KVKL Nerds,
That’s right mothahfuckers, two previews in one week. These Round 2 predictions and BS are assuming the designated top-seeds in Round 1 win, one or more of these match-ups will likely not ever happen—just trying to give you more content when you crave it the most.
Less-Awesome Bracket
Do you remember when the Less-Awesome Bracket was called The Awesome Bracket? What the fuck happened!?
#25 Free State Growlers vs. #24 Dirty Mike and the Boyz @ Holcom Yellow, 9:30pm
After a rough start to the season, Free State is 3 and 0 in pool play. After a very exciting first half of the season, Dirty Mike finished at the bottom of Pool 6, with a 1-2 pool play record. Looking at the scores you see a different story. Each game Dirty Mike played was extremely close. The biggest gap was during Week 8 against Wild Man, where they only fell by four runs in a high scoring game, finishing with the score 15-11. The other two games played were decided by two runs: in Week 9 they fell to newcomers Cork & Barrel 7-9, and in Week 10 they beat the quickly improving Asteroid Head team 9-7. Not to discredit winning three games in a row, but Free State’s pool was decidedly weaker—Tellers was likely the only team that could keep up with the Growlers. In the end I think these guys are evenly matched on paper, and correctly ranked at #24 and #25. I see Dirty Mike’s speed on the field giving them the advantage over The Growlers.
PREDICTION: Dirty Mike > Free State
#26 Blue Collar vs. #23 Corksuckers @ YSC 2, 8pm
New to the league Cork & Barrel Corksuckers have had a pretty great first year. As far as I know, most of the players on the team are new to the league as well, and finishing ranked twenty-third in very competitive thirty-two team league is impressive. I see them easily climbing into a comfortable ranking in the teens for their second year. Blue Collar hasn’t had the most impressive season, but they certainly have a great time while playing—which in my book makes them winners. They’ve had some close games against tough teams, and if they’re playing their A-Game I bet they’ll move past the Corksuckers. In the end, you always have to go with experience, but I wouldn’t be surprised if The Corksuckers move into the third round of the Awesome Bracket.
PREDICTION: Blue Collar > Corcksuckers
#23 Tellers vs. #22 Asteroid Head @ YSC 1, 9:30pm
I don’t think I’ve actually seen Asteroid Head play this season, but the only game they lost in Pool Play was to Dirty Mike & The Boyz, and that was decided by 2 runs. They easily handled Wild Man and the Corksuckers, finishing pool play with a 2-1 record. Also, they had some impressive games against much higher ranked teams early in the season. They have talent, and despite their inconsistency in game play during the first part of the season, I wouldn’t want to meet these unpredictable A-Heads in the tournament. I’ve seen Tellers play once or twice, and they also have many fantastic players, but haven’t quite figured out how to use their best offensive weapons, or how to field a tough defense. These teams have fun, making this a must see Less-Awesome match-up, but in this case I think the gap between the two teams in Cougar’s RPI rankings are a little more accurate than the board with Asteroid Head at #21 and Tellers at #27. In this case I believe an asteroid will wipe-out these dinosaurs.
PREDICTION: Asteroid Head > Tellers
Awesome Bracket
Surprisingly, the Awesome Bracket has far less awesome games during Round 2.
#8 Goats vs. #9 Replay @ Holcom Red, 9:30pm
The Goats manhandled the threes in Pool Play. I’ve said this before on the blog, but they don’t kick far, and they don’t really need to. Their guys are extremely fast, and they have a solid group of ladies that play extremely smart—a very well rounded team. I feel like they’ve been flying under the radar this whole season, but after playing them and watching them play, I don’t see anybody getting by The Goats easily. Shut down the bunt, fill those gaps, and get the ball to the pitcher, this is the best advice I can give The Replay. The Replay once again had a tough end of the season this year. They upset The Screamers in the first part of the season and were forced to play all the twos (many of which could easily be ranked ones). The Goats play consistently great kickball, but really haven’t been challenged by any mid-level teams this year, while Replay has had an extremely tough schedule that definitely made them better as a whole. This will be one of the closer games of the night, and The Rowdies at first sight seem more prepared for that sort of pressure.
PREDICTION: Replay > Goats
#7 Slowride vs. #10 Screamers @ YSC 1, 8PM
Slowride had a tough draw during selection time. They beat The Chalmersiz early in the season and were thrown into a pool with three teams that have been on top of the KVKL for years. They had the hardest last three games of the 2011 regular season, and because of that and the KVKL Board’s subjective way of ranking teams, they got pushed down to the seventh seed. This round two game will be Slowride’s first opportunity to show off their strength, and build momentum before playing those upper echelon teams again. The Squids already trounced Slowride once this season, and the Fasthumpers will need a solid victory to attain the confidence it takes to survive a rematch with the brutal Love Garden team. Slowride is a great kickball team this season, and they have had more experience with the best than anyone. I see them moving past The Screamers in this Round 2 match-up, and at this point they need to prove to themselves and the league that they are under ranked at 7. The Screamers are tough, and these two teams have a history of close games over the years, but I believe Slowride’s intense pool play experience will help them move into Week 2 and have an aggressive show there.
PREDICTION: Slowride > Screamers
Have fun tomorrow!
Cheers,
Coach Billy Gay Cyrus