Dojo Wins BPL Final

Those brilliantly clever Germans at Porsche know they're onto a good thing. They've known it since it came off the drawing board of the late, great Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche in 1963 and they've been living the dream ever since. 

And what is this good thing that they're onto? Well, it's the 911, of course. Not only is it the greatest sports car ever made (and everything Clarkson says against it just reinforces this fact), it is also the most enduring, least modified motor vehicle design of all time! Thanks to Butzi and co., the design department at Porsche AG has been able to put its feet up for almost 50 years, doing nothing other than tweaking the odd headlight detail or adding some cupholders as an excuse to launch a "new" model.

(NB we will also accept the converse theory that when the Porsche design department actually does attempt to create something new, like the monstrous Cayenne 4WD or ghastly Panamera they tend to get things horribly wrong, but that's getting too far off-topic...).

Anyway, how does this have anything at all to do with frisbee blogging? Well obviously everyone knows that we here at the Dojo are big Porsche fans. But despite that it's taken us 105 blog posts to realise how applicable the Porsche philosophy is to the humble act of writing about the exploits of Brisbane's current Premier Ultimate Frisbee team (sorry Bugs - it's well past time to change your tagline :-)). So from now on we're running with every post being called "Dojo Wins BPL Final", which for the statistically inclined, and assuming that we only use this title when it reflects actual events, means that on current form you can expect a new post at the end of 3 out of every 4 seasons...

So here we are - Dojo wins BPL Final! Yay us. We won't bore you with any tedious, blow-by-blow descriptions of the game. Suffice to say it was a properly competitive encounter between the two form teams of the season, starting out with a bunch of nervous turnovers from both teams, followed by some outrageous hail-mary hucks from Al Don to Gref (or basically anyone in the vicinity of the Dojo endzone). But from 4-1 down the Dojo turned on the mistake-free offence and committed defence to score 14 of the next 17 points and walk away with the Dog Cup. Which is now covered in rust thanks to it having spent a season by the beach...

Highlights included a massive layout from Al Don to hold onto a huck from Gref and score Slamtown's last goal of the night, MVP Dan Walls owning the air all over the park (with a bit of help from Pete Allen...), and Leon McIntyre failing to hold onto a block in the endzone which would have given him the title as the first player ever to score the winning BPL grand final goal with a Callahan. Oh well.

Hang on - we nearly forgot THE highlight of the night, which was a thank-god-it's-on-video layout score from our very own Adam Baker, also known as the BPL League Director. Awesome effort all round Adz. And BTW thanks for the sensational Mountain Designs jacket "Winning Captain" prize. Love it.

Yep with sweet prizes and seamless management, the BPL just keeps getting better and better. Hopefully it'll also keep getting bigger and bigger - if you're out there somewhere reading this (still!) and thinking of giving BPL a go then don't think about it any longer - get on down for the all-comers winter league (check out the Brisbane Premier League blog for more info) and try it out for yourself.

Now - how long will we have to wait to see the full video coverage appear at Gold Coast Ultimate???

Be the Club...

What do you get when you combine late-night highlights of the Ryder Cup with a nice dram of Macallan? The first post on the Dojo blog in a long time - that's what.

Oh man - so much to write about, so many distractions. Let's take it from the top. DojoMojo has qualified for yet another BPL grand final this season with a gritty 3-point win over Cobras. And that's where the latest round of controversy starts!

Controversy #1 - Reece

We (ie I) let Reece play. Well you know it just wouldn't have felt right getting into the grand final against a 6-man team (and it certainly wouldn't have felt great should we have happened to lose to one!). This despite the fact that our man Chris Cunliffe accepted Stu's ruling and didn't attempt to get on the field. In fact he didn't even attempt to get TO the field, but that's another matter altogether...

Nonetheless we feel sure that had Chris turned up then Liam would have happily allowed him to play in exchange for bringing the Cobras roster up to 7 with Reece.

Okay to be honest we were having some serious second thoughts about the wisdom of our chivalrous conduct about 5 points in, when the Cobras were starting to build a small lead courtesy of some vintage Stewart play, but at the end of the day it does feel good to have won a proper game...

Controversy #2 - Ultimate Fighting or Ultimate Disc?

Sure, the Cobras captain has a bit of a dodgy reputation when it comes to foul calls, and he does like giving receivers a bit of a touch up (putting it mildly?) after making a bid on a long disc. But none of that justified our man Ryan pushing Liam to the ground twice after some borderline post-catch contact. Yes, tempers had been building for a while (especially courtesty of an utterly bogus "out" call by Liam a few points earlier), but any kind of physical retaliation is completely unacceptable in Ultimate. A Spirit timeout was called and Ryan made a full apology to an accepting Liam, but in the interests of setting a suitably harsh benchmark DojoMojo has officially suspended Mr Black until next season, ruling him out for this week's Grand Final match against UQ. Ouch.

So we've got no Ryan, no Cunliffe, left-handed Leon only has his right hand, Eastburn has been injured all season and Dan Walls decided that the second half of 2010 would be a good time to take a sabbatical. If we can win the big game from here it'll be a miracle.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Sometimes a draw can feel like a win, but last Thursday against the Moreton Bay Bugger outfit our 11-11 draw felt well & truly like a loss.

Actually it was a bit more complicated than that, as the Bugs managed to get ahead by a couple in the first half through their standard combo of quick, sharp disc movement and, when things get static, throwing any old thing in the vague direction of Mr Neild. After half a dozen points of this sort of carry-on, Leon McIntyre made himself very clear during the break between points that he wasn't going to stand for it any more. Some might find this a little bit surprising, but Leon has quite the knack for delivering a rousing gee-up talk, and the assembled Kenshi took note...

Before we continue the story, let's intersperse it with some video coming to us once again courtesy of the one & only Mrs Marijke Walls. We've cut the footage into three segments not with any intent to tell a story in three parts, but in actual fact the game played out pretty much that way. The highlights of the first part, with the Bugs inching ahead, run thus:



The score had run away to 6-4 in favour of MBB before the Dojo decided that a change of strategy would be necessary. And before you could say "Man D" the Kenshi had got themselves out in front with an unanswered 5-goal streak, including taking half 8-6.



All looking pretty good for the Dojo, but as ever the Bugs weren't about to give up and as the time cap loomed they had managed to even the scores 10-10. Everyone knew there couldn't be much time left, and as it happened the only person who actually knew exactly how much time was left was one Mr Tim Ferguson (making his big BPL comeback this season with MBB) who, in his inimitable style, had managed to secure whatever timing device was being used in lieu of the BPL's standard issue but apparently broken alarm clocks.

You can see where this is headed. Amazingly, the Dojo managed to score the next goal with "just two seconds" left on the clock, meaning there would still be time for one more last point! Of course, there's every chance that this was in fact true - we'll just have to take Ferg's ever-reliable word for it. It's also true that this minor timing incident needn't have had any bearing at all on the outcome of the game, as you'll see in this last clip:



Yes, it really is time for the nice people at QUDA to come good with some new video equipment for our humble media outlet. We're not about to describe what happened during those moments where our equipment failed us, but it's clear enough from the end of the film that the Bugs were able to move the disc back down the field for an unlikely and, from a Dojo perspective, highly unsatisfying conclusion.

Ah well - but how about that h-u-g-e block from Pete Allen on Mike to get the vital turnover in the last point?! Sadly it's beyond our capabilities (and quite possibly even beyond our software) to show that big moment zoomed-in or in slow-mo, despite our best efforts. All we can do is to note that Pete definitely saved his best for last, and that's after a game of standout play marking or being marked by Queensland's only Dingoes player.

Big games were also had by Ryan Black, Sean Flanagan, Jon Good and Firestormer Coops, who was also involved (entirely blamelessly) in the night's second-biggest fail (and there were more than a few) where the Sensei completely misread Coops' beautifully placed huck for what should have been a goal... Thankfully Marijke was saving battery power at the time and didn't have the camera running.

So there you go - it was the Dojo's many missed opportunities, rather than any single event, that led to an unsavoury draw. Plenty of room for improvement next time round... Above&Beyond poll ready to roll on the right.

Out the Back with Stefan Rappazzo

A quick look outside at the brilliant sky this morning was all the inspiration we needed to decide it was time to load up the Dojo combi van. So with our pre-dawn kendo practice finished we set out for Slamtown, that famous fantasy land where ladies in golden bikinis pay for your parking and Ultimate players wear orange shorts.

Of course, there's always plenty of time to sit out the back at D-bah, waiting for the next set to come through. And it was in precisely those moments of sundrenched calm that we turned to Stefan Rappazzo, the don of Gold Coast Ultimate, for some reflection on last week's match between DojoMojo and his Slamtown Flatball Club:

DojoMojo Blog: Spaz - thanks for taking a sickie and joining me for a surf & a chat. After the late cancellation of our planned pre-season clash, that first game between the new-look Dojo and the largely ex-Dojo Slamtown FC teams was a long time in the making. How do you think it lived up to all that anticipation?

Stefan Rappazzo: Well, poorly from a GC point of view. It would have been great to have played ya in the preseason as the SFC is very much relying on developing some chemistry together, and there is really no other way of getting that done than getting more games played together. The Dojo were good on the night, and I think some of the lads that are a bit newer to the competition may have been a bit rattled by the pregame banter whilst SFC were warming up, and the Dojo were excelling at their usual pregame rituals.

DMB: Ah yes. In fact I spent most of my pre-game moments pestering Becky to shoot that video for us (thanks again Becky). I noticed a second video camera in use on the sidelines - can we be expecting some footage with more of a Slamtown focus to be popping up on the SFC blog soon?

SR: Video is something we are only starting to experiment with, and in all honesty our footage from the other night will not likely make it to blog, but we're hoping that future games will begin to find their way online. I've always been a fan of the video, win or lose, it's great to watch how things unfolded and a great way to continually improve. With nearly every BPL team represented via 'blog', it would be great to see this become the standard and you could have every game video documented. I can't put any firm time lines upon this becoming standard procedure, but I can tell ya it's a work in progress.

DMB: Yep - it certainly would be great to see all three BPL games getting video coverage each week. Anyway, back to the questions. What differences did you recognise between the 2010 Dojo unit and the team that you and so many of your Gold Coast colleagues were part of over the past few years?

SR: Well, height for one. In losing myself, Mike, Phil and Lee, and then gaining Pete and Jon G you definitely gained in the sky department. Getting Wallsy, Watto and Ryan back also helps. That said, short or tall, the Dojo continues to be the deepest team in the league with a solid roster of players who play nearly every position on the field. The real difference will come if you can get the finals monkey off your back... besides that... it seems business as usual for the Dojo.

DMB: Yes - winning the big game always takse a little more than business as usual. And speaking of outstanding efforts, does any one moment stand out in your memory as last week's "play of the night"?

SR: Hmmmm.... tough to say. Not much of a highlight type of an evening, no layouts that stand out, and no 'particular' throws that do either. During our post game discussions we spoke of the fact that we were very flat, but how the Dojo played nearly flawless O... I don't recall too many turnovers once you guys got the disc. The amount of crossfield hammers was uncanny, and Fatty's lefty breakmarks were disheartening. Not that it was highlight material but Darren Shi's foul call away from the disc to nullify Jody's endzone D was a heartbreaker. Daz had his revenge on us with his hard working game, and I think that call should have been made by Pete... or not at all.

DMB: Interesting that some sort of foul call has been included in the answer to that question two weeks in a row now. Anyway, looking ahead - you've got a big game coming up this week against UQ Passion. Do you think it's fair to describe JMac and Julz as "the new Jason & Mike"?

SR: No. I think JMac is much more of a dynamic player than just a pure hucker, and as much as Jules is an amazing receiver/player, I don't think he has as dominant a persona as Mike does. That said, they could very well be the hottest combo in the league right now, but I wouldn't go so far as calling them the next bromance. Speaking of hot combos, Pete and Fatty both being able to huck and both taking discs high is becoming a lethal pairing in itself...

DMB: Right again, Spaz. And with this swell starting to pick up again we should probably leave it at that...

TXT Versus Talk

It's no secret that Liam "Wetnose" Gillions is deep in preparation for his imminent nuptials at the moment. What might come as a surprise to many, however, is that Liam has chosen the Dojo Gardens as the venue for his big day. At least it'll certainly be a surprise for his delightful fiancee Grace, when he gets around to telling her.

So while we were looking over the Dojo estate, inspecting the various teahouses and pine tree groves for their ceremonial suitability, we managed to also quiz Liam about his views on the game between DojoMojo and his Cobras team last Thursday night at the AJFC fields:

DojoMojo Blog: Liam, let's divert ourselves from talk of ritual kimonos for a moment and discuss our game last week. Firstly, we were thinking of inviting new Cobras spokesman Reece around as well for a chat today, but it seems he's having a difficult enough time just keeping his own media outlet up to date. What's going on there?

Liam Gillions: You know how kids are these days - so fickle and flippant. He probably got distracted by something shiny and ran outside to play in the rain or something. In all seriousness though, it has been good to offload that duty to Reece. With my duties on the highly prestigious BUB and running the Firestorm books, it was good to have one less thing to do while I'm at work, other than work which tends to get left till last.

DMB: Hmmm - perhaps we might hear from Reece in the comments about that? And speaking of intra-Cobras communication issues, there were lots of Cobra discs going to ground last Thursday night due to what appeared to be a lack of communication or even just thrower/receiver eye contact. Do you think this is a problem, and if so do you have any plans to address it?

LG: There was a bit of a lack of peripheral vision from the players. Often the disc was thrown correctly and to the right player, but either the thrower didn't see a defender, or the cutter was only making a fake and was not aware of where the disc was. That's probably more a result of the youth and inexperience of some of our players - it will come with time.

DMB: Well time is certainly something your youngsters have plenty of, along with that classic youthful combo of individual confidence and collective misdirection... Any truth to the rumours that you're having to implement a special series of face-to-face communication seminars to assist your younger players deal with the problems of talking to each other in person rather than just sending a txt or tweet?

LG: I dnt no wat ur tlkn bout.

DMB: Indeed. Let's continue. Plenty of big Pete-to-Leon and Leon-to-Pete connections for the Dojo, especially when you were playing man-on-man D. Your late change to zone seemed to improve things a little from a Cobras perspective - reckon you'll be developing this option into the future (for instance against the huck-o-matic Bugs)?

LG: That Leon-Pete combo really hurt us. The switch to zone was more out of desperation against what is generally regarded as a very strong handling team, and it worked quite well. I think against the youth of the Bugs we will just need to keep switching things up to not let them get used to things and get into a rhythm. Will be an interesting game.

DMB: It sure will be - I'd say nearly as interesting as this week's much-anticipated Dojo v Slamtown grudge match... Sticking with our game last week though, is there any moment from the game that sticks in your mind as the "play of the night"?

LG: There was a shocking foul call from the Dojo player who "claimed" to be stationary whilst attempting to catch an equally shocking hammer. That sticks pretty strong. Also, one of the afore mentioned hucks from Pete to Leon (as seen on video) was pretty sweet. It was inch perfect and needed to be, because Leon was outnumbered 2-to-1 and would have had to work for it if it had floated or been slightly off line.

DMB: Ahh, the highs and lows of Ultimate... Which brings us to the highs and lows of the BPL ladder. Based on current form, what teams are you currently tipping for the semis, and who do you think is going to pick up the wooden spoon?

LG: I'm going to put Passion, Dojo and Slamtown in the semis. Lovers to finish 6th with Heroes 7th. Bugs and Cobras to fight it out for the 4th spot with a late season absence from Mr Neild giving the edge to Cobras.

DMB: Liam - it sounds like you've got it all figured out. Now we'd better get you fitted up with those Geta sandals you were wanting to go with your flying-crane kimono...

Sensei (right) discusses wedding arrangements with Wetnose (left) and Grace (centre, and clearly grateful that You Only Live Twice...)

The Joys of Autocracy

Our battery indicator shows we have 15 minutes to write this post, which some may not be surprised to find is precious little for this laboriously loquacious alliterator (Blogger seems to believe we just made that word up!).

So why did we waste the first two precious minutes with that totally unnecessary introductory diversion when we could've just straight-out announced that Leon McIntyre has earned himself a spot on the DojoMojo Honour Board by winning last season's Above&Beyond award?

Yes, we just decided on that all by ourselves without consulting anyone or following any due process. However, the poll votes from the season back up this decision 100%, as did Leon's unfailing excellence throughout the season and especially in the Final.

So well done Leon - your first season back at the Dojo and just like that you're immortalised right here at the DojoMojo blog. There'll be a whole new crew vying for votes a few weeks (hopefully) from now.

Dojo Royale

Yes, it's been a while since we last posted anything here at the Dojo blog. Why? Well, we've been on a little holiday, played some golf, done some gardening and generally done anything other than play or talk Ultimate. In fact, we can quickly summarise the Dojo's on-field Ultimate exploits since our last post by simply noting that the Dojo has won every game, most by a comfy margin.

So of course when yet another "training week" came around (immediately following the BPL's Uni Games no-play week) we were looking for anything other than Ultimate training to occupy our Thursday night. And what better substitute for a night of hard running and intensive skills practice than to take our places around the table at Andy "Coopers" Lankowski's place for a night of high-stakes poker - the inaugural Dojo Royale poker night.

As you can see from the image below, some were taking the event very seriously. That's Andy McLean decked out in the unbuttoned waistcoat (and newsreader-spec shorts below the table), trumped only for seriousness by the "Hustling German" Stefan Schmidt, looking like a cross between Eminem and an elderly driver with his hoodie up and dark specs on (sadly not caught on camera). Stefan also saw fit to let us know on the night that he'd previously spent 2 years as a poker dealer in some sort of travelling German poker circus. The things he can do with poker chips are truly arousing.


What you can't see in that photo is the huge stack of chips sitting in front of Mr McLean. At this point of the night he was undisputed chip leader, and it wasn't long before the final winner was decided. So in approximate order of departure from the table (we really should've posted this sooner with a fresher memory), the players on the night were:

- Andy Lankowski (great host, lots of bad hands)
- Mike Morgan (made the mistake of thinking that his trip-4 on the turn was going to be enough to beat the all-in Sensei's pair of aces in the hand and a 2 on the river giving a sensational straight)
- Stefan Rappazzo (had been duking it out all night in his own brash ultra-rapid style, opting against all common sense not to buy back in at the 9pm deadline and yet somehow hanging in there for another hour or so)
- Stefan Schmidt (can't remember how he went out, but most likely it was bluffing big time with absolutely nothing in hand)
- Stephen Cameron (unbelievably unlucky to lose out with his solid 2-pair from the flop against a big spending chip leader McLean who picked up an outrageously unlikely straight on the river, not at all similar to the the way the Sensei had knocked Morgs out earlier on)

That left the pot at the mercy of Leon McIntyre (the chap looking so relaxed in the photo) and Andy McLean. And actually it was all over the very next hand. Leon was clearly keen to wrap things up for better or worse, and went all in after the flop with nothing but maybe a king in hand, Andy (with a massive chip lead) went with him with pretty much the same hand. And as the cards came down it was the man in the white waistcoat who came out the winner.

So there you go, nothing on the Dojo blog for a couple of months and now something that has nothing to do with Ultimate at all. Or does it???

BTW - extra points for spotting the non-Dojo ring-in in the photo...