This weekend is a big one in the East for the Open and Master division. No Borders will be held in Ottawa (on bad fields mind you). You can read some of the banter in Ottawa and less so in Toronto. There are some matchups that could happen that will be exciting to watch.
- Glum vs Tombstone - Ontario's top two Masters teams will go at it. Some of these guys played together on the Canada's world silver medalist team in 2004. Now they meet in battle with both teams shoring up to be the team with the World picking power. Glum brings Peter Knowles and his legendary cutting ability and some good handlers backed by Chris Sullivan to a cast of talented guys. Tombstone counters Peter with their own cutting stars, Geoff Simonett and Andrew Edgell, and a handler core with names like List, Agius, and Smolak. The difference here will be the two young studs on Tombstone - McArton and Stockdale. I don't think this game will happen on Day 1, but we'll see.
- Tombstone Wins 13-9 if it's early in the day, 13-7 if it's later in the tournament
- Phoenix vs Red Circus - Circus surprised Grand Trunk at the Boston Invite. Is Phoenix ready for the Circus. A win for either team puts them in the upper echelon of Open teams. A loss could mean a steady roll down the hill of doom.
- Phoenix Wins 13-7
- Phoenix vs Mephisto - Phoenix meets a team that I think is just starting to peak. Mephisto will be gunning to win No Borders and be the new other big city in Canada to hold the Borders trophy.
- Mephisto Wins 13-10
- Nads vs Anybody - I just want to get a read on who Nads are and what they're bringing to the Canadian Nationals table. There's rumors of key pickups so this won't exactly be the team we'll see in August.
- Firebird vs Roy - This is the one I'm really excited about. It's the two tiered club system of Ottawa versus the three tiered club system in Toronto. Roy's mixed up their team jersey colors and they've put a cast of players together who want to compete and can. Firebird is rumored to have the most grueling fitness preparation of any team in the continent. Unfortunately, you can't run with the disc.
- Firebird Wins 13-11 with an early jump and lots of screaming. Roy can't recover but makes a run that'll prove the difference at Nationals
- Firebird/Roy vs Too Bad - Too Bad will be a little stripped down by Nads and Maddington Bears (other team name suggestions: Bragiddy Anne or Killthee-the-Pooh or Furious George ... oh wait). Is this an opening for Firebird/Roy to get that win against Harry's pickup elite?
1. Furious George - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 2-3
2. Goat - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 4-1
3. Invictus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1
4. Mephisto - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 11-1
5. Phoenix - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 20-1
6. Blackfish - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1
7. Nads - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1
8. Red Circus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1
9. Grand Trunk - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 35-1
10. Q - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 40-1
11. Magma - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1
12. Too Bad - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 75-1
13. Winnipeg General Strike - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 90-1
14. Mangina - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 100-1
15. Sherbrooke Open - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 110-1
16. Firebird - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 150-1
17. Roy - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 180-1
18. SWASS - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 250-1
19. Hootenanni Pussywillows
Bathurst Odds - 1000-1
20. BID - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1001-1
I miss the million dollar chance.
6 comments:
By the way, I had lots of fun making this post. "The odds must be crazy", that was some good thinking in the shower.
Peter
Has Roy picked up Mike Grant? Cause Firebird played them at TUF and soundly defeated them.
I'm not sure how PJ and crew have missed that, and why everyone wants to see Firebird and Roy play. The better matchup (this year) will be whether Firebird can beat the Grand Trunk team.
Roy had their best outing in the past 2 years vs. Firebird this weekend. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Roy was up 10-8 on Sunday before Firebird stormed back and won with 3 unanswered points.
While competitive and good spirited, the GT/Firebird matchup was not close in terms of score (approximately 10 point margin of victory in GT's favor).
On another day, things might be different; that gap between potential and realization is what makes things so exciting.
You are quite correct in saying that Norm. In fact, one could even say Roy won the game given that it was 10-8 when the game when into hard cap and thus should have ended at 10-9 after Firebird scored. But that is a what-if and an excuse Roy won't make. Can't wait until Nationals for the rematch, should be a good one.
Full marks to Roy for not only playing an excellent game against Firebird on Sunday, but showing great sportsmanship to boot. Coaching from the sidelines, here's what I remember...
Soft cap was supposed to go at 1 p.m., but no one heard a thing. Between 5 and 10 minutes after that, following a score (at 9-7 or 9-8 Roy?), I met with Roy's captain to figure things out and we agreed to put the soft cap on... game to 11.
Apparently, the hard cap sounded during the point when FB scored to make it 10-9 Roy. As was suggested above, there could have been an argument from Roy that the game was over. But the soft cap went on late... now what would happen with the hard cap? The answer? Toronto responds with a great sense of a fair play.
To Roy's credit, there was no delay, and they chose to keep playing, with 2 opportunities to put the game away on O. Ballsy.
Those 2 points were the most intense fun points for Firebird all weekend, and kudos to Roy for letting things play out. Very classy.
No doubt the next rematch will be another good one. It's been a great rivalry over the past few years.
You can count on Firebird working like dogs over the next few weeks to be ready, and chomping at the bit to give GT a better match-up too.
À bientôt!
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