will most likely be eligible for the upcoming NFL Draft in April of 2023, thus eligible for the BDFL's 2023 Pony Draft the week before the NFL Draft. The 2023 BDFL Pony Draft class will have some superstars for sure (Bryce Young, for one), but it is difficult to project stardom at this stage of the draft evaluation process. Therefore, the BDFL has compiled the first official "Pony Draft Watch List" for the Class of 2023 consisting of the top 36 college prospects who we believe will have the best chance of being selected in the 2023 BDFL Pony Draft. Listed below, in no particular order, are the best prospects Iron Hand projects will produce the final 16 BDFL Pony Draft picks in April of 2023.