Nation,
Boston Invite Pools are up. This is a preview.
Open
No one wanted to go on record and rank the elite pool, so I guess we know how the tournament director feels. Seriously, it has to be tough to tell Philly Love that although they beat Brooklyn already this year, they are seeded lower. But one small example.
Pool A has hometown favorite Ironside, along with PoNY (NYC), Truck Stop (DC) and Phoenix of Ottawa. I think Ironside will take the pool, but the real question becomes who finishes 2nd and 3rd. Truck Stop will be looking for an upset over PoNY. Phoenix is comfortable with their seed, and will look to the improved play of cutter/handler Reynaldo "Rey-Rey" Arteaga to match day one opponents.
Pool B has GOAT as the top seed. Expect Toronto's best to put a stronger showing than at CUT. Bodhi (Mass based club) and Mephisto (Montreal) had better showings at CUT than expected, and will look to upset if GOAT doesn't bring it in pool play. Sons of Liberty was 1-5 at CUT, and will have to be better to survive the pre quarter final cross overs.
Pool C has local sentimental favorite DoG and two Washington/Baltimore based teams. Colt 45 had a miserable first tournament in Cazenovia and has to rebound in this tournament.
Pool D has three teams (Pike, Forge, and Brooklyn) who suffered early season failure and are paying for it in the seedings. Forge was very hyped (talked about is probably the better way of saying it) before the season started and I hope Pittsburgh sees results to meet expectations. Providence Pack Dogs round out the pool, and they could surprise.
Pool E is an interesting one. Philly Love and Run Silent Run Deep should be evenly matched in their head to head game. Red Tide has the ability to play above or below seed depending on the roster present. Magma from Montreal is reportedly much improved from last year, but might have a very daunting task in this pool.
Pool F has some strong Canadian content. Red Circus of Halifax is, in my opinion, often underrated every year in Canadian circles. Having seen the roster, I think Grand Trunk of Toronto might be the very best B team east of Vancouver this decade. Lots of depth and talent. I think the Metro Boston All Stars was a huge ringer team that dominated their pool games last year, so opponents should prepare accordingly. Roots of Rythym is a classic American team in this area of the bracket- Looks a little unorganized, has a guy with big dreads, and has some guys that can huck and play the deep game.
Pool G and H do not feature UPA finals candidates for this season, but these pools might show you how the game is developing for the good. Instead of pick up teams and unorganized chaos, one sees actual travel teams and teams that you want to see. Pool H features Montreal's Demon, Mephisto's B team that features ex Firebird revelation Phil Boisvert. He's a huge prospect that plays a great deep game already, very natural.
Wild Predictions
Final 8- GOAT, Ironside, Truck Stop, Mephisto, Pike, PoNY, Bodhi, Phoenix
Final 4- Ironside, Bodhi, Truck Stop, GOAT
Finals- Ironside over GOAT
Women
Still no pools or schedule up yet... but I'll venture some guesses..
Canadian Content
- Stella from Ottawa
- Storm from Montreal
- Lotus from Toronto
- Mystik from Montreal
- QUB from Quebec City
- Salty from Halifax
Final 4- Brute Squad, Nemesis, Lotus, Storm
Finals- Brute Squad over Lotus
* Note that wild predictions were done on estimation.. not researched properly and aim only to start conversation.
9 comments:
Depending on who's playing for them this weekend, Providence PD's will win Pool D, and have a good shot at winning the crossover game into the elite.
But my real prediction, and you can take it to the bank, is that Replicants from pool E will handily win that pool and also their crossover game into Easterns 1. From there, who knows..
Calling a shot, I love it!
Can you tell us more about the Replicants?
Please note there have been some changes in the pools (starting at Pool E and moving downwards) since I wrote the preview
-Demon moves way up
-Magma moves way down
-Grand Trunk and Red Circus move down and now will have to try an cross over into Easterns 1 on Sunday.
I'll try. What I know is they're captained by Macgougan, a very solid player (formerly of Rhino I believe) and the team is mostly comprised of young, quick players with a brash attitude. I just don't think the other teams in the pool will take them as seriously as they should. They're seeded about correctly since they'll only be moving up.
I would also add that Colt and Medicine Men are seeded surprisingly high considering their scores this year..
I'm a little surprised that you predict Stella will be stopped at quarters. I've come to expect a semi-final appearance, or better, from them.
T-1000, I made the picks before there was a schedule out.
Now looking at the schedule, Stella comes in ranked 3rd in their power pool and will likely hold seed or move up.
Now, if that happens, they cross over with either Storm, Lotus, or Nemesis. Either of those teams are capable of winning versus Stella. It's a tossup so early in the season.
According to my insiders, Nemesis has made some really positive roster moves this year. They've added great athletes, gotten rid of some "dead weight" and have the same strong core (including super handler Jessi Witt)
I'll under promise in my predictions about Stella and hope they over deliver.
The ringer team you're remembering from last year was Providence Pack Dogs. I don't think MBASONY has particularly many ringers this year, and didn't last year.
I have insider information that MBASONY will be without their studs from last year: Brian Chen and Will Jin. One is playing dischoops with Frank at a co-ed tournament in the MidWest and the other now plays for JAM.
Results are up:
T.O takes it on both sides, with Goat winning on universe point over Ironside, holding on to the win after Ironside makes a comeback from being down 11-7 to tie it at 13s, game to 14. On the final point, Kennedy takes down a big hammer just outside the endzone, almost right on the sideline. Up the line pass gets tipped by a defender but Thomson McKnight ends up on his back with the winning catch for the GOATs.
Lotus starts the game against Nemesis up 2-0, ends up down 5-7, but then scores 3 in a row (O, D, D) to take half and never relinquishes the lead again, winning 15-11 over Nemesis.
Stella loses their quarter to Nemesis. Don't know if they played out the 5-8 bracket.
Phoenix takes 6th in the Elite pool, taking it to Pony on Day 1.
See
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=6536
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=6535
for scores.
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