I have this ongoing thing with one of my best friends where we try to discover the most outrageous YouTube videos ever. Whenever one of us “loses” (I rarely lose, because I have little to nothing to do with my life *foghorn*), we use the same tired, weak excuse — the same one I’m gonna give you right now for not updating ever: Girl, I been busy!
But I do realize that I “owe everybody an apology for (my) shit“, so I’m here to try to make amends. Here: amends.
(I’ll give you a little time to recover.)
We cool now?
Alright, so we can talk about Club Naysh now, right? More than usual, I’m finding myself truly bummed that this isn’t the year I make my first trip to Sarasota (as a player or a spectator) — I’ve got homies competing in every pool! Personal note aside, I’m expecting a lot of great, close games from every pool. I had wanted to do a “Game to Watch” for each pool, but found way too many games to watch, just because I feel like there are a lot of opportunities for upsets. With the women’s college division this year, I thought there was a great deal of parity in the field as a whole — it was difficult to pick one clear, far and away favorite who would win, and we ended up with a totally unexpected team in the finals (hey go blue great lakes great times). I don’t think this year’s women’s club division has a “clear, far and away favorite” either, but don’t get me wrong: to me, the top four are pretty familiar, boring choices. However, I *do* think the parity among the next four to five teams is greater than ever. There are a handful of really young, talented teams just riiiight there on the cusp, and I think they’re going to cause some real trouble for those top four teams in the years to come. That said:
Pool A:
Boring: I think this pool plays to seed. Nemesis vs. Brute should be a good game, but I like Nemesis better in that matchup, so no upsets.
Pool B:
I think the Capitals are gonna win the whole dang pool. I say that with a lil’ trepidation, but I gotta support a homie! Match made in Canada, aye! (Don’t worry, she doesn’t miss me at all.) So the pool finishes: Caps, Traffic, Showdown, Bent (In the interest of full disclosure, I’d have Bent higher if Mary “I Cried When Muammar Gaddafi Died Because I Thought It Was Carlos Santana” Kim was playing for them, but alas. I mean, I recognize that it’s not their fault that she’s not playing, nor is it their fault that she confuses heinous dictators with famed rock guitarists, but y’know).
Pool C:
Riot wins the pool, but I’m calling a Revoloution upset of Ozone. Just cause. I’ve actually never seen Ozone play and it looks like they’ve got the height advantage (which, coming from an almost midget: whatever), but I just like Revo a lot — don’t sleep on ’em. This might be one of those things where if I’m wrong, I’ll have to come here and swallow sadness and be all “Well when am I ever right?”, but if I’m right, I’ll get to point to this forever and celebrate a minor, minor accomplishment that will mean little to nothing to anyone outside of maybe myself.
Pool D:
Scandal upsets Molly Brown. Also calling Further over Safari. I just wanna see some havoc being wreaked over here. Make it happen.
Final Four: Fury vs. Traffic, Capitals vs. Riot.
The ‘Ship: I think it’ll be Fury vs. Riot because my favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla, so what else did you expect from me? This is the same person who picked Wisconsin to win every tournament during the ’08 and ’09 seasons, so *shrug*. My rational self thinks Fury will beat Riot (I like to go with whoever won the Regional matchup. I don’t know why I do this though, because it almost never works out for me when applied to other sporting situations. Like basketball. UConn beats ND in the Big East Tournament, loses to them in the NCAA tournament. Just one heartbreaking example). My heart wants Riot to win. But if I appeal to science (aka whose logo I like better) it’s Fury over Riot. Facts versus romance, I guess (as one of my favorite gingers ever used to say). I’ve been feeling schmaltzy though lately, so I’ll tell you that I’m cheering for Riot.
Observations
- Y’all logo games are up! Like, most everybody! I’m late on most everything, so excuse my ignorance if that’s all it is, but are all these crests soccer-related? Fancy.
- There is a team from Tallahassee called Sabre Corp. And their logo is Dwight Schrute. Four for you guys. You go, guys. All the awards.
- I don’t remember if they did this last year, but I like what USA Ultimate did with the Club Championships website. Going through the bios and whatnot has been pretty enjoyable. Call me a sap/Spirit freak, but I’m really digging reading all of the team bios that talk about how they play because they love the game and they love the company of their friends — their teammates — and they wanna just go out and have tons of fun while competing. Those are teams after my own heart, and I really want to see all of them do really well. So I’m cheering for all of yous guys. It gives me hope that one day — someday — one of my very own club team(s) will make its way to compete in Sarasota, just spreading love and lols, you know? Canadian Dream. Senor Briefcase. The Ron Swansons. My “Mean Girls” tribute team. A girl can dream.
All in all, I’m excited for a great tournament. I know I “make predictions” and act all upset when I’m wrong (but who is surprised, amirite?), but I want to see crazy stuff happen this weekend. Here’s to upsets, underdogs, and Cinderellas. Good luck to everyone, and all my love and lols to my frands competing this weekend!
