[Wendys]

Does Champions League start this week or next?

[AJ]

Preston's web page indicated that the Champions League was to start this week, but he's not posted the participants or the groupings...

[Wendys]

I'd imagine he's just really busy, so I'm preparing like we have a match this week!

[AJ]

Since we've not heard from Preston and his site indicates the group play begins this weekend,I'll hold a draw into five groups and post the results by division... If he's got another draw somewhere else, that one will be official rather than mine. However, in the event that he's not held his own - we can use this one...

I've not taken the time to find out who the qualifiers from each division are. I'll try to do that in a bit.

Group A
1.USA v World
2.Fire Alarm Premier
3.LA Galaxy
4.River Ratz of the Nose

Group B
1.RevMFLS
2.CrewFan - McBride
3.BSSM Premier
4.Rochester Rhino Fans

Group C
1.River Ratz of the Tail
2.The Black & The Red
3.Casbah
4.League of Great Significance

Group D
1.CrewFan - John
2.Omega
3.Brew City (League)
4.Fire Season Ticket Holders

Group E
1.Yahoo SuxAss
2.Brew City (MFLS)
3.WizMFLS
4.CrewFan - Friedel

First Week: 1v4, 2v3
Second Week: 1v3, 2v4
Third Week: 1v2, 3v4

[AJ]

Once again I'll re-iterate that Preston may have already sorted all this out; and if that's true then his ruling counts. However, if it's true that he's not done it, my draw from the previous post translated into teams shakes out like this...

Group A
1.Wolf Riders (#7 overall)
2.Firefanz
3.Al Ataque VI (#14 overall)
4.High Plains Ballers

Group B
1.Rivendell Wednesday (#6 overall)
2.Blackbullet
3.\_o_/ (#16 overall)
4.Relegation Rangers

Group C
1.MOAV
2.The Holy Knights (#17 overall)
3.Rubio Begonias
4.Grainger Rebels

Group D
1.Beggar (#1 overall)
2.Hyde Park Rangers
3.Abracadabra
4.Machina

Group E
1.Pox
2.Top Shelf (#3 overall)
3.Maestro FC
4.Mpasi Monene

This Week:
A: Wolf Riders v High Plains Ballers
A: Firefanz v Al Ataque VI
B: Riverndell Wednesday v Relegation Rangers
B: Blackbullet v \_o_/
C: MOAV v Grainger Rebels
C: The Holy Knights v Rubio Begonias
D: Begger v Machina
D: Hyde Park Rangers v Abracadabra
E: Pox v Mpasi Monene
E: Top Shelf v Maestro FC

Good luck to all!

[sljohn]

AJ -- Thanks for taking the initiative to keep this going.

Also, I'll identify myself as the manager for \_o_/ of the BSSM Premier division.

[masoo]

Thanks, AJ!

Rubio Begonias, Team 3 Group C

[AJ]

(sarcasm) I sure am glad I stepped up to announce pairings, etc. for this year's Champions League. (/sarcasm)

I got the worst score in the whole league! I made too many changes - outsmarted myself, then left Diallo on my bench. What an idiot I am - my second straight year choking upon arrival.

Oh, well - on to the rest of the league, where some surprises await...

A: Wolf Riders 50:44 High Plains Ballers
A: Firefanz 45:34 Al Ataque VI
B: Riverndell Wednesday 40:28 Relegation Rangers
B: Blackbullet 27:44 \_o_/
C: MOAV 31:40 Grainger Rebels
C: The Holy Knights 47:49 Rubio Begonias
D: Beggar 54:57 Machina
D: Hyde Park Rangers 47:32 Abracadabra
E: Pox 24:6 Mpasi Monene
E: Top Shelf 38:16 Maestro FC

Tom Weible's overall leader beggar scores 54 points.... AND LOSE!

Group Standings:
A: Firefanz (3 pts, +11 GD), Wolf Riders (3 pts, +6), High Plains Ballers (0 pts, -6), Al Ataque VI (0 pts, -11)

B: \_o_/ (3 pts, +17), Rivendell Wednesday (3 pts, +12), Relegation Rangers (0 pts, -12), Blackbullet (0 pts, -17)

C: Grainger Rebels (3 pts, +9), Rubio Begonias (3 pts, +2), The Holy Knights (0 pts, -2), MOAV (0 pts, -9)

D: Hyde Park Rangers (last year's co-champion, btw) (3 pts, +15), Machina (3 pts, +3), beggar (0 pts, -3), Abracadabra (0 pts, -15)

E: Top Shelf (3 pts, +22), Pox (3 pts, +18), Mpasi Monene (0 pts -18), Maestro FC (0 pts, -22)

[AJ]

This week's pairings:
A: Wolf Riders v Al Ataque VI
A: Firefanz v High Plains Ballers
B: Rivendell Wednesday v \_o_/
B: Blackbullet v Relegation Rangers
C: MOAV v Rubio Begonias
C: The Holy Knights v Grainger Rebels
D: beggar v Abracadabra
D: Hyde Park Rangers v Machina
E: Pox v Maestro FC
E: Top Shelf v Mpasi Monene

[AJ]

Since this year's competition is underway, we'll hold to last year's format. However, it occurs to me that this first three weeks of competition will pare only four of the twenty teams from the field... shades of the 1980s NHL.

Perhaps it would have been better to have the five group champions advance directly to the Quarterfinals and then put the six next best records into one-game play offs to win the final three Quarterfinal spots. That would make the first three weeks much more meaningful, paring the field from twenty to eleven.