Calgary
| Topic: Tuesday May 24 Results and Points Update |
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This week we did an Am's choice Pro/Am. When an Amateur players name was drawn, they got to choose whichever pro they wanted to partner with from the available players. We had a low turnout this week (I think because of the long weekend). Only 20 players, so we just did the tournament with one tier - for the first time in months. It was an exciting tournament, although this one was unusually stacked in favor of a few teams. We really do our best as a league to make sure that everyone is on a level playing field week in week out, and it is foosball... so anything can happen. Chris Kerr and Dan Kimber played against Tobin and Chad in the first round. Game one was a destruction, with Tobin and Chad running all over Chris and Dan, but in the second and third game Dan seemed to figure out Tobin a little bit and make more and more blocks, while Chris started to get more possessions and put them away consistently. That momentum carried over into the second round where they played Sam and I. They got up to a quick 3-1 lead in game 1, but I got really hot and started scoring well - pulled out the victory in game 1. In game 2 it was all Sam though, he didn't lose the ball or turn it over ever, and put a couple goals away with a long and a nice tuck back to the 1 hole from his two bar. We won the match, but Chris was shooting lights out, and Dan blocked me easily the best of anyone on the night - forcing me to switch to a pull shot to close out the game. Scott Blair, one of the new up and coming players, chose Garry Burgardt as his pro for the tournament. They seemed to form a great team, coming out well against Justin and Andrew. Scott made enough blocks against Justin's powerful 3 bar, and Garry controlled the 5 well. It is tough to block Garry's shot when the balls are half decent, because he shoots a backpin he can get the ball out way past dead man and still bring it back to either a 1 or 2 hole shot. He continued to pick his shots well throughout the night. In the B side Tobin and Chad again came out fast in Game 1, beating Karli and Ray. Karli was playing up, and her 5 bar was terrific in game 2. She hit a lane pass that looked like a powerful shot, but it stuck to her 3 bar and she set up her consistent snake shot and put it away. Ray in the back was a machine too with banks all over the place. Karli and Ray went on a bit of a streak after that too, beating Justin and Andrew, then had a tight game against Darcy and Chris, but came up short. Meanwhile, Devin and Carlos were making their way through the B side too. Chris and Dan would give any team a tough match, and in this one they definitely did that. Carlos was hitting a sick slider that was coming from his farside 3 bar man, compressing the bumper on the near wall and drilling it into the 1 hole. It seemed impossible not to jump because of how quick it was coming. Mix that in with a full repertoire of shots, and Devin keeping everything out of his net, and it was enough to pull off a huge win. Garry and Scott had there hands full with Darcy and Chris, but again it seemed like Scott really picked up well on Garry's tips - Garry again was strong on his 5 bar and found his shot too. In the Kingseat match it was Paul and Christian against Sam and I. Sam and I had been talking about a game plan of just "out-focusing" the other team, and just deciding to try harder and want the game more than whoever we were playing. I feel like in this game it was most evident. Whenever the ball was bouncing around we got the ball, or somehow put it into the right net. Sam was blocking Christian about as well as anyone ever has, and although the 5 bar battle was essentially even, Sam got me enough possessions that we won the game 2 strait without it really being close. In the B side final, Christian and Paul looked like a different team, maybe they just needed a bit of a warmup, but the were ready for this one. Garry was really strong on the 5 bar, but Paul was all over him making 3-4 blocks in a row sometimes. Paul was containing every lose ball and was all over the slop too, nothing was getting in unless it was a perfect shot. Christian was playing great, but Scott still made his fair share of blocks. One time Christian looked really frustrated after Scott blocked it off the table, it was a great save - but Christian got enough possessions and picked his holes really well. He just pounded the ball so hard that it wasn't race-able, and it was enough to bring them to the final. In the final Christian and Paul came out playing just as good as they had in the previous match, going up 3-0 and closing out the game, but in Game 2 Sam again figured out Christians shot, and made an incredible amount of saves. Both Sam and Paul were being really patient with the ball, but one of the big differences was that Sam was able to put a lot of high percentage shots on net. Paul was still there to make the block a lot, but because of the power behind Sams 2 bar he was bouncing some of them back to my 3 bar. Game 2 went our way, then game 3 was a complete war again. We were up 3-2 in the third game and Christian stole the ball from my 5 row, and took a time out. Sam and I switched to put him up front for a 5 row block, but Christian passed and scored first attempt. I went back up and passed then scored, to go up 4-3. This time we stayed in our normal positions to try to get a block, but Christian again went perfect form... great pass and shot to tie the game at 4-4. I love meat ball, and I love it even more when its my serve. I rattled a pass through and shot a rolling pull shot for the win. Results: 1st Will and Sam 2nd Christian and Paul 3rd Garry and Scott Points Update: 1 Edwards, Simon 1578 2 Stranks, Will 1525 3 Dunn, Christian 1403 4 Wilkins, Ben 1288 5 Burgardt, Garry 1287 6 Scaife, Darcy 1194 7 Penner, Roger 1179 8 Luft, Carey 1047 9 Myszczyszyn, Tobin 1029 10 Robichaud, Ray 993 11 Kerr, Chris 983 12 Simeon, Jamie 977 13 Kwan, Conrad 973 14 Burrows, Cam 948 15 Smithson, Justin 946 16 Rupertus, Lindsey 934 17 Rowein, Devin 933 18 Jones, Darrel 922 19 Kimber, Daniel 921 20 Johnston, Mike 896 21 Gallant, Chris 888 22 Schnieder, Jeff 887 23 La, Ed 885 24 Dick, Matt 882 25 Phenix, Garret 882 X, Jeff 881 Campbell, Lance 880 Jones, Carlie 875 Kippen, Rick 874 Gish, Brian 873 Daly, Ritchie 870 So, Albert 870 Karmis, Pete 870 Karmis, Ang 870 Wilkins, Sam 868 Goin, Jake 868 X, Paul 866 Marner, Danny 863 Green, James 859 Deeg, Phil 855 Humberstone, Paul 854 Hopfner, Jordan 854 Belchamber, Mike 853 Kelly, Brad 849 X, Darnel 841 Tse, Desmond 838 Jordan, Darren 837 Ustina, Greg 834 Perira, Carlos 831 Szajko, Rob 830 x, Ryan 825 Spencer, Chad 824 Taft, Spencer 824 Lehman, Blair 823 Schiebelbein, Karli 823 Volkman, Dallyn 822 Faulkner, Stephanii 822 Jamerson, Rick 819 Wood, Greg 818 X, Corey 815 Thompson, Ray 815 Blair, Scott 813 Crockett!!, Ben 812 X, Elliot 812 Campbell, Carmen 812 X, Gerald 811 Wong, Felix 811 Hugenschmidt, Colin 807 Moses, Kevin 807 Xtra, X 807 Phillips, Mike 806 O''Stream, Don 806 M, Judah 804 C, Erek 803 Hasiuk, Jody 803 Moir, Zak 803 X, Jarrell 802 Gibson, katy 802 Nasir, Uzair 801 Hodinski, Jasmine 801 Bennett, Doug 801 Baayens, Dean 801 x, Toby 801 274 with 800 or less |
Posted: May 25 2011 1:19PM
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Congrats to Ray on taking a top 10 spot! |
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geez it seems like the top 20 is getting pretty fluid some great matches last night, pro/am always makes it a pretty tight race |
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Awesome event. Thanks Paul for playing with me I never got a chance to talk to you after the match, my bad. You played awesome and closed out 2 or 3 of our matches with some sick 2-bar bombs. Next time we'll take some of Will's advice and get a little more mentally sound as I think that was the difference. On another note this was the most fun Tuesday night for me in a while as Darcy basically told me to stop be a little b*&ch and be good again and I think that helped in starting to get me out of a bit of a slump. Thanks Darcy I'll get you your tips next week ;) Sam was a monster on the defense keying in on my favorite shots and forcing me to shoot my lowest percentage stuff. People take note: Block push side with 2-bar and goalie on the deep pull. Highlight of the night: Me telling Paul "I'm gonna go back when Garry is shooting cause I think I can block his backpin a high percentage........unless he switches to a rolling pull  " Garry proceeds to get the ball on his 3-bar and set up on the first man near the wall.....I say "Oh S^!t" out loud and Garry proceeds to smoke a rolling pull on me for the umpteenth time that night. Needless to say Paul fared much better than I and the experiment was over.Can't wait for next week! |
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This is a good thread. Great write up Will. Also great comments Christian. We should be all sharing our weaknesses so that we can all improve and be forced to get good at our weaker stuff. One thing that has helped me with Garry's deadly rolling pull is to tighten up the guys and when following his "roll", come back only to the 4 hole. He tends to split A LOT of people on his rolling pull. That's when I started tightening up the defense. I only stop at the 4 hole cause Garry rarely goes super long with the rolling pull and I used to over race him and he would score on the inside. My weakness - is when you switch the D with the leading 2 bar guy on the pull side. For some reason it messes with me and I lose all confidence and don't execute. Hopefully by us sharing our weaknesses we can all get better. Will's weakness/tendancy. On the 5 bar if you set up a pass from still position, just pass at his man and 90% of the time he moves his guy out of the way. Also, he's really good at blocking the off the wall lane pass, so the off the wall brush back down to the wall works well on Will, and then it opens up some other passes. So people, as you realize your weaknesses, let's share them so that we as Edmonton foos can collectively get better. Cheers. |
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Nice post DES... The only thing you said wrong was "Will's weakness", implying that my game isn't perfect! Just kidding... One thing I do way too often is sit on the wall then spike the lane as soon as I see movement. But I only really do that when i'm playing lazy defense. If i am really committed then I think more than that. The thing about passing from the 5 row is that when you have the ball you have complete advantage. If you execute right and make good decisions you are essentially unblockable. A great 5 bar D can trick you, but only so many times. When playing D you need to keep that in mind, remember patterns in people's set up and look for a tendency/tell about what is coming next. Case in point was my 5 row stuff on Christians off the wall uphill. Just the way he caught the ball on his 5 made me think he was going to do that pass, and I drilled it into the net (Paul could have been there, but still wasn't christians best option at that time). If he had set up and tossed the ball once or twice before passing it would have eliminated the tell. |
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"He tends to split A LOT of people on his rolling pull." lol-if anyone actually saw me shoot a rolling pull they would soon realize that I ONLY shoot splits/middles.I go long zero % of the time! |
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One time you misexecuted and scored long on me, about 6 months ago |
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looks like it was a pretty top heavy draw |
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"sharing our weaknesses" Part of sport is figuring out your opposition's weaknesses & exploiting them for your own benefit. Imagine if the Oilers told their opponents that they could not handle a cycle off the left boards down low??? Mind games are part of foos, some players with lots of talent don't win consistently, others with less talent but a mind for the game are victorious on a regular basis. It's almost like a chess match...trying to outhink your opponent 3 moves ahead while they are living in a 1 move world. My weaknesses are evident, but can you exploit them for your own benefit at the right time???Or am I using your knowledge of my weaknesses to make a move against you??  |
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I duno, i tell people my weaknesses so that I can eventually turn them into strengths. As much as I like beating up on guys here in Edmonton, I'd much rather help them get better so that I have to get better to beat them. |
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Both are true, If you have more options that are equally as consistant you have more moves in your chess game! But i like when people tell me my tells and i can work on it, but i usually dont bring up weaknesses because Garry is right, they should find them themselves |
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Nice thread, great write ups and insight into the game and some of the top players week spots. If I had to share my weakness it would be 5 bar, and defence against fast pulls, and fast pull kicks like Conrad’s. I agree with Darcy and what we share as weaknesses forces improvement on those. Thanks Will, and thanks to Karli for being the scoring machine you were last week, really carried the team well. |
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