The Istanbul Cavaliers will play their first CEFL game in Istanbul this weekend, when they host the Ljubljana Silverhawks on Saturday from 2:30PM, local time in Istanbul. For most other teams, this would usually be 1:30 PM.

The game’s timing is also unusual for the Cavaliers themselves. Although they probably didn’t plan it, they will play this important game without their best player from the opening game. They barely lost to the Wolves in Budapest and running back Desmond Mays ran for 167 yards and two scores. But, he won’t play in this game, as the Cavaliers decided to not keep him in 2011.

On the other hand, the Silverhawks brought in a third import, resigning Joseph Moncur. Even if it wasn’t for that — and it could be almost like that, since their coach Uroš Valant says they will try to not play him too much – they’d likely be the favorites.

“They are favorites for sure with Moncur and their quarterback Vincent Gay. We will play the whole game with our local players, but our former players that played on the University team, returned to the team”, says Bahadır Ilgaç of the Cavaliers.

Both teams lost the opening game, so both are looking for the first win. One thing going for the Cavaliers is the long trip to Istanbul the Silverhawks will take. Not maybe as long as impractical, since they will land there 4AM. This is also the reason the game was pushed back one hour and a half.