Our McLeans Are No Longer Showing

We've been meaning to make mention of the departure of Andy McLean, one of the founding DojoMojo players, for quite a while now, and it's simply a sign of our summer slackness that it took our descent on the BUB blog list to a position below even the Cobras to get us typing. This should put things straight, and be a good early test for Reece's commitment.

Ah - if only we had a suitably dorky photo of Andy to put with this post. No doubt Dave Watson or Ryan Black or Jay Sansness will have one hidden away somewhere. We certainly hope they do, as writing 1000 words in lieu of an image of Andy will take us most of the night. But fear not - we'll keep our recollections of Andy's glittering Dojo career brief enough that even Lee O'Dwyer might make it to the end of the post. Then again he would probably have stopped reading already, even if he had managed to drag himself away from the internet's other attractions...

So - Andy McLean. Here at the Dojo Gardens, we'll remember lots of things about Andy's game, including his delightful flick hucks, his honest defence (something you can't say about that many kenshi - although thankfully most of the slackers are now Slamtowners...), his speed, agility and most of all his graceful style. Indeed, it was that very gracefulness that made Andy the winner he is both on and off the field. Despite being seen wearing white waistcoats over black shirts, Andy is one of those guys who transcends the nerdiness inherent in his daytime profession of Town Planning (although calling it a profession is something of a stretch) and ends up marrying a ridiculously hot Brazilian lady. Yes - he's got it all figured out.

Andy McLean - kampai!

Look how far they've come...

Even though he still hasn't dropped by the Dojo kendo hall for a nice chat, Dave Watson AKA the Golden Boy of Queensland Ultimate has managed to find the time to dig through his immense photographic archives to track down some of the earliest recorded images of some current (and not-so-current) Dojo stars.

We're going back to the days of UQ's Field 7 being the solitary home of Brisbane ultimate circa early 2000's. See if you can recognise a blonde-headed, Danish-descended kenshi with a funny surname in this image:



Yes, that's right - it's a much younger (and Dave claims faster) Steve Hjelm. Looking good Hjelmie, and happy to keep a low profile looking slightly shifty in the back row as usual. But speaking of shifty, have a look at Sean Flanagan second from the right in the back row (behind Jay Sansness of whom more shortly). There's something very "Today Tonight" about his look back then, wouldn't you agree? Also looking happy in the front left is Helen Spurling who stopped smiling (and playing) only a year or so after this photo was taken and pretty much immediately after she was struck in the sternum at point-blank range by a Buzz Burwell huck. Ouch.



The question here is not why Jay Sansness is in every team photo, but who that mysterious and goofy-happy looking Dojo-er is at the right-hand rear. And the answer is Dan Blacklock. You'd think that after all these years he'd have stopped living in a share house with other frisbee players, but no - not Dan.



Sansness again. But of greater note is that this image not only contains every male McNaughton that's ever thrown a frisbee but it also contains a younger, happier Andy McLean. That's him with the question mark over his head to the right hand side. Note that he's showing a lot of big hair promise even in these early days. Also, Dave has noted that the individual to the front left of the photo is in fact a much younger-looking Matt Eastburn. Hasn't Matt changed.

Ever the frisbee historian, Dave leads us to believe that this particular winter league, fought out on the cold, dark, pre-desertified UQ fields, was won by a team chock full of Dojo talent...