AMUC Summary

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.

Poll Catch Up - Obscure Nicknames

A while back we had a bit of a fad using polls over on the east wing of the stately mansion, but we've been a bit slack about posting some of the results. So let's rectify this matter with a look back at the obscure nickname poll. It's not surprising we suppose that Wetnose won this poll. Wetties' nickname sounds a little bit rude, although apparently it comes from his skill and dedication to playing the position of 'puppy' in a defensive zone. That and that it can be difficult for the Australian accent to get the L's in 'Get moving Liam' or a 'Lay out Gillions' off the tongue quickly in a game situation.

There is probably more of a story about Dr Chris Burwell getting the 'Buzz' many many years ago. We'll hazard a guess its at least partially to do with his study of entomology, partly to do with his intense play, and partly aliteration with Burwell. Commenters may wish to put forward their own theories.

'Silent' George is obvious to anyone who's met him, particularly if they did so early in his days on the Ultimate scene. He's a quietly spoken fellow who doesn't say much, and runs very frickin' fast without betraying his location to those with ears.

The nickname of Jangles makes very little sense, until you discover that Adam's surname is Beu (pronounce "Bo"), and have a passing familiarity with the 60's era song "Mr Bojangles." We're not sure how many out there are familiar with early twentieth centry tap dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, but the description on Wikipedia seems to fit: "Audiences enjoyed his understated style ... rarely did he use his upper body, relying instead on busy, inventive feet and an expressive face".

We think Leon 'Fatty' McIntyre has landed Fatty to reflect the Australian tradition of reverse-nicknames - he's tall and skinny so they call him Fatty.

John 'Cheeseburger' McNaughton picked up the cheese following the Queensland u19 team nicknaming his dad, Bruce McNaughton, as Big Mac.

Think we're wrong? Got more info? Comments lines are open.

Loving the Mess

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

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

Messy Buggers

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

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

UQ Lovers

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

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

Past results

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

Players to watch

UQ Lovers - Buzz Burwell

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

Messy Buggers - Jason Ray

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

UQ Lovers - Pete Allen

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

Messy Buggers - George Salisbury

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

BEER AND GIRLS

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

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

On this Day in 1968 ...

Word reaches me that on this day in 1968, a great sage and Ultimate player was born.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUZZ!

I'll leave it to you readers to do the math as to why this is an extra special one.

But on behalf of all of Brisbane Ultimate - CHRIS BURWELL - YOU FRICKI' ROCK!