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A Community of Madness – Round 1

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[Editor's note: people, the Editor-in-Chief of this blog loves basketball, higher education, community, competition, and when they all slam together in a mess of cheers, tears, body-paint, over-achievement, and ridiculously awesome excitingly uncontrollable hyperboles. Exclamation point! Over the next three weeks, John and his American-import-possibly-mustached-BFF, Alex Grant, will engage in witticisms and precarious predictions pertaining to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. As players, teams, schools, regions, bank accounts, pundits, pride, and - yes - nations collide, you will get a true sense of what the March Madness community really means. Enjoy!]

toddwickersty / flickr creative commons

Let’s Set-up The Madness

JOHN: This is the third time that my March BFF, Alex Grant, and I have written about our experience with March Madness, the greatest sporting event in the history of the world (yes, I’m including gladiatorial “games” and the archery tournament from Robin Hood).

We did it in 2010 and 2011, too. Both times were amazing. Just like this time. Amazing.

So, why do I love the NCAA 64-team-single-elimination-Men’s-Basketball-Tournament so much? Here’s why:

1. There is always a possibility that two “Wildcats” or “Bulldogs” will play each other. Rarely do two teams with the same mascot name compete in any professional sports league* worth its salt, which is too bad, because it’s hilarious.

*[Editor's note: Somehow the unique and pro-Roosevelt (Teddy, not FDR) mascot name "Roughriders" was used by two teams in the, like, six-team Canadian Football League. This is also hilarious].

2. European Football Hooliganism Spirit in North America. In the Supporter’s Pledge of my Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2012 Season Tickets book, I have been asked to play my part for the team by “deafening our visitors by joining in our club’s chants, songs, and shouts” and “making our home pitch a fortress; a place no visitor wants to play” and “blinding our opponents with a sea of white jerseys, caps, scarves, and flags.” The simple fact that the fans of March Madness, unlike fans in any of the professional sports on this continent (except, ironically, soccer fans), paint their bodies, stand up for the entire game, sing songs, and take things too far when it comes to challenging the opposition is the realization of something special in their communities. And remember, people, keep it positive!

3. Anything* can happen! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 19 year olds frequently cave under the immense pressure of having 20 million people watch them break a full-court press with their team is up by one point with 45 seconds to go and your mom is yelling at you to shoot but your coach is, like, “work it for one shot!” and then your special lady, she’s, like, “I love you, baby” but all you can think about is how to accurately describe how the French Revolution started because it’s the topic of your history paper and you need at least a 72 to pass the class and you have a job interview for an internship with Rebuild the Dream and holy crap I’m being triple-teamed and I’m 5’10″ and they’re so big and they fouled me and oh my buddha I have to hit two free throws, which would usually be fine, because I’m money, but I can’t stop thinking about how Napoleon was also 5’10″ and now my mom is yelling at the coach and – gulp – here we go…

*[Editor's note: "Anything" never really happens; only once in the last, like, 30 years has a team ranked below fifth made it to the Final Four. Still, ridiculous and unpredictable things always happen. Like Alex choosing Purdue (ridiculous) and whether or not he will have submitted his 500 words by Wednesday (unpredictable)].

ALEX: Dearest John. Can you smell the energy? Do you feel the faint thrumming in your fingertips? The extra bit of pressure in your accelerating pulse? That’s the Madness my friend. It’s steaming down the track, furnaces blasting, and it’s nearly here.

YES! It’s true. Somehow it’s another year, and somehow, it’s March. I don’t know how either of these things happened. In fact, if I hadn’t seen your bombastic antics up close and personal at our mutual friend Kurt Lambreich’s wedding, I might have even forgotten our deep burning rivalry. But worry not my friend, for I am here to do battle in the brackets for another year. And this time, I have devised a plan so fiendishly flawless, so breathtakingly brilliant, and so stupefyingly strategic that I am guaranteed to take home the gold-plated trident we use as a trophy.

markfive / flickr creative commons

Let’s Make (Bold) Predictions

ALEX: In years past, my results in this battle of wits, patriotism, and athleticism (NB: no actual athletics required) have been like an undersized, 3-shooting, midmajor team named the Fightin Windexes. That is to say, I’ve been streaky.

But this year, all that is about to change. And because you’re powerless to stop me, Horn, I’ll even tell you why.

Number 1: Karma. Because last year held such miserable results for my favored sports teams (Purdue eliminated by VCU, Twins imploded and blew up the core team, Canucks crushed all my hockey dreams, and the Saints ended up being contract assassins) I am now due for a bracket run of epic proportions. It’s science.

Number 2: Good omens. Just yesterday, I noticed that the interior light in my car has started working again after I thought it was burned out. And last week, someone who owed me a dinner that I had completely forgotten about gave me 10 bucks. These are both pretty sweet scores, but they’re also something more. They’re harbingers of my coming success in our match of the ages.

Number 3: By far the most important part and keystone of my bulletproof strategy, I KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I have worked hard to remain complete ignorant of all subtleties in the college game this year. I will be picking based on raw gut instincts alone. I don’t know if an Iona is a basketball team or a charged atomic particle.  I’m not even sure if John Calipari is still coaching with a court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet around his ankle. Your fancy “insider knowledge” will be your undoing, much as it has been mine for the past three years.

Alex's Picks

JOHN: Well, I did something strategic awesome hilarious pretty stupid right from the start. Last year, Michelle won our four-way-pool (Alex, John, Michelle, and Old Man Dean) by applying this formula:

hilarity of team name x 64[( jersey colour - symbiosis of mascot) - (affiliation during the Civil War - size of English Lit. department)] + “your gut” ÷ MADNESS = The Duke Blue Devils.

Yeah, I wish I was joking. It wasn’t even close. She won like Charlie Sheen. Anyway, I didn’t go so far as to use math this time, but I did go so far as to use words. One word in particular, actually. And that word is “State”. For the first round I have selected every team with “State” in their name as my winners. Is this logical? Yes No. Will it help my chances? Yes No Probably. For you see, readers and fans, any good March Madness bracket needs to be sprinkled with some gut feelings and incredulity and a team from Nashville that some guy on the television yelled about yesterday in a super-convincing way.

John's picks

My big upset for the first weekend will happen when West Virginia muscles over Ohio St. Other than that, it’s pretty clear that the Canadians on New Mexico State will power past Indiana and Long Beach State (also powered by Canada) will eek out a victory against Los Lobos. It goes without saying that the underrated powerhouse that is South Dakota State will trounce the overrated Baylor Bears. As for the State vs. State first-round-battle, I’m obviously picking Murray State (basically playing at home) to blow-out Colorado State and then roll through Marquette like Kurt Heinrich rolls through defenders on the soccer field or through butter that he puts on his, um, rolls for din- shoot … I was in trouble a quarter of the way through that double metaphor!

Oh, and Purdue will be out in the first round, Alex, and Kansas will beat Michigan State in the final.

Go Vanderbilt!

Fire At Will / Flickr Creative Commons

[INSERT TRASH TALK HERE]

JOHN: This gets harder and harder every year because, Alex, you’re such a sweetheart of a man who makes great choices when it comes to food, community and women, but poor choices when it comes to basketball. Oh, and Cranium – an ingenious Canadian invention  – is more of a sport and a game than your national pastime, NASCAR elections militarism baseball.

Oh, and I miss you and think/know you’re great and am lucky to share this experience with you, good sir.

ALEX: Now, every year we reserve this space to trot out the same old saws about why I’m really great and you’re really loud. Well this year, things are a bit different. I’ve seen you carve a Turducken one handed, and you’ve seen me belt out November Rain. We both know what the other is capable of. So I respectfully tip my jaunty cap, and suggest that we join forces against our better halves, who are always winning this thing anyway. What say you? Can we overcome our Shakespearian love/hatred to best our loved ones at reading the bracket tea leaves? Probably not, eh?

[Editor's note: he said "eh?"! Feud averted!]

Robin and Michelle Will Probably Win

MICHELLE: This year, my formula is an even simpler one. Here is what I took into consideration:

1. The livableness of the city, because the more healthy and livable the community then the players will do better.

2. How awesome the fans are totally determines how pumped-up and excited the players will be; my research shows that pumped-up players perform better, especially when they live in a healthy, happy and vibrant community.

3. I’m all about underdog teams that have a chance of winning, like North Carolina! I’m kidding. Like Murray State!!! [Editor's note: about halfway through her selecting John may or may not have had to explain what "the numbers next to each team" meant].

4. Bonus points for any team from a state where I know someone (my friend Caroline went to Layola).

Consequently, the winner will be North Carolina. Haha, my friend’s name is almost Carolina!

Michelle's Picks

ROBIN: Well, Alex has finally wised up and decided to apply an age-old rule to his March Madness picks: the woman is always right. Yep, you got it, Alex stole my strategy. This year, Alex has correctly identified the winning strategy as knowing “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.” He says, “I have worked hard to remain completely ignorant of all subtleties in the college game this year. I will be picking based on raw gut instincts alone.” But where did he come by that strategy? Me. As evidence, I’ve selected a few key passages from my “chitter chatter,” which appeared on this esteemed blog March 16, 2011.

My first point of advice last year was, “Don’t, under any circumstances, take the bracket seriously.  Over-thinking is enemy #1.  Think to yourself: ‘Geez, this is really dumb.’ and  ‘Who cares?’”  And second, I shared, “Above all else, go with personal affiliation and INSTINCT.  Is your great-great-grandpappy an Akron Zip? They’re in.”

These words speak for themselves.  However, I take this blatant violation of my intellectual property in stride.  This year it’s a battle of instincts.   Too bad for Alex that women are better than men at that too.

Robin's Picks

–

And that was 2,000 words of awesome!

Who will have better March Madness Predictions?

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Dispatches from Silverstar (Part 1)

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On Sunday afternoon, Theodora and I were very concerned that we’d made a horrible mistake in deciding to make an impromptu visit to Vernon’s premier ski area, Silverstar. We were high-up on the Coquihalla Highway and were crawling along at 20 km an hour as a blizzard turned the slushy highway from hazardous to downright terrible. On our right, we crawled by half a dozen cars and buses who were stuck spinning their tires in the hard pack snow. Pretty soon the entire car was enveloped in foggy snow. Visibility was down to 10 meters. My white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel could have cracked a walnut.

Half an hour later we were cruising along the highway under blue skies at 110 km. We joked that we felt like a party of hobbits who’d successfully dodged Saruman’s curse and made it over the Misty Mountains. After a brief bathroom stop in Kamloops (we decided to take the northern route to Vernon following Highway 5 to Merritt and then Kamloops) we headed along Hwy 1 then along a meandering small 97 into Vernon.

Courtesy of okanaganvacationguide.com

The next day we woke early in our Vernon hotel to motor up to Silverstar. It was a hop, skip and a jump up the Mountain (nothing like the Misty Mountain experience).

That morning I was convinced by the Australian ski renter guy (is there a per-capita rule on mountains to hire a certain number of Aussies) to spring for the high level skis costing an extra $10 a day.

Over the next six hours, I skied like I’d never skied before. Clothed thanks to the thoughtful lending of my friends John Horn (long-johns – pun intended! and gloves) and Julian Christians (ski-pants). Thank goodness for the winter-wear as without it, I’d still be an icicle. Despite the phenomenal powder, the wind made skiing without a fully covered face an act of masochism.

Throughout the day, we enjoyed Silverstar’s 12 lifts. Highlights was tree-skiing off of blue runs. Dodging trees is like dodging balls (or wrenches) – very fun and very rewarding. I also loved the Whistler-like variety and the very non-Whistler like lack of crowds. That plus the cute little ski-village at the base of the mountain. Talk about quaint.

There’s a lot more to say, but I’ll leave it at that today. Stay tuned for a new dispatch in the coming days.

Header image courtesy of Visions of Domino

Whitecaps FC Community Asset Review – Part 1

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Editors’ note: Kurt and John are firm believers that Vancouver can and should be the Canadian epicenter for growing the sport and culture of soccer football soccer. This is a self-described healthy community. We can play outside year-round, as fields are rarely closed due to snow and/or freezing. And, most importantly, Vancouver is the place to expertly develop the sport of soccer because our city’s team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, shares this goal and so demonstrates this vision through its Club Structure and the Whitecaps Foundation, which aims to create the fittest generation of BC Youth by 2020.

As Vancouver Whitecaps FC season ticket holders, Kurt and John are well-positioned to evaluate how the franchise showcases its commitment to “be a significant community asset” – so, following every match we will reflect on this commitment by answering two questions. Here they are:

How is the team a significant community asset?

Well, the ‘Caps beat the Impact 2-0 and you should read the wise words of my main man Simon Fudge for all the great details.

As this is the first post about the first game, well, I’ll keep it short and sweet. Vancouver Whitecaps FC demonstrated its role as a significant community asset by the way the team brought together people of different shapes, sizes, cultures, ages, neighbourhoods, and (kinda) socio economic statuses to enjoy a spirited match of very good soccer played by men from dozens of communities around the world.

Any time thousands of people high-five each other, sing songs together and embrace an opportunity to meet new people the event that makes this happen is an asset to our community. And this was the scene at Bell Pitch at Telus Stadium in BC Place on Saturday. And it was a beautiful thing.

What BIG IDEA will make the club an even better asset?

Here’s the idea: break the BMO Banking/Sponsorship hegemony!

BMO is “the official bank and a proud fan of Vancouver Whitecaps FC” and one of the club’s founding partners. The bank is also hedging its bets in terms of MLS support, as its logo adorns the uniforms of both the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC. Further, Toronto FC plays at BMO Field. So, is BMO really a proud fan of the Whitecaps? Or is the company just a proud fan of strategic cross-marketing opportunities?

Vancouver is a different kind of franchise in a different kind of city, which is why our recommendation for this week is for Vancouver Whitecaps FC to strategically align itself with Vancity Credit Union. One particular piece of cool collaboration between the ‘Caps and Vancity could be ongoing support of Vancouver’s Street Soccer League – some of the Whitecaps players have already trained with homeless players from Portland FC and Vancity funds many of the services, programs and places upon which Street Soccer players rely. I mean, how cool would the Vancity logo look on the uniforms?!

Vancity is all about economically, socially and environmentally healthy communities, which certainly jives with the goal to create the fittest generation of youth by 2020. So, think about it, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Vancity. You’re made for each other!

Octopi Regains Momentum with 3-1 Win

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After a unsatisfying victory last week, the Octopi squad were hungry for a cleaner and more decisive win this Wednesday when they took the field against Right Back on the Bench (RBOTB). It was a cool evening at Thunderbird. Although the Octopi was missing star defender Brenton Walters (who was rumoured to be contemplating a trade to a South Vancouver team), the team felt confident.

Their confidence was reinforced when within the first two minutes, the team flew into RBOTB’s half and set up a gorgeous goal by star striker Erin Loxam. The crowd on the sideline went wild with chants of “Loxy, Loxy!” After a few more dangerous thrusts into their opponents goal area, momentum of the game gradually turned against Octopi. RBOTB players turned on the afterburners and consistently managed to win 50/50 balls. Gradually the game shifted against the boys and girls in pink. After a throw in from the far side of the field, RBOTB’s long haired star managed to streak past the Octopi defence and sneak a goal past all-star keeper David Willinsky to bring the score back to 1-1.

Commentators aren’t sure what sort of pep talk happened during the break, but at the second half, a whole new pink team came on the field. More talking and a fiercer determination to make the ball their own paid off. Passes were as crisp as you’d see in an MLS game. Quick passes back and forth kept the RBOTB’s team running circles. Then a foul in the box allowed striker John Horn to nail a penalty kick putting Octopi ahead 2-1. Later in the second half of the game, one of RBOTB’s dirtiest players turned over the ball in the box and star striker Erin Loxam was able to capitalize hammering a goal in at close range and making it 3-1 Octopi.

Late in the game things started to get chippy. Both sides were going hard in and tempers started to flair. When the final whistle was blown, there was a collective sigh of relief among the non “type A” personality players. The win puts Octopi in the top four of the league and sets them on a course to take on Nomads FC – the team of British whipper-snappers who destroyed them in their inaugural game of the season.

Octopi manager Kurt Heinrich says the team isn’t intimidated in the slightest.

“We’re actually looking forward to a rematch with Nomads FC,” says Heinrich. “This time, it’ll be different.”

Grantland, The Wire and Smacketology

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If you like The Wire, March Madness and democracy then you should read the next 250* words.

You know, if Kurt, Mike and I had the resources (money, time, reputation, skill, connections, ESPN-overlords) we could pull off something like Grantland.com, the masterpiece of Bill Simmons, who continues to define himself as an innovative leader within the edutaining space where sports, pop culture and media collide.

Some of the similarities between Mr. Simmons’s online project and ours are uncanny. Grantland and the Daily Gumboot each boast writing staffs chock-full of people who went to grad school and try really hard to showcase that this was not a poor decision; I think the former website’s writers get paid, though. Sorry, Jim and Martin. Oh, we both use semi-colons and footnotes, too. We love soup. And, as with Mr. Simmons and his team, Kurt and I love to hypothesize about hypothetical tournaments involving incredibly nerdy supercool things/people/nouns like superheroes, historical figures, athletes (me), politicians (Kurt), and our friends challenging each other until only one is left standing.

Oh, and 92% of Daily Gumboot Correspondents think that The Wire is the greatest television show ever and that it is one of the most important cultural contributions of the twenty-first century. I can only assume that it’s the same over at Grantland.

This is where the similarities end, though. Because the fine folks at Grantland created something amazing, hilarious, and score-settling that we could never produce. It was called the Souperbowl – a March-Madness-like tournament that put one soup against another and we the people voted for the outright winner – and it was pretty great.

But that’s not what I’m writing about today. The Souperbowl isn’t the thing that’s rocketed Grantland into a new whole class of awesome.

Smacketology is what’s rocketed Grantland into a whole new class of awesome. It’s got all the cool components of the Souperbowl and is also important.

David T. Cole/Grantland Illustration

Because Smacketology is a March-Madness-like tournament that will determine the greatest character from the greatest television show, The Wire. [Editor's note: Michelle and I aren't actually sure if the tournament is designed to determine the greatest character or if it's, like, a death match - it's not entirely clear. And my endictment of said lack of clarity is in no way a criticism of past, current or future grad students]. In terms of historical perspective, Smacketology was partially inspired by a conversation that Mr. Simmons had with an up-and-comer on the American political scene, President Barack Obama. Awesome.

According to Alex Pappademas, here’s what the tournament is meant to achieve:

What if we actually did subject the key players of the Wire-verse to rigorous bracketological inquiry? If we played corner boys against dock workers, murder-polices against hoppers, and craven politicos against enigmatic not-actually-Greek human traffickers, in matchups as arbitrary and occasionally unjust as life and death on the mean streets of West Baltimore, would the king stay the king?

I encourage you to, first, check out the Facebook commentary, which is as hilarious as it is inspiring – people really, really, really care about The Wire and have some really, really, really strong opinions about how their most/least favourite characters will do in the tournament. And, once you’ve settled down, get voting so that your favourite characters make it through. Most importantly, have fun with it!

Well played, Grantland. Well played.

–

Masthead photo courtesy of eli.pousson

*it was actually 500 more words … I regret nothing

Octopi Underperforms in 2-1 Victory Over Turfinators

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Nobody left the pitch happy on Wednesday night. Not the Turfinators (they lost 2-1). Not Octopi Vancouver (they/we should’ve won 8-0). Not the UrbanRec official (Octopi may have lost its sportsmanship award).

Many of the Octopi team members – except Jen, Jess and Nicole, whose positive energy and team spirit were awesome and semi-contagious – left the field in angry states that truly ran the gamut of sensation; from Erin Loxam’s “we could’ve done a lot better” to my yelling in the car on the way home things like “I had the whole right side of the net wide open and shot it right at the goalie because I’m an idiot” and “those guys couldn’t control their bodies and almost hurt a lot of people with their goonish awkwardness.”

But enough about that. What about the soccer football?

Roger Hosking started the scoring on a one-timer – which was also a cracker – off a gorgeous heel-pass from centre-midfielder and Architect at Large, Stewart Burgess. The onion bag bulged and Octopi got off to a fast start.

The Turfinators answered back quickly, as White Socks – their one All-Star-caliber player – weaved his way through our entire side and then sniped a perfect snipe into the top corner of League MVP David Willinsky’s goal. Colanders contain water better than our team’s collective defensive effort contained White Socks on that play..

The next 20-30 minutes unfolded as an exercise in goal-mouth futility for the Octopi side, who had no fewer than 87 exceptional scoring chances that unfolded not as goals, but as near misses, huge misses, incredible misses, goal-post-bounce-offs, shots right at the goalie, shots right at the sideline, shots right into the sprawling legs of defenders, and, yes, shots backwards, too.

Luckily, the team’s savior, Roger Hosking, came to the rescue with a well-timed strike that beat the Turfinator keeper with ease – Roger did a neat thing by not shooting the ball 10 meters wide or right at the goalie. Well done, good sir.

By the end of the evening, the Turfinators’ unintentionally chippy play (they put me on my butt at least five times and absolutely flattened our star striker Erin Loxam) and Octopi’s collective inability to put more balls in the back of the net resulted in the vocal presentation of some heated and biting feedback at the opposition players and an UrbanRec official that may or may not have come from the author of this blog post.

Allow me to stand on my soap box for just a moment: players and officials, when an emotional competitor who frustratingly underachieved during the game and is upset with himself apologizes to you for his inappropriate behaviour, don’t tell him to keep his mouth shut and then say something else that can’t be repeated on this blog. A happy and healthy community this does not build. At the end of the day, it’s just sports!

Oh, one last thing. League MVP and Vancouver Whitecaps back-up goalie, David Willinsky, also made a win-saving stop with about 10 seconds to go in the match. Amazing.

Editor’s note: a special thanks to Jen for her enduring positivity – as I reflected on my life choices and poor performance at 2AM on Thursday morning, your kind words and enlightened spirit made my frustration melt away.

Octopi Destroys Team Keggers with 4-1 Win

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It was a big night for Octopi Vancouver. After a disappointing tie game the week before, the team was raring to snatch back some momentum. Indeed, Octopi’s  Facebook page said it all: attendees were there to win, not tie. With that it mind, it wasn’t surprising to see the team’s amped up enthusiasm on full display at Thunderbird Stadium last Wednesday.

Despite missing its promised calisthenics pre-warm up warm up, the team wasn’t rusty at the start. After loosing the rock-paper-scissors game for the ball due to misplaced confidence in “rock”, the team settle back to defend where possible. Though Keggers was missing a woman and playing short handed, the Octopi squad decided not to show mercy. Like a terminator, they’d be going in for the kill.

The game was quick paced, but relatively clean. It quickly became clear to both sides that owing to impressive skills, strong team cohesion and superior team espirt de corp, Octopi’s would be dominating. The passes were crisp and the flow of the game favoured the good guys (ie. us). Here are a few highlights:

  • A gorgeous header by striker Erin Loxam from a long ball from the left wing by striker John Horn. The play has been labelled henceforth as “Cobra”. Urban Rec teams beware.
  • Fantastic goal-tending by stand-in Obi, who had some terrific saves during both halfs and did a fine job of standing in for all-star Octopi keeper David Willinsky (sources close to the keeper say he’s likely to be back on the pitch next Wednesday)
  • Terrific defensive play by Matt Kieltyka, Brenton Walters and Roger Hosking. Their  strong play on the back line ensured loose balls (or loose balls with players attached) were quickly shut down and cleared well out of bounds (sometimes so well that Kegger players had to go rooting through bushes).
  • Fantastic pressure by Octopi left winger Kyla Kieltyka and new winger Nicole Seguin on the opposing team. The persistent pressure and constant play-making helped shore up the midfield and keep the ball distribution from defense to offense steady.\
  • Great ball distribution by mid-fielder/defenseman/forward Stew Burgess. His moves were, at times, Pele-esque.

Unlike the previous game, communications among Octopi’s squad continued throughout the game and the end result meant lots of back pats and laughter when the final whistle was blow. The win puts Octopi solidly in the middle of the pack and within striking distance of the top couple spots.

Analysts say that as the team increasingly starts to gel, amazing things will likely start to happen on the pitch – if not during this season, certainly the next one when the team will move to a new league and new challenge at Trillium field.

Portland FC to Take on Vancouver Police this Friday

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A big soccer game is on the horizon and it isn’t the Vancouver Whitecaps or Octopi Vancouver that are playing. This Friday, the Portland FC and Portland Phoenix, two of Vancouver’s top Street Soccer teams, will be locking horns with the Vancouver police department. Both sides are confident and they should be. Last year’s tournament at Andy Livingstone was a neck and neck game. The cops were big and (contrary to popular perception) clad in red, not blue. They were also as fast as roadrunners and in the end, despite a fierce game, the speed and skills paid off with a 4 – 2 win for the cops on a VERY rainy Friday night.

This year’s game will be Friday, February 24 at Trillium field at 4 PM sharp. Both teams are gearing up for a fun game. Portland FC and Phoenix in particular are looking for supporters to come out and support the team. If that’s you, make sure you show up and help cheer us to victory. If you’re cheering for the cops – that’s ok too. We’re not THAT competitive (wink).

Octopi Stalls in Second Half with 3-3 Draw

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Photo courtesy of stevendepolo

Fresh off a one-one tie the game before, Octopi came away last Wednesday with yet another draw, despite leading the scoreboard and dominating the field for most of the game.

Most commentators and critics agree that Octopi’s control of the ball and superiority in both passing and skills should have won the day. It certainly helped them dominate the first half. With a quick goal 5 minutes into the first half by defender Kurt Heinrich, the wind was certainly in the pink team’s sails.

When late-arriving striker John Horn hit the pitch, the Octopi offense went into overdrive. After a later goal by Right Back on the Bench (RBOTB), the team continued to pressure finishing with a beautiful triangle of passing between Horn, defender Matt Kieltyka and midfielder Brenton Walters. The triangle allowed for an opening on left side of RBOTB’s box, which Horn was able to easily exploit for a late goal. The score at the end of the half was 2-1 Octopi. Things were looking good.

In the second half, left and right wingers Kyla Kieltyka and Jessica Pautsch probed effectively against the RBOTB’s weak defence. But the team’s momentum was halted when early in the second half an awkward hand ball in the box gave the RBOTB a free kick that they cranked well into the bottom right corner of keeper David Willinsky’s goal.

Later in the half the team would add another goal from a long ways, but the goal was answered by RBOTB after a spate of miscommunication in Octopi’s box.

Then Octopi’s communication continued to deteriorate as the second half wore on. Passes went to far or not far enough. A indirect kick was muppeted up by Heinrich.

Despite kick moves by midfielder Jenn Tailor and a last minute drive by Heinrich, Horn and Pautsch, the game was not to be won, but only tied.

Photo courtesy of guy schmidt

Octopi Brings up Farm Team Blue Chippers to Earn 1-1 Draw

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Thanks, Katie@! and Flickr Creative Commons

With General-Manager-Coach-Director-of-Public-Relations-Starting-Centre-Defenseman Kurt Heinrich away at an undisclosed honeymoon location, an under-staffed Octopi Vancouver squad called in some favours and called up some enthusiastic talent from the team’s junior league squad, The Soccer Balls. Thanks to Blaine, Chris, Beau, Jess, and Andrea for your stellar contributions – and sorry for any name-related spelling mistakes…

It was a mild and dewy Wednesday night under the lights of UBC’s Thunderbird stadium. And we played some soccer. Against another team. They were called “Totti Hots Purr” and there is a good chance that they cheated en route to a 1-1 draw against an Octopi squad that, in addition to enduring probable cheating, struggled to control play in the middle of the field and failed to capitalize on some really good scoring opportunities.

Expertly backstopped by All Star goaltender David Willinsky, Octopi dominated the first half. Soccer Generalist and Everyman, Brenton Walters, worked the middle of the field and the sidelines with new recruits Jess and Andrea to near perfection – only a few misstrikes (it’s a word), an off-the-post-header, and, as I mentioned before, probable cheating the their opponents, saw Octopi race through the first 10 minutes without notching at least two goals.

And then John Horn – following a great header from New Guy Chris (who, incidentally, refused to sport a bright pink Octopi kit … no judgment …) and a great attacking run in the third person – ping-ponged the ball past two defenders and half-a-goalie before cracking it into the back of a half-empty-net. Things looked good for Octopi.

Now back to the cheating. Look, all I’m saying is that, from the sidelines, it looked as though the Totti Hots Purr player – after being pushed to the turf by our team during an intense goal-mouth scramble – hand-passed the ball to a teammate who kicked it into an empty net. Like I said. Cheating.

In the second half, Octopi sat back and played a little too much of a dump-and-chase game, which resulted in the other team #winning a lot of the midfield play. There was really only one chance in the second half and it was for Totti Hots Purr, but League MVP David Willinsky splayed his body across the goal and robbed the THP sniper of what he – and his misplaced track-pants – thought was a sure goal.

Looking forward, Octopi hopes to continue gelling with a skilled team nucleus that has yet to play together this season. And when it does, look out Urban Rec. This is a team that has as much talent as it does chemistry as it does a dumb name with hilariously awesome pink uniforms.