Deadlines and Headlines – July 5

Upcoming Deadlines

  • International Basketball Leaguetoday @ 7:00 pm CDT
  • Foxtel Cup (Australian Rules Football)tomorrow @ 8:35 pm CDT
  • American Professional Football LeagueSaturday @ 7:00 pm CDT

 

Headlines

  • The IBL This Week
    • This edition of the league’s weekly newsletter takes you deep inside the 2012 IBL Playoffs
  • IBL League Leaders
    • Take a look at the regular season stats leaders for the 2012 season
  • IFL Conference Finals Players of the Week
    • To everyone’s shock, Sioux Falls QB Chris Dixon wins another award
  • Tri-Cities QB Houston Lillard is the brother of Blazers lottery pick Damon Lillard
  • Foxtel Cup Semifinal #1 Preview
    • Not a ton of info regarding the Morningside – Werribee game tomorrow night (Saturday in Australia), but a little bit to peruse
  • APFL Playoffs  – Fan Bus for the Council Bluffs – Oklahoma Semifinal
    • If you’ve ever wanted to ride a bus from Tulsa to Council Bluffs to watch a minor league indoor football playoff game, I’ve got great news for you
  • APFL – Council Bluffs Express News
    • Two great nuggets here:
      • 1) the Oklahoma Defenders’ bus broke down on the way from Tulsa last weekend and they were going to forfeit unless the Express paid their expenses. Council Bluffs paid up and won the game, earning a home game this weekend. Had the game ended in a forfeit, Oklahoma would have hosted this weekend instead as Council Bluffs needed to win by at least 16 to win the tiebreaker for home field advantage.
      • 2) Council Bluffs signed 4 players from the neighboring Omaha Beef (in the IFL, although they were run by that league this season due to ownership issues) prior to the final regular season game. The new players, including QB James McNear who was instantly installed as the Express starter, led the team to victory and are on the roster for the playoffs.
  • New Family Zone Attraction at this year’s John Deere Classic
  • LSFL’s Texas Shoot Out
    • Further information released regarding the Lone Star Football League’s championship game and surrounding activities (Yin Yang Twins!)
  • The British Open Website
    • It’s two weeks away, but never too early to start thinking about the British Open
    • Sorry, Great Britain, I know you just call it the Open Championship, but I’m going to stick with the British Open. Maybe if you had won the Revolutionary War, I’d let you have this one. But if we have to call our championship the U.S. Open, you have to call yours the British Open.

Getting to Know…IBL Playoffs

With the IBL Playoffs beginning on Thursday, it’s time to dole out some random (and completed unrelated to the games themselves) information with another installation of our (imaginary) award-winning Getting to Know series.

#1 Seed – Bellingham Slam

Location: Bellingham, WA (population: 80,885 as of 2010 census)

Nickname: City of Subdued Excitement. This might be the best motto ever – “We enjoy our city just fine, although it does not drive us to outward displays of excitement or joy. One time a guy tipped his hat to Bellingham, but we quickly drove him off to live somewhere where that kind of stuff is acceptable, like Walla Walla or Humptulips.” In case you are wondering (and I know you are), Humptulips is derived from a local Native American language and means either “hard to pole” or “chilly region”. Also, and I quote, “The name is seen as humorous for its sexual innuendos, as in the case of Lake Titicaca and Fucking, Austria.” In your endo.

Incorporated: 1904

Fun Fact #1: The first settlers arrived in 1854, but the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 caused thousands of people to flood to area in search of riches. Additionally, coal was mined in the area for around 100 years until the Bellingham Bay Coal Company closed in 1955.

Fun Fact #2: The bay was named Bellingham Bay by George Vancouver (yes, that Vancouver) in the late-1790s, but there was no city of the same name until 1904. The cities of Whatcom and Fairhaven were merging, but could not agree on using either of the old names. Bellingham was proposed as the new name and won in a landslide vote.

Fun Fact #3: Bellingham is home to the Western Washington University Vikings, whose women’s rowing team claimed 7 consecutive Division II national titles from 2005 to 2011. Humboldt State ended the Vikings reign in 2012.

Fun Fact #4: The Bellingham area hosts an annual Ski to Sea race, a team relay race made up of seven legs: cross country skiing, downhill skiing (or snowboarding), running, road biking, canoeing (2 person – aka the Ryan & Doug portion of the race), mountain biking, and kayaking

Notable Bellinghamsters: (I want to move there so I can be a Bellinghamster, but I fear I will not be able to subdue my excitement if I do.) Actor and comedian Ryan Stiles (Whose Line is it Anyway?, Drew Carey Show); NFL QB Jake Locker; former NFL QB Doug Pederson; actress Hillary Swank; radio/television host Glenn Beck; the Hillside strangler Kenneth Bianchi; the Beltway snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad. (I’m honestly not sure which of those last 3 are the worse. Probably Glenn Beck.)

 

(Likely) #2 Seed – Edmonton Energy

Location: Edmonton, Alberta (population: 812,201 as of 2011 census)

Nicknames: The Big E, The Chuck, Festival City

Motto: Industry, Integrity, Progress

Established: Fort Edmonton was established in 1795 as a major trading post for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The fort was named for Edmonton, London, an area in the east London borough on Enfield.

Fun Fact #1: The arrivals of the Canadian Pacific Railway and then Canadian Northern Railway accelerated growth in the area, with Edmonton earning city status in 1904.

Fun Fact #2: Blatchford Field in Edmonton became Canada’s first licensed airfield in 1929. The airfield is now known as Edmonton City Centre Airport and is still open, although the city is in the process of the closing it as all passenger services for more than 10 passengers now fly out of Edmonton International Airport.

Fun Fact #3: Edmonton is also home to largest mall in North America (What? Get your shit together, Mall of America!), West Edmonton Mall, which was the world’s largest mall from 1981 to 2004. In addition, Fort Edmonton Park is Canada’s largest living history museum. For a reference point, Mall of America has an area of 4.2 million square feet, while West Edmonton Mall is well over 6 million square feet.

Fun Fact #4: The University of Alberta, located in Edmonton, has one of the creepiest and most awesome mascots found anywhere.

Notable Edmontonians: Russ Bannock, Canada’s second-highest scoring ace of World War II; actor Tommy Chong; actress Rae Dawn Chong; actor Nathan Fillion (Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place); actor Michael J. Fox; singer and actor Robert Goulet; actor Leslie Nielsen; singer k. d. Lang; author W.P. Kinsella, who wrote Shoeless Joe, which became Field of Dreams; professional wrestler Chris Benoit; and lots of hockey players

 

(Likely) #3 Seed – Portland Chinooks

Location: Portland, OR (population: 583,776 as of 2010 census)

Nicknames: Rose City, Stumptown

Unofficial Nickname: Beervana, owing to the fact Portland has the most brewpubs per capita in the United States. Road trip!

Fun Fact #1: Portland is hailed as one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world.

Fun Fact #2: In 1845, Asa Lovejoy of Boston and Francis Pettygrove of Portland, Maine, each owned half of the original 640 acres on which the city started. They each wanted to name the new town after their eastern hometown. The dispute was settled via a best-of-3 series of coin tosses, which Pettygrove (obviously) won. The coin used for the decision, now known as the Portland penny, is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society.

Fun Fact #3: Portland is one of only three cities in the 48 contiguous states of the U.S. that has extinct volcanoes within its boundaries – Jackson, MS and Bend, OR are the others.

Fun Fact #4: Portland is home to both the largest wilderness park within city limits in the U.S. (Forest Park, more than 5,000 acres) and the world’s smallest park (Mill Ends Park, a two-foot diameter circle).

Fun Fact #5: Major beer and brewing festivals held in Portland each year include the Oregon Brewers Festival in July (the largest outdoor craft beer festival in North America), the Spring Beer and Wine Festival in April, the North American Organic Brewers Festival in June, the Portland International Beerfest in July, and the Holiday Ale Festival in December. In related news, Portland is awesome.

Notable Residents: Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny; Jean M. Auel, author of Clan of the Cave Bear; children’s author Beverly Cleary; actor Sam Elliott; high jumper and inventor of the Fosbury flop, Dick Fosbury; actor Clark Gable; creator of the Simpsons Matt Groening; figure skater Tonya Harding; co-founder of Nike Phil Knight; professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper; actress Anne Schedeen (ALF); actress Sally Struthers; and Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.

 

The notable people is always one of my favorite parts. In this case, I’m picturing a three-way tag-team WWE match between Jake Locker and Glenn Beck from Bellingham, Chris Benoit and Robert Goulet from Edmonton, and Rowdy Roddy Piper and Sally Struthers from Portland. Advantage Portland.


Monday’s MegaLinks

We’ll start America’s birthweek the best way we know how – with a batch of MegaLinks! First, we here at MegaBracket want to take a moment to say Happy 236th Birthday America! After all, “There’s nothing better than being an American”. Perhaps being a MegaBracketeer is better. If you don’t love MegaBracket, leave it! But not really – stay. Let’s get to the links…


Weekend MegaDocket – June 29 – July 1

After a 3-day hiatus, which is somewhat frequent for the first month or two but become increasingly sparing as the season heats up, MB 2013 kicks back into action over the weekend. Our 2nd event, the IWFL, gets underway on Saturday with Tier I and II quarterfinals to join the IFL conference finals taking place this weekend. Business picks up a bit with three event deadlines coming up next week.

 

Upcoming Pick Deadlines

  • Independent Women’s Football Leaguetomorrow, Saturday, June 30 @ 10:00 am CDT
  • International Basketball League – Thursday, July 5 @ TBD
  • Foxtel Cup (Australian Rules Football) – Friday, July 6 @ 8:35 pm CDT
  • American Professional Football League – approximately Saturday, July 7 @ TBD

This Weekend in MB 2013

Today

  • Indoor Football League
    • Intense Conference Final
      • #3 Wichita @ #1 Tri-Cities – 9:05 pm CDT

Saturday

  • Indoor Football League
    • United Conference Final
      • #2 Green Bay @ #1 Sioux Falls – 7:05 pm CDT
  • Independent Women’s Football League
    • Tier I Quarterfinals
      • Phoenix @ Wisconsin – 10:00 am CDT
      • Atlanta @ Houston – 3:00 pm CDT
      • Baltimore @ Montreal – 6:00 pm CDT
      • Sacramento @ Seattle – 9:00 pm CDT
    • Tier II Quarterfinals
      • Philadelphia @ New England – 3:00 pm CDT
      • Iowa @ Madison – 5:00 pm CDT
      • Arlington @ Carolina – 6:00 pm CDT
      • California @ Portland – 8:00 pm CDT

Wednesday’s MegaLinks

A look at what’s happening in the MegaBracket world this morning…

 

  • IFL Individual Awards Announced
    • Sioux Falls QB Chris Dixon headlines the awards, earning his 3rd Offensive Player of the Year Award in 4 seasons
    • The league MVP and Coach of the Year will be announced on Thursday
  • IFL’s Conference Semifinals Rapid Reaction
    • Sioux Falls set league records for points a game, a half (63), and a quarter (35) during their 79-21 blitzing of Lehigh Valley
    • The Wichita Wild knocked off the Allen Wrangles thanks to a 54-yard FG by James Chandler with 18 seconds left
  • IWFL Playoff Brackets
    • IWFL official brackets are out. Game times have been confirmed so the pick deadline is officially Saturday @ 10:00 am CDT as previously expected.
  • IBL Playoffs Coming Next Week
    • Tournament on July 5, 6 & 8 – no official word on the website for how many teams (last year was 6)
    • Regular season ends July 3 so it will be a quick turnaround to the playoffs. The picks page will be available as soon as possible on July 3 with the deadline being tip off of the first game on July 5
  • APFL’s Sioux City Bandits are Ready for the Playoffs
    • The defending champs will open the APFL playoffs on July 8 against either the Mid-Missouri Outlaws or the Kansas Koyotes
  • Changes Likely for the 2013 Foxtel Cup
    • The second-tier competition for Australian rules football may change from 16 to 8 teams and move from Saturdays to Tuesdays to minimize the disruption to league schedules running concurrently
  • College Football Playoff
    • Not a current or upcoming MB event, but obviously big news in the sports world today. With as much as we at MB love college football, it seemed newsworthy. But, seeing as how this is still MB, it lands 7th, right after Australian rules football.