Things Chimay Will Make You Say

You know something we've realised lately? Reading descriptions of frisbee games really isn't very interesting. In fact, unless you were there and/or you get a mention in the article itself then you'd have to wonder if the few minutes that you might spend reading a game review wouldn't really be better invested in, oh, let's see - making some homemade hollandaise sauce, planning your trip to a farmers' market on the weekend, or just taking out the rubbish.

So this week we're saying nothing about the game against MBB last Thursday night, other than the obvious facts that it happened and Dojo lost.

Okay, we might say that the expected Burwell-to-Neild combo didn't bore us to tears as we'd been afraid it would. In fact early on it was more the Burwell-to-Chadwick connection that was taking some kenshi by surprise (ie whoa Buzz has the disc and some tallish guy is running long WTF!). We might also add that the game was 8-3 at half and finished 15-10, meaning the Dojo at least managed to trade the second half despite some pretty wacky options going to ground in the face of a virtually mistake-free Bug performance.

But that's enough of the tedious details of what was just another brick in the BPL Season 2 2010 wall. What we know from the Google stats (and stats, as we heard today, will confess to anything if you torture them for long enough) is that the readers of this blog care little for quality reportage and in-depth match analysis. Juicy BPL scandal is the key here, and thankfully when there's a controversy on the boil in BPL the Dojo is nearly always involved.

Onto the subject of Chris Cunliffe then. Chris, as many will know, is a bit of a gun frisbee player. Turns out that he's been injured for a while (2 years since his last BPL appearance, apparently), and that he's just managed to get himself fit enough to go for a run on Thursday nights. The thing is though - Chris had signed to play Cobras for the remainder of the season (he's young and is entitled to make mistakes), and he needed to play every remaining BPL round in order to be eligible to play in the finals (for reasons we're not about to elaborate upon here). Sadly for the Cobras, their opposition, those mankini-wearing Slamtowners, couldn't get 7 guys to make the trip from the GC and forfeited the game, leaving Chris in an awkward jam. Oh baby - you know where this is going, don't you...

So of course it's Dojo v Bugs. Which means the team some (hi Mike) consider to be the "villains" of the BPL and always shortest of numbers on the night, was up against the team that also happens to be home to our esteemed LD, who couldn't agree more wholeheartedly with Mike vis-a-vis the Dojo's villain status... Anyway, short story is that Chris has now taken up permanent residence at the Dojo, much to the detriment of the Cobras and much to the annoyance of an LD who has long since tired of these sorts of eligibility quandaries (not to mention Dojo opportunism). But don't get too upset just yet Wetnose - Chris is still a shadow of his former self and probably won't be back to his full vertical leap or maximum speed until the semifinals get underway...

Too much? Let us know in the comments if you'd like more of this sort of Courier-Mail gossip column stuff, or if a return to the strictly sporting style of the majority of our first hundred-and-one posts was more to your liking. Or maybe just videos without any words at all...

Natural Enemies

No, not DojoMojo and UQ Lovers. We're talking about the big news from Round 3 of the Brisbane Premier League: Heroes upset win over Cobras!

Sure, not many people tipped that outcome. In fact nobody did. Even the Heroes themselves are so stoked that they've posted about it not once, not twice, but thrice already on their blog. And why not.

Ah, but with the benefit of hindsight we really should've seen this coming. Anybody with even the slightest historical perspective knows that the Heroes (i.e. the good guys) always beat the Cobras (i.e. the perennial bad guys). You only had to be a child in the 80's (surely there are still some BPL players who were, not including children of the 70's like Buzz & Sean?) to know that the Cobras always lose out to the Heroes. Take for example that legendary heroic organisation the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (aka M.A.S.K.). Episode after episode, Matt Tracker and his buddies stuck it to those inexplicably nasty characters from the Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem (aka V.E.N.O.M.), later re-written into the GI Joe storyline as stooges of the fiendish - wait for it - Cobra Command!!!

Ryan Black has often lamented the tendency of the modern-day Dojo to lean more toward the teachings of Mr Miyagi than those of Ryan's beloved Cobra Kai crew, but we do it for a very simple reason - winning.

Which presumably brings us to a quick wrap-up of last night's game between Dojo and UQ Lovers. We'll keep it brief, as we'll be taking a stroll around the Dojo gardens with UQ legend Al Don shortly. But what we can say is that Dojo pretty much walked away with a comfy 15-8 win, helped along by some incredibly rare off-target throws from the Cornerstone of Queensland Ultimate himself, Buzza Burwell. We won't be seeing that again anytime soon.

Anyway, more on that later. In the meantime, we'd very much like to read what the new Cobras frontman Reece has to say about things, and of course we're keenly awaiting news of the other Thursday night shocker, the perhaps equally controversial caning of the MBB unit by the current #1 BPL team UQ Passion. Sadly, we fear we could be waiting some time, as the Bugs are known more for their "hail-Mike" offence than for having an up-to-the-minute blogosphere presence, and the Passion boys don't bother having a blog at all...

The Above&Beyond poll is ready to roll on the right.

Buzzing In the Telepod

Yes, it's Tuesday again and we can only cross our fingers that the AJFC fields will be open for play this week. So, with all the world waiting to see if Wetnose really is worth 11 extra points to his team (sounds like there's at least one "1" too many in there, if you ask us), we've come across an interesting little Ultimate diversion to tide us over...

Most will have received their first lavishly-produced and super-glossy edition of the new-look Australian Ultimate magazine well before a copy found its way into the elegantly rusting mailbox that quietly announces the entrance to the Dojo gardens estate, so we apologise if this item is a tad out of date. But as soon as we saw this particular item we knew that something just had to be said...

Flip to page 9 (the centrefold!) of the new AU and you'll find an article on "Australia's Greatest Players". Now, whilst no-one can challenge the top-notch journalistic efforts of the authors, we did find immediate fault with the mention of one Chris Burwell, aka The Cornerstone of Queensland Ultimate, which notes:

"With perhaps the most extensive repertoire of any Australian to have every thrown a Frisbee, Buzz's throws were a thing of beauty. His inside outs, around the mark breaks on both sides and killer hammer meant no marker stood a chance."

All factually accurate except for one thing - the insidious use of PAST TENSE!

Other greats listed therein get the present-tense treatment - Ant Dowle's "pace and agility has made him a top block getter", for instance, but poor old Buzza is apparently past it. Knowing he'd be outraged (this is a man who we can quote as having said "I've never had fun playing Ultimate EVER!") we gave him a call to gauge his response and see if he may be in need of some counselling...

Predictably, Buzza was straight on the offensive, and like most grumpy old-timers started carrying on about all the "young kids these days" who know him only as "the greatest thrower of a frisbee ever to set foot on an Ultimate field", and how tragically one-dimensional this heroic vision is. Okay, he may not have actually said that last bit (doesn't make it any less believable, though) but we can faithfully report that he's taken this insult to his athleticism (which has also apparently taken up permanent residency on his staffroom table at the Qld Museum) as an incentive to get back into the shape of his old days when he was "3 times" as good as he is today.

But it seems it was eventually the write up of one John Greenfield (AU Ed 1 p8) that really got Buzza's cockroaches crawling, prompting him to proclaim:

"If Greenfield can go and reinvent himself from being a 'sensationally athletic block getter and receiver' into a 'high percentage handler', then I'm going to do the opposite and I don't care what anyone says about the fact that I'm 40. From now on I'm going to stop at nothing until I've transformed my game from the usual 'greatest thrower ever' tag to 'unbeatably athletic block getter and downfield receiver' status."

Let's just hope insect-man Buzza doesn't have any Seth Brundle-esque experiments in mind for this transformation. Be afraid. Be very afraid...

This One Goes Right To The Top

Despite what he may tell you, the title of this post doesn't refer to our interviewee. Well, not directly at least...*

You see, the Brisbane Premier League has been thrown into turmoil just as we head into the finals series, thanks to a furore-generating decision on Friday by the League Director to ban 4th-placed team UQ Passion from playing in the finals due to their dodgy paperwork during the regular season. Sounds heavy-handed for a five-team amateur (and, yes, very competitive) league where everyone knows everyone else? But then rules are rules, right?

Well, the funny thing is that it's quite unclear exactly what rules are being invoked, especially when the LD himself apparently didn't see any need to review the team sheets in question after each round, thereby failing to issue a forfeit (as required under the rules) to first-timer captain Will and his team after the first slip-up.

So it's muddy already and we've hardly even got started. And in the meantime, the beneficiaries of all this (due to a similarly elastic application of the rules, or is it really blind ignorance?) are - you guessed it - Liam Gillions and his Old School Buggers team. How is it that luck just always seems to run Liam's way? You ask anyone and they'll tell you that he always wears the visage of a man who has just picked up the "bank error in your favour" card from the Monopoly board...

And now it's we who are lucky enough to have a quick word with him in the lead-up to his team's clash against the Dojo this week:

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DojoMojo Blog: Liam (and team), congratulations on making the semis in the most unusual of manners. Presumably the first thing you'd like to do is thank UQ Passion captain Will Churchill for filling in his team sheets incorrectly for most of the season?

Liam Gillions: Well we have really tried hard to get to this point this season. I made sure that the score sheets were filled in for every game just so we could get there in the end. I will certainly be giving Will a big hug next time I see him. But really, did anyone ever expect both Buggers team to NOT be in the semis? I mean come on, that's the whole reason we got [LD] Stu into the club.

DMB: Well that's certainly paid off big time. But do you think you can pull the OSB team back together and get everyone re-focussed in time for Thursday night? Jimmy Larkin and Mr Chadwick were saying something about the Hamptons...

LG: Well, we have actually sent some of the struggling team members away so that we can get things on track. Seriously though, we need to just forget about everything that has happened in the last 10 weeks. If we do that, then we can pull it off. This is getting back to the old days of BPL when you could lose every regular season game, then win 2 playoff games and walk home with the trophy.

DMB: Ah yes - the old days. Reminiscing just over this season, the last Dojo v OSB clash ended in a fairly emphatic 15-4 scoreline (even with Dan Walls, Dave Watson and Matt Eastburn staying home), so it appears there's plenty of catching up to do?

LG: Well Sensei, you are obviously forgetting that I wasn't there. 11 point swing, you ask? Well, I think it's probably a bigger swing than that. And Dan Walls, Dave Watson and Matt Eastburn? Who?

DMB: Hmmm - actually, maybe you're right and they're just figments of our imagination. We certainly haven't seen them in a while... Good to know you're not immune to mental delusions either though. Anyway, it's been a fairly controversial end to the BPL season, to say the least, and LD Stu tells us there's more to look forward to as well! Do you reckon as a result of all this we'll see some big changes in the structure of the BPL heading into next season?

LG: Would it be the BPL without some controversy? Although, this one has touched forces higher than I have seen before. I don't know if there will be any structural changes. Personnel changes perhaps? One thing is for sure, people will now know that the rules are the rules, and not following them will result in consequences. I for one don't think that is a bad thing.

DMB: Yeah. If only we could work out which rules are being enforced and who exactly is required to comply with what... The rulings to come out this week certainly don't stand up to even the slightest scrutiny. Ah, well - the other semi this week is between UQ Lovers and your sister team Messy. How do you see that one shaking out?

LG: Could go either way, depending on who turns up for each team. Jules will obviously be 15 minutes late, but if Burwell turns up then it could go the Lovers way. Also, it will be interesting to see what injury Joel Smith suffered last week as that could leave the Messy boys one experienced player down. What happened? Well, the pull came up and about 3 passes later, we realised that Joel hadn't moved from the endzone and was sitting there holding his ankle. Initial diagnosis from J-Ray: Torn archilles. And of course, we all know that Jason never makes a bad call in the middle on an Ultimate game. Don't we?

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Well, we think we'll leave it at that for today - this post has got long enough already. The decision to ban Passion has been made and the LD has made it very clear to everyone including the AFDA president that he won't be backing down no matter how tenuous the decision may be. As he says, "If BUDA, QUDA or the AFDA don't want that then they can find someone else to be their monkey rather than an actual League Director."

Yes - the BPL is in safe hands.

* As ever, this is not an official blog and carries no official endorsement. Plus all that usual guff about "the views of the author(s)" not necessarily being held by anyone else...

Bob-a-Job with Pete Allen

Some people know Pete Allen as a young man capable of destroying the game of any frisbee team simply by tipping it to win. But we here at the Dojo know him as a mild-mannered student (not really sure what he's studying) who, unlike most other Gen-Y kids, earns his pocket money the old-fashioned way by doing odd jobs around the Dojo gardens.

Before he had to run off to lectures yesterday he spent the morning raking the pebbles of our meditation courtyard into patterns resembling waves breaking on a rocky shore, and when he'd finished we chatted for a while about our semifinal last week and the upcoming BPL Grand Final between his team - UQ Lovers - and Messy Bugs. Here's a sample of the insights Pete had to offer:

DojoMojo Blog: Beautiful work with the rake as usual, Pete. It's understandable that a man with your delicate touch finds using the power flick grip a little tricky sometimes... Now - let's firstly discuss our game last week. Try as we might, we just can't actually remember Lovers scoring 15 goals in that game. It's like you guys won without us really noticing! Can you explain that???

Pete Allen: I can’t really explain that win at all last week, the first half was pretty terrible on our part in terms of offense but the defense really kept us in the game, along with some dodgy offense from you guys as well... The second half is where we really got away with a few breaks, slowly building the lead. I’d like to think that the telling off from Buzz during one of the huddles struck a nerve with the whole team and made us play a heck of a lot better (I believe it was mainly directed at myself for multiple wayward short flicks at the start of the game *cough* flick powergrip sucks *cough*).

DMB: Yes, there was only 1 point in it for a long time there, but as the legs (and brains) of the kenshi started running out of steam the big plays started to be less and less successful. No doubt the many easy turnovers and errant hucks from the Dojo were a welcome gift?

PA: As unusual as it is to see Dojo turn the disc over it did happen a lot during the game. And yeah it was a little bit of a gift. Maybe this is why Dojo hasn’t won a semi-final this year. But that is the game of ultimate - you can have the best game ever one day and then not catch a disc the next. I reckon the main reason that can blamed for Dojo having a plethora of turnovers was that you warmed up. You should have stuck to the old faithful Dojo email warm-up.

DMB: Hmmm - well, that'll teach us for spending too much time at The Cultimate Opinion. And with that loss we've clocked up a hat-trick of semifinal losses for the Dojo this year. As much as it may not be in your best interests, is there anything in particular you think the kenshi need to work on to redress this situation?

PA: Losing a hat-trick of semi-finals is not ideal but when you keep playing UQ in the semis it is bound to keep happening. They don’t lose semi’s that often (or is it that Dojo doesn’t win semi’s - I’m not too sure). What I envision for next season is a semi-final where UQ doesn’t play Dojo and we end up with a Dojo vs. UQ final. That is what the people of Brisbane want to see. For you guys to pull this off though, you may have to think about getting some younger blood into the team sometime in the near future. It may hurt to do it, but then you’ll at least make sure the Dojo Way continues in the years to come.

DMB: Yes, well we've got some plans in motion on all of those fronts. And if only Dojo hadn't been handed a penalty forfeit earlier in the season then that dream of a Dojo v UQ final may indeed have been realised tonight... But no matter. Can we expect to see more of the "strong silent type" of play from Lovers in the big game tonight, or will you perhaps be letting your long game off the leash? It's only Wetnose guarding the Messy endzone, after all...

PA: Not quite sure what you mean by “strong silent type” of play, if you are referring to the improved short game we have this season and the fact that we don’t talk much then maybe we will see more of that this week, but it will be intermingled with the massive long shots we are capable of even if Julz decides to go to Sydney early (Wetnose doesn’t really phase us, even if he has become quite a force in the air). I’ll be doing my best to woo the opposition players into a conversation on the field before suddenly busting long.

DMB: Yep - as far as we're concerned, the "conversation fake" is the primary benefit of a classical education... And lastly, which player from each grand finalist team are you expecting to see something really spectacular from?

PA: My picks for plays of the game on Thursday are: from Messy - Silent George, who is freakishly fast across the ground, and maybe he’ll dive to take a spectacular goal or something; and from Lovers - Al Don will get a massive D to win the match. All in all if the game actually happens then it will be the most spectacular game you will witness this year.

DMB: Then let's hope it does! We'll certainly be at the fields with the video camera at the ready, hoping to see an epic struggle for end-of-year BPL supremacy. Thanks for the chat, Pete.

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?

It's Japanese for "Rice"

Yes, that's right. It's no coincidence that a man of unstoppable determination such as today's guest has a surname more commonly used in the Dojo to describe our favourite source of carbohydrates - and that man is Alistair Don.

Whether it's Unagi-don, Yasai-don, Katsu-don or Tempura-don, there's no staple accompaniment of which we at the Dojo are more enamored than some perfectly steamed "Don". But just look at the video from our game against UQ Lovers last week and you'll see that Al himself remained ice cool throughout - throwing bladey swing passes and zipping the disc through "informally arranged" Dojo fences with a noticeable sense of detached abandon.

So after leaving nearly a full week for the air to clear we invited Al around for a chat on our Southern verandah, where a most pleasant view over our gardens can be had, especially late in the afternoon...

DojoMojo Blog: Good to have you here again, Al. Whilst we enjoy the reflections of the setting sun off our rocky-shore-style pond onto the needles of the black pines, let's consider our game from last Thursday. There was some very clinical Ultimate from Lovers in the first half, Al. Of course most of us know this season's Lovers as a team of big throwers and big catchers, but many mightn't have noticed just how much depth of handling ability your team has?

Al Don: Yeah it was a pretty good first half of the game last Thursday. The Lovers team this season is tall and certainly looking pretty good in terms of strike throwers and receivers. But along with that pretty much everyone on the team is more than capable of moving the disc around and maintaining possession... Most of the time at least. We did have a few unfortunate examples of how not to do just that later in the game.

DMB: Yes - it seemed like a little bit of miscommunication or lack of time as a team (or both) might have crept in there. But normally you wouldn't have to worry about these trivialities if you could stick with your normal gameplan, which we recall Julz describing as "letting Buzz look after the offence"... Have you organised for someone to finally get Dr. Burwell some driving lessons? Or found him a regular chauffeur?

AD: I've been offering to teach Buzz how to drive for years. Had a funny encounter with a certain South American lady [Al is referring to the longsuffering Mrs Burwell here, for those unfamiliar with the entomologist in question - DMB] in Indooroopilly Shoppingtown one Saturday last year after she'd found out that I'd made such an offer... But up until this point in time he hasn't actually taken me up on it. So the status quo remains and I'll continue providing a limited chauffeur service for Brisbane Ultimate's man most knowledgeable about the local insect life.

DMB: Well that does sound rather annoying Al, especially given the lengthy drive between Chez Burwell and the AJFC fields. Must've also been annoying for the Dojo to finally take your very own strategic advice (i.e. just huck it) and put it into use against your own team...?

AD: Annoying? Probably not the word I'd choose first. Like I said in the huddle at the end of the game I was absolutely gutted that we managed to throw away a 12-9 lead, give up 5 straight points and go on to lose 14-12. But the way you went about doing it was actually pretty exciting. The first half of the game you went for quite a conservative offence, completing a lot of passes, recycling the disc well but giving up enough turns to enable us to get the jump on you and take the lead. Second half you came out, backed yourself to take some more of the big shots you're capable of on offence and kept up enough mongrel on your defence to keep on getting the turns you needed.

DMB: Yep - it certainly felt like the right way to be playing at the time. Any stand-out moments from the game stick in your memory (it's okay to use the video as a refresher...)?

AD: Dan Walls...

Hmmm, yep - Dan Walls... Think he might have scored 4 of 5 of that last ditch run for the game. A couple of big grabs over a couple of our big defensive receivers. We just didn't have an answer for it on the night. Great to see him back in the game and playing like he'd never left it.

DMB: It sure is, especially as he brings our resident cinematographer to the field with him every week as well...! Okay - lastly, we're now more than halfway through the season. How do you reckon the finals favourites are shaping up, and out of the non-Grand-Finalists, who do you think should be providing the video commentary in the big game?

AD: Finals at this stage are a tough call with, for my money, no team set apart from the pack of the top 4, even top 5 teams. I still think that passion have a chance to put together enough wins to make it to the Semis. Both buggers teams are playing solid ultimate and always get better when it comes down to the pointy end of the season. While the Lovers haven't really been managing to put it together for whole games for a large part of this season I think that we've got the roster to do the job and are going to feature on finals nights. And if the Dojo maintain the intensity you showed last week I think that you're the other team to beat. Still reckon we're going to be looking at a Lovers v Dojo final...

Commentators for the night? Personally I'd love to see Messrs Sean Flanagan and Tony Ross, two of my favourite Brisbane Ultimate stalwarts, get just a little boozed, take the mic and heckle like there's no tomorrow.

DMB: Well, that would certainly keep our post-production crew busy for weeks bleeping out half the commentary for general consumption, but it'd be worth it... And great to hear your own post-game comments as usual, Al. Now, how about some nice steamed rice?

Okay, okay!

Yes, we're aware that it's now Tuesday - five days since our rip-snorting game against UQ Lovers. But when one takes into account the rural situation of DojoMojo headquarters and the positively Heian-period telecommunications technology it's serviced by, these little delays start to seem quaintly charming rather than plain frustrating... Don't they?

So let's not muck around with lengthy descriptions of the game. Here's how it went down:

The first half saw Lovers score more or less two goals for every one of the Dojo's. They played some really, really smooth Ultimate, throwing sharp passes to just-open receivers and capitalising on Dojo mistakes brought on by committed defence, mostly of the man-on-man variety.

The second half? Well, at the very least Dojo managed to hold the game to a points-trading situation for the first 4 or 5 changes of end, but then with time fast running out things took a significant turn. But before we go too far, let's show some video highlights from early in the game (and be thankful that the steady-handed Marijke Walls was back behind the camera):



As we said, lots of quick, precise disc movement in there from UQ, contrasting with a pretty static sort of dump-n-huck offence from the Dojo (not to mention some fairly casual defence!). No wonder things were looking grim. Here's some more action:



Starting to look a bit more fluent for the Dojo now, with a trademark grab from Dan Walls at the end there. And what about the hangtime Ryan got on that high grab over Stu? And as much fun as it'd be to speculate that the wildly errant pull earlier on from Pete "The Kiss of Death" Allen was a pivotal moment, it's more likely that the multi-turnover point which Dojo finally managed to grind out was where UQ started losing a bit of belief and Dojo did the opposite.

Anyway, the video never lies (especially with our factually-faithful editing), and what you'll see below is a Dojo team in vintage form with the long throws and big grabs flowing freely. You'll also see (or moreso hear - time for a language warning!) a few Lovers' tempers start to fray (if they weren't frayed already by pre-game shenanigans) as the Dojo serves up the style of play that the Lovers themselves are usually notorious for:



And there it is - Dojo claws its way back from 9-12 down to take out the game 14-12 in pretty supreme style. Yes, UQ were missing the unparalleled throws of Buzz Burwell, but Dojo were also missing the non-stop mongrel of Gold Coasters Mike and Stefan, so we're calling it a fair fight at the very least and a very satisfying win. Especially considering we were in UQ's shoes this time last week...

That's it for now, then. As usual, the Above&Beyond poll for this week is ready to accept your votes for players that trumped their usual game (please only vote for yourself once this week, Ryan), and the current A&B standings have been updated below that.

Also of note is that if you scroll down you'll now see links to all the official Ultimate organisations that are relevant to the game we play here in Brisbane, and for those needing a rules refresher the latest WFDF Rules of Ultimate are linked below that.

Check back shortly for a chat with that most Wolverine-esque Lover, Alistair Don.

Sipping the Sake with Mat Ryan & Mike Neild

Some people eat lots of chocolate or ice cream when they're anxious or down about something. But here at the Dojo, on the rare occasions that misfortune strikes and gloom prevails we find instant comfort in the familiar flavours of a big bowl of tofu miso, served up just how we like it at our sushi bar.

And it seems we're not the only ones who enjoy pulling up a seat at the Dojo sushi bar and asking our ex-sumo sushi chef to serve it up "omakase onegaishimasu"... Stepping through the half-height curtains we immediately noticed Mat Ryan and Mike Neild busily knocking back the contents of a very large sake tokkuri while they tucked into a fabulous array of sashimi. And we thought Jon Good had a big appetite!

So we placed our order and joined them at the bar for a little recap of last week's game. The discussion went something like this:

DojoMojo Blog: Mike, Mat - it's great to see you chaps here. No doubt we've all spent a fair bit of time thinking back over our last game during the week, and it'd be good to hear things from your perspective. Firstly - how did it feel coming away from that game with a win when moments beforehand a loss looked inevitable?

Mike Neild: That was a famous victory and it felt great. It is the obvious closeness between towering success and crushing defeat that makes sport such an emotional experience. I think we were right up towards the top end of that continuum of emotion due to the narrowness of the win and the highly unlikely nature of the result. We've been talking about it all week.

Mat Ryan: Indeed we have. You know those rare and special moments when everything falls into place just perfectly? Like the time when Miss Alexander's blouse popped open in English class in Year 11? It was kinda like that. It was like we snuck in, pinched the crown jewels and got away with it. That said, a lot of the euphoria was due to the fact that the team played as well as it possibly could to steal the win. Everyone was totally focussed and played the perfect game at the perfect moment. You could just feel the focus and intensity. Magic.

DMB: That sounds very familiar - if only that focus & intensity was something that could be reproduced on demand... Now - coming into the game, all looked pretty normal with the Slippry warmup. No special strategies formulated to deal with trademark Dojo tendencies?

Mat: Mike's probably got more to say on that. I don't think we had any special strategies. We recognise Dojo as having a long roster with a lot of throwing strength. I think we spoke about keeping the pressure on and not making it easy... But not much more than that. It's not rocket science.

Mike: We probably talked more about what we wanted to improve in our game than we did about how to combat the Dojo game. We did consider avenues for dealing with a 'German' style set up from you lot, and about the forcing options we would take in our man on man defence. Things have changed in the Dojo with the addition of the height, throwing power and experience of David, Ryan and Daniel and so some defensive adjustments are required. But the reality was that the strategy that worked the best for us was something that we didn't plan to use at all.

DMB: It didn't seem planned from our end of the field either, but it was certainly effective! And what do you call that Zone D you played against us when you were down to six?

Mike: I've don't know what that zone is called. I was a bit dubious when James was explaining it at half time, but my goodness did it work.

Mat: That zone is called 'got no other options'. But somehow it seemed to work. It actually felt far better than many other 7man defences I've been involved with. To be honest, I think Dojo might have won it if they'd played a bit closer to their regular gameplan. It was almost like you expected to just walk it in, so you didn't take any chances, and we were able to build pressure and finally get a turn.

DMB: Yes - that much is also very clear on the video footage. And dare we suggest that dropping down to six players actually worked in your favour, as the six you ended up with had proven to be the most dangerous on the night?

Mat: As above. Part of the success was the focus that our 6 applied, but maybe part of it was due to the change in mindset that happened to the Dojo. As Phil Jauncey says "If you've only got plan A and plan B, don't try plan C". I dunno. A combination of total focus from our 6, a bit of luck and a seed of doubt in the minds of the opposition, all converging at the most propitious moment...

Mike: Look it was a turning point in the game however it is difficult to really believe that playing with one less person on the field could be an advantage. I'm inclined to agree with Mat on this one, and I always agree with anyone involved in the 3 time premiership winning phenomenon that was the Brisbane Lions of the early 2000s. Maybe the Dojo just got a bit too comfortable with the position they were in - it seems in line with what I understand of the vibe of the Frisbee Dojo.

DMB: Perhaps we did start to cruise a bit, but that mess-in-front, Mike-at-the-back zone is one you guys should really develop. And talking strategy, we noticed that you recently had a win over the UQ Lovers, next week's opposition for the Dojo. What sort of gameplan would you be taking into this match if you were calling the shots here at the Dojo?

Mike: Put your guns on Al, Buzz and Stu and make them get it going backwards rather than forwards towards their line. Be enthusiastic and energetic on both offence and defence. There is a bit of a weakness of connection that occurs when all the Lovers players are closely marked. They should be the best team in the comp based on their list however something just hasn't clicked yet. The rest of us have to keep up the pressure on them because if we let them and they do connect then it will be troubles for us.

Mat: I'd say just do what you do best. Play your own game. Perhaps send Ryan streaking long a bit more, because you're not getting the full value out of him in a dedicated handling role. That long cut from a handling position can be very effective. Particularly when you've got another tall threat to worry about in Dan Walls. It can split the defence. But hey .... Work it out yourself!!

DMB: Thanks chaps - we'll do our best. Now, would you mind passing the wasabi?

* 06.11.2008 postscript - Turns out we've been spelling Mike's surname incorrectly all these years. Sorry about that Mike - it's now been set right (at least in this post...).

Preview From the Bamboo Grove

Most people would agree that having Wetnose as the most recent DojoMojo Blog interviewee for 10 days is long enough. Many would also note that seeing the Dojo anywhere near the bottom of the BUB blog list (presently occupied as usual by the Buggers blog) is a situation needing immediate rectification.

As it happened, our usual posting pattern was interrupted last week by a non-starting game against a forfeiting Rawhide crew. No game played, no video recorded, no post-game discussion to be had - what to do? And the answer of course was to be found wandering around the Dojo bamboo grove on a Monday afternoon as usual - big Julian Sacre.

So we strolled together for a while, chatting off the cuff about the work of Sun Tzu, and instead of analysing a previous encounter we contemplated the match-ups ahead for our respective teams in BPL Round 6 this week. Here's an excerpt from the conversation:

DojoMojo Blog: Julz - I see you're tipping a Slippry win over Dojo in Round 6. Why is that?

Julian Sacre: Well despite the spanking you gave them earlier in the season, I think they've really got their game together since then. They were quite impressive with a close win over us last week, they have a lot of depth and consistency across their roster and of course, the gun player in Mike. I think they're the more formidable of the 2 Buggers squads this season and the team to beat this league.

DMB: That's a big call Julz, especially when you consider that Pete Allen has put the kiss of death on the Slippry team by tipping them this week... But okay then - if they're such a threat, let's say you were asked to come up with a couple of strategies to take the Slippry Bug wearing the #1 shirt out of the game on O and D. What would those strategies be?

JS: Not a new strategy by any means, but I think putting maximum pressure on the gun throwers who will put it to him is the way to go. Mike will always do his thing in the endzone and there's not much you can do about it, but you can definitely do your best to shut down the strike handlers.

DMB: Our thoughts exactly. Now - who are you tipping to top the Dojo's "Above & Beyond" voting for this round, and why?

JS: Dan Walls - MVP for a reason.

DMB: There you go Dan - another member of the ever-expanding Walls fan club. And lastly Julz, you're playing the other Bug team this week, and the tips on BUB are going each way. How do you plan on following in the Dojo's footsteps and beating Messy?

JS: Going either way? Pretty sure only Wetnose and Will Churchill have gone for Messy so far. Wetnose is hardly an unbiased tip and Churchill... well... enough said. Last time we played Messy it was a tied game, however given that we were down 8-3 at half and it was the first time the new-look Lovers were playing together, I'm pretty confident we can come out ahead tonight. After much pondering of strategy over several visits to the bamboo grove this week, I believe that hard running on D will be required to generate blocks. Buzz will then take care of the offence. Easy.

DMB: Sounds like you've got it all worked out Julz. Thanks for the chat.

Will Churchill and the Sea of Tranquility

With the night sky over the Dojo's wooden garden pavilions illuminated by a full moon these past few nights, we knew that Will Churchill (known to BUB readers as will-i-am) would drop by for an evening of serene moon viewing. No doubt it comes as a surprise to many that Will's lunophilia is of a purely celestial, rather than puerile nature, but there you go.

While we sat by the edge of our reed-lined pond observing the reflections in the water we delved into a discussion on our game last week and some of the big issues surrounding the Brisbane Premier League right now. The conversation went something like this:

DojoMojoBlog: Will, as usual it's a delight to spend a quiet evening composing lunar haiku and discussing the finer points of Ultimate with you. I'm sure you'd agree it was a tough game for the new-look Passion crew last week. It seemed like your team (which now appears to consist of mostly young/inexperienced guys) ran hard early but quickly lost interest once the Dojo got its game together and started crunching the goals in?

Will Churchill: I do agree Steve. What made Passion a killer unit last season was that our team had a lot of depth once the disc got past Cheeseburger and Buzz so we'd keep moving and score. Albeit that we did have a tendency to become complacent with our wins and let some games slip out from under us (ie: losing to Dojo when you had 6 players was a real wake up call).

At the moment I see it that Passion has gone back to square 2 (never 1). When we started with ole Bretty Matzuka and Pottsy the rest of the team was greener than a fresh recruit being sent to war, or an over ripe cucumber. For the immediate future at least I see the Passion working to rebuild our strength and skill base and come next season, with the return of some of our players, we will be a force of reckoning once more.

DMB: Sounds ominous! Speaking of which, any Johnny-Mac-special grillings between games this week? Or maybe you'll be rolling out some new sort of half-time drill?

WC: Funnily, no. There was no grilling this week, the loss hit the team in a pinching sort of way and being the resilient youth we are we shall bounce back (great layout by the way, how's the... entire upper half of your body? Bouncing back? .... that was cheeky I admit :)

Actually, Johnny has taken the backseat for this season opting to lend his experience leading teams to a new player who is up to the role of challenging himself to manage the Passion. Nat (never Nate) Litzow has taken the reins so far and is doing a swell job. John is around as an encyclopedia of Ultimate related knowledge and strategy on field but the man running us is Nathan.

DMB: "Manage the Passion", eh? That can't be easy with a team of undergrads. Okay - here's a hypothetical: If you could poach one player from any other team in the league to come over and bolster the Passion roster, who would it be and why (don't be boring and say Mike Nield)?

WC: Well straight out the window are Buggers players. A leopard doesn't change its spots and a crustacean will never be a cool creature like a Unicorn or a Cherub that the club so diligently bases itself around. So I'm left with 3 teams to choose from. I'd probably grab the 'Big Guy' Julian Sacre and bring him home to momma. The man is a unit on the field and a difficult player to stop. Couple with Jmac and there is a game winning deal there.

(Let it be known though that as boundless as my love for the big guy is I still want it public knowledge about how I took Julian to school and tore down a contested disc in the air against him in the YUFL final on Monday. Honestly, I was awesome.)

DMB: Happy to take your word for it, Will. Perhaps Julz will like to contribute his thoughts via one of his legendary post comments...? And speaking of defectors like him, we've been hearing rumours that all those guys betrayed their Passion roots between seasons simply because Al Don promised them nice shirts. Any truth in that?

WC: UQ is pulling itself under a single banner starting this weekend at Mixed Nationals and we shall be touting our bitchin' new colours and strips. The plan at the moment is to integrate these strips into our 2 YUFL teams (3 come next year if everything goes ahead) and then try to garb the BPL and womens team in the same. It'll be some work but we're confident enough that the price is right and we have instilled the right kind of pride and fellowship in the club that such a move would work.

As for how Al is getting credit for this I don't know. Props go out to Gref Goranson for his l33t photoshop skillz and design f1air. As a preview, it might be a downer to see another dark team around Brisbane but I ask why the Buggers are red instead of the more aquine blue and black of their aquatic environs? That's just n00bish (ok, enough of the leet speak).

DMB: Whoa - we weren't really following much of that Will, but hopefully those "leet speakers" out there were, whoever they are. We here at the Dojo pride ourselves not only on our oldskool (is that leet?) style but even moreso on our extensive merchandise range. Surely a man with your unusual perspective on life can suggest some interesting additions (including to this blog)?

WC: Sweatbannds! Frisbee players don't wear enough sweatbands. Heck, I've played with 4 one game and it wasn't enough! That and caps, no not the crappy GAIA caps that you shead a tear over for lost potential. TRUCKER CAPS! The line outside my house of people wanting to borrow my Decepticon Cap is nothing short of the attention that the self referencing egotistical all round winner I am deserves (yes, I just said that). Caps and sweatbands baby - that's a money maker (coming to a UQ fashion outlet near you).

As for other things... you guys could really use a unicorn in the zen garden here. But you'll need a dozen stableboys or so. There is a price that comes with magical creatures. But you can at least sell it for $5 a bag.

DMB: Not quite sure what it is we'd be selling for $5 a bag, Will, but you'll be glad to know that there are already Dojo caps in existence (circa 2004 Nationals), and headbands too. They just don't get a lot of use these days, now that we're a primarily night-time team...

Anyway, enough about Ultimate - let's get back to those haiku. Thanks for the chat, Will.

Eight Was Too Many...

DojoMojo's run from nowhere to Premiership contenders came to an end on Thursday night against a very charged UQ Passion. Seems beating them with six last time was akin to beating a rather large nest of wasps with a flaming stick...

But all credit to the boys in pink - they got stuck into the game VERY hard and capitalised on early Dojo errors, of which there were several (more on that shortly). Perhaps UQ's masterstroke was sending home their captain Johnny Mac with a rolled ankle just before the start of the game, giving Dojo about 5 minutes of false security before Buzz "The Cornerstone of Queensland Ultimate" Burwell arrived to put things back in serious doubt, just moments before Game On was called.

Thankfully Marijke Walls (you're a lucky man, Dan) was on hand to film some of the action for us, and on reviewing the footage a pretty sorry tale emerged of a stagnant, hammer-dependent Dojo offence struggling to make yardage against a (frequently double-teaming but rarely called) UQ puppy/fence zone. This first video exemplifies just how hard Dojo had to work just to get the frisbee anywhere near UQ's endzone:


44 passes! And of course we weren't helped by a vast number of unforced errors.

Some of these I'm-okay-you're-okay establishments don't like to single out individuals for either praise or punishment, but here at the Dojo we take a more "traditional" approach a-la John Kreese. Whilst watching the video of the game, we couldn't help noticing that one player had more turnovers than the rest of the team combined, and this player was Lee "McLovin" O'Dwyer. We had considerable pleasure in producing this little compilation of Lee gold:


Great grab by Dan Walls at the end there - seemed unfair not to include that one... But at least Lee does it with style, right? More mojo than dojo, and obviously not big on reading emails. For this writer the funniest bit is Coopers shrugging his shoulders at 1:02... Not sure why there's no sound, but things rarely work properly the first time.

There's no denying however that the boys with the worst shirts in the league (kind of like musk sticks, and even worse when combined with the apparently fashionable white shorts) deserved to win through to the Final. Burwell of course generated most of the play around the disc, but everyone was involved around the middle of the field and the defensive intensity was high all over. It certainly seemed that the zone D suited the style of the UQ yoofs much better that their man-plus-one from last time around, and they seemed very successful at stopping the Dojo developing any real flow.

On offence they were simply safer than the Dojo, with very few risky options (this writer only recalls one long shot all night) and they always had the single-malt smoothness of Buzz's break throws to call on under pressure. Here's how easy they made it look at times:



So that's it for the season. Next week UQ Passion take on Messy Bugs in the Final and it's going to be a cracker. Will big Jules take his A-game to Brisbane's "dominant player at the moment" Mike Neild? Will Buzz and Jason spend all night trying to out-huck each other? Will John's ankle be the right way around again, and will Wetnose really wear a mankini? And what feats will the other 20-or-so guys pull out in the big game? Perhaps someone will make us an offer we can't refuse to film the action...

There's one final MVP poll on the right (voting for multiple players is fine as usual), but the outcome will have no bearing on the fact that this season's MVP winner is Matt Eastburn. Matt can expect his fabulous prize to arrive about the same time the tracksuit he won for the inaugral Dojo blocks comp back in 2004 does...

Mat Ryan on International Diplomacy

Despite the fact that our five-on-five game last week was a pretty sedate affair and ended early so we could watch the cracking Passion v Messy game, Mat Ryan (of Taipans fame) still had the good grace to accept our invitation to a post-game recovery session in the tranquil environs of the Dojo's onsen-style bathhouse.

With aches & pains massaged away by the Dojo's own Shiatsu masseuses, we retired to our outdoor thermal spring in a scene not dissimliar to James Bond and Tiger in You Only Live Twice... Here's what we discussed whilst having our shoulders rubbed and being served iced tea:

DojoMojo Blog: Mat, welcome to the luxurious facilities that help keep the Dojo kenshi in tip-top shape. It's a rare privilege to have such a well-travelled and tournament-hardened veteran of the game such as yourself drop by.

Mat Ryan: It's a pleasure, nay, an honour to be interviewed on such an august online publication. What's your readership these days? You must be getting say, 50-60 thousand hits a week?

DMB: On a quiet week, yes (g'day Graham in Canada!). But once word spreads about this little interview we expect to see that figure blow out exponentially... Now - down to business. A pretty poor effort from both our teams this week, although at least yours had enough to avoid a double-forfeit. Who were you missing, why weren't they there, and what sort of reprimands will they suffer during the week? Apparently water-boarding is entirely humane and legal...

MR: Yeah. It was a fairly mediocre turnout this week from both teams, particularly given that it was for the minor premiership. I heard the various excuses given by the Dojo squad but I suspect they are conserving their legs for next week's semi. Fair enough, it looks like it will be an all in brawl with the UQ Pashun after their last encounter (I wonder if Burwell will bring some tissues next week?).

I'm not sure what the story was with the Slippery boys though. I don't think I've ever seen more than 9 at any given fixture, so we're not exactly famous for our massive sideline. I'm not sure what discipline that Jimmy Larkin has in mind ... but he doesn't strike me as the waterboarding type. He'll probably just send a softly worded email in size 8 font.

DojoMojo Blog: Hmmm - the old sternly-worded letter, eh? Didn't work so well for Hans Blix in Team America, but we have had a fair bit of success here at the Dojo with our "virtual training sessions"... The most fun on Thursday night was had watching the Passion v Messy game. Obviously you were backing the other Bug team then, but next week I doubt you'll be cheering so loudly when J-Ray repeatedly hucks it to Mike?

Mat Ryan: Hey, as far as I'm concerned everything went exactly to script: Bugs are guaranteed a spot in the final while Passion and Dojo beat the crap out of each other. Obviously it would have been sweet to see a Bug v Bug final, but I'm not sure that would have pleased the Brisbane Ultimate community too much. That said, I'll be working hard to see the Slippery team follow up on their minor premiership. It would be great for Jimmy to mount the big hubcap on the mantlepiece at home.

DMB: Yes, well Jimmy is certainly a little terrier of an ultimate player, but the idea of him mounting hubcaps anywhere is something we'd prefer not to consider. So let's get back on-topic, as those media-savvy types like to say. The BPL table has been unstable all season, and now with the Worlds guns back to their teams and other teams going into the finals without some of their top shelf guys, is it possible to forecast a winner from the four semifinalists?

MR: Forecast? Look I could wax on about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various teams but honestly I think this season is the most open we've seen in ages. Dojo are the dark horse and if they can put all their guys on the line at the right time, and those guys play to their potential, then they can win it. I think they have the deepest, most consistent roster. All the other teams have some stars at the top but they also have a bunch of relative rookies. It's a great competition to be playing at the moment.

DMB: It sure is, and with players from the Dingos, Taipans, Barramundis & Thunder all back on deck the tipsters are once again struggling to pick the form. Looking to next week's semifinals, which individual players do you reckon will make game-changing contributions (for better and for worse...)?

MR: I find it hard to go past Mike Neild as the dominant player at the moment. After his World Champs experience he is in red-hot form, outplaying some of the biggest names in World Ultimate. If Mike fires, and he receives good service from his team, then he'll be hard to stop.

But Ultimate isn't about individuals. It will come down to the best team. So while Mike or John McNaughton or even Dan Walls might play the game of their life, the semis (and final) will be won by the best team. That said, games are a lot easier to lose than win. And I reckon there are a bunch of guys out there who can lose a game in spectacular fashion. I'll be keeping a close eye out for players who look like they are having a howler. The frisbee field can be a very small place with no-where to hide...

DMB: Very tactfully put, Mat - it's easy to see why you're a multiple Worlds Spirit winner. And speaking of Ultimate matters on a global scale, is there any particular experience from your recent Vancouver expedition that has changed your approach to the game as we play it here in Brisbane?

MR: I think the feature of Worlds which impressed me most was the amount of contact that occurred with almost no fouls being called. I believe there are 2 reasons behind this:

1. In most cases the contact did not actually influence the outcome of the play. Contact occurring in the contest usually happened after the catch ... So there's no point in calling anything (and being great players, most catches were completed). Also, contact occurring during cutting was more often initiated by the cutter than the receiver. The cutter would often run a tight line close to the Defender then jag away into the space.

2. Foul calling is perceived to benefit the D team rather than the O team because it disrupts the flow and slows down the game, allowing the Defence to re-orient. Offence is all about creating chaos and exploiting the gaps.

There seems to be a general shift in the individual interpretation of the contact rules by both O and D teams. I think it makes for a faster, more spectacular, and perhaps ironically, fairer game. By comparison Brisbane (and Australian) ultimate seems quite slow and stuttering, with more disruptions and more disputes. And I just hate disputes.

DMB: Superb stuff Mat. Many thanks for sharing your keen insights into the game here and abroad, and for taking the time out of your day to drop by the Dojo bathhouse.

Waving the Gunbai with Johnny Mac

Scholarly as ever, John McNaughton arrived at our Dojo "Sumo Showdown" over the weekend with textbooks in hand and could be seen between bouts busily memorising what appeared to be the notes from his elective subject in pre-Socratean sophistry. Not sure what that has to do with his course in Human Movement (or some such Phys-Ed pursuit), but those ancient Greeks did invent the Olympics after all...

And as if that preamble isn't obscure enough, once the winning Rikishi had been awarded we then got down to dissecting last week's game. Here's what John had to say:

DojoMojo Blog: John, as usual it's a privilege to have you join us here by the Dojo Dohyo. It's hard to believe that's really Dave Watson and Dan Blacklock wearing Mawashi and grappling each other, isn't it? Anyway - onto last week's game. When you looked to the other end of the field before the first point and saw just the six Dojo guys standing there, how did you expect the game to play out?

John McNaughton: The six were no slouches, most having played several Nationals, but I thought we should take the game comfortably. The Dojo didn't look very fired up, Passion had recently been talking about getting more fired up and playing better, and we had essentially our full roster present. I thought it should be a comfortable victory against a team that probably wouldn't fight hard if they started going down.

DMB: That's funny, because we've already admitted that we were thinking the same thing. But something strange happened and we quickly started turning the run of the game in our favour. A few points in, it seemed that the quick disc movement from the Dojo offence was actually rushing the numerically superior Passion D. Is this how you saw it?

JMcN: You were certainly rushing us, but I feel that our D positioning was quite average. Dojo has become excellent at taking short opportunities, maintaining possession, and looking to create flow generated by handlers, and our poor handler marking certainly didn't help us to defend this. I think your perception is true, but for analysis' sake, I would add that one of our D weaknesses (inexperienced handler defenders) played into your strength, allowing this to happen.

DMB: Sounds about right John. And then you tried something I don't think we at the Dojo have ever seen before - a team doing drills at halftime (admittedly doing drills anytime isn't really a key part of the Dojo Way). What were you trying to change about the way your guys were playing?

JMcN: Really? I think more teams should try it. We ran a very simple defensive drill, one on one, to try to teach people to play proper man on man defence. We'd been getting roasted open and under all game, so I was trying to get people to wake up and learn to cover a position. Unfortunately, it didn't help a lot - we came out with a couple of quick points (playing junk) and then didn't change after that.

DMB: Indeed. Perhaps you should also try our own patented email-warmup technique? At the very least no-one can say it doesn't work... Still, there was plenty of first-rate action on field, and it was a shame we couldn't get any video from the game. The Buzz Burwell / Dan Walls collision would have provided some excruciating viewing afterwards... Any other moments stand out as particularly memorable from the night?

JMcN: I actually missed that moment... I thought Dan's IO backhand huck, length of the field past a poaching lane defender, was one of the best throws I've seen this year. Sensational. A good D from Andy on a Buzz scoober that saved a goal, Dan Walls taking a couple of excellent catches under pressure, Matt E had some excellent throws (low percentage but accurate and completed).

DMB: Yep - we certainly got away with more than our share of low-percenters. It was also clearly evident to us that a fair degree of frustration was building in the Passion camp through the game, and Buzz Burwell, that purveyor or fine entomological anecdotes, had some interesting words to say in the post-game huddle which seemed to sum up the Passion sentiments quite effectively, if somewhat less than elegantly... Without giving everything away, what will you guys be changing next week to avoid having that happen again?

JMcN: I think our warm up (or lack thereof) is a problem. We've talked about it for the last few weeks, and haven't actually changed anything. Most people do some stationary throwing before a game, and that's it. We may institute a team warm-up, including both the physical and skills-based, and see if this brings results.

DMB: Well, with a born leader of immense charisma and magnetic manliness like you at the helm John, we've no doubt that Passion will be back playing your famously dangerous style of Ultimate very soon. Thanks for taking a few moments out from your studies to discuss the game with us. Sorry you also had to endure the unpleasant sight of Andy McLean getting a wedgie and a slap in the face from Lee O'Dwyer here at the Dojo Sumo Hall...