Brisbane Ultimate Blog to Present Prestigious Award Once Again

Well, the heirarchy over at the QUDA HQ have invited Wettie and me to get out the tuxes and once again present the Queensland Ultimate Club of the Year Award at next week's QUDA Bash.

A quick search of this blog will demonstrate the esteemed and growing history of the award. Previous winners include the UQ Lovers (2008), the UQ Lovers (2007) and Bootius Maximus (2006).

The award is determined based on a calculation of club results at tournaments during the year. Here's the rules:

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Qualifying Elements
1. Clubs must play two tournaments, or have travelled over 700km for one tournament.
2. Club must be majority Qld or NNSW players.
Players may play for multiple clubs through the year, but only one club per event.
3. Clubs may accrue additional points via multiple teams in the same event.
4. A tournament must have at least four teams to be included, and be by open invitation/qualification (hence, NUFL not included, as only certain clubs can compete).

Determining Points
1. Points are given for placing in relation to the size of the tournament. Last place gets 100 points, each placing above that gets 100 points, but to 10 teams.
2. If there are more than 10 teams, the maximum points are 1000, and the points per placing distributed down to 100 points for last.
3. Points are given for winning Spirit. Points are calculated as 20 points per team at the tournament - so for example, winning spirit at a 8 team tournament is 160 points.
4. There is a travel bonus to recognise that getting a team a distance takes more effort. 50km-700km is 100 points, 700-1400km is 200 points, more than 1400km is 300 points
5. Bonus points up to 25 for miscellaneous at the discretion of the organiser.

A couple of changes to this year:
- A club also qualifies for calculation if it only entered one tournament, but it was a tournament it played in last year (ie it has a history of playing the tournament) - this is to recognise continuity from year to year. So for example, the Brisbane Barbarians, in their third year of playing Regionals, are in.
- We've done away with the 'Captains Voting' element we tried last year - it was too hard.
- If there are two divisions at the tournament, these are treated as two different tournaments. However, points in the lower division are awarded at 75%. So for example, QUTies will probably receive more points for their 3rd in Div 2 at AUGs than Griffith for its 12th in Div 1, but not a lot more.
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2009 Tournaments
The following tournaments are currently (hopefully) entering calculations - please let us know if we've missed ones you've played in: BCI, Northern Regionals, Nationals, Eastern Youths, Slamtown Invitational, Brisbane Indoor, Lovefest, AUGs, Mixed Nats and Big Sky 9s.

Qualifying Clubs
We think the following Clubs will be given points (based on the above). Please let us know if we've missed something: UQ Lovers, Mind the Gap, Lounge Lizards, Firestorm, Sultry, Delirium, Thor, Slamtown, Barbarians, Downstairs Mixup, Fresh Fries, Trevor, QUTies and Griffith Guerillas.

National Trophy Named After Brisbane Lad

In case you missed it, the AFDA have renamed their Australian Mixed Ultimate Championship trophy after Brisbane's own Mr Jonathan Potts.

More info here: http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=699

(sorry for the dodgy link - blogger is playing up today)

Ultimate Frisbee in Cairns

We here at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog occasionally receive an inquiry about Ultimate Frisbee in Cairns, and to save ourselves some time we figured we'd post a bit of info here.

A main reason for these inquiries is the number of people who visit Cairns for a few days or weeks or months, and are looking for a run around.

Alas, as far as we're aware (as at November 2009), there is no regular/established Ultimate in Cairns. This is a real pity, and should anyone be interested in getting it happening, we know that there are folks in Townsville and Brisbane who would love to support this happening.

There are several individuals in the Cairns and Tablelands neighbourhood that we're aware of who have an interest in Ultimate, but it seems that someone needs to take the lead.

Folks down south occasionally hear of spurts of Ultimate up in the Far North - this is driven by the cycles of students attending short or one semester courses at the School for Field Studies http://www.fieldstudies.org/pages/4168_australia.cfm at Yungaburra on the Tablelands. Unfortunately, having a viable number of players from here ebbs and flows, making regularly Ultimate challenging (the Townsville folks do try to organise an annual tournament with these students at Mission Beach (half way between Cairns and Townsville) to get everyone together.

BPL Final - TD's Report

From TD Stu:

Congratulations to Moreton Bay Buggers who last night defeated Dojo Mojo in
a sudden death game, to retain the Championship trophy and have their name
engraved on it for an 8th time.

So final placings were: 1. MBB 2. Dojo Mojo 3. Cobras 4. UQ Lovers 5. UQ Passion(Damn I was close; I had picked MBB, Dojo, Cobras, Passion, Lovers)

I can't remember much of the final [Stu was playing, not drunk - eds], MBB seemed to be up by 2 points for most of the first half, despite JRay repeatedly hucking the disc straight out of the pitch from his own endzone line :-) The Dojo zone defence
managed to force more errors out of MBB and they took the lead in the second
half.

After the hooter, Dojo were 12-9 up, game to 13. Somehow MBB won!!

Congratulations to the following people who made the BPL MVP all-star list,
but it was Leon 'Fatty' McIntyre who takes the trophy home:1. Fatty - 8 pts 2.
Cheeseburger - 6pts 3. Al Don - 5 pts 3. Jangles - 5 pts 5. Wetnose - 4 pts 6. Gref
- 4 pts 7. Silent George - 3 pts 8. Piers - 3 pts

I can't remember the average team spirit scores but UQ managed to tie the win. Final placings were: 1. UQ Lovers and Passion 3. MBB 4. Cobras 5. Dojo

A big thanks to JdR and Rob Lowe for finding alternative venues, which maeant that BPL didn't miss a single game this season.

More emails to follow with the plans for 2009 and what changes players would
like to see happen. Hopefully see you all again on the 11 February 2009.

Regards Stu

Can we here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion say, on behalf of our readers as well as the wider Ultimate playing world, a big thanks to Stuart. Once again we've had an extremely well run League. Good job. We owe you beer.

Buggers 13 def Dojo 12*

Currently unofficial result (this blogger couldn't make the final, dammit), but this is what some reliable folks tell me over the phone.

Apparently it was a cracking, choking, excitement filled Final (dammit, dammit).

Update to come.

Two Years Ago

Continuing our build up to tonight's BPL Final.

Two years ago, the Dojo faced the Crusty Buggers in the BPL 2007 Spring League Final - memories of which may fire up the Mojo, but also remind everyone that we like to see a well spirited game.

Bonus two years ago - Badman's Birthday Bash makes it's first visit to Lennox Heads (venue for this 2009 as well).

Late Mail - BPL Grand Final Tips and Early Heckles

Following our preview yesterday, the following late mail came in:

From Julian 'Big Jules' Sacre (and apologies we didn't get this posted with the others yesterday):

"Bugs to win in a close one. The Dojo have had a great season and taken out top
spot on the ladder through a reasonably reliable offence. But I just cant see
them getting enough blocks against a bigger, faster Bugs team to win the game.
Dojo have had some success with their zone D, but Buggers have plenty of
reliable handlers and good poppers to get through it. Look for Dojo to trade
some early points by working the unders and getting some break side throws out.
First turnover to be an Eastburn 'huck to Jesus' which allows the Bugs to get
their first break of the game. Don't be surprised if Dojo start to come back
after half, before a strategic Buggers timeout stalls their momentum and JRay
slows the game right down by walking toward any disc lying on the ground at a
pace that would place him second in a race with Eric the Eel. Final score: Bugs
14 Dojo 11. "

Meanwhile, the following was offered anonymously via a very weird looking email address:

Top 7 Reasons for Tipping a Buggers Win
1. Grand Final Form – 7 wins from 10 appearances, including 5 of the last 6 Premierships.
2. Have the best player in the country at the moment.
3. Need something to update their blog with.
4. George will cheer out loud (I think). Trevor will grin even more sillily.
5. More girls supporting this team – no idea why. I guess they like the shy ones.
6. Better outfits, including matching shorts and stuff.
7. TD Stu will want the game over quick so he can drink some of that tasty beer.

Top 7 Reasons for a Tipping a Dojo Win
1. Season Form – Undefeated this season. Beat Buggers 13-11 in Round 1 and drew 11-11 in Round 2.
2. Not carrying injuries into Final, as they did in previous appearances. Semi against the soft Lovers no doubt helped. But generally less biff this season suits the Dojo.
3. More backbone this season – some big comebacks after being several points down.
4. Not so distracted by their video camera this season? “Look mum, we’ve lost again” won’t be part of the show.
5. Additional nervousness of driving to St Lucia means team actually turns up on time.
6. It would be a cheap way to feel like you’re on LSD to see Stephen Cameron hold up the RC Craddock Trophy.
7. It’s about &*^%ing time they won one!

Top 7 Hecklers to Watch For
1. Piers – reuses funny things he’s heard Pottsy say.
2. Jray – if calling amusing fouls counts as heckling his opponents.
3. JdR – volume can count as much as wit. “Champagne Ultimate”.
4. J-Mac – not very articulate, but “substandard” is his new word. Encourage him to use it.
5. Wetnose – but only if you like the words “fuck”, “hammer” and “Jangles” repeated
often. See also T-Ross.
6. Stefan – he’s playing, but if you heckle him, he’ll heckle you back, only harder. He’s like the Charles Bronson of heckling. Eastburn is also playing, but I'm not sure if saying "Not" after being heckled counts as a heckle itself.
7. Me – anonymous heckling, particularly using the internet, is great fun.

Tip tippery, tip tippery, tip tip, terree ....

... a sweep is as lucky as lucky can be.

And you the reader and we here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion are extremely lucky today as we've been graced by a range of views from the very best observers of Brisbane Premier League Ultimate that we could find.

We asked each of them:

• Who is going to win this Thursday's smash-em-up-winner-takes-all-prisoners-aren-t-worth-bothering-with-thanks-again-for-all-the-work-TD-Stu BPL 2009 Season 2 Grand Final?
• Why? and,
  
• What do you think the final score will be?

We even promised a prize to any of these observers who picked the correct final score! Don't say we don't ever do nothin' for nobody around here.

So let's start with a guy who's still existing in some sort of strange other-timezone, the sometimes dignified Pete 'Pallen' Allen:

"As I haven't really observed many BPL games this season/year, I'll keep it short and too the point. As for who is going to win, it is hard to go passed the reigning premiers who have only lost 3 finals in the last 10 or something (2 of them against Lovers, just in case anyone has forgotten). Also with DoJo's record of winning finals after taking out the minor premiership I'm going to have to say that Buggers will take out this final. Although I will be heckling on the sideline to help the DoJo out.

On the field I reckon the main players will be Dan, Dave and The Andy Trio from Dojo and on Buggers keep an eye out for of course, Mikey/JRay connection and (wow this is a stella lineup now I see it) also watch Jangles (recently laid out on a beach on camera :O) , Stu and since he is being called the new me, Trevor (who I met last night so there).

The score will be, 15-11 Buggers. One things for sure, I'm looking forward to it."

Seeking a slightly different view, we managed to corner the famous Nathan Litzow, UQ Lovers Captain and newly minted married man, to get his thoughts:

"Dojo might win this season - they have a tight knit line with only 1 or 2 subs, they have the fire in their belly after last season's final loss and they have dug themselves out of a few big holes against Lovers and other teams this season.

They will go undefeated this season with a win - so they will get the job gone on Thursday if they can get to 15 before the light go out ;-) Yeah UQ

MBB won't go down without a fight but I'm thinking Dojo 15-12."

So lets move on to our own in-house expert, the ever-brave and snakey Mr Liam 'Wetnose' Gillions:

"Buggers to win it by 3. Bugs to come out hard early and Dojo to be their usual slack selves early on. Bugs establish an early lead and the rest of the game to go pretty much point for point. If Jray is back from NZ then Bugs to win by 6 and expect a lot of Jray-Mike hucks. If no Jray, the disc will touch the hands of Stu-Jangles-Mike-Manuel-Simon-Cootes-Nandor 95% of throws. The Bugs' experience in the big games should show out, and another Dojo choke will truely be looked upon with humour from many members of the Brisbane Ultimate community. That being said, Dojo will not give up and Watto will have a great game. Phil Stocks to pick up. Steve Cameron to snap his clipboard in frustration.

Thanks, Wettie. Ok, to wash our mental spaces out after that, lets turn to the esteemed Dr Jon Good, for his academic assessment of the situation:

"Who's going to win? Buggers, just.

Why? They'll get more D.

What will the score be? Buggers 15-12 (closer if it is very windy)

I have been impressed by Dojo both times we played them this season. In particular, Leon has been having a storming season for them and seems to be the centerpiece of a (I can't believe I am saying this) stable Dojo offence. I certainly think they will make double figures against the MBB defence.

For me, the game will be decided when Dojo are playing defence: they have a very well structured zone, which frustrates teams into turnovers, but I haven't been impressed by their man on man. Looking down the MBB line up, they have enough stable heads and fast feet to work through that zone, if they are patient. They also have a pretty handy get out clause when Neild goes long, but I don't see them needing to call on this that often.

So, MBB to win, simply because I think they will get more turnovers with their 'straight up force and mark the unders' defence."

Thanks Jon! Let's put one rose amongst the thorns, and see what Eireann Gilligan has to say:

"Buggers to win because Dojo have a tendancy to choke when it matters. I think it will be Buggers by 5. That said, I haven't seen men's Ultimate played in a few seasons, so who am I to say!"

Speaking of someone who's benefit a bit more from watching the women's game, now onto the pipe smoking and leather-jacketed Mr Will Churchill Esq:

"Like the assault on Klendathu the Dojo Season 2 2009 Final may be yet another failed offensive against the Bug stronghold.

Simply, they are a very, very strong team.

I thought that it would be the Cobras in the final but the Dojo are just too wise and experienced.

Sadly wise and experienced goes hand in hand with unfit and fragile. I call Stephen Cameron injured within the first 10 minutes with yet another game ending "injury" before Dojo come back from a 7 point slump caused by Stephen.

Final score? Buggers 17-12."

Clever of Will to recall that BPL Finals go to 17 (I think?), but points off for reminding us how much he and Stephen have that love-hate-love-indifference thing going on (but hey, doesn't everyone?). We figure by now you've probably settled right back into your armchair and are deeply considering the different ways this game will go - so its an excellent time to invite the views of strategist and colour-man John McNaughton what he thinks:

The Buggers have to be strong favourites going into this game. They have the wood over the Dojo in recent times, as well as an unmatched record in finals. Everyone knows the Jason to Mike show is a powerful weapon for the Bugs, but having won their semi without the aid of Mr Ray, there's clearly more to the team than just that. Silent George looks like he's moving better every week (he'll be in cleats this week, for a start), Jangles is back from an overseas party, and Stu Austin will cause matchup headaches.

Dojo bring a strong team game, as they've done for quite some time, without the same big name Ultimate. Their depth is unrivaled in BPL, in terms of average playing experience, but many of these experienced players have lessened their Ultimate involvement over the years. If this game turns into a competition of wit and wiles, the Dojo will be well positioned; a game of athleticism will not be to their favour.

For the Dojo, I think their keys to victory will be:

- Offence: need to use their full depth to open up the field, catching defenders out of position and giving their cutters easy opportunity. They will not be as strong if their cutters have to try to win battles on the open side.

- Defence: similarly, if they try to defend the Buggers in one-on-one-cutting, or try to challenge them in footraces, they will lose those battles. Their defence needs to make the Bugs cutters stop and think, something that the MBB offence has never been particularly well equipped for. Obviously, the other key will be limiting the damage from the Jason to Mike show, which will need strong defenders at both ends to have a chance. If it's a windy night, this will favour the Dojo.

For MBB:

- Offence: against man defence, the Buggers spacing and clearing will be their biggest key. As stated, they will win one-on-one cutting battles, so they need to free up their team mates to have those battles without interference. The other key will be the Bugs' ability to penetrate the Dojo zones, which will no doubt see plenty of use to combat the speed of the Bugs.

- Defence: don't get broken; don't get beaten under. That will be the Buggers' mantra, as always, and will sit them in good stead against the Dojo. If they can contain the movement of the disc, that will set up their defenders in strong positions, and the Dojo hucking game is not precise enough to consistently give their receivers uncontested goals. A few easy goals may be given up, but we should also see a number of contested discs - exciting for the crowd.

My tips?
- Buggers 15-12
- Mike to score 6 goals, 4 off Jason backhands of 50m or more
- heckling to be of sub-standard quality
- 19 foul calls for the game, 6 of them contested."

Give that man his own newspaper column! Although in making several tips, he's generating just a bit too much work for us to track these things ....


Thanks thanks three times thanks to all our tipsters for engaging in the fun, and hope to see you all at the BPL Final, Oval 7, University of Queensland, Thursday night from 7pm or so.

So - the Moreton Bay Buggers go in as clear favourites - but maybe the strengthened and streamlined Dojo can deliver and upset? The comment lines are open!

Blow an Hour Cruising with the Dude

New website for purchase of every kind of disc you can probably imagine - Down Under Disc Evolution (DUDE)

Crawford Report

You may notice some info in the media today about the Crawford Report into sport in Australia.

Several Ultimate administrators took some time this year to get involved in the consultation on the report, and we rate a few (small of course) mentions.

Overall, if the government (in the broadest stretch of the word) redirects itself more towards overall participation and less towards Olympic success, this can only be good for Ultimate. Might get around to a longer post on this some time though.

Meanwhile, check out comment 56 over at news.com.au

Remember Kids: If you blow off a limb on your common Bug warrior it's still 86% combat effective

Look at the glint in the eyes of those brave Dojo soldiers. How can the offensive against the Buggers possibly fail?

Ok That's It - If Its More Eastburn You Want ...

I have no idea why, but this post about the new WFDF rules iPhone app has been (according to our Google Analytics data), the most viewed single post on this blog in the last 12 months.

Is it people searching for info on Mr Eastburn? Or people looking for the phrase "Germany is an awesome country"? We're not sure.

Really, we're just a bit confused. Surely this should be a bit more popular? Or this?

Tell us what you think readers - what do we need to do to get some more clickin' goin' on here!

In Lieu of Actual Content

If you like, you can imagine this as a preview for this week's BPL Final.

Notice how this one is filmed all in one take ...

Travel to Badman's Birthday Bash

Its only two weeks until Badman's Birthday Bash.

Some folks in Brisbane are realising this is a great chance for some road trip action.

There are few better ways (that don't involve partying or playing) for Ultimate players to get to know each other that travelling to and from a tournament together.

Its a fairly dull story, but I'll never forget gaining respect in a young man's eye when he realised just exactly how I rolled, music-listening-wise.

Jack L is getting it out there first with his offer of a spare seat in his wheels, down and back.

If anyone else if looking for a lift or has one to offer, read or put something in the comments below (click on the word 'comments' to start reading or adding).

Its Deja Vu All Over Again

I just love that quote in our title today. Yogi Berra, you the man. Scroll down to those quotes.

And they aptly describe what we'll be seeing in the BPL Grand Final next week. Check out our pre-prepared preview.

Next week's BPL Grand Final will be at the UQ Oval 7 again, which after some early nervousness about the lights, proved to be a mighty fine venue. TD Stu even felt the next to get us to test both our footwork and our memories, by bringing the portafields but not bothering with the scoreboards.

We copped a bit of flak in the comments to yesterday's preview for suggesting that the Lovers were more likely to make the Final than the Cobras, but this reflected the Cobras being against some stiffer opposition, as much as the Lovers peaking at the right time after showing the most improvement over the season.

And this is the way it went last night. We haven't seen the official report from TD Stu, but word on the grapevine was that Dojo defeated the Lovers 15-14, while the Cobras were rolled by the Buggers 15-12.

This correspondent didn't see a lot of the Bugs/Cobs match up (being justifiably focused elsewhere), but it sounded like it went to expectations. The scaly ones yelled a lot. Those with the external skeletal structures were pretty quiet.

The point I did watch pointed out to your writer one thing that has been missed in talking about the Bugs this season. There's plenty of chat about Mike, J-Ray and the speed of the Buggers, but the Buggers Season 2 2009 have also been really solid with the disc in hand, and this can in a big part be put down to the triumverate of Simon, Manuel and Nandor. One of these guys is always there to relieve any pressure the defenders built up - opponents ignore them at their peril.

Meanwhile, there was plenty of talk before the Dojo/Lovers game that their previous matchup, while close, was a game of error after error after error, with Dojo falling over the line.

This time around was almost the complete opposite. Here were two teams playing great Ultimate and with great Spirit (so spirited that spirit was never even mentioned the whole game, I think). After scoring first, the Dojo led the whole way, but the Lovers kept kicking and biting and scratching their way back into it, eventually tying the scores up at 14-14.

Alas, there could be only one winner, and the Dojo have a week to think about how they can gain revenge over the Buggers for last season's 14-11 Grand Final loss. Compliments to them again though, on a great game. Standouts for the rising sons were Stef's low down and dirty work, Fatty's whole-field running, Sean 'Gandalf' Flanagan, Phil Stock's moustache (coming along nicely), the positive Daz-itude ... and well we may as well mention Andy1, Andy2 and Matty so as to round the team out (plus Steve 'Where's my Clipboard' Cameron) - they were all good.

For the Lovers ... well (slipping out of neutral tones here), we really thought we were going to get that upset and march into the Final. This is a team that has improved out of sight this season, and produced some real 'dudes-to-watch-for-or-you'll-be-watching-their-dust-as-they-score-on-you-again' - Brenton, Neil, Dylan, Mitch, Doug, Kurt, Gord. As well as reinvigorating the play of some older fellas before they're one day put out to pasture (although Rohan and Nathan have a long way to go yet!). Plus we had Neil's Dad and Nathan's Missus down to support us, plus Tomsteve Passion. Great game Lovers, great season.

Now to start gathering supplies for the Final.

BPL Semi Finals - Get Ready to Ramble

Its frickin' busy here in stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, mostly because Wetnose has disappeared and so there's no-one to serve the martinis, and the UQ Passion seem to have ignored all invitations to pop in for brandy and cigars while we debrief on their year and their tips for the BPL Finals. Nonetheless we soldier on and have a look at the games that will be hucking off in a few short hours' time.

Don't forget - BPL this week and next has moved to Oval 7 at the University of Queensland - "the spiritual home of Queensland Ultimate". Rumour has it that 20 years ago today Buzz Burwell dug a hole and took a dump at one end of the field, marking the venue as one for Ultimate forever more (he put some bugs in there too - insects, we mean). So mores the pity that Buzz hasn't played enough games this season to qualify to join the UQ Lovers' roster for tonight.

Major Semi Final: (2) Moreton Bay Buggers vs (3) Cobras

This game will be a big test for two of the newer look sides in the competition (although of course the Messy Buggers are the current BPL champions ... and the Buggers club as a whole have won 7 of the last 10 Grand Finals ....). The entry of the Cobras to BPL came with very high expectations from a hand-picked squad, and the belly-rubbers will be disappointed if they only make it as far as the Semis. On the other hand, the Moreton Bay Buggers remain probably the tightest unit in the League, which only strengthens the consumate scoring combo that is J-RaytoMike.

The Cobras have managed their list well through the season, with only young Jack missing the cut for game qualification (which was a suprise to this observer, although I think there was a bit of injury through the year. Either that or his Mum made him say in or something). The Bugs will however be missing stalwart Assoc Prof Stew McGlashan (possibly in his last season of BPL if the rumours are true of a transfer to the Central Coast) and crazy legs Mick Watt.

Expect the Cobras to go totally nuts at the start of this game, as their best chance is to take a page out of the Buggers book and try to run the opposition off the park early. If Piers is there, he'll be firing them up because nothing makes that guy lose it and want to burn the flesh off his own body than the sense of nearing the end of yet another year at Uni. The difference though will be in the stack, where wily defenders like Cupcake and Reece will need rubber necks to shut down sharp cuts from Silent George, Jangles 'One Way' Beu and the VPT.

Bugger-It Stu will just be flat out good.

The match is really going to be a question of whether those with the forked tongues can manage to match the discipline of the analising shellfish, or whether the brain explosions will lob in and they'll find themselves kissing balloons.*

Other Major Semi Final: (1) Dojo Mojo vs (4) UQ Lovers

Expect the change of venue to cause major difficulties for the Dojo, who are traditionally fluid (like the ninjas they are) about getting to the fields on time. Given the wide geographic spread of the Mojo homelands (stretching from Dayboro in the north to Bilinga in the south), the roadworks on Coronation Drive could be a godsend for the Lovers. On the other hand, the last time these two teams met, the students took advantage of Dojo-disorganisation to get out to be 8-2 at half, before succumbing to a 13-12 loss (mostly through its own drops, rather than any real improvement in the magically-powered music magaziners). Plus, the proximity of the Staff Club to the venue may be a challenge for some of the senior Lovers who work at the Uni, tempting them to fill in a few hours between knocking off work and fronting up for the traditionally tough aL-Don patented loving warmup.

All that said, this should be a close one. The Dojo traditionally lift for the semi so that they can set up choking falling short in the Final. The Lovers these days seem to leave their choking to the second half of any game against the Dojo or Cobras (although they seemed to get over this with a solid win over the Passion a fortnight back), but nonetheless will relish the "home ground advantage" and the chance for a break from exam study. The loss of Dan Walls and Buzz Burwell to non-qualification will make this less of a spectacle for the spectator, while not having Lee and Gordon there will cripple the good looks of both squads.

On the field, for the Lovers Rob and Rohan have been ripping it up in the endzone. Dr Geoff has been a bit hot and cold all season, so will be looking to fire it up in between telling tales of the days when he used to kayak over from West End to play Ulti on Oval 7. The newer lads may have some jitters in their first BPL Semi-Finals series, but on the other hand the improvement curve over the season remains stratospheric and may throw up some surprises tonight. For fantasy, I'd be picking one of the Lovers' identical twins Dylan and Mitch, as you can usually double your points. For the Dojo, my fantasy is always Fatty because he's just so darn good.

On the Dojo line, it'll be a case of waxing on and off and finding the famous Dojo groove, which so regularly delivers points avalanches. Expect the Stefanic foreign imports to have a big impact in this game, and the orientalists' height to tell.

UQ go in as underdogs, but may generate an upset. Andy Lankowski has been waiting for the right game to put his stamp on, and we hear that he's specially packing his stamp for this match, so expect a bit of stamping.


Here are our odds for the possible Finals combinations:
- Bugs / Dojo Final 2/1
- Bugs / Lovers Final 5/1
- Cobras / Dojo Final 6/1
- Cobras / Lovers Final 12/1


For the record and while we're here, here's the final positions at the end of the Home and Away season:
1. Dojo Mojo - 23pts (+33)
2. Moreton Bay Buggers - 21pts (+27)
3. Cobras - 14pts (-11)
4. UQ Lovers - 12pts (-24)
5. UQ Passion - 10pts (-25)

*Not healthy if you have a forked tongue.

The Other First Rule of Ultimate

Its a great thing and I say it often - the first rule of Ultimate outlines the Spirit of the Game. All that comes after when it comes to rules of Ultimate follows on from Spirit of the Game.

But I recently realised one of my own personal first rules of Ultimate.

Ultimate is never to be used as an adjective. It is a noun.

That is all.

The Beach is Back

With apologies to Elton John.

There's a lot of beach Ultimate coming this way, so put on your noseguard, put out the life guard, and pass the tanning butter, etc etc.

Down in Victoria, the Legend of the No-Look Scooba returns for the very first time, on 5-6 December at Barwon Heads. Rego. Not its the weekend before the Melbourne Hat.

Meanwhile in NSW, there's some thing called the Festival of the Longest Day which is pretty well known and popular*, on 20 December at North Narrabeen. Then there's the Hunter Hat in Newcastle is set for 16-17 January.

But of course, because the beaches and weather in Queensland are so fabbo, the very nice Nathan is set to fire up the BUS - the Beach Ultimate Series - with Round 1 on the Sunshine Coast - Sunday 22 November at Noosa. Rego is open - early bird is $5 per player till Sunday 15 November. After that date rego is $10 per player and includes insurance, sand, cones, beach, lines, ocean, shade, wind, eskies with ice, sun and a great excuse. Space is Limited - so pay to confirm your place - only the first 32 players are confirmed.

The remaining 5 (SQEEEE!**) rounds of the BUS are:
2 - Monday 28 December 2009- Coolangata/Kirra
3- Sunday 3 January 2010 Kingscliff
4 - Saturday and Sunday 23/24 Jan 2010- ADBUC <<< Australia Day Beach Ultimate Championships!
5 - Sat or Sun 20/21 February 2010 - Goldy
6 - Sat or Sun 20/21 March 2010 - Goldy

*to say the least!
**girlish shreik of excitement

Saturday Catchup - Delirium at Mixed Nats

So one of the roles of the Brisbane Ultimate Blog is to serve as a bit of a corporate memory. We don't do our collective history very well in Ultimate, and all that (although we're sure Notty can list off every game she's ever played - and there's a few).

So we should pass on congrats to Delirium, who represented, Brisbane, Queensland, yay the whole Northern half of Australia, at the recent Mixed Nationals down in Hobart.

We heard on the grapevine that the two-headed ones ran a great event, showing twice the smarts of many other organisers, and also getting the weather just right.

Delirium came in 12th overall, after looking threatening early in the tourament. Tired legs in the end.

Introducing VPT

Gossip is slowly arriving following Wednesday night's UQ Lovers AGM ...

And top of the headlines is the election of Trevor "Goes To" Lovering as UQ Vice-President and "President in Waiting"*

So we here at the Brisbane Ultimate Blog will be calling Trevor by his new nickname, VPT (short for Vice-President Trevor). Please join us.

*UQ has decided to try changing the term of its Committee, from operating from November to November each year, to July to June, to make planning for Semester 1 a bit better done. So Nathan will be Pres until about June 2010, when Trevor is assumed to take charge.

Happy Birthday Badman

5 November = Badman's Birthday

28-29 November = Badman's Birthday Bash. Have you registered? 44 other people have - not many places left ....

Have your answers to the perennial questions ready:
- Are you very good at Ultimate?
- Do you like to party?

The responses so far have been fairly entertaining. Notty "If You Take Ultimate Away There is Not Much of Me Left" Nott and Dusty "I Party Better Than Most" are standouts so far.

Big Sky 9s Report

Just in case you missed it elsewhere, here's Mat Ryan's Big Sky 9's report.

Good morning folks,

The Big Sky 9s tournament was held on Saturday at the Gap Soccer
fields. The aim of this tournament was to raise money to support Mike Neild and
his wife Stacy in their battle with Motor Neurone Disease.

All tournament profits would be added to the funds raised from raffle
ticket sales, a signed "Crocs" World Games shirt auction, and donations made
from around the country and from overseas.

The onfield results went more or less according to the seedings, with
"Stacy's Allstars", Captained by Mike Neild running through the tournament
undefeated and claiming the stone buddha trophy. They met "Overlord" from
the Gold Coast in the final who had previously upset the fancied UQ Lovers team
in a tough pool game, with a golden point win after time.
Congratulations to all 142 (14 teams) players who attended the tournament
and contributed to the support fund. Thankyou for your attendance and support,
including Ant, Rosalie and Matty Faulkner who travelled up from NSW for the
day.

Thankyou also to the Tournament organising team of Tony Ross, Genevieve
Healy and Sandra Poon. This was your idea and would not have happened if
you hadn't put it into action. Special thanks to Peta McNaughton for her
tireless efforts manning the admin desk all day. Thankyou to QUDA and AFDA for
their contributions to the day.

Thankyou to Gen Healy for organising the raffle, and to the many
individuals and organisations who donated prizes, and to all those people who
sold tickets.

Thankyou to Jonno Holmes and Di Worman and the other Croc and Dingo players
involved in running the World Games shirt auction. It was a fantastic
initiative and no doubt will look great mounted above the fireplace.

Thankyou to all those players, team-mates, opponents, friends, family,
workmates, and people who have never met Mike and Stacy, for your donations into
the support fund.

Further thanks to John Damiani and the WA frisbee players for hosting a
parrallel Big Sky tournament which will be held in December. We wish you
all the best with your event.

The funds raised (as at Saturday 31st October): (Nb: funds are still coming
in from donations and hopefully a contribution from WA)
Tournament Profits
$3,220.00
Raffle Ticket Sales
$2,130.00
World Games shirt Auction $800.00
Donations
$10,077.00
Total: $16,227.00

This fantastic result is a demonstration of the high regard that people
hold for Mike and Stacy, that they would contriubte so willingly.

It also speaks volumes about the generosity and Spirit of the Australian
and International Ultimate community for them to come to the aid of a couple in
need.

I am extremely proud to be associated with such a group.

Good on you all.

Mat.

Mainstreamin' It

Not sure if you've looked around lately, but the Victorians have a groovy website.

The thing most Ultimate players will like about it is over on the right hand side - updated League tables. Sweet.

Which got me thinking about an idea that many will think of as crazy, as limiting creativity, and totalitarian in the extreme, but this is a blog of ideas so we'll chuck it out there.

What if by say the end 2011 we in Brisbane insisted that all League team names had a geographical element to them (with incentives to encourage this to happen earlier)?

See, while I have a great love of Ultimate's irreverant approach to naming teams (often reflecting the transient nature of many teams - but that's another issue), to many an outsider (particularly someone looking at say, the VFDA site), the few silly names paint the sport as a whole as entirely silly.

So maybe a balance - you can keep your silly names if you add some very square location to it.

Putting some geography in there also helps to smooth recruitment of new players, and may one day give homes to clubs and training venues and the like. "I'd like to play this Ultimate Frisbee, and I live in Moorooka ... hmm, looks like I should contact the Moorooka Mellows or the Southside Cobras."

Having your League leaders named Tribe or bHANG! doesn't tell anyone anything, other than

You'll Never Win a Rules Argument with Matt Eastburn Again*

Good news everybody!

You'll** never need to have an argument over the rules of Ultimate with Matt Eastburn ever again.

Many folks will know that Matt was the first member of the Brisbane Ultimate community to get himself an iPhone.

Well, thanks to the outstanding effort of a Mr Claudius Kirsch from Germany*** , WFDF were recently excited to announce that there's now a free iPhone application that puts the official WFDF Rules of Ultimate into your electronic pocket (in both English and German).

Leaving aside the silliness of giving Matt a bag, this is very useful. Something to consult when you need to know the rules or at least correct someone else. Something to read when you're bored on the train or waiting for your gal to give birth.

Perhaps a future iteraction could have a search capacity? Sometimes the table of contents doesn't tell you everything. And why not take full advantage of having an electronic rather than paper copy?

*Not that you ever did. **maybe ***just another reason for the Dojo to be relying on such technology. Germany is an awesome country.

Australia Day Beach Tournament Gets a Blog

Well actually, its had one for a while, but we just noticed it, in the build up to the 2010 event!

http://adbuc.blogspot.com/

Remember Remember the Mo of Movember

So you might recall fine Mo we saw last year, and some even fancier ones from 2007. Then there were these guys (more fun than money).

This year, Phantastic Phil Stocks is out of the gates and taking the lead for Ultimate - and he's ready to take your donations [edit - link fixed].

Let us know if any of you other readers are doing your furry bit.

We here at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion can think of few things more manly than a Mo.