WEEKLY WHINE
Here is GoobNet's team by team review of the American Capture the Flag League's 2004-5 regular season, along with a recap of the 2005 Flag Final between the Cabhounds and the Antibodies, won by Atlanta at 22:48 UTC on WED 20 APR 2005.
Chicago did manage to improve on their dismal showing from 2004, but it was their second straight finish in last place after three trips to the Flag Final in four years. Carlos Netalla and Jamie Everett, the rookies out of Spain and Maryland respectively, worked well together in defense and could be the stakeholders in the Plankton's return to the top.
Record: 2-2-7 [8 pts]
For the fourth straight year, the Picketers finished in the lower half of the league. Their glory days well behind them, Rick Renthon and Yuri Chornock are still on the front line, but it may be time to put these aging stars to pasture and give way to some younger stars such as Amy Aldredge and Jen Clamp.
Record: 3-1-7 [10 pts]
Like Chicago, it took until well into the new year for Los Angeles to record their first win of the season. And like Chicago, Los Angeles has historically been much more competitive in the ACFL. Expect some of these Lemmings to move, whether through trade or by demotion to the minor league. Rumours say that the Lemmings have their eye on Myrtle Beach's Laura D'Array, but the Insomniacs can be expected to charge a hefty price for their one and only star.
Record: 2-4-5 [10 pts]
Gradually, Myrtle Beach are starting to move up the board. They were the ACFL's second champions back in 2001, but with anyone and everyone jumping ship shortly after that championship season, they're still picking up the pieces. Last in 2003, tenth in 2004, and now ninth, things looked better after three wins to start the season, but then came their embarrassing seven match losing streak. The lowlight of that streak was the match against Phoenix, when Laura "Ladybug" D'Array and her rookie attack partner, Mitch Bollitt, collided with each other on their way out of city hall. They were caught almost immediately.
Record: 4-0-7 [12 pts]
Finalists a year ago, the Irony took a tumble into the lower half of the league, finishing behind Houston and Boston on head to head results. Charles Morgambi, Jim Ruand, and Victoria Stuntham have formed Cleveland's front line for four straight years now, but without some new tactical awareness, they will continue to fall. In Match Eight against the Cabhounds, for example, they reverted to their traditional two person flag swipe. Ruand was posted along the escape route, but Alexander Nembrov spotted him and led the defense into position to intercept Morgambi and Stuntham in front of Carnegie Hall.
Record: 5-0-6 [15 pts]
After winning it all in 2003 and nearly making the Flag Final again last year, the Capcoms fell back to obscurity in the middle of the table. In DEC 2004, their match against New York best illustrated their luck this year. Both flags were stolen at about the same time, but the Capcom attackers' flight out of Newark was delayed and eventually cancelled due to mechanical problems, whereas the Cabhound forwards' risky excursion to the San Antonio airport paid off, as they took off well before the defense arrived.
Record: 5-0-6 [15 pts]
John Pidgeworth earned a new distinction this season, becoming only the second player in ACFL history to be disqualified, with two cautions in the match against Santa Fe. At least he's no Ron Artest.
Record: 5-0-6 [15 pts]
As the season began, the question being asked everywhere was: Who were the real Firebirds, the 2004 champions or the team who was bounced out of the FCU Champions League in the first round? The correct answer turned out to be the Champions League failures. We must admit that they did make it interesting, losing four straight early in the year before winning four straight. But Trina Vance was never able to turn in the solid performances that earned her MVP honours last year.
Record: 5-1-5 [16 pts]
The Stimulants entered Match Eleven with a chance at reaching the Flag Final, quite a surprise to most observers who placed them no higher than seventh. Bo Smith, though increasing in age, is still an important part of the Stimulants' attack. But it was defense that got Seattle into fourth this year. DeShauna Stephens, Will Evan, Veronique Lu, and Lakeisha Truman terminated a late Cleveland attack in Match Ten, finding Morgambi, Ruand, and Stuntham at a service station near Sea-Tac Airport.
Record: 6-2-3 [20 pts]
June Rovelaar and Waldo González, two young players who got their first chance at full time play last season, joined Douglas Rosecrans, who was returning from injury, in the defense. Santa Fe's seemingly challenging start to the season, against Cleveland and then Phoenix, represented just the first two of five straight wins. But their loss to the Cabhounds proved decisive, as they finished tied with 23 points and missed the Flag Final on head to head.
Record: 7-2-2 [23 pts]
The new year came and went with the Cabhounds not having lost yet. Alexander Nembrov was key to the Cabhounds' first trip to the Flag Final, but another important player was Enrique Caballero, one of three original Cabhounds still on the squad. In the key matchup against Santa Fe, former cross country runner Caballero led Rovelaar, González, Rosecrans, George Dungo, and Pat Lopes on a merry chase around downtown Santa Fe, only to catch them all completely by surprise when he jumped into the getaway car driven by Sami Ryer.
Record: 7-2-2 [23 pts]
Atlanta had never finished lower than eighth in the ACFL - but had yet to reach the Flag Final. That changed this year, when fourth year Kyle Cumberland may have revolutionised flag capturing. He changed positions three times this season, twice moving from defense to attack. But in Match Eleven against San Francisco, he began as a fourth attacker but then flew back to Atlanta, proving decisive when a four person Picketer front of Renthon, Chornock, Clamp, and Mary Diaz ran into the Antibodies' defense, including the crucial fifth member in Cumberland.
Record: 8-0-3 [24 pts]
Atlanta seemed to take a page from Phoenix's playbook last year. The league's only all female front line of Ginger Szichim, Bren Holland, and Maya Lang stole the New York flag in Harlem five times in the first three days, but each time they were foiled. Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, Caballero, Nick Centesis, and Aaron Ouverland saw their two attempts at the flag also rejected. Szichim, Holland, and Lang finally succeeded early in the morning of the sixth day, when two defenders were asleep. The chase between the remaining three defenders and the attackers moved back and forth between the surface and various subway lines until the pursuers were finally lost and Szichim was able to carry the flag through the airport in Atlanta.
Result: Antibodies by twenty five hours
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