"dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun dun dun; dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun dun. bada-bum, bum bum, bum bada-bum bum; dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun dun dun."
And so it was that with the overtures from Star Wars playing gently on the wind, The Cairns Ultimate League (on) Tuesdays drew its first season to a close.
Congratulations to The Empire Strikes Backhand for their ruthless pursuit of the title; The Dark Lord himself, Liam Gillions, marshaled his troops to an 11-8 victory over Apocalypse Meow and clinched an unbeaten season.
The grand final game was like something lifted from George Lucas' playbook; it brought us a cliff hanger ending and left us all wondering "will the Rebel Alliance come back and destroy the Deathstar?" "Will Luke have his cut off hand replaced with a better, robot, hand?" "is it really OK that that dude just kissed his sister?"
Of course, in this situation, Luke Skywalker was played by a drunk Martin Sheen and Obi wan was a fat, crazy Marlon Brando, but the special effects were every bit as good as the original!
Skills wise, the level of this one was very high; uber-tight points led to some fairly tetchy moments and a few pedantic calls and some *really* long breaks before the huck helped to build tension; but perhaps the biggest tell tale of just how close to the wire this one ran was the fact that two of Empire's new recruits were sidelined for the better part of the game. Talking to some of the stormtroopers afterwards, no-one seemed to know quite why this was the case, but it was baffling to me and no doubt frustrating for them. After all, winning a grand final you didn't get to play in doesn't leave you with the same feeling of elation it would do if you actually got to play.
Overall, it was a well fought final battle, but not one where SOTG reigned and not one where Ulti was promoted as being "more than a game ... its a lifestyle."
The 3-4 playoff was no less hotly contested as Boomstick pulled out all the stops in trying to get their first win of the season. Sadly (for this journalist), it was not to be; with The (absolutely) Incredible Huck taking it with an 8-5 victory. Although Boomstick managed to contain the early run that Huck has managed to start with in previous games, the Green Machine kept wearing the deadites down until they set up a handy lead. With mere minutes to go, Boomstick managed to clinch two key points, but it wasn't enough to secure the game. On a personal note, I was completely stoked that rookie Ash Batterham, who scored Boomstick's first point ever, also scored our final point for the season. That's symmetry kids!
There is something about Huck/Boomstick games that never ceases to amaze me - it seems like both teams lift and the competitive juices flow like vitticulture byproduct from Bacchus' cornucopia ... which brings us to the dummy spit. Anthony Hwaha ... one of the best spirited players in Cairns Ulti: you sir, spat the dummy like it has never been spat before (and coming from me, this means something!). I don't bring this up to embarrass Anthony, but rather to highlight the way that, moments after 'the incident', both players were able to stop, talk, apologise and get on with the game; now that's good spirit!
To finish, I want to speak as president, not as a blogger: Thanks to everyone who has made this possible. To Anthony, who took the job of treasurer on (something I could never do); to all the captains for their support, ideas and guidance; to the stalwart players who have come with us from the park to our league and finally to everyone who has given our sport a go for the first time this season; sure hope you come back next year!
And so it was that with the overtures from Star Wars playing gently on the wind, The Cairns Ultimate League (on) Tuesdays drew its first season to a close.
Congratulations to The Empire Strikes Backhand for their ruthless pursuit of the title; The Dark Lord himself, Liam Gillions, marshaled his troops to an 11-8 victory over Apocalypse Meow and clinched an unbeaten season.
The grand final game was like something lifted from George Lucas' playbook; it brought us a cliff hanger ending and left us all wondering "will the Rebel Alliance come back and destroy the Deathstar?" "Will Luke have his cut off hand replaced with a better, robot, hand?" "is it really OK that that dude just kissed his sister?"
Of course, in this situation, Luke Skywalker was played by a drunk Martin Sheen and Obi wan was a fat, crazy Marlon Brando, but the special effects were every bit as good as the original!
Skills wise, the level of this one was very high; uber-tight points led to some fairly tetchy moments and a few pedantic calls and some *really* long breaks before the huck helped to build tension; but perhaps the biggest tell tale of just how close to the wire this one ran was the fact that two of Empire's new recruits were sidelined for the better part of the game. Talking to some of the stormtroopers afterwards, no-one seemed to know quite why this was the case, but it was baffling to me and no doubt frustrating for them. After all, winning a grand final you didn't get to play in doesn't leave you with the same feeling of elation it would do if you actually got to play.
Overall, it was a well fought final battle, but not one where SOTG reigned and not one where Ulti was promoted as being "more than a game ... its a lifestyle."
The 3-4 playoff was no less hotly contested as Boomstick pulled out all the stops in trying to get their first win of the season. Sadly (for this journalist), it was not to be; with The (absolutely) Incredible Huck taking it with an 8-5 victory. Although Boomstick managed to contain the early run that Huck has managed to start with in previous games, the Green Machine kept wearing the deadites down until they set up a handy lead. With mere minutes to go, Boomstick managed to clinch two key points, but it wasn't enough to secure the game. On a personal note, I was completely stoked that rookie Ash Batterham, who scored Boomstick's first point ever, also scored our final point for the season. That's symmetry kids!
There is something about Huck/Boomstick games that never ceases to amaze me - it seems like both teams lift and the competitive juices flow like vitticulture byproduct from Bacchus' cornucopia ... which brings us to the dummy spit. Anthony Hwaha ... one of the best spirited players in Cairns Ulti: you sir, spat the dummy like it has never been spat before (and coming from me, this means something!). I don't bring this up to embarrass Anthony, but rather to highlight the way that, moments after 'the incident', both players were able to stop, talk, apologise and get on with the game; now that's good spirit!
To finish, I want to speak as president, not as a blogger: Thanks to everyone who has made this possible. To Anthony, who took the job of treasurer on (something I could never do); to all the captains for their support, ideas and guidance; to the stalwart players who have come with us from the park to our league and finally to everyone who has given our sport a go for the first time this season; sure hope you come back next year!
