RTL Blind Trial Season Results
PLAYOFF PREVIEW!!!
MATCH ONE: MERCURY COUGARS at NASH RAMBLERS
--The best team in the La Salle Division and the worst team in the division were only three and a half matches away from each other in the standings--a far cry from the much more defined Tucker Division situaiton. The Ramblers, whatever their troubles after a quick start, managed to defeat the Cougars in their two meetings--by twenty-one in Tournament One and by only seven in Tournament Eight. As long as the Ramblers get scoring from each of their players, they tend to do just fine.
So, for the Cougars to go into Nash and steal a victory away from the La Salle Division Pennant holder...they'll have to hold one or even two Ramblers scoreless and hope that their newest team member, the rookie free agent Idea Guy, catches a Hail Mary pass.
MATCH TWO: HUDSON HORNETS at PONTIAC FIREBIRDS
--It shouldn't be much of a surprise that these two La Salle Division foes have fought each other close in their two previous matches--everything about the La Salle Division suggests parity. However, the Firebirds did take both matches they had with the Hornets. In Tournament One, with the action taking place in Pontiac, the Firebirds came away with a narrow two point win. In Tournament Eight, the Firebirds went to Hudson and came away with a five point victory.
The good news for Hornets fans is that they are literally a totally different team now--only Team Captain Variation Jason remains, and the free agents signed by the Hornets are giving the Hornets more depth and definitely more consistent scoring. If they can survive the first half Firebird assault, they'd be happy to put their free agents against the Firebirds free agents any day.
MATCH THREE: STUTZ BEARCATS at PLYMOUTH VALIANTS
--The winningest team in the takes on the losingest team in the league, so obviously the odds favor the home team. In the first match of the year, the Valiants went to Stutz and beat them, 51 to 38. When Tournament Eight rolled around, the still undefeated Valiants welcomed the Bearcats to Plymouth--only to be stunned by a very close match. The Valiants held on to win that match, 28 to 25...but it suggested that they weren't invincible.
The Bearcats have a secret weapon in this match--newly signed rookie free agent, clifford shaw. If Clifford Shaw could give the Bearcats hope in the second half of this match, they might just catch the Valiants napping.
MATCH FOUR: STUDEBAKER LARKS at AMC JAVELINS
--There is little doubt that the AMC Javelins were the hottest team in the RTL for all but the first week of the season. In that first week, however--indeed, in the first tournament of the season--the Javelins had fallen to these very Larks 22 to 19...in a match that had been a home game for the Javelins, just as this first round playoffs match is... That said, the three tournaments of the first week of this season were a bit of a fluke and the Javelins have not lost since. In Tournament Eight, the Javelins went to Studebaker and put a 59-37 drubbing on the Larks.
For the Larks to score an upset victory in this match, they'll have to count on their consistent offense and hope that they get luckier than their more powerful opponents.
C'mon Ramblers! Now is not the time to skip a weekend! Make your picks count!!
The Blind Test Season's regular season is over. It's done with. All that happened then doesn't matter. All of those hard fought matches, all of those points scored...all they did was set the stage for the two tournaments in week seven: THE PLAYOFFS.
You see, all the regular season did was sort our brave teams into the order they will face each other in a single elimination tournament to determine the Divisional Champions, who will face off against each other in the Championship Game. Oh, certainly, we all learned something about all of these teams...from the dominance of the Plymouth Valiants to the inconsistency of the Nash Ramblers--and we've seen how these teams have fared against each other in the past. But, you know what they say about "Any given Saturday night..." right?
With the sabremetricians giving their opinions based on intense number crunchers and the bookmakers using their gut to set the betting lines out of the way, all that was left was to play these matches and see who would move on...and who would have to settle for the pride of a consolation match. All that was left was the most important matches of these teams history...in all of league history...as the first ever playoff matches were ready to be played.
Would the AMC Javelins continue their winning streak? Will the Mercury Cougars or the Stutz Bearcats get unexpected production from brand new free agents? Could anyone stop the Plymouth Valiants? Would the Nash Ramblers find a way to stop themselves?
All of the answers would be found by taking a look at the RTL highlights for Tournament Fifteen...and there's really no reason not to dive right in...SO LET'S GO! SING IT BOCEPHUS!!!
ARE YOU READY FOR SOM--RESULT: LARKS 69 - JAVELINS 60
BOXSCORE:
Larks
Longklaw: 200
Mcjiggles9: 220
Grabber GT: 200
martinstang: 75
Javelins
Jobe: 200
seattlegreyy: 170
JDC 442 Racing: 170
Baranca: 55
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: SSLS6 (Bearcats)
HIGHEST SCORING TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT: LARKS
...and, here are the
TOP FREE AGENTS FOR TOURNAMENT FIFTEEN
Bret: 175
EconoCarl: 160
boston-car-guy: 130
QuattroBits: 90
david: 55
Goolz: 45
Oregober: 40
Time to decide who the Divisional Representatitves in the Blind Test Season's Championship Game will be. The shock that the Tucker Division will not be sending either the Plymouth Valiants or the AMC Javelins is over--they're resigned to playing for pride in the Tucker Division Consolation Game at the end of the day. The Tucker Division will either send the Studebaker Larks or the Stutz Bearcats and the winner of their match today will face the winner of the match between the Hudson Hornets and the Nash Ramblers in that Championship Game.
Every team knows what is at stake--and, sadly, perhaps no teams know that more than the Mercury Cougars and the Pontiac Firebirds who are playing for nothing in particular in the La Salle Division Consolation game.
Will the Ramblers scramble to another hard fought win and send the La Salle Division Pennant Winners to battle for the GreyyCup? Or can the Hornets keep the upsets coming on the strength of three late season free agent signings? Will the Bearcats find more gold in their own free agent, clifford shaw, to add to their strong first half duo of SSLS6 and Bane? Or will the Larks consistent scoring throughout the game prove to be too much for them?
You want to know, don't you? So do I. Probably time we let the RTL highlights for Tournament Sixteen roll, huh?
MATCH ONE: La Salle Division 2nd Ranked: HUDSON HORNETS at La Salle Division Pennant Winners: NASH RAMBLERS
In the regular season, both times the Hornets and Ramblers hooked up, the visiting team won. In Tournament Five, the visiting Ramblers came to Hudson and took out the Hornets by six. In Tournament Twelve, the visiting Hornets took down the Ramblers, in their house, also by six points. This was not the most pleasing omen for the often superstitious Nash fans--who have seen their highly touted team fail to completely live up to expectations...despite not only winning the La Salle Division Pennant but also being just one win away from a Championship Game berth.
The Hornets knew that their strategy of "shock and awe" which allowed their first half scoring explosion to last over the Pontiac Firebirds was less likely to work against the always scrambling Ramblers. They'd need solid performances from Nightstalker and dimitambe, who coasted in their previous playoff game while the Hornets held on to victory, if they expect to continue the trend of the visiting team taking home hard fought wins.
The game started auspiciously for the visiting Hornets. Team Captain Variation Jason put up 14 points while holding Redline Derby to just 9...giving the Hornets the lead. Unfortunately, despite a 13 point performance by Radekal in the second quarter, the Hornets gave up the lead when Bandeeze/Ohana put up 19.
The pivotal moment in the game was the third quarter, when Nightstalker was unable to score for the second straight match. Not only did iowastockcars put the clamps on Nightstalker's offense, but he managed 8 points of his own--extending the Rambler lead to 9.
Now, it was the Hornets who had to scramble...and the Ramblers who simply had to hold on. The Hornets looked to dimitambe to both shut down zoom of the Ramblers, but to put up some pretty big numbers. dimitambe could do neither--scoring six while giving up twelve to zoom.
Turns out, neither the visiting team would win nor would the final score be decided by six points. More importantly, the La Salle Division Pennant Winner would also be representing the La Salle Division in the Championship Game...as the Nash Ramblers win by fifteen.
RESULT: JAVELINS 45 - VALIANTS 32
BOXSCORE:
Javelins
Jobe: 160
seattlegreyy: 145
JDC 442 Racing: 90
Baranca: 55
Valiants
dwguff: 125
WorpeX: 95
Multispeed: 100
Markkaz: 0
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: Mcjiggles9 (Larks)
HIGHEST SCORING TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT: RAMBLERS
...and, here are the
TOP FREE AGENTS FOR TOURNAMENT SIXTEEN
Quattrobits: 135
david: 100
Goolz: 70
Oregober: 40
EconoCarl: 40
Bret: 30
I just spent a little over an hour writing up the results from this match only to have had my session timed out and I lost the whole thing
Notepad and Google Docs are your best friend.
Roster Moves and Free Agent Signings after Tournament Fourteen of the Blind Trial Season
Two teams have players eligible to be replaced after the sixth week of the RTL Blind Trial Season.
The Stutz Bearcats have received no points from Team Anthony & Micah in the tournaments of weeks 4, 5 and 6. The Mercury Cougars have received no points from their much buzzed about free agent signing buzzkill230rc in the tournaments of weeks 4, 5 and 6. The top two free agents, based on most consistent participation and cumulative score, are clifford shaw and Idea Guy.
And no other teams currently have roster members who meet the replacement criteria...
So, to recap:
Stutz Bearcats
releasing: Team Anthony & Micah
signing: clifford shaw
Mercury Cougars
releasing: buzzkillg230rc
signing: Idea Guy
...and these roster changes will be in place starting with Tournament Fifteen, the first round of the Blind Trial Season Playoffs.
NOTE: No player changes can be made during the playoffs...so these are the last roster moves of this Blind Trial Season.