WEEKLY WHINE

Examining the FCU-CL first round

The first round of the 2007 FCU Champions League begins at 12:00 UTC on THU 24 MAY 2007. Here now is GoobNet’s projection of how it all will go down, beginning with a review of this year’s participants sorted in order of their respective nations’ seedings.

1. Darwin Mutations [Australia]
2. Atlanta Antibodies [USA]
3. Toluca Petroleros [Mexico]
4. Hamilton Suns [Canada]
5. Algoa Bay Riders [South Africa]
6. Haugesund Seagulls [Norway]
7. Ostend Mercators [Belgium]
8. Kolkata Cyclones [India]
9. Le Havre Legumes [France]
10. Valladolid Caballeros [Spain]
11. Nagoya Octet [Japan]
12. Ankara Punks [Turkey]

ALGOA BAY RIDERS – NAGOYA OCTET

Algoa Bay had a difficult campaign in South Africa, but their team finally came together in the last several matches. They won five in a row and finished with a convincing win over Johannesburg in the final. Nagoya, meanwhile, were not particularly impressive in a Japanese league season in which nobody stood out, not even the Octet’s bottle-blonde attacker, Aoki Bondadora.
GoobNet’s forecast: Riders by forty hours

HAUGESUND SEAGULLS – VALLADOLID CABALLEROS

It was another thrilling year in the Norwegian league, where Haugesund were just barely champions. Olaf Gundarsdóttír, the Icelandic star who has been a Seagull for thirteen years, finally won his first championship with a thrilling swim across the Akerselva river in Oslo in overtime against the Boreals. Valladolid are Spain’s inaugural entrants in the FCU-CL, but this year they will not have much to look forward to in the first round.
GoobNet’s forecast: Seagulls by eighteen hours

KOLKATA CYCLONES – ANKARA PUNKS

Everyone is eager to see a team from the new members of the Flag Capturing Union get past the first round, and they’ll see it in this match. The Punks are technically seeded last, but in the draw, that makes no difference. Kolkata were less than impressive in the Indian final, and that makes a grand opportunity for Gülşen Orbayanu and her teammates [who, disappointingly, don’t look like their namesakes] to shock the flag capturing community.
GoobNet’s forecast: Punks in overtime

OSTEND MERCATORS – LE HAVRE LEGUMES

For Ostend, this is a chance to prove their mettle. They have been near the top of the Flag Ligue Unique Belgique for years, and finally having won it all in Belgium, they want to show that it was no fluke. They should have little trouble getting past Le Havre, but awaiting them in the next round are the Darwin Mutations.
GoobNet’s forecast: Mercators by fifty nine hours