Top 10 of 2008 Part 2

Continuing our slighty idiosyncratic list of events, items and issues from 2008 that we figured were worth a look.

5. The Dojo Mojo Blog

The blogging highlight of 2008 was the Dojo Mojo blog. The story of an eccentric Ultimate team and its even more eccentric leader, a self-described 'Sensei', brought humour to the Ulti-internet twice weekly for most of the year, and featured both some dodgy videos and some dodgy references to Japanese culture. Kudos, Steve.

4. Wide World of Sports

We hate to plug ourselves too much here at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, but perhaps the most intereting thing we did all year was organise for and then have the crew from Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports (well known national sports show) come down to the National Championships at Coffs. They did a superb job, as you'll see at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5A8tj7F5hc (thanks to Dom for getting that up there). A week later, there was a minute of followup too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WmLVeM--s

Media coverage isn't a primary goal for Ultimate, but its nice when it comes.

3. Gold Coast Ultimate

There has always been Ultimate in Queensland's Gold Coast, but perhaps in the future we'll look back on 2008 as the year the sport broke out in the country's sixth largest city, as the local league moved to Tallebudgera and completed two leagues of four teams, and the Slamtown Flatball Club shook the tree at Halibut. Onward and upward, with plans for Regionals and Naitonals 2009, and well done to all involved.

2. Internet Coverage of Worlds

Worlds this year drove a whole bunch of people to share Ultimate over the internet like never before. There were Aussie team blogs, international commentary, and of course, the fantastic BlockStackTV lads.

1. Baby Boom

There were a bunch of babies born to Ultimate folk during 2008, but you'll forgive me if I don't list them all here. Congratulations to all you new parents though! But certainly within stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, the arrival of young Rohan has brought much much joy!

Merry Christmas all, and a Happy New Year. See you in 2009.

Top 10 of 2008 Part 1

So as some of you might have noticed, things are a little quiet at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion. Sure, Master Wetnose has taken up residence in the hammock on the porch that overlooks the Dojo gardens, but other than that its only the sound of crickets chirping, as I have travelled north, north, north, north to our snowbound fortress of solitude in the lovely nation of Canada.

Being amongst this quiet and peaceful folk during their frickin' freezin' Christmas festival season has given me the chance to reflect on both the fickle nature of fate and of course the year that has gone by on the Ultimate scene.

So here's part 1 of the Top 10 most interesting things that happened in 2008 that we barely otherwise covered here at the Brisbane Ultimate Blog.

10. Rob and Molly join the QUDA Executive

The Queensland Ultimate Disc Association has had a big year, but once again it seemed that it was the same (awesome) faces doing all the work. So a big mightly "ROCK!" to Rob and Molly for realising its not such a big thing at all to take on a position and do so.

9. The Tim Booth Incident

You'll want to check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aus-ultimate/message/3547 if you haven't been following this one. This one's kind of hard to write about, because its so un-Ultimatey. "A guy attacks another guy off-field at a tournament" isn't something that Ultimate people are prepared for, but I guess its the sort of thing some Ulti-organisers have been having nightmares about happening sooner or later. Fortunately AFDA had a lot of stuff in place and their review will make things clearer in the future. Still, won't be forgotten for a while.

8. Australia Solid if Unspectactular at Worlds

Australian expectations were high going into the World Championships in Vancouver in August. Woirlds 2004 had been the break-through event in many respects, and the Silver at the 2005 World Games led many to put us in the top three internationally. World Clubs in Perth had vastly expanded the number of Aussies with experience against the best of the rest, and preparations for 2008 had been long in the planning and sharp in the execution.

So aside from the outstanding performance by the Junior Women to take their Silver, what happened to the rest? The analysis and introspection seems to be ongoing, but the loss of a couple of crucial games, plus the rest of the world catching up (Japan, GB) since 2004, and here we are.

7. Fyshwick United Start the New Wave?

The Club scene around Australia over the last few years seems to been dominated by groups that got their current shapes and forms through the adventures leading up to World Clubs 2006. And of course, when you look through the lists of top teams you'll see they generally seem to come from Sydney and Melbourne.

So it was great to see Fyshwick United of Canberra make a huge mark in 2008, not just on the field in winning NZ Nationals and taking it to the star-studded Fakulti in the Final at Nationals, but in the off-field planning and all-round good vibes. Maybe in a few years' time we'll look back on this moment and be able to say "we were there".

6. Liam 'Wetnose' Gillions Moves into Stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog Mansion

Probably the 'back room' highlight of the year for us here at Stately BUB Mansion was the addition of a comrade, one who could dig deep at the front line of Brisbane Ultimate, and particularly the Brisbane Premier League. It seems all the great blogs of the world these days are a team effort, and its clear our readers like it best when we post often. Hopefully in 2009 we'll be able to recruit a few more people to fill the spare rooms. And thanks for all your work, Wet!

Tune in tomorrow (weather permitting) when we go into the Top 5.

BUML Roundup

Here's a fine cutting and pasting job with regards the conclusion of this season of Monday night league. Props to Notty for taking on the League Director role and applying so much gusto!

Last night saw the first DIV1/DIV2 BUML final attended by only a few
spectators, what had it made with ample room, a few eskies of free beer, and
plenty of entertainment. Does anyone know where the trophy is by the way??

Congratulations to Mellow Yellow for confidentially taking out DIV2. Can’t quite remember the score but I believe the margin was at least 5.

Congratulations also to Plastic Scougery, scraping up the win by 1 point in DIV1 for an undefeated season.

Spirit winners were UQ Playaz DIV1 and QUTies DIV2. UQ Playaz being aptly
represented got the choice of prizes and collected their bottle of Jager to enjoy later. QUTies need to collect their Vodka from me.

MVP was a close call as many people were selected. I hope to publish the full list when I get some time. The two winners receive a mini MAG light to keep their light burning. They are: Oliver from Poachers; and Jess from Dyspnoeics.

Next season I will be stricter on people submitting MVP and spirit score for every week. I let it go this season as it’s a short season and you haven’t had to do it before.

Changes to next league: So far two time slots, DIV2 first then DIV1. Possibly use of both Yeronga as well as Annerley. Talk of DIV1 being a structured hat but I will get you to vote on this soon. Oh and there will be some sort of trophy for both divisions. If you have any suggestions for improvements etc for the next league feel free to email me.

Notty

BPL Season 3 2008 Roundup

We've been busy, but since we're somewhat the journal of record for the Brisbane Ultimate scene, and since super Stu has done the work for us (aside from the cutting and pasting), here's the end of BPL season wrap:

Last night Messy Buggers and UQ Lovers fought it out for the title of season 3
2008 champions, I'm not the best person for recalling games but it was was
pretty one sided in first half with UQ taking it 8-2. Think it got to 10-3 when
UQ players started to get pretty complacent while Messy never gave up, very
impressive for a 7 man squad. UQ finally managed to catch the disc in the
endzone to make it 15-9 to take the title and end a 4 season winning streak for
buggers.

Congratulations to UQ lovers for also winning the Spirit award for the season, average scores were:
1. UQ Lovers - 8.44
2. Dojo Mojo - 8.38
3. UQ Passion - 8.36
4. Rawhide - 8.31
5. Messy Buggers - 6.38
6. Slippery Buggers - 5.93

Despite Liam voting for himself (?!) in nearly every game it wasn't enough to win the MVP trophy as it heads back to Dan Walls' (Dojo) mantlepiece. The top scores were (MVP points/games played):
1. Dan Walls 10/7
2. Liam Gillions 7/8
3. Nathan Litzgow 4/6
4. Nic Coote 4/7
5. Jordan/Goldy/ Buzz all 3/5

I did announce last night that Mike Morgan came second but he only played 4 games and the previous rules specified that you had to play at least 5 to be in the running for MVP. On a similar note Granny (Rawhide) could have done well if he stuck around as he scored 3/3.

So that's the end of 2008. Enjoy Christmas, eat and drink too much, get slower and fatter and look forward to playing BPL again at the end of Jan. More to come on that, I'm trying to see if we'll have 5 or 6 teams next season but will probably just have to write two different year plans based on each option.

Stu

And thanks to Stu from everyone for running the season.

Loving the Mess

Tonight sees the final of season 3 for BPL 2008 going down between minor premiers & reigning premiers Messy Buggers, and reigning wooden spoon holders UQ Lovers.

While the teams do have those titles from previous seasons, this will be no means be a walk in the park for either team.

Messy Buggers

This team has surprises all, but themselves, this season taking out the minor premier undefeated (Thanks in small part to Dojo's inability to complete a scoresheet). Many felt that the defection of the big space needle to Slippery Buggers would leave Messy in a bit of strife, but Messy, under new captain Liam Gillions, have shown that they are no one-man-band and have taken everything put in front of them.

The rain delay that forced the postponement of the GF for one week has hit Messy hard, with Messy being forced to play savage tonight due to some overseas flights that had been arranged around the original BPL GF date.

UQ Lovers

Following their unfortunately placing last season, Lovers transferred a bundle of talent across from last season's finalists, Passion, to bolster their ranks. They also kidnapped and stole new BPL overlord Stu Austin from Rawhide.

This star-studded team has had high expectations on them from the beginning of the season, and have not lived up to them as much as many had expected. They will accept nothing other than a resounding victory in tonight's game.

Past results

These two teams have met twice this season. Way back in round one they fought out a 11-11 draw, with Lovers fighting back after Messy broke away out of the blocks early. In round six Messy prevailed 15-9. No real point looking at results between these two teams prior to this season, due to the revamp of both squads for this season.

Players to watch

UQ Lovers - Buzz Burwell

Brisbane most famous entomologist-ultimate player will be out to put another feather in his cap with another BPL premiership. He has the throws, he has the looks, he has the ladies, now he wants the trophy.

Messy Buggers - Jason Ray

On the other side of the handling coin, J Ray will be looking to huck anything long to anyone, no matter how mismatched they are. He will be mongrel on defence as well, screaming at anyone and everyone to lay out in an effort to lay out the Messy Bugs over the line.

UQ Lovers - Pete Allen

The Boy from Oz will be singing and dancing his way around the field, trying to lure his defenders into a false sense of security with the old "I'm calmly chatting to you now, but now I'm cutting long" technique. Also, watch out for his much talked about (mainly by himself) power grip flicks. They are going to be something, we just aren't sure if that something is anything that anyone wants to see.

Messy Buggers - George Salisbury

Silent George, as legend has it, generates his awesome speed from his lack of talking. Rumour also has it that George is spending 5 continuous years in complete silence, so he may better understand that sound of a whisper. We were very taken aback here at the BUB Manor recently when George called to ask if a particular raining Thursday had cancelled BPL. It was a voice we did not recognise at all. On a slightly more serious note, George is lightening quick, watch out for it.

BEER AND GIRLS

While there will most likely be girls down there to watch the BPL Final, there will also be free beer, courtesy of the lovely people over at BUML (haha, BUM). So come down, watch, heckle and drink. Who knows, you may even get on one of Sensei's infamous videos that he uploads to the Dojo blog.

Get your tips in for final scores, winners, big players. There may be prizes for such tips, but probably not.

Possible Draft System

Having read a post over at the Canberra Blog whilst sitting in the pool room sipping some fine port, we here in the manor saw an idea that we thought could be potentially used in Brisbane, possibly for a short league that is more about fun than about club vs club.

The idea is to employ a draft system for a season of BPL/BUML/WUFL/New League. Basically, a set number of captains are nominated and selected, and all interested players come along one night and there are a series of pickup games so players can impress their potential captains. At the end of the night, everyone comes together and the captains pick their teams in a draft format.

As the Brisbane Ultimate community is a fairly tight knit bunch, this idea would possibly work. What we mean by this is that there isn't a lot of hate between clubs (ie. UQ & MBB) that people would be against playing on a team with people from "rival" clubs.

Potential Pros

1. Playing with a whole lot of new people.
2. Less "stacked" teams with all the good players being friends and forming one or two super teams.
3. Someone other than MBB might win the RC Dog Cup trophy (just being a bit cheeky here now).

Potential Cons

1. People may not feel as much of an attachment to their new team so may prioritise Ultimate lower than other tasks, making it harder to field a line consistently.
2. Individuals ending up on teams with other individuals that they aren't agreeable to playing with, thus potentially causing conflict between team mates or division within a team.


Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

Pause, Rewind, Play

With rain washing out the BPL semi finals last week, all games have been moved to this week. As there isn't any room between now and Christmas to move games again, should rain wash out games again this week then the top two teams from the regular season (Messy Bugs & Dojo) will automatically progress to the grand final on December 18.

Should that week also be washed out, we have heard rumours of disc races between these 2 teams to decide the BPL champs for Season 3 2008.

BPL 2008-3 Semi Final Draw

Although the official tipping comp is over, we do highly encourage semi final tipping and trash talking. We would like to see more than just Sensei and Julz going to each other as well.

Townsville and Ultimate Make a Porno

Yeah, we like our attention grabbing headlines here at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion.

We've recently heard the news from the run-down Townsville Ultimate bordello, that they're reinvigorating themselves for 2009.

Following a gathering of the night on the weekend, the lads and ladies of the house of folly have offered their swords, axes and jillywallies for the cause of North Queensland Ultimate.

Apparently there will be three Presidents - Matt de Witt, Mike Larson and Big Dave Dehollander. Take that, President-less QUDA and President-less BUDA! If even one of these guys gets stuck into it that will top the rest of the state.

Saucy Simon-e Urquart comes in as Veep, the delightful Julia P as Secretary, and Jailbait Chris Ende has been fingered as Treasurer.

The rest of the General Committee includes Certain Keith Cameron-Smith, Zane 'Dr' Quinn, Duncan Webley and Mighty Hugh Osborn, plus a cast of several.

"My hammer has a long long handle" ... sounds like a line from a porno flick, eh?

*There is no truth to the alleged rumour that Hamish has been tarred, feathered and tickled.

Famous Friends

First it was Pottsy, now Brett Matzuka gets the call up into the Huddle, one of the top US Ultimate websites.

Meanwhile, the venerable Dojo Mojo blog gets featured on one of the other top US Ultimate websites, the Cultimate Opinion, and is even leading some sort of vote over there!

There's a Lot of Familiar Shots Out There

You'll all enjoy this one.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YkPPW-mBO9Y&e

And you can get the song on iTunes apparently. Just in case it's already not in your head for the rest of the day, like a slimy earworm.

And since we're doing Ultimate grooviness again, there's a few people who haven't seen friZBaY yet - http://vimeo.com/358109. MOUSTACHE! And remember next time you're playing against Phil Stocks, remember, he's played against Kenny Dobbins!!!

1. Ultimate
2. Girlfriend
3. Family
4. Job
5. God

Women's Hat This Weekend!

To finish up Brisbane Ultimate Women's Month, there's a half day hat tournament coming up!

A Hat tournament is where we put everyone's name in a hat and draw teams out - a very groovy way to meet some different people and play Ultimate

There will be 3-4 short games depending on numbers. One afternoon of ultimate, no
hassles or commitments, just lots of fun!

Sunday 7th December
1:45pm onwards.
Cost: $10-$15 (TBC), including post bbq, drinks, insurance etc.
Location: Oakman Park, Toowong (TBC)

BBQ from about 5:30pm.

There may be a short demo game so the newer ladies can see how the game works.

SIGN UP

MEN
Sorry, this is a women's only shindig BUT are you most welcome to attend and if any are keen enough to cook a bbq for us we will indeed offer a cold beer or 2! Heckling is always welcome too.