Tuesday, September 20, 2005
5 weeks+ in... How'd I do?
AMERICAN LEAGUE: Atlantic
1: Quez - Clearly the best league still, they've got the most successful Captain in MLP History there, they've got the players to repeat, it will take a lot to derail this team and their Captain.
WRONG. Quez have had a very mediocre start, actually much like last season. They won again tonight however to improve to 4-2, and they beat one of only 2 undefeated leagues coming into this week, and oh by the way by my memory this is the shortest we've ever gone in a Season, before every team gathered at least 1 loss.
2: Jokers Alley - Yeah, who? Newcomers to MLP but every time you see them in an interleague (if you care to look) it seems like they're always enjoying great success. Look for them to have a nice season.
WRONG. Just flip-flop the Jokers and Quez but give the advantage to Quez as they won the head-to-head. You could say they surprised a lot of people by starting off 5-0 before losing. Ha! Not so fast my friend. (End Corso Tags) Didn't I say they'd have a nice season? mtvaldo showed up considerably late for the match, that put Maverick in for the 3-3 Game 7 tonight, I know I'd have rather had Aldo, but hey stuff like that happens, they could finish with just this 1 loss or maybe 1 more on their report card.
3: Lava Pool Lounge - They're losing Romper apparently for this season, as last I knew he's taking a break. They lost Moe, which... Doesn't mean anything. Ogges always finds a way to give this team a shot at making the Playoffs no matter how much they struggle, this season looks to be no different.
RIGHT. Well, so far. They're actually tied for 3rd with Wild Angels who I still say will be like the Baltimore Orioles. They're having a fairly good start for now but they're going to fall off. LPL on the other hand certainly has room for improvement, but they have the experience and ability to remain consistent and I think they can take a fair share of matches throughout the final 10 weeks here.
4: MadSkillz - Well, I've started to wonder what all the hype is with this team they've been only one thing consistantly: Average. They were a nice surprise when they came in Season 4 to replace EZ8, but they finished the last 2 seasons with an average record. This time though, it may not be enough for them to get in where it'll be top 8 in the entire AL getting in.
RIGHT. Again, tied for 3rd at 3-2 but that's a 3-way tie in the Division, and still a mediocre start for them. Kinda like the MLP page where instead of a head to head page and stuff like that we're gonna add yet another new fancy shoutbox, and CueKeepers are STILL 12/20...? Anyways, MadSkillz need to give me a reason to actually believe they're for real before I actually say that they ARE for real.
5: Cool Pool - Well, this is assuming they actually get active enough, and have players to bring. It's not a league I particularly trust, but they'll probably have a decent season.
HAHA. Cheating dinks. Replaced by someone or another. I lost track.
6: Booze n Spliffs - Many former LPL'ers from a while back here, as they begin their first campaign in MLP. Vastly more active than CP but more active =/= better players necessarily. They could easily surprise a lot of players but I have many doubts.
WRONG. They're actually worse. Try 0-5 worse. Oh and they play Wild Angels so don't expect WA to finish with fewer than 4 wins this season. Yes, in advance I'm picking a Wild Angels win. Why? Because BNS have shown me so far these first 5 weeks they don't exactly like interleagues. Actually, they just don't like not being allowed to curse like sailors and crap like that. Too bad so sad, if they're lucky they might finish the season. If they're really lucky, they might win a couple matches. Didn't expect them to be great, but even still they've been a let-down.
7: CueKeepers - The league has been declining quite a bit in MLP, it does appear one of their very few consistant players will be around to captain the team in Rob_76, but it takes more than 1 person to make a season.
WRONG, SORTA. Rob's back, they're hovering around .500 but 2 things against them. #1: They're never prepared for a match until about 5 minutes before the match. Or even 50 minutes AFTER the match. #2: They lost to OPH. That's a loss that as far as I know has not, and will not be reversed, so they've got that embarrassment left with them. They've barely survived with 5-minute teams, but as the season goes on Rob needs to get everybody rounded up, at least a day ahead of time for a start. Otherwise, 5-10 here we come baby!
8: Wild Angels - Well at least they won the Sportsmanship Award. Average team at best, just here to have fun but I'd expect them to have an improved season over Season 5. I know, it's hard to have a decline after that kind of season, but I think they can improve a bit and have a decent record.
WRONG. Strong start for the Baltimore Wild Angel Orioles. And like I said somewhere up there, they're going to fall off and finish below .500, it's not yet their season. next season they have a good chance, this season they just hang around early and drop off late. They have improved in their late matches though, which seemed like the achilles heel from last season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE: Central
1: Regul8ors - Pita is one of the top Captains in MLP, despite never seeing a World Series. He always seems to get a nice team around him, he's usually able to pick them up with a win, and even though they lost Tracey to PO, the Regul8ors still have a sufficient team in what could be a mediocre Division overall.
RIGHT. They're currently leading their Division at 4-1, the one loss being a heartbreaker week 1 to LPL. Pita went on some tear where he said he was done with 7v7 and 5v5, I dunno what set off his tantrum but he appears to be back, and Regs need him if they plan to keep up this pace. If he is in fact done, and only plays in the tourneys, Regs are simply screwed.
2: Online Pool Hall - Again it comes down to Captain. Not that Cole is any good because if he's had any captaining experience it has been limited to times where I haven't seen him. But, he's gonna be able to get players around him in this league, with their constant teamers, but not to the point where half the team becomes a cancer in MLP. The OPH-Regul8or match should be good.
HAHA. I can't believe I wrote this garbage and overrated them THAT MUCH. Pathetic. Replaced, good riddance, I think. And uh, someone needs to fix the Standings page so that either Pool Master or Blazing Cues whoever replaced Overrated Pool Hall are in the Central. What else is new.
3: StraightShots - I really think they can rebound from last season. They won the PLC Championship (as if it means anything) and while it's likely the 2 teas will be quite different, I think they have the ability to compete in an interleague where the focus will be on getting players to actually play games in their home league.
WRONG/RIGHT?. Well, they're 2nd behind a 3-way tie for 1st. So I'll call myself right, you can argue amongst yourselves. Problem is they're 3-2, apparently nobody knows how to add a negative number to indicate a losing streak on the Standings page, that or that too is automatically updated. 8-l Anyways, they're at least 2-0 at home, they're gonna need to keep that up but of course add some Away wins, otherwise they could be in some real trouble and find themselves scrapping for a spot come Weeks 12-15.
4: UnitedPool - They've shown a lot of promise the past couple seasons, and the same theory for SS applies for UP. They can compete in a mediocre division, where the emphasis is on loyal league members.
RIGHT. Though I thought they would be right there at 3-2 with SS, they're 2-3. But also unlike SS, they haven't been able to win at home. 1-2. They really haven't shown me yet that they want to win. I'm sure they do want to, but they haven't proven to me that they do. And until that does happen, you know what? You're gonna be picked to lose. And regardless of how the picks go, if you don't really show that you wanna win, you WILL lose. That's what we're seeing so far, they need to turn it around and fast. Fortunately, they are remotely capable of doing that.
5: PoolFighters - A big drop in stock here. They've taken huge hits to their team but they also weren't very happy with Corey towards the end of last season. Maybe without him they can pull something off but this is a completely retooled league with a lot of question marks around them.
WRONG. Who was I kidding, huh? The things a few true league members can bring to interleagues. Kinda funny isn't it? This league really does interest me because nobody expected them to have a great season. Corey was perceived to be the make-or-break factor, he has been worth doggy doo-doo on the side of a highway. I think PoolFighters will keep this up for the most part. Slow down in the final 3 weeks, but they'll live long enough to see some January matches.
6: XPool - When Judy isn't there they succeed! :P Joke was too easy to make. They finished an eyelash out of the Playoffs last season, they have shootalready who is undoubtedly one of the top shooters they've ever seen in that league, but I do question their ability to repeat the near-success they had last season.
RIGHT. While my joke certainly has lost its meaning in that first line, they're in a tie for 5th/6th, they've been average as expected, they got a truly amusing loss last season, the same exact way they lost the match to BritPool that eventually cost them a Playoff spot, Deja Vu all over again, and oh by the way the Ump there was DejaVu. I don't think anybody with concern for their league's success wants her as ump anymore ;) But, maybe they'll catch lightning in a bottle.
7: IndianPool - Well, first off they're on a VERY, very short leash but so too are the leagues that they play because there will obviously be aimer accusations thrown around because of their reputation in interleagues. We took a chance on them, namely because one of the MLP Admins convinced us that they've gotten rid of the troubles minus their head admin. I still think they'll be mediocre, but I also don't think they'll be as much of a distracton, unless the usual dumbasses around interleagues make them one.
WRONG. Big-time wrong. Tie at the top of the Division, they're in it, they're 4-1, they really have had their way with opponents so far, they really have been a good surprise this season. Oh by the way they're merging with some joke named BPC, so maybe they'll get stronger who knows? But they definitely look like a January MLP team.
8: Bearskin Eightballers - They haven't shown a lot of improvement, obviously they can only get better, they'll get a little better but not much of a threat to worry about.
RIGHT. Well, 1-4, better than only Fool Hall, and they're out, looks to be a battle for cellar-dwelling honors in the Division but they are somewhat capable of playing spoilers. It'll be decently interesting to see how the big dogs handle these guys.
That's the American League, and now that I've had my gripe session and pissed my fair share of people off it's time to get a nap, then wake up, breakfast, school, lunch, school, video games, Red Sox, other sports, sleep. Or something like that.
