BMFL PLAYOFFS - Rogues vs Knights

Game #2
Rogues vs Knights
Tuesday, September 1st
9:00 PM - Blackburn Arena
Knights lead best of 3 series 1-0

Yup, down to the wire.

In this, our 3rd year in the BMFL, the Rogues have still been unable to win a playoff game. Two consecutive sweeps by the A's in 2007 and 2008, and now the Rogues are on the verge of elimination at the hands of the formidable Knights, defending BMFL Champions that they are.

Game #1 wasn't close, as Chucky got roughed up in the first inning for 4 runs, and that was all she wrote. Knights hurler Jamie Blakely allowed 2 hits over 7 innings, striking out 11. Chuck and Brad got the only two hits, solid bouncers up the middle. Pascal hit a laserbeam to left centre after Chuck's hit, but it was snagged by the center fielder who threw a perfect strike to first for the pick-off. It was one of those kind of games.

Tuesday night will see a Blakely vs Cox match-up on the mound, as Cox makes his second start against the Knights this season. The first one wasn't great, as he took the loss in a 6-0 defeat. With this being the possible last game of the season, look for the Rogues not to hold anything back, and finally pull off an upset and defeat the Knights, the only team they have yet to defeat in the BMFL.

#5

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Luke Schenn!

Ok, Admittedly, I don't know the guy. He's a formidable hockey player and one of the few bright spots the stupid Leafs have going forward.

But why....WHY....is he on the cover of all my hockey magazines?!?

Each year I buy a few hockey magazines in August, to help me prepare for my Keeper Pool. These mags are very helpful tools for those of us who don't have Hockey Central, or rarely watch a game if it's not HNIC, or the Sens. The Hockey News puts out 2 magazines in August, their "Yearbook", an annual guide to the upcoming season, and their Hockey Forecaster. It's the Forecaster I wait all season for, along with the Forecasters from McKeen's, The Score, and the Pooler's Guide. These mags predict what all the players in the NHL should come close too, helping poolies like myself get the inside track on building a good fantasy team.

Here's where I get annoyed. The front covers! Where do these people get off! Ok, I haven't seen the McKeen's cover yet, and the cover for the Hockey News has Malkin. That's a good choice. If Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin or Tavares are on the front cover, you're covering the bases. McKeen's put Lidstrom on their cover last year, a very worthy alternate.

The Score? Usually one of the most reliable magazines for content, they continually drop the ball on cover designs. Last year it was Toskala. This year? Luke Schenn. Schenn also made the cover of my "Hockey News Yearbook", although I got that one with my subscription, and I think the Yearbook put out a bunch of different covers, so thats ok.

The Pooler's Guide? Gustavsson, Komisarek and Beauchemin!!! The new additions to the stupid, stupid, stupid Toronto Maple Leafs. Now I understand Toronto is a big market, but bigger than Canada? Even North America? Ok, I realize these mags are going to sell 99% in Canada, and that's fine. But am I missing something? Are you going to sell LESS magazines by putting Iginla on the cover? Luongo? What about fresh faces like Toews, or Mason? Why, why, why would you pick a bunch of Leafs that NO ONE is going to pick in their pool? This is an annual publication! It's not like they come out with a Pooler's Guide once a week! GUH!!!

Still waiting to see who makes the cover of McKeen's in September. I swear to Jeebus, if I see Ian White's face on the cover....

GAME DAY

ROGUES @ EXIT A's

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

9:00pm - Blackburn Arena

Updates have been few and far between as the Green and Gray have been mired ina 4 game losing streak, and have slipped to 7th in the standings. Two games remain before the playoffs, including tonight against Exit A's. A win would go a long way in helping us find some momentum heading into the playoffs.

GAME SUMMARY: Rogues lose to Mr. Electric

Mr. Electric 7
Rogues 1

Not our best game. We did have a set strategy going into the game, but unfortunately, things didn't work out the way we had hoped.

We decided to use all 3 pitchers, putting me in the first 2, Kev in the 2nd 2 innings, and Chuck in the last 2, then whoever threw the best would go the last inning. We had decided to do this last game as well, but Chuck threw so well we put him in for the first 3, and Wilson threw a gem the final 4, we didn't need to employ this strategy.

Last night, I threw a so-so first, giving up 2 hits, but no runs. After a 3 up, 3 down second, I was pulled. Kev went in and gave up 2 runs on a monster shot, albeit the umps erratic strike zone made hitting corners tougher than usual. Kev struggled in the 4th as well, and Chucky came in for the 5th. Chuck retired the 6 batters he faced in 2 innings, so went out for the seventh, but got dinged for 2 runs.

The major problem tonight was hitting. Not facing a dominant pitcher, the Rogues should have had a better night at the plate, but with 12 guys, the at bats are few and far between. Rob Vanden Hoven was 2-2 with a double, triple, and a walk. He's been a bright spot.

Next game is Sunday at 5pm against the Knights, who the Rogues have never beaten. Expect the Rogues to be jacked up for this one.

GAME DAY: Rogues vs Mr. Electric

Mr. Electric @ Rogues

Thursday, August 6, 2009

9:00 PM - Blackburn Arena

I'm ba-ack!

Ok, I must apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks, rest assured I will try and make more of an effort to get stuff up here, as I know there are 2, maybe 3 constant readers! Anyways, here's what's been going down:

The BMFL Tourney was a bust. We went 0-4, and the fu manchu moustaches intimidated no one. We almost beat Stan's Diner, but horrible officiating actually cost us the game. A sure strike three was called a ball on TWO occasions, one which would have given us two outs in the 7th with no one on, and it led to the Rogues imploding. We also got handled by a couple teams, and our defense went on vacation at times too.

We picked up a win against the Good Ol' Boys however, beating them 5-1. That was 9 days ago, our most recent game. We were originally not scheduled to play until Sunday, which would have been a 12 day layoff, thankfully the schedule got amended, and we face Mr. Electric tonight.

The Rogues (8-10) have a 2-0 record against Mr. Electric (7-8-1) and currently sit in 4th place while the boys in blue sit in 6th. This should be a very close game, as both games were dramatic 1-run victories for the green side, and Mr. E's are coming off a 15-1 embarrassing at the hands of the first place Guzzlers (15-2-1).

TWO WEEK VACATION

As I stated, I haven't updated the site in over 2 weeks, as I've been on vacation. (Pics are over on my facebook sight). We took many small day trips, taking Nathan to the Papanack Zoo, Lac Philippe, The Museum of Civilization's Kids Museum, and a couple trips to Orleans to see Grammy and Grampy. We also had some people over for a BBQ with their kids, and went to see a couple movies. (Transformers was an hour too long, but good for what it is, and The Hangover was one of the funniest movies I've seen since maybe Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Great stuff). Also went to Montreal to go to the Osheaga Festival. Finally got to see the Arctic Monkeys live, as they were the last band I've wanted to see in person. See attached videos below.

GAME #1: Disaster

Rogues 0 Brockville 10

This was ugly from the get-go. Cox got the start on the mound, and after the Rogues went in order in the top of the first, we started out well in the bottom half, getting 2 outs via K and ground out before a pop fly was dropped to prolong the inning. An ensuing base hit put Brockville's winning run across for the 1-0 lead. Copy and paste for inning #2, substituting dropped pop fly for mis-throw to first, and the Brockvillians are up 2-0 after 2. A couple hits in the third make it 4-0 before Cox settled in and pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Bottom 6, and after 3 runners got on, Cox came out and Musicka went in, faired little better as the Brockville batters poured it on, mercy-ing the Rogues 10-0 for their first game.

Defense will have to be better going forward if we hope to do anything in this tourney. Fortunately, the Exit A's lost 10-1 to the Guzzlers, meaning we're far from out of it. Look for more posts, and hopefully some pics, tomorrow.

M@

BMFL Tournament Preview: Rogues busting out the Fu Manchus for the weekend

Yup, once again it's the Blackburn Mens Fastball Tournament time, and honestly, no one really knows what to expect. Our results in this Tournament have varied significantly over the years, from losing 5-1 to the Valley Raiders in the 2002 Finals, to not winning a single game the following year, as well as 2007. We've made the semi finals twice, and have not made the Sunday playoffs several times as well. What will be different this time around? Well, facial hair for one. No less than 5 Rogues will be sporting the Fu Manchu mustaches this weekend.

The Tourney format is a little strange, but not too bad. A total of 9 teams are divided into 3 pools of 3. You play each Pool team once, and you play one inter-pool game for a total of 3 each. Since there are nine teams, one of the teams has to play TWO inter-pool games for a total of 4 round robin games, then have one of the inter-pool games randomly withdrawn. As luck would have it, that team is us. The top 2 teams from each pool move on to Sunday, where The 3rd ranked team plays the 6th ranked team, 4th plays 5th, and 1st and 2nd place teams receive byes. Then there's semi-finals against the top 2 seeded teams, then the finals. For the Rogues to win the tournament, it will take playing between 6 and 7 games this weekend.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #1

Rogues vs Brockville

Friday July 17th

7:45PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

Far too little is known about the boys from Brockville. Billed as a team of "rec guys", Brockville is bringing their team to Blackburn Hamlet for the first time, and their first game is at 7:45 against the green and gray. The Rogues will be countering with 11 players for the Friday nighter, including pitchers Cox, Musicka, Wilson and Blakely, catchers Emmerson and Soucy, outfielders Edmunds and Fauteux and infielders Peters, Desjardins, and Dishaw. This, along with our last game against Exit A's, is a Pool game, (guaranteed to count) making it that much more important to win.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #2
Rogues vs Trend Arlington

Saturday July 18th
9:00AM - Queensway Diamond

Our second game features the Rogues taking on the guys from the Trend Arlington Fastball League in their first inter-pool game, which plays off of Greenbank Road in the west end. Rumour has it the TA guys have picked up Fitzroy Harbour's Bud Hanlon and Quyon Flyers' Matt Greer to pitch for them this weekend, which would be a coup for the team heading into this weekend's action. The Rogues would have their hands full with some tough pitching, but the TA bats will have to get the job done. Should be a great early morning battle.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #3

Rogues vs Stan's Diner
Saturday July 18th

1:00PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

The other inter-pool game is against Stan's Diner, who won our only match against them this season 8-4. Stan's is a solid team, whose regular season record (5-10-1) is not indicative of their ability to win, mainly due to their ace Pierre Lalonde being out for most of the season. With his arm back in their rotation, the former Draughts should have a good run in the tourney this year. Our only other time facing this team in the BMFL Tournament was a 1-0 loss 2 years ago. Lalonde defeated Musicka in a classic pitchers duel. This game, or the Trend Arlington one this morning, will be randomly eliminated from our results.

ROUND ROBIN GAME #4
Rogues vs Exit A's

Saturday July 18th
9:00PM - Blackburn Arena Diamond

Another very important match-up, this game could be the deciding game based on how we do the rest of the way. The very last round robin game of the tournament, fates could be decided in the last inning of this one. We've only faced the A's once this year, in a game that was defaulted when they only had 5 regular players show. We played them anyways with 3 spares in their line-up, and tied 1-1. To give an indication of how our pitching was, all 4 hurlers made an appearance. The 9PM start, after completing their previous game by no later than 3PM, will mean the Rogues will be plenty full of beer and food by the time the captains meeting takes place.

So that's it. The fun starts Friday night at 7:45, and the Rogues will hopefully use the new-look facial hair to rally past some tough opponents and finish near the top of the standings by the end of Saturday. Look for updates and pictures on the Rogues website at http://roguematt.5u.com/rogues.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Ah, the first of possibly many things that somewhat kinda annoy me.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Bands that start their shows BEFORE their advertised start time!!!

I love The Watchmen. They are one of my all time favourite bands, I own all their records and have seen them numerous times. This past weekend was to be my 5th. Turns out it was my 4.5th time seeing them.

"Explain how!"

Ok, well, Hope Beach Volleyball was this weekend, and since I'm not a player, I normally wouldn't go. However, the Watchmen were the main attraction, set to go on stage at Mooney's Bay at 5:30. LIES!

I live about a 3 minues drive from Mooney's Bay, so I left home at 5:05, parked the car at Mooney's Bay parking lot and paid the meter at 5:11. I could hear, a few hundred feet away, the Watchmen rocking out to their classic song "Mister", mixed with what appeared to be new material!! COME ON!!! It's not even 5:30!! I grabbed my folding chair out the trunk and paced down the hill to the beach, trapsed around a bunch of stupid fences to find my way in, and paid $20 to get a wrist band. Walked in, grabbed a beer, made my way to the stage. Got a decent view from where I found a spot, avoided the mud pit, and enjoyed....their last 6 songs.

All things considered, they were 6 fantastic songs. "Absolutely Anytime", a fantastic acapella version of "Creeps Like Me" by Lyle Lovitt, "All Uncovered" ("Chicks and sensitive guys like this song", according to front man Daniel Greaves) "Stereo", then a quick break and "Holiday" and "I'm Still Gone" for the 2 song encore.

I was home by 6:10.