Brisbane Ultimate Blog

Other States are Doing It, Why Not Queensland?

2012-02-02T19:17:00.005+10:00

So, UFNSW have announced that they are increasing their league and tournament fees, to help continue employing a Development Officer. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsw-ultimate/message/5653

Which brings us to an important question.

Should QUDA increase the cost of Ultimate in Queensland to employ a Development Officer?

By our rough estimate, funding a part-time QUDA Development Officer would involve something like increasing the typical League fee by $10/season, and the typical tournament fee by $2.50 per day.

The QUDA Executive, being volunteers with limited time, asked that this discussion be focused here on the Brisbane Ultimate Blog, which has the capacity to host lots of comments (including anonymous ones, which of course are read but maybe not given the weight of those by real people), because they don't really want to read and reply to dozens of emails or have people in their face at game time. So please respect their time and stick to discussing the *idea* here (at least for a while!)

So, the QUDA Executive has been thinking about this for a while and has run some figures through the Atari2600 here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion (see below). In the lead-up to QUDA’s Annual General Meeting on 3 March, its worth discussing, at the least to give some views for the 2011-2012 Executive to consider as they go into their 2011-2012 planning.

Development Officers in Other States

Ultimate Frisbee NSW have had a full-time Development Officer for about two years. The position has been very successful, a testament to getting the right person and that person working very hard! The annual cost to UFNSW is about @$46k. As it is roughly understood here at the mansion, UFNSW initially funded this position primarily through its deep savings over many years, generated through its main source of income – running the massive Sydney Northern Suburbs League (500+ players over three seasons annually, for many many years). The Development Officer also ‘makes’ money to support the position, in that coaching services are provided to schools for a fee. UFNSW were also able to gain a small grant that contributed to their capacity to fund the job. (UFNSW of course also makes money from other things (disc sales, interest) and spends money on other things, but this is roughly how they’re able to do it. Check out UFNSW’s finances for 2010-2011 at: http://ufnsw.com.au/admin/documents/20110630_ProfitLoss.pdf

Ultimate Victoria and WAFDA also have development officers. There is a bit of variation between the details of the roles from place to place (and we invite them to comment in), but generally their roles aim to a) generate income to help pay for their positions, either through grants or paid services (such as coaching) and b) grow the long term membership of the Ultimate organisation in their state, primarily by ‘getting Ultimate into schools’ and then getting those people into Ultimate Leagues and Tournaments (including helping them set up their own Leagues and Tournaments).

The QUDA Executive’s desire to investigate and see if we can avoid falling further behind the other states has also been stimulated by a detailed proposal from a prominent local Ultimate player to become QUDA’s Development Officer, who has a long history of growing the sport through schools and other work.

QUDA's Finances and Capacity to Employ

QUDA’s finances are unlike these other states. QUDA does not run major Leagues as all other States do. In Queensland, these are run by BUDA, GCU, JCU, UQ, etc. QUDA does run a few key tournaments - Halibut, Northerns, the Q-Hat, and Nationals when they come to Queensland. But generally these events are run to ‘break even’ rather than to turn a surplus (I don’t use “profit”, as that implies money is taken out of Ultimate. A particular event can make money, but this money is reinvested in Ultimate, including when future events accidentally make a loss).

QUDA has not had to seek income this way because we’ve been fortunate that the Queensland Government provides grants system for State Sporting Organisations.

It is however explicit in this grant that it cannot be used to employ someone. QUDA does at various times pay people casual hobbyist rates or honourariums (eg Coaches, Course Presenters, the Executive Officer, promotional workers) or via gifts to particular volunteers, but it usually tries to do this with money from outside the State Grant. But it is impossible to extend this approach to the proper employment of someone for a few days a week, who needs a contract in place so that they give up other work to take the job on, who will need sick and recreation leave, superannuation, and so forth.

So QUDA would need to generate alternative income if it wished to employ a proper Development Officer over the long term. It is very rare for government grants to pay for staff – this is every sport’s dream but it doesn’t happen, and it isn’t sustainable as the grant may disappear and then what happens.

The AFDA Fee and the QUDA Fee

In the past, QUDA charged an annual membership fee, paid in February and which included a new QUDA disc. While this generated some income for QUDA, it is arguable its primary goal was ensuring that we had a member list to ensure its legal continuity, and keep a steady flow of discs into the community. AFDA used to have an annual fee also, collected at Nationals each year.

As Ultimate in Queensland grew to be more than a single League at one venue, it became impractical to continue trying to collect this annual fee. In 2004 or so, AFDA moved to an event based fee system, which levied a small amount per League or Tournament, collected from the League or Tournament Director and factored into their budgeting for player fees (“the AFDA fee”). The AFDA fee generated enough income to support an Administrative Officer to oversaw the system (amongst many other useful duties). So QUDA saw and took an opportunity to use the same system, introducing a “QUDA fee” that would be collected using the AFDA’s system.

Initially, the QUDA fee was set at a QUDA AGM as 20% of the AFDA fee. At present, the AFDA collects fees from Leagues and Tournaments at a rate of around $1.32 a registered player a week for League fees, and $3.96 a registered player a day for Tournament fees. http://www.afda.com/showcontent.php?page=member_fees

QUDA set its fee at 20% largely to establish the system with a relatively tokenistic amount. There is a sense that QUDA has however been relatively haphazard in collecting QUDA fees, and some events and tournaments in Queensland haven’t been invoiced or chased for payment. Hence one of the primary jobs for a QUDA Development Officer would probably be working with the QUDA Treasurer to get this system working properly.

So, How Would It Add Up?

So, to the figures. By our rough estimates, based on a scan of the AFDA registration system, AFDA would have collected around $21,618 in Queensland in 2011 (not including Nationals).

If QUDA had collected its 20% QUDA fee on this, it would have earned $4,323. This is obviously not enough to employ a Development Officer. But certainly, Step One for QUDA is to start properly and seriously collecting the QUDA fee.

Many events in Queensland do not use the AFDA registration system, and so do not pay AFDA fees (and problematically for QUDA, many of these players are therefore not actually members of QUDA) – this includes Leagues on the Gold Coast, Townsville and UQ (plus Cairns being pretty rough, but then its new and learning). If those Leagues had have been included in the AFDA/QUDA fee system, then our guess is that AFDA fees for Queensland would have gone up to around $28.5k, and QUDA fees to $5.7k. So a second step for QUDA is to continue trying to get those Leagues to become proper members of QUDA (we should acknowledge of course that there is a debate to be had about whether or not a Brisbane-based Development Officer can deliver x% of their attention to regional areas. Our sense is that this is certainly feasible, particularly given QUDA’s long term goal of growing the sport throughout regional Queensland. Also, given these places currently don’t pay anything to AFDA or QUDA, there’s have to be some progressive increase of fees – ie not all at once).

Then to finally get to the point (and I thank you all for reading this far!), there is the option for QUDA to pull the % lever and increase QUDA fees. Here’s our estimates:

Increase the QUDA fee from 20% to 50% of AFDA fee (and collect it all) would generate $10.8k on current takings and $14.2k if the ‘lost leagues’ were gained. This would be a $5.50 increase on a current BPL or BUML fee (assuming 14 player team) (typical and largest leagues in Queensland) and $2.38 on the Halibut fee (typical two day tournament).

Increase the QUDA fee from 20% to 75% of AFDA fee - $16.2k on current Leagues, $21.3 on all Leagues. $10.16 increase on BPL/BUML and $4.36 on Halibut.

Increase to 100% and its $21.6k on current or $28.5k on all, for a $14.78 increase on BPL/BUML and $6.34 on Halibut.

Here's the spreadsheet - click to embiggen. It may not be completely right, but we think its good enough to support this discussion. Please don't point out minor errors to us!

So what’s this all mean?

Well, Assuming you employ someone for half-time and it costs about half of what it costs UFNSW, you need say $24k/annum, with coaching income on top of that to fill out another half to a full day. So the question is: Should QUDA then increase its fees to 75% of the AFDA fee from 1 July 2012 in Brisbane, and say in the regions first start collecting it at 25% and then increase it by 25% each six months until its 75%?

What do you think?

To pre-empt a response from some who may say “So its going to cost more for me to play Ultimate. I play BPL and BUML all year, plus Halibut and the Q-Hat and Northerns, and so it’ll be pouring $65 a year more into QUDA’s coffers. What’s in it for me?”

Aside from a brief “Do you want our sport taken more seriously in the future?” which of course would require a lot of unpacking in terms of benefits and so forth (and requiring Ultimate players to think beyond the next season is a challenge, to be sure), perhaps a simple “Growth = more playing opportunities for you in the future. Growth = more Leagues on different nights in different places, growth means more teams and divisions in existing Leagues and tournament (meaning more competition). Growth = a higher standard at the higher levels (including being more competitive on the national scene).

So, thanks for reading all this. Its a month until the AGM. This isn’t a decision for the AGM – its a decision for the QUDA Executive. But no doubt when they are elected at the AGM, they’d like to go away and start to plan their year of office with an idea of what people would think if they made a decision to increase the QUDA fee and employ a Development Officer.

Odds Bodkins! Beach Ultimate is Ruling!

2012-01-20T08:39:00.000+10:00

We'd be remiss not to note that this weekend will see the largest Beach Ultimate tournament held in Queensland that we're aware of - 90+ people will be hitting Coolangatta Beach next weekend for the Australia Day Beach Ultimate Championships. Wooo!

The Olde Order Changeth!

2012-01-19T08:24:00.004+10:00

Adam 'Rhubarb' Baker is the new BPL League Director. Well done Adam, and thanks Graham for taking such good care of the torch before passing it on. This blogger apologises for lacking the knowledge, but presumably you can reread our previous end of the era post and update the names.

Adam's first moves in following in the footsteps of previous BPL LD's (and let's list them again: Graham Prickett, Stu Austin, Jon Good, Andy Lankowski, Stew McGlashan and Jason Ray - not a bad starting seven now, and note that Adam's lack of an academic title now tips us to 4 non-doctors against 3 Doctors) will of course be gearing up for the coming season, and Captains and players will be scrambling into shape.

Down the track, we here at the stately but somewhat decaying Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion are hoping 2012 sees a dedicated BPL website (ala the BUML website) that canbe the source of all the news, results and so forth, and well as retaining the gloried history of the Brisbane Premier League. Who will step up?

Through Rain and Sleet and Hail, the Hammer Must Go Through!

2012-01-17T07:53:00.003+10:00

People are clearly keen to shake off the break, if the numbers of folks who turned up in the rain, wind and cold for BUML pickup last night is anything to go by. What fun, but where'd my Summer go?

With the forecast as it is for this week, expect solid crowds at Indoor Pickup this Thursday night. Keep out of the rain, enjoy easy catch's and short throws with NO WIND!

Erik welcomes all to the prelude of Brisbane's first (well im calling it that..) indoor league!

7pm start for rego's and warm up, 7:20 for a quick re-cap of indoor differences and a 7:30 game start. Its at the Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000.

Games will run till 9pm, followed by a short commute to the Normanby Hotel for a drink.

Registration Rant

2012-01-12T12:04:00.003+10:00

**Rant Mode ON**

As teams start to get registered for upcoming tournaments and events, can people please rack off with the new trend of making up stupid false names to go with their AFDA numbers?

Check out the bullshit that's being pulled by some members of this team (and apologies to the other members of that team): http://afda.com/rego/showteam.php?teamid=10663

Its not even juvenile, and it makes a lot more work for generous-with-their-time volunteers and people interested in taking our sport seriously to work out what's going on. Seriously, sod right off.

Ultimate is based on a concept of personal responsibility, and your reputation (and therefore your *Name*) meaning something. We've always had room for silly ephemeral team names, and personal nicknames, because we're fun people, but this is just annoying.

**Rant Mode OFF**

* please note, rant mode indicates we acknowledge that we're being exaggeratingly over the top with this, as a way to draw attention.

January 2012 Ultimate

2012-01-09T12:27:00.002+10:00

While the 'big leagues' in Brisbane continue their Summer break, there's still plenty of opportunities to get some Ultimate in at the moment.

There is pick up Ultimate on Monday and Wednesday nights through January. Everyone from raw newbies to international giants are welcome at pick up games. Bring a black shirt AND a white shirt, a water bottle, friends, family and workmates. Its $5 although newbies are free to have a go.

Monday night pickup is from 7:15pm to 9:15pm at the Annerley Junior Soccer Club, Victoria Tce, Greenslopes, on Field 5 (closest to Pine Street)

Wednesday night pickup is from 7pm to 9pm at Oakman Park, Toowong (off Union St and Milton Road).

To get more information including notification of any changes, join the Brisbane yahoogroup mentioned over there on the right.

The first ever Brisbane Indoor League starts this Thursday too! Its not too late to register.
When: 7pm-9pm Thursday nights, starting the 12th of January through to the end of February
What you get: at least two 35minute games of high intensity crazy indoor action!
Where: Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000
Who: All welcome! - sadly, Due to the limited space and availability at the venue, max of 8 teams can register! so you'll need to get in quick! dont miss out!
Why: Because this is a rare brisbane indoor league!! - right in the city too! AND opposite the normanby hotel?!
How: 3:1 or 2:2 m/f split. offence decides. Traditional ultimate rules. final league structure will depend on numbers.

Gold Coast League 2012 - Details Confirmed!

2011-12-17T07:46:00.000+10:00

From the press centre at the Mayor's Residence:

We're excited for 2012, and we are going to return with a NEW style to league.... we're actually going to revisit what we did to start this league long ago.

Bring on your team.... get your mates together, and get a team registered!!!

Minimum requirements: 6 males, 5 females fully paid at the time of rego.

First 4 teams registered in full are in... after that we'll assess based on demand. but only 4 teams are guaranteed.

Cost will be approx $5/night based on a 6-10 week season ($30-$50).

all score sheets, and evening rosters (how many and who played) need to be submitted by email the following day by both captains.

All games are to start promptly, and teams that don't have a min of 5 players will be deducted a point for every 5min they are below.

Season finale will have free drinks and BBQ for all spectators.

A big shiny trophy called 'The Bondage Cup' to represent the Gold Coast Ultimate League Premiership is on the line. MVP trophies for gents and ladies are on the line. Spirit Trophy too!

I will send out an 'AFDA registration' link in the first week of Jan, at which stage you need to race your team rego in to ensure you'll be a part of it.

Be sure to do your recruiting/rounding up now... and ensure that everyone is an afda member... it's quick, free, and easy.

If you are a new member, and might not know many who play, I'll also put up a spot to rego as an individual, and we'll work to find you a home.

Well.... get to it.... build your team... jump on a team... get those lovely ladies to grace us with their presence... and let's do this.

Oh yeah, team that regos first, gets first choice in jersey colour... and so on and so forth.

Also, Team Attendance Prize will be off the hook.

Thanks for reading.
Have a Happy Festive Season on behalf of:
Gold Coast Ultimate Disc Association

Beach Ultimate - Australia Day 2012

2011-12-16T07:41:00.001+10:00

Hopefully you're all keeping an eye on http://adbuc.blogspot.com/ and getting your team together to get those big cash discounts!

Brisbane Indoor LEAGUE - January-February 2012

2011-12-16T07:40:00.001+10:00

From the press release:

Gidday all brisbane ultimate players! After alot of research, alot of rejection and finally a stroke of luck, Brisbane finally has on its horizon an Indoor Ultimate tournament! For those who have never played Indoor before, its a completely different style of ultimate. Its played smaller and faster, with no wind or rain to worry about, and every player able to throw the full field- it's a recipe for some great action-packed utlimate! For those who have played indoor, this tournament will be slightly different! Due to physical constrants of the venue, it will be played even smaller on a standard size basketball court, with an added twist of the basketball 'keyhole' as the endzone!

Also the league will be a great pre-BUML season warm up for your team! awesome team building, fitness, sharpens your handling skills, game instinct and discover tricks and techniques you never knew you had!

Certainly, Indoor ultimate is great fun for every one, beginner to advanced, its even a great way to convert all those indoor soccer/netball players at your work that havent yet seen the light and refuse to open their eyes! So, the need to know:

When: 7pm-9pm Thursday nights, starting the 12th of January through to the end of February
What you get: at least two 35minute games of high intensity crazy indoor action! Plus prizes and the never ending glory of being brisbanes indoor league champions!
Where: Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000
Who: All welcome! - sadly, Due to the limited space and availability at the venue, max of 8 teams can register! so you'll need to get in quick! dont miss out!

Why: Because this is a rare brisbane indoor league!! - right in the city too! AND opposite the normanby hotel?!

How: 3:1 or 2:2 m/f split. offence decides. Traditional ultimate rules. final league structure will depend on numbers.

Contact me if you have any questions, or head straight to http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1148 for more info and register!

So come along, burn off those xmas callories, keep active over summer and have a great time!

Pass this on!

Erik Stevenson
erik.stevenson@hotmail.com

Taya Siedler
tayasiedler@mac.com

State Titles (aka Northern Regionals) Info Announced!

2011-12-09T07:44:00.001+10:00

From the press release:

G’day Queenslanders,

I’m pleased to announce that the 8th Queensland Open and Women’s Ultimate Championships 2012 (aka Northern Regionals), will be held at Griffith University Nathan campus in Brisbane , on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March 2012. The event will be hosted as a fundraiser by the Griffith University Ultimate Club, with oversight by QUDA.

Open Division
The Open event will run approximately 9am-5pm both days, similar to previous years. We anticipate 6-8 teams, from Brisbane , the Gold Coast, Townsville, Cairns and Gympie, of which 3-4 will be seriously seeking to qualify for Nationals (all teams of course will be keen to play well!). If you are an ‘unaffiliated’ Brisbane player, I encourage you to consider offering your services and experience early to our developing regional groups - we want to see every Ulti-lad in Queensland playing this event!

Women’s Division
As we only anticipate 2-3 Women’s teams will seek to play the event for the purposes of qualifying for Nationals, the Women’s event is currently anticipated as involving a all-skill-level Women’s Hat on Saturday (which may include some development sessions) and a short qualification tournament on Sunday (which may frankly be a game of Black Betty 1 vs Black Betty 2 to provide Nationals ranking). QUDA is currently considering providing further support for regionally-based women to attend, as well as new player recruitment material. We want to see every Ulti-lass in Queensland playing this event! More details to come.

Registration and Fees
Team and player registration is now open at: http://afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1147

QUDA-approved player fees will be confirmed approximately one month before the event. As per previous years, in recognition of the flight costs involved and QUDA’s role in promoting the sport state-wide, North Queensland-based players will not be required to pay a player fee.

Timing, Qualification and Rostering
Teams which are using the event to qualify for Nationals 2012 in Newcastle should be aware of the AFDA’s qualification policies and requirements.

Please note that our event will be one week before Eastern, Southern and Western Regionals, which will be held on 10-11 March. The AFDA Board has agreed with our request to host the 2012 event early, to allow our teams to gain match practice at those other Regionals, should they wish.

Equally, this provides an opportunity for interstate teams and players to come and play at our event. This improves our event, but I should note a few things to ensure the spirit of Nationals qualification is maintained, specifically:
- interstate teams and players seeking to qualify for Nationals via their own region will not be counted in terms of wildcard slot qualification
- Queensland teams seeking to qualify for Nationals should not pick up interstate players who would be qualifying for Nationals via their own region (as this would screw up our local qualification process)
- Because this is nonetheless our State Championship, non-Nationals bound teams should limit any interstate pickup players to three or less.
If you have any issues with regard these ideas, please get in touch. We’re learning.

After Nationals 2012, AFDA is considering reviewing the Regionals/Nationals system with the possibility of allowing different Regionals on different dates in a permament sense, so how this all goes for Northerns may prove an interesting test.

So mark those calendars, get on a team, and we look forward to it!

Jason de Rooy
QUDA Executive Officer and Griffith Club Secretary

Pack Your Mess Kit

2011-11-25T15:44:00.002+10:00

The inaugural Queensland Hat is on tomorrow.

All the info is at the Queensland Hat page. Regos have hit 98 as we speak - so the event is a success before the first disc is hucked!

Hopefully by now everyone turns up to tournaments with their own mess kit. If you haven't made this as natural as grabbing your cleats and sunscreen ... well now is the time!

Will Corey Be Queensland Ultimate's Movember Champion?

2011-11-25T15:39:00.002+10:00

Our our highlighted lads, it looks like Corey has an unassailable lead, raising $159 for men's health.

You could always donate to Mansauce of course.

Slamtown Wins BPL Final

2011-11-25T15:34:00.000+10:00

... that is all.

BPL Final Tonight (Weather Permitting)

2011-11-24T07:57:00.003+10:00

So tonight is the Grandal Fin of the Brisbane Premier League.

In one corner, current champions the Dojo Mojo. Sure, they're the current champions, but they've lost more BPL Grand Finals than most.

In the other, the Slamtown Flatball Club will be sweating the call from Special about whether or not the fields are open or shut before they get in the cars and head north. The ground in Brisbane has been pretty dry, so lets hope Annerley has soaked up the overnight stuff and we don't get too much today. We also hope the Slammers all recovered from Kevvie putting on the white Marilyn dress to breathlessly sing 'Happy Birthday Mr President' last weekend.

Heroes deserve a mention of course made the rookie mistake of planning their end of season dinner for last Sunday, ensuring that it was the end of their season.

Here's the original registered roster for Slamtown: Michael Bienstock Abra Garfield Adrian Gepp James Larkin Nandor Locher Greg Orlando Stefan Rappazzo(c) Kevin Stahlman Phil Stocks isaac stone Rob Wiens Troy Zernike

And here's how the Dojo may line up: Peter Allen adam baker Ryan Black Stephen Cameron(c) Salvatore Colangelo Matthew Eastburn Sean Flanagan Andrew Lankowski Leon McIntyre Darren Shi Dan Walls David Watson

Assuming the game is on tonight, tips including scores are welcome.

Using More of the Web

2011-11-21T08:05:00.003+10:00

One of the aspects of the 'off-the-field' part of our sport that we've always been a bit slack on (in the view from the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion) is knowing what people do between Ultimate games.

There's other sports out there where players become business partners, professional contacts, old boys networks and so forth. This helps those individuals get ahead, but interestingly it also opens up opportunities to further the sport itself through mutual connections and love.

There's no magic bullet for this, but its interesting to notice more and more Australian Ultimate players turning up on professional online networks like LinkedIn. Maybe if you're building your career, or want to work out a way to use our collective non-Ultimate time for the benefit of Ultimate, then get yourself on there.

USA Ultimate's nation-wide (and remember, its a very very big nation) tournament scoring system was broad to the Mansion's attention over the weekend at the AFDA Administrators Conference (more on that to come). Go check it out if you're not familiar - its cool and fun.

And if you haven't, you should go and check this out: http://www.theaudl.com/

And while its Monday morning, thanks to the fine welcome provided to the Mansion by the Heroes Ultimate Club at its awards night last night, and congrats to the awards winners.

First Aid at Tournaments

2011-11-18T13:41:00.004+10:00

Its a frequently asked question for a tournament organiser - what do I do about First Aid at tournaments? While First Aid provision is mandatory and a no-brainer at big and competitive events like Nationals and Halibut, for other events, here's some thoughts.

TDs need to think about First Aid at Ultimate tournaments in terms of providing a focus for players to act quickly when someone gets injured, particularly if hospitalisation is a possibility. As a sport without referees, coaches and played by amateurs and run by volunteers, we generally don't have someone else watching a game and having responsibility for acting when someone is injured.

So, much like interpreting the rules, acting on injuries is everyone's responsibility (not just teammates, subs or friends). Games should stop for as long as is required (there's often a temptation to urge someone off the field so that the game can continue - resist this).

TD's can help by providing a focus for treatment, particularly a physical one in terms of a First Aid Station that is visible/known to all and mentioned during pre-event briefing.

(Side note - TD's who play their tournament should ALWAYS rig the draw so that they play right next to frisbee central and the First Aid Station, and are therefore nearby and can notice problems even while playing in their own game).

TD's can also help by focusing on flexibility in hot weather - if your tournament weather is looking hot, be very careful about heat exhaustion. Check out the AFDA's Hot Weather policies or talk to JdR about the things he's seen.

Folks often think first about getting St John's Ambulance Volunteers or some other dedicated first aider. This is appropriate for large events, both in terms of risk, and in terms of ameliorating the cost. A general rule of thumb for Ultimate seems to be day-long events of more than 150-180 players should closely consider getting St John's. More than 200 people and you should probably do it. The cost is something like $200-250/a day, you need to book at least six weeks ahead.

For a smaller event, a highly visible First Aid kit, ice and a good Captain briefing seems adequate. By Captain briefing, I mean that at least one person from every team should know:
- who the TD and/or delegated person for First Aid is and where they will be;
- where to find the First Aid kit and ice;
- where the nearest emergency room is;
- what their option is if their team doesn't have a car to drive someone to hospital.

Make sure your First Aid kit is properly stocked.

Remember, the most common part of First Aid at Ultimate tournaments is helping the injured person with decision making and then acting on that - should this injured person go to hospital, or at least not play any further? You often don't need much fancy training for that.

Green Ultimate

2011-11-17T21:39:00.001+10:00

... no, not the Heroes Club.

A fella is doing a small uni research project on sustainability and Ultimate.

Perhaps you can spare 10 minutes to complete the survey?

[Some Off-hand Comments] Semi-Final: Buggers vs Dojo

2011-11-17T16:43:00.003+10:00

It's that old showdown again, ye olde rivalry, the battle of the silver-backs.

Matt Ryan has been bragging that they've got Dojo figured out since last season. Basically, fast handling, jam it through the fence, and trap side-line on D. In other words, he thinks that their usual style trumps Dojo's usual style (Huck it to Pete, controversially re-invented this season as Huck it and Play D).

He may be right. Bugs certainly have the wood on Dojo this season. Steve Cameron described this season methodically: "Bugs beat us 15-3, and Heroes beat Bugs by a point twice, so technically Heroes are 11 points better than Dojo, but we beat Heroes.. What a season!"

While every other team in the comp had their statisticians working out what certain results may mean, Dojo seemed content to coast into the finals, and get Pete back. At one stage, Fatty got worried "We will make the finals, right?" We assured him that it was set in stone.

Pete's in for Dojo, Stu's out for Bugs, and we know these teams will use the same strats as usual.

[In Lieu of Interviews] Semi-Final: Slamtown vs Heroes

2011-11-17T16:34:00.005+10:00

Slamtown have been closely guarding their mothers in the lead-up to this weeks final, following a mid-season barrage of threats coming from the Heroes Blog. In response, Stefan has said "Everyone's talking about the Heroes, but we haven't played them since Round 1, and what was the score? 15 to... the usual. Underwhelming."

Heroes will be going into battle with out the artillery of Bevan and Myall tonight. We haven't heard of any Slamtown casualties, aside from their pre-season losses of Jody and Al. Heroes have some hype after training with Firestorm again, and no doubt SFC have been training too, if lack of power rankings is any indicator. Do either of these sides have what it takes to go all the way this season? While the stoic Bugs and Dojo grind it out again on field 1, these two teams will be looking for fast movement and mongrel D, changing the tempo throughout. Matchups look good.

What We Know About Men ...

2011-11-16T21:18:00.002+10:00

... is that they appreciate your support when they get around to doing Movember.

Donate to Corey (Cairns Ultimate)

Donate to Chris (Heroes Ultimate)

Donate to Mystery Dan (Griffith Ultimate)

Donate to MikeRick (Heroes Ultimate)

We will try to get some photos out of them ... so that there can be some judging in the final week. Don't forget to check out the Movember tag to see some past triumphs.

What I know about Women

2011-11-12T14:02:00.004+10:00

During a Heroes bye in the BPL season, I completed a recon mission to Oakman park to check out the talent over there (and to throw with Jmac and Carl). The Women's League (WUFL) seemed to be an environment where any woman could come and improve their game with the likes of Kailtin, Sandra, Suze, Jo, Soph, Gio etc.

Teams looked pretty evenly balanced. The four teams were lead by:

Jo Ashdown - Wonder Women (Green)
Kaitlin Richards - Supertramp (Yellow)
Moulin Rouge - Giordana Rock (Red)
Titanium Nachos - Gemma Sherridan (Grey)

In the previous season, Wonder Woman was a creation of Robyn Dowley's, representing the Heroes club with some handy pickups (Sandra). This team finished 4th. All the teams made the semi's and they won 2 games in a row to take the premiership.

This season, a different looking Wonder Women team secured their place in a 1-week final series (1vs2) with Supertramp.

Kaitlin made the following statement in the lead-up to the big night:

Wonder women are out to fluke a grand final win again this season. Although based on results during round robin games it might be a little less flukey.

Supertramp will outclass their opponents before they even step onto the field with their 70's inspired cheers and supre inspired kit.

A bias pick would be Supertramp and an unbiased would be Supertramp.

All in all there will be no fiddle playing just some good fricking frisbee.

From all reports, it was the casual attitude of Sandra and Suze, suppliers of fine cidar, and the cidar education of Lauren Hutton that helped Wonder Women toward a second victory, disposing of the Tramps in fashion, 15-6. Yes, many a brew was shared throughout the season, and Lauren has been misquoted to have said "I drank a whole beer on the way from the car to the field".

That's all I know about women.

Looking Ahead - Northern Regionals aka Queensland Ultimate Championships 2012

2011-11-11T09:39:00.004+10:00

So earlier this week QUDA put out the call for hosts to bid for the Queensland Ultimate Open/Women's Championships (aka Northern Regionals) and the Queensland Ultimate Mixed Championships (aka Halibut).

This seems as good a time as any to start some speculation commenting everyone (and of course, with BUML over JdR needs something else to blog about on Fridays).

Here's some triggers for your wild or not so wild thoughts.

Who's going to host, and where?

After the trip to Townsville in 2011, QUDA is getting Regionals back to SEQ, but that's a big space. The Griffith Club submitted their bid to host Regionals at Nathan to QUDA this morning (oo-yeah - inside gossip - we have our fingers everywhere here at the stately mansion!). There were rumours about the event going to the Gold Coast too. Sound good? Is anyone else bidding? What's important to a good bid? QUDA aims to confirm the hosts in early December.

Who's going to play?

Open division first. At the 'top end of town', Firestorm have started their season. Hopefully we'll see FS A and B again, or is that depending on whether or not the key Heroes players feel ready to stand on their own?

Slamtown and Townsville will no doubt turn fully up, to make things interesting in terms of who else qualifies for Nationals. Will 2012 see some B teams for these venerable groups?

At the newbie end of the scale - can Cairns make it under their own name (presumably grabbing a few stray Townsvill-ites?) Griffith's bid says that if they host they'll probably be able to enter a team for the first time, assuming their best players aren't lured elsewhere. Will the event being at the end of Week 2 of lectures enable enough time for some ambitious non-Firestorm UQ players to get a mob together? MattB is crossing his fingers for embers at Gympie and Toowoomba to burn ... can they ignite with the prospect of being able to tell their mums that they're going to the State Championships?

Meanwhile, the form of the Women's division each year has really depended on the level of ambition of key players. Black Betty will no doubt be there to do what they have to to qualify for Nationals, and before then be looking to hoover up the best players they can and the numbers to make their training sessions as good as they can be. Griffith's bid mentions running a Women's Hat on Saturday and then whatever qualification games are required on Sunday - is this the way to go?

Northern Regionals vs Queensland Ultimate Championships?

What's in a name? Northern Regionals has long been the name of the event within the Ultimate community, highlighting its role as the stepping stone towards Nationals. But then any member of the Australian public - including field hirers, sponsors, and your mum - understands the concept of a sport's State Championships.

Ok, let the informed and uninformed speculation begin!

What it means

2011-11-10T09:52:00.002+10:00

Bugs vs Slamtown

OMG, freakin' huge battle!! Classic last round clash to decide top of the table.

Heroes vs Cobras

A Heroes win puts them 2nd or 3rd, which means they get Myall and Bev for the semi, so it's a little important.

Bandidos vs Blitz

If it rains tonight, these teams will be pissed. The clash they've been waiting for.

bout time for some power rankings

2011-11-01T11:12:00.002+10:00

amirite?

Co-Mingled, Discheads win BUML17 Finals

2011-11-01T08:13:00.003+10:00

It was a surprisingly blowy night at Griffith last night where the Division 1 Final between the UQ Lovers and Co-Mingled; and the Division 2 Final between What the Huck? and Discheads took place.

The 'old gringos' of Co-Mingled took the gusts in their stride, putting extra spin on the disc and taking advantage of the downwind hucks that were on offer, defeating an unhungover UQ by something like 17-5.

Meanwhile, the battle between the Discheads and WTH seemed to get most of the crowd attention, with the teams trading downwind points. The grey nomads however managed to get the break late in the evening, and won 12-11.

Spirit for Division 1 was awarded to Heroes, and Division 2 to the Griffith Go-Go's.

Ultimate Frisbee Toowoomba

2011-10-31T08:16:00.003+10:00

Just in case you're looking for some Ultimate in Toowoomba at the moment (late 2011), there's at least one regular player looking for a throw - Christopher "SA Spesh" Davis zero4three8 035 186 or christopherdavis at live dot com dot au

As requested

2011-10-30T18:27:00.003+10:00

"Where did you get those shoes!?!"

"They're my brothers."

Big Sky 11

2011-10-30T18:16:00.003+10:00

Alas, JdR the Terrible has regained his dominance, reclaiming much of his kingdom and forcing me into exile. But I've escaped my bermunda triangle shaped lead cave where the internet is neither all around one or within one. I have time for one brief announcement.

Although most readers would already be aware, it would be remiss of us not to mention the most spirited and loving tournament on the Queensland calender. We're not talking about the past - Lovefest, or the future, Queue Hat, this tournament is upon us.

And it's mostly full - I'd say there are two half full teams, and I'm not sure what their plans are, but if you're interested, I'd get on the I need a team list.

Of course, the tournament is Big Sky 11, a tournament that has been run annually to support a much loved couple in our community, Stacey and Mike Neild. Head over to the dedicated blog to check out what it's all about.

And if you're as crazy as I am, you'll be playing the next day as well (Nov 6th), at either Firestarters or Women's development day. Jmacs post a few scrolls down should have some of that info, I hope. This marks the beginning of the nationals season.

BUML 17 - Grand Final Preview - We ARE the Walking Dead!

2011-10-28T12:39:00.003+10:00

Well, unlike graphic novel series The Walking Dead (now a TV show), who’s titles we’ve been using for each of our previews this season, this particular season of Monday Night mixed Ultimate must end. But it shall end with a bang with two great-looking Grand Finals for all and sundry to get along to the Griffith University Nathan oval on Monday night, as they battle it out to get their names onto the BUML Hall of Fame Board (are you on it?), and of course have the esteem of the people FOREVER.

Division 2 Grand Final - What the Huck? vs Discheads

Well, this certainly wasn’t on the cards. Everyone expected the Orange juggernaut to be here. But something happened last week in the wilds of the Gap, the Agents went down 8-10, and when you think about it, if anyone was going to a) know of any weakness in AO’s offence and b) be willing to lie doggo for a lot of the season before springing for the throat, then the unfancied, unattractive and surprisingly uncoordinated Discheads were it.

Wait a minute – after ignoring them earlier in the season, are we here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion now opening up a bagging front on the Dischead’s asses? Well, that’s a bit rough, so let’s use the softer end of the pineapple and talk them up a bit. Yes, we can make jokes about their having dish-shaped heads, but their front tow of Craig, Seb and Zombie Starkey provide some solid grey that allows Jess, Electra and the Thompsons to run riot when the opportunity arises. Yay, Discheads!

However, the Discheads’ old-school happy-fun-times approach to Ultimate will be up for a challenge against the hard-nosed multi-sport-edged tanglers from What the Huck? who saw off a rallying but ultimately uneven Disc-Iples 11-9. The Huckers are very very mobile and love to score off the turnover. They’re also very motivated, having already asked JdR to have the carpark gate open by 4.45pm so they can commence a warmup that includes one thousand throws with burpees and raw egg shakes and rat-meat pies for those who stop (as they obviously need the protein, or maybe just need to get more fired up). In terms of talent writeup, its hard to say anything as there are no individuals in this team, and hence nobody to mention, aside from TJ because you need someone to flip the disc with the opposition and of course earn loads of money, have number one hit records and pull chicks and stuff. Yes, we are TJ fans from way back here, we don’t try to hide it. Go WTH?!

Our tip: This promises to be a very tight final, something the BUML fatcats desperately needs after a few easy ones recently. The Discheads will be relying on their pals from within the heroic Ultimate collective to fire their self-belief, and every Hucker will be there, along with their families, workmates and countrymen. We know reps from both of these teams are regular readers of these here previews, and we thank them for it. It also makes this game very very hard to tip … one team gets happiness, and the other team gets something to be angry about. With a game as in the balance as this one, even a tip by a blogger can make a difference on the field. Hmm, well, we like fairy-tales, so let’s tip What the Huck? by 1.

Division 1 Grand Final – UQ Ultimate Lovers vs Co-Mingled

Speaking of what the f**k, how is it that we’re not typing the Dyspnoeics names in here? All we can think of is that the move of Neighbours from Channel 10 to Channel 11 has definitely left the Dysponeics off balance, although nobody could have predicted that they’d have gone down so badly in last week’s semi. Of course, it could be that Co-Mingled finally pulled what it can do when pushed out of their collective pants and started waving it about for all to see.

And about damn time too, as the story of Division 1 this season has been UQ slapping stuff down and dragging said stuff back to its cave for dismemberment or conversion into furniture. The Poachers apparently make a nice occasional table and matching ottoman, after the Semi 13-8 last week.

The brute force on display when old gringos Gref, TomSteve or Megs have the disc in hand is truly intimidating, while their younger and more innocent players like Lex, Connie and Bonnie have been drilled within an inch of their lives. Heck, even JJ isn’t having brain explosions that trip the richter scale like he used to. It must be the calming influence of the regular DAK DAK DAK of BW providing the engine at the back. Yeah LOVERS!

The UQ Lovers have swept all before them this season, but if there’s a team that’s going to beat them on Monday night, it’s the talented Co-Mingled which has been gelling (and turning up) under finals pressure. With Abra, Stu and Brianna, this team will seemingly swim like fish through the air, while Dr Buzz and Prof MattB provide a long experience of ‘schooling student chumps’. Go Minges!

Our tip: This promises to be a very tight final, something the BUML fatcats desperately needs after a few easy ones recently. The Co-Mingled will be relying on the many many fans of Maylin and Molly to fill their sideline, but UQ won’t care as popularity is for people without partially completed degrees. We DO know that some folks from both of these teams are love a good heckling so make sure you bring your champagne along if you’re going to sit on the sidelines for this one. This also makes this game very very hard to tip. With a game as in the balance as this one, even a tip by a blogger can make a difference on the field. Hmm, well, we like fairy-tales, so let’s tip Co-Mingled by 1.

Heroes - BPL Minor Premiers?

2011-10-25T11:53:00.001+10:00

Stu has been lamenting the lack of BPL action here on the Brisbane Ultimate Blog, and has cast his eye over the form guide with three weeks to go.

Those players that have been closely inspecting the league table and the draw for the next three weeks, may have noticed that Heroes have a good chance of winning the minor premiership in BPL!

The standings at the moment are:

1. MBB - 25pts (+54gd)

2. SFC - 25pts (+43gd)

3. Dojo - 25pts (+30gd)

4. Heroes - 21pts (+11gd)

However Heroes have a game in hand over the top three teams and in the next 3 weeks will play Bandidos, Blitz and Cobras. Which if they continue on their recent form could see them gaining 9 points and finishing on 30pts.

Whereas in the next three weeks, MBB, SFC and Dojo all have a bye and have to play one another. So one of these teams would have to win both of their games in order to stop Heroes from taking the tittle, which is no easy feat.

It would certainly be a big step up for Heroes, who so far haven't made the semi-finals (I think ??). Although being a Bug at heart my predictions for final placings are:

1. MBB - 31pts

2. Heroes - 30pts

3. SFC - 29pts

4. Dojo - 27pts

Come on the Bugs!!

Stu

MBB #13

BUML17-Finals Week 1

2011-10-24T09:57:00.002+10:00

Far out man! And then suddenly, most teams were staring down the barrel of their last game of the season! And its only October. Well, that's the flukey lack of total rainouts for you (UQ Sport woosiness aside). So its Semis for the top four in each division, to see who gets to play in the Finals next week, while all the rest have a final playoff game. Alas, there is so little time to prepare the preview.

Division 1

Semi finals
UQ (1) vs Poachers (4) - UQ7A

Well, all the money will be on UQ tonight - they're only lost one match all season and have cruised through most of their recent games ... except that one game where the Poachers took it to them before going down by only a couple of points. Exams, thesis submissions, assignments, all that stuff are also playing upon the minds of at least some of the students. This one will be closer than most people think, and we're tipping an upset!

Our tip: Poachers by 2

Co-mingled (2) vs Dyspnoeics (3) - Annerley 3A

This should be a cracker, with two very competitive teams, both believing a slot in the Grand Final is rightfully theirs. Co-mingled will want to send Stu and May off to Melbourne with the very best of memories, but the Blue D's got the win in the matchup a month ago 12-11. The finals experience of Suze will probably count for a lot.

Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 1.

Placing games
Wuxi Finger Hold (5) vs Heroes (6) - Gap 2

Wuxi will be looking back at those three draws this season, and wondering what might have been if they'd squeezed another few points out.

Our tip: Wuxi by 4.

Ghost Who Walks (7) vs Bermuda Triangle (8) - Griffith 3

Two of our favourite teams, who have toughed it out in Division 1 against some pretty high level opposition, yet they kept coming back week after week. There will no doubt be some heckling relating to "desire for relegation" every time there's an error tonight, but in reality both these teams will be desperate to go home a winner.

Our tip: Ghost Who Walks by 1.

Division 2

Semi finals
Agent Orange (1) vs Discheads (4) - Gap 1

Its madness, I tell you, that one of the most anticipated games of the season will be hidden from prying eyes at The Gap. But that's the way they roll out in Orangetown. The game back in Round 6 was very close, but its hard to tip against the solid discipline of the Agents.

Our tip: Agent Orange by 4.

What the Huck? (2) vs Disc-iples (3) - Annerley 3B

Dark horses WTH? looked like they were going to miss out on finals action earlier though the season, but seven wins straight sees them go into the finals series placed second. And which was the last team to defeat them? The Disc-Iples! So mouth watering that we expect both teams to be over at the Bowls Club for a few settlers (they have a pie and pint deal, apparently) both before and after the match. Very hard to call, as both teams will really want this, and know how to lift for big games.

Our tip: What the Huck? by 1

Placing games
Chimichangas (5) vs Tsunami (6) - UQ7B

Heading up the Division 2 "íf only's" are the well petrigreed Chimichangas and Tsunami. The Chimis had a massive hit-out last week against the Griffith Go-Go's, who threw everything they had at them, so will be feeling good going into tonight. The split round seemed to disrupt the Tsunami's wave, with recent losses to the QUTies and Discheads disrupting Erik's master-plan. Let's hope UQ Sport don't decide to close the fields for the Queen's visit.

Our tip: Tsunami by 1.

Mellow Yellow (8) vs QUTies (7) - Annerley 5A

Could there be two different teams? Mellow Yellow have the depth and talent, but QUTies have a killer instinct post-AUGs.

Our tip: QUTies by 2.

Griffith Go-Go's (9) vs Plastic Scourgery (10) - Griffith 1

The Go-Go's started their late season run of quality with a win over the Scourgeons, but with playmaker JdR on the sick list and playmaker Notty presumably back for the duration, tonight could be quite different. Still, we do have a very favourite team who we've tipped most of the season.

Our tip: Griffith Go-Go's by 2

Griffith Oh-Yeahs (11) vs Slipped Discs (12) - Griffith 2

Very hard to call - really it will come down to who shows and who blows. Both teams have had plenty of splashes of brilliance this season. We'll have to go with tipping the gang that won last time.

Our tip: Griffith Oh-Yeahs by 4

See you later in the week for our Grand Final Previews!

Johnny Mac Does Our Work for Us

2011-10-24T09:49:00.002+10:00

Johnny Mac recently emailed everyone he could with useful information, kind of what this blog tries to do sometimes. Good work John!

------------------

Guys and girls,

This email is all about what's happening in Ultimate! It's going out to those playing in current Brisbane leagues; these are ending soon, and tourneys are coming up over summer, so it's a good time! The first half is about knowing how to get information, and the second half is just a quick list of things coming up (summarising some other info flying around).

PART 1: HOW TO KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING

In general, Ultimate players live on the internet; pretty much everything happens on email groups and/or websites. To stay informed, you'll need to join some email groups.
For those concerned about copping an email barrage if they sign up to more groups, you can set them to "daily digest", where it's only 1 email per group per day :-)

TO JOIN A YAHOOGROUP: Add "-subscribe" to the email address and just send it a blank email, e.g. email buda-ultimate-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Alternately, if you've got a Yahoo ID, go to groups.yahoo.com/group/ and join from there, e.g. groups.yahoo.com/group/buda-ultimate

RECOMMENDED FOR ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE!
- The Brisbane Ultimate announcement group: buda-ultimate@yahoogroups.com
- The Queensland Ultimate announcement group: qld-ultimate@yahoogroups.com
- The Brisbane Ultimate Blog: brisbaneultimatedisc.blogspot.com
These will give you information on local events and things happening nearby.

- The Australian Flying Disc Association website (especially the tournament calendar): www.afda.com
- The Australian Ultimate announcement group: aus-ultimate@yahoogroups.com
For news on events and happenings across the country, check these out. Interstate tournaments are a great way to see Australia and meet a bunch of people.

LOCAL COMPETITIONS
There's obviously all sort of local competitions going on, both in Brisbane and elsewhere. Contact info for these (as far as I can find):
BRISBANE
- BUML (Monday nights) announcement group: buml_ultimate@yahoogroups.com
- BUML website: buml.quda.org
- UQ (Wednesday nights): uqultimate.blogspot.com
- BPL (Thursday nights): brisbanepremierleague@yahoogroups.com
- WUFL (Thursday nights): wufl@yahoogroups.com
TOWNSVILLE
- Email the guys at townsvilleultimate@gmail.com
- Check out the blog: townsvilleultimate.blogspot.com
CAIRNS
- Check out the blog: cairnsultimatedisc.blogspot.com
If you're playing in a comp, getting on the list is generally a good thing, especially for things like field closures (though note this isn't effective if you're on daily digest).

PART 2: WHAT'S COMING UP

Various emails have been going around, so I just want to quickly summarise these, while I'm doing an information-type email.
Get involved! Tournaments are the best way to experience Ultimate, hands down, and are also a great way to meet other people that also play this crazy sport :-)

QUEENSLAND EVENTS

FINALS TIME (various dates/venues)
All the leagues are coming up to finals soon, which means there'll be some great Ultimate for spectators. Unfortunately, I don't know exact dates... but if you're on the buda-ultimate announcement group (as above), you'll probably find out!

ACE RACE (Sun 30 Oct, Bray Park)
A disc golf event for anyone keen to try something different: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175956055803106

BIG SKY (Sat 5 Nov, The Gap Soccer Club)
There are two things that I think make this tournament stand out: 1) the purpose of the day, acting as a fundraiser; 2) the consistently high standard of organisation.
But hey, that's just me. Come play, and make up your own mind! Rego is filling up fast: http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1101
Tournament website: http://bigsky11.blogspot.com/

CAIRNS HAT (Sat 5 - Sun 6 Nov, Cairns)
Fresh off the press, Cairns will be holding their first tournament. For those up north and not attending Big Sky/development clinics, this is the place to be. I don't have contact details handy; try the Cairns Ultimate blog?

DEVELOPMENT CLINICS (Sun 6 Nov, The Gap Soccer Club)
Firestorm and Black Betty, the Brisbane men's and women's clubs, are running a development day.
Not sure about the women's plans; more info on the Firestarter is at: http://firestorm.quda.org/?page_id=652

QUEENSLAND HAT (Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Annerley Junior Soccer Club)
Though rumours and rego pages have been around for a while, the official announcement is still fresh and warm. For the first time, you can get your hat on right here in Brissy in November for two days.
Get your rego on at: http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1099
The tournament site can be found at: http://queensland-hat.blogspot.com/

TRAVELLING EVENTS

HEROES & VILLAINS HAT (Sat 19 - Sun 20 Nov, Sydney)
This follows on from last year's Harry Potter Hat, and with this name, it's like it was made for Queenslanders...
Choose your allegiance at: http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1098

THE MELBOURNE HAT (Sat 10 - Sun 11 Dec, Melbourne)
What more can be said about this tournament? It's a stalwart of Australian Ultimate, which deserves a pilgrimage at least once in your frisbee life.
Rego hasn't opened yet, but keep an eye on the email groups, as it tends to fill up fast, and you don't want to miss that cut-off...

THE LONGEST DAY/WEEKEND (Sat 17 - Sun 18 Dec, Sydney)
The Melbourne Hat of beach Ultimate (except that it's teams... and in Sydney). Another regular fixture on the tournament calendar which really blends all the ideal elements of Australia, summer and frisbee...
Team registration opens on Thursday 17 November at 8:30am (Sydney time). You'd want to make some kind of plan by then.
Check the website for info: longestday.ultimatefrisbee.org.au

Ladies and gents, I hope this has been a useful email.
If not, the delete button is a wonderful thing...

John

Don't you wish that you were a big jock with loads of talent and douchebaggery like Brodie Smith?

2011-10-21T18:33:00.001+10:00

The answer, of course, is yes.

http://youtu.be/W_2eU1ykV3k

Check This

2011-10-19T12:28:00.001+10:00

http://queensland-hat.blogspot.com/

BUML 17-11 Preview: Fear the Hunters

2011-10-14T12:14:00.004+10:00

The last week of the ‘home and away’ (not Neighbours, Mansauce) series (for those teams with a home). And just in time it seems as the Queensland storm season seems to be settling in. BUML has somehow miraculously avoided a full rainout this season, so everyone you’re your fingers, toes and Strelan’s crossed and make the appropriate sacrifices to keep this run going for three more Mondays.

Everyone of course gets a Semi-Final or playoff game to play next week, and then the week after is Grand Finals time, where all the best hecklers come out to celebrate champagne Ultimate.

Speaking of time, we’re short of it as usual, so lets get through the draw.

Division 1

Bermuda Triangle vs Poachers - Annerley 3A
Bermuda Triangle are of course one of our favourite teams, but its been a long hard season of Division 1 for them, and they’ll be looking across to Field 3B to see a bit of Division 2 play and imagine themselves slapping leather there in 2012. This will be particularly the case as the Poachers will be going all out to win 15-0, as its possible their entry to the Semi-Finals this season will come down to the goal difference.
Our tip: Poachers by 7.

Co-mingled vs Wuxi Finger Hold - The Gap 1
Because its Wuxi or Poachers who are going to take the fourth Semi-Final slot in Division 1 (we don’t know officially, but assume based on the excellent weekly tabling work of the BUML webmaster that goal difference will count … although the TD’s may want to make an official announcement after having a look at the AFDA Tiebreaker information available over at: http://afda.com/showcontent.php?page=tourney_resources).

Of course, with Poachers are the favourites over Bermuda, the Fingers have to get over the Mingers’s first, and that’s a tough ask. Really, its Finals Ulti for Wuxi from here on in. Co-mingled we think would rather not play UQ in the Semi, and hence that’s extra motivation to take the points and second place in this game.

Really, we expect this to be a HUGE game, and a great preview for the Finals series. The spectator's choice.
Our tip: Co-mingled by 2.

The Ghost Who Walks vs Dyspnoeics - Griffith 1
The GWW are so hardcore, that barely hours after the team’s parental units were out of hospital with the new child last Monday, than they were down at Griffith taking on the lost tribe of Lovers. Dyspnoeics need to be careful here and not be thinking too much about next week … we all know how easily Andy can drift off into his ‘imagination’ state. Still, there’s fair reason the Blue D’s are currently equal second on the ladder, and the purple-suited ones equal seventh.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 6.

UQ Ultimate Lovers vs Heroes - UQ Field 7A
Its post-Mixed Nats and post-AUGs for many of these players. The hangovers may have worn off, but exams are in sight. Anything could happen, but most likely it’ll be Gref hucking long.
Our tip: UQ by 5.

Division 2

Mellow Yellow vs Disc-iples - Annerley 3B
MY are pretty much top of the bottom half of Division 2, which means their job now is to spoil spoil spoil, and the Disc-Iples have been looking a bit shakey over the last couple of weeks, with their anticipated march to the Grand Final now looking like an early out in the Semis. Should be a good game with both teams looking to stretch themselves. We smell an upset.
Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 2.

Discheads vs Plastic Scourgery - Annerley 5A
The Discheads will be more desperate than … well, a very desperate thing to win this game and assure themselves a Semi-Final slot. Plastic Scourgery meanwhile continue to be focused on a good time, not a long time.
Our tip: Discheads by 7.

Agent Orange vs Slipped Discs - Gap 2
The unbeaten and likely minor premiers Agent Orange take on the brave but likely wooden-spooners Slipped Discs. The temptation for Captain Gav of course will be to rest key players like himself and protect them from injuries, but isn’t that risking losing momentum?
Our tip: Agent Orange by 12

What The Huck? Griffith Oh Yeahs Griffith 2
The second placed dark horses and officially ‘wittiest team name in the League’ What the Huck? take on the brave but likely second last placed Griffith Oh Yeahs. The temptation for the Pie-man of course will be to rest key players like himself and protect them from injuries, but isn’t that risking losing momentum? A worry too is TJ looking ahead to promotion to Division 1, whatever the outcomes from the Finals, and spending his time looking around the free agent market instead of on the field. The difference of course for the Question-Marked Ones this week is that the youthful Oh Yeahs do have the speed to keep up with them.
Our tip: What the Huck by 8.

Chimichangas vs Griffith Go-Go's - Griffith 3
Bags our team gets to wear our red shirts.
Our tip: Chimi’s by 4.

Tsunami vs QUTies – UQ Field 7B
The QUTies will certainly come out firing for this one, now that they’re fully comfortable in their blue and orange ringed outfits, and with the prospect of jumping a ladder spot or two with a few late season wins. Of course, Tsunami are still mathematical possibilities for the Semi-Finals if other games go their way, although they’re no doubt still lamenting recent close losses to the Discheads and What the Huck?
Our tip: Tsunami by 4.

If any of our readers would like to contribute to our team-by-team season round up for next week, email us. Your comments on your teams or others will of course make a great improvement from our usual rambling falsehoods and such.

2011-10-13T20:12:00.002+10:00

The long awaited, much anticipated battle between Good and Evil for the state of Queensland was finally fought in the dying hours of day 2, AMUC 2011, Melbourne.

The teams took a moment to stare each other down, before 7 of the bravest, most powerful Heroes, members of the Justice League, took the line, facing the nastiest, most cunning Villians - The Injustice League (lame.. but see wiki).

The Villians struck first (disclaimer - I'm making some of these details up), putting two on the board. Heroes responded, but Hugh Osborne made it his personal business to stop all good work done by the women and men in white (Heroes away outfit, chosen to represent light in the battle against darkness). Hugh got horizontal on many occasion, attacking from behind to steal the disc away.

Townsville's male line was massive, all over 6'. Becky and ..... were the known pickups, but homegrown Villian Dee was most impressive in her first AMUC, again, laying out and catching everything.

Heroes managed to hang on, the Villians taking half, 8-7. Captain H was caught spying on the Justice League at half time, and was immediately captured and escorted back to his camp, not being executed in cold blood, you know, code things. One anonymous Heroes member said at half time "For the rest of the game, we're in this no matter what happens now."

What happened then is the Villians marched in a few more points, taking the score to 13-9, frustrating the Heroes who were not using their super powers when the end zone was in question (mismatch).

I believe it was at this point that a contested call was made on an end-zone bid. The disc went back to 20m out and quicker than the speed of light, Jo had cut and received the disc.

There was a glimmer of hope. The city of Melbourne and the state of Queensland was in peril. A bunch of no-bodies came to look on. With the MIB(/WIB)crying out for a Hero, the Justice League lifted. The Elongated Man, James, was seen marking his man harder than everyone had ever seen before. He was reaching to grab the disc in field whilst it had sailed way out. Along with Bevan and MVP Sophie, these Heroes dominated the field. Hugh gave it his all til the death, but came up "injured" and relucant to leave the field.

Gavin wandered on to the field and this humble blogger let him. We are glad that he did, because it was Gavin who received the disc from Keisha$$#@ sophie (not bell) to win... time is up.

Cairns Fame

2011-10-13T06:35:00.001+10:00

AMUC Summary

2011-10-12T15:10:00.002+10:00

The Woe of John Doe - Abra states that the chalk was marked around the corpse as early as game 1 day 1. JD had an explosive start, putting a 6 points on the board to the response of just 1. The opposition took half at 8-7 and the "Unknowns" of QLD only managed one more point, going down 11-8 at time cap.

They managed to win one game in the first two days, and a victory before cross-overs saw them narrowly avoiding the bottom pool. Cola put it quite poignantly, when he said "I got 25, maybe 30 D's this tournament, but only 10 were lay-out D's.... and still... we lose."

John Doe looked comfortable at the party, donning Snuggies (they were assigned a theme of "S", which made cheeky goon smuggling a synch. It was only Buzz who looked uncomfortable, the respectable elderly gentleman obviously unimpressed with this bloggers outfit.

Heroes - were having similar difficulties, with Bevan laying out for everything and the others failing to covert on the scoreboard. The Justice League (theme of "J") were up 5-3 in the first half against BUUF before the boys and girls from Ballarat switched on, their hucks coming off and their zone effective. Heroes O looked good in parts but the error came far to often, with a high possession game increasing those chances.

Villians - A short chat with Hugh confirmed that Villians had won a game in the first round. They looked strong in the cross-over game, the women looking incredible, but went down narrowly. The legend of rookie youngster "Dee" has been told - she lived up to her name, with a lay-out to collect a Callahan in her first tourney. The Villians demise came at the hands of the Heroes, which will be blogged about shortly.

John Doe won their remaining games to finish 17th and Heroes were flat on Monday, losing winnable games and coming in at 21. Villians finished in the lower pool.

Sophie Stewart won MVP, which was predicted by this blogger but not mentioned to Kaitlin, who promised a night of drinks for me if Bevan won male MVP.

Its All Happening Up North - Cairns and Townsville

2011-10-11T09:22:00.002+10:00

It's all happening up North this week.

Townsville is hosting its annual Royalty Hat this weekend.
Rego and info: http://afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1095
Facebook and shennanigans: http://https//www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143247555772024

Cairns Ultimate League on Tuesdays (aka CULT) starts tonight! Check out the preview on the new Cairns Ultimate Blog, and get your tips in. Brisbane folks will look closely at the squads lead by ex-Cobra Wetnose, and ex-Dojo Jay, while people who were up for Northerns in March will be estimating the growth of the likes of Alecha and Jamie. http://cairnsultimatedisc.blogspot.com/

BUML 17-9B Preview: Here We Remain Again

2011-10-07T09:44:00.003+10:00

And we’re back into the split round this week, which means byes for many and Mansauce getting to spend yet another night on the couch catching up with some Neighbours, Everybody Loves Raymond, Junior Masterchef, and of course Media Watch, while all the top, I mean, flight-affording players from the Heroes/Discheads/Agent Orange consortium recover from three days of pleasuring people at in the Pool of DEATH (yes, DEATH!) at the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships (check out Simmo’s previews over here: http://forcesideline.com/). Anyway, on with our local previews.

The Ghost Who Walks vs UQ Ultimate Lovers – UQ 7A
Your mission, GWW, if you choose to accept it, is to fly deep deep deep into enemy territory, and take a pummelling from UQ. Your best chance is to distract them into talking about how huge AUGs was, or ask them to show you their medal, just before you bust long, or remind them that its nearly exam time and they’re probably done sweet FA all semester and are going to be failed out of Uni and forced into employment where they fart in the bathtub so old men can enjoy a spa. Achieve that, and it’ll be closer than most people think.
Our tip: UQ by 4.

Chimichangas vs Mellow Yellow – Griffith 1
These two teams are currently running neck and neck on the Division 2 ladder, but they’ve left their runs too late in the season to threaten the Semi-Finals it seems. Which is a bugger, as they are two very entertaining teams to socialise with. On the field it’s a slightly more predictable manner, with the Chimis continuing their long tradition of playing huck-n-fetch, while Mellow Yellow stick with generating smooth flow down the open side. The absence of a couple of Mixed Nats players from the Chimis lineup, plus Rob’s return from overseas (drinking with foreigners always fires him up for some Ulti) may tip the balance towards Dr Good’s Old Timey Favourites Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 2.

Griffith Oh Yeahs vs Griffith Go-Go’s – Griffith 2
Speaking of DEATH, that’s almost the stakes that are being played for, here in the second ever face to face match up between the two Griffith teams. Way back in Season 1 2011, the youthful Oh Yeahs took charge and won the battle of the T-Reds, and have been making the most of the bragging rights ever since then (dubbing themselves ‘the A-Team’). Of course, everyone knows how psychologically vulnerable and fragile JdR is, so no doubt this he has been rubbed hard in an uncomfortable spot every time he’s seen Angus or Aiden’s cheery faces at the fields. Casey meanwhile has spent the last five weeks in Europe, planning on how he’s going to win this game single-handedly, and then carve himself a Mr T style Mohawk and beard, so that he can mutter to himself about being on the A-Team. Special shout out to JoeyDan, Big Dan and Mystery Dan, who all deserve more recognition.
Our tip: Griffith by 3.

Slipped Discs vs QUTies – Griffith 3
Both these teams were forced to forfeit last week. Some say its fatigue over a long season, where injuries are slowly starting to back up. We say they’re probably just softies who didn’t like the idea of playing when the fields were a little bit wet. Yep, that’s it Slippers and QUTies, the BUB is calling YOU out! Of course, it’s a chance for a rare win for both teams, so they’ll no doubt be there in numbers this week.
Our tip: QUTies by 4 (if they show up)

Oh, hang on, before we go its about time we analysed our most recent poll!

Which just shows that people think Agent Orange are gonna win it. Hmmm.

Quick AUGs2011 Notes

2011-10-03T08:07:00.002+10:00

All Queensland teams went into Division 2.

University of Queensland - Gold - won their final 15-12
QUT - 8th
Griffith - 13th
Bond - 15th
ACU - 18th

AUGs press - http://www.unisport.com.au/News/Pages/UltimateAUGsportboastsspirit.aspx

Start saving those pennies to get to Adelaide next year!

BUML 17-10 Preview: What We Become

2011-09-30T10:37:00.005+10:00

Off the split round and AUGs, and some people will have noticed nothing, others will be refreshed and ready to rock, and some will still be hung over (Hi Megs and Gref).

With teams having two or three games left before the playoffs, BUMLOC have quite rightly reminded everyone that players must have *attended* at least five games through the season to be eligible for the Finals. The attended is there (rather than played) to allow injured players to ensure their eligibility by getting along to support their teams.

An of course, we're only a few weeks away from the playoffs, so lets keep that finals speculation up by looking at the results of a recent Brisbane Ultimate Blog poll:

Yep, it looks like the favourites remain the UQ Lovers and the Dysponoeics, although maybe its possible those two teams are the only people who voted. Don't forget to vote over on the right there for the Div 2 favourites.

Anyway, lets get into Round 10.

Bermuda Triangle vs Co-mingled – Annerley 3A
Apparently the Co-Mingled squad were quite amused when we put the Co-Co’s moniker on them last week. Alas for them we aren’t trying to amuse, so from here on in we’ll nickname them the Minges and see how they like that. Expect Bermuda Triangle to throw everything at them this game, as they are desperate for a win to get them ahead of the other Div1 cellar-dwellers. Alas, many of these throws will be intercepted by a rampaging Maylin, who some believe has the highest ratio of wingspan verses height in the entire Ultimate nation.
Our tip: Co-Mingled by 5.

Dyspnoeics vs Poachers – Annerley 3B
The Blue D’s got out of jail against the Minges last week, so they’ll be careful about dropping the soap from here on in. The Poachers have been uneven all season, but are perhaps only one game away from pinching a Semi-Finals spot.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 5.

The Ghost Who Walks vs Heroes – Griffith 1
This could well be the battle to avoid relegation. The Purples and the Greens are two of the bottom three (along with Bermuda) and this is the last time they’ll play amongst themselves this season. So the winner here will be able to feel pretty confident they’ll be able to remain in the top flight, while benefiting from any early 2012 draft picks.
Our tip: The Ghost Who Walks by 2.

Wuxi Finger Hold vs UQ Lovers – UQ 7A
This game will all be about whether UQ can managed to turn up following Uni Games. Its not just the sore bodies (which frankly haven’t been that challenged this week) or the sore heads (which are nothing new). It’s the backing up of life – work, study, sex – that means they just may not be able to play on Monday night. Wuxi of course will be there, solid. Upset time?
Our tip: Wuxi by 2.

Chimichangas vs Disc-Iples – Annerley 5A
Well now, this should be an interesting game that will tell us about the makeup of the final. The Iples had a very humbling experience against Agent Orange last week, and must have spent the last seven days questioning themselves, their beliefs and their Ryans. Can they come back? Meanwhile, the Chimis are moving steadily towards the end of the season, with the return from injury of Johnny Mac adding lots of everything.
Our tip: Chimichangas by 4.

What the Huck? Vs QUTies – The Gap 1
Apparently the entire What the Huck? Team reads this preview each week. Our first reaction was of course, what the huck? But then it became clear that they come here seeking reassurance of their general fame within the competition, and their general dark horse status. Yes, its quite possible this lot are going to pull a Warriors and force their way into the Grand Final, on the basis of their slick counter-attack and tight teamwork. QUTies meanwhile I think alas will be pretty smashed up from AUGs, despite all the new tricks they will have learned.
Our tip: What the Huck by 6.

Tsunami vs Plastic Scourgery – The Gap 2
Neither of these teams have been to the Gap before, so that’s challenge one.
Our tip: Tsunami by 4.

Agent Orange vs Griffith Go-Go’s – Griffith 2
Most of the time, your blogger tips his own team, the Go-Go’s, through hell and high water. But this week they’re up against the veritable Beasts of Division 2, who will be getting all 666 on Griffith’s arse, much like they have with most other teams this season. Griffith will also be missing Dominator Dan due to AUGs.
Our tip: AO by 12.

Slipped Discs vs Griffith Oh Yeahs – Griffith 3
Oooo! This one is very important to both of these teams. After spending the season being boffed around by some teams full of people who’ve played lots before, the two genuine newbie teams of the League go head to head. Expect some long points, which will bring things down to a proper ‘survival of the fittest’ scenario.
Our tip: Oh Yeahs by 2.

Mellow Yellow vs Discheads – UQ 7B
So here’s how this game is going to go. Rob will wonder if he can’t slip over to the Staffie for a quick one before the game, as he hasn’t been on campus for a while. Yestin will go with him, and they’ll find Brendo’s already there with Dave C and Dave B. There’ll be some happy times, and then a warm up involving sculling the rest of the jug and a light jog across campus to arrive spot on start time. The Discheads meanwhile will have been slotting a few macchiatos down their gullets.
Our tip: Discheads by 3.

Every week we're shufflin'

2011-09-29T22:50:00.002+10:00

A 1-point score differential in favour of the Heroes over the Bugs tonight made Dojo very happy. Cola thanked many individual green men, who were confused. Are you confused?

As Dojo secured a 2-point win over Cobras (a good battle), the Heroes win meant some shuffling would occur on the ol' leaderboard, aka the ladder. Dojo resume #1, while Bugs slide down to 2nd. Heroes move up to 3rd and SFC down to 4th as a result of Slamtown not playing (scheduled bye).

Next week, SFC and Heroes get to smash it out, and with 1-point 2-point no-point wins and losses going around, all this blogger can say is that it's f8ckin close and this is the first time in my memory where 4 teams could win it. That said, the bottom 3 are playing very competitively and it'll be interesting to see where our little league ends up say, in 12 months time.

That is all.

BUML 17-9A Preview: Here We Remain

2011-09-23T10:46:00.001+10:00

So this Monday brings the first half of the AUGs/AMUC inspired split round, which gives us previewers a bit of a break, and a chance to run a bit of other business in this space.

Best of luck to all the gang from Griffith, QUT and of course UQ at the Australian University Games, which huck off next Monday at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast.

Most importantly, apparently whomever is available of the two Griffith teams are going to the Beachhouse at Garden City for a few quiet ones. This means that folks visiting the Griffith campus for once will not be overly confused by the number of people running around in red shirts, nor by JdR’s inconsistent timekeeping and rambling about how it’s the only field he’s played Ultimate on this year, aside from Townsville.

Rumours about the Queensland Hat abound, particularly with news that Badman is going under the knife in November meaning his birthday will be more bummer than bash. The QH is flagged for 27-28 November in Brisbane.

Division 1

Poachers vs Heroes – Annerley 3A
The Poachers will be desperate to win this one, as Myall and Kalin have put the word out amongst the team that they’ll accept nothing less than a Semi-Final berth, or they’ll be quitting Ultimate for Disc Golf. The Poachers are currently two points out of the top four, and face the Dyspnoeics next week before finishing against Bermuda Triangle, so the opportunity to dark horse their way in is there.

Of course, the proud women and men in green are standing in their way, and will be hoping to pull an Ireland against the Wallabies on Monday night. Guarin remains in the Brian O’Driscoll role, while Sean is more of your Michael Flatley and Carl is more Westlife. Hmm, maybe next time we profile the Heroes we’ll match them all to heroic Irishmen and women …

Our tip: Poachers by 2.

Bermuda Triangle vs Wuxi Finger Hold – Annerley 5A
We’re not sure that its harsh to remind everyone that in its long and storied history, Bermuda Triangle has always had trouble scoring. Maybe it’s the whole ‘being full of married people and teenagers’ thing, but then again some of them grew up in the sixties and no doubt have made a few trips to Nimbin in their time. Anyway, we can only suggest hucking to the endzone from receiving the pull and then zoning like a mutha was always the BT way.

Wuxi meanwhile are so packed with stars … well its sort of something to say that Pete Allen is probably their worst player, both on the field and off. This probably why they rank amongst the best scorers of the entire BUML competiton, but have a relatively shabby defence, particularly when George is overseas and can’t clean up. You’d think they’ve have booked their place for the Semis by now, but their remaining games are against fellow top 4 teams UQ and Co-Mingled, and of course there may be player injuries and such from AUGs and AMUC to consider.

Our tip: Wuxi by 7.

Dyspnoeics vs Co-Mingled – Griffith 1
Well, this is a clash of the titans.

Speaking of For and Against, we pause to note that Dyspnoeics have the most miserly defence in the League, having only let in 51 points across 8 games so far this season (although the stats are slightly skewed by the Poachers’ forfeit back in Round 3). Indeed, its only been twice that the Blue D’s have let anyone score more than 6 on them in a game, and that was in their loss to UQ and draw with Wuxi. This game against Co-Mingled will either set them up for the Semis, or knock them on their asses before they face the Poachers and TGWW finish out their season. Despite some poll-bombing by UQ, the Dysponeics remain the favourites, based on the poll on the right there.

Co-Mingled meanwhile will presumably lose Abra to AUGs (although there’s a chance he’ll slip back up for the game), but this will just mean that the rest of the Co-cos will have to step up a bit … nothing new for the likes of Molly and Pres Boevink of course.

Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 3.

Division 2

Discheads vs Tsunami – Annerley 3B
Earlier in the season, we thought we wouldn’t need to talk about the Discheads in these previews. And how right we were, as their rampant egos and constant self-promotion have saved us from typing many words. But we’re starting to get to the business end of the season, and its not clear whether this crew still have the shop open. This game will be the big test.

Tsunami meanwhile have spent the week recovering from their first loss in a while, against the unpredictable but always-running What the Huck?

After this week the Discheads have Mellow Yellow and Plastic Scourgery, while Tsunami have Plastic Scourgery and the QUTies, so you’d assume on form they are both well in contention in a tight Semi-Finals race (although stranger things have happened), and will need to start practicing keeping their throats clear.

Our tip: Tsunami by 2.

Agent Orange vs Disc-iples – Griffith 2
Speaking of the upcoming Finals series, is this the Grand Final preview? While this previewer hasn’t had a chance to observe AO at all this season, the numbers speak for themselves – top of the table, only one draw to marr a perfect record, highest scoring offence and second toughest defence, plus outstanding spirit. But, perhaps AO are vulnerable this round, having to leave their halcyon heights home ground at the Gap and venture forth to the far south for the first time this season. Will this be beyond the reach of their local talent, and will they be able to find the easier carpark?

It’s a big call, as they’re up against the Disc-iples, who haven’t lost a game since their one point cliffhanger against the Discheads back in August, and have been semi-regulars on flat Griffith track.

Our tip: Disc-iples by 2.

What the Huck? Vs Plastic Scourgery – Griffith 3

Scourgery have the opportunity to get all River Song on us for the remainder of the season, with a chance to release some spoilers as their remaining games are all against potential Semi-Finalists.

Our tip: What the Huck? By 5.

IMHO

2011-09-22T17:45:00.005+10:00

Blitz (5th) - stats suggest that the new team on the block seem to have put up a fight in most games, as they've reached time cap most nights. Always going to be reliant on Chris Cunliffe, but these guys have a lot of talent, young (Sean, Craig) and old (Geoff and that other guy). Oh, and Brock. Chris has been keeping it basic and appears to be coaching pre-game.

Win forecast: 2 more (3 total)
Placing: 5th
MVP candidate: Chris Cunliffe

Moreton Bay Buggers (1st): Early on, Buggers looked buggered. They seemed to lack positive leadership, comprising of wirely old crank pots and wide eyed rookies. The addition of Buzz surely consolidated this composition, but perhaps the physical presence of spiritual leader Mike has spurned the Buggers on, spiralling upwards to heights unfamiliar in the seasons most recently passed. Linus is larger than life but no doubt some (one) will attribute the Buggers success solely to #7115.

Win forecast: 4 more (10 total)
Placing: 1st
MVP candidate: Rolo

Cobras (6th) - These guys had an awful start to the season, again. Forfeits, players O/S for beach.... Trachter withdrawal.. The team they've had on the line in recent weeks has been less "star"-studded and more likely to win a match, which I think they did against Bandidos (am I riiight?)

Win forecast: 1 more (2 total)
Placing: (6th)
MVP candidate: Finn

Dojo (2nd) - Dojo find themselves in unfamiliar territory, 2nd place, without Pete, Matt Ryan or Caleb Sim... looking vunerable. That said, the other 3 in the top 4 have stuck it to them and they've come away losing only one. They say that Lankowski has been on the up since Nats. We agree. We play against him a lot.

Win forecast: 4 more (8 total)
Placing: (4th)
MVP candidate: Coops

Los Bandidos (7th) - Looking less threatening in their second season. They seem to be aiming to develop players with the usual suspects taking subs occasionally, however, as William Shattner says "It hasn't happened yet". Josh looks threatening in the air.

Win forecast: 1
Placing: 7th
MVP candidate: Gref

Slamtown Flatball Club (3rd) -
The travelers were unconvincing early. Sure, they had a string of wins, but their unravelling against Dojo was disappointing, and they failed to challenge the Buggers. We're told that their talls have improved, as we predicted they would. This is likely to carry them into the finals again. Greg Orlando anyone?

Win forecast: 5 more (9.5 total)
Placing: 2nd
MVP candidate: Jimmy

Heroes (4th) - A lack-lustre start after a bye first up. Heroes seemed doomed to mediocrity. Then heads were turned, as the green boys had their first victory against a "top 3" of the last few seasons - Buggers. Still playing to the level of their opponents, but mostly winning. Bevans hucking has disintegrated since he hit the pole on field 2 (read 3b if you're a BUML n00b). Killing it in the air.

Win forecast: 5 more (9 total)
Placing (3rd)
MVP candidate: Myall

Thanks for listening.

WFDF Introduces New Antidoping Rules

2011-09-22T08:18:00.003+10:00

WFDF have announced its new Antidoping rules. If you are representing Australia, you'll need to be familiar with them. The press release at the bottom of the link below does a good job of explaining the various perspectives our sport has had in taking this on.

http://www.wfdf.org/index.php?page=antidoping/index.htm

Anyone want to place bets on when Ultiamte's first international doping scandal will occur, and how big a deal it will be?

No News is Bad News for Buggers

2011-09-20T16:29:00.002+10:00

So last week, LD.Spesh finally released the ladder to the public. A number of Bugs# had been discussing positions on the ladder in previous weeks, obviously being privy to such exclusive information. So with Bugs securing #1, the ladder is released!

This post is a little late, so the ladder does not include games from the most recent Round, but here's an update.

Blitz started strong against Heroes with a 5-2. Heroes switched on and won 14-7. There were many skill errors all round.

On the darker side, Bugs and SFC had a hit out to establish dominance on the league. It seems like Bugs are the in form team, SFC apparently not challenging, I believe a similar score to the Blitz / Heroes game.

Not sure what happened across field, but I know that Dojo kept it serene in the garden.

Get Your MIT On This Weekend

2011-09-20T13:34:00.003+10:00

The Mixed Invitational Tournament is on this weekend. If you're playing, AWESOME. If you're planning to go and watch, AWESOME. If you're missing out, lame ...

Here's the gin from TD Mat:

"G’day Everyone,

This is the Information you need for the Mixed Invitational Tournament this weekend.

This information is necessary for Team Captains, Players and Spectators.

This is the maiden MIT Tournament and it’s going to be absolutely smashing.

The Barramundi squad will be fist-fighting for spots at Worlds next year, and a bunch of interstate Mixed teams will be having their last tournament tune up before Mixed Nats. There will also be a mishmash of locals (including some highly credentialed players), who want to have a crack at all of the above. The Ultimate will be smoking hot.

With 7 teams participating this wont be the biggest event you’ve ever played, but it does allow us to give you a little extra special attention, starting with the use of one of our best tournament venues in Brisbane . And we’ve got a few gourmet lunch surprises lined up also.

In many years from now, you might be able to look back with pride and say that you were at the first MIT. And we’re hoping to give you a high quality, “boutique” tournament experience appropriate to the occasion.

Ooh lah lah.

COST $57 per player.
* 1 day players:
- $32 (Sat only).
- $29 (Sun only).

INCLUDES

Saturday 24th
•Games 11.00am – 5.00pm
•Gourmet Lunchbox
•Roast Dinner & Barra v Mundi Demo game (6.30pm – 8.00pm)
•Bar open till 12.00am

Sunday 25th
•Games 8.30am – 4.30pm
•Cold breakfast (cereal, bread & spreads, juice)
•Gourmet Lunchbox
•Gourmet Pizza after games
•Bar open
NB: Hot BBQ breakfast, Tea and Coffee available – user pays

VENUE
The Gap Soccer Club, Glenaffric St, The Gap
(approx 9km WNW of CBD on the road).

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Glenaffric+Street,+The+Gap,+Queensland&hl=en&ll=-27.463652,152.994061&spn=0.06344,0.109863&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=63.416161,79.013672&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=14

BRING

•Usual Frisbee tournament stuff plus..
•Money for BBQ breakfast, fizzy drinks at bar and tournament fee (if needed).
•Towel and change of clothes for dinner and bar after the game (showers available at the fields).
•Jumper, because it can still be brisk at night.

SCHEDULE & DRAW
Saturday 24th
10.20am:…………………Captains Meeting

NB: The final draw will be published and distributed at the Captains Meeting
All team Captains or reps to be present at the Captains Meeting.

11.00am – 5.00pm:……. Games Commence
6.30pm - 8.00pm:……… Barra v Mundi Demo Game
12.00am:……………….. Bar closes.

Sunday 25th
7.45am:………………….Cold Breakfast (paid) & Breakfast BBQ (user pays) available
8.30am – 4.30pm:……...Games Completed
4.30pm – 5.00pm:………Pizza & Presentations in bar

Second Hand Marketplace

2011-09-19T11:00:00.003+10:00

So this post is here for people who are looking to buy or sell second hand Ultimate gear within the Brisbane Ultimate community (or just give stuff away).

Maybe you've upgraded your cleats but the old ones are still usable by a newbie who doesn't want to invest yet? Maybe you've left a team but have a shirt that you don't wear any more but someone might like?

While the post itself will slide down the pile, new comments will come up in the sidebar, and we'll pin this title on the sidebar too for people to find easily.

Please have a good look at the date of the post when you're looking to buy.

If you're looking to sell, we suggest you include an email address so people can contact you.

BUML 17-8 Preview: Made to Suffer

2011-09-16T12:32:00.002+10:00

Hey ho, let's go.

Division 2

Form only for Division 2 this week.

Slipped Discs (11th) vs Plastic Scourgery (9th) – Annerley 3A
Slipped Discs - last seven games – LWLLLLL (five losses in a row)
Slipped Discs Player to Watch – Bridget B
If Slipped Discs were a TV show – they’d be on Bris31
Plastic Scourgery – last seven games – WWLLLLL (ditto)
Plastic Scourgery Player to Watch – Emma B
If Plastic Scourgery were a TV show – That 70’s Show
Our tip: Plastic Scourgery by 2

Chimichangas (7th) vs Discheads (5th) – Annerley 3B
Chimichangas - last seven games – WFLWWWL (steady as she goes)
Chimichangas Player to Watch – Jemery A
If Chimichangas were a TV show – Los Vengadores
Discheads - last seven games – WWWWWLL (have the wheels fallen off?)
Discheads Player to Watch – Craig B
If Discheads were a TV show – Thunderbirds
Our tip: Discheads by 1

What the Huck? (4th) vs Tsunami (3rd) – Annerley 5A
What the Huck? - last seven games –LWWLWWW (due for a loss?)
What the Huck? Player to Watch – Laura B
If What the Huck were a TV show – The Mickey Mouse Club Show
Tsunami- last seven games - WLWWDWW (hasn’t lost for a while?)
Tsunami Player to Watch – Ben D
If Tsunami were a TV show – Hawaii 5-0
Our tip: Tsunami by 1

Agent Orange (1st) vs Mellow Yellow (6th) – The Gap 1
Agent Orange - last seven games – WWWDWWW (unbeaten!)
Agent Orange Player to Watch – Alex B
If Agent Orange were a TV show – Get Smart
Mellow Yellow - last seven games – DLLLWWW (talk about a season turnaround)
Mellow Yellow Player to Watch – Kirsten
If Mellow Yellow were a TV show – Cheers
Our tip: Agent Orange by 4

Griffith Go-Go's (8th) vs QUTies (10th) – Griffith 2
Go-Go’s - last seven games – DLLWLLW (blips)
Go-Go’s Player to Watch – Lizzy B
If the Go-Go’s were a TV show – Funky Squad
QUTies - last seven games – LLWDLLL (will be keen for it)
QUTies Player to Watch – Jangles
If QUTies were a TV show – Open University
Our tip: Go-Go’s by 1

Griffith Oh-Yeahs (12th) vs Disc-iples (2nd) – Griffith 3
Oh Yeahs - last seven games – LLLLLLL (about due!)
Oh Yeahs Player to Watch – Kate B
If the Oh Yeahs were a TV show – The Banana Splits Show
Disc-iples- last seven games – LWWWDWW (another great streak)
Disc-iples Player to Watch – Sam BW
If the Disc-iples Were a TV show – Sunday Praise
Our tip: Disc-iples by 8

Division 1

Meanwhile in Division 1 ...

Heroes vs Co-mingled – The Gap 2
Co-Mingled will be on a high after knocking off UQ at St Lucia last week. But its about time the Heroes did something and we reckon this week is it.
Our tip: Heroes by 2

Dyspnoeics vs Bermuda Triangle – Griffith 1
Both these teams adore going out to Griffith to play some Frisbee. Bermuda are seem to been getting somewhere on offence is the increasing number of points on the board each game means anything, but the Blue Ds view themselves as assassins and won’t take anything from anyone.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 5

Wuxi Finger Hold vs Ghost Who Walks – UQ 7B
Wuxi beat GWW 17-6 earlier in the season, but the purple-suited-mothers have strengthened as the temperatures have risen. Wuxi have been a bit vulnerable lately, but they seem to play better on campus.
Our tip: Wuxi by 3

Poachers vs UQ Ultimate Lovers – UQ 7A
Speaking of vulnerability and campus, the UQ Ultimate Lovers had their bedroom breached last week by a Co-Mingled raid. Can they regroup? The Poachers meanwhile will be looking for a third win on the trot, and of course, Revenge with a capital R after their 1 point loss against the students way back in Round 1.
Our tip: UQ by 4

BPL results plz

2011-09-10T15:30:00.002+10:00

After Heroes took the first two points, the Bandidos struck back, taking half at 8-5, easily walking it through the Heroes zone.

Heroes applied a transition zone which took Bandidos by surprise every time, especially when we played man straight up for one point. Got the next 6 in a row and took out the game 15-11 (or 12).

On the premier field, Sebastian told me that Buggers were wiping it in the faces of Dojo, but he was wrong. What Sebastian did not realise, is that Dojo looked angry because the point was taking longer than they intended and they had to run a bit.

Coops was heard saying "HOW did that disc get through our fence?!?" - Matt and Stu have been boasting that they have the Dojo zone figured out (jamming it through the middle), but obviously this didn't work or didn't matter on the night, Dojo taking a big win (am I right?).

Blitz and Cobras finished last, which is interesting, but I heard nothing.

Please comment with more details - let's get interactive!

BUML 17-7 Preview: The Calm Before

2011-09-09T13:46:00.002+10:00

Well, everyone’s focused on the 7th Lovefest this weekend, but serious Ultimate players know that the whole event was concocted several years ago to ensure that UQ was ready to continue its unbeaten run in BUML19’s Round 7 on Monday night.

It being the NRL and AFL Finals this weekend, plus the RWC starting, we’re going totally with form to help you all with your tipping this week.

Meanwhile, the big boys in the BPL are wondering why they don't get the same sort of coverage BUML does from the BUB. An easy answer would be to blame aL and Natman for cutting JdR from the UQ Lovers a few seasons ago. Another answer could just be that BUML is more interesting.

Division 1
Division 1 this week is very interesting, as random chance has produced a draw of two halves. The top four teams play each other, and the bottom four teams play each other. So that makes all matches very hard to pick.

Wuxi Finger Hold (4th) vs Dyspnoeics (2nd) – Annerley 3A
Wuxi - last six games – WWLDWL (Looking shaky)
Wuxi Player to Watch – Salvatore Colangelo
If Wuxi were a TV show – Home and Away
Dyspnoeics – last six games – WWWWLW (Bam baaam)
Dyspnoeics Player to Watch – Adam Baker
If Dyspnoeics were a TV show – The Flintstones
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 2

Poachers (5th) vs The Ghost Who Walks (6th) – The Gap 1
Poachers last six games – LWLWLW (what a roller-coaster)
Poachers Player to Watch – Alison Baynes
If Poachers were a TV show – Being Human
The Ghost Who Walks - last six games – LLWLLL (a blip?)
The Ghost Who Walks Player to Watch – Luke Allen-Ankins
If The Ghost Who Walks was a TV show – Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman
Our tip: The Ghost Who Walks by 5

Heroes (8th) vs Bermuda Triangle (7th) – Griffith 1
Heroes – last six games – LLLLLL (flatline)
Heroes Player to Watch – Carl Behrendorff
If Heroes were a TV show: Sex and the City
Bermuda Triangle – last six games – LLLLWL (looking up)
Bermuda Triangle Player to Watch – Jack Allan
If Bermuda Triangle were a TV show: Lost
Our tip: Heroes by 1

Co-Mingled (3rd) vs UQ Ultimate Lovers (1st) – UQ7A
Co-Mingled – last six games –WLWDWW (on a roll)
Co-Mingled Player to Watch –Sonya Arthur
If Co-Mingled were a TV show – The Tudors
UQ Ultimate Lovers – last six games – WWWWWW (on a steamroller)
UQ Ultimate Lovers Player to Watch – Megan Barnes
If UQ Ultimate Lovers were a TV show – In the Night Garden
Our tip: UQ Ultimate Lovers by 3

Division 2
Meanwhile in Division 2, the fun continues, mostly because we’re out of time this week. Let’s make it quick.

QUTies vs Disc-iples – Annerley 3B
Jangles is reporting that Ultimate doesn’t hurt the next day any more. Obviously he’s doing it wrong.
Our tip: Disc-iples by 3.

Discheads vs What the Huck? – Annerley 5A
After losing to Agent Orange last week, I was totally surprised when the Discheads didn’t set fire to Gav’s wheelie bin after drinking all his beer.
Our tip: Discheads by 2.

Agent Orange vs Chimichangas – The Gap 2
Agent Orange are currently undefeated at their new fortress at The Gap. The Chimis have had a few soft games recently.
Our tip: AO by 3.

Griffith Go-Go’s vs Plastic Scourgery – Griffith 2
Well, all we can say is its JdR vs Dusty, and some s#%t’s gonna go down. The Go-Go’s have had a decent crack at some good teams this last two weeks before giving it away in the second half.
Our tip: Griffith Go-Go’s by 1.

Griffith Oh Yeahs vs Mellow Yellow – Griffith 3
The Rugby World Cup should soften the livers of Mellow Yellow this week, but the Oh Yeahs are pretty much Tonga.
Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 5.

Slipped Discs vs Tsunami – UQ7B
Tsunami got a bit of a scare last week before pulling out the zone and taking care of the Go-Go’s.
Our tip: Tsunami by 7.

Better late than never...

2011-09-08T17:08:00.003+10:00

Last Thursday night, I was playing on field 2 - Heroes vs Cobras. We had been trading all night, and were up by a couple, when we looked over to field 3 and saw MBB and Bandidos seemingly disbanded. It was then announced that the time was 9:05, which means that the game should have ended. Who's the time keeper? Obviously, no one. Jangles says something like "Don't worry about time, let's get the points". Our minds go racing back to that ugly night of the same match up, where Cobras came back to get the draw because the time-keeper went home early. Jamie says urgently "We need to get this shit sorted now!"

Meanwhile, on the premier field, Slamtown have watched their hopes of vindicating their Grand Final loss to Dojo vanish before their eyes, in a come back not seen since Al Don lead the winless lovers to victory from an 9-2 deficit before vomiting violently and turning their season around. SFC had been up 11-5, and the score was now under fierce debate at something like 13-12, Dojo. "The game should have been finished 5 minutes ago!!" someone shouted. "MBB / Bandidos are only on time out - look! They are still going!!"

This argument went on long enough for the other game to finish, have circle of love and Special LD to get involved. "What time did you start", he asked. "BUUUULLSHIT!" - jeered Kevvy into an SFC coloured cone.

Slamtown were unwilling to accept the cock up, and Dojo in their usual fashion said "Fuck it." The game went on and I believe Slamtown got the draw. Fitting?

The moral of the story -

Games start at 7:30 and go for 80 minutes. If games start late, it is up to the captains to decide on finish time. Perhaps a rep from each team should be in charge of starting their stop watches on their phones at the same time.

END POST.

Sense Us

2011-09-07T16:59:00.002+10:00

The poll is closed and no surprises, most readers play a high level of ultimate. There are more voters tuning in from interstate to check out what's going on up here - no doubt ex-pats who are playing some decent ultimate somewhere else.. or on hiatus.

We at the BUB are open to suggestion...

What should this blog focus on more?

Because Mixed Nats was not already social enough...

2011-09-06T18:26:00.003+10:00

and because in other parts of the country, there is stiff competition for spots, and the legendary Flycatchers Ultimate Club from South Australia missed out,

SAFDA are proud to be hosting

"B-Grade Mixed Nationals!!!"

To be held at the same time as their superior cousins tournament - Oct 8 - 10.

This may be a chance for all those guys who were overseas playing beach to get the band back together, head south (but further west) and take out a win. Or maybe Griffdawgs will head down for their first trip away.

To read more, head to the AFDA trash talk page and get amongst it.

And now, Ben Folds will perform for you - "Adelaide"!!!

Adelaide Lyrics
Artist(Band):Ben Folds
Review The Song (17) Print the Lyrics

Send "Adelaide" Ringtones to Cell

Adelaide
On a plane
Far from the united states
Of LA
Dropping in from outer space
Takes a day
Now I see the Bogans
At the motor race
Here you know the world could turn
Or crash and burn
And you would never know it
Going where the air is clear
There's better beer in Adelaide

Charlie L. Smith's forty
Someone spiked my rice
The rest, history
Now I am a fixture down

Rundle Mall
Watching as the locals pass
Silver balls
I can see their eyes are round
They're pointed down
They scan the spanning sidewalks
Learning that there is no hurry
Fuss or worry
Adelaide

Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah

Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah

It's raining
In Adelaide
A face is waiting in a window
A voice says
Why Adelaide
You could live anywhere and I say
Because I want to
Because I want to
I really really want to

And you know the earth could turn
Or crash and burn
And you would never know it
Really got to make it to the finish line
Get the record done on time
Pack the bags
And catch a flight
And you can kiss my ass goodbye
I'm in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide

Crazy Little Thing Called Lovefest

2011-09-05T09:24:00.002+10:00

As is the tradition, within seven days of Freddie Mercury's birthday each year, the UQ Ultimate Club hosts its annual Lovefest tournament.

Well, today is Freddie's birthday, may his soul rest in flamboyance, and this Saturday it's Lovefest time.

Do you need a team? There's six teams so far and most of them would love to have you.

When: Saturday 10 September - game on at 9am.
Where: Griffith Uni AFL Field - Kessels Rd across from QEII Hospital.
Who: You, darlings, plus all the most fun and loving Ultimate players in SEQ.
How Much: $30 gets you fields, lunch, insurance and the party.
Party? Yep, its on at the Fox at South Bank that evening.

Ready Freddie?!

BUML17-6 Preview: This Sorrowful Life

2011-09-02T15:14:00.003+10:00

Six weeks in, and after this round, six weeks to go. Yes, its almost just before half-time, and the score is Brisbane Ultimate Blog's BUML previews 9, over no-name haters 0.

Division 2

Agent Orange vs Discheads – The Gap 2
Hoo ha! Top of the table, match of the round, clash of the titans, all that stuff. This game may well one day enter into the mythology of the Heroes Ultimate Club as ‘the Crap at the Gap’. And certainly the trash talk on the Club email list has been at Muhammad Ali levels – “Float like a Gavin, sting like a Bev.” “You can’t huck what you don’t have.” “Seb is just a big ugly bear”. “Orange is best.” “Vanessa is the GOAT!” “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Starks – he never called me orange.” "Dan's so fast that last night he turned off the light switch and was in bed before the room was dark." "If you even dream of beating us you'd better wake up and apologize."
Our tip: AO by 1.

Slipped Discs vs What the Huck? – Annerley 3B
Well, you’d have to give this one to the Huckers. They beat the Go-Go’s last week 14-8, and the Go-Go’s beat the Slippers 16-9 the week before. Both teams will enjoy not having to drive all the way out to Griffith though.
Our tip: What the Huck? By 10

QUTies vs Mellow Yellow – Annerley 5A
Mammoth is the word that comes to mind here, as two of the most celebrated foundation clubs of BUML go head to head this week. Mellow Yellow took the much fancied Plastic Scourgery out the back of this field last week and gave them a solid flaying, in the process getting their arms back to their hucking best. Meanwhile the QUTies were very shaky against the Chimis, which was unexpected given their strength on paper. Anything can happen here.
Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 4.

Griffith Go-Go’s vs Tsunami – Griffith 2
Tsunami are already thinking about the finals. The Go-Go’s are thinking about beer. Fortunately, the finals and beer go together quite well, so this should be a good match.
Our tip: Tsunami by 3.

Griffith Oh Yeahs vs Chimchangas – Griffith 3
This will be a game of contrasts. The Chimi’s have been extraordinarily uneven so far this season. Meanwhile, the Oh Yeahs have been very consistent … in being totally wild.
Our tip: Chimichangas by 5.

Disc-iples vs Plastic Scourgery – UQ 7B
Heaven vs Hell.
Our tip: Disc-Iples by 2.

Division 1

Poachers vs Wuxi Finger Hold – Annerley 3A
The Poachers have been having numbers troubles so far this season, but hopefully this will smooth out playing at the easy to find Annerley 3A field this week. Wuxi of course continue to work their way through their carton of whoop-ass cans.
Our tip: Wuxi by 8.

Heroes vs Dysponoeics – The Gap 1
This should be a good one – and possibly the tight Div 1 game this week. Yes, the Heroes are at the bottom of the Division 1 table, but they’ve had some close losses against some good teams, including staying within three points of champions Wuxi last week. Meanwhile, the Dyspnoeics had their first loss of the season last week, having been ravaged by the UQ students. Both teams will want to wrap this up quick though, so they can watch the Discheads/Agent Orange barney.
Our tip: Heroes by 1.

Co-Mingled vs The Ghost Who Walks – Griffith 1
As mentioned above, Co-mingled smashed the Poachers last week, and they’ll be looking to keep the Mercy Bucket in the cupboard again as they take on The Ghost Who Walks, who are steadily finding their feet in Division 1.
Our tip: Co-Mingled by 6.

UQ Lovers vs Bermuda Triangle – UQ 7A
UQ remain undefeated this season, and of course are at home all the time. So this one looks obvious to the tipper. But, Bermuda Triangle scored their first win of the season last week – yay. So maybe this one won’t be as one sided as some may expect.
Our tip: UQ by 6.

Bpl Round 5

2011-09-01T17:39:00.001+10:00

Premier field #1: Dojo vs Slamtown

Field #2: Heroes vs Cobras

Shit light #3: Bugs vs Bandidos

Bye: Blitz

Load! Reload!!

2011-08-30T21:08:00.001+10:00

2011-08-30T13:24:00.000+10:00

Lovefest!!

2011-08-28T21:32:00.001+10:00

Lovefest!!

Do you love fest? Love fest. Love fest.

more info coming soon, when I am sober

Lover feast

Do it.

Shit.

Lilwall wins MVP against Spain

2011-08-28T13:00:00.006+10:00

Queenslander, Jack Lilwall, has won an MVP on the beaches of Italy in a match against Spain! The award saw Lilwall swap the Aussie Green jersey for a stylish Spanish.. red?

This is a tremendous honour for Jack. Like footballer Daniel Merret, cricketer Andrew Mc Donald and Ultimate legend Huddy Fuller (who have nothing in common), most people would not immediately describe Jack as a natural athlete. But like these great men, Jack is a hard worker and is the most spirited man about town, obviously enjoying his ultimate and playing well wherever he goes.

I did not see the match, but his name was mentioned a lot in another match that I caught. FB & The Tweets were going wild, and Sebastian Brown offered his opinion "Jack must be getting so (sun)burnt over there!"

An MVP on the world stage in any form of the game is a great achievement. Well done, Jack!

Heroes to join John Doe in Melbourne [Dusty now available for pick up]

2011-08-28T00:07:00.003+10:00

The unmentionables of ultimate continued their run of dominance today with crushing victories over the green martians and some other people.

The day began in typical late August conditions - shithouse. It was a greasy morning, and it was obvious who was out to play with Heroes fielding a massive squad of 16 and the lean mean pristine John Doe all ready at the get-go. No doubt the sleep--in was attractive to UQ and some Team Brisbane pickups, who were not intending either as a team or personally to go to Melbourne in October.

John Doe threatened Heroes with a pantsing, with an 8-0 first half. The JD zone was successful in containing Heroes to the back quarter, and turnovers abounded in the slimy conditions. Stu had about 5 of John Doe's 8 passes - they didn't need many more to score.

After a cheer of "PANTS ON" at half, Heroes struck back with some long play, finally capitalising on a height advantage. The game finished at something like 17 - 8, but that may be wishful thinking.

Cross-field I saw Megan scrapping for some wayward hucks, and often saw Gref standing in the end zone, ready to pull. UQ had an equally impressive victory over team Brisbane, and I saw some of the young / new players involved in a lot of good play.

The only game of the day that mattered began with 2 quick scores to Team Brisbane. It looked as though Heroes would have to fight to get back in the half. Fortunately for them, this happened early. 2-3-2 zone seemed to work for them, and Brisbane deployed something similar when they had the chance. There were a lot of turn overs, and Heroes made it hard for themselves in front of the end zone. JdR made it hard for Brisbane, as he was heard to say "Don't huck it to James (Heroes), Jason". Realistically though, it was the height advantage that shut down those long options.

It was a hard fought game that was not accurately reflected on the scoreboard, with Heroes taking the game 17-6 or thereabouts.

UQ seemed to give JD more of a run, with the score at one stage being 5-7. It is likely that the BW/Gref/Megz dishy play did some damage to the JD zone. The mysterious ones ran away with it in the end, unsure of the final score, but it must have been close to time cap.

The final matches were abandoned either due to field closure or the call of hot chips, a shower and a nice comfy seat in front of the footy.

BUML17-5 Preview: The Best Defence

2011-08-26T14:06:00.002+10:00

We’ve gotta be quick this week, but the main bit of excitement (aside from Craig B of course) is the start of the next phase of Ultimate’s world domination plan – BUML gets some real estate at The Gap. It’s a slight embuggerance that this has happened part of the way into the season, but all can agree that we need to take every piece of turf we can get our hands on so we can keep growing as easily and painlessly as possible. ONWARDS! Anyway, onto the draw, and apologies if we don’t have much to say on some games this week – we’re flat out like a lizard drinking that’s been run over by a mack truck.

Division 1

Co-Mingled vs Poachers – Annerley 3A
Our tip: Co-Mingled by 5

Bermuda Triangle vs The Ghost Who Walks – The Gap 1
Well, this is a big fat arse of a match, appropriate to open a new avenue for sport, and with the left cheek taking on the right cheek. Hopefully everyone knows that the purple clad GWW outfit emerged butterfly-style from the Bermudan womb at the start of the year, before the parent was nudged into Div 1 and the child grew to dominate Div 2. And now they are face to face. It’ll be tight and emotional.
Our tip: Ghost Who Walks by 2.

Wuxi Finger Hold vs Heroes – Griffith 1
Our tip: Wuxi by 7.

UQ vs Dyspnoeics – UQ 1
Yep, there’s four Division 1 games, and they’re spread equally across the four BUML venues. This will be a great game although both sides will need to keep a tight rein on themselves to win it.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 2.

Division 2

Discheads vs Slipped Discs – Annerley 3B
Discy.
Our tip: Discheads by 10.

Plastic Scourgery vs Mellow Yellow – Annerley 5A
Old school Ultimate, marinated in a sauce of spirit, peace and love. And hucking, lots of that stuff. Sport at its very best.
Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 2.

Disc-Iples vs Tsunami – The Gap 2
Some are tipping these two teams as likely to meet in this season’s Division 2 final. Big call to make this early, but on form, its not a bad call. Playing at The unfamiliar Gap may add to the challenge for both teams.
Our tip: Tsunami by 1.

Griffith Oh Yeahs vs Agent Orange – Griffith 2
Our tip: Agent Orange by 7.

Griffith Go-Go’s vs What the Huck? – Griffith 3.
The Go-Go’s have recruited some more speed and good looks this season, but will it be enough to keep up with WTH? We think so.
Our tip: Griffith Go-Go’s by 2.

QUTies vs Chimichangas – Annerley 3B
Two former powerhouses who seem to be underperforming a bit this season. Maybe this game will provide the spark.
Our tip: QUTies by 4.

BPL Round 4

2011-08-25T16:41:00.001+10:00

Dojo (1st) vs Heroes (4th)

Slamtown (2nd) vs Bandidos (5th)

Bugs (3rd) vs Blitz (6th)

So We're a Bit Out of the International Loop, But Can Anyone Explain ...

2011-08-23T13:45:00.004+10:00

So we're a bit out of the international loop these days here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, but can anyone point out some sort of explanation for how this one happened?

WFDF confirm the thirteenth World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC) will be held in Sakai, Japan from Saturday 7- Saturday 14 July 2012.

USAUltimate announce they're going to host a new event called the USA Open where they will invite 24 of the best teams in the world to play in Boulder Colorado on Wednesday 4 to Sunday 8 July 2012.

Yep, the dates for what's likely to be the two biggest events in Ultimate in 2012 overlap.

Is this some sort of top-end-administrators-don't-like-each-other (or don't even talk to each other) thing? Can anyone argue how this is good for the sport at that level?

Maybe we're overstating the playing conflict aspect though. The USA Open concept has a very large element of 'lets have an international conference about Ultimate' (which is very exciting) - maybe they've just recognised that Ultimate-types won't turn up just to talk shop (much as they love that) - they want to play too (or at least watch some good games).

But on the playing front, presumably, national associations will vote with their feet, as will individual players, and everyone will agree the whole thing is unfortunate. Maybe a few crazies will attempt to play both, missing a day or two at the end of the USA Open or the start of WUGC.

I guess for Aussies it will initially be a question of if any of our clubs get an invite to Colorado, before there's a question of wearing the Green and Gold and supporting our friends in Japan (who will no doubt put on an excellent event), against going to Boulder and trying out something that's likely to be unique. If the USA Open is annual, maybe its worth skipping the first year anyway ... and as the first leg of a trip to ...

Don't forget, entry to the 2013 World Games to be held in Santiago di Cali, Columbia from 25 July to 4 August 2013, is drawn from WUGC results. Do the USA and presumably Canadian associations feel they have enough depth to send a decent team to Japan to ensure they get through, while still having the best in Colorado?

I suppose there'll be a contingent of people who go to the USA Open for a few days of conferencing and watching the North Americans play (because after all, if USAUltimate is aiming to have the best 24 clubs in the world across three divisions that they can get, most of those willing to come in 2012 will be from North America) and some of these may even play, before jetting to Japan.

Then in 2013, everyone will be wanting to go to the second USA Open, as part of their world tour towards the World Games.

Weird, anyways.

Its Fun to Play a Bit of Indoor, and Sail Across the Wide Accountan-sea

2011-08-23T13:04:00.004+10:00

So we here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion thought it would be useful to post on the financial performance of the Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships, for a number of reasons:
- further our advocacy of it being a useful thing for a volunteer or group of volunteers to do - set up an event and run it annually for the foreseeable future, gaining benefit from growing expertise, carrying surplus/loss, and use of routine.
- teach people a bit about running/budgeting Ultimate events (noting this is a very simple one)
- provide an accounting to the Ultimate community. We probably do this badly, but on the other hand we're pretty trusting and trustworthy, and also people do vote with their feet - if a tournament is perceived as low value, it will fail.

So here's how the last three years of the Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships have gone, dollar-wise. A couple of things are outstanding for 2011, but we're reasonably confident they'll go as expected.

Indoor 2009 - approx 43 players / six teams
Outgoing
-Court hire $550
-Masking tape + candy $30
-AFDA Fees ($2/player) $86
-QUDA Fees (20% of AFDA) ~~$34.20~~$17.20
Total outgoing $700.20

Income - Team fees (6x$120) $720
>Result Surplus ~~$19.80~~ $36.80

Indoor 2010 - approx 40 players / 5 teams
Outgoing
-Court hire $350
-Masking tape + candy $30
-Trophy $35
-AFDA Fees ($2/player) $80
-QUDA Fees (20% of AFDA) $16
Total Outgoing $551.00

Income - Team fees (5x$130) $650.00
>Result Surplus $99.00

Indoor 2011 - approx 40 players / 5 teams
Outgoing
-Court hire $401
-Masking tape + Candy $30
-Engraving $56
-Prize (case of beer) $45
-AFDA Fees $80
-QUDA Fees $16
Total Outgoing $628.00

Income – Team fees (5x$100) $500.00
>Result Loss -$128.00

>>Result Over Three Years ~~Loss -$9.20~~ Surplus $8.80

The pretty much break even over the three years was the financial goal, so its good to have gotten there (its much harder to break even on a single event). On the other hand, the disappointing thing with the Indoor tournament is that it just will not grow.

Edit: Thanks to eagle eyed commenter Andy for picking up a math typo.

Let there be Ultimate!

2011-08-22T13:12:00.003+10:00

And the Lord said, "Let there be Ultimate!"
And the sun pierced the clouds whilst a
strong breeze picked up, for He perceived
that Queenslander's need to practice in such
conditions, for the time of trial will come,
and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Synposis: We hope that there will be ultimate tonight. It seems like John will announce it via the sexy-new BUML website, but be sure to check all the regular channels.

Amen.

BUML17-4 Preview: The Heart’s Desire

2011-08-22T08:34:00.002+10:00

Let's hope that rain holds off today, and all those field owners hold their nerve.

Our tipping continues to be reasonable, despite Poachers forfeiting last week (we'll take that as a win), with 8/10 games, making us 21/30 for the season so far.

Division 2

Disc-iples (3rd) vs What The Huck? (4th) - Annerley 3B
We’ve introduced the current ladder standings to our preview this week (thanks to the excellent work by you know who) mostly to highlight the excitement surrounding this 3rd vs 4th match. These two teams are some of the purest in the Brisbane Ultimate scene. When they think about Ultimate, they mostly think about Monday night, with a little bit of thinking about aL Don on the side. Anyways, should be a good game.
Our tip: The Disc-Iples by 2.

Mellow Yellow (9th) vs Tsunami (5th) – Annerley 5A
Its been a tough start to the season for Mellow Yellow, who have to tear themselves away from Dr and Ms Good’s Facebook updates about the new baby to get down to play at the moment. Tsunami meanwhile got some extra training in during the week, being the only BUML team to enter the Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships. So MY will want to watch out for the fast play, but Tsunami will have to remember they can’t hammer the length of the field any more.
Our tip: Tsunami by 2.

Griffith Go-Go's (11th) vs Slipped Discs (8th) – Griffith 2
The Slipped Discs will still be on a high from their win over Mellow Yellow a couple of weeks ago, although the loss to the Disc-Iples did bring them a bit back to earth. The Go-Go’s are still busy integrating their new beginners into the mix, but local oldster JdR still seems to keep chugging. A tough one to call, so we’ll go with the home team. We should mention Casey.
Our tip: Griffith Go-Go’s by 3.

Griffith Oh Yeahs (12th) vs Discheads (2nd) – Griffith 3
This will be a tough one for the Oh Yeahs, after losing their inspirational free-speech advocate James to a dislocated shoulder last week. We’ve still got nothing much to say about the Discheads.
Our tip: Discheads by 8.

QUTies (7th) vs Agent Orange (1st) – Griffith 4
It looks like 1st vs 7th, but in reality this one should be a cracker, as the QUTies have started to show some form. If Danielle is back from her flu, the students could be very virile and vital. Agent Orange meanwhile are sticking to the plan … win every game and try not to let Gav go away for the Finals.
Our tip: Agent Orange by 1.

Plastic Scourgery (6th) vs Chimichangas (10th) - UQ7B
Games that start with Dusty and Peta flipping the disc are always fun and often end in drinking, although maybe not on a Monday night. The Scourgeons won’t have Jack throwing the disc away tonight, as he’s in Italy playing at the World Beach Ultimate Championships.
Our tip: Chimichangas by 2.

Division 1

Bermuda Triangle (8th) vs Poachers (6th) - Annerley 3A
Come on Bermuda!
Our tip: Poachers by 2.

Co-mingled (4th) vs Wuxi Finger Hold (3rd) – Annerley 5B
The other 3rd vs 4th game this week. Its bud verses bud, Spud verses Spud, as K-Dog and Stu line up against each other. Expect some peeling. Reece had a birthday on the weekend apparently, so will be keen to show he’s not over the hill yet.
Our tip: Wuxi by 3.

The Ghost Who Walks (5th) vs Dyspnoeics (1st) – Griffith 1
Andy L needs to remember to get a case of beer out of JdR’s car. Will be closer than most people think.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 2.

UQ (2nd) vs Heroes (7th) – UQ 7A
We’re about due for a Heroic revival, but I’m not sure it’ll happen at St Lucia.
Our tip: UQ by 4.

Johnny Mac Gets All Clark Kent on Us

2011-08-20T15:42:00.003+10:00

Continuing our catch up, being the journal of record here at the BUB and all. Email from John McNaughton:

For those who aren't aware, there's a pretty active international Ultimate calendar, and we've got a number of Queenslanders who are representing their country in the coming months. These guys have been working their butts off through a range of selection and training events to earn this honour, so give them a high five or shout them a low-fat, high-protein recovery drink :-)

(I'm going to apologise in advance, because I don't have time to look in great depth, and might screw this up with old/incorrect information, so if someone has corrections to make, please do so.)

WORLD ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012
Selections are currently underway for next year's World Championships. This is the biggest Ultimate event going around, held every four years; this time, it will be held in Sakai, Japan, from 7-14 July 2012.
http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=857
http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=834

> WORLDS SELECTIONS > OPEN, WOMEN, MIXED
These three squads are currently undergoing selections, in a campaign that has already been going for 6 months. Further announcements on these squads should be made in a couple of weeks' time, when the Open (Dingos) and Women's (Firetails) teams will be officially announced, and the Mixed (Barramundis) will resume their selection process for a final announcement in October.
In the overall mix, we have: Adam Beu (Jangles), Abra Garfield, Chris Cunliffe, Pete Allen, John McNaughton, Stu Austin, Maylin Chuah, Molly Young, Megan Barnes, Blair Sheard

> WORLDS > ECC (OPEN & WOMEN'S)
As part of the selection campaign, the Open and Women's squads are sending teams to compete in the Emerald City Classic in Seattle this weekend, one of the world's most elite tournaments. I'm not certain whether we have any women travelling with the squad (as they haven't officially announced the team), but Pete Allen and Chris Cunliffe will be flying the Malaki flag in the Open division.
http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=852
http://emeraldcityclassic.org/

> WORLDS > MASTERS
We have several guys in the mix for the Masters team, which has had its first round of cuts. The next camp will take place in October, and I believe the team will be announced after this.
Congratulations to Al Don, Chris Burwell, George Salisbury, Mat Ryan who will be vying for selection in a couple of months.
http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=855

WORLD BEACH ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
The Australian teams will be leaving for this tournament any day now, to be held in Italy later this month. Unfortunately, I can't find any up-to-date information on team lists, so someone else might want to give us information here?
http://www.wcbu2011.com/

AUSTRALIAN U18 TEAMS TO PLAY NEW ZEALAND
For the first time ever, Australian U18 teams have been selected, and will be playing a Trans-Tasman Test in Auckland in early October.
Huge congratulations to Linus Mueller and Jordan Stone (fresh from his HUGE highlight block in the Halibut final) for making this team!
http://www.afda.com/trashtalk/showarticle.php?articleid=858

John

Getting Sandy at the World Beach Ultimate Championships

2011-08-20T15:24:00.005+10:00

Several other people have done the work in compiling this stuff and sending it around via email, but here's our cut and paste if you've missed it.

Queenslanders at the World Beach Ultimate Championship
Mixed: Molly Young, Kristen Nott (Captain), Chris Cunliffe.
Open: Dan Blacklock, Finn McCarthy-Adams, George Salisbury, Jack Lilwall and Keith Cameron-Smith (he's moved to Tassie, but we'll claim him)
Women: Emma Briggs, Tamara Davis (Captain), Melanie Aube

WHERE TO FIND COVERAGE

First and foremost we encourage you to keep tabs on the main website: WCBU2011.org. There you will find live updates, score reporting, team information and live webstreamed telecasting of the afternoon "Game of the Day" the showcase evening games in the Discraft Arena and -- of course -- all of the Finals.

Secondly, WCBU11 is working with the finest sofa-based entertainment in the world of ultimate: http://Blockstack.TV Look for unique coverage, interviews, daily reports and more from Tom, Steve, Sean and others throughout the tournament on Blockstack's main page and Blockstack's YouTube Channel.

Thirdly there will be more stories about teams coming to WCBU11 published at SkydMagazine.com. Already an article on the Kampala Club Team (Uganda) is up and soon to come will be an interview with the leaders of Team India from Chennai. You can also follow my "Beach Blog '11" covering Team USA's journey through several American beach tournaments en route to Beach Worlds.

And what would an event be without Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Fortunately we have that covered.

On Facebook, tell your team about the World Championships of Beach Ultimate Facebook Page.

On Twitter, please tag your entries with #WCBU2011 and subscribe to the official Worlds channel @WCBU2011.

And finally please keep a lookout for official videos uploaded to the WCBU YouTube channel. You should also peek into BlockStack's frequently updated YouTube channel. There you will find plenty of short-form videos for your imminent entertainment.

----------
WEB LIVESTREAMING SCHEDULE

The opening ceremonies and opening game will be broadcast LIVE (barring technical difficulties, of course) on Sunday the 21st.

The opening match should be quite thrilling as hometown Italy (Open) takes on the defending silver medalists and always exciting Philippines in the Discraft Arena, scheduled for 5 PM local time. Make sure to tell your friends to tune in to that! It's definitely going to be a pretty sweet game.

During the tournament, the "Game of the Day" will happen at 1pm local time and will be broadcast, and every night starting Tuesday at 21:15 you can watch the night game in the Discraft Arena on the webstream as well.

And of course the finals of all 6 divisions will also happen across Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th. Please tell your friends and family to go to the main WCBU11.org site starting on Sunday the 21st.

AUC2012 - Cheap Flights Guaranteed!

2011-08-19T13:44:00.001+10:00

The AFDA is pleased to announce that the Australian Ultimate Championships 2012 (AUC2012) will be held in Newcastle from Sunday 22 April until Wednesday 25 April 2012.

More details will be released after the close of the Mixed Season.

Spuddies Win Third Annual Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships!

2011-08-19T08:07:00.001+10:00

Well, the third annual Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships have been run and won, and the only jobs left to do are write the report, get the engraving done and fill out the budget.

Congratulations to the Spuddies for winning the 3rd Annual Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championship, which this year included the introduction of (yes, as hinted in the paragraph above) a perpetual trophy! Photos to come.

This year we moved to an all-new venue and very swanky it was at the Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre. We will return in 2012 (and maybe before the, if a certain super-secret plan gets traction).

Anyway, after some mucking about during the week and up to the very start time itself, with players stuck in traffic jams or recovering from jetlag and/or hangovers, the tournament solidified into a five team shoot-out, featuring several veterans from all three Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships, as well as a number of 'never-played-indoors-what-a-hoot' types. The draw was a round robin followed by a playoff and a Final.

Round 1

Games started pretty much on time although the TD had to do some hard brain work in sorting out the draw while managing his own excitement at getting to play indoor Ultimate again. Indoor Tsunami had a few players running late to gained the opening bye, while the Pickup team of random Ulti-kids and Dads and mum got their asses quickly onto the court.

As is traditional, the Opening Round involved a lot of folks trying to adapt to the continuous pace of 27 minutes of indoor Ultimate. On the scoreboard, the well-organised Spuddies ironed out the kinks and cleaned up the Pickup team 29-10, while on Court 2 the Patties (aka a big part of the UQ AUGs team) worked over Matilda's Fan Club 24-8.

The Pickup Team give the thumbs up to being picked up.

Round 2

The first round bye allowed Indoor Tsunami to get it together, and coming in fresh against a warmed over Pickup Team, defeating them 20-16 in an entertaining game. The red clad Matilda's Fan Club meanwhile did their best against the increasingly dominant Spuddies, who ended up winning 34-4.

Indoor Tsunami looking a lot like outdoor Tsunami.

Round 3

With fatigue starting to set in for some players, Round 3 became make or break and saw the closest pair of games for the day. The MFC managed to pick themselves up off the timber and rolled the Pickup Team 18-10 in a tight and see-sawing match that saw a number of scoring runs. These two teams were then able to watch the last two minutes of the late-starting Patties/Indoor Tsunami battle which was full of excitement up to and including the final throw, with the game ending in the first draw in Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships history - 15-15!

Matilda's Fan Club - including Matilda's first appearance on the Brisbane Ultimate Blog.

Round 4

After a quick lunch which saw many players eating big time at the well-priced and convenient Metro Centre Canteen (Abra, JdR and Casey battled it out with mega-BLTs), Round 4 saw some big pressure games as the TD had taken a moment to suss out the ladder and started to work out what would happen, finals-time. The Patties had a tough time against the Pickup Team (it could've been Abra's big lunch causing his gut to stick out) before winning 22-14, while the Spuddies kept their momentum up by scoffing jelly snakes and defeated a tiring Indoor Tsunami 29-6.

The Patties looking all ... I dunno. What was that patty stuff about, anyway?

Round 5

Heading into the final round, the Finals looked somewhat settled due to injuries, but that stuff didn't stop Matilda's Fan Club 20 defeating Indoor Tsunami 15, and the Spuddies defeating the Patties 25-10.

B "Selma" W of the Patties is watched closely by a bag of spuds.

Finals

After a quick meeting of the brains trust, all the teams that didn't make the Final got it on for one big-arse pickup game, also known as "Why won't you sub, you bastich/Baker/Mailander!" The score at the end of that was something like 67-66, although I can't be too sure.

Which left us with the Grand Final, featuring the all-conquering Spuddies verses the youthful Patties, in the return battle of the -ies. The game was good and hard fought with no holds barred and no quarter taken, but in the end the potatoes got the win by something like ~~26-10 (corrections welcome in the comments)~~ 21-11.

All that was left was to present the trophy!

A stack of spuds.

Well done all and see you next time.

BPL Round 3

2011-08-18T14:14:00.000+10:00

Minimalism.

2011-08-18T13:50:00.000+10:00

18th August

Dojo vs Cobras

Slamtown vs Blitz

Bugs vs Heroes

Indoor This Wednesday!

2011-08-15T15:14:00.003+10:00

Don't forget for a total change of pace, the indoor tournament is on this Ekka Wednesday (the public holiday).

It looks like there will be a couple of pickup teams, so you don't have to sweat finding a team etc. Its nice to rego so we know you're coming, but you can just turn up if you want (be on time though!).

Bring a white and black shirt (as well as whatever colour your team has organised), waterbottle and some lunch.

DON'T bring your cleats (you may think that's funny, but its been known to happen)! You need non-marking shoes/sneakers/joggers.

Date: Wednesday 17 August 2011 (Ekka Public Holiday in Brisbane)
Time: Doors open 10.15am, game on at 11.00am, all done by 4pm
Where: Logan Metro Indoor Sports - 357 Browns Plains Rd, Crestmead

What: For Brisbane folks, Indoor Ultimate is something different, but its more common in those parts of the world with snow. Indoor Ultimate is a great change of pace – very fast, no wind, and even beginners can throw from endzone to endzone.

Who: If you still want to put a team in - roster size is maximum 8 players. 5 on the court at one time, max. three per gender. But there will be pickup teams for random individuals or small groups.

How much? $100 per organised team or $15 for an individual. Includes courts, insurance, prizes.

Rego: http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1721

There are special rule variations for this event - we'll go through them quickly on the day, but here they are for the swots: http://brisbaneultimatedisc.blogspot.com/2009/07/brisbane-indoor-ultimate-championships.html

BUML17-3 Preview: Safety Behind Bars

2011-08-12T14:05:00.002+10:00

Round Three of Monday night Ultimate is traditionally known as a bit of a Settler. Like a trail of wagons across the plains, all the BUML teams will have fought off any Halibut-induced dysentery, or at least abandoned any of their weaker players at poisoned waterholes, and gone ahead to establish their homesteads at the appropriate part of the ladder (which continues to be thoughtfully maintained by Sheriff Rick over at buml.quda.org).

What does this mean for this week? Possibly some easier tipping for our punters. Your Previewer of course managed only four correct tips last week, making us 13/20 for the season so far. We’re adding the Chimichangas to our List of Doom following their forfeit, you bad bad bad kids. And What the Huck? were all fired up for that game and everything. Anyways, lets look at the draw.

Division 1

Bermuda Triangle vs Co-mingled – Annerley 3A
Co-Mingled should be somewhat over their Halibut-hangover, although they will have lost a few players to the international scene. Bermuda are hanging out for Round 5 when they take on their sister team The Ghost Who Walks.
Our Tip: Co-Mingled by 5.

Dyspnoeics vs Poachers – Annerley 5B
This is, we believe, the Poachers’ 10th season of Monday night Ultimate. Every season they have been under the iron fisted command of a man known to some as ‘Dan’ but to his team as ‘The Leader’. But this week, they are without their beloved Leader. And up against the undefeated and rampaging Dyspnoeics. Hmmm.
Our Tip: Dyspnoeics by 7.

The Ghost Who Walks vs Heroes – Griffith 1
This game should be very interesting as it features two very evenly matched teams. Except for the view that both teams are as vanilla as can be (while still being dressed in the Hulk colours of green and purple). Being defensive specialists, both teams will enjoy being on the slightly smaller field at Griffith.
Our Tip: The Ghost Who Walks by 3.

Wuxi Finger Hold vs UQ Lovers – UQ7A
This is a big one, with both teams undefeated so far this season. Anyone taking on UQ at home would normally be a bit nervous, but Wuxi are full of folks with St Lucia connections and are the Premiers after all.
Our Tip: Wuxi Finger Hold by 5.

Division 2

Plastic Scourgery vs Agent Orange – Annerley 3B
Neither of these two teams have been pushed so far this season. Tonights the night for someone to end up out of bed.
Our Tip: Agent Orange by 2.

Mellow Yellow vs What The Huck? – Annerley 5A
This is a bit of a Batman vs Superman battle. Like Mellow Yellow, Batman on his day can beat anyone through careful planning, big budgets and just being damn cool. Plus the crowd love him. Superman meanwhile is diamond hard and can move at light-speed, which describes What the Huck’s style perfectly. So it could in some ways be no contest. However, the question is, what to use as a kryptonite substitute?
Our Tip: What the Huck? By 3.

Discheads vs Griffith Go-Go's – Griffith 2
The Discheads have won both their games this season by a single point, but they don’t expect the Griffith Go-Go’s, who again are introducing new players to Ultimate this season, to trouble them.
Our Tip: Discheads by 5.

QUTies vs Griffith Oh Yeahs – Griffith 3
Bottom of the table clash! It shows the spread of Division 2 that going in to Round 3 there are only two teams that haven’t gained a ladder point yet. So this will be a big confidence boost for one of these groups.
Our Tip: Griffith Oh Yeahs by 2.

Disc-iples vs Slipped Discs – Griffith 4
We’ve finally deciphered the Disc-iples’ fancy new shirt logos, and realised they’re into MEEEETTTTAAAAL! Dneirf si rouy natas indeed! However, constantly waving the demon fingersign all Gene Simmons style though can make it hard to catch the frisbee. Slipped Discs meanwhile are coming off a solid win over the often inebriated Mellow Yellow and will be looking to continue a warm glow.
Our Tip: Disc-Iples by 5.

Tsunami vs Chimichangas – UQ7B
Battle of the Punch-drunk! AO got out the whacking stick on Tsunami last week, while the Chimichangas had trouble even turning up. In the interim, seven nights of tossing and turning will have passed for most of both teams. Fortunately we understand that Gio operates all the better under sleep deprivation. Unfortunately, Reece is useless.
Our Tip: Tsunami by 4.

BPL Round 2 (Get Yer Tips In)

2011-08-11T16:15:00.002+10:00

Tonight's matches: (cancellation will be announced at 5 if necessary)

Dojo vs Bandidos

Bugs vs Cobras

Slamtown vs Heroes

Women of Brisbane Ultimate - UNITE!

2011-08-11T08:39:00.003+10:00

With over 100 women currently playing Monday night Mixed, plus plenty of recruitment at the Universities this semester, things are looking very good for the upcoming season of the Women's Ultimate Frisbee League (WUFL), particularly with the firm move to THURSDAY NIGHT (Tuesday nights always made backing up from Monday very hard).

Here's the rundown from League Directors Anna and Aurel:

When: Thursday Nights 7-9pm from 8 September to 10 November (10 week season)
Where: Oakman Park, Toowong
Cost: $35 new WUFLers, $45 regulars

To register your awesome team or yourself, go to www.afda.com, log in using your AFDA # and password and use the following link:
http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1034

If you are new, register on http://www.afda.com/editmember.php?action=add

Everyone is welcome, no matter what level you're at, so bring your friends, workmates and family, as long as they're women it's all good!

BUML17-2 Preview: Miles Behind Us

2011-08-05T18:07:00.000+10:00

And we’re back for a second week. Well done team!

Given the burden of such a large field of teams and the unrelenting demands of our readers for us to maintain our high quality, we’re going to start inserting just a basic one-liner in for some games each week If you feel like your team is being ignored, you can of course open fire in the comments section.

Before going into this week’s games, how did we go with our tips last week? Check out the results over at http://www.buml.quda.org/. We got 7 wins and 1 draw from 9 games, and 4 within two points of our tipped margin. So you all owe us money. Obviously we can start to think the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion's Tipatron9000 (by StrelanCorp, naturally) knows what it’s doing here. We feel most let down by What the Huck?, so we’re watching you guys - especially TJ and Pieman. That said, this is a tough week to call.

Division 2 Games

Tsunami vs Agent Orange – Annerley 3B
This game sees a match up of two of last season’s titans (not the Gold Coast loser flavoured ones), and they’ve started this season well too. Tsunami started with a quake, rolling over the Oh Yeahs 17-6, while Agent Orange defeated a slightly underdone What the Huck? 13-6.
Our tip: Tsunami by 1.

QUTies vs Discheads – Annerley 5A
Despite some personal assurances to the contrary, there really is nothing to see here, so let’s move along.
Our tip: Discheads by 2.

Chimichangas vs What the Huck? – Griffith 4
This will be a great game – both teams love to put it on ‘Entertainment Tonight’ style, and What the Huck? will be looking to provide the John Tesh to the Chimi’s Mary Hart. Or is that Richard Wilkins? Either way, we think this will be a very special episode of Monday Night Ultimate, unless you think Briggsy has jumped the shark.
Our tip: Chimichangas by 4.

Disc-iples vs Griffith Go-Go’s – Griffith 3
The Disc-iples lost by a point to the Discheads last week, while the Go-Go’s drew with Mellow Yellow, so expect both teams to come out looking to reduce their error rates and eek out a win. The Go-Go’s should get a few of their more experienced players who missed Week 1 back, but they’ll lose dominator Nealo to a trip west.
Our tip: Griffith Go-Go's by 1.

Plastic Scourgery vs Griffith Oh Yeahs – Griffith 2
Scourgery rolled the QUTies over and left the bed with the points last week. The Oh Yeahs are still on the development curve, but gave Tsunami a solid run even if the scoreboard wasn’t too fancy. Dusty won’t recover from the flat fish this weekend though – whether this is good or bad for the Scourgeons these days we’re not sure, but the Oh Yeahs traditionally have a threatening second half and against a tired bunch of blackshits this should be significant. But perhaps not enough.
Our tip: Plastic Scourgery by 4.

Mellow Yellow vs Slipped Discs – UQ 7B
Slipped Discs took on the giant Chimichanga last week and came away with plenty of chilli-flavoured respect, but after digging themselves into and then out of a hole in Round 1, you can expect Mellow Yellow to maximise their honey connections this week and start to lay in the wort for the season.
Our tip: Mellow Yellow by 4.

Division 1 Games

Dyspnoeics vs Co-Mingled – Annerley 3A
Both undefeated after Round 1, this week there can be only one! Like a lot of Division 1 games this week, it’s really going to come down to who survived the Halibut and in what sort of shape.
Our tip: Co-Mingled by 3

Poachers vs Heroes – Annerley 5B
The Heroes have their own blog to talk up their chances in anger when we tip against them and their post-Halibut hangover, and take a chance on the unpredictable Poachers.
Our tip: Poachers by 2.

Bermuda Triangle vs Wuxi Finger Hold – Griffith 1
Bermuda will be banking on the Wuxi elite be well worn from a weekend partying at the Halibut. Expect them to be well warmed up and drilling while the Finger Holds are still trying to find their cleats. Still, it’s tough to call against the Premiers.
Our tip: Wuxi Finger Hold by 4.

The Ghost Who Walks vs UQ Ultimate Lovers – UQ 7A
Second week in, and this is the game of the Div1 Newbies and deserving of more than the one liner. TGWW got a hot roasted ‘welcome to Div 1’ sandwich last Monday, with Wuxi Finger Hold dishing out a 17-6 demolition. Meanwhile, the UQ Ultimate Lovers squeezed past the Poachers 10-9. Like a few others, this is tough to call, but we’re going to go with our (purple) heart.
Our tip: The Ghost Who Walks by 2.

Halibut Talent Scouts - Preview - Drug Wars:

2011-08-04T21:43:00.004+10:00

Blue Steel VS Fun Police

The battle for the coast is on. Stef has the North. Kev has the South. Even Gref and BW are split, the former joining the fiends of the coast while the latter sides with friends on the bay. Both regions have entirely different philosophies. In Byron, the green stuff is natural man - ask and you shall receive, as Bevan found out last year. Yes, The Mayor may be handing out the shit in the foyer, but it's part of a cunning plan. They'll get you onto the hard stuff and you'll get killed, or bankrupt.

This translates to the field, of course. Fun Police have attracted all sorts - from Abra & Trachter who have followed their noses to the GC to Pete Allen, who has wound up there by mistake.

Girls, Girls, Girls!! This is when we see the true talent come out. These girls have been around the block, sporting very low AFDA numbers, but where have they been for the rest of the year? No doubt they will dominate. We'll see nudity, but it'll mostly be from Kevvy. In the circle of love, stand next to Badman, as he's been known to touch an ultimate player a little too professionally, if you know what I mean.

This blogger is tipping the seasoned favourites, Blue Steel over the Fun Police at the party. Our reasoning: The Fun Police will be keen to show off in their home condo, but the home bed will be a disadvantage in this case. Sure, they may pass out in the streets, but no one will know, as the party will be raging inside. Blue Steel are a little closer to home than usual, but no doubt will be invading the Palm Beach Mansion once all the visitors have retired to their apartments.

God I'm tired.

For want of a proper post...

2011-08-03T22:10:00.002+10:00

and for the sake of tipping

Newcomers - Blitz receive the rights of passage / crossing of the line ceremony when they come up against Dojo in Rd 1.

Slamtown and Cobras Get to feel each other out or up or whatever tickles your fancy and see who's got what down there these days.

Los Bandidos will be looking to catch the Buggers early this season.

Heroes have a date with an exquisite tall blonde / brunette / red head at the pub. Maybe one of each.

BUML17-1 Preview: Days Gone Bye

2011-08-01T09:32:00.005+10:00

By our calculations here in the exquisite tea and coffee salon here deep within the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion, tonight sees the opening round of the 17th season of Brisbane’s Monday Night Mixed Ultimate competition.

And once again, the League has grown – this time by a new team - Co-mingled and an old team - UQ (Starlight have reformed as Slipped Discs) – and evolved with the launch of a much improved website.

Such is the fruit of the current League administration continuing into their fourth season, an almost unprecedented era of steady improvement on the organisational front. Thanks in advance to John, Adilia and Chris for all their work.

But some things stay the same, and in our case, this is the weekly challenge of previewing the competition. And its going to be tough this season, what with the talent involved and the opportunities to bag people that are available (Hi Gav). So thanks for showing up, lets see how we go.

Division 1

The powers that be have kept Division 1 exclusive by limiting to eight teams, the same as last season. But there’s been some exciting change amongst the protagonists.

Most excitingly, following the firm establishment of two separate divisions at the start of the year, the results of last season now count for more than bragging rights. Yes, the top team from Division 2 last season, The Ghost Who Walks, has been promoted to the big time!

Meanwhile, the strength of Division 1 has seen some of Brisbane’s top ‘don’t play Monday night’ players come together to form two new Monday night teams, Co-mingled and the UQ Ultimate Lovers. In the case of Co-mingled, Some will say that this team expects to win the League. Others, like Division 1 warhorses like Wuxi Finger Hold, Heroes, Dyspnoeics and Poachers, will disagree. The UQ Ultimate Lovers appear to have gotten a good idea from Griffith – “Hey, we have a home field, we may as well have a home team!”

Heroes v Co-mingled - Annerley 3A
On paper, Co-mingled look very very strong with a number of national and international level players. But they’re playing against the Heroes, who’ve been multi-combo-ing it up in some form or other for 11 seasons so far. Yes, it’s the classic team of champions verses a champion team, and therefore very hard to tip, particularly because you never know if Buzz is going to make it. Note also that Matt B has avoided matching up against his usual club by “going overseas”. Jo A of course is afraid of nothing.
Our tip: Co-mingled by 7.

Wuxi Finger Hold v The Ghost Who Walks - Annerley 5B
Speaking of champions, this game has it all, and we think draw-meister Foxy has been a bit cheeky by firstly matching up the current Division 1 Champions Wuxi up against the current Division 2 Champions The Ghost Who Walks and secondly putting the game on way over on Annerley 5B. But then again, if one of these teams is going to have to do something they’re not used to (ie lose a game), it may as well be a bit out of sight. Much as we think The Men (and Women) Who Cannot Die are going to come out of the blocks hard (and zone like has never been seen in Division 1 before) tonight, Wuxi have retained most of their talent, and recruited well – Chris won’t want to drive back to Toowoomba without having played a big game.
Our tip: Wuxi Finger Hold by 6.

Dyspnoeics v Bermuda Triangle - Griffith 1
Meanwhile back in the pack, it’s the by now traditional season opening blockbuster ‘blue’ between the D’s and the B’s. Mansauce remains gutted by his team’s showing in coming second in last season’s final, and will no express the full range of his displeasure before, during and after the game. Bermuda Triangle meanwhile are just happy that they’re having a night without the kids (although their regular presence at pickup over the break was noted, and suggests the BT’s might be looking to open up this season). Still, when you look at form, its hard to go against last season’s opener back in March which saw the D’s roll the B’s 17-3.
Our tip: Dyspnoeics by 4.

Poachers vs UQ Ultimate Lovers - UQ 7A
The Poachers got plenty of wins last season, but remain a riddle within a mystery within an enigma within a Myall. They have won the most money in art prizes of all the teams in the competition though. UQ Ultimate Lovers are led by Gref but have pulled a Ricky Stuart and won’t be naming a team until 10 minutes before run on. Hard to call, but we’ll go with experience and a confirmed capacity to turn up on time and not be living on instant noodles.
Out tip: Poachers by 2.

Division 2

Meanwhile, Division 2 grows to twelve(!) teams. All our favourites from last season return, while Discheads and Plastic Scourgery are relegated from Division 1 and will be keen to put some wins on the board. Last season’s new team Starlight have renamed themselves the Slipped Discs and will also been keen to rock and roll.

The growth of the competition has pushed the League to squeeze four ‘thinner’ fields in at the Griffith oval, meaning giving a significant defensive advantage to the locals.

What the Huck v Agent Orange - Annerley 3B
AO had the wood on WTH last season. Will it continue, or have the dutch treats lost all confidence following their coming second in last season’s final. A very hard game to pick.
Our tip: What the Huck by 2.

Chimichangas v Slipped Discs - Annerley 5B
The Chimi’s have recruited well in the off season, while the Slipped Discs have focused on image, renaming themselves from Starlight. Despite the Slippers still being on that massive upward improvement curve that comes from being in your second season of Ultimate, is hard to look past the vastly experienced Chimi’s, arguably one of the ‘foundation clubs’ of the competition. Our tip: Chimichangas by 9.

Tsunami v Griffith Oh Yeahs - Griffith 2
Tsunami have recruited a few extra legs, retained most of their almost-all-conquering squad from last season, and will be looking to go one better this season after falling at the semi-final hurdle back in June. The Oh Yeahs meanwhile have enjoyed a pleasant mid-semester break before spruiking themselves hard at the University Market Days. Will this translate into extra ladies? We hope so. It’ll be close, but we have to tip on last season’s form.
Our tip: Tsunami by 6.

Mellow Yellow v Griffith Go Gos - Griffith 3
This may be by some calculations the fourteenth season straight that Mellow Yellow have been playing against whatever team JdR has managed to amass around himself. And so it’s a big one, at least in some heads. For everyone else, it’ll just be some old fashions fun, with MY looking to loosen the shackles of Division 1 getting in the way of their beverage consumption, and the Go-Go’s just happy to be back on the field.
Our tip: Go-Go’s by 1.

Discheads vs Disc-iples - Griffith 4
Disc may disc recruited disc discing motherdiscers, experienced disc discity disc. Second disc disced and discing, Discheads and Disc-iples, disc discerty doo.
Our disc: Discheads by 3.

Plastic Scourgery vs QUTies - UQ 7B
Let’s finish this week’s preview with a couple of songs:

Plastic Scourgery, belted by gamma rays,
Dropped to Div 2, aint that unglamorous,
Runnin’ up and down with the power of a Dusty,
When you look at him, you’ll feel all lusty.
Look out, its PLASTIC SCOURGERY!

QUTies goin’ ta Halibut, Halibut Halibut,
QUTies goin’ ta Halibut, my you’ve got a big butt.

Our tip: Plastic Scourgery by 2.

Halibut Talent Scouts - Preview - What we've heard:

2011-07-31T20:24:00.004+10:00

[DTF may indeed stand for Deep Transverse Friction of the Gluts, as discovered on a google image search]

DTF vs Burley Griffins

DTF: WTF? We've heard that Reece and GIO are rockin' this team with some romance. We've also heard that after the letter F follows the popular combination of 'uck'. We've pointed out to Reece that Fire Truck should read DFT. We've also pointed out that DiscFireTruck is as illogical a name as Dyspnoeics, albeit more pronounceable. Reece is having none of that shit, coz were Gen Y babi n' imma totz ignore correct spelling and dismiss any sibilance of correct grammar, syntax and word choice. Peepz.

Expect some good ol' fashion loving from The Behrendorffs, with the honey-pot overflowing and the flow-on leading to an early departure from the dance floor. Word is that the lovers are staying at Laura's parents place, which would be tot's awks if that happined.

No doubt there will be disc spiking and spiked drinks when the honourable Finn McCarthy-Adams enters the field of play. The competition is on for who can most destroy a disc - Finn or Linus. I think you know why.

To be honest, this team is full of characters to make good humoured jest of. Let's move on.

The Burley Griffins: Not to be mistaken with Aerobic Fitness Club - The Burleigh Griffins. We've got the low-down from Myall on this mixed bag from Canberra. Players such as Mel Gangemi and Vickie Sayer have AFDA numbers lower than 2000. Adam Mortimer also has a lower number but it's triple figures so he's probably like a Tony Ross or Phil Stocks - a dinosaur! I may be wrong, Nathan Litzows number is 52, but if I'm not, these players bring the mongrel!

Myall says that they've got 2 or 4 players who have played Worlds, and not just the World Clubs types - we're talking Australia! They've chucked in the up and coming Linuses of Canberra and promise to excite. The most exciting name, no doubt, is Phillipe McCracken, who, if he is a straight man, will be watching his back at the party, so as to avoid any confusion resulting from the innuendo surrounding his name.

Speaking of the party, if these guys are anything like Myall, they will win the talent show with circus acrobatics and sword fighting of the traditional kind, thank you very much. They will abstain from alcohol, instead choosing to rogaine through the night, ending with a hands-only climb of Mt Warning, before returning to Palm Beach and challenging Al's harem of temporary housemates to Guns at Dawn.

I feel that this has been one of my best posts, and you plebs in your cubicles should be thankful that I have been conserving my energies lately, so that I may blow you away with such phenomenal drivel.

End Post.

[recognise THESE calfs?]

OMG! BUML website goes live!!

2011-07-31T12:02:00.002+10:00

Wowsers, this shit is real.

Get on over to buml.quda.org and check out Rick's sweet work, themed in a lovely "Heroes Green" ;-). Nice.

League starts this week, 1st August, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief as up-to-date information can finally be found in an easy-to-read format on the website!!

End POst.

Beach Ultimate Players Involved In Media Scandal

2011-07-31T11:43:00.004+10:00

From Aug 21 to Aug 28, 2011 we are expecting 80+ teams and 1,200+ athletes from 35 countries and 5 continents on the beaches of Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy). It will be the biggest Beach Worlds ever!

The Queenslanders involved are: Chris Cunliffe, Kristen "Notty" Nott (co-captain) and Madeline "Molly" Young - playing on the mixed team aka 'Breakers'

Finn McCarthy, Jack Liliwall, Dan Blacklock, "Silent" George Salisbury and Keith Cameron-Smith on the mens team (= Saltwater Crocs)...

Tam Davis (Captain) Mel Aube and Emma Briggs on the women's team, which may be named "Platypussies" or 'Platypi'. (Platyp* was down to only 9 players, and was in danger of having to withdraw until Tam took charge and saved the day with her super recruiting power and never-say-die attitude...)

This unusual behaviour on the Gold Coast has in recent times, attracted a swarm of media attention:

Recent Sports Tonight footage of the Sydney-based players (keep watching for file footage clips with Queenslanders Alistair Don and Chris Cunliffe winning gold for Australia in Brazil in '07.)

Local newspaper coverage of the recent training camp on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast news (NBN) piece on the training camp (you may need to install a plugin to watch, but it's got clips of Finn McCarthy, Tam Davis, Emma Briggs and Molly)

Don't miss the usual shtickle from the Slamtown Blog (Stefan trumpeting the punching-bags win over the Aussie Open team -- bit scandalous)

[Courtesy of Molly]

Halibut Talent Scouts - Preview - What we know:

2011-07-22T17:20:00.009+10:00

Heroes vs Team Plank

Heroes: Ok, so we'll start with what we know, and I know what my team has been up to lately! An early start to a mixed nats campaign has seen the Heroes Ultimate Club hone in on some no nonsense training and make some very tough selections in the eve of Halibut 15. The exclusion of Starkey is likely to hurt the kids in green at the party. Meanwhile, Rick and Sean will be busting it on the field and we all know what Bevan is capable of. Expect arrogance from the Heroes women who are hung-over from the WUFL win of yester-year, and have not had to prove themselves through a selection process. The men will be looking to them to learn a thing or two about winning matches when it counts.

Team Plank: At a guess, it would be fair to imagine that the interstate travellers have had two training sessions together by now, and the Mayor would be pulling all sorts of things out of his .. hat at GC training. Everyone else is probably slacking off, with the exception of Team Plank. With Stu and Maylin training for worlds and big Rob Lowe in the form of his life off the back of a Firestorm season, this team looks sharp. With an average age of 30 (being generous), there is no doubt that Sophie Stewart will provide the lead-out at the party for the more seasoned campainers, namely Cola, who will be drinking anything but his namesake. But back to Rob Lowe - just think Jens Voigt in regards to drinking efforts. Rob will certainly enjoy dishing out the pain.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more meaningless speculation. At this rate, we'll have it covered by Worlds!

As Sam Schlencker said: "I've been practicing the art of Plonking for years. It involves drinking a lot of wine and falling asleep in strange positions."

Saturday Madness - Disc Golf Wins!?

2011-07-21T08:38:00.003+10:00

We here at the stately mansion are once again stretched in all directions, and no more so than this Saturday where there are three entirely separate opportunities for flying disc fun.

The Australian Beach Ultimate Squad are having their training camp at Coolangatta all weekend. This is their last time together before departing overseas to battle on the sands of Italy for gritty barefoot glory! The squad will be set up on Coolangatta beach, close to the corner of Warner St and Marine Pde 10am-4pm both Saturday and Sunday. They're looking for people to play against each afternoon from about 2pm.

Of course if that doesn't appeal, Dusty-and-aL-speed beach Ultimate is on as usual, from 10am Saturday morning at Palm Beach.

Meanwhile, sisters are doing it for themselves with the second SatHATaday session at New Farm Park from 2-4pm.

But perhaps most excitingly, this weekend sees the Queensland Disc Golf Championships, and for those who don't lurk on http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/quda-discgolf/, let us tell ya, its firing up in a manner almost comparable to the Tour de France (well, not really, but this will be the most exciting weekend of disc golf in Queensland ever!)

What's going on on Mondays?

2011-07-18T11:42:00.003+10:00

Rumours are rife that Dyspnoeics are dominating the fields at Griffith on Monday nights - as Mansauce is far to busy with other mixed sport to play ultimate on other nights!

GUUC are rocking the autobusse, providing some outrageous game play for new-comers and old-hands to be involved with.

Tonight is a battle of the universities, with historical UQ field 7 being open for a learn to play and pickup night. If you're into the latest movements you will have no doubt be eager to buck tradition, and play with the new kids at Griffith.

18th July - UQ Pickup 7:30 - 9.
Griffith pickup (& learn to play) 7 - 9:15.

As usual, bring your black and whites + water bottle & cleats. Smack talk is recommended.

25th July - Annerley learn to play.

The next MOnday - GAME ON!! Season 2 (or so we believe)

Regurgitating things from mailing lists

2011-07-14T16:19:00.001+10:00

An update from JMac
---
G'day all,

We're halfway through the year.
In Australia, this means that the university and mixed seasons are ramping up, and some of Australia's longest-running tournaments will be announcing this year's details.
I thought it might be useful to give a heads up about what's coming in the next 6 months...

---

EVERYONE - LOCAL

The Mayor of Slamtown is making sure everyone knows about Halibut (August 6-7, Gold Coast).
This is one of the oldest and best tourneys in Australia, combining fun & participation with a high quality top end of teams from around the country.

We may be seeing a local tournament in late August (TBC), if necessary - QUDA will be able to confirm this soon.
Mixed Nationals, in late October, requires teams to qualify through their regions. For everyone who's not trying to go to Mixed Nats, this will mean a chance to get out and just play Ultimate.

Lovefest has been run in early September for a few years now, and the UQ crew have got it pencilled in on 10-11 September at the moment.
Like the Mixed Nationals qualifier, this is a mix of focused teams preparing for a national competition (in this case, uni teams), and a bunch of locals just having a good time.

The previous two years has seen the Big Sky battle in late October. You can expect to hear over the next couple of months if this tournament is returning in 2011, so keep an ear out.

EVERYONE - NATIONAL

The Melbourne Hat is only second to Nationals in terms of size and history, now in its 24th year. The date has been locked in for 9-11 December at Albert Park.
Playing the Hat is virtually a rite of passage for Australian Ultimate players. From international superstars to complete newbies off the street, the goal of all players is to meet people and have fun playing summer frisbee.

One week later, (officially TBC, but very likely) on 18 December, the Longest Day (and Longest Weekend) continue the summer Ultimate in Sydney. Another fixture on the Australian calendar, but with a twist: it's the country's longest-running beach tourney.
After golf on Friday night, and usually a solid Saturday afternoon hit-out of beach schtick, a wide array of summer fruit awaits competing teams of all levels. A dip in the waves between points can be a great way to relieve the heat.

(I'm currently planning on heading to both, probably driving... anyone want to join me? gimme a yell. tourney convoy!)

UNIVERSITY

With Monash and Macquarie freshly crowned as winners of Southern/Eastern Uni Games, all eyes are now turning to the Australian Uni Games, 25-30 September on the Gold Coast.
UQ has enjoyed this location in the recent past, taking the crown in 2007 and 2009. Griffith and QUT are also looking to send teams; could there be any chance of seeing resurgence from JCU or Bond? Be there to find out.

---

A special plug: Halibut, Melbourne Hat and Longest Day are probably the three biggest, longest-running, most popular participation tournaments in the country.
That means that all of them now have limited space available; since they're open to anyone without restriction/qualification, they all fill up easily each year.
Get in early!

Hopefully that's a useful summary.
If there are tournaments on that list you've never played, have a think about it (and then do it!). They're all fantastic experiences.

Cheers all. Happy Julius Caesar's birthday :-)

John

Team Rego Due for Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships!

2011-07-14T08:59:00.002+10:00

So the 3rd Annual Brisbane Indoor Ultimate Championships are just over a month away.

TD JdR has to pay the deposit one months out - but he needs to be confident he'll have at least six teams attending before he blows that cash.

Can you match the heroics of previous winners, Mongo and Novovengo? Or perhaps just come along and have a great time.

Date: Wednesday 17 August 2011 (Ekka Public Holiday in Brisbane)
Time: Doors open 10.15am, game on at 11.00am, all done by 4pm

What: For Brisbane folks, Indoor Ultimate is something different, but its more common in those parts of the world with snow. Indoor Ultimate is a great change of pace – very fast, no wind, and even beginners can throw from endzone to endzone.

Who: Get a bunch of mates together and get registered – space is limited! Roster size is maximum 8 players. 5 on the court at one time, max. three per gender.

How much? $100 per team if 7 or more teams register. $120 if its 6 teams or less. Includes courts, insurance, prizes.

Rego: http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1721

Could the Weather Be More Perfect for Pickup?

2011-07-11T09:07:00.002+10:00

Isn't this the perfect weather for pickup games? No need to 'take a sub for the team' or follow Captain's orders and get your ass on the sidelines, as you would in the highly competitive BUML. Instead its run and run and run and enjoy the dry cool and windless air. Truly, Brisbane rocks for Ultimate.

Anyway, pickup is on tonight at Griffith Uni's AFL Field off Kessels Rd, Nathan. Lights on at 7pm, lights off at 9pm. All welcome, especially non-Monday night regulars - bring a light shirt and a dark shirt.

Muddled

2011-07-05T12:13:00.000+10:00

Guys and girls,

After thousands of seconds of preparation, and eager anticipation from
huge crowds of a dozen or so people... the Muddle happened on Saturday.

Congratulations to Becky Hill, unrivalled Queen of the tournament with 5
wins from 5 games.
Romantics were shattered to see aerial dominance triumph over true love,
with Mike Larson stealing the King crown from James Larkin in a double
game point thriller.

Huge thanks to Kaitlin & Jules for arranging a lunch exactly to
specifications (good & abundant), to Silent George for arranging all
necessary equipment to turn up and depart without a word, to Finn (and
later Kaitlin) for setting us up with party music, to Pete for doing a
last-minute trip to Chermside to grab prizes and to everyone who pitched
in during the day.

For those who're interested, I've made the final budget available:
http://db.tt/roEKm5b
It'll be up there for a couple of weeks, or until I remember to take it
down, whichever comes second...
(cheap shameless plug: it's uploaded on Dropbox, which is great; if you
want to sign up, use my referral link: http://db.tt/BL86NiY)
Any questions, comments, concerns, get in touch.

Stay tuned for the next installment in "random tournament ideas"!
To keep you entertained in the meantime, check out Halibut, the Indoor
Champs and Lovefest in the coming couple of months!

John
Muddle TD

Up Yer BUML: Seems Like a No-Brainer: Grand Final Preview

2011-07-04T10:44:00.002+10:00

Borag Thungg BUML-lets! It is I, JdR the Immaculate, here once again with your final BUML preview for the season. Its been a long hard slog but never let it be said that JdR the Perservering didn’t do his best to post something most weeks (finals excepted – new job and all).

Tonight is the night, when the best of the best in spectating terms get to sit around, eat pizza, and watch the hammer-drunk survivors of BUML Season 1-2011 duke it out for Finals glory.

By the Rosette of Sirius which sits upon my brow, the thrill-power generated by these two games is likely to hit leg-liquifying, face-melting levels, so make sure you wrap up warm, bring your chair and check out our preview below.

Division 2: The Ghost Who Walks vs Agent Orange – Griffith 1

Purple verses Orange would probably make for the lairiest Ultimate final seen in Brisbane for many many years, if not ever, as our city has traditionally been somewhat conservative in Ultimate shirt colours (at least until the Heroes took on green and the floodgates opened).

The Ghost Who Walks have certainly had a great season, with only a single loss that we’re aware of, to Minor Premiers Tsunami. They easily rolled the exam-effected QUTies in their quarter-final, and a fast-finishing What the Huck in their Semi.

The Purples have a strong line-up that makes best use of the team’s diverse skill sets, with a very strong zone-defence and gut busting female cutting on offence.

TGWW also have the wood on AO, defeating them 14-11 and 17-9 in their two matchups, both of which were middle of the season.

Agent Orange meanwhile are best described as battle-hardened, and certainly come into the Finals as both underdogs (coming into the Finals in 6th position with 5 wins and 5 losses) and the form team of the Finals, with good wins against quality opposition in the quarter final against the Baby Chims and a mighty one in the Semis against Tsunami.

Can the Nipples shut down the Justin and Joe show? Will Bevan show up? What will Vanessa and Alana show off? We’d also better mention Gavin. I, JdR the Showy-offy, will have trouble not putting both eyeballs onto this game.

Division 1: Dyspnoeics vs Wuxi Finger Hold – Griffith 2

But then there’s this other game – worth at least one eyeball also, if not two or more if you have them. Both of these teams are very very talented and are likely to deliver some entertaining play.

Mansauce the Astrologically-inclined has already called it for his team, noting wins for all his other teams (Queensland Reds, NQ Cowboys, Brisbane Lions) over the weekend suggesting some sort of cosmic alignment, no doubt filtered through Andy L’s red nut.

Wuxi meanwhile we have little to say about, with their media death-star refusing all requests for comment and we here at the Brisbane Ultimate Blog finding it necessary not to talk about them anyway - the release of power should there ever be a confrontation could well end life on earth if we know it!

Looking at what really counts, we see that the D’s defeated Wuxi in a close one (10-8) a few months back in their only meeting for the season. Wuxi defeated the tough Poachers in their Semi, while the Dypnoeics ended the Heroes season last week.

Wuxi are well known for dominating once they get a roll on, and it’ll be up to the Blues to stop this from happening. Props to big daddy Baker, whom we can't help but mention.

Splundig Vur Thrigg!

See you tonight, and again next season.

Congratulations to those who recognised the titles for each of our weekly previews as being drawn from episodes of Survivor: Redemption Island. Let’s hope for a more climactic final set of games tonight!

Thanks also to those who have enjoyed the ongoing theft of lines and concepts from the Mighty Tharg, god-editor of the greatest comics anthology in the galaxy, 2000AD. Splundig Vur Thrigg!

Brisbane Ultimate Royalty

2011-07-01T17:50:00.001+10:00

A post from the newly-censored JdR!!

So BPL TD Graham recently released the teams for the upcoming NSEW Draft League.

Our biased analysis is currently being put together by our room full of typewriting monkeys and the usual gang of idiots and we hope to post it immediately after the season ends. Yeah Brisbane Ultimate Blog.

But of course, what's more interesting is WHO amongst the elite of the Brisbane Ultimate fraternity is considered Brisbane Ultimate ROYALTY.

Royalty, that is, because of course they only need a single name to identify themselves, with Graham of course taking the David Dimblebee / Perez Hilton role.

Let’s go through that list.

Reece
It’s hard to see Reece as proper Brisbane Ultimate Royalty, due to the relentless self-promotion and the near continuous reference to himself in the third person – ie “The Reece is hot today.” “The Reece only eats green M and M’s.” “The Reece is at peace.” Yes, its an effort at hip-hop royalty, but not a great one. Not Royalty.

Dusty
This is controversial, as thanks to recruitment of Dusty2 at the Griffith University, there is no longer only a single Dusty in Australian Ultimate (it has been noted that Dusty no longer ventures past the 10km-from-the-CBD-line for his Ultimate). While it’s not that hard to emulate Dusty’s onfield style (tip – don’t run more than several meters at once), on the other hand, Dusty2 would have to do a lot to gain the appropriate and well deserved prominence that Dusty has gained on the world Ultimate party scene. Hence, Dusty deserves his place. Royalty.

Molly
No brainer. Blonde, killer smile, attracted to danger, PR savvy. Our own Princess Di. Royalty.

Finn
Well, he’s got the rampant ego of a born-to-rule royal, but its hard to match that up with his proletarian revolutionary outlook on the world. On balance of probabilities and despite having originally come to us from monarchist-heaven Adelaide, we have to say Not Royalty.

Gref
Let’s just call him a Princess Gref and be done with it. Royalty, but only within the confines of the UQ St Lucia Campus.

Tracter
For those who don’t know, Tracter is the only surname on the list (ignoring the special AFDA-governed arrangement for Notty – see below), and hence we’ve really only included him to void him, although to anyone who’s seen him play it should be obvious. Not Royalty.

Notty
Notty is unique amongst Brisbane Ultimate Royalty, in that much like Duran Duran (the Barabarella character, not the band), the double barrelled name of Notty Nott solves all sorts of problems, and has been officially approved by the AFDA. Avoid references to Wayne’s World and other comparable pop culture artifacts. Royalty.

Coops
With his amusing gaffs and preference for a tipple, Coops comparable to the Duke of Windsor (also known as Phil the Greek). Still, he has a certain charm. But he doesn’t qualify for this list and we’re looking at single real names (and Andy don't cut it), not nicknames more random than ‘Pants’ Austin. Married into Royalty.

Leon
Leon has a perfectly serviceable nickname, so its not clear why he’s been offered up for single-name Royalisation. Perhaps it’s a reference so his skills as a movie assassin? We’ll sit on the fence for this one. Aristocrat.

Suze
No problem here. It’s Queen Suze. Just check out those outfits from that visit to the Botanic Gardens last year. Royalty.

ps - other people you would’ve though didn’t need no stinking identifier aside from their first name:
Abra
Myall
Carl
Dan

Surviving Le Tour

2011-07-01T12:41:00.004+10:00

Just remember kids, blogging is for fun and not in this case, not for serious advice. The following post is light-hearted and a personal dietary prescription from a practitioner is always more appropriate than advice you've read on the net.

BIG DISCLAIMER: If you are on meds, you really shouldn't take any of this as advice.

I was recently at a dinner party, and amongst the guests were some people who were known to me as cycling enthusiasts. I whispered "July 2" across the table. My friend winked and said "Better start sleep loading!"

A preposterous idea, of course. But it got me thinking - what can you do to survive Le Tour?

What are the issues here? Obviously number 1, you don't get enough sleep. But what are the flow-on effects of this?

1. At this time of year, you are likely to be run down as it is, and a lack of sleep may just tip you over the edge and bring on a flu. This may be a good excuse to sleep all day and stay up all night. You may also lose your job.

2. You are unproductive and lack mental alertness during the day.

1. Well known nutrients for the immune system include: Vitamin A, C, and Zinc. Supplementation is great, but in the diet, foods containing these vitamins include: Carrots - juice two of these with 2.5cm of ginger and maybe some orange/lemon. Delicious! In fact, make sure you use at least 2.5cm of ginger per day - you can juice it you can make a herbal tea with it (don't add it to tea though) you can cook with it - likewise, use shitloads of garlic wherever possible - in your cooking, but you may also just cut up a clove and suck it back with some honey to prevent burning your esophagus on the way down. This is extremely stimulating to the immune system for a variety of reasons to boring to mention here. Use 1 Orange, 1 Lemon, 1 Lime per day. You can eat it, you can drink it, you can make a dressing. Don't apply heat though, as this rapidly reduces Vitamin C levels available. Just eat Oysters all the time, hey. You can deal with the mercury poisoning later. August is for detoxing! Pepitas are little green seeds and they are pretty fuckin' boring if you ask me, but just grind it up, perhaps in your magnificent chicken soup with all that onion, celery, and the veges I've already mentioned.

If you want to win friends, you'll have been avoiding salad for some time now. It might be good just to blend the shit up, perhaps with a banana, if you're made of money. It tastes better than it sounds, believe me. Add some honey, but make it bush honey because that's more than just sugar, if you know what I mean. You probably don't - look up Manuka Factor and read something aside from marketing. Do you know how to use google scholar? You're right. Research is bullshit anyway.

Back to chicken and oysters - protein, my friend. It's your friend. You know you need it when you're on your bike, but you're going to want it to fight off the plague. It's also going to help you sleep at night, when you've been abusing your body and mind but not your soul, because you stayed up watching that beautiful Mediterranean or Swiss Alp scenery, only to fall asleep and find out at work the next day after your 6th coffee that Mark Cavendish won the sprint. Again. So you can eat raw eggs like those body builders you've always despised, combine legumes with grains like a hippy, or eat a goddamn steak and be done with it.

By now your body is probably quite tired, even though you haven't been exercising. Smash some nuts to get your magnesium fix (not peanuts, idiot) - you'll need some B-Vitamins too - hell, just start taking that multi again that you bought last year - it's still in the cupboard, i saw it last time I was over.

Whatever you do, don't order a Pizza at 11:55pm. They will spit in it.

Remember to drink water - you probably forgot because it's been cold lately.

OK

For mental alertness you can drink green tea, peppermint tea, take korean ginseng, withania is another good herb for endurance, try rubbing essential oils into your temples - alternatively you can quit wanking and have another coffee. Eventually it's effects will be dimmed, so you'll need to take more. Addiction is fun like that.

There it is, my tips to surviving the tour. I'd like to hear your ideas.

PS. Shiitake Mushrooms.

And finally... what we've all been waiting for:

2011-06-28T12:30:00.002+10:00

Wuxi advance to the Grand Final of Div 1 after toppling the favoured Poachers!! This is familiar territory for Wuxi. Their opponent, Dyspnoeics, have also featured in a Grand Final in recent times, albeit a loss in Div 2. This will indeed be a battle of the Titans.

In what will be a spectacle or an eye-sore, depending on whether you have dropped anything funky lately, will be a match-up between Agent Orange and The Ghost Who Walks - GWW knocking out What The Huck? last night at Annerley.

So there you have it folks, the minor premiers bow out in both divisions. In placing matches:

Discheads defeated Yellow

Quties defeated Chimis

The Egg & Spoon Race

2011-06-28T12:17:00.000+10:00

Bermuda Triangle won by forfeit over Plastic Scourgery. Sadly, not a single member of PS turned up.

Disc-iples won by forfeit over Griffith Oh Yeahs. Unfortunately the Oh Yeahs could not field enough women - too many students on holiday now. The teams shared players and had a good game.

The Griffith Go-Go's and Starlight played each other last week and didn't see much point in doing it again, so the Bermudans were added into the mix for a pickup game.

See you for the Finals at Griffith next week.

Agent Orange & Dyspnoeics Advance

2011-06-27T23:30:00.003+10:00

Dyspnoeics have marched into the Grand Final with a convincing 16 - 8 win over Heroes at UQ tonight.

In Div 2, Agent Orange got out to an 8-3 lead but took the half 9-7. They won by 2 or 3 points over Tsunami in what was likely the game of the season for Div 2. One man got quite horizontal. Guess who?

Results from the other grounds are still unavailable. All will be revealed when Michael or some other source leaves a comment on this post!

Who Will Win Div 1?

2011-06-27T08:56:00.005+10:00

Poachers

Back when this blogger wore Green on a Monday night, we had a saying: "Which Poachers?" We knew without question that Dan Blacklock would be there, but who would he have lassoed in for the fight that night, and how would they perform? The latter question has not been asked this season - Dan's herd having a clean record. The real question is - Can they be stopped?

Dyspnoeics

It comes as no surprise that a team as old as Mellow Yellow and Bermuda Triangle could get their shit together and dominate in the top division. With a little help from their friends, Mansauce & Baker have sauced all over most of the competition, only losing to half of the teams that still remain in the race.

Wuxi

Rumours have it that it is no longer fun-and-finger-holding-chinese-mind-games at Kaitlin's place. As minor premiers, there is a lot of expectation to follow up. Wuxi have had just one spill of the bleach in their performance this season and they are poised for another Grand Final birth.

Heroes

This team does not resemble the Super Heroes who entered the (arguably more difficult) Div 1 last season. Perhaps this is a good thing. The blooding of some young talent and the disturbing amount of Hampels in this team is no doubt part of the winning formula that Heroes have found this season. Heroes will be hoping that the stars align and they have Chaddy & Guarin when it counts.