Sorry Mum

You know, my Mum used to say (and still does) that if you can't say anything nice about someone then you shouldn't say anything at all. The problem is that if I lived by that rule all the time I would a) have very little to write about on this blog, and b) do the BPL community a great disservice by failing to address some very important issues. Best not read any further then, Mum.

Oh okay - let's talk about the good things first. Final point of the game, Dojo and Cobras even at 14-14. Strange that I can't clearly remember how that point started, but the Dojo put together a lengthy offensive push featuring innumerable hammers over the Cobras trap zone. It seemed only a matter of time before the inevitable winning Dojo goal would come, until a cross-field hammer outside the Cobras endzone was picked off by a Cobras player who I really should know the name of, and hopefully will soon. The Cobras team then put a fast sequence of completed passes together and scored fairly easily. Game over.

(Post-edit note: Thanks Reece for reminding me about what should have been an unforgettable foul call in the last point, where Finn (I know his name now!) was running in the wrong direction for the disc and collided with Coops, neither of them being anywhere near it, and neither of them intending for there to be any contact. Ah, but a foul was called nonetheless and Cobras got another shot...).

That's it for the "saying good things" bit.

What also has to be said is that due to the actions of a few senior players the Cobras are fast developing a reputation for themselves as a cheating, aggressive, obnoxious and downright nasty team to play against. This must be something that all of their great young guys who just want to play excellent disc find very troubling.

During the game we saw a Cobra player run headlong into Coops, and complaints from the Cobra captain when "dangerous play" was called (i.e. "but he'd already dropped it!" - yeah, because if he caught it he would've ended up knocked to the ground). We had general abuse and arguments over call after call. Probably the "Bug" moment for Cobras though was when Liam called an obviously premature stall on Dave Watson (memory fails as to whether Watto's throw was a goal or had set up an easy goal pass). Even the spectators on the sideline were ridiculing this at the time, and Liam was given the opportunity to retract, but alas... A turnover followed, and what should have been a 12-9 scoreline to Dojo turned into a one-point game at 11-10.

Sure, we made our own mistakes thereafter to lose the game - no-one's denying this. But seeing our lead reduced by 2 points through pure deceit certainly didn't help. I never thought I'd see merit in having referees in Ultimate, but after last week I'm starting to understand. I'm tempted to add further to this point, in particular pointing out that often those who call loudest for referees are also those who are most in need of being scrutinised them, but I won't (any more than I already have)... There's a lightly veiled point being made there for those who care to read between the lines.

I really would have followed my Mums' advice though, even after all that, if the comments from the Cobras captain in the post-game huddle (and afterward, including his ridiculous efforts on the BUB) hadn't been so full of gloating ill-will. If winning a damn trophy is all that matters, and you're prepared to sacrifice your own reputation and friendships to get there then I for one think that's a pretty sad situation, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone there.

Anyway, I've been searching for a suitably tone-lightening witticism to end this post with, but nothing comes to mind. Instead let me just say that it's been an honour and a pleasure to play my 20th consecutive BPL season (yes - every season there has ever been, under the various nomenclatures) with my Dojo teammates Pete Allen, Ryan Black, Matt Eastburn, Rohan Ferris, Sean Flanagan, Jon Good, Andy Lankowski, Leon McIntyre, Darren Shi, Adrian Thompson, Dan Walls, Dave Watson and, for one golden game, Andy McLean. And to all the great, great guys playing in all the other teams - thanks for making the BPL something that we all want to come back to, season after season.

See you for the next one.