Playoff Picture, Crooked

As we enter the final week of the regular season, a very interesting playoff situation is brewing. It is safe to say that the Empire, Toros, Scarlet Ember and Silverbacks will be in the official playoffs. The Interceptors, Seadogs, and Dizzy Devils (which is a story all its own) are guaranteed at least Play-In status. Notice something odd? There are only 2 South-West teams guaranteed ANYTHING concerning the playoffs.

The Gold are the main cog in this mess. In the beginning of the year, the Gold got out to an impressive start, going 4-1 sitting on mountains of points, having as many Power Points as the #2 (5-0) Empire. Then the losses started piling on afterwards, it is now at 4 in a row. The thing about the points system is that it is so much harder to lose points than to gain them. In turn, the Gold find themselves sitting on 40 points and ranked #8, still, after so many losses and now a losing record. They face the #1 Empire at home in the final game to try to squeeze into the playoffs which they seemed to have in their grasp early on. A win would guarantee play-in, if they lose, they will only lose about 20 points and miss the dance altogether.

There is where the potential problem for teams as well as league image overall is encountered. The Dragonfish, Cat's, Diamonds, and Gremlins can all finish the season with a +.500 record. This would guarantee more competition in normal circumstances except for the stipulation of being forbidden from post-season play if they sit behind a team with a losing record in the ranking system. This team would be the Gold. If the Gold win, everyone is just on their own to get to the dance, and it would actually clinch the (5-4) Dragonfish in, in a weird way. But if the Gold lose it produces interesting scenarios:

Dragonfish: (5-4) 40 points
They are tied with the Gold in points, but are behind them because of past standings. If they win, regardless of the Gold they will easily be in. If they lose to the Scarlet Ember, they would have to lose better than the Gold, which should not be hard because the Gold are on a loss streak, at home, whereas the Dragonfish are opposite. It would be a shame if they finished with the same amount of points but past hierarchy prevented them from entering the playoffs.

Diamonds: (4-5) 10 points
The Diamonds have been on a crash course just like the Gold. They have the #2 Seadogs coming to town. A win should put them where they need to be, but if they scrape by and the Gold don't lose too poorly, then they could tie in points or have less and be thrown out of the conversation.

Cat's: (4-5) 5 points
The Cat's have the easiest opponent to face going into week 10 in the Reapers. They would need to win very well in case the Gold lose, maybe some Coaches poll help too. They are a caliber team, it would be a shame if they missed out.

Gremlins: (4-5) -10 points
The Gremlins have it the worst. They have to watch to Western teams this week. The (3-6) Pharoahs are somehow ahead of them in points. They need the PHA to lose or win badly and definitely a Gold win because it would take a miracle for them to muster that many points from a home win and not tie but beat the Gold in points.

Commissioner Hasheem Halim has been pondering this curious situation ever since week 9 concluded. "If the worst case happened, there would only be 2 teams battling (South-West), in a Conference Finals game, for goodness sake! And the North-Midwest would have a PLAY-IN! The higher-ups here at the DBL have been brainstorming ways to let the 5-5 teams keep battling. We may have to pass a 'Gold Rule' to let there be a fair playoff."

The Gold Rule would please many people right now, but the problem would be a total dismantling of the current (AP + People's) Power Ranking system which has had its history of problems and changes before this long period of effectiveness. The Gold Rule would allow eligible teams to leapfrog the losing record teams if cases like this season. The problem is, the sole reason for the points system is to arrange teams in order for playoff positioning. The Power Ranking Company has released a statement saying: "Any changes made to the effectiveness or rules of our tried and true system will result in pulling out of providing the DBL our services indefinitely". Now, the league doesn't want to do this because there is much money and services tied up in the partnership of that company and the DBL. Along with the Ranking system there would be a removal of: the All*Star selection system, the Combine points system, and the Player of the Year awards selection system.

Wow, and all of this possible shake-up traces back to one team that got too many points early on. The Gold are no stranger to giving headaches to the ranking system people. Back in 2008-2 the Gold were the catalyst of the AP Ranking system overhaul as they were (4-6) but ranked #7! This called for the back-up ranking system (People's) to be combined with the AP to sort it out and in the end the Gold were #9 and missed the playoffs.

There was also one other time where there was less than 4 teams on each side in the 16 team era. In 2008-3, all the Silverbacks had to do was beat eventual Champion Pharoahs in the 10th week. Every big wig was on hand to watch this live. It came down to the last throw and the Pharoahs came out victorious. This year, every big wig will be in the Dodgeball Capital to witness how the Gold will deal with this new potential ranking system headache.

Spotloght: Reapers 2010-2

Week 8 Championship Prediction: Toros v. Empire, Toros win.

Seadogs/Empire Rivalry Latest Chapter

Any other week 6 would be met with feelings of "ehh", just another week in the middle of the season, tiny battles to get in position for the run to the playoffs, or trying to have individual good games in hopes of increasing player rating. This year, the eyes of the DBL world will rest in London National Stadium as one of the best rivalries in the game gets even better. This year will be the latest 2 undefeated teams have met in a season. To make it 10 times better, it is a division rivalry, to make it 100times better, it is #1 Seadogs v. #2 Empire rivalry.

When the schedules were released this year, many were alittle upset that these 2 would meet so late in the year for the first time. And then, when the preseason rankings came out,  with the #1 Empire and the #2 Seadogs, people started to think. Week by week, there was anticipation to see if both these teams could make it out both 5-0 before meeting. And finally, there was cheering everywhere as week 5 ended, leaving the 2 without a loss.

"Everyone in the league was talking about it, it was crazy. I'm not involved in any way with the whole thing, but as a player I can't wait to watch that Flex Game"
- Sean #7 Diamonds

Sean, and millions more are expected to partake in watching this clash of titans event. It is predicted to be the highest grossing Regular Season game ever, and also the most people at a Regular Season game with London National Stadium being, by far, the biggest stadium in the league. The DBL is definitely happy about this surge of interest brought on by this match, they have even made a couple of commercials parodying "Twilight" with Team Williame and Team James ads. So why so much interest in this rivalry? Definitely the history.

The Seadogs and Empire started out kinda left out in the North with the Margays and Dizzy Devils raging playoff rivalry, so they were kinda rivals by default. The Empire whooped upon the Seadogs 13-4 in their first 6 seasons bumping heads in what was the most lopsided division W/L in the league. The Seadogs then went on an impressive 5-1 streak to get us to the present day 14 Empire, 9 Seadogs. The biggest reason these 2 draw so much intrigue is Williame. After the big Seadogs fallout, Williame, being the prized young future face of the franchise, was left distrusting the Seadogs and signed to the rival Empire. James of the Seadogs was just a rookie watching all this unfold. Deutch and Williame left and left him in charge of this young team. The Seadogs turned many heads the next year, going 6-4 and making the playoffs. They split the season series with the new Vincent/Williame Empire. The first game was all Williame showing out in New York, but the 2nd game was Lewis leading the Seadogs over Mean Green in a must-win in London. This year, its even more personal.

Williame is the sole leader of the Empire now and James is the sole leader of the Seadogs. Former teammates going head to head. These 2 teams have very different playing styles. The Empire have star performances usually from Williame, and sometimes from Lawrence. The Seadogs win as a team like always. The Empire had many close calls this year, while the Seadogs have won all but 1 set this year easily. It can be said, however, that the Seadogs haven't played any real contenders until now.

Prediction: I think it will be a Seadogs victory, too much pride and defending at home in London to overcome the momentum for the Empire.

Soundbites:
"I been had this game circled, underlined AND highlighted, I am ready to go!"
-Williame #6 Empire

"It's just another game for us as a team, I understand the implications but we're just out to win"
-James #11 Seadogs

"The world will see how blessed this club is, and how outright better we are"
-Ian McInnis - Owner of the Seadogs

Watch Flex Games of the Week 6: New York Empire vs. London Seadogs on ZBS 5pm ET

One Man Dominance

This year, everyone knew that the talent level was going to be much lower than last year. A mass exodus of great, older, experienced players left the league a shell of itself. There had to be a player recall in which players who retired early were asked to come back because there were just not enough players to fill roster spots, accounting for the 16 rookies coming in. So, it was not like other years where teams could pick and choose who they wanted on their team. It was more like the teams waiting to hear from the players on who they wanted to go to during free agency, because the teams were at mercy of the players.

Of course, there were very talented players still in the league. Since the talent level went down, they all of a sudden looked 10x better. They knew they would be in a more central role on their teams as THE guy to depend on. Thinking about it, the season records for any category would probably blown out of the water.

Desmond(pictured) aims to do just that. The Gold's left wing has amassed 21 points in 3 games. He is averaging 5 Outs and 2 Catches a game. The next on the team has 3 points. He is absolutely running this team, determining their wins and losses. When asked about his stats, he had this to say:
"Well, nobody really sets out to win any statistics record at the beginning of the year. I realize I am on the fast track to break the points record, but it really isn't my aim. Our team is working hard to finally get over the Conference Championship hump, that is our goal." -Desmond

He sure is on the fast track to break the record, at this pace he will have 70 points at the end of the season, beating the record by 25 points! And if he doesn't keep his stats rolling in, someone else will. For instance, Kenneth of the Silverbacks has single handedly won both of the Silverbacks games. Everyone knew going into the year that he was the man of the team, th eonly non-weak link. So, his stats should keep steady and rival Desmond's, who does have other support on his team. Salem and Jacoby also find themselves in that role right now.

Although most of the people mentioned have 2-1 records right now, think of the two 3-0 teams. The Empire and Seadogs play as team units. James had 2 bad games in the beginning of the year, but the rest of the team pulled through. Everyone has bad games, and you have to have a team that can still be formidable without their star. I think the Champion this year will definitely not be a one man team.

Offseason Review 2010-2

-West-

Gold - B-
They had 2 draft picks this year. Peletierre will be a good fit with the team, but signing Lenore and cutting David wasn't too smart, maybe a PR move. Desmond has the burden of leading this team, of a sudden, as Nathan continues to look like his best year(s) are behind him. They should be able to benefit from a not as strong conference.

Diamonds - C
The Diamonds let it fall apart. They should have found a way to keep Bruce but they could not. Haroon is his insufficient replacement. Along with Mussman as Sandro's replacement. If they could have kept things together, they would probably be #1 right now. They should still be in the mix however, with Miller emerging and Sean doing his thing.

Silverbacks - B-
All the Silverbacks needed to get was a supporting cast for Kenneth. What they have now is barely that. I guess this resembles their previous no support teams, I guess they want Kenneth to get about 9 straight All-Star nods.

Pharoahs - B
Lyons isn't panning out like once thought. The Matt trade seems to be a bad idea for now as he is a 3, but it could turn around. The Centers turned Wings both improved to 2's however. This team might win some serious gamage this year.

-South-

Skylarks - B
What can you say? This team pretty much had no control about its falling apart over the offseason. But they do make a good move in getting Maurice to replace a legend at center for someone who has a nice potential. Someone is going to need to stand up on this team QUICK, or they will start 0-5 again like last year.

Dragonfish - B
They do have 2 aces for the next couple years, but they are not young anymore. This team ahs gotten used to not doing much in the offseason. They might have been able to do a better job this offseason. They should still be very competitive this season though.

St.Cat's - B
The Dmitri trade will take time to see if it was worth it. The Cat's wanted a nice solid young star to kick these other young guys in the butt to make them work harder. Let's hope Ausonio performs like a Combine winner and gets Rook MVP, not like a #1 Draft pick and turns out to be a bust. The main concern is the no-power player issue.

Toros - A
Although they were note able to make a deal to keep Matt, they got a rebounding Thomas and $1million in cap space from the Pharoahs. The draft pick, Texas-native Rayquan, improved to a 3 and looks promising. Semere showed he is in fact a phenom instead of a fad as he guided his team to the preseason finals.

-North-

Empire - A
Finally with a draft pick, the Empire had a stellar offseason. 3 guys improved and none downgraded. they were able to sign Bruce and Lawrence who looks promising. Garcia seems to be remotivated also. Williame finally has the chance to lead his own team. Let's see if he can win his "Quad Crown".

Seadogs - B+
The Seadogs know how to have a good offseason. Maybe its just not signing your draft pick, kidding. Getting Moore was a steal from FA. Trusting the rest of their current roster was a nice decision and it may pan out. Its a tough division and this team is well prepared.

Margays - A
The Margays made some of the best moves before the season started. They traded for Dmitri and were able to lure Travis away from the Interceptors. They lost Spike, their core for many years, and imported a new one. Good show.

Dizzy Devils - B-
They were able to keep Alexi on board for a Championship run. They don't really look prepared for the future however, as they have not found the young fire most teams are trying to go for nowaday.But Russell will give them insurance for a couple years while they search.

-Midwest-

Interceptors - C+
Not much to be said other than they lost their shot at having the best squad in years when they let Travis slip away. This team lost Theo the exact same way and has a bad rep of "nobody retires from the Intercetors". They signed Dian who turned out to be okay, but nothing like Travis. It is a wide-open division, so they have a good shot still.

Gremlins - B
They tried to keep the spunky team as one unit returning 4 players. They thought Sven was going to be a great addition but he turned out to be a flaker. Casey improved, but Konsta declined to a 2. Donte will be a good leader for this team. They have already gelled as they won the Midwest in the preseason tourney.

Reapers - B+
Everybody was watching what this team was going to do as they had to TOTALLY rebuild. They did a pretty good job. Both rookies panned out well. Hopefully Joseph can handle having the enitre storied organization riding on his back of a sudden. Vladimir should do well now that he finally has a chance to show what hes got.

Scarlet Ember - B
They wanted to replace Khris with Nozar, but that didn't really pan out. They got a nice motivator in Jack, Hobbs is motivated to become the star of the team again. Andy should provide good support, but this team definitely needs to work on its youth talent.

Clock Never Strikes Midnight for Toros

It took 5 games and 2 3rd set meltdown losses, but the Texas Toros have won their 1st Championship. They beat the Scarlet Ember promptly in the Championship Match in Nebraska. Blah, blah, blah, stats, stats, stats.

Storylines:
Semere, best rookie season to date?
Semrere of the Toros was pretty much the face of the 2010 Playoffs. He powered his team through the Silverbacks in an epic play-in game. He had stellar performances versus the Dragonfish and Gold to get his team through to the final round. But he did crumble under immense pressure twice versus the Scarlet Ember, showing his green-ness. But he still gained Championship MVP honors for his heroics and his unexpected leadership. He adds this title to Combine Champ, Rookie MVP, and of course DBL Champion.

Texas Toros owner Austin Johnston had this to say about Semere, "I knew from the time he showed out in the combine he was special. Look at Michael of the Margays. This combine is a real test of skills for this league. He had a strong start to the year, mostly under the radar, but heck, he sure fired out when we most need it, in the post-season. The man's got Texas-sized talent and we hope to have him around for a long long time."

Beginning of Toros Dynasty?
The Toros have found true Gold in Darren and Semere both becoming power players this year. They have a 3-year man, and a rookie playing really well right now. They lose Brandon to retirement, but they still have Matt, if they can work out a deal with him. That leaves 3 straight years with those 3. They should be at the top of the heap for those 3 years if the young-ins keep producing. After those 3 years, they should be able to find another man and have another 4 years with Darren and Semere if they can keep them. But thats looking way to far ahead, so much can happen. Looking at things right now, it should be the Toros, Dragonfish, Interceptors, in the forefront with the hot young players. No one can predict what the new class will bring, or what deals will go odwn, but the Toros are sitting pretty right now.

Still a Cinderella Season for the Scarlet Ember
Seeing as cinders come from fiery volcano blasts, the name Cinderella means more technically. But, they didn't win the big one. But hold the f up, the Nebraska fans would have been super geeked if the Scarlet Ember had only won that one (and first playoff victory ever!?!?!?) game versus the Empire. The Scarlet Ember impressed every step of the way, all the critics predicted against them as they beat the hottest teams in the game (Empire, Dizzy Devils). They played as a team unit, and Khris was on FIRE (I know that pun has been used wayyyyyy to much, but it's so easy) in the playoffs. In comparison, the Toros were expected to trade punches with the big boys. It was only their history of missing the playoffs that made their story Cinderella-esque (ignore the fact that the Toros had to play 2, count 'em 2, play-in games to get in the real playoffs only to play the #1 Dragonfish while being the lowest ranked team ever (#9) to win the Championship). Even though they relied on the Toros mistakes to make a 5 game series, the Scarlet Ember were an equal Cinderella inspiration and made the nation chosse-sides on who was more Cinderella-esque.

Honass, Unsung Hero
Honass was one of the Toros stars from their inception. The only original Toro to remain on the team all this time. He has gone downhill in recent years, but when the playoffs came around, he brought his game. It really started versus the Gold when he single-handedly ended the 3rd set to win game 2. He then had power player like stats throughout the Championship, pretty much catching anything that cam this way. Although Semere was the crybaby, Honass is the one who knows what this Championship really means to the organization and community.

2 Cinderellas?

The Cinderella story is usually a great thing that inspires many underdog teams and is usually the team Americans pull for. But what happens when there is 2? Both the Toros and Scarlet Ember had to battle out of Play-In Weekend to get into the Playoffs and are both the lowest seed in each Conference. Both of them are the 1st play-in team to make it this far. So who to root for? The Toros are the true Cinderella, after 5 seasons of no playoffs, they make it in, but still have to face 2 play-in games. Finally they arrive here. But it is also the first season the Scarlet Ember have WON a playoff game. Guess it comes down to how you like your Cinderellas.