vir non camelus est.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

BF00 wins prestigious internet award

Tributes are flowing in for Black Fish correspondent, BF00, following news that he has been awarded the coveted honour of "Web's Laziest Blogger". BF00 is said to have been surprised by the accolade, having expected to be nominated in the less prestigious "Web's Most Erratic Blogger" category.

A modest BF00 sought to pay tribute to his team-mates, whose contributions to match reports inspired him "to strive for hitherto unreachable strata of laziness".

BF00 was asked to write an account of the awards ceremony but said he "would do it later".

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

D Grade Fixtures Summer 2007/8

Round 11 (29/11/07) BF v Deja Vu 9:00pm
Round 12 (6/12/07) BF v Metal Slug 9:45pm
Round 13 (13/12/07) BYE
Round 14 (3/1/08) BF v Eds Mavs Blue 6:45pm
Round 15 (10/1/08) BF v Muppets 10:30pm
Round 16 (17/1/08) BF v Old Reds 7:30pm
Round 17 (24/1/08) BF v All Stars 8:15pm
Round 18 (31/1/08) BF v Argy Bargy 7:30pm
Round 19 (7/2/08) BF v King George Whiting 9:00pm
Round 20 (14/2/08) BF v Deja Vu 7:30pm
Round 21 (21/2/08) BF v Metal Slug 7:30pm
Round 22 (28/2/08) BYE
Round 23 (6/3/08) BF v Eds Mavs Blue 10:30pm
Round 24 (13/3/08) BF v Muppets 6:00pm
Round 25 (20/3/08) BF v Old Reds 8:15pm
Semi Finals 27/3/08
Grand Final 3/4/08

P.S. If you're looking for a new roller-door for your garage, you must avoid "Doors N More", who are a bunch of clowns.

Round 10: BF v King George Whiting ("Next stop, C Grade")

The mighty Black Fish faced a stern test in their first match in D grade, taking on ladder leaders and former traditional rivals, King George Whiting, in a blockbuster on Court 3.

As always, when challenged, the Fish rose magnificently. All 6 available Fish played exceptional basketball in one of the most skilful, gutsy, controlled and finely-judged matches ever seen at this fine club.

The Black Fish were in command early before sliding to a perilous deficit late in the first half. But then, led by an MVP performance by Whittle (N), the Fish inexorably reeled in and overhauled their more fancied opposition. The second half was an exercise in tempo and control as the Black Fish squeezed the life out of the White Fish.

In the end, a magnificent 41-33 victory sees the Black Fish dominate D grade.

Always bet on Black.

Promotion!

For those who have watched the Black Fish at work on a Thursday night it would be hard to believe that there is any higher league than Marden Thursday Men's E Grade, but apparently there is (no, not the NBA).

As a result of their irresistible performances and string of stunning victories, the Fish have been promoted to D Grade, effective immediately. The Fish will bring their existing premiership points with them and are thus expected to shoot straight to the top of the D Grade ladder.

The inexorable march to world domination continues....

Round 9: BF v Homebrand

In a very strange game, a full-strength Black Fish side took on ancient foes Homebrand on Court 3. The game was characterised by a number of unusual occurrences many of which took place at the scorers' bench.

To summarise:

1. Black Fish play inexplicably poor basketball.
2. Referee (pictured below with hand raised) even less explicably ejects Homebrand player from the stadium for having the temerity to possess a normal body habitus.
3. Black Fish mount rousing late recovery but narrowly fail to overhaul the opposition.
4. Scoring 'error' leads to famous BF victory, 40-39.


Strange game. Nice result.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Boston Celtics v Denver Nuggets

In accordance with the long-standing exchange programme between the Black Fish and the Boston Celtics, 2006 BF Player of the Year Whittle (S) was invited to attend the highly-anticipated clash between the new-look Celtics and the Allen Iverson-led Denver Nuggets at Boston Garden on November 7.

BF00 at the Celtics bench

The Celtics, clearly inspired by the presence of BF00, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Captain Paul Pierce dominated the first half but it was the sheer class of Kevin Garnett and the hustle of cult-hero Brian Scalabrine that resulted in a thumping 119-93 victory to the Celtics.

The Celtics, who now lead the Eastern Conference with a 5-0 record, attribute their stunni
ng rise from bottom of the Atlantic conference last season to the inspirational form of the Black Fish, who also sit atop the league with a 6-1 record.

Negotiations are now in place to recruit some of the Celtics Cheerleaders to bolster the support at Marden Garden.


Sunday, November 4, 2007

Round 7: BF v CJs

A magnificent Black Fish side put together one of their finest all-round performances in destroying traditional rivals CJs 42-21.

The Black Fish now reign supreme atop the premiership ladder.

A full match report will follow when your correspondent returns from his guest appearance with the Boston Celtics.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Round 6: BF v Not Quite Allstars

Many Black Fish fans were curious, and a little anxious, ahead of this week's key clash with traditional rivals Not Quite Allstars, as the league newcomers entered Round 6 atop the E-grade ladder.

It appears, however, that their team name was excessively flattering. A more accurate moniker may have been 'Very Fucking Far From Allstars'.

Future BF000, Maxwell L "The Delivery" Van Whittle made his first appearance courtside to watch an almost full-strength Black Fish side (missing only Winter 2007 'matchwinner' Downing) completely take apart the Allstars.

In a complete performance, Rodgers (N), Whittle (N), and Noutz (C) provided an impenetrable wall down low, Edwards (S), Foreman (D) and Whittle (S) operated perfectly in their swing roles and Weeks (R) dominated at the point. A complete team performance that resulted in an impressive 46-23 victory, and added further momentum to the Black Fish premiership juggernaut.

Round 4: Bye

No children were born during this week's bye.

Round 5: BF v Spectrum

It would not be inaccurate to state that even iodine-deficient Bhutanese children are aware that the sad old jokes from Spectrum are amongst the lowest-quality men on Earth. It's not about their heads (horrid though they are), or their well-documented struggle against the modern scourge of morbid obesity, or their curious penchant for poorly-executed look-away passes, or their creaky lower-limb articulations, or even their choice in facial hair.

It's simply that they are small men. And, as if to demonstrate an inverse correlation between manliness and chromosome count, it is the slightly-inaccurately numbered 42 who is the smallest of them all.

It would be excessively wearisome to recount all of his behaviours (his humorous description of BF07 as a beyatch notwithstanding). One might simply remind him of Jebediah Springfield's immortal aphorism "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man".

In any event, a dominant Black Fish side utterly dominated the contest, eventually winning 55-31 despite a cowardly 10-point scorer penalty. Surely it was a sad late-night ride home in the Minda bus.

Round 3: BF v Metal Slug

Immediately following this game Metal Slug was promoted to D grade.

Strange, then, that the Black Fish effortlessly flogged them 46-37.

Round 2: BF v Homebrand

Some observers believe that Homebrand aren't a bad bunch of blokes; their behaviour in Round 2 sadly proves the opposite. In an act that proves what small men they really are, the Homobrands chose to take the cowardly path of exacting a 10-point scorer penalty from a depleted Fish outfit.

And so it was that a hard-fought victory for the Fish was translated to a disappointing 41-44 loss in the official records.

Round 1: BF v The Disgraced

There is no more satisfying way to kick off the season than with a victory over Carrot and his mob of angry young men.

And so it came to pass. A magnificent victory to the Black Fish 31-29. The perfect start to the 2007/8 Summer season.

Fixtures Summer 2007/8

Round 1 (20/9/07) BF v The Disgraced
Round 2 (27/9/07) BF v Homebrand
Round 3 (4/10/07) BF v Metal Slug
Round 4 (11/10/07) BYE
Round 5 (18/10/07) BF v Spectrum
Round 6 (25/10/07) BF v Not Quite Allstars
Round 7 (1/11/07) BF v CJs 6:45pm
Round 8 (8/11/07) BF v The Disgraced 7:30pm
Round 9 (15/11/07) BF v Homebrand 9:45pm
Round 10 (22/11/07) BF v Air Supreme 9:00pm
Round 11 (29/11/07) BYE
Round 12 (6/12/07) BF v Spectrum 10:30pm
Round 13 (13/12/07) BF v Not Quite Allstars 6:00pm
Round 14 (3/1/08) BF v CJs 9:45pm
Round 15 (10/1/08) BF v The Disgraced 6:45pm
Round 16 (17/1/08) BF v Homebrand 6:00pm
Round 17 (24/1/08) BF v Air Supreme 9:00pm
Round 18 (31/1/08) BYE
Round 19 (7/2/08) BF v Spectrum 10:30pm
Round 20 (14/2/08) BF v Not Quite Allstars 8:15pm
Semi Finals 21/2/08
Grand Final 28/2/08

Semi Final: BF v Deja Vu

It had been a long time between finals for the countless die-hard Black Fish fans and expectations ran high.

Let the record state that the boys played their hearts out, but, despite a stirring second-half comeback, sadly fell just short of a magnificent upset victory, eventually succumbing by the narrow margin of 50-54 to eventual premiers Deja Vu.

Despite the heartbreak of the loss, most pundits would agree that winter season 2007 was a success for this mighty club, and will serve as a sound platform for a future tilt at premiership glory.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Finals

The Black Fish will meet Deja Vu in a massive semi-final at 9:00pm on Thursday 6th September on court three.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Minor Round Statistics

As the Fish prepare for some September action, it is an opportune time to look at some of the stats that have emerged from Winter Season 2007:

Win:loss - 10-7-1

Average winning margin (95% CI) - 6.89 points (1.4, 12.4)

Average losing margin - 9.13 points (4.7, 13.6)

Highest winning margin - 21 points (Round 21 - Spectrum)

Highest losing margin - 17 points (Round 16 - Red Dwarfs)

A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine factors predictive of a Black Fish victory. All 17 games in which a win or loss was recorded were included in the analysis. Following univariate analysis, a multivariate model was constructed using backwards elimination. Some interesting results were obtained:

1. Despite the Fish winning 5 of their 6 games played on court 2, there was no statistical relationship between the court and the odds of winning (p=0.248, Fisher's exact).

2. The Fish played 10 matches without a player on the bench, winning only 4 of these games. In contrast, they won 6 of the 7 games in which more than 5 players were available. Therefore, the odds of a victory were 9 times higher when an interchange player was available. This relationship was not statistically significant, however (p=0.082, Fisher's exact).

3. The presence of powerhouse forward Rodgers (N) increased the odds of victory by 33%, however this also failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.581, Fisher's exact).

4. The multivariate model revealed only one statistically significant predictive factor, after accounting for all other predictor variables. And the result may come as a surprise to some (but perhaps not to all). The presence of utility Downing (K), significantly increased the odds of a Black Fish victory when all other predictors were taken into account. KD increased the odds of victory tenfold (!), 95% CI (1.05, 95.5), p=0.045.

Make of that what you will.

Round 21: BF v Spectrum ("Dunk Night")

A makeshift Black Fish side strode onto court 1 for the final minor round game with a place in the finals all but assured. Complacency, however, was far from their collective consciousness, thanks to their inherent Black Fish pride, their disdain for their gnomesque opponents, and their desire to run into the finals on a three-match winning streak.

While the game was far from a spectacle, and the result was beyond doubt early in the first half, there were several notable aspects to the match:

1. The impressive debut by little-known journeyman Baum (D).

2. The absence of Spectrum's pathetic, bitch-kicking, patch-wearing trisomy chimera (omitted due to a courage deficiency).

3. A scoring spree by Downing (K) [2 points].

4. The sublime mid-range shooting of Weeks (R).

5. The Fish's greatest winning margin of the season.

6. And most notably, the total dominance of the game by spectacular new recruit Whittle (N), who helped himself to a commanding 23 points before sealing the deal in spectacular style with a first in 14 years of Black Fish history - a stunning end-to-end run on the fast break culminating in a massive slam dunk. An act that spoke clearly in a language all its own: 'take that, you fat bunch of cripples'. Special stuff, that.

And so, with a comfortable 47-26 win under their belts, the Fish prepare to enter their first ever finals campaign at MARS. Having beaten every other team in the top four at least once this season the Fish enter the finals with a great deal of confidence. Stay tuned early next week for the announcement of the game time and the Fish's semi-final opponent.

Go you mighty Black Fish!

Round 20: Bye

The entire Black Fish squad spent the week not writing a match report.