Bye- Team Wagner (Yellow)
6:00 : Team Mikuzis (Green) v. Team Manzke (Maroon) -4
Going with Team Chemistry vs a Team with a lot of unknowns who have never played together. Who knows Jason may have the best team but he picked three new players sight unseen. And if he wins it all-he gets absolutely no credit for blind luck- of course, he will find a way to screw it up somehow but at least we know we know he will have a good bar team. Team Manzke is small but fast-very fast. Despite their lack of size, Manzke and Gierhahn, might be pound for pound two of the best rebounders in the league especially on the offensive end. This also could Manzke’s best bar team except for Hunt who could not find Dingers using Google Maps. Hard to be more specific on individual match-ups without knowing more about Team Mikuzis’s players. It looks like Team Mikuzis has a slight on off the bench and getting Linane in the 8th round could be the steal of the draft. Because Manzke drafted all of his buddies, he has no one to yell at. I think I may have to get him enrolled in some anger management classes. I am going on out on limb and saying Gierhahn will be the “x” factor for Team Manzke. Terry McGuffage, who moved up in the draft from last year and rightfully so, will be the “x” factor for Team Mikuzis as long as Jason promises extra Barraco’s pizza after the game.
7:00: Team O’Malley (Black) -5 v. Team Healy(Grey) MAIN ATTRACTION OF THE EVENING
Team O’Malley has to be favored right not only does he have the number 1 overall pick but he has the only team featuring a High School Hall of Fame player( I could be mistaken about the latter). Not only does he have a HoF player but he snatched him in the 5th round apparently based solely on his diligent pre-draft research(yeah right).Team Healy will have trouble findings someone to match-up with McCann(as will everyone else) but if they can contain McCann and they can use their size advantage they might actually have a chance at the upset. A fun match-up to keep an eye on will be former teammates Glanville and Brown-what is not to like about two of the best athletes in the league going head to head. With O’Malley and McCann, Glanville will have to fight for scraps on the offensive end but for Team O’Malley to succeed he need to be looking for chances to score. Of course. Petrak will be the “x'” factor for Team O’Malley. Mariner will be the “X” factor for Team Healy and Team O’Malley will struggle to find some one to match up with him and it better be someone other than Ryan. Sexuaer is a man on a mission who is strongly motivated by what he perceives to be an underserving draft spot. He could be another “x” factor in this game. The bench clearly favors Team Healy but Team O”Malley never uses their bench anyway. As in previous years, DeCarlo will make much more of a contribution at the bar than he does on the court. Alkofer might not make it to the second half (welcome back Mike).
8:00: Team Statham (Champs) -4 v. Team Spadoni (White) UPSET OF THE NIGHT
So much for making a statement right off the bat and defending their championship. Team Statham-less will be missing both Stathams. Elder Statham’s excuse is legitimate but Young Statham is claiming that his upcoming Wedding on Saturday somehow prevents him from laying tonight. He is not my son. I think I actually played on my wedding day. Team Spadoni(at least they have a third round draft pick this year) could be really really good or really really so-so. With Koll and Harrigan( who might have a little chip on his shoulder), they have two of the best offensive players in the league but they might need another basketball. As Team Statham proved last year, size does not matter so Team’s Spadoni’s relative lack of size. Team Spadoni will be missing Maloney so it will be up to Spud to make sure his two stars get enough touches. George Terrell, whose draft stock has risen dramtically after several very productive years could be the “x” factor for Team Spadoni. Team Statham will have two players, Alkovsky and Spain, who were severely under-drafted last year and should even be better this year now that they are accustom to the league. Team Orange is expecting big things from these two. NO team has as much size as team Shimko did last year so Team Orange’s lack of size should not be as big of weakness this year as it was last year. Cosme is once again healthy(at least tonight) and highly motivated to repeat as Champs. Team Orange will have to get use to every game being a play-off like game as each team tries to knock them off. Without Kevin, someone else will have to step up and fill the void. Look for the ageless Mike Green to be the “x” factor for Team Orange.
9:00; Team Shimko (Blue) – 6 v. Bernard (Pink)
Alex’s decision to trade down in the draft will be tested immediately as well as his completely modified drafting strategy in which he typically has the biggest team in the league. Credit to him for abandoning his previously flawed drafting strategy and trying something totally different. It still remains to be seen whether he went too far in the other direction and whether he will have a 3rd offensive option other than him and Bendo, He did nail the pick of the draft by selecting Abe in the 9th round. He will be the most relevant Mr. Irrelevant in the Ridge Park History well at least since George Terrell. Kyle Garmes will be the “x” factor for Team Shimko who despite being out of the league last year, moved up three rounds in the draft. Whether Alex was fooled by Kyle’s super-star lay on Sunday morning will remain to be seen. Of course, he will not be the first captain to misjudge a player based on a Sunday morning performance. (Only Sunday morning players would understand). Hard to know what to make of Team Bernard as usual but the success or failure of his team will ride on the shoulders of his 2 first draft picks, more than most other teams. Keith has trouble getting past his bro-mance of certain players but it could pay off with his selections of Rovy, Mando and McDonagh. Mando, is one of the smartest basketball players in the league and Rovy and McDonagh never get enough credit for what they bring to a team. If Rovy and Bernard have gone to couple’s counseling prior to opening night, Rovy could be the “x” factor for Team Bernard.
Remember fellas, the winner of the game is not important. Everyone gets a juice box and a pretzel rod. Break a sweat, don’t get hurt and show up to the bar. Be kind to the refs
By the way, my prediction record last year was 154-1- the only game I missed was the Championship Game in which I predicted a win by Team Shimko. At least that is how I remember it. Feel free to post comments to anything relating to this column or the league and general. Sharing interesting anecdotes from the bar is strongly encouraged.
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