Mixed Up in Manotick

"Used, abused without clues
I refused to blow a fuse
They even had it on the news
Don't believe the hype..."
Public Enemy - Don't believe the hype

With the draft schedule up, and my one league game of the week out of the way (Poach won!), I thought it was time to hype BigFish's last tournament of the summer: Mixed Up. Although I'm not sure why I get to play (maybe Glenn is taking the tournament off?), I'm still looking forward to it. Of course, if you want a better analysis of the pools, please see the Steve's superior ulty blog.

Pool A has two teams I'm familiar with (BFC and Tundra), and three teams I've never heard of (including Gecko who are the overall #1 seed). At times like these when uncertainty abounds, I'm going to be a homer and pick BFC to come out on top on Saturday. You might think this is a shameless act to suck up to Ottawa's A-team, and you wouldn't be entirely wrong. However, I'll provide a bit of a scoop that BFC has made a few AWESOME pick-ups in the last two weeks while they prepare for nationals.

Pool B has three teams I kinda know (Monster, Phella, and Liquid), and some ONYX team (who are seeded #2 overall) that Steve raves about. Having played Monster and Liquid, I'll continue my highly suspect prognostication method of picking the local team Phella to go undefeated on Saturday. Phella consists of some local open players (Phoenix) and local women comp players (Stella), who will magically combine forces to rule the school.

I love the fact Steve calls Pool C "filler". Knowing Practice (Spence's band of locals), Zen, and Rockstar, and thinking Les Chiefs and Polatouches are from la bella provence, I'll predict Rockstar will sing the most creative songs and finish middle of the pack. Semi-seriously, I predict Practice takes the pool, and then slags the TD for not seeding them higher :P Good luck to Zen, who will no doubt be crunching numbers most of Saturday in an effort to avoid BigFish on Sunday ;-)

Pool D will be where the real action (i.e. high-jinx, high-lights, and nudity) takes place. Personally, I can't freaking wait for another shot at The Company...anticipation that is shared by at least two other "women scorn" on BF. Our teams match up so closely, so let's hope it's a replay of the first game at Regionals, with the same outcome (Gavin's Callaghan on universe point). I'm also really looking forward to playing local team Solid, in no small part due to a number of hotties who play for them. Tabasco and Sabotage, a word of advice, beware of the Fish!

Pool E seems to be the recreational pool. Only being familiar with Arrested Development, and having some vague recollection of Mars Meets Venus from Northern Flights (BF might have beat them on day 2?), this is the hardest pool for me to predict. I'll go with Jimi Handdisc over XUM 3000, mainly because I like their name the best. Might as well put this out there - I really hope Arrested Development picks up their first tournament win of the season. They've worked so hard, and deserve the boost/validation/respect that the win will provide :)

Pool F features five junoir teams, and will be henceforth be called the "Run Your Buns Off" (RYBO) pool. Of course I like Obviously Juiced, whoops, I mean the Ottawa Junoirs to take it all. I think Dirt out of Toronto will give pool E teams fits on Sunday in the cross-over. My favourite junoir team name is a toss-up between PUF (the magic dragon? or could this be a creative MJ reference?) and O2 (Ottawa's B-team).

Since only teams in Pool A & B have a chance to win it all, I'll predict a BFC/Phella final. I'll prognosticate that BigFish will accomplish our objective of beating our seat this weekend (despite me being uber distracted when we play Solid).

In terms of prop bets, I'll go under 5 games before Gavin gets naked. I'll also go on the record as saying that Zen WILL NOT "spank" BigFish, but will cower in fear of playing us instead. Rockstar will win the spirit award and possibly the party. Gold hotpants will be spotted at Barrymore's (hopefully not on Glenn *shivers*). Arrested Development will win at least 2 games. The pool F teams will make four players from pool E teams puke after chasing them on Sunday. Lastly, I'll predict that after the tournament there will be at least seven complaints on the OCUA forums bitching about seedings, food, parking, and other trivial shit.

With the hype entry coming to a close, I'd like to remind you of Public Enemy's views on such hype. Games are played on the field, and whoever brings it both days will come out on top. A quick reminder to thank Vanessa and her band of volunteers this weekend any time you have a chance, since they will be working their buns off to enjoy you have an enjoyable experience. Until next time, happy hucking!