Week Five

A message to Peter Laveau
Hey, you may not know me and that is fine. You say you are the "future" of interleague predictors and that is great as predictions have taken quite a drop in recent years with many good predictors stopping altogether or limiting themselves to interleagues that have one season every 2 years (Thanks Petey). When you first came about predicting, I believed that; you wrote great predictions every week, highlighting teams strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. At that point, yes I agreed with you, but these days? You don't write predictions, you write soap operas only insinuating increased drama. You're predictions as of late simply suck. Your ending piece is longer then each prediction, that isn't good.

As a predictor who can proudly boast winning some of the very few prediction awards in interleagues, I offer a piece of advise to you. Stop going into detail about the drama, those aren't predictions. Go back to your roots, and stop picking favorites. If you want to be an amateur journalist and go on about drama, do that separately, away from interleagues. Make a website for it, make it universal so every day people can check it and see "What's new from Laveaus Corner", but if you're doing predictions? Do predictions.

I'm not one to toot my horn, but I feel confident telling you to ask everyone who their favorite predictor is now, and in the past and more importantly, why. So please, take my advise and go back to being a predictor.


Last weeks results:

Straight Shots defeat Sexy Poolerz 5-2 - While the earthquake in Japan shortened the day by 16 milliseconds, it put SS back on course. Sexy Poolerz enter conference play in a great position to take advantage of weak play from others, and strong play for themselves. Straight Shots enter conference play looking up with a confident Pool Dragonz squad right on their heels.

Miscues defeat Dead Strokes 5-2 - Seems like DS had a rough week in terms of tape DQ's, but it's better to get it out of your system at once then over time. Miscues were able to bounce back, while Dead Strokes fell into the theme of the Pacific Conference failure for the week. They'll need to bounce back quickly before the rest of the conference jumps ahead.

Freedom defeat Break and Run 5-1 - Pretty embarrassing for Break and Run, though they continue to hold their one game lead over everyone else, but they can't afford a slip up with conference play now among us. As for Freedom, the exact opposite as predicted, THAT, was predictable.

Pool Dragonz defeat Pool Fiction 5-2 - Seems like Joe is pretty thrilled about beating PFN, and while he may be happy for other reasons, it's a good win for Pool Dragonz for not only finishing the Atlantic Conference sweep, but moving forward, PDZ have the monkey off their back with a win in the column and should take advantage of a surprisingly weak conference.

MVP Standings
bnr_xlx_skill_xlx - 7-1
ds_Hockey_Kid - 6-1
mc_lxl_nerd.herd_lxl - 6-1
fr_Sabre Girl - 5-2
bnr_lion_l2ampant - 5-2
fr_win-win-win - 5-3
pfn_spc_shogun - 5-3

Looking back at the out of conference play all teams saw in the first 4 weeks, the teams from the Pacific conference got the better of the Atlantic teams winning 9 of the 16 matches, even while losing all 4 in this past week. Is it a sign that the Atlantic Conference is getting it together as the season nears half way? Or was it just a coincidence? With conference play upon us, each game is that much more important as stringing wins together which such tight conferences can push you up the standings where your fate is directly in your hands.

This week:

Monday @ 6pm - Freedom @ Miscues
While I already mentioned how important every game is in conference play, and even though it's only week 5, this match is very important as to how the Atlantic Conference will play out. A win for Miscues will give them a 2 game advantage on the rest of the field, giving them immense breathing room that they could hold even with out captain Ant. A win for Freedom would give us a tie for the top spot and the potential for a 2 horse race all the way down to the wire. The match is on Monday which is good for Miscues as I do believe they enjoy Monday matches, earlier then the usual late ones Ant is comfortable with though. For Freedom? Even with the win last week over Break and Run, Freedom are slumping across interleagues, most notably due to Travis and Matt, Peteys two best options, losing a whole lot more then they have been winning. Sure you can say all it takes is one great night for one person to carry a team to victory, but you can also get cleaned up very quickly in PRO. Miscues have rarely had a complete off night since their creation, dominating matches everywhere with losses being very close, Freedom will need all the fire power they can get to combat the likes of Ant, Zach, Ben and James.

Prediction - 5-3 Miscues

Tuesday @ 6pm - Sexy Poolerz @ Pool Fiction
These two teams, surprisingly are almost identically even after the first 4 weeks, and strength of scheduling has nothing to do with it. So why are Sexy Poolerz doing as well as big bad Pool Fiction? They certainly havn't brought over success from WSOP, and in WPA they're up there, and I think the format there is similar to carry, it really confused the socks off me. Sexy Poolerz carry no stars, but they have a consistent line up, of players who can grind out 1-2 wins on any given night. With the law of averages in place, it works out when one has an off night and another has a great night, because their only flaw is against stacked teams like Miscues. Beyond the poor showing for Pool Fiction, they were riding high sporting a 14-10 record which was pretty good. Was it just not their night? You would certainly believe so with the talent they sport. Brian may not be off to as hot of a start as last season, but his record thus far has been quiet and helpful to Kerry. With support like Mina and Kalpz, you can be sure Pool Fiction will bounce back and get conference play started on the right foot.

Prediction - 5-3 Pool Fiction


Wednesday @ 6pm - Dead Strokes @ Break and Run
Both sides came off highs in week 3 but crashed in week 4. Luckily, one of these teams will bounce back and sadly, one will spiral. With this conference so close, Break and Run can afford a spiral with not only the one game lead, but the talent they have recruited for this season. A spiral for Dead Strokes on the other hand, may create a gap (as small as it may be) that could very well turn out to be too large to overcome. The early season hero in Ashton seems to have gone back to his cave, so it'll be on Corey to help provide the necessary support to the rest of the team if Dead Strokes look to crack the playoffs for the first time. For Break and Run, I said they can afford a small losing streak, but the chances of them doing such are minimal. A veteran squad should have no issue bouncing back from an off night. With Ross and Jordy still holding the majority of wins, it's good for Dina they are able to show every night.

Prediction - 5-3 Break and Run


Thursday @ 7pm - Pool Dragonz @ Straight Shots
One would think an 0-3 team defeating a 2-1 team was just a good win, but it seems like to some of their members, it's a miracle. For Joe (who seems to have really enjoyed this win), along with the rest of Pool Dragonz, this win is big. They were all finally able to flex their muscles, and more importantly at once showing they can beat anyone. Drew the led the way as expected, and if that actually is Pommy, then welcome back, and kudos on your 2-0 over your old team. Now comes the important part, carrying it over. I do believe I said Pool Dragonz had the firepower to take on just about anyone, and if they are able to continue that streak (albeit I don't think they'll want to beat other teams as much as Pool Fiction (as once again is proven by Joes status [Creeped out yet?]), but if they are, Straight Shots is a great team to do so against. A win here against a flip-floppity SS squad will put them a game up on last, and possibly tied for second. As per Straight Shots, they finally won a game, now comes the interesting part. Are they going to flub out another loss or are they for real and are going to return to last seasons form when they won their conference? This should be a great match-up and it could really go either way.

Prediction - 5-4 Pool Dragonz

Best of luck to all teams this week!
If for any reason you feel the need to contact me, my Y.I.M. is mister.predictor.