Fifteen Seconds of Fame

If you happened to be listening to 97.3FM on the radio this morning at around 7.50am (and if you're female between the ages of 25 and 40 then the research indicates that you probably were!) you would have heard a little soundbite from the Sensei talking up tonight's big game at the AJFC fields. Yes - the Brisbane Premier League has really hit the big time, and some nice people from 97.3FM are going to be joining the huge crowd at the field tonight, bringing along plenty of freebies and giveaways with them.

And that's not all - even though our best efforts to make the audio of this morning's interview available here have failed, we should be on air again tomorrow morning giving a quick recap of what is sure to be a stupendous game of Ultimate tonight. The grandstand will be open from 7pm and the on-field action gets underway bang on 7.30. Our tip - Dojo to win 15-11.

Secateurs and Beers with Julian Sacre

Yesterday, as we put down our gardening implements and wiped our brows after a long day of tending our rapidly-growing azaleas and black pines, we wandered back to our main Shoin via the bamboo grove with nothing in mind but a long, cold Yebisu beer. Rounding the corner we shouldn't have been the least bit surprised to encounter the unusually large silhouette of a steadily permbulating Julian Sacre.

Pleased to see him, but also keen to quench our thirst, we invited him up to our southern verandah for a drink and a chat about this week's much-anticipated (especially thanks to the rain delays) BPL semifinal matchup between DojoMojo and UQ Lovers. Here's a selection of the spiciest moments from our conversation:

DojoMojo Blog: Julz - who better to share a post-stroll, pre-game beer & a chat with than your immense self? Now - we see the only BUB tipper not actually involved in this weeks semi (Jangles) is backing Dojo to win. How does it feel going into the game as the underdog, despite Lovers' star-laden roster?

Julian Sacre: Its interesting that you choose to give out the underdog tag based on a sample size of 1. And that 1 is none other than Jangles! If we accept that he's representative of the Brisbane frisbee community then we're all in big trouble. But underdog or not, this so-called star-laden roster has been talked up in many circles from the beginning of the season, which I really don't think has been justified. If you compare the two UQ rosters there is very little separating those teams, and indeed the rest of the teams in this week's semis.

DMB: That may be very well be true, Julz. But then we also note that Pete Allen is backing Lovers, his own team. Sure - this is admirably faithful of him, but has he forgotten his uncanny knack of ruining a team's prospects simply by tipping it to win?

JS: I am backing Pete to put in a man of the match performance and reverse his tipping fortunes in the process. He took some huge grabs in last Monday's final squeezed between opposition defenders and is in top form. If he could only start using a power grip with his flick, he'd be unstoppable.

DMB: Well, he certainly says he's been reviewing footage of his flick and has some sort of devastating new move to unveil this week. At least we're hoping it's this week, or otherwise he's already unveiled it and nobody noticed... But now onto a man whose power-grip flicks we could all spend more time studying - Buzza. Who has been allocated the crucial job of escorting Mr Burwell to the fields?

JS: Buzz is so pumped for this game, he's already at the fields waiting. I drove through Annerley this morning and saw him throwing high 50m blades to himself. Rumour has it he was actually unavailable to play last Thursday (possibly due to your aptly timed 4:59pm intervention), so that storm may have been a really bad turn of luck for the kenshi.

DMB: Actually Julz, all our strategies rely entirely on Buzz being on the field - we'd be more lost without him than you! And speaking of key contributors, who do you think will make the biggest (successful) layout grab/D of the night? Not Andy Lankowski, presumably?

JS: Andy who? Nah... Dan Walls is the man.

DMB: "Andy who"? Perhaps three replays of Coopers' stunning layout attempt from our last game against your pink-shirted colleagues wasn't enough for you? And when it gets down to the semis it's a shame we can only video one game at a time. So what about the other semi? No doubt it'll be a tough tussle between the two Bug units, but which one do you reckon will still be standing at the end of the night?

JS: A 'tough tussle' alright. Based on recent history with those teams, we can only wonder whether those words might describe the game literally. If Wetnose calls a foul on Mat Ryan for breathing too loudly, we should all be on high alert. Assuming the game concludes in a manner that resembles a normal game of ultimate, I would expect Messy to come out on top. They've had a very consistent season and have a very experienced roster.

Hmmm, well then we'll leave the trash-talking of Liam and the Messy boys for next week (that's if they can get past their Slippry flipside tomorrow night!) - mostly as it would also implicate your teammate Stu Austin, and we wouldn't want to upset his delicate composure this close to a big game...

Another beer, Julz?

Mate against Mate, State against State

Halibut is officially over for another year, with the trophy again being snaffled by a bunch of southern mercenaries despite the best efforts of the top local outfits.

But who cares about a bunch of blow-ins (with the fiendish John McNaughton shamefully tagging along as a gun for hire) nicking the prize? It's not by accident that the trophy is WAY too big to be accepted as carry-on luggage. It can and will never leave Brisbane.

No - the real interest in this year's Halibut was the mini-tournament within the main event between the Dojo players scattered across the various teams. Coming in at fourth place ("stone motherless last" seems just a bit nasty) was Dan B with his Mellow Yellow outfit (finished 8th overall). At third is Coopers & Dom with the still inexplicably named iCarrot (finished 5th overall), and runners-up are the big GC group of Stefan, Mike, Matt, Santiago, Phil, Lee (AKA McLovin) and Andy McL with their team the Slamtown Flatball Club (3rd overall). And of course that leaves the self-gratifying author of this blog at the top of the table in his efforts with Mind the Gap, a team composed largely of, well, let's say "mature" players who showed that having a mobile creche on the sideline (and the Mums & Dads on the field) is no obstacle to making the final in a serious tournament (eventually finishing 2nd overall, losing the final 15-10, as I recall).

Not sure who won the party (competitive partying has always mystified this writer), but the Slamtown lads & lasses looked the goods on Saturday afternoon.

Back to BPL rounds as usual this week if the weather stays clear and bitterly cold (for Brisbane). Dojo are hot favourites to repeat their opening-round win over UQ Lovers and Dr Phil Stocks is hot favourite in the least-likely-to-turn-up stakes. Stay tuned.