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.

Look everyone, I remembered the password! Townsville Ultimate Finals Week 1 Review

It’s been a fair bit of time between posts for Townsville Ultimate, but finally it’s time to rejoice because your favourite blog is back and better than ever! Well…at least better than it has been for the last few months.  This week saw the beginning of the Townsville Ultimate Finals, and the introduction of a new finals format similar to that used by the AFL and now the NRL (about time).

For those of you playing at home, the standings at the end of the regular round robin season were:

1 – Black Magic (Captain: James David)

2 – The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs (Captain: Finny)

3 – The Highlanders (Captain: Tim Roland)

4 – Mite-y Discs (Captain: Mattie Hamilton)

5 – Gold Diggers (Captain: Rob ‘Stretch’ Dehollander)

6 – Green Goblins (Captains: Ryan Miller and Liss Bowden)

7 – More Smarter Than You (Captain: Michael Kramer)

8 – 100 Shades of Grey (Captain: Duncan Webley)

Games this week saw two pools.

Pool 1: Team 1 vs Team 4, Team 2 vs Team 3

Pool 2: Team 5 vs Team 8, Team 6 vs Team 7

Winners from Pool 1 enjoy the luxury of a week off next week while the losers from Pool 1 have to play again next week against the Winners from Pool 2.  Unfortunately we can’t all be champions and losers from Pool 2 are eliminated from the finals and will have the pleasure of playing off for minor placings.  Makes sense right? On to the games!

Game 1: Black Magic vs. Mite-y Discs

This game was always going to be a tough ask for the Mite-y Discs.  Black Magic have swept everyone aside all season, going through to the finals undefeated and hardly breaking a sweat doing so.  With Dr Peter Roach missing in action, the Mite-y’s looked underdone possibly due to celebrating the birthday of Captain Mattie.  Special mention to Gibbo for dropping the disc and letting the Mitey’s at least score one.  Not even Dr Pete would have been able to stop the bleeding here.

Final Score: Magic takes the victory and the week off 13-1.

Game 2: The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs vs. The Highlanders

This game promised to be a close affair, with arguably the two tallest teams going head to head.  Key contests in this game: Finn vs Roland, Damo vs Cade, Rob Edmond vs himself…with the wind playing havoc throughout the game, handler come receiver come all round great guy Chris Ende played what I am told is one of his better games for the season in tough conditions.  Dark horse for female MVP Rachael Hammond was ever present in the give and go offence of the Dream Discs, and speed in transition proved the difference. The Highlanders just could not keep up, but will learn from this and bounce back next week for sure.

Final Score:  The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs send the Highlanders packing 13 – probably 8 or something, it doesn’t really matter.

Game 3: Green Goblins vs More Smarter Than You

In a battle of smarts vs well, greenness, More Smarter Than you looked to knock out perennial finals over achiever Mike Larson, member of the Green Goblins.  In the absence of Ryan, team captain Liss Bowden no doubt provided inspirational words like “don’t hurt your knees” to get the team fired up.  With the return of the all conquering backhand of Zane Quinn this week, MSTY on paper were looking the goods with Tom Waterhouse installing odds of $1.80 for the orange geniuses.  Unfortunately Tom was off the mark as from the get go, Green played controlled disc and shared the disc around (maybe) while MSTY got a bit excited and tried to bomb long too often.  Don’t think many predicted this outcome.

Final Score: Green Goblins suffocate MSTY to take the win 13-4.

Game 4: Gold Diggers vs 100 Shades of Grey

The team that wanna “Dig em up, sell em out” (their chant, I’m distancing myself from that chant as much as possible) took on the apparently sexually misguided 100 Shades of Grey.  Gold Digger handling star Chris Pallazzi made a welcome return for the Diggers, while Bobby Jackson returned for the Shades after playing in the mud last weekend.  In typical Townsville “what’s a time cap” style, this game went for an eternity with most other games finished before this thing even reached half time.  There were plenty of chances for both teams, plenty of different strategies and overall an epic game was the result.  It was close all the way but 100 Shades got a crucial 4 point run just after half time and never looked back.  Special mention to Duncan for being tall and Aggie Dehollander for scoring about a thousand points.

Final Score: 100 Shades of Grey show the Gold Diggers why they are twice as good as the books, taking the victory 13-9.

Next week sees Mite-y Discs take on 100 Shades of Grey while in the other knockout final The Highlanders take on the Green Goblins and there's probably other games too!  That's it from me, until next time, Villain out.

You stay classy, Planet Earth.

To hell with saving Princess Peach. I'm going to the Pub Crawl!

And so ends another glorious event in which total strangers became ultimate friends.  From sea to shining sea; from the edges of abysmal captivity of one’s mundane lifestyle; from the lonesome depths of a university lecture room, 100+ patrons donned their creative costumes in epic fashion.  For some members, this seemed just like another date on the calendar from which we all try and out do ourselves with over the top costumes and frightful shenanigans.  Gone were the days of simple costume purchasing, and away were the moments of last minute changes to old clothing we didn’t mind to damage.  On this hallowed day we went the extra mile.  On this day, we strived for the absolute best.  We chose to showcase this awesomeness with our mates in what can only be described as the best showing of teamwork I have ever seen.

For the newbies (and we always love them), this was a glimpse into the greatness that you have joined.  I can’t sit here and rewrite about how much you will enjoy your final months in Australia.   I can’t sit here and discuss the magnitude of how much you will enjoy life as a Frisbee player.  You can read through the blog to pub-crawl posts that have come and gone.  They speak for themselves.  What I can give for you is the same quality of story telling that is only reserved for camping fires and near death experiences; and I have had my share of those let me tell you.  Your stories of this night will be immortalized so that you may look upon them when you are back in America (F*** Yeah), Canada, Netherlands, Germany, France….South Africa?  Do we have any of them in the league this year?  Regardless, here for your entertainment, are the best stories from the nights you will always remember.

Now I can’t focus on what happened at the Uni Club because myself and the other ninjas were fixing some costume malfunctions and basically took a cab just to meet you on a bus that was heading to a bar we could have walked too.  I blame the Germans we came with only because we spent the last 40 minutes raging to German techno (Hort ihr die Signale!).  The second I jumped on that bus I was in awe of the plethora of imagination in front of me.  I knew Air David and the rest were pulling out all the stops and I desperately wanted to out do him.  I guess that’s what we get for being legends of the crawls.  I wasn’t in the bus that fitted more of a manlier match of strength than a pokemon battle.  The two Ash’s were deadlocked in a battle of forearm to wrist strength that really proves who needs a girlfriend more.  Lucky little Godfrey “came” out on top in both this match and the imposter drink off.

FYI, that stunt nearly got them kicked off and I know it’s not the worst thing we have all done on a bus.  I believe last crawl we had Larson and Ashley straddling each other while holding onto the railings.  Puking on the bus before stop #1 is also not good for business.

There was a variety of drink offs that put Mario’s, Luigi’s, and Kitanas to the test.  With regards to the last one I must say you really didn’t have a shot.  Dee, we love you, but nobody beats “SL”AMBER in a drink off.  She’s too legit to quit.  I was waiting for the drink off between the Mario Kart crew and the Mortal Kombat ninjas but I guess we got too far-gone before that could happen.

From then on we all made our way to the Avenue Tavern where shots had been ordered.  They might as well have given me a shot of watermelon juice because that’s what it tasted like.  Did those cheap bastards even put alcohol in them or was I taking a shot of some feminine “sour puss”.   This ninja doesn’t go down for sour; in every aspect of life (BAZINGA).    Make sure you remind Pia Boehm that her straw drinking skills were “humming” to the tune of a lustful nature.

The music was great throughout the night and the times heading towards town just got messier and more nymphomaniacal.  It’s a word, look it up and don’t question the English teacher.  I took many videos from when we arrived at Consortium.  I love to see the confused look on those whose job is so routine that a mere slash in their day proves tiresome as well as quixotic.  My case in point comes from when the door girl wanted to stamp me and the other ninjas with their mark but couldn’t due to our epic planning of costume accuracy.  Soccer shin pads allowed us to get a consortium tattoo on the bicep for the night.     

Timmy’s costume just freaked out every girl who wasn’t on the crawl.  Even now when I watch the videos I can see Rob Zombie making a hit musical with Timmy as the lead. 

Strap on your earmuffs and seizure like a boss, because all the skrillex (skrillix?) music in the world couldn’t keep us from pushing the boundaries of our wallets and our dancing spirit.  We entered that place with the will to take over, and by god we did.

Why stop there when we all know a pub-crawl gets a bit vivacious after 3am.   So we headed down to beach with our trusty leaders and wicked costumes and dove into the waters of the Corel Sea with barely anything on.  A big thank you goes to the homeless dude for making our night creepier than Timmy’s costume.  And don’t forget to thank him with a punch in the nuts for hiding the clothes of the honourable skinny dippers playing chicken wrestling (must be an American thing).

I’m surprised some people’s costumes were still in place after.  What’s even more surprising was the fact that your fearless crawl leader (Timmy) actually managed to make it home without passing out on another person’s front lawn; or face down in a park; or knee deep in a bush (Finny); or barely alive from his chiropractic dance moves.  Thanks to the girl who took him home.  We all know he needs a helping hand (or two) when succumbing to the aftermath of his crawl organizational skills.

Great move on the shirt disposal as well Tim.  I’m sure that Ute driver received a nice WTF moment when he woke up.

I hope you pushed yourself to the best of your drinking potential and I wish you all the best this semester.  Make every moment count and remember that Australia will always be here when you want to return.

Happy hunting!

The Man with the Dragon Tattoo

Ultimate Frisbee Finals Previews!

Finals time!!! Without any further ado here are the match previews and special guest predictions from our Ex-El Presidente Hugh 'Pugh' Osborn!

Starting from the 9th / 10th Playoff


Zulu Zebras vs More Smarter Than You

The battle for the infamous wooden spoon this year is contested between Dee & Carlos' Zulu Zebras & Zane & Mark's More Smarter Than You. After an up and down season for both teams a ferocious hunger will be shown to avoid the wooden spoon!

Ex El Presidente Prediction

Hearing about their hammers-only game last week the Zulus sound like they're out to have fun and Carlos seems honoured to get his 2nd Wooden spoon (in a row).  I like what MSTY, with Zane at the helm, aims to do in creating a permanent team to take the trophy in a couple of semester's time (would love to see their team uniforms Franich-style) and hope to see a few more player combinations remain together next League.  I hear rumour that a few of the main frisbee brains on More Smarter Than You are missing so I tip Zulu for the win, outclassing them with brawn.  I would love Genge, who's all-brawn on-field, to prove me wrong.  Zulu Zebras 13 - 6


7th / 8th Playoff


Sky High vs White Lightning

In a round 1 rematch Duncan and his High flying Skyers take on Cody's White Lightning in a electrifying match! Duncan has Rob Davies & Godfrey plus a barrage of capable and energetic ladies while Cody boasts a strong team full of male handlers.

Ex El Presidente Prediction

Carlos and Dee's bad hammers have gifted White Lightning a chance to avoid the wooden spoon and they should be lucky.  I predict Sky High to come out victorious as their captain Big Dunc is now beginning to get some years of leadership practise behind him and this will help in the outcome. Sky High 13 - 7


5th / 6th Playoff


Pink Stink vs Tea Cup Pigs

Both teams coming off tough matches the week before will be hungry to get a win against the other. Pink Stink took the honors through the round games so Tea Cup Pigs will be hungry for revenge! Look out for the handler battle between captains Ash Osul and Rob DeHollander. Will be a battle for the ages!


Ex El Presidente Prediction

Former 2nd in command Lascivious Ladyfinger, Rob Dehollander is finally fledging and taking his own team.  One of the senior players in Townsville in the most junior of ways - I look forward to the all-roundedness this will add to his ultimate.  Ash is typically a finals beast, but the relegation to the 5/6 battle and not a 3rd placing may put him off his game.  If Rob keeps control of the disc and limits turnovers, I see them overwhelming the TC Piggies.  Pink Stink 13 - 8

Semi Final # 1


Black Mambas vs We Tie You Die

In the first semi final of the 2012 Townsville Ultimate Frisbee League we see the first seeded Black Mambas take on the sixth seeded We Tie You Die.
Black Mambas took the minor premiership only dropping 1 game throughout the season (to We Tie You Die) and cruising through the first week of the finals. Always dangerous is the captain James David. Townsville regulars Tom Felix and Rowan Hall are ever improving and American dynamos Brad Feiger and Shane Foley will be looking to bring the hurt on their Tie Dye clad opponents.
We Tie You Die had a tough season finishing in 6th place but had a strong run through the finals beating the 5th seeded Tea Cup Pigs and the 3rd seeded Pink Stink to make the semis. Key players through the roster include the captain Matt 'Finny' Finn, Townsville great Ricky Hazelton, American turned Aussie Liss Bowden plus new star recruits Bebe Worsfield and Wes Monts.
Expect the aerial battle between James and Finny to be a deciding factor in this game!
An absolute ripper of a semi final game between two in form teams! This should be a fantastic game of ultimate!

Ex El Presidente Prediction

Finny's team has managed a comeback after placing 6th after the round robins to get to the semis.   With a strong victory over a decent team in Ash O'Sullivan's last week, that same work ethic that got them through last game should see them upset the Minor Premiers.  James might have a better chance of shutting out their captain than did Tea Cup Piggies.  But with a recent Nationals campaign behind him and some ulti.tv filmed and commentated upon "ugly pulls", the smaller fields of Townsville should help steer We Tie, You Die to a grand finals berth.  WTYD 13 - 11


Semi Final # 2


Blue Blizzard vs Red Imperium

In the second semi final of the 2012 Townsville Ultimate Frisbee League we see the second seeded Blue Blizzard take on the third seeded Red Imperium.
After a slow start to the season Blue Blizzard picked up star recruit Mike 'The General' Larson and never looked back from there.
Their co-captains Ryan Miller and Timmy Roland in their debut year of captaincy have done well with their team turning them into a finely tuned machine. Between themselves, Mike and American import Will Rees Blue Blizzard have a dominant handling line up. The lady machines Sanne and Aline cause all sort of problems as well. A solid all around team.
The Red Imperium had a solid season disrupted by attendance at times. Fortunately everything pieced itself together come finals time.
Co-captains Mattie 'Beef Train' Hamilton and Sean 'Bevo' Beveridge lead the Red Imperium with cool heads while All American player Tyler Wright and Townsville's very own golden boy Peter Roach run rings around their opponents. Look to see lots of change it up disc play from the Red Imperium.
This match will be decided on how Red Imperium decide to deal with Mike ' The General' Larson. Period.


Ex El Presidente Prediction


I don't know the history of Tim and Ryan's team the Blue Blizzards, but with their star power I'd guess their only reason for placing 2nd was a certain Micky Larson was in Africa.  Red Imperium just won't have the same level of control and patience with the disc that BB will have instilled by now and the resulting turnovers would be enough to lose them this semi.  Expect my best sneaky recruit/Rookie of the Century, the former Lascivious Ladyfingers player Sanne to be open all day in the endzone for some M. Larson throws.  Blue Blizzard 13 - 6


There you have it folks! Sparkles and the Pugh's Previews and Predictions for Week 2 of the Townsville Ultimate Finals! Hope everyone is excited for some great disc action!!!

Keep on throwing!

Love

Sparkles :-)

2012 Ultimate Frisbee Semester 1 Final Series

Week one of the 2012 Townsville Ultimate Frisbee Final Series kicked off last Wednesday night with the last double game night of the season!
With 2 rounds of finals to play to determine the final combatants all the players were ready for a competitive night of Ultimate!

In the first round of the finals we had the following matches played.

Black Mambas (1) vs White Lightning (10)
Blue Blizzard (2) vs Sky High (9)
Pink Stink (3) vs More Smarter Than You (8)
Red Imperium (4) vs Zulu Zebras (7)
Tea Cup Pigs (5) vs We Tie You Die (6)

After a tough first round of matches the finals scores were...

Black Mambas def White Lightning 11-5
Blue Blizzard def Sky High 10-6
Pink Stink def More Smarter Than You 13-4
Red Imperium def Zulu Zebras 11-8
Tea Cup Pigs def by We Tie You Die 7-10

After seeing Black Mambas and Blue Blizzard keep up their winning ways and earning a trip to the semi finals the other 8 teams had to battle out their second game of the night. 4 teams fighting to stay in the race for the Townsville Ultimate Championships and the other 4 teams fighting to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon!

Red Imperium vs Tea Cup Pigs
Pink Stink vs We Tie You Die

Zulu Zebras vs White Lightning
More Smarter Than You vs Sky High

After another hours of high flying fast paced ultimate the semi finalists were decided...

Red Imperium def Tea Cup Pigs 13-8
Pink Stink def by We Tie You Die 6-9

Zulu Zebras def by White Lightning 5-8
More Smarter Than You def by Sky High 4-13

With a round of upsets the matches were decided!

Semi Final # 1

Black Mambas vs We Tie You Die

Semi Final # 2

Blue Blizzard vs Red Imperium

5th / 6th Play-off

Pink Stink vs Tea Cup Pigs

7th / 8th Play-off

Sky High vs White Lightning

9th /10th Play-off (WOODEN SPOON)

Zulu Zebras vs More Smarter Than You



Keep your eyes open for a super special finals preview extravaganza from Sparkles with a possibility of a special guest interview tomorrow night!

Lots of love!

Sparkles :-)

Finals Week 1 Draw

Alright guys first week of finals is all lined up! Will be another double game this week! Games will start at 715pm again. Second game to start at 830pm. Draw is as follows:

Field 1 - Red Imperium vs Zulu Zebras
Field 2 - Black Mambas vs White Lightning
Field 3 - Blue Blizzard vs Sky High
Field 4 - Pink Stink vs More Smarter Than You
Field 5 - Tea Cup Pigs vs We Tie You Die

The second game for the night will depend on the results of the first game so I will let everyone know as the night progresses!  Now that you have the times remember to invite your mates down to watch as the intensity of the finals kicks in!

<3  *Sparkles*

Final standings

The round robin games have been completed and this week we enter the finals.

The final standings are confirmed and are as follows :

1 - Black Mambas
2 - Blue Blizzard
3 - Pink Stink
4 - Red Imperium
5 - Tea Cup Pigs
6 - We Tie You Die
7 - Zulu Zebras
8 - More Smarter Than You
9 - Sky High
10 - White Lightning


Congratulations to the Black Mambas, the minor Premiership winners!  Good luck in the finals to all the teams and go the underdogs!






Finals draw is on its way!

<3 *Sparkles*

The fields

League nights.

When You Wish Upon a Star

For a limited time only, The Dragon has climbed out of his cave. Yes Hugh, I can agree that some of my posts on the game reviews were long, but I tried to get every bit of information engraved into immortality for those international students who are no longer with us. Many of you do not know me but I had the honour of writing the blog at the beginning of semester 2 in 2011. Having moved to the bush life to teach I am forced to miss out on frisbee for an indefinite period. I was dressed as Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty. Rest assured I hope to make it to some tournys and hats in the future. From what I gathered on Friday night I can tell that frisbee never goes out of style and that each semester we are blessed with the joy and frivolity of our international friends.....Giggity.

Let this be a lesson for the new recruits: "You get what you put in." Time to be extroverted to the max. Any further information regarding how to make your semester abroad a memorable one can follow the link below.

http://townsvilleultimate.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/welcome-to-jungle-and-best-semester-of.html

Well without further gilding the lily and anymore adieu I give you the recap of the Disney themed pub crawl, which was helped run by the seeker of serenity, the protector of frisbee virginity, the one the only....Timmy "The Beast" Roland!

(fyi this is all I remember of the crawl as this prince was indisposed shortly after the Sun Hotel)

Step 1 - create costume day before the crawl
Step 2 - pregame at suitable destination
Step 3 - meet at Uni Pub
Step 4 - Liver blasting high score

Myself and some other professional work associates arrived at the Den of Sin (Miller/Roland house) and got to work on costume set up. Finny was blasted off yagger and Smashl...sorry Ashley wasn't too far behind. Upon reaching the uni I noticed the creativity was in full effect this crawl (apologies if names are wrong). Some notable costumes were, but are not limited to:

A-O'Suv, James "Air" David, Bevo, Stoffels, Creigan "Gibbo" Gibson, Matt "too long of a nickname" Pyne, and the mighty Ray Brigade Everest for their remarkable showing of the army men from Toy Story.

Jaime Lynn for her depiction of Kida from Atlantis

Greg and his Hades costume. Legit face makeup bro.

Allison's Aristocats look was an oldie but a goodie

Aaron's tinkerbell was spot on and legendary

Nierdermeyer's attempt at Walt Disney was a good save alongside his Minnie Mice

Pipe's drunken attempt of Wall-E....

and Alex Fisher's Mad Hatter. I'd love to see side by side pics of his and Ricky Hazelton's version

After a giant drunken leap from Uni to Riverview we were all blessed with the sight of the biker boys and their death defying 3 wheeler skids. Keep an eye out for other types of "track marks" in the future.

Slowly but surely the night became a giant haze. I think I was having some good discussions with a few pirate hookers and a Swedish "Flounder" before we left the Sun hotel, and I vaguely remember Molly Malones or the Shed. Here's what I know now after seeing pictures from many (Danni Su for the high-5) You were all filthy on that bus through pole dancing and striptease practices; most notably from a Minnie Mouse drag queen named Julian.

Whatever stories I was not privileged to witness I apologise. Usually if I become out for the count I am given recaps from others. Some other notable events were:

1.) It was the return of the real BEVO; a hunter on the prowl.
2.) Snake with Angry Head (Finny) ended up in the gardens of St. Mike's with the bush turkeys.
3.) Ben Lewis, 1 of the 7 dwarves lived true to his name and became very... how you say... HAPPY!
4.) We found out that as always, green paint doesn't hide pure drunken mentalities and facial cues.
5.) Megan "Nala" Stransky used quick thinking manoeuvres to quietly hide her fluids via plastic cups (note the plural).

I am pretty sure that the Sun Hotel was the end point of consciousness for many of us, but rest assured, the sun shall rise again. This will not be the first time you drink with the frisbee crew. You're all family now so act like it. Again you will feel the taste of good beers by the docks and the beach, and once more you will have the benefit of each other's company. Every Wednesday was like Christmas morning for me and I hope it is for you too. Seriously, Christmas morning I was the kid yelling out NINTENDO 6444444444444444444444444444444444444444444!!!!!! Except it was Sega Genesis because I'm old. Last year it was FRISSSSSSSSBBEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Bottom line is to get keen, these moments won't be available forever, but you can hold them close with memories made in your final moments in Oz. Do yourself a favour and get out of your shell. Make new friends, do new things, go out there and get some strange ass.

All in all it was another fine showing and I was glad to meet some new faces that I wish I could see more of having not being able to live in Townsville. Feel free to enjoy whatever time you have left and take care of yourselves wherever you may go. Make a wish upon the many stars in the southern sky and make it come true with the act of living in the moment.

Carpe Diem
This is my sign off,
Back into the cave and the bush life...
Honourably yours,
The Man With The Dragon Tattoo

P.S. Yes that was me singing Little Mermaid's "Part of this World" song. I'm a Disney fanatic and was hopped on the piss. So what? Disney and Teaching, that's what the Dragon Man does.

Semester 1 2012 Team Previews

So begins the excessively delayed blog posting for Semester 1 2012 league!!!

We are now 4 matches into our 9 match round robin season. With only 2 teams left undefeated the league is still very close!

For this week I will do a team overview plus my predictions on where each team will finish.
Hopefully this will help get our current tipsters up to date on who are the teams to tip and the teams to trash.


Pink Stink (Pink) - current record 4 wins 0 losses

Rob Dehollander's rookie year as captain is proving to be a successful one so far. With the help of Townsville leader Chris Ende, star recruit Bobby Jackson plus some fresh new lady talent Pink Stink are setting the benchmark for the league. Needless to say, there will be many puns made about their 'creative' team name!

My Prediction - Pink Stink to go all the way and take out the league.


We Tie You Die (Rainbow Tie Dye)- current record 3 wins 1 draw

Led by Finny, We Tie You Die is easily the most sexually appealing team in the league, looking stunning in rainbow tie-dye. We Tie You Die recruited strongly this season picking up stars in the way of Liss Bowden and Etienne 'ET' Hine plus getting some athletic new recruits. In regular Finny tradition you would be very likely to see copious amounts of alcohol around his team.

My Prediction - Undecided. Either will make it to the finals or more likely take it easy around 5th place due to prior drinking commitments.


Red Imperium (Red) - current record 3 wins 1 loss

The tag team action on Mattie Hamilton and Sean 'Bevo' Beveridge is once again a big player in the league. He has lost Dave DeHollander from his leadership team from last season but picked up American dynamo Tyler Wright and star part timer Peter Roach. Known for spoiling his team with disgustingly delicious ice cream cake at the end of the year. I want some already!!!

My Prediction - A solid consistent team I see finishing 3rd.


Black Mambas (Black) - current record 3 wins 1 loss

James David running around in his signature tight blacks is always an amazing sight to see! A barrage of new and old faces in the tight blacks leave these guys with an X factor that teams have always underestimated. The little Frenchman Tom Felix will provide James with leadership support and Rowan Hall offers freakish pace and a pretty little morph suit.

My Prediction - Dropping off at the end of the year to finish 4th.


Tea Cup Pigs (Yellow) - current record 2 wins 1 loss 1 draw

Ashley O'Sullivan's Tea Cup Pigs follow in the regular tradition of being a run and gun team that loves to go deep! With the ever improving sticky handed Damien Baillie headlining the attack you know that this will be a team to compete. If your eyes don't work well with fluro yellow I would suggest avoiding this team!

My Prediction - Safe in the middle of the pack. 6th place.


Blue Blizzard (Blue) - current record 2 wins 2 losses

Captain team of Timmy Roland and Ryan Miller have banded together this year to pull together a motly crew of new and old players. Started the season off strongly with american recruit Will & superstar lady Sanne and further bolstered their ranks last week with the pick up of Mike 'The General' Larson.

My Prediction - With the pick up of Mike I see these guys making the final but falling short. 2nd.


More Smarter Than You (Orange) - current record 1 win 3 losses

Zane Quinn has pulled together a group of 'intellectuals' to attempt to teach the frisbee community that brains is better then rugged good looks and sex appeal (not that they lack that either)! With Zane's pinpoint backhand hucks and leadership abilities and Mark Genge & Johannes Hammer-Li running all over the park one could be disappointed with their start so far. These guys are a dangerous team!

My Prediction - With a slow start to the season I can see them taking 7th place


Sky High (Green) - current record 1 win 3 losses

The towering giant Duncan Webley runs Sky High with a giant iron fist. Dispatching his troops over the park with a point of his mighty hand. With the exceptional generals Godfrey & Rob Davies he is very well supported. Be wary of the times when you see Duncan tearing down the field, you will understand why the team is called Sky High.

My Prediction - Due to captains working commitments at times I forsee a 8th place finish.


White Lightning (White) - current record 0 wins 4 losses

Our only American leader for the semester, Cody Wolfe, has struggled thus far. Can see the improvements going as the weeks progress and will expect to see them keep improving! The Townsville talent of Creigan ' Gibbo' Gibson & Rob Edmond are passing on their experience to the rest of the team. Expect to see them rack up their first win very soon!

My Prediction - Having a grand old time for the semester will see them ease into 9th place.


Zulu Zebras (Black & White Stripes) - current record 0 wins 4 losses

The tag team of Dee Finn & Carlos Castro have banded together to pull together a group of striped warriors to battle their way through the weeks of league. I only have one thing to say about this team. RAY BRIGADE. He is part man, part machine and pure awesome.

My Prediction - Dee is still learning the way of the Finn. Unfortunately due to this this they will take home the spoon.


That concludes my small novel for the team previews. Stay tuned for the draw and the start of the tipping competition on Monday and then results and power rankings later in the week!

As always lots of love and just keep throwing!

Sparkles

Blog to continue? Time to grab the reigns.

The blog has been on a massive break over the Christmas holidays and well into Semester 1, 2012. People have been asked whether they want it to continue and faced with no other choice in a facebook poll, the overwhelming response is yes they do or some variant on the affimative.

The problem faced by the blog in the past is that there has been a preconceived notion of what is required in terms of each game night write-up and that towards the end of semester this preconception becomes a liability for those with assignments and exams who are tasked with writing it. Writers were forcing themselves to spend hours reliving games and ensuring each team was given at least 500 000 words detailing the night. Sure that happens when you enjoy yourself and have a lot to say and it's great, but it's less pleasant and less likely to last when the blogger forces themselves to say so much.

For the blog to continue it might be worth noting that a game night write-up might just include the scores and names of teams at the very least if otherwise it will be ignored. Any additional fun added is at the will of the blog writer who is typically chosen for their enjoyment of writing on the blog and having a good time. This person doesn't need to write a 1500 word assignment after each game we play, but preferably will be able to post the results in a timely fashion and prefer to write regular small posts like this one (was) over infrequent massive ones.

Will Sparkles be up to the challenge? Will the Man with the Dragon Tattoo return from the Towers? Will some other hardcore disc hammerers fill the void left by the Disc Hammering Honeys? Will Duncan simply post his announcements on the blog to give it some momentum and purpose above simply a recap of results? Who has the random urge to post photos of their friends on the pub crawl or great shots from the last league night? What about general chatter about the sport for all the new kids? Who's posting details about what tournaments are on for Townsville players or their results from their last efforts?

Most importantly this blog is about marking Townsville Ultimate's history and each worthy event should be noted! So of utmost urgency, who is writing up the 4th bi-annual Pub Crawl write-up??? Before it is soon a thing of an almost distant and most easily forgotten (not-remembered) past.

I cannot say whether the blog will continue now, that is in the hands of those who dream it will live on, but at the very least it shall be updated at least once more, because this post has made it so!

Handing over the baton, the legacy...
Former El-Presidente and Townsville Blog Initiator/former #1 Blogger
Hugh Osborn
Over and Out.