Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Game To Watch (With Hundreds Of Others)

Your mighty emperor is but a wee boy in comparison to his predecessor, who had already been around the block 17 times before ascending the throne. Unlike JdR and more like some of those Gold Coast / Ignition boys, my Nats-cherry is still in tact. And it's set to be a violent affair, with Quoll facing up against #1 seed Colony Plunder at 8:45 tomorrow morning.

So it will come as no surprise that I was a bit slow to realise just how spectacular the scheduled "Demo Games" will be. If your reading this blog, and you're not playing at nationals, your name is probably Craig. Last name: Behrendorf. Hi Crag! If you're wondering when is a good time to come and watch a game, it's gotta be the Feature Matches at 6:30pm on Friday and Saturday.

The first game will feature host-team Firestorm vs Chilly (Melbourne's highest seed). The idea is that this match is scheduled at a time when no other teams are playing. So there could be potentially 200 people on the side-lines, drinking and slandering Buzz-style. This will be a great time to invite a friend along, as there should be plenty of atmosphere and a highly skilled match.

That's all from me, probably until the war is won. Remember that you can keep track of the results as they happen (unsubstantiated claim) on the AUC2011 website.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Know Your Demographic (for the 13%)

Rule #1 of Black Betty - You do not talk about Black Betty.

Rule #2 of Black Betty - In order to divert media attention, put out a press release (aka. propaganda), like so:





Black Betty is a Brisbane team, and we are proud as to be representing our home state of Queensland in the women’s division of this year’s AUC. Founded in 2009, Black Betty is built on slick rock anthems, shiny muscle cars and an abiding love for a good hard game of Ultimate. 2011 promises to be a big year for the growth of this hungry young club. Along with racking up some serious air miles hitting almost every interstate warm-up tournament on offer, we are also very excited to be sharing this year’s national championships with our training buddies and clubmates, Red Betty.


Speaking of diversion tactics, head over to the official AUC2011 website to see I-Beam talk themselves down!

Let's Talk Nationals!

Continuing 'decloak week', JdR offers a no doubt ill-informed preview of the Queensland teams representing at Nationals this weekend.

Make sure you get along and support! Here's all the official info!

Firestorm Will Do It

Put simply, this is quite possibly the strongest team Queensland has sent to an Open National titles in the last decade (barring perhaps the injury to John McNaughton).

Firestorm has trained very very hard over the last several months. The loss of Myall and Colo from the original selected list to injury doesn’t seem to have dented planning, and the tweaking at Northern Regionals was followed by a solid hit out at the Brisbane-Canberra Invitational.

Much of the team are now hitting their third or fourth Nationals together – George, Julz, Stu, Nat, Pallen, aL, Andy, Jangles, Finn, Gref, Jimmy, Buzz, Mike - meaning this is the time for the group to peak.

The stars are aligned – can they deliver? We think so – a top four finish is in reach after years in 5th-10th land.

What the heck – let’s forget our heads totally and tip them with our hearts to take the title and come in 1st.

Firestorm Ignition Will Be Firing At Every Click

If the Firestorm 'A team' does well at Nationals this year, it will be in part due to the push that’s been put on by the Firestorm ‘B team’ – Firestorm Ignition - at training and in scratch matches. This is something that arguably hasn’t happened often in the past. What’s more interesting is the high morale and sense of unity in the Ignition squad, which saw them handily dispose of the more fancied Gold Coasters and Townsvillians at Regionals earlier in the year (the rivalry with Slamtown is ongoing and something to be savoured – particularly as both have drawn the same pool for Day One).

Perhaps this comes from the consistency and good humour across the squad – where most other teams have a split between their angry silverbacks and their fired up young bucks, Ignition are almost uniformly happy fellas in their 20’s (or at least, they look it). Tim Fergs and Will Mitchell will nonetheless bring some “Old Gringo”/”Effing Mongrel” to the fresh faces.

Expect Ignition also to remind opponents how their entire team will be at home making love to their wives and girlfriends every night of the tournament, while the visitors have only their cold and lonely hostel beds to look forward to.

That said, and it’s a frickin’ hard call, the lack of star-power means we’re tipping them to finish in the 13-16th bracket. The game against Slamtown on Day 1 will be vital for that. But we’ll say 13th, as the home ground advantage means they can string together two wins at the end to go home winners.

Slamtown Flatball Club - Code Orange, Papa and of course, 'ERE WE GO!

Keeping to the theme, this is THE strongest ever Ultimate team to come out of the Gold Coast area in all of recorded history. Having the tournament near to home has meant that all the very best are available and most players on the team have at least a couple of Nationals under their belts.

Many of these players work together every week in the Brisbane Premier League, and the additions of BW, Mike and Hugh covers some weaknesses in height and steadiness.

This will be the key for the SFC – can they resist the showboat urges that play so well to the chicks at home and on the beach, but which simply deliver turnovers to the highly disciplined defensive outfits they’ll meet at Nats? We shall see and a lot will depend on Bads, Stef and a few others' abilities to keep it in their pants.

SFC are also bringing several Nats-virgins with them – Mike M, Troy Z, Joel, Bienstock, Kevvy (Kev's cherry is only half popped). Hopefully each of them can get electric quickly after the two hour drive up from the Coast – the speed and ferocity of Nationals has a history of blowing the Day One chances of teams heavy on rookies.

This is particularly the case for SFC as they face recent Nats finalists Colony and Fyshwick United in their opening pool. This of course also goes for Firestorm Ignition, who’re probably even greener (and we don’t just mean ‘full of Heroes’).

While the team will be scrambling to win every contest, point and game they can – and frankly, we’re confident they’ll improve on their seeding of 15th and hopefully with Ignition get the North Region a second certain slot for 2012 - long-term observers will be interested to see if this group can demonstrate the heart to turn the gang from Australia’s sixth largest city into a regular Nationals prospect, as opposed to an occasional appearance.

If you can’t follow the noise, look for the Orange and the good looks. If things go well against Ignition and then on Day 2, should make it up above 12th. Indeed, we’ll tip them to 12th.

Betty's Black and Red

Secrets, secrets! Let's let Facebook speak for this lot.

Monday, March 28, 2011

BUML Round 3 (28 March) - Preview, Tips and Rambling!

So as the Brisbane Ultimate Monday night mixed social League settles into gear, let us slip down from the comfortable Room of Retirement, give dstrel a break, and have a look at tonight’s games, and possibly prognosticate about the season as a whole!

Heroes vs Discheads - Annerley 3A

Of course, looking at this game this is just an opportunity to talk about Carl. People have thought that the Heroes blog had gone quiet because dstrel took over the BUB. But really its been about Carl, and his progression from single crazy man-about-town to old married fat handler (who doesn't blog enough). Or not … because Carl has been kickin’ it wit’ the homies of Firestorm Ignition, and aside from his kitchen renovations has been just as Ultimatey as he’s always been. So are we making sense here? Maybe we should make up something like that tonight the Heroes are playing something like their 200th League game to distract you. That’s the sort of thing that fires up the Discheads, or at least Mr Brown (Spaz to his friends). Our tip – Discheads by 2.

Poachers vs Bermuda Triangle - Annerley 3B

With these two teams, you can expect to see some Ultimate that’s so old school that Dan B will be arriving on the penny farthing and Adilia will be defending herself from ‘attacks of the vapours’ (not the 80’s band of ‘Turning Japanese’ fame). It's quite possible that the game will be played with a disc carved from a tree root. Personally, I love seeing Bermuda roll out the four-person-cup they were playing nearly a decade ago, and the Poachers doing that thing that they do. You know the thing. Next thing Geoff and Donna will arrive at the fields by kayak. Our tip - Bermuda by 4.

Plastic Scourgery vs Mellow Yellow - Annerley 5A

Ultimate returns to the unfairly maligned Annerley Field 5 tonight, but then beggars can’t be choosers and its better than spending the bye at home watching old Happy Days episode. Scourgery have bulked up the numbers for the remainder of the season, thanks to Jack 'Ralph Malph' L's snatching a few Griffith students, which should stiffen up their traditionally flexible (Bendy?) turnout. Meanwhile, this season’s Mellow Yellow outfit look remarkably similar to previous outings, although its certainly be said that they ‘lack the Goods’. Thankfully, they seem to have avoided jumping the shark. On the field, the difference will probably come down to Paul and Dusty (aka Richie and Pottsy - and heck, let's mention little sister Joanie and Adele E in the same sentence too) having returned to punch and pie after missing out at Regionals, whereas Rob has been getting leaner and meaner by the week. We must also mention Dave the Barman. Our tip - Mellow by 3.

QUTies vs Starlight - Annerley 5B

The QUTies seem to be the real deal this season, if only because the President of UQ Ultimate is playing for them. Maybe this is some sort of secret mission relating to AUGs or something. Starlight are meanwhile starting to get the hang of this Frisbee-wheeze. Our tip – QUTies by 7.

Wuxie vs Dyspnoeics - UQ 7A

Holy bejolies – ‘proper’ Ultimate returns to the University of Queensland! By proper we mean, ‘people playing Ultimate and trying to win’, as opposed to what happens on Wednesday nights (‘people playing Ultimate and trying to win on’). Or is that the wrong way around. Anyway, its exciting and we’re looking forward to hearing how folks go at BUML’s new venue, as it continues its drive to collect up every piece of floodlit grass in South East Queensland on Monday nights. As for the game, well it really comes down to who can find a carpark (or a way to get home) and get there on time (hello Lankowskis and big daddy Baker). Wuxi have smashed all before them this year, but this might be different. Obligatory mention also to the Dyspnoeics having possibly the most continuous season-to-season roster, despite having an unpronounceable name. Anyway, match of the round, egowise, at least. Our tip – Wuxi by 1.

Tsunami vs Chimichangas - UQ 7B

Its hard to tell from adjoining fields, but the Chimis seem to have made up for aL’s departure to beachtown by recruiting a couple of insanely good Germanic hammermeistermerchants. Meanwhile, Peta will still be on that high between moving into the house you’ve just bought and the madness of mortgage-slavery. Tsunami remain on the massive upwards improvement curve – they’ll be a bigger threat as each week goes by. Bonus fact - Ultimate has been played regularly on UQ Oval 7 since at least 1991 ... before some players in this game were even born ... Our tip – Chimis by 6.

Ghost Who Walks vs Hammertime - Griffith 1

For the Prosecution: “Hey I’m the Phantom and I’ll tell you why, ‘cos I’m the man who cannot die. I boogie through the jungle in my purple suit. The pygmies all dig me because they think I’m cute. Fightin’ crime and corruption is what I do, people say “That’s fine, but what’s in it for you?” Nothing I guess, I’m just a swell guy. Oh yeah sure, and pygmies can fly!” For the Defence: “Music hits me so hard, makes me say, “Oh my Lord! Thank you, for blessing me, with a mind to rhyme and two hot feet!” Gavel-strike! With the strength of ten tigers, we tip GWW to roll Hammertime by 3.

Griffith Go-Go’s vs Disc-iples - Griffith 2

Frickin’ anything can happen here, with a Casey on both teams. Our tip: Go-Go’s by 2.

Agent Orange vs Griffith Oh Yeahs - Griffith 3

This is going to be an intriguing match up. The extensive if inexperienced hordes of the Oh Yeahs (an official roster of 0, but about 25+ people turning up for each game), led by Issac and Abe, up against some old codgers like dstrel and Big Gav and their much younger and good looking minions. Strengths are weaknesses and weaknesses are strengths. Boomshakalaka. Tip – Issac’s the good looking one. Um, and AO by 2.

Your thoughts, gentle readers?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Iconic Aussie Discs Available

These iconic discs will be reaching Italian shores later this year, but you can have yours today (or tomorrow, next week..) for $30 / 2 for $50. Nathan and Tati have released these discs as a fundraiser for Beach Worlds in Italy this year. Drop Nathan an email or just hit him up at a field near you (e.g. nationals).

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Belated BCI Report

In the past few weeks, the BUB has been experiencing unprecedented success with the cone of silence. It has been working!! Naturally, we've heard nothing from George. But due to technical malfunction, the following interview was captured this time yesterday.

1. Colony Plunder
2. Fyshwick United
3. Heads of State
4. Colony Pillage
5. Firestorm
6. Chilly
7. IBeam?
8. A-team/Sublime, Karma & friends ?




BUB: Firestorm lost the first two games (right?) before getting their first
against (team?). Did it feel like it was all falling apart? How did
the team get it together to finish with a string of wins, including
an impressive win against Fyshwick (first time ever)?


George: The first game was a case of first big game of the season jitters I think. Especially in the first half, some skill errors enabling Plunder to take the half easily. Played a good second half where we traded. We came out firing in the second game against Chilly, going up 7-2 before getting too complacent and allowing them back in the game. They ended up taking that game. It was just a bit of nerves I think, once we settled and gained confidence we started playing our own game much better, with our offense playing more calmly and scoring reliably, and our defense generating turns and getting some breaks.


BUB: Firestorm are hell-bent on taking the trophy at Nationals this year.
Do the Southerners take us seriously?



George: They should now.

BUB: Who seems to be the favourite, or the team to beat this year? I-Beam
obviously came from obscurity last year..


George: Colony are looking strong and I think will be the team to beat.


Did you catch any of the women's matches? How did BB go?

George: I didn't see much of the women's matches, though I gather BB racked up some wins on Sunday as well.


BUB: That's all! Thanks mate.

George: No worries Dan.

MVP Update


Dojo 15 (8.5) - Bandidos 3 (8)

MBB 15 (9) - SFC 8 (9)

Heroes 11 (8.5) - Cobras 9 (9)

MVP Update

Mike - 5
BW - 5
Abra - 4
Finn - 4
Pallen - 3
Buzz - 3
Reece - 3
Seb - 2
Wallsy - 2
Al - 2
Bev - 2

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Some Inspiration for Someone

Its been quiet down here in the retirement room of the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion since we handed the keys over to DStrel, but we figured we'd pop our heads above the parapet to throw up some inspiration for someone, anyone out there.

Here's this particular part of the manifesto. Brisbane desperately needs a Youth Ultimate League of some sort. There's lots of focus on getting Ultimate played at school, and that's cool. That's a ticket towards the mainstream.

But kids play a lot of their sport outside school - particularly keen and future elite kids. They play cricket and footy and netball and soccer on weekends, and train on weeknights.

Brisbane needs someone to step up and start organising this. Start with a big net of say 19 and under, and play a weekly pickup game (allow a limited number of commited 'adult' coaches to play and supervise. Get BUDA or QUDA to find you a proper field and help you with some promotion - particularly at the schools that are getting a bit of Ultimate happening during school hours. Get the numbers to a point you can establish a competition.

These kids will be running Uni Clubs and Black Betty and Firestorm in the future - let's get them in while they're 15 and 16 and so on.

Here's how they're doing it in Adelaide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9KU34YlQFc

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Go South (Young Man)

As we all can see, the poll is in and 53% of voters think it's fair to drive to the Gold Coast for a game against Slamtown once a season. Thanks to the Byron boys for their contributions.

We here at the Imperial Palace been sniffing around in dumptsers and loitering outside public change rooms for a lead on the Black Betty campaign, but have been thus far denied an interview from the leadership, perhaps due to a perceived lack of diversity. So we're still waiting on that one.

In other news, the reportedly incredible Tessa Binley has been successfully running Australia's first Youth League in Adelaide. Looks like enough players for a pickup game at the moment, but it's attracted some media attention. This clip was aired on ABC #63 last week(?).

Friday, March 18, 2011

Round 3 Results

SFC 15 (8.5) - Bandidos 4 (9)

MBB 15 (8) - Cobras 10 (9)

Dojo 15 (9) - Heroes 7 (8.5)

Mike Nolan has leads tipping with 100%. What's your secret, Mike?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Return From Obscurity

Tournament Junkies have nothing to whinge about for the latter part of the year. Those who traveled (or refused to travel) to Bathurst for Mixed Nats or Townsville for Men's Northern Regionals will be thrilled to hear that

Mixed Nats returns to Melbourne in 2011!

This is good news for those who like coffee, cooler weather, direct flights, trams and cycling (Around the Bay in a Day the following weekend, sounds like a good holiday).

Held between the 8th & 10th of October, reconnect with the AFDA website for more details. (enjoy it's clunky dinosaur interface while it lasts!)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

News Team:



That's right, we're looking for writters. If you think you can write a corker of a general interest piece, maybe do up some pretty graphs and stats, keep track of tipping, or check all those email lists that JdR put me on to that I haven't bothered checking yet - we need you. Perhaps you've got your ear to the ground, more fingers in the pie than JdR (doubtful). Of course there are the perks - the coveted gold-plated hovercraft, the new loo and the cone of silence. Besides, it's kinda.. lonely around the palace..

Look.

My plan was to ask you

if I could squire you
about town

as one professional
helping another professional,

because I know what it's like
to be lonely in a new city.

Oookay, so drop me an email at danielstrelan@gmail.com if you want to contribute to this mess. Someone to keep track of women's ultimate would be especially good.

Monday, March 14, 2011

The Great Divide

The split has been announced and it's right down the middle and contentious as expected.
Here's the rundown of the BUML Div1/Div2

Div1: 8 Teams

Wuxi - perhaps the last dinosaur. Wuxi have been a powerhouse of BUML Div 1 since it's conception. Kaitlin seems to have retained her faithful, and is introducing a few rookies (going by AFDA numbers)

Scourgery - has evolved, or is it.. devolved? Jack again has the arduous task of rebuilding.

Dyspneoics - seem to be ramping it up for a big one. Mansauce has called in his troops from afar and some other talent has been swept up in the tide.


Poachers
- Blacklock adds to his list some more players with the potential to turn up, or not.

Yellow Those Mellow Stalwarts would undoubtedly prefer to lurk around in Div 2. A rumoured name change to "No Good" was to no avail, but despite losing their founder, Rob Lowe seems to be on a bigger campaign this year.

Bermuda - Geoff's got a good mix of experience on the team, expect a middle of division finish for the triangle.

Heroes - Unlike any Heroes team ever seen before. Sean's got a bunch of newbies on his hands and they've found themselves in Div 1. Lucky he's a Master Coach.

Discheads - "Just having fun" all the way to Div 1. Sebastian will make sure it stays this way for the reigning Div 2 premiers.


Div2: 10 Teams

Ghost Having just missed the 8 and the chance to compete against the mother-team, Luke and his friends will be looking to take out this division.

Orange Gavin juggles a band of potent players with some total newbies. Who knows what could happen?

Tsunami A virtual unknown, at least to this blogger. Alejandro? Where did the come from, where are they going?


Hammer TJ has controversially claimed the name of a well-established UQ league team who have very nice shirts. Hopefully there is a designer in the former Cougars group who can out-do their name-sake.

Chimis The Baby variety. It seems AFDA are refilling old numbers, particularly in the 8000's. Peta and some old mates are dedicated to the Baby Chimi's movement, bringing up a family of these 8000's.

Gogos The core has been consolidated. Casey will no doubt lead this team to a handful of victories this season.

Disciples It is unclear who this ragtag band is following. AFDA says Ryan Evans, but we here at the BUB palace suspect Allen-Atkins involvement.

Quties Young player Danielle is rebuilding QUT ultimate. By the time she finishes uni she'll have a superstar team.

Starlight Made their debut at Big Sky 10's. This could mean that they are friends of Mike and Stacey, which is promising. Bekky seems to have organised a big squad and cheerleaders to boot.

Ohyeahs JdR's very own team. Just for him. So it seems. May get a lot of athletic pickups from Electric Boogaloo (Griffith Hat) on the weekend.

Comment on the Poll

...lines are now open

Thursday, March 10, 2011

BPL Round 2 Results

Spirit Scores From Round 1
MBB 9
Heroes 9
SFC 9
Dojo 8.5
Bandidos 7.5
Cobras 7

Round 2 Results
Dojo 15 def. Cobras 5 (8.5)
MBB 15 (9) def. Bandidos 9 (9)
SFC 15 (8) def. Heroes 7 (9)

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Taunts

Last weekend, the captains of our most prestigious league, the BPL, were invited to the virtual BUB Palace for fine dining, wining and some not-so-friendly banter. Today we bring you a summary of what went down.

The youngest captain in the league started proceedings by declaring that they have become more dynamic than ever before, despite losing some defining players. He warns us of a wave of North American influence coming our way. One can only imagine what this means for spirit scores! (which will be published, by the way).

The mayor came prepared, megaphone in hand and propaganda well laid out. Of course, Stefan's speech is available as a press release. Here are his taunts, word for word:

- The Slamtown Flatball Club is an in your face encounter.  We're out to take your lunch money, and your women.
We pride ourselves on being well rounded individually, while composed and disciplined as a team.
In the offseason we acquired the services of four players, while 3 moved on.
Of our new players, we get Byron Bay youth Issaac Stone, the return of GC veteran Jimmy Larkin, aL Don's moving literally moving onto Palm Beach, and Abra was drawn to the Coastal vibe.  All of our new recruits are awesome, and can provide physically and vocally.  We're as resilient as the pounding tide, and as uncontainable as the beating sun.  Our style's impetus...... our defence impregnable. We will take to the pitch with intent to win every time we play.... and we'll hope that you'll be cheering for us when we're in the big game.

Moreton Bay Bugger's President and Captain, Mike, delivered a conference like presentation, incorporating slides and graphs, proudly boasting of past achievements. Mike was quite uncomfortable with the lack of Grand Final appearances in 2010 (0) and is relying on the return of some stalwarts for the hope of returning to the glory days. All these stats can be viewed on the MBB blog.

It seems that premierships talk. Dojo's absence from this meeting was expected, and a barrage of smack-talk in their direction would be considered the norm. However, after losing the "Chokers" collar last season, they appear to be the team to beat.

Each captain was asked who their team was going to beat in the finals. Mike said "I think the Dojo will probably return... They have a great base of guys who used to play frisbee on their team and now they have more than 2 who currently play frisbee. They will be a little harder to crack than usual."

What does Mike mean by "used to play frisbee" exactly?

Reece is looking forward to beating Dojo in the final as well. He thinks they'll be there because "They have height and their strange ability to never have to dump the disc." Stefan agreed, and added "Those tall bastard proved on Thursday night that they truly can get away with a steady flow of hucks"

Finally, for dessert, the can-of-worms was opened. The captains decided to pile pressure on new LD Graham "Special" Prickett. Stefan and Mike feel it's time to rehash some old issues. Mike wants to see the league go to two-tiers, an idea that this blogger is very interested in. Mike reckons it's about a year away.

Stef is sick of Dutching to Brisbane and back every week. Slamtown are calling for a home game, and the Mayor is serious about organising this, in collaboration with GCU. His campaign is representative of a larger playing area on the Gold Coast and South of the border.

BPL Round 2 (Get Yer Tips In)

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Thrustfest! Baby Thrustfest!

Get your flaming fists of fire ready for Thrustfest II - Electric Boogaloo this Saturday!

The website is over here: http://www.griffithultimate.org/thrustfest/

Register at: http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1549

When: Saturday the 12st of March from 9ish (game on at 10am) til 5.

After: Party at Abe and Issac's afterwards - 100m walk from the fields. BYO - bottleshop up the road.

Where: Fields are the Griffith Uni Nathan Campus' lush AFL field. Parking is available on site, as well as buses to Griffith Uni and QEII Hospital across the road – routes 120 and 135.

What: Thrustfest is a one day “hat” tourney, meaning that players register individually (or with a friend) and teams are “drawn from a hat” on the morning of the tournament (using special voodoo to appease the Frisbee Gods). Numbers permitting, we hope to run the tournament as a round robin so every team plays the same number of matches, with a late-afternoon final so everyone else can cheer and heckle from the sidelines. Expect to play about five 40 minute matches.

Who: Everyone is welcome to Thrustfest – young and old, male and female, experienced and beginner. In fact, especially beginners – we’re hoping to see a bunch of new UQ, QUT and Griffith students come along and learn what Ultimate is all about. Students from Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast or west of Brisbane play at half price!

Cost: $20 per person gets you a full day of fields, lunch, fruit, insurance and prizes. Pay on the day.

Bring: Water, sport shoes (cleats if you’ve got ‘em), a light and a dark shirt and something to sit in, and drink while you watch the finalists duel it out.

Please Register! Registration is as always on the Australian Flying Disc Association (AFDA) website. If you aren’t already you’ll need to make yourself an AFDA member, which is free and includes insurance for any registered Ultimate game you play in Australia. Once you’ve done that, head to the Thrustfest registration page, and choose the ‘register’ action from the links on the right. You’re in!

BONUS: All teams will be required to name themselves in the spirit of Charlie Sheen! Think "Big Beautiful Warlock Brain", "Sleep Rhymes With Sheep", "Two Smoking Hotties", "I Tried Marriage", "I Try to Be Known For My Work", "Straffing Runs in My Underware", "Golden Sombraro", and finally, "You know you've gone too far when Slash is saying, Look, you've got to get into rehab"

Saturday, March 05, 2011

ACTIVATE THE CONE OF SILENCE!!



BUB:  hey george
 George:  hey dan
 
BUB:  you at work?
 George:  no at home atm

BUB:  Ready to do a regionals report?
 George:  hmm dunno

BUB:  You're right. The cone of silence is a must. ACTIVATE THE CONE OF SILENCE!!
 George:  ok

BZZZHHRHRRRVRRRRSSHHH


BUB:  Silent George, after conquering the World, you found youself back in the middle of the most intense Firestorm campaign in history. With hopes of sending two sides to Nationals in our home-city this year, satisfied with nothing less than monstering into the finals and taking the trophy, the campaign began with a lot of energy.


...........dead air.......

BUB: Silent George??.......... Georgie boy?

George: ................ Hi

BUB:  Wha?? Ok, nevermind. We've just seen Regionals held in Townsville for the first time. Tell us a little about the boys preparation up to Regionals. Have they done enough? What's different this year?

George:  G'day Dan,
Yeah it's an exciting season for Firestorm with it being a hometown nationals. Preparation and first trainings began early in November, and the boys have been putting in big efforts on and off the field since then. The Firestorm teams played well at regionals, though when we get our first opportunity to match up with the best teams in the country at BCI we'll have a better idea of how we stand.

This year we've be missing the injured Firestorm founder Johnny Mac, though with some returning key players and with some keen and hungry new players in the squad we'll be fielding the strongest firestorm team we've ever had.

BUB: Is there an echo in here?
George: No, I can hear just fine.

BUB:  A glass of wine? By George! It's 10 in the morning! If you insist...... (pours wine) Some obvious names include Abra and Mike who missed last year. Who are some of the lesser-known A guys who we can be excited about?

George:  Yep Mike is back this year, and fellow Dingo Abra another big addition, also we have Canadian import Kalin Thompson and Jamie Morrell will be looking to make their mark.
Chris Cunliffe will be another one to watch after a couple of seasons away.

BUB:  Indeed. Ok. So Townsville... flights, hotels, transport: Who'd you bunk up with?

George:  I stayed with Chris Ende, along with a few of the other Firestormers, who was a great host, took us up Castle Hill for a great view of the town.

BUB:  Very nice, a Villian?
George:  Yep

BUB:  Did you get to watch the hosts perform at all? I hear they didn't train..
George:  We played them, they fielded 2 teams and struggled with a lack of depth, some training would help of course if that was true.

BUB:  Did you play all the teams? Who else was there? Cairns, any pickup team?
George:  Everyone played all the teams at least once, yeah Cairns had a team, helped out with some Brisbane pickups, and Slamtown made the trip up as well.

BUB:  Slamtown vs Ignition (Firestorm B) was picked as the showdown of the weekend. Did it live up to the expectation?


George:  Yeah that was a great game, the Ignition boys gave Slamtown a bit of a surprise getting an early lead to 4-1, Slamtown fought back to level it at 4-4 I think, before Ignition turned up the heat to take the half. They then kept in front to take the win, and was the upset of the weekend.

BUB:  So Slamtown come away with the wildcard and 3rd seed. Who were the play makers in that match?

George:  For Ignition it seemed like a well rounded game with all players getting alot of disc, and some great plays all over the field.

BUB:  Diplomatic, thanks George.
Who are the players holding that team together?
How did they do so well?

 
George:  Trevor is doing a great job at captaining the team along with Jack, Jules, and Finn, making an experienced leadership group.

BUB:  Ok, so finally, you. And the A-team. Was your greatest opponent yourselves?
George:  Yeah, we went into the tournament with high expectations and the challenge was to play at a high level during all of our games.

BUB:  How's the feeling in the camp after Regionals.
George:  We're pretty excited to have finished one-two, and are geared up for some big training efforts in the coming weeks

BUB:  Ok, before we go, Top 4 prediction for Nats
George:  Ok, Firestorm, Colony, Fyshwick, Ibeam

BUB:  no HOS?
dishy losing favour?

BUB:  George...? George!! Can you hear me... Ok forget it!
Well it took all day but we got there
Thanks mate
-----------------------
George:  Ok thanks Dan

BUB: Did someone say something??

Friday, March 04, 2011

White Man Can't Jump


A theory popularised in the early 90's will be tested again on Sunday. Rob, Carla, Tati and Nathan and potentially others are hosting a QUDA backed
Come 'n Try day in Moorooka, a suburb known for it's large Sudanese population. The scenario is predicted to play out as follows:

Sudanese community watches the tiny (mostly Caucasian) Australians show-off their athleticism. The Sudanese realise that although they can jump much higher than their fellow Australians, they probably won't have to, as the average height of a Sudanese man or woman is 7'.

Many new friendships are formed. We present our cultural offering of burnt snags and the celebrations continue at the local family run restaurants.



To be part of the exhibition game, you'll have to register http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1657 Wear a black shirt if you think you're a rapper and want to join Nathan's Bloc Party. If you're the whitest guy alive, join the Hyzer Chiefs and don the appropriate jersey.

Making Up For Lost Time



Well, Well, Well. In all our gallivanting, it seems that we have neglected our important duties. Please accept our apologies for this week. Tipping will resume as usual for Week 2. Hopefully we can get a statistician on board to assist with this process (Pete?).

The Club blogs have suddenly come to life again, with The Mayor's highly anticipated Power Rankings resuming and a return to blogging for Gref. Be sure to check out these blogs to get into the swing of things.

Results

Dojo 14 def. Slamtown 13

MBB 15 def. Heroes 8

Cobras 15 def. Los Banditos 1



NB: These results have not been verified by the League Director.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Regionals 2011 Results

Here's one that I picked up on ye ol' Telepathy Machine.

While Northern Regionals 2011 (or the Queensland Open Ultimate Championships, as JdR reckons we should call them so that non-Ultimate players can understand what we’re on about) has been and gone, it’s the BUB’s role to provide a bit of a record for future historians.



Northern Regionals 2011 – 19-20 February.




Results

1. Firestorm (Brisbane)
2. Firestorm Ignition (Brisbane)
3. Slamtown Flatball Club (Gold Coast)
4. Towns Villains (Townsville)
5. Axis of Awesome (Cairns)
6. The Quinn’s Strike Back (Townsville)



Spirit – Axis of Awesome



This was the first time that the tournament had left Brisbane, and was the largest Northern Regionals to date with 83 players registered. This was the first time that Cairns entered a team, and that Townsville entered two teams.



By all reports it was stinking hot (Regionals being early this year as Nationals is earlier than usual), but the fields were good and the Townsville Ultimate community very welcoming.



Meanwhile in the Women’s Division, Black Betty won over Red Betty and Betty White in the single evening event in Brisbane.



Check out the Regionals tag for more history.



I Heard a Rumour




1. Tip for the wise – never ever consider that going to play a BUML pickup game is more important than celebrating one’s wedding anniversary. Thankfully last week’s rain prevented a certain mountainous designer from making such a rookie mistake.



2. Apparently Thrustfest II – the Griffith Hat that’s coming up on 12 March – will feature a full on Uni student house party with spa and plenty of good spirit. Bonus is that people will be able to do a nude run from the AFL Field showers to the party under a reasonable amount of tree-cover. Rego at: http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1549 Forward THRUST!



3. Speaking of Griffith - nice new shirts were paraded at BUML on Monday. Are they going to be the only team showing off this season? Comment lines are open.



4. Disc Golfers from around Brisbane will be meeting at the Muddy Farmer on 8 March to plan their total domination of all parks and gardens within South East Queensland. You’re all on the disc-golf email list, aren’t you (at least so you know how to avoid them?) http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/quda-discgolf/