Finals Predictions - Semester 1, 2010

With all the crap going on at uni, the clock-like inner workings of the Townsville Ultimate Blog have been put on hold. Hopefully the study break will supply ample time to wind the clock and get things going again. It will more than likely need the input of a few spectators and players for the scores of the 6 games that were played last week, plus the spectacle/barbecue of the World Cup game between America and Australia.

Predicting the finals was the next step of the predictions which has been left till this week. Seeing as most of the other predictions I made were wrong, I'll pick up from the true results instead of predicting the game I predicted the finals to be.

So this week we see the Blue Sharks take on Hard Force. Both of these team's semi-finals games went down to the wire, both on points and time, and both came out ahead close to "lighs cap" 2 points (Blue Sharks) and one point ahead against their respective opposition, Motherhuckers and Pink BAMFs.

The Blue Sharks are looking like the team to beat now after downing the Motherhuckers, though I think it will still be hard to top Hard Force and the lift that comes from playing in a final. Blue Sharks seem to be packed with a little bit more depth in some of their players with Zane leading the charge with creative strategies they've got James who'll be key on defense, Peter handling and moving the disc quickly, and....that's about it...oh wait, don't know if this counts but Deanna Finn (the less fortunate sibling of Matt Finn, the Heavyweights Superstar)...To her credit she has been outscoring James David, god's gift to sports. With all of the Blue Sharks' intra-team competition it's a wonder they get anything done.

Now we're looking at Simon Urquhart, whose last full season in a Townsville League it will be. This needs to be the fairy tale ending that Mike had been dreaming of for himself, replaced by Simon and Simon's team's victory. Along with the Presidental House bragging rights after the America defeat on Friday, this would just be the icing on the cake that is the stellar Townsville season for the young space monkey. There is fair-natured Ian, who has certainly been smack talking it up wherever he goes, perhaps having spent too long around me before the showcase game perhaps. Oow! There's the Ray Brigade! THE BOOTS ARE ALREADY SHINED I'm sure! There's Jess, who usually has just played rugby and rocks up really smelling and sweaty and noone can bear to stand near her. This usually works in her favour, but does she have rugby tonight or is the season over? What will her strengths be if it is over? The beginnings of her tan from many weekends on the beach? I don't know but this should provide some good heckling material for the sideline.

As for what the teams bring, Hard Force are gonna have to look out for some really quick running swing movement, messing up the defense and poking holes in it as well as some imaginative defense catered specifically to their opposition from The Sharks. The Sharks will have to look out for the 5 -year prowess of the cuddliest man in Townsville, that's right ladies, Simon Urquhart in his final season here! Ihear that one will just poke holes in anything!!! Ba - dum - ching!

I'm going for both teams, but perhaps blue is the more unfortunate colour on a state of origin night! I think this will really be a close one, let's hope it drags out a bit and come down and enjoy the BARBECUE. I'm personally in favour of Blue's line-up and playing style but I think that Hard Force will have the mental toughness and edge that is needed to take the win. Hard Force 15 - Blue Sharks 11.

GAME START TIME 7:15pm!!!

Our very own Micky L.

A currently interesting new website highlighting Australian Ultimate and Australian players is ForceSideline.com. Who knows what their credibility is yet but all will be revealed soon. The interesting thing about it though is our very own Mike Larson appearing on it in a team picked for a mock team draft with a distinct Queensland flavour. Here's how they describe it:

"Taking inspiration from The Huddle’s mock draft last year, Force Sideline introduces the Force Sideline Fantasy Tournament. A couple of months ago, we invited five people and two other ultimate blogs to participate alongside Force Sideline as team owners in a draft, where they could pick any Australian-based player to be on their list."

Mike managed to appear in the slutty tail end of the pick, but appear he did! and I was clever enough to notice, otherwise we might've missed a TownsVillain escaping Townsville-only appearances!!! Some possible good reasons he might have stood out. Mike's few tournament appearances have usually gone pretty well with his regionals performance this year (a magic game against Beer Barbarians sniping assists on almost every single point for the win) placing him a suspected 2nd overall in that competition on MVP votes and if I remember also a stand-out performance for Townsville at Mixed Nats 2008 after less than a year under his belt and Hamish to compete with for the top spot. Having only played for 2 years, and in Townsville alone, this is pretty good. If none of these reasons explain it, then perhaps he slept his way there. Anyway, check it out, props for a Round 12 to spot Mike.

My Predictions...Hugh

My predictions:

The reduction of the length of games will wreak some havoc on those teams not prepared for it. It will mean a change in playing style for a lot of teams and potentially an unexpected end to the games. If we use a cap in which once the buzzer goes off, that point is played out before declaring last point after that, it may allow some of the close games to be properly decided. If the game ends on the buzzer, havoc will ensue.

HEXAFINALS
Heavyweights will match up again in a repeat game of the one they played last week against Motherhuckers. The motherhuckers are once again plying their physchology PhD captain’s phychological mind manipulation tricks or PMMTs. Wanting the Heavyweights to think it’ll be another walkover game, the Motherhuckers have been mentioning how the result of this game once again doesn’t matter to them as they’re through to the Semis anyway. This is just a front. The result does matter because it decides who they’ll face in the Semis, they will play hard. Not wanting to face off against a harder team early on to end up with a weaker finals they will do their best to win this game (why have we employed this structure Zane?). They will employ everything they’ve got including COBRA!, PMMTs, and even a no-hands point! The Heavyweights will come into the game thinking they’ve opened up the flaws of the Motherhuckers offense, and that they will just apply all the countermeasures they can. The Motherhuckers, still wanting to play COBRA!, all night will be just waiting for the taller defenders on the Heavyweights to come away from the deep area and take on handlers and such. This won't eventuate straight away and the Motherhuckers will be left twiddling their thumbs waiting for the chance at COBRA! all the while still manipulating things with PMMTs and other magician-type tricks. The Heavyweight's track record will get them off to a good start, with lots of points early. This lead will fade towards the end of the hour time limit, COBRA! will be played and bring the scores close to level. It'll be a close match. Heavyweights 10 - Motherhuckers 8.

Hard Force will then play Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever being ranked under Hard Force will be giving it all they have. If they lose their heads the game will go to the cool and calm Hard Force, though they have the talent to beat them. Duncan’s braces are coming off soon so will he be smiling pre-emptively or in lockdown? That is the real question. If more pressure is created it will cause Yellow Fever to implode. I predict a win for Hard Force. Hard Force 9 - Yellow Duncans 6

Pink BAMFs, always the fun team will be looking to take a win tonight. Their past record has shown they're capable but will occasionally succumb to a loss. The relaxed nature of their team and unshaken confidence will give them an advantage going into this game. Captain Dave however could freak out and pull out some dumbass ninja moves and get them in trouble. The Blue Sharks, with their doubtful captain (see predictions below) will be hard pressed to match some of the receiving talent of the Pink BAMFs. With lots of unanswered points scored by a few players on Pink, the Blue Sharks will flail and fail to come back and will probably go down after the quick lead made on them by Pink. Pink BAMFs 11 - Blue Sharks 5

SEMIFINALS
The Semi Finals will follow this game almost immediately. It will be the Motherhuckers facing Hard Force in a Semi that they both wish could be the final to enable bragging rights at home. Once again disappointed but not ready to miss out on another finals, Simon and his team will really bring it. But they don’t call him the General for nothing. Leading from his armchair in the backfield he’ll be sending out the privates for the beach landing, that is, smashing away Hard Force for some easy early points. Slightly demoralised and shaking their heads, Hard Force will attempt to fight back. Eventually they’ll lift their heads once they realise they have a chance. Timecap will be forgotten with both presidents competing and play will continue till almost lights-off. Mike will "suddenly" remember this and using some more PMMTs will yell “Next point wins” if his team is behind and on “O” in that next point. If he’s in front a simple “last point, lights out soon” will suffice. I predict a win for the Motherhuckers, there’s no way the General will be missing out on his first final in 2 years let alone, losing his first final, but it could still happen. Motherhuckers 8 – Hard Force 7

The other game will be almost like a wooden-spoon off version of a semi-final with the Pink BAMFs facing the Heavyweights. Having only planned up to winning against the Motherhuckers, the gameplan of the Heavyweights will be slightly confused causing them to slip behind in the points stake. Not wanting to see this happen again, captain Hugh will have to really make sure his brain and team spirit are working tonight! Pink BAMFs win with timecap 8 – 4

Woodenspoon winners will be the toughest match to pick. Who wants to win the title of Wooden Spooner by losing their last game? Who knows? This match will be more rigged than a sailing boat. The Blue Sharks will probably do their best to win, but will miss out on the Wooden Spoon which will go to the mentally exhausted Yellow Fever, who having now missed out on making something of their winning streak, will be happy to finally get to let things slip. Blue Sharks 11 – Yellow Fever 4.

What will happen tonight...Zane

What will happen tonight…

The Motherhuckers although guaranteed a semi final berth due to their number one ranking will be still fired up to see off the Heavyweights. If they lose they will end up playing Hard Force in the semis, thus ending the Mike /Simon final run. Motherhuckers will dominate, Heavyweights implode. Game one to Motherhuckers by 5.

The second seeded HardForce would expect a hard game from the fight for your lives Yellow Fever (previously the Yellow Duncans) but this won’t eventuate with Hard Force easily going through again by 5 (Would write more but no ones cares about Yellow Fever). Finally the Pink BAMFs will trash the Blue Sharks (10-2) in the final hexa-final game although the Blue Sharks will go through as the highest ranked loser.

In the semis continuing their great run the Pink BAMFs will destroy Hard Force by 6 goals while in the upset of the round the Blue Sharks in a massive turnaround will beat Motherhuckers 10-8 with the game being stopped due to the lights going out. This of course sets up the final next week between the Blue Sharks taking on the mighty Pink BAMFs leaving Mike, Simon, Duncan and Hugh to man the BBQ.

Cheers Zane

Run Run Run cause it's fun.

Having played basketball ages ago (in the dark ages before I knew about Ultimate), I never used to understand why our team would always run back to the other end of the court to set-up zone defense. Not understanding or more likely disobeying it I would often sit there up at their backcourt end where they threw it in, waiting for a chance at an easy steal as they threw the ball in (to a retarded player who wasn't moving much or expecting me to try) and I'd often intercept it and have an easy lay-up. This kind of thing works at lower levels of play where the awareness of the player isn't there and where the pressure usually isn't found. Why not apply the same thing on the frisbee field?

Our finals begin this week and the intensity will hopefully lift to another level as everyone tries to rid themselves of the stress of the end of semester and focus all their energy on running around on a field chasing a frisbee. At least that's what I do when I come to play.

Thinking of things tonight that will help lift this intensity almost straight away and which is something that is easy for beginners to apply immediately is:

Running hard as a team on the pull.

Who's hungry for a D cause that's what you can get when you run hard on the pull. Getting downfield early puts pressure on the first throw which is usually made to a player who's moving in a forward direction or standing still (with their defender running the opposite way towards them) unlike other cuts in frisbee. Getting there early takes away this first easy upfield throw. Individually, if you can get there quickly enough with an unaware handler or receiver taking then it can be an "easy" run-through D.

As a team on the field in Ultimate again, if everyone runs hard on that pull then your whole team is now apply defensive pressure 2 or 3 throws earlier than normal and making the other team work harder for that ground.

My team is ready for the lift in intensity so let's see all the teams run hard to get down there and make things harder for the opponents!

See you Wednesday!

Amrrca vs. 'Straya!

This game will be taking place this Friday the 21st at around 8pm! The field will be the University AFL fields. Come down and support Australia and pay out America, those chumps. Bring your cleats and some beer.

Facebook event is building a following here.

Round 8!

Blue Sharks 13 smashed Yellow Fever 2

Heavyweights 13 def. Motherhuckers 9

Hard Force and Pink BAMFs


It was like the Blue Sharks wanted to return the favour of their last defeat at the hands of Yellow Fever. When these two teams last met, a strong Yellow Fever managed to punch the Blue Sharks right on the nub of their nose, while an extra random nationals bound player on Yellow just added the insult, poking them in both eyes till they went away and victory was clinched. This time around it seems that the Yellow Fever had reached a worsened stage, and they were too weak to poke and prod at the Blue Shark to keep it at bay, let alone sucker punch it and poke out its eyes! It’s like they thought they’d be patting dolphins but instead got plunged into a shark feeding frenzy. Blue Sharks 13 def. Yellow Fever 2.

Well well well, we’ve known it all along. The Heavyweights really are a tough bunch. Apparently half their men eat grenades for breakfast while the other half are made of a light-but-strong titanium alloy, and their women can squat your daddy! Luckily East Germany wasn’t represented tonight (Yvonne) or the Motherhuckers would’ve been assembled, measured, and told loudly in a harsh german accent that they’d never amount to anything worthy of sporting greatness! That would’ve put even more of a damper on the top team. Just like when Beth skied Mike, her genitals hitting him in the face before he passed underneath her and then she went on to get the goal and achieve double happiness! I suppose that's nothing compared to 5' nothing Frenchie Tom deeing up myself, in the endzone with an embarrassing overhead catch bouncing out of my hands because of all his "defensive pressure". Heck both teams will be playing again at the start of the finals in another do-or-die game for the Heavyweights but if the ‘h*ckers get their way it’ll be “COBRA! COBRA! COBRA!”…all the way to a win…? Well done to both teams for just having a fun game! Heavyweights 13 def. Motherhuckers 9

A plague upon both your houses! It’s like tonight someone had a put a curse on both these teams, the Pink BAMFs and Hard Force. That curse being in the form of a hangover that gave everyone on each team the dropsies! No doubt the witch of Norway, Kathrine, who created a volcano in less useful country Iceland to halt her travels longer in Townsville, also schemed this curse up in the form of another “farewell party”. Thankfully this time having used her powers on the attendees at the farewell party to give them all a case of the dropsies and the massive win for the Blue Sharks (above), she was unable to maintain the cloud of ash spreading over the northern hemisphere and departed the next day, this time for real. Kathrine = Curse = Hangover = Dropsies = REALLY LONG POINTS = GETTING MORE EXHAUSTED = MORE DROPSIES! It’s a vicious cycle! Hard Force 13 def. Pink BAMFs 11

Looking forward to next week’s 2 game night –
Finals Games followed then by the Semi-finals and the Wooden Spoon match. 7:15 start so be there with your teams nice and early (my team get there at 6:30 – other teams not so early). BRING LOTS OF ENERGY!!!

Results! Round 7

Sorry about last week. Here's the results from Round 7

Pink BAMFs 13 def. Blue Sharks 9
Motherhuckers 13 def. Yellow Fever 8
Hard Force 13 def. Heavyweights 10

Blue Sharks played against the Pink BAMFs trading points up to 9 -9. With Fraser still injured and Peter absent the Blue Sharks were doing quite well considering. James David has begun his downfall with Beck getting a grab over the man they call "James David" (it's his real name and his nickname). But with Bevvo leaving the Sharks at 9 -9 it was just too much. Pink BAMFs 13 def. Blue Sharks 9.

Yellow Fever played against the Motherhuckers. The Yellow team started off well against the top ranked team and they reached 5 -5 together, tied. Then Fever made one of their "less smart" decisions of the game opting to go long on a lot of their points. Reason it was a bad decision was because: Orangutanga Larson was lying in the nest he made, which just happened to be anywhere near a floating disc. That orange long-armed guy then just had to swing down through the trees to snatch those goals from Yellow Fever. Carlos had a bit of scoring spree with 2 or 3. The girls on Yellow played respectable defense. But with long armed boy everywhere it just wasn't on for this team this week. Motherhuckers 13 def Yellow Fever 8.

The Heavyweights lined up against Hard Force in one of their random weeks where they have like a Kajillion (being 4 or 5) subs as opposed to the usual 1 or so. One of their subs this week was the ever popular and widely known Mansauce, up from Brisbane. Some say his seed is spread so far you can see it from the moon. The game was supposed to be a full strength + extra strength Heavyweights taking on any other team and winning, but it didn't all go to plan. The Heavyweights struggled to find continuation and timing with their cuts and often looked a little bit stunned. It was Hard Force's time to shine. These guys played a hard cutting offense which really exposed the Heavyweights on the mark leaving them on the wrong side and opening up the break side a lot. Sam Jones played well as a handler, offering a good swing option which then moved the disc up the line for good continuations and more of their offense leaving the mark behind. A close game, but not close enough to keep the Heavyweights one game winning streak going. Hard Force 13 def Heavyweights 10.

The worst thing about Frisbee...

Its funny how life works. It’s funny how the people that are in your life for the shortest period of time, often have the biggest influence on your life. It’s funny how a friendship can begin through a simple word or action and can end in a single second.

I’m lying here, wide awake on my bed. I haven’t gotten much sleep as of late, as I’ve been thinking about the same thing, Over and over again. This thing that has plagued my mind since starting the sport of Ultimate this thing I call the worst thing about Ultimate.

You must understand that Ultimate is a great sport, but with this, comes a downfall. Ultimate is much like a double edged sword in a way. Like many sports Ultimate paves the way for friendships, and uniquely to Ultimate, it forms friendships from all around the world. But with this, comes temporary satisfaction, friendships with an expiry date if you will. What am I talking about you ask?

Well, as many Ultimate players know, this is only my second season playing Ultimate, and as Hugh has pointed out many times before, I am only new to this game. In the first season of playing, I got the chance to play with some of the greatest people I have met in my life. The likes of Kevin, Esser, Katie and Sears. However, little did I know that at the time, they were here temporarily. As I only started I was not as close to these fine folks, yet they left so abrumptly, I had no idea what was going on. Until I realised that their visa’s only lasted 6 months. It was standard really. I know for a fact I wouldn’t be playing as well as I am now if it weren’t for these international students, but it wasn’t what they taught me on field, but of field that mattered. Yet saying goodbye to these people was so hard... Why? To this day I don’t know.

6 months, 180 days. All the same really, the standard study visa. Every Ultimate season, we are caught looking around only to see the absence of familiar faces, the absence of certain laughter’s or screams or simply the absence of a person’s presence. It is through these absences we realise how lonely and quiet it is without them. Though through the ending of one season, we realise that a whole new batch of international students have arrived.

Nicco was a guy that I had first seen on a Sunday Frisbee session, at first I did not want to talk to him, as I thought he was weird (In which you can’t blame me). But one night, after toga party, it was me, him and three other people, we were all drunk and sitting on the floor of Shay’s kitchen talking. The only thing that we could communicate through the language barrier was laughter. No matter what language, heritage, country or age, everyone recognises laughter. It was through laughter, and laughter alone that changed my whole outlook on my views on Nicco. That night, we all joked around, ate garlic bread and Nicco and I have been friends ever since.

It is the outside parties and events that form these tight friendships us locals have with the international students but with this also comes burdens. Since the start of the season, I have met some of the greatest people I have ever met in my entire life. Some of these people I will never forget for as long as I live. These amazing people that have come into my life and changed the person I am. But with this, comes the heaviest burden of all, the fact that they are here temporarily. It is so easy to forget that these people are only in your life for a short period of time and it breaks your heart every time you remember that they will be gone, it hurts to think about Frisbee without them.

It is so hard to say goodbye to any friend, but to know that from the start of the friendship there is an expiry date makes it even harder. It got me thinking about seasoned veterans, the likes of Hugh, Mike and Simon. Could this be the reason why they have been distancing themselves from Internationals students?

The constant disappointments of having to say goodbye to good friends, the disappointments of making promises that you’ll see them again, but knowing that you probably won’t. If this is true, I don’t blame them. Forming friendships, knowing that you’re putting yourself up for heartbreak down the line. It sucks having to think about things like this, but it’s the reason why I can’t sleep.

Who’s going to throw popcorn on the ground?

Who will hold parties to celebrate nothing?

Who will boast about America aimlessly?

It is these memories that we will cherish forever, because it is all we have once they leave. However, it is these memories that I will hold closest, because I know, that when I look back, I will have no regrets. I know that I will one day tell my children about the best time of my life and how I met the most amazing people, with the most amazing stories from around the world. This people, I now realise is the greatest part of Frisbee.

Goodnight Guys.

Look into my eyes. The eyes, the eyes. Not around the eyes. YOU'VE GOT THE DISC!

For those new players struggling to get hold of the disc in these somewhat competitive games and for those handlers who aren't able to utelise everyone on their team, here's a tip, use more eye contact.

If you're the cutter trying to get the disc, you have to make the cut as though you want it. Communicate this to the thrower, make eye contact with them and hold it till they either tell you "yeah here, here's the frickin' disc" or "nah, your defender's too close, bugger off".

If you're the handler and see someone cutting but they're so used to not getting the disc that they've turned around to clear out before you've even noticed them, beckon them in, yell their name, point at them; sure the defence will know, but that's when you make the decision to tell them "yeah here, here's the frickin' disc" or "bugger off"!