Finals Week 3 Preview!

Well after a few surprises and some great ultimate, only Black Magic, The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs, The Green Goblins and 100 Shades of Grey remain with a chance of taking home the title of Semester 2, 2012 Champions.  But before we get in to these games, let’s not forget that the battle for the wooden spoon is very much alive!  Winners of Game 1 and Game 2 will go on to play for 5^th and 6^th next wek while the losers will have the pleasure of playing for the Wooden Spoon.  I am told that there will actually be a wooden spoon also, so get excited!

Game 1: Mite-y Discs vs Gold Diggers 

Both of these teams showed a great deal of promise throughout the semester, unfortunately for them this promise has only got them battling for 5^th – 8^th.  In the game I’ll call, “The Battle of The Teams Beaten by 100 Shades of Grey”, look for Gold Diggers captain Stretch Armstrong Dehollander to shine.  Rob has been in some great form the past month, and with the imminent return of older brother David is looking to make a name for himself as the better Dehollander.  The opposing captain Mattie Hamilton and his team/employees will look to play some quick disc, using their speed to get around the Gold Diggers defence.  Mite-y’s will hope to bring back some of their early season form.  Look out for Matt Stoffels on the Gold Diggers to score 1000. 

Prediction: Despite finishing the regular season behind the Mite-y’s, I think the Gold Diggers will take the win here, 13-8.

Game 2: The Highlanders vs More Smarter Than You

I think it’s a bit of commentators curse for the Highlanders, I thought they would win their first game…they didn’t.  I tipped them in the blog to win their second game…they didn’t.  Despite being rolled 2 games in a row, The Highlanders do possess a very strong offensive line, height, speed and how they haven’t made it further is beyond me.  More Smarter Than You will control the disc and defensive cohesion is their strength.  Look for former 100m sprint world record holder (possibly not true) Michael Kramer to run rings around anyone that marks him man to man and the MSTY girls to dominate the offence.  For the Highlanders, I think their real danger man is Stefan and those pants…. 

Prediction: I think third time is the charm for The Highlanders, relegating MSTY to the wooden spoon battle, 13-10. 

Now the race for the championship!

Game 3: Black Magic vs The Green Goblins

Form and placings say Black Magic should win and win easily.  But as we’ve seen this finals race, form and regular season placings aren’t counting for a whole lot.  Undefeated to now, Black Magic has a very strong roster including perennial ‘he should have been MVP’ captain James David.  They’ve played great disc, mixed their defence up and controlled every single game they’ve played.  However, Deanna ‘MVP’ Finn is a big loss for the Magic.  The Green Goblins on the other hand, had a slow start to the season with an inexperienced line.  After the acquisition of Leo BUD in a trade for potentially worst player in the league Ashley O’Sullivan, and picking up some guy named Mike, they have only lost one game.  Members of both of these teams have been to the finals before.  James has been to 3 grand finals and is yet to walk away with the main prize.  I think this want to win the title will get his team there.

Prediction: I’ve talked to many people about this game, and no one knows who the favourite is.  My pick is Black Magic, in a very close game.

Game 4: The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs vs 100 Shades of Grey

Form is a strange thing, sometimes you can go a whole season without it and then all of a sudden in the finals you find it.  I think everyone would agree that this is the way that 100 Shades of Grey have been, taking down the 5^th place and 3^rd place in consecutive weeks.   However, taking down 2^nd place is a whole different story.  The Dream Discs have had a ‘dream’ run, only losing the one game throughout the season (to 1^st place Black Magic).  With attacking weapons like Damo, Bevo and Rach(o) no wonder they’ve had no trouble scoring points.  Unfortunately for the Dream Discs, their captain Finny is unable to play this week as he is flying to Perth to start a new life as a fisherman.  The question is can the Dream Discs play the same attacking frisbee they have been with their leader off the field, or will the likes of Brandon, Ed, Erik, Anne and Nickers of 100 Shades of Grey be too strong?

Prediction: I think fun will be the real winner in this game.

So come down Wednesday night, play for you r team and cheer your favourite team on in their finals match!  With the games this week, there are sure to be some great contests, individual rivalries and good times had by all. 

Did You Know? An ultimate frisbee holds approximately 1630 ml of liquid. That equals approximately 4.34 cans of beer, 1.42 jugs of beer, 2.86 pints, 3.83 schooners or 5.71 pots.

Everyone loves a spectacle...Finals Week 2 Preview!

Well given the blog enjoyed a triumphant return to form last week and I love procrastination, here are the predictions for Week 2 of the finals!  With some teams enjoying the bye and others wallowing in the disappointment of being knocked out, look for some crazy ultimate happening in the scratch matches.  The scratch matches may play a big part in this finals series, as injuries can happen and form can be lost with a poor performance.  So Black Magic and The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs go out there and ‘break a leg’.

Seriously.  James David, break yours.  Makes everyone’s life in the finals easier.

Anyways, on to the games that will count the most, our two knockout finals!

Game 1: The Highlanders vs Green Goblins

This game sees a battle of last semester’s champions, with Captain Highlander Timmy Roland taking on former teammate and Captain Goblin Ryan Miller.  The Highlanders apparently are named so because they possess some deadly height on the field, with Cade Bradshaw the backbone of a solid offence.  With the safest hands in Ultimate Frisbee, look for Sanne to make some great cuts and ever better catches in the end zone.  In defence look for this height to create havoc as they zone you until you can’t get zoned no more!  Further threats are added by the two pronged Rob attack in Rob Edmond and Rob Davies, who run circles around most defences.

The Green Goblins, favourites only a few weeks ago, have stormed through to the second week of the finals.  Much of this is the result of the Mike Larson factor, however strong contributions all over the field have made this team a nightmare for any defence.  With Liss and Ryan providing great stability to the team, if the Goblins get going there aren’t many defences that can stop them.  With Mike at the back, the long throw becomes a difficult task for any opposition, but there are some opportunities to exploit the Goblins defence with short throws. 

This game will come down patience and execution.  For the Highlanders they have to resist always looking long and play short give and go Frisbee, keep the Goblins moving in defence and make no mistakes.  For the Goblins, it’ll be about shutting the Highlanders offence down and keeping Cade out of the game as much as possible.  A game for the spectators to enjoy, I think it will go down to the wire. 

Prediction: I said The Highlanders would bounce back this week and I think they will, with a 13-11 victory over the Goblins.

Game 2: Mite-y Discs vs 100 Shades of Grey

This should be interesting, very very interesting.  Two teams that have had polar opposite seasons to date, with the Mite-y’s smoothly sailing through most of the season and the Shades only recording one victory in the regular season.  But this is the finals and none of that matters, as we saw last week when the Mite-y’s went down heavily to Black Magic while the Shades had an upset victory of the Gold Diggers.  The Mite-y Discs have some solid offensive options, with the expected return of Dr. Pete further strengthening their game.  Look for Captain Mattie Hamilton to be everywhere, and catch some discs in the air that he has absolutely no right to catch.  They’ve been strong in defence through the season and a return to form this week will see that happening once again. 

100 Shades of Grey are a bit of an unknown quantity, you never really know what you’re going to get.  They’ve got height in Duncan Webley, speed and aerial threat in Bobby Jackson, handling prowess in Andy Craft the best girl cup you have ever seen!  Sometimes this clicks, sometimes it doesn’t.  But if 100 Shades want to go any further in the competition, then they will have to bring their absolute A game to take down the Mite-y’s.  Shades have slowly been getting their defence together in the last month, look for this to go up another notch and we’ll have ourselves one very close game. 

This game will come down to defence.  Both teams have strong offensive options and execution on offence is key, but the winners here will be the ones who make the 1% plays in defence.  The team that recovers quickly on transition, doesn’t get broken and defends to their strengths will be the victor.

Prediction: Universe Point.  Everyone loves a spectacle and I think this game will provide it!  The winners? Your guess is as good as mine; we’ll have to find out tomorrow night!

Play hard and good luck! Villain out.