Like Kryptonite

Last night was the first BPL outing for both the new-look Dojo squad and the new-to-the-league Heroes team. The result was a pretty brutal 15-2 to the Dojo, and we think we know why: the Heroes shirts are the same colour as Kryptonite!

Is the head of Heroes' merchandising possessed of a deeply ironic sense of humour? Or perhaps they're styling themselves more as the Greenzo sort of modern eco-hero? Either way, one thing we know for sure is that there was no colour more feared by the original man of steel than green. OMG - man of steel hating anything green? Superman was the original comic-book poster boy for environment-destroying industrialists!

Anyway, at least the Heroes have gone for a colour that no other team already had (a simple concept that has eluded the Cobras and even MBB in the past), and they certainly looked a lot more unified than the anything-white-will-do Dojo. With all the roster shakeups of late, a new batch of Dojo shirts can't arrive soon enough.

Anything worth noting about the game? Well, rather than participating last night, this writer observed the first half from a comfortable seat atop the field-side esky, and what was clear even from there was that the Heroes have a lot settling in to do before they start to seriously challenge in the BPL. LD Stu could be heard on the sideline criticising the Dojo's use of zone defence against a rookie team, but really - it's not the Brisbane Preparatory League, and everyone knows that when you play the Dojo you will face zone D. Best get used to it early.

No doubt the Heroes will be much improved by the time we meet again in the second half of the season, and after all they are the only BPL team ever to have a dedicated, non-player coach (one Mr Matt Boevink), but the new additions to the Dojo roster will be much more firmly embedded by then as well...

Ah well. After what can only be described as a poor blogging effort last season, we've resolved to return to our usual up-to-the-minute standards this season. As such, the first round of Above&Beyond voting is now open - vote away on the right. Maybe next week we'll even return with the video camera...

Our McLeans Are No Longer Showing

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

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

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

Andy McLean - kampai!

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.

This Is A Call

Visiting is pretty
Visiting is good
Seems that all they ever wanted was a brother

This can be a secret
We can keep it good
Even all the ever wanting had a problem

Yes, this is a call, but not to any of Dave's past resignations (or to any of the many angry, angry youtube commenters below that clip - why do they get so nasty, and why can we not resist morbidly reading them?).

This is in fact a call to any would-be Dojo kenshi out there, and it's a very serious call at that. Why? Well, there's a plan afoot, and it's a very good plan if it works, to get a Gold Coast based team into the Brisbane Premier League. Clearly, a coastal expansion team would be a great thing for the BPL, but sadly it isn't such a good thing for DojoMojo. You see, half a dozen or so of our kenshi are Gold Coasters themselves, and they've been making the trip to play the Dojo Way in Brisbane every week for years. But starting next season, our old chums Stefan, Mike, Lee, Phil & Darren aim to be wearing GC jerseys and we wish them all the best. Including the best and most humiliating defeats upon each encounter with the Dojo...

But all of that is assuming there will still be a Dojo for the Gold Coasters, and all you other SE Qld frisbophiles to play against, once nearly half our players have departed. So - have you ever wished you could feel for yourself the quality fabric of the world famous Dojo shirt? And have one in black AND white? And have your name mentioned regularly on the only local team blog that ever gets updated (shame, Wetnose, shame)? And not have to do any training ever (assuming here that you're already 6'5" with unmatched natural talent)? Well, now is the time to turn those fantasies into reality, even if you're none of the above! It's a pretty simple story - DojoMojo needs YOU (no, not you Cupcake), and needs you NOW. Feel free to email stephen (at) ark (dot) net (dot) au and demand your spot on the team.

Oh yeah, while we're here we might as well add in a quick recap of the Grand Final that we lost last season. It would be really quick and easy to say that the final was won by Mike Neild, but in actual fact the final was lost by DojoMojo. We were ahead by a lot with not much time left, and managed to lose the game despite being handed multiple J-Ray turnover gifts - sometimes several in one point.

To be fair, Jason also threw most of the goals that Mike caught, but his real impact came down to two throws, both of which were pulls in consecutive points in the dying moments of the game, when Bugs were 3 points down and all Dojo had to do to win was score 1 measly point. After a nervy Dojo turnover and Bug score, Jason proceeded to put the next two pulls deep into the back corner of the endzone with plenty of hangtime, giving his defending teammates plenty of time to set up and forcing the Dojo to go for risky throws over and around the Bug D, leading to back-to-back turnovers within 20m of our own endzone. Anyone that plays team sport can tell you that this change in momentum is all the Bugs needed to tip the game in their favour, especially when Mike was there to grab what swill he could get near (the turnover count was sky high in every sense) and accept the victory that the Dojo seemed so keen to hand over.

Gotta say - watching all this happen from the sideline with both calves cramped as usual was all the inspiration this team blogger and occasional frisbee player needed to make getting back into proper shape a high-priority New Year's resolution, alongside "win BPL". The kenshi kernel you know and love/loathe will be there to have another crack at the leaden R.C. Dog Cup this season, but only if we can find some new teammates to walk the Dojo Way with. Drop us a line if you reckon that might be you.

On Lightning and Cliches...

They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but that's exactly what happened for DojoMojo last Thursday night. Well sort of, given that Dojo's game against MBB was at Annerley Junior FC fields and the previous round had been at Griffith. And then of course there's the fact that the Griffith game against UQ Lovers had resulted in a final point win, whereas last week's game against MBB was... well let's not spoil it for those that weren't there (or at the invisible-image-touting BUBlog afterwards)...!

Looks like they were right about the lightning.

And now that we've done enough stretching of analogies for one post we can proceed to give a brief and hopefully not-too-tedious rundown of the game itself. Let's see:

Things actually started out quite well for both teams offensively at least, with Dojo playing proper Ultimate from the first point of the game - surely a first this season?! After 6 points the scoreline was locked at 3-3, with the Dojo's zone D looking the stronger of the two, but still yet to get a block. Perhaps sensing that the Dojo was slowly getting the upper hand in the give-and-take early points, MBB decided to abandon their early attempts to share the disc around with lots of short passes through the Dojo zone, instead going for a full rosary of good old faithful hail-Mary shots to Mike in the endzone. It's an Ulti-cliche for a reason i.e. it works so it happens a lot.

Before anyone knew it the score had rapidly blown out to 10-5 in favour of MBB, and with the game looking more or less won and the kenshi looking pretty bored with the whole thing, MBB subbed Mike off. And this, as it turns out, was not a great move on their part.

Who can say what it is that's made the Dojo such a never-say-die team this season. No doubt the return of veteran Dojo legend Leon McIntyre has helped, as has the addition of rookie Darren Shi - a guy too young to notice when he's dislocated a shoulder. Perhaps the brilliant captaincy of Sensei C, who has selflessly subbed himself off the field and out of the way in both of the last two games, has also contributed...

What we do know for sure is that this season, the Dojo will take any opening it can find no matter how late in the game and how hopeless the situation. This time, the removal of Bug #1 from the field was exactly that opening, allowing the kenshi to press hard under on D without the looming threat in the deep and to throw long with abandon. By the time the Bug leader was back on the field (a couple of points later, as we recall it) the momentum had noticeably shifted and there was no stopping it. 10-5 MBB became 11-10 (MBB now in front by just 1 point) with one point to play!

In situations like this, it always feels like a win for the team that was behind on the scoreboard to draw the game in the final point, and that's exactly what happened after a forced turnover and a beautiful long-range score. For a game that started so evenly to swing so heavily in one direction then just as quickly and for just as long in the other is something we certainly can't recall being part of before.

So the Dojo keeps its Minor Premiership prospects alive (needing a win over the pseudo-newbie Cobras this week) by escaping from what appeared to be a fairly well-dug grave yet again. The question now is: will the notoriously unpredictable Dojo throw their final regular season game in order to avoid the weight of "favourite" status going into the finals? It certainly weighed heavily last season... Only time will tell, but until then we've got A&B voting to do right there on the sidebar.

Keep an Eye Out

It's Sunday night and we're doing our Dojo blogging duty. No surprises then that we stopped by the Brisbane Ultimate Blog first to see what the fallout had been from the Dojo's 13-12 win against UQ Lovers last Thursday night.

And whilst not quite of a Chernobyl-rivalling scale, the rumble that took place between Dojo and Lovers on the GU backlots last week certainly seems to have generated a bit of conversation, even ignoring (as we do) those who lack the cahones to post comments under their own name...

You can certainly understand why many of the UQ guys would have been desperately unhappy to lose out in the final point - if it had been us we'd be feeling exactly the same. They'd turned up early with a huge squad, warmed up like a tight unit should and hit the ground running from the first point. Contrast this with a customarily leisurely arrival for the (eight) Kenshi, standing around and chatting for a while before maybe throwing a couple of short passes before the first pull. If we're honest with ourselves we have to admit that it's a pretty shabby way to get the night underway, and after a brief flourish of Dojo throwaways it was halftime with UQ way out in front at a thoroughly deserved 8-2.

Fast forward to the final point of the game by which time the Dojo had managed to level the score at 12-12, through a variety of effective zone D's (helped by a gentle breeze into one corner of the field) and minimal-turnover offence (sorely lacking in the first half). The last point of the night however featured multiple turnovers from anxious hands on both teams, but the disc was eventually secured in the prophylactically-safe mitts of Sean Flanagan for a stupendously unlikely Dojo win.

Okay, so that paragraph made pretty light of the extraordinary effort involved in pulling back that halftime scoreline, and yes we're quite chuffed to have escaped that game with our undefeated record still intact. But to be perfectly frank, everything that had transpired previously in that game boiled down to the final point clincher, and it really could have gone either way. Dojo went in with a definite momentum advantage, but UQ were also within tasting distance of the win they'd worked so hard since before the game even started to achieve...

Anyway, it's experiences like these that both teams will draw on in the future, and one thing that does appear certain is that you can expect the Dojo to play half a game of excellent Ultimate on any given Thursday night.

A&B voting is back on the right!

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...