There's very little in the way of offseason in this league when it comes to pool. There's more of a doldrums in the middle of the season than there is between seasons. With that said, welcome to the Tournament 2016, the sixth tournament to be held. This is the first three-cue tournament, featuring eight events in two tiers and a brand new finals system that isn't fully cemented in stone yet. The league is wavering between full round robin, which would drastically affect the series losses column, or a ladder style based on seeding, which would make the qualifiers all the more important. The league favors the latter method because it reduces the games load while also preserving the statistic balance (so that a player can't end up with extra series losses). Anyway, that's far enough away to not be an issue yet. We begin qualifiers with mostly 7-ball games early on, beginning with...
Sydney Sierota, the Harrison Specters rookie. The pressure of going first got to the rookie, who stumbled to 19 shots with the red cue for her total, a weak start to her career that will probably see her in the B-level for 7-ball. Sydney made three errors on her turn. Next up, Rainmane of the Web City Spiders, who also used the red cue but let her experience shine through with a 13 shot total and only one error, earning a fairly average score. Noelle makes it three straight for the red cue, and the Central Warriors reigning Champion's Cup winner scored 15, a dangerously low total that may keep her away from the chance to defend her 7-ball championship after one bad error and poor accuracy. Goldy is the fourth name called for 7-ball, and the Everton Eagles player is the first to use the silver cue as an official cue instead of a substitute in action. Goldy took a big step to dispel the notion that the silver cue is second-class, taking the 7-ball lead with a 12-shot performance and only one error. The red cue returns with the new Royal Crown, Marsell, who then shot 10 with no errors to begin his quest for vengeance against the Tysini Hummingbirds for cutting him.
Leading off the next five, the new Southern Monarchs captain Panda brings the blue cue to the party. Panda overcame an early error to score 11 as 7-ball continues to reign supreme. The blue cue gets another turn when Snuggle, the Oceanside Waves captain, used it to score 16 with two errors in a poor showing. Wild Thing brings the silver cue back to the table for his turn, and the newest Whitewater Shore became the first player to end a game early with a glancing kick off the top rail to the 1, caroming to take the 7 at the top left for a score of 2, making a good impression in the quick and error-free qualifier for the Shores. The blue cue comes back with Americus, the new Atlantic Pirate, who shot 11 in her debut with her new team, with no errors. The tenth player to shoot is the Pacific Volcanoes' Leonette, using the silver cue to score 9 with no errors in a strong effort that should quell concerns from the Volcanoes about regression.
The eleventh player called to the table is Commerce Tradewinds rookie Lorde, who will use the blue cue for her 7-ball. Lorde put up a score of 12 with one error, a reasonable league debut in the qualifier stage. Next up is Gabe of the Infinity Torpedoes, using the silver cue for a 20-shot disaster, without an error included. This is a step back for the silver cue after just a game where making shots was a struggle. The red cue comes back to the table with Chicky Phil, shooting 13 with it but also with two errors included in an all-around admirable effort from the Westside Rocker. Neopolitan of the Pearl Surfers got the next turn, attempting to save the silver cue's reputation. She achieved the goal easily, shooting 10 without an error to get the silver cue back in the league's good graces in a season that will see it face a lot of scrutiny. Shooting fifteenth, the returning Atlantic Pirates captain Delila takes the silver cue into her 7-ball qualifier. Delila ended up with a score of 13 and two errors to her name in the reasonable effort that ended with a hard carom off the 6 to tap the 7 in the bottom side.
Going sixteenth is Kavan, the new Victoria Spur, with the red cue in hand. Kavan scored 10 with one error in a strong Spurs debut. Following that, Strut of the Golden Pilots gets his season going with the blue cue, shooting 11 with no errors to enter right into the thick of the competition in 7-ball. The silver cue gets its next action with Sparkles of the Todavía Stills up to shoot. Sparkles didn't do so well, taking 16 shots with two errors in an unlucky game that saw her struggle to get clean shots, which reflected in her elevated score. Next up, Bear of the Whitewater Shores looks to start a better season with the silver cue on his 7-ball qualifier. Bear ended up with 14 after nearly taking the 7 on the break, including an error that complicated things in the game that just got out of hand. Going twentieth, Diamond Gems rookie Pedey scored 11 with a rough pair of errors with the silver cue, turning in a lucky-good debut.
The 21st player to shoot is Amber of the Atlantic Pirates, using the blue cue, and she became the first player to win on the break, earning a perfect score of 0 with no errors to top the 7-ball leaderboard. Shooting 22nd, Puff I of the Modernistic Union uses the red cue for a score of 16 with one error in the unenviable position of following a great performance. The pressure to match clearly hurt Puff I. Next up, the Everton Eagles' Puff III takes the silver cue for 12 while avoiding errors in a solid performance to open her 2016 season. Stealth picked up the red cue for his 7-ball qualifier, scoring 13 with two errors in an unlucky turn of events on the 5 for the new Swordpoint Blade. Shooting 25th for the day, Nightfur of the Royal Crowns tallied 16 with the blue cue in a poor effort with two errors and struggles with getting to the 2.
Going 26th is Sleepy B. of the Archtown Arrows, using to blue cue to score 14 with one error in 7-ball, a strong effort ruined by trouble on the 4. The 27th player to the table is Smudge of the Infinity Torpedoes, who pieced together a score of 14 with one error in the unfavorable distribution from the break. The first non-7-ball game belongs to the first player to go today, Sydney Sierota, who takes the silver cue to score 25 in 8-ball with just one error, shaking the rookie jitters in a fairly convincing manner with this bounce back game, the 28th of the day. Returning to 7-ball, the defending Players Cup champion Princess makes her 2016 debut with the silver cue for the Tysini Hummingbirds, striking 10 with no errors to get off to a good start. Finally, the short opening day of the season ends with the 30th qualifier, performed by Strawberry with the silver cue in 7-ball for the Pronger Tridents. Strawberry struggled with a score of 16 and two errors to her credit, ending an up-and-down day.
More to come in a fuller slate tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
UPCL 2015-16 Season Previews: West Division
We've already seen the East and the Center divisions get their time to shine. Now, the teams in the west, namely the coast and the inland southwest, will get the attention, beginning with...
The Capital City Sharpshooters have found remarkable stability recently, avoiding the draft this year and finding a steal in 2015's draft. While the results weren't there for pool this season, the cricket effort made up for it. Most of this stemmed from MVP challenger Chris improving on already ridiculous 2014 numbers to keep the team going. Their undeniable captain, Chris has extremely high job security for his cricket ability. Behind him, a wide pyramid has formed after last year's breakout pool effort from Dani made her feel very welcome to the team. Dani held her own better than former Sharpshooter Chicky Phil, and the former Specter Dani continued with great pool late in the season. While not as good as they were in 2014, Missy and Sprinkles form the rest of the veteran core, both having played their entire careers with the Sharpshooters. Sprinkles needed a solid pool effort to make up for her cricket failures, and she quietly got what she needed. Missy, on the other hand, played at a slightly higher level in cricket that essentially guaranteed her return even if she didn't earn protection. The expectations for the Sharpshooters this season are to put it all together in both sports, a steep improvement demanded after generally accepting average efforts. The team must watch out for Chris' potential to regress from an abnormal high.
The team formerly known as Infinity City dropped the "city" to appeal to a wider region in the southwest, and with an updated and intimidating logo, the Torpedoes are ready to finally unlock their potential. This is one team that has none of its original players left, but the so-called Torpedoes 2.0 showed enough to all be retained this season. It begins with the longest tenured player on the team, the third-year Torpedo Smudge, the captain. She stumbled a bit across both sports after showing preseason promise, but recovered enough in pool to earn the right to stay. Behind her is the wide-pyramid structure. Shelley, a former Meteor and Specter, arrived in Infinity with low expectations and shocked the fans with strong performances that solidified her spot on the roster. Another player with low expectations, former Arrow and Defender Whiskers, also wowed with remarkable pool playing deep into the season that attracted the attention of management and earned her an extension. Finally, the third corner of the pyramid is Gabe, a former Lumberjack that ended up being swapped at the 2015 draft for formed Torpedoes captain Diddley in a happenstance exchange with the Lumberjacks. Gabe was not remarkable in either sport, but reliable in both, and his level-headed approach helps to balance the more hot-headed Smudge and Whiskers while provided a friend for Shelley. The Torpedoes have always flirted with success, but have found none. Now, without the weight of the city on them, they may be poised to grow and succeed in 2016.
Another year, another solid season without a trophy for the Lighton Prestige. The team has seen remarkable roster stability, only having two players brought in since the original draft. The team's stability stems from the box-shaped leadership structure set forth by Acorn, the captain, and Spirit, the star. Spirit, who plays a cerebral game, also possesses leadership qualities, and together with Acorn, they provide the basis of the team's attack in both cricket and pool. They play a similar game and produce similar results, helping the team stay steady and consistent, which is usually consistently good until trouble arises in the playoffs. At the bottom of the box is another fourth-year Prestige, Twinkie I. Until this year's pool season, Twinkie I faced constant threats of being cut, but managed to stay with the team throughout the years anyway. The one change this season is the departure of Pounce, now with the Waves, and the entrance of Lydia, a former Meteor who has strong pool skills and inconsistent cricket performances. The Prestige constantly face high expectations, something that Pounce is better accustomed to than Lydia, but Pounce's two years netted nothing productive and the change of personnel may help inject some fresh life into the team. The playoffs are a minimum requirement for the Prestige, and anything less will lead to change.
The Oceanside Waves always seem to be better than they are, and that's probably a product of the stability in their box-shaped leadership. The top of the box has always been the same two players: the productive captain Snuggle, who is above-average in both sports, and the purely lucky Bells, who's deserved a cut before but hasn't seen it happen yet. After another down year, the Waves parted ways with Americus and Roxy, who went to the Pirates and the Cascades, respectively. Taking their places, the Waves brought in Pounce with their third round pick. The former Prestige player failed to live up to expectations there, but he should fit in nicely with the more relaxed Waves. In the fourth round, the Waves took a flyer on the former Rockers' split-bid player Alyssa. Despite limited time last season, Alyssa is as good as a rookie for the Waves, and she holds that status too. They don't know what to expect out of her in a full season, but they're hoping for a pleasant surprise. As mentioned, the Waves have always had a top-heavy leadership and very little in the way of results. They chronically underperform in cricket, and their new additions don't appear to address that. Pool is a little better, but not playoff worthy, and only Pounce really helps slightly in that regard. It could be another long season for the Waves.
The Pacific Volcanoes did it again in 2015, erasing memories of a poor 2014 with a new-look roster headlined by captain Starlight. The team's leadership structure is still in narrow pyramid form, indicating a bit of discomfort for last year's acquisitions. At the top is MVP in cricket contender and former pool Rookie of the Year Starlight, a fiery and tenacious competitor who makes league average look really bad. Behind her, the level-headed Ms. Kitty acts as a complementary force with slightly weaker but still well above-average cricket play and decent pool skills. After shipping out Shaggy and Midnight last season, Jack and Leonette came in from the Defenders and the Spiders. Jack provides a lot of muscle and turned out to be a very reliable cricket player, although he wasn't much for pool. On the flip-side, the equally muscular but more cerebral Leonette had a Comeback Player of the Year-worthy pool performance overshadowed only by an early exit and Princess' ridiculous effort for the Tysini Hummingbirds. Via the protection system, the Volcanoes were one of two teams (the Warriors being the other) that could not cut any player if they wanted to, with all four finishing in the top-32 somewhere. After 2014's swoon, the Volcanoes appear poised to dominate for years to come, led by an extremely secure captain Starlight.
The Pearl Surfers face a year of transition in 2016, with the departure of V. Braun only half of the story for the team. The new leadership structure is y-shaped, a one-of-a-kind structure led by youth in Neopolitan and 2015 pickup Watermelon, who had a career year in cricket to earn a stay with the team. Meanwhile, Neopolitan continued her slightly above-average career while learning from Braun about being a captain in many ways. The two Youth Movement club members are backed by Wings, a career Surfer who didn't have his best season in 2015, but didn't fall off enough to warrant leaving the team, and thus he stays. The Surfers only got one pick in the 2015 draft, and they used it to grab Cowzart, who addresses nothing left in the void of Braun's retirement. Since their Governor's Cup win in 2012, the Surfers have done very little to inspire confidence, wasting the last years of Braun's career mired in mediocrity. Now, with a serious downgrade in the former Cascade Cowzart, it is expected for the Surfers' struggles to continue despite having three good pieces in tow. For the Surfers to turn things around, Neopolitan and Watermelon will have to lead by example in a positive fashion and get the best out of Cowzart, which may still not be enough.
The Southern Monarchs had no choice but to tank in 2015. Cricket got off to a slow start, and they continually got buried in all venues. Around the one-third mark of the season, former captain Shawn started to steer the team into the ground in an inconspicuous manner. He didn't need much help, as Shannon and Nicole struggled mightily. Now, in 2016, the Monarchs look to make the most of their southwestern shipwreck with Panda, the career Monarch, at the wheel. Panda was the only one to escape with a reasonable season in both sports, refusing to tank just for the sake of tanking. Also returning to a now wide pyramid leadership structure is Shannon, who used remarkable pool playing to retain her roster spot. Shannon is expected to return to form next season, because 2015 was unbelievably bad for her. Also returning to the team via the draft is Nicole, who was cut at the end of the season, but re-signed in the draft. Nicole had the worst season on the team, but she looks to show the potential she had in her first year with the Surfers. Replacing the outgoing captain, the Monarchs turned to a rookie, Kirstin. There are questions surrounding her ability to acclimate with the team, but based on the announced leadership structure, it sounds like Kirstin will be readily accepted by the lower players on the totem pole. This leaves Panda as a bit of an outsider, but he is the captain and leads by example. The Monarchs did perform well in 2014, and with half of that team still around, it's reasonable to assume last year was an anomaly for them and they'll return to form without Shawn around anymore.
One of the most successful teams in league history, despite just a Governor's Cup to their name, the Todavía Stills return in 2016 unchanged since a single cut after 2012 brought Leonardo aboard from the Victoria Spurs. The leadership structure here is a narrow pyramid, and the strongest of those in the league at that, the purest definition of a leadership structure. Leonardo provides the muscle at the bottom of the pyramid, a slugger by nature with a surprising skill for pool. To the opposite extreme, Sparkles provides the Stills with finesse in both sports at a high level. Sparkles had to earn her way back onto the team, but she proved enough in pool to be welcomed back for one team that does not like to change things up much. Sierra takes the middle of the pyramid, an immature superstar with a Players Cup in 2014 to her name. While she frequently challenges for the circus act that is president of Youth Movement club, Sierra lacks true leadership skills despite her immense raw talent and position as a league legend. For the leadership, you get slightly reduced stats out of Easter, the fourth-year Stills captain who is a star in her own right, just not the team's brightest star. These four players, despite different background, get along amicably and have done so for two years already, making the playoffs regularly as part of their efforts. The standard is set at a very high level for the Stills, but they have yet to disappoint their fans, and have no reason to do so this season.
Once threatened with relocation to Terrace City, the Tysini Hummingbirds put those rumors to rest for good with a surprising City Cup victory over the Central Warriors to end the 2015 season. In the first year of their official rebuild, the Hummingbirds shocked the league with a breakout performance, taking the fourth seed in pool after missing the playoffs in cricket. The leader of the charge for the Hummingbirds is their new captain, Princess, who takes over the role from the retired Allison. Princess swept the Comeback Player of the Year and Players Cup awards in pool, and challenged Bear of the Whitewater Shores for Cricket MVP in 2015. Princess was vital to the City Cup championship as well, earning the trophy for the second time in her career after also hoisting it with the Spurs in 2012. Behind Princess this season, there is a diamond-pattern leadership structure. First round compensatory pick Leandra, replacing Allison on the roster, is the star here. Leandra had a down year at the wrong time for the Harrison Specters, and she'll look to revive her career alongside the current poster child for career revival. Another rebounding player in 2015 was Bright, who ended up with the Hummingbirds after the Torpedoes cut him loose. Bright, while not spectacular, provides muscle and average performance in cricket with more potential in pool. With a strong core intact, the Hummingbirds picked up Charli XCX to replace controversial cut Marsell in the fourth roster slot. The rookie brings a slight aggression along with clever play to the table, but little it known about how she'll do in the league. One thing different for the Hummingbirds is their shedding of the loveable loser label. They will be expected to maintain their performance in 2016, and they have the pieces to be great, so it's all about execution for this team.
The Victoria Spurs haven't done anything big since a 2012 City Cup championship. Now, they've also lost career Spur Tori to retirement. The leadership structure for the Spurs will be box-shaped in 2016, headed by captain B. Chapman and supplemented by career Spur Spice, the solid veteran. Chapman brings an inconsistent but generally positive game to both cricket and pool, and she has gone deep in pool before. Spice is a better cricket player, routinely playing above average for the Spurs there, but her pool is not on the same level. The Spurs will lack depth in 2016, as they replaced the serviceable Tori with the unproven former Cascade Kavan. While Kavan has failed on two separate teams, he is still fresh enough to change the narrative, but acting as a compensatory pick is not what he should be looking at. On the other end, the Spurs grabbed the other lower corner on the box in the fourth round, the rookie Yekaterina Vasilyeva. There are concerns around the team Yekaterina and Chapman will not get along, but so far these appear to be unfounded. Yekaterina has high potential, and could be the future of this team should Chapman leave the league soon. The Spurs have always struggled in cricket, so they are less concerned about that sport. Instead, the team focuses primarily on pool, where they frequently find a playoff berth and tend to fly under the radar in the second or third tier of teams.
The Viewpoint Sound Meteors are the best of the 2014 expansion teams so far, but beating the Cascades and the Pirates is something everyone's done regularly anyway, and it's not like the Meteors have impressed either. Last season's highlight came from Meteors captain Mr. Snowman, scoring at a ridiculous pace in the early weeks of the cricket season. His high-flying efforts allowed him to coast from about December onward and still be protected to return as captain this season. Alongside him in the narrow pyramid structure is Mams, the longtime Meteor who has shown flashes of ability mixed with a lot of inconsistency. Speaking of inconsistency, it opened up two roster spots when it sent Lydia and Stripes packing to the Prestige and Knights, respectively. The Meteors didn't exactly scout well though, picking up split-bid former Rocker Kelly in the third round. Kelly makes up the lower level of the pyramid, while retaining rookie status. Expectations are higher for her given a full slate of bids in pool. In the fourth round, the Meteors took a true rookie, Zach, to fill the back-end void left by Stripes. Zach is a different player, a much more cerebral player that should offset the impulsive and sporadic Kelly quite a bit. Still, the Meteors don't look any better than they did last season, just different, and expectations are accordingly low for the team to break out of a two-year funk.
That's all for the season previews. Check out the East and Center division previews, and prepares for Qualifiers, on schedule to begin tomorrow for the 2016 Tournament, featuring a lot of new structure.
The Capital City Sharpshooters have found remarkable stability recently, avoiding the draft this year and finding a steal in 2015's draft. While the results weren't there for pool this season, the cricket effort made up for it. Most of this stemmed from MVP challenger Chris improving on already ridiculous 2014 numbers to keep the team going. Their undeniable captain, Chris has extremely high job security for his cricket ability. Behind him, a wide pyramid has formed after last year's breakout pool effort from Dani made her feel very welcome to the team. Dani held her own better than former Sharpshooter Chicky Phil, and the former Specter Dani continued with great pool late in the season. While not as good as they were in 2014, Missy and Sprinkles form the rest of the veteran core, both having played their entire careers with the Sharpshooters. Sprinkles needed a solid pool effort to make up for her cricket failures, and she quietly got what she needed. Missy, on the other hand, played at a slightly higher level in cricket that essentially guaranteed her return even if she didn't earn protection. The expectations for the Sharpshooters this season are to put it all together in both sports, a steep improvement demanded after generally accepting average efforts. The team must watch out for Chris' potential to regress from an abnormal high.
The team formerly known as Infinity City dropped the "city" to appeal to a wider region in the southwest, and with an updated and intimidating logo, the Torpedoes are ready to finally unlock their potential. This is one team that has none of its original players left, but the so-called Torpedoes 2.0 showed enough to all be retained this season. It begins with the longest tenured player on the team, the third-year Torpedo Smudge, the captain. She stumbled a bit across both sports after showing preseason promise, but recovered enough in pool to earn the right to stay. Behind her is the wide-pyramid structure. Shelley, a former Meteor and Specter, arrived in Infinity with low expectations and shocked the fans with strong performances that solidified her spot on the roster. Another player with low expectations, former Arrow and Defender Whiskers, also wowed with remarkable pool playing deep into the season that attracted the attention of management and earned her an extension. Finally, the third corner of the pyramid is Gabe, a former Lumberjack that ended up being swapped at the 2015 draft for formed Torpedoes captain Diddley in a happenstance exchange with the Lumberjacks. Gabe was not remarkable in either sport, but reliable in both, and his level-headed approach helps to balance the more hot-headed Smudge and Whiskers while provided a friend for Shelley. The Torpedoes have always flirted with success, but have found none. Now, without the weight of the city on them, they may be poised to grow and succeed in 2016.
Another year, another solid season without a trophy for the Lighton Prestige. The team has seen remarkable roster stability, only having two players brought in since the original draft. The team's stability stems from the box-shaped leadership structure set forth by Acorn, the captain, and Spirit, the star. Spirit, who plays a cerebral game, also possesses leadership qualities, and together with Acorn, they provide the basis of the team's attack in both cricket and pool. They play a similar game and produce similar results, helping the team stay steady and consistent, which is usually consistently good until trouble arises in the playoffs. At the bottom of the box is another fourth-year Prestige, Twinkie I. Until this year's pool season, Twinkie I faced constant threats of being cut, but managed to stay with the team throughout the years anyway. The one change this season is the departure of Pounce, now with the Waves, and the entrance of Lydia, a former Meteor who has strong pool skills and inconsistent cricket performances. The Prestige constantly face high expectations, something that Pounce is better accustomed to than Lydia, but Pounce's two years netted nothing productive and the change of personnel may help inject some fresh life into the team. The playoffs are a minimum requirement for the Prestige, and anything less will lead to change.
The Oceanside Waves always seem to be better than they are, and that's probably a product of the stability in their box-shaped leadership. The top of the box has always been the same two players: the productive captain Snuggle, who is above-average in both sports, and the purely lucky Bells, who's deserved a cut before but hasn't seen it happen yet. After another down year, the Waves parted ways with Americus and Roxy, who went to the Pirates and the Cascades, respectively. Taking their places, the Waves brought in Pounce with their third round pick. The former Prestige player failed to live up to expectations there, but he should fit in nicely with the more relaxed Waves. In the fourth round, the Waves took a flyer on the former Rockers' split-bid player Alyssa. Despite limited time last season, Alyssa is as good as a rookie for the Waves, and she holds that status too. They don't know what to expect out of her in a full season, but they're hoping for a pleasant surprise. As mentioned, the Waves have always had a top-heavy leadership and very little in the way of results. They chronically underperform in cricket, and their new additions don't appear to address that. Pool is a little better, but not playoff worthy, and only Pounce really helps slightly in that regard. It could be another long season for the Waves.
The Pacific Volcanoes did it again in 2015, erasing memories of a poor 2014 with a new-look roster headlined by captain Starlight. The team's leadership structure is still in narrow pyramid form, indicating a bit of discomfort for last year's acquisitions. At the top is MVP in cricket contender and former pool Rookie of the Year Starlight, a fiery and tenacious competitor who makes league average look really bad. Behind her, the level-headed Ms. Kitty acts as a complementary force with slightly weaker but still well above-average cricket play and decent pool skills. After shipping out Shaggy and Midnight last season, Jack and Leonette came in from the Defenders and the Spiders. Jack provides a lot of muscle and turned out to be a very reliable cricket player, although he wasn't much for pool. On the flip-side, the equally muscular but more cerebral Leonette had a Comeback Player of the Year-worthy pool performance overshadowed only by an early exit and Princess' ridiculous effort for the Tysini Hummingbirds. Via the protection system, the Volcanoes were one of two teams (the Warriors being the other) that could not cut any player if they wanted to, with all four finishing in the top-32 somewhere. After 2014's swoon, the Volcanoes appear poised to dominate for years to come, led by an extremely secure captain Starlight.
The Pearl Surfers face a year of transition in 2016, with the departure of V. Braun only half of the story for the team. The new leadership structure is y-shaped, a one-of-a-kind structure led by youth in Neopolitan and 2015 pickup Watermelon, who had a career year in cricket to earn a stay with the team. Meanwhile, Neopolitan continued her slightly above-average career while learning from Braun about being a captain in many ways. The two Youth Movement club members are backed by Wings, a career Surfer who didn't have his best season in 2015, but didn't fall off enough to warrant leaving the team, and thus he stays. The Surfers only got one pick in the 2015 draft, and they used it to grab Cowzart, who addresses nothing left in the void of Braun's retirement. Since their Governor's Cup win in 2012, the Surfers have done very little to inspire confidence, wasting the last years of Braun's career mired in mediocrity. Now, with a serious downgrade in the former Cascade Cowzart, it is expected for the Surfers' struggles to continue despite having three good pieces in tow. For the Surfers to turn things around, Neopolitan and Watermelon will have to lead by example in a positive fashion and get the best out of Cowzart, which may still not be enough.
The Southern Monarchs had no choice but to tank in 2015. Cricket got off to a slow start, and they continually got buried in all venues. Around the one-third mark of the season, former captain Shawn started to steer the team into the ground in an inconspicuous manner. He didn't need much help, as Shannon and Nicole struggled mightily. Now, in 2016, the Monarchs look to make the most of their southwestern shipwreck with Panda, the career Monarch, at the wheel. Panda was the only one to escape with a reasonable season in both sports, refusing to tank just for the sake of tanking. Also returning to a now wide pyramid leadership structure is Shannon, who used remarkable pool playing to retain her roster spot. Shannon is expected to return to form next season, because 2015 was unbelievably bad for her. Also returning to the team via the draft is Nicole, who was cut at the end of the season, but re-signed in the draft. Nicole had the worst season on the team, but she looks to show the potential she had in her first year with the Surfers. Replacing the outgoing captain, the Monarchs turned to a rookie, Kirstin. There are questions surrounding her ability to acclimate with the team, but based on the announced leadership structure, it sounds like Kirstin will be readily accepted by the lower players on the totem pole. This leaves Panda as a bit of an outsider, but he is the captain and leads by example. The Monarchs did perform well in 2014, and with half of that team still around, it's reasonable to assume last year was an anomaly for them and they'll return to form without Shawn around anymore.
One of the most successful teams in league history, despite just a Governor's Cup to their name, the Todavía Stills return in 2016 unchanged since a single cut after 2012 brought Leonardo aboard from the Victoria Spurs. The leadership structure here is a narrow pyramid, and the strongest of those in the league at that, the purest definition of a leadership structure. Leonardo provides the muscle at the bottom of the pyramid, a slugger by nature with a surprising skill for pool. To the opposite extreme, Sparkles provides the Stills with finesse in both sports at a high level. Sparkles had to earn her way back onto the team, but she proved enough in pool to be welcomed back for one team that does not like to change things up much. Sierra takes the middle of the pyramid, an immature superstar with a Players Cup in 2014 to her name. While she frequently challenges for the circus act that is president of Youth Movement club, Sierra lacks true leadership skills despite her immense raw talent and position as a league legend. For the leadership, you get slightly reduced stats out of Easter, the fourth-year Stills captain who is a star in her own right, just not the team's brightest star. These four players, despite different background, get along amicably and have done so for two years already, making the playoffs regularly as part of their efforts. The standard is set at a very high level for the Stills, but they have yet to disappoint their fans, and have no reason to do so this season.
Once threatened with relocation to Terrace City, the Tysini Hummingbirds put those rumors to rest for good with a surprising City Cup victory over the Central Warriors to end the 2015 season. In the first year of their official rebuild, the Hummingbirds shocked the league with a breakout performance, taking the fourth seed in pool after missing the playoffs in cricket. The leader of the charge for the Hummingbirds is their new captain, Princess, who takes over the role from the retired Allison. Princess swept the Comeback Player of the Year and Players Cup awards in pool, and challenged Bear of the Whitewater Shores for Cricket MVP in 2015. Princess was vital to the City Cup championship as well, earning the trophy for the second time in her career after also hoisting it with the Spurs in 2012. Behind Princess this season, there is a diamond-pattern leadership structure. First round compensatory pick Leandra, replacing Allison on the roster, is the star here. Leandra had a down year at the wrong time for the Harrison Specters, and she'll look to revive her career alongside the current poster child for career revival. Another rebounding player in 2015 was Bright, who ended up with the Hummingbirds after the Torpedoes cut him loose. Bright, while not spectacular, provides muscle and average performance in cricket with more potential in pool. With a strong core intact, the Hummingbirds picked up Charli XCX to replace controversial cut Marsell in the fourth roster slot. The rookie brings a slight aggression along with clever play to the table, but little it known about how she'll do in the league. One thing different for the Hummingbirds is their shedding of the loveable loser label. They will be expected to maintain their performance in 2016, and they have the pieces to be great, so it's all about execution for this team.
The Victoria Spurs haven't done anything big since a 2012 City Cup championship. Now, they've also lost career Spur Tori to retirement. The leadership structure for the Spurs will be box-shaped in 2016, headed by captain B. Chapman and supplemented by career Spur Spice, the solid veteran. Chapman brings an inconsistent but generally positive game to both cricket and pool, and she has gone deep in pool before. Spice is a better cricket player, routinely playing above average for the Spurs there, but her pool is not on the same level. The Spurs will lack depth in 2016, as they replaced the serviceable Tori with the unproven former Cascade Kavan. While Kavan has failed on two separate teams, he is still fresh enough to change the narrative, but acting as a compensatory pick is not what he should be looking at. On the other end, the Spurs grabbed the other lower corner on the box in the fourth round, the rookie Yekaterina Vasilyeva. There are concerns around the team Yekaterina and Chapman will not get along, but so far these appear to be unfounded. Yekaterina has high potential, and could be the future of this team should Chapman leave the league soon. The Spurs have always struggled in cricket, so they are less concerned about that sport. Instead, the team focuses primarily on pool, where they frequently find a playoff berth and tend to fly under the radar in the second or third tier of teams.
The Viewpoint Sound Meteors are the best of the 2014 expansion teams so far, but beating the Cascades and the Pirates is something everyone's done regularly anyway, and it's not like the Meteors have impressed either. Last season's highlight came from Meteors captain Mr. Snowman, scoring at a ridiculous pace in the early weeks of the cricket season. His high-flying efforts allowed him to coast from about December onward and still be protected to return as captain this season. Alongside him in the narrow pyramid structure is Mams, the longtime Meteor who has shown flashes of ability mixed with a lot of inconsistency. Speaking of inconsistency, it opened up two roster spots when it sent Lydia and Stripes packing to the Prestige and Knights, respectively. The Meteors didn't exactly scout well though, picking up split-bid former Rocker Kelly in the third round. Kelly makes up the lower level of the pyramid, while retaining rookie status. Expectations are higher for her given a full slate of bids in pool. In the fourth round, the Meteors took a true rookie, Zach, to fill the back-end void left by Stripes. Zach is a different player, a much more cerebral player that should offset the impulsive and sporadic Kelly quite a bit. Still, the Meteors don't look any better than they did last season, just different, and expectations are accordingly low for the team to break out of a two-year funk.
That's all for the season previews. Check out the East and Center division previews, and prepares for Qualifiers, on schedule to begin tomorrow for the 2016 Tournament, featuring a lot of new structure.
UPCL 2015-16 Season Previews: Center Division
The most oddly named division takes the second previews post. I couldn't call it the Central Division because of the Central Warriors, who actually play in the East. Therefore, we have the Center Division, with teams mostly from the urban core, which begins with...
The Boston Swifts, a team that continually plays at a high level. The Swifts are captained by a league legend, Patches, who is another player with extremely high job security. Patches has challenged for the Players Cup multiple years in a row, and she also excels in cricket as a tone-setter for the Swifts. Behind her is longtime Swifts teammate and partner in crime Sweetheart, who has not had the consistency or high-level success of Patches, but continues to be a fan favorite in Boston. Sweetheart has recently played better in pool, but she's no slouch in cricket either. The narrow-pyramid structure continues with its two-player base. The stronger of the two is Puff II, who came over from the Diamond Gems two years ago and hasn't looked back, scoring instant chemistry with Patches which stems from their familiarity at Club Reality. Finally, there's 2014 Rookie of the Year Gradley, who suffered a severe sophomore slump in 2015. The Swifts agreed to give him another year, but he's working on a short least this year, and if he's to be replaced, it would be the first dip in the draft in two years for Boston. The expectations are there for this team to bring in some hardware this season if everything goes right. Should it not, someone will have to answer for it, but don't expect that to be Patches unless she's outright terrible.
The Commerce Tradewinds are that team that always seem to be better than they actually are. They have the arguably most job-secure captain, Tigerette, who runs the team with an iron fist. The leadership structure behind her is a fresh one for this season, favoring a diamond-shaped pattern with Ice Cream and Lionel on the same middle level. Ice Cream brings the skill and savvy, playing a solid cricket game to complement the high-flying Tigerette, and reasonably good pool that closely resembles her twin Neopolitan in many ways. Lionel is more of the muscle and aggression, but he had a very successful pool season in 2015, his first with the Tradewinds, and he looks to grow and expand as he watches his old Union team face a very character-testing season. Taking up the rear is the highly-anticipated rookie addition to the team, Lorde. Her cerebral style and patient play could make her very threatening in pool, but it may not translate well for her cricket career. The Tradewinds do not favor a particular game, but they would like some success, and they hope Lorde will get them over the hump. The Tradewinds were also part of last year's first cricket tie with the Gems, and it appeared that the tied game threw them off for the next few games. This cost them a playoff spot that they owned when the tie occurred. Commerce has lately finished in the upper teens to lower twenties, so they're looking to build on that.
The exact opposite of the Pronger Tridents, the Golden Pilots had never retained a full team season-to-season until 2016. The only constant throughout their existence was the first overall pick in league history, Valencia, who has guided the team to success through the transitions. In 2014, they earned the Hutton Cup, and then lost half the roster. Two compensatory picks turned out just fine in 2015, with arguable greatest of all time Dusty coming over from the Eastside Sharks after she opted out of her contract, followed by last year's third best rookie, A. Charlton. Dusty had a career year in cricket that kept the Pilots near the top of the standings, while Charlton challenged for the Rookie of the Year title in cricket that eventually went to Debby Ryan. In pool, things went a little bit more south for both of the newcomers. The stability of the team comes from third-year Pilot Strut, an above-average player who stays consistent from season to season in both sports. The more volatile commodity is Valencia, the captain of the team on paper, who has been here from the start and produced well in both sports every year until this year's pool fiasco saw her drop four bids in the third round to be eliminated. Still, the standard of play is very high for the Pilots no matter who populates the roster. The leadership structure follows a box pattern with Valencia the captain by seniority with the team, complemented by the natural leader Dusty. Strut and Charlton play roles well, and both of them are happy to be on the team.
As part of a massive rebranding and redesign effort, the Modernistic Union now have a three-color scheme system. Last year was not kind to the Union either, which doubles the importance of the image change. Their previous logo, a weak and awkward wordmark, has been replaced by tri-color stars to give a more positive identity to the team. Still, when the captain refuses to return to the team, something must be going wrong. Kiwi spurned the Union early in the cricket season, citing a lack of progress in personnel improvement, and stayed true with her desire to switch teams by leaving at the draft. With the compensatory pick, the Union retained the services of Chimpy, who they cut after a poor performance but decided to bring back. Chimpy rejoins Ms. Puppy, the new captain, and Puff I, a role player as familiar teammates. Chimpy brings the ultimate cerebral game, renowned for his high skill level and mind games that throw people off in pool, as well as being an enigma in both sports and frustratingly inconsistent. Ms. Puppy seems to have a different type of season every year, and she's coming off a fairly average one. Who knows what that means for next season, except that she'll wear multiple color schemes doing it. Puff I is the often-forgotten member of the team, who doesn't do a whole lot besides provide average production across sports. The newcomer is an aggressive, dominating player, Juno, who is a rookie by experience but an aged and grizzled competitor from many battles over time. Juno will not walk away from this team by choice, giving them an edge Kiwi didn't have. Juno may end up scaring off the team if they don't find success early, and she's bound to butt heads with Ms. Puppy in trying to wrangle leadership in. The leadership structure here is linear, but the space between Juno and Chimpy in leadership is massive and unstable. The Union, two years ago a City Cup champion, need a return to relevance if they want to maintain the attention of a now crowded largest media market in the league.
What a surprise the Queens Flames unleashed in pool last season. After a mediocre showing in cricket again from the chronically low-offense team, the Flames burst out to a Governor's Cup title by winning the regular season in pool. The team received a balanced attack, with three players in the top-32 for pool and the fourth, Max, just missing out. They had the eventual table-topper, Paige, whose late season success helped her stay ahead of the fading Princess by win percentage, even if perception gave Princess the Players Cup. In the playoffs, the Flames had a solid effort, but fell in the semifinals, a respectable effort nonetheless. The leadership structure here is a wide pyramid, topped by the longtime Flame Crystal as the captain. Crystal brings consistently above-average efforts in both sports, but nothing earth-shattering. While just as tenured, Kayla plays more of a role position for the Flames, electing not to steal the spotlight too often. Kayla also tends to be above-average for the Flames. The problems these two had were with their teammates in 2014, and those problems disappeared after management picked up two unheralded players for 2015. The first, Max, was not flashy or magnificent, but the former Lumberjack provided average efforts in cricket and above-average work in pool to help keep the team stable. The second was Paige, the former Shore and Prestige player who hadn't clicked until she found the anchoring role at the back of the Flames lineup. Here, she found career years in both sports, and deserved a trophy in hindsight. With their new success, the Flames are expected to take a step forward in cricket this season and become a team to fear in both sports.
The biggest rivals to the Flames are the Royal Crowns, and while their unfriendly neighbors found stability, the Crowns are hoping another Hummingbirds reject can get them going some more. The Crowns have frequently featured a playoff-qualifying team, but rarely do they go very far. Now, with Sydnee gone, the Crowns have remodeled three-quarters of the team in two years, leaving only the captain Frosty as a career Crown, and the top of the wide pyramid leadership structure. Behind her is the former Warrior Jake, who came to the Crowns for 2015 and proved his worth very readily to spite his former team (not that they cared, because they had Dustin). Another player looking to prove herself was Nightfur, who became a Crown after the Hummingbirds ushered her out after a disappointing 2014. Nightfur played solidly, but certainly not her best, much in the same way that Frosty had a bit of a down year. Jake was clearly the performance leader, and now the Crowns look to Marsell, a City Cup champion that saw the Hummingbirds cut him quite harshly after their title capture, to put the team at the next level. Marsell showed improvement in 2015, and now he is reunited with Nightfur in Royal. The Crowns look poised to build off a decent season, but they're not playing outside of their expected range, so further growth may be tough to come by for them.
The Southridge Defenders made a modest change to their logo, adding more detail and pulling the words out of the shield, while adding black to their color palate. The team under the new logo is no different than last season, despite the attempt to bring in a new player. The Defenders simply picked too deep in the draft to avoid retaining 2014 Rookie of the Year challenger J. Garcia, and they brought her back for a third year. Also with the team is the captain, Boots, who enters her fourth year with the team. Behind her, Debby Ryan, the reigning two-sport Rookie of the Year will have to avoid a sophomore slump if the team is to remain strong. Debby and Garcia make up a potent young duo in the diamond-shaped leadership structure, and at the back is the often-outspoken Shaggy, a former Volcano bright to Southridge last season. Shaggy hovered around average again in her first year with the Defenders after a draft-day swap with Pacific sent Jack the other way by coincidental picking. With this crop of players, challenging for top-10 positions in either sport is not out of reach. However, the team didn't get any better and had a bit of luck last season, so regression could do harm to them. Still, the highly competitive southeastern rivalry should serve to keep them on track in league play.
The Swordpoint Blades had their worst pool season to go alongside the normally weak cricket effort in 2015. Without the statistically best player in league history Emily after her retirement, the Blades cracked under pressure. Their compensatory pick for 2015, Oreo, flamed out despite the friendly environment, and Wild Thing took a step back as well, causing a meltdown that led to rampant change for the Blades. Returning is the unquestioned captain Snowball, a leader on and off the field or table, since she excels at both. Pool is her best, but she led the team comfortably in cricket too. Right behind her on the narrow pyramid leadership structure is the other career Blade, Dreamy, a quiet performer with a flair for excellence. She played very good cricket and kept the Blades looking deceptively strong in pool late into the season. The newcomers came via late round picks in the draft. In the third round, the Blades brought in former Monarchs captain Shawn, whose poor season in a tank effort found him off the coastal team's roster come season's end. Shawn had a personally bad year, and is a huge bounce-back candidate. In the same vein, Stealth struggled with the Harrison Specters at the worst time, and his faltering got him shipped out at the draft, where the Blades picked him up in the fourth round. Stealth has a higher ceiling than Shawn, but also a lower floor. Helping Stealth will be his sister, Snowball, the captain of the Blades. With some reunited family and another squad where everyone is comfortable, the Blades are ready to challenge for titles again in pool, although cricket struggles may persist for the very lopsided team.
Building a team can be a challenge for any expansion franchise, but the Terrace City Knights made it look simple over last weekend's draft. With four picks and the first overall, the Knights wowed by selecting Oreo. A former Crown and Blade coming off two bad years, Oreo is still highly regarded in the league as a solid talent, although cricket has not been kind to her. With their second pick, the Knights got gritty in grabbing Stripes, the former Meteor who is the first player to play on two expansion teams, having been drafted by the Meteors two years ago in their first season after being released by the Spiders. Stripes brings tenacity to the team, and an aggressive style that will keep others in check. The Knights made their best pick in the third round, selecting former Union captain Kiwi to stick a thorn in the side of their northern neighbors. Kiwi is a balance of Oreo and Stripes, and she's proven to be successful in both sports instead of being speculative like the other two. Rounding out the team, the Knights took a flyer on former Shore Jennifer Livilotti, who didn't fit in on that team with a mediocre performance on a stacked cricket team before an absolute face-plant in her rookie season of pool. It's unclear how the leadership structure will shake out, but egalitarian or box-pattern make the most sense here. Generally, expectations are low for expansion teams, but there's a lot of hype on three players for the Knights, and one proven performer in Kiwi means they'll face a tall task in their first season of play.
The Westside Rockers got to bend the rules in 2015. After contract talks between a rookie, Ashley, and the league broke down, the Rockers scrambled to sign another rookie undrafted, Kelly. With Kelly came her twin sister, Alyssa, resulting in a split roster spot. This proved to be more trouble than it was worth, with a very top-heavy Rockers team falling flat in the cricket playoffs before spontaneous combustion wiped out the pool season. The Rockers decided to retain another newcomer, Chicky Phil, as well as veteran Rockers Misty and Goatee, but went to the draft for the last player, which became Midnight. With that move, their four players come from four different rivalry clubs. The captain, Misty, is a natural leader out of Solid Core in the club system, and she provides above-average work regularly. The less-vocal leader is Goatee of Delila Enterprises, who is a slightly better player than Misty but less team-oriented, which is why she avoids the captain title. Chicky Phil transferred clubs from Solid Core to Oriental United, an unpopular move that annoyed Misty despite her campaigning to keep him on the Rockers after a late-season surge in pool after a weak cricket effort. Finally, the Brute Force-backed Midnight comes from the Tradewinds after one down season in Commerce. Midnight ended up in Commerce after Pacific's poor season sent her packing, and two bad seasons in a row should make the Rockers worry here. The Rockers are a solid regular season pool team, but success elsewhere has evaded them, and expectations should be tempered with many personalities on the team this season could lead to explosive infighting.
The Whitewater Shores had a very good cricket season in 2015, and a very bad pool season. In cricket, their soft-spoken captain Bear won MVP, supplemented by returning fan favorites Twinkie III and Cheddar with above-average efforts themselves for a fear-inducing offense. In pool, it all fell apart, but the only person that they could cut was Jennifer, who went to the expansion Terrace City Knights in the draft. Now, the fourth player in four years to take the final roster spot, Wild Thing joins the Shores looking to shake off the slacker label he picked up in Swordpoint. The Shores' returning players help form a diamond leadership structure led by Bear with Twinkie III and Cheddar below. Wild Thing may struggle to acclimate. The Shores have to count on what they know to carry them again for at least a solid cricket season, which appears to be their favored game as pool has never treated these players well. Still, after a regular season of cricket where they led wire to wire, the expectation of a Hutton Cup is not unreasonable if they can stay in form.
If you haven't already done so, check out the East previews. Hopefully in the next hour or two, the West previews will be up.
The Boston Swifts, a team that continually plays at a high level. The Swifts are captained by a league legend, Patches, who is another player with extremely high job security. Patches has challenged for the Players Cup multiple years in a row, and she also excels in cricket as a tone-setter for the Swifts. Behind her is longtime Swifts teammate and partner in crime Sweetheart, who has not had the consistency or high-level success of Patches, but continues to be a fan favorite in Boston. Sweetheart has recently played better in pool, but she's no slouch in cricket either. The narrow-pyramid structure continues with its two-player base. The stronger of the two is Puff II, who came over from the Diamond Gems two years ago and hasn't looked back, scoring instant chemistry with Patches which stems from their familiarity at Club Reality. Finally, there's 2014 Rookie of the Year Gradley, who suffered a severe sophomore slump in 2015. The Swifts agreed to give him another year, but he's working on a short least this year, and if he's to be replaced, it would be the first dip in the draft in two years for Boston. The expectations are there for this team to bring in some hardware this season if everything goes right. Should it not, someone will have to answer for it, but don't expect that to be Patches unless she's outright terrible.
The Commerce Tradewinds are that team that always seem to be better than they actually are. They have the arguably most job-secure captain, Tigerette, who runs the team with an iron fist. The leadership structure behind her is a fresh one for this season, favoring a diamond-shaped pattern with Ice Cream and Lionel on the same middle level. Ice Cream brings the skill and savvy, playing a solid cricket game to complement the high-flying Tigerette, and reasonably good pool that closely resembles her twin Neopolitan in many ways. Lionel is more of the muscle and aggression, but he had a very successful pool season in 2015, his first with the Tradewinds, and he looks to grow and expand as he watches his old Union team face a very character-testing season. Taking up the rear is the highly-anticipated rookie addition to the team, Lorde. Her cerebral style and patient play could make her very threatening in pool, but it may not translate well for her cricket career. The Tradewinds do not favor a particular game, but they would like some success, and they hope Lorde will get them over the hump. The Tradewinds were also part of last year's first cricket tie with the Gems, and it appeared that the tied game threw them off for the next few games. This cost them a playoff spot that they owned when the tie occurred. Commerce has lately finished in the upper teens to lower twenties, so they're looking to build on that.
The exact opposite of the Pronger Tridents, the Golden Pilots had never retained a full team season-to-season until 2016. The only constant throughout their existence was the first overall pick in league history, Valencia, who has guided the team to success through the transitions. In 2014, they earned the Hutton Cup, and then lost half the roster. Two compensatory picks turned out just fine in 2015, with arguable greatest of all time Dusty coming over from the Eastside Sharks after she opted out of her contract, followed by last year's third best rookie, A. Charlton. Dusty had a career year in cricket that kept the Pilots near the top of the standings, while Charlton challenged for the Rookie of the Year title in cricket that eventually went to Debby Ryan. In pool, things went a little bit more south for both of the newcomers. The stability of the team comes from third-year Pilot Strut, an above-average player who stays consistent from season to season in both sports. The more volatile commodity is Valencia, the captain of the team on paper, who has been here from the start and produced well in both sports every year until this year's pool fiasco saw her drop four bids in the third round to be eliminated. Still, the standard of play is very high for the Pilots no matter who populates the roster. The leadership structure follows a box pattern with Valencia the captain by seniority with the team, complemented by the natural leader Dusty. Strut and Charlton play roles well, and both of them are happy to be on the team.
As part of a massive rebranding and redesign effort, the Modernistic Union now have a three-color scheme system. Last year was not kind to the Union either, which doubles the importance of the image change. Their previous logo, a weak and awkward wordmark, has been replaced by tri-color stars to give a more positive identity to the team. Still, when the captain refuses to return to the team, something must be going wrong. Kiwi spurned the Union early in the cricket season, citing a lack of progress in personnel improvement, and stayed true with her desire to switch teams by leaving at the draft. With the compensatory pick, the Union retained the services of Chimpy, who they cut after a poor performance but decided to bring back. Chimpy rejoins Ms. Puppy, the new captain, and Puff I, a role player as familiar teammates. Chimpy brings the ultimate cerebral game, renowned for his high skill level and mind games that throw people off in pool, as well as being an enigma in both sports and frustratingly inconsistent. Ms. Puppy seems to have a different type of season every year, and she's coming off a fairly average one. Who knows what that means for next season, except that she'll wear multiple color schemes doing it. Puff I is the often-forgotten member of the team, who doesn't do a whole lot besides provide average production across sports. The newcomer is an aggressive, dominating player, Juno, who is a rookie by experience but an aged and grizzled competitor from many battles over time. Juno will not walk away from this team by choice, giving them an edge Kiwi didn't have. Juno may end up scaring off the team if they don't find success early, and she's bound to butt heads with Ms. Puppy in trying to wrangle leadership in. The leadership structure here is linear, but the space between Juno and Chimpy in leadership is massive and unstable. The Union, two years ago a City Cup champion, need a return to relevance if they want to maintain the attention of a now crowded largest media market in the league.
What a surprise the Queens Flames unleashed in pool last season. After a mediocre showing in cricket again from the chronically low-offense team, the Flames burst out to a Governor's Cup title by winning the regular season in pool. The team received a balanced attack, with three players in the top-32 for pool and the fourth, Max, just missing out. They had the eventual table-topper, Paige, whose late season success helped her stay ahead of the fading Princess by win percentage, even if perception gave Princess the Players Cup. In the playoffs, the Flames had a solid effort, but fell in the semifinals, a respectable effort nonetheless. The leadership structure here is a wide pyramid, topped by the longtime Flame Crystal as the captain. Crystal brings consistently above-average efforts in both sports, but nothing earth-shattering. While just as tenured, Kayla plays more of a role position for the Flames, electing not to steal the spotlight too often. Kayla also tends to be above-average for the Flames. The problems these two had were with their teammates in 2014, and those problems disappeared after management picked up two unheralded players for 2015. The first, Max, was not flashy or magnificent, but the former Lumberjack provided average efforts in cricket and above-average work in pool to help keep the team stable. The second was Paige, the former Shore and Prestige player who hadn't clicked until she found the anchoring role at the back of the Flames lineup. Here, she found career years in both sports, and deserved a trophy in hindsight. With their new success, the Flames are expected to take a step forward in cricket this season and become a team to fear in both sports.
The biggest rivals to the Flames are the Royal Crowns, and while their unfriendly neighbors found stability, the Crowns are hoping another Hummingbirds reject can get them going some more. The Crowns have frequently featured a playoff-qualifying team, but rarely do they go very far. Now, with Sydnee gone, the Crowns have remodeled three-quarters of the team in two years, leaving only the captain Frosty as a career Crown, and the top of the wide pyramid leadership structure. Behind her is the former Warrior Jake, who came to the Crowns for 2015 and proved his worth very readily to spite his former team (not that they cared, because they had Dustin). Another player looking to prove herself was Nightfur, who became a Crown after the Hummingbirds ushered her out after a disappointing 2014. Nightfur played solidly, but certainly not her best, much in the same way that Frosty had a bit of a down year. Jake was clearly the performance leader, and now the Crowns look to Marsell, a City Cup champion that saw the Hummingbirds cut him quite harshly after their title capture, to put the team at the next level. Marsell showed improvement in 2015, and now he is reunited with Nightfur in Royal. The Crowns look poised to build off a decent season, but they're not playing outside of their expected range, so further growth may be tough to come by for them.
The Southridge Defenders made a modest change to their logo, adding more detail and pulling the words out of the shield, while adding black to their color palate. The team under the new logo is no different than last season, despite the attempt to bring in a new player. The Defenders simply picked too deep in the draft to avoid retaining 2014 Rookie of the Year challenger J. Garcia, and they brought her back for a third year. Also with the team is the captain, Boots, who enters her fourth year with the team. Behind her, Debby Ryan, the reigning two-sport Rookie of the Year will have to avoid a sophomore slump if the team is to remain strong. Debby and Garcia make up a potent young duo in the diamond-shaped leadership structure, and at the back is the often-outspoken Shaggy, a former Volcano bright to Southridge last season. Shaggy hovered around average again in her first year with the Defenders after a draft-day swap with Pacific sent Jack the other way by coincidental picking. With this crop of players, challenging for top-10 positions in either sport is not out of reach. However, the team didn't get any better and had a bit of luck last season, so regression could do harm to them. Still, the highly competitive southeastern rivalry should serve to keep them on track in league play.
The Swordpoint Blades had their worst pool season to go alongside the normally weak cricket effort in 2015. Without the statistically best player in league history Emily after her retirement, the Blades cracked under pressure. Their compensatory pick for 2015, Oreo, flamed out despite the friendly environment, and Wild Thing took a step back as well, causing a meltdown that led to rampant change for the Blades. Returning is the unquestioned captain Snowball, a leader on and off the field or table, since she excels at both. Pool is her best, but she led the team comfortably in cricket too. Right behind her on the narrow pyramid leadership structure is the other career Blade, Dreamy, a quiet performer with a flair for excellence. She played very good cricket and kept the Blades looking deceptively strong in pool late into the season. The newcomers came via late round picks in the draft. In the third round, the Blades brought in former Monarchs captain Shawn, whose poor season in a tank effort found him off the coastal team's roster come season's end. Shawn had a personally bad year, and is a huge bounce-back candidate. In the same vein, Stealth struggled with the Harrison Specters at the worst time, and his faltering got him shipped out at the draft, where the Blades picked him up in the fourth round. Stealth has a higher ceiling than Shawn, but also a lower floor. Helping Stealth will be his sister, Snowball, the captain of the Blades. With some reunited family and another squad where everyone is comfortable, the Blades are ready to challenge for titles again in pool, although cricket struggles may persist for the very lopsided team.
Building a team can be a challenge for any expansion franchise, but the Terrace City Knights made it look simple over last weekend's draft. With four picks and the first overall, the Knights wowed by selecting Oreo. A former Crown and Blade coming off two bad years, Oreo is still highly regarded in the league as a solid talent, although cricket has not been kind to her. With their second pick, the Knights got gritty in grabbing Stripes, the former Meteor who is the first player to play on two expansion teams, having been drafted by the Meteors two years ago in their first season after being released by the Spiders. Stripes brings tenacity to the team, and an aggressive style that will keep others in check. The Knights made their best pick in the third round, selecting former Union captain Kiwi to stick a thorn in the side of their northern neighbors. Kiwi is a balance of Oreo and Stripes, and she's proven to be successful in both sports instead of being speculative like the other two. Rounding out the team, the Knights took a flyer on former Shore Jennifer Livilotti, who didn't fit in on that team with a mediocre performance on a stacked cricket team before an absolute face-plant in her rookie season of pool. It's unclear how the leadership structure will shake out, but egalitarian or box-pattern make the most sense here. Generally, expectations are low for expansion teams, but there's a lot of hype on three players for the Knights, and one proven performer in Kiwi means they'll face a tall task in their first season of play.
The Westside Rockers got to bend the rules in 2015. After contract talks between a rookie, Ashley, and the league broke down, the Rockers scrambled to sign another rookie undrafted, Kelly. With Kelly came her twin sister, Alyssa, resulting in a split roster spot. This proved to be more trouble than it was worth, with a very top-heavy Rockers team falling flat in the cricket playoffs before spontaneous combustion wiped out the pool season. The Rockers decided to retain another newcomer, Chicky Phil, as well as veteran Rockers Misty and Goatee, but went to the draft for the last player, which became Midnight. With that move, their four players come from four different rivalry clubs. The captain, Misty, is a natural leader out of Solid Core in the club system, and she provides above-average work regularly. The less-vocal leader is Goatee of Delila Enterprises, who is a slightly better player than Misty but less team-oriented, which is why she avoids the captain title. Chicky Phil transferred clubs from Solid Core to Oriental United, an unpopular move that annoyed Misty despite her campaigning to keep him on the Rockers after a late-season surge in pool after a weak cricket effort. Finally, the Brute Force-backed Midnight comes from the Tradewinds after one down season in Commerce. Midnight ended up in Commerce after Pacific's poor season sent her packing, and two bad seasons in a row should make the Rockers worry here. The Rockers are a solid regular season pool team, but success elsewhere has evaded them, and expectations should be tempered with many personalities on the team this season could lead to explosive infighting.
The Whitewater Shores had a very good cricket season in 2015, and a very bad pool season. In cricket, their soft-spoken captain Bear won MVP, supplemented by returning fan favorites Twinkie III and Cheddar with above-average efforts themselves for a fear-inducing offense. In pool, it all fell apart, but the only person that they could cut was Jennifer, who went to the expansion Terrace City Knights in the draft. Now, the fourth player in four years to take the final roster spot, Wild Thing joins the Shores looking to shake off the slacker label he picked up in Swordpoint. The Shores' returning players help form a diamond leadership structure led by Bear with Twinkie III and Cheddar below. Wild Thing may struggle to acclimate. The Shores have to count on what they know to carry them again for at least a solid cricket season, which appears to be their favored game as pool has never treated these players well. Still, after a regular season of cricket where they led wire to wire, the expectation of a Hutton Cup is not unreasonable if they can stay in form.
If you haven't already done so, check out the East previews. Hopefully in the next hour or two, the West previews will be up.
UPCL 2015-16 Season Previews: East Division
Welcome to the first of three preview posts for the upcoming season, where I'll take a look at the rosters and make my best guess over how the teams will perform. While the pool side of the league is ignoring the division alignment the cricket side enacted, I'll sort these by divisions. We begin with...
The Archtown Arrows are coming off a full year of disappointment. Attempting to shake the poor year, they've redesigned their logo, shunning the old bow-and-arrow look with a more forest-green arrows-in-bullseye appearance. The team wearing the new crest is the same as it has been for the last two years. The captain of the team is Ruby, a tenacious veteran that is a big threat every year in pool. Behind her are three very willing soldiers in Sally, Sleepy B., and Dusky. Sally is the most explosive of these three, a career Arrow like Ruby, and a cricket genius. Sleepy B. plays an all-around more reserved style, but she still works well with the organization. Dusky, a former Specter acquired in 2014 in the draft, brings the occasional explosive burst to cricket but has very little pool upside. Cricket is where the Arrows make their money. With that said, if they play like they did last season offensively, the market will correct on the defensive end and they'll be back to being a top danger in the playoffs. However, if their defense is just that bad, the band may be broken up next summer. The Arrows use a wide-pyramid structure for their leadership, with Ruby at the top and the other three holding their own below.
The Atlantic Arrows, one of three expansion teams in 2014, have yet to find any success at all in their two years in the league. They've routinely been near the basement every year with a rotating cast of characters. This year, the carousel spun them back around in the draft, retaining Delila after cutting her for poor performance, and bringing back first-season failure Dominic after his year-long adventure in Web City. To make up for the loss of potential biggest bust in pool, Steven, the Pirates acquired Americus, a former Wave and Tradewind with a very weak pedigree at both stops. Delila will return to her captain role, a spot that suits her well. Between the steady Amber, Dominic, and Americus, there's not another leader on the team lending them to the wide-pyramid leadership structure. Delila is a low-ceiling player who talks more than she plays, and acts as an agitator, although she has low 300s upside in cricket. Americus will be solid but unspectacular most of the time. Amber will also tend to be a little above average in cricket at the cost of being frequently mediocre in pool. Dominic has never lasted with a team more than a year at a time, but this is his second stint with the Pirates. They know they're not to expect much from him. With the Pirates using a retread philosophy, it's expected they will struggle again this season.
What's not to love about the Central Warriors? This team stood as distinctly second-tier in cricket all last season until going into hyperdrive in the Hutton Cup Semifinals. The result was a two-round binge that saw them knock off the hotshot Pacific Volcanoes and Cinderella-esque Maplewood Lumberjacks to grab a trophy. Then, they kept the good times going in pool, finishing second in both the regular season and Clan Cup, missing out on trophies galore thanks to the Queens Flames and Tysini Hummingbirds. The success meant that all four Warriors players returned for another season. Twilight and Gizmo, a pair of Club Reality players, are the leadership duo for the team, while Empyre's Noelle, a career Warrior, and Dustin, acquired in last year's draft, round out the team with finesse and muscle respectively in the box-pattern leadership structure. Especially remarkable is the official captain, Twilight, who challenged for MVP in both sports. Gizmo, less spectacular, tends to act as more of the leader, and he supplies solid effort with occasionally brilliance. Noelle is the finesse for the team, and also the reigning Champion's Cup winner after earning a bid in that postseason tournament by winning the 7-ball title. Dustin provides the muscle, and the former Eagle still has a chip on his shoulder to make Everton regret letting him go. The highly motivated Warriors are expected to challenge for more titles this season, as long as they can keep up their pace from last season and avoid regression.
Another team that went with redesigned logos, the Diamond Gems are as unpredictable as any team. In 2014, they were the darlings of cricket before a first round upset in the playoffs, and they were downtrodden for pool. In 2015, the cricket ability dropped away (while they also participated in the first-ever tie in league history), but many players earned another year on their pool performance. Diamond is switching structure this season, with Smokey the captain, Citrus the breakout star, Cassandra acting as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate in cricket, and the rookie Pedey looking to fill the void left by Olivia's retirement. The leadership structure is linear, a very tough structure to succeed in. Smokey is still better in cricket than pool, producing solid offense in cricket but stumbling in pool. Smokey is now on Brute Force in the club realm, where he'll mentor Pedey. Of all the rookies, Pedey has the highest expectations. He was drafted to replace a 320-average cricketer in Olivia, and also to play at least .500 pool as Olivia did. Having a friend on the team should help, as it did for Cassandra the last two years. Now without Olivia, Cassandra will have to find her own rhythm as she attempts to regain her 2014 MVP form in cricket without compromising the surprising pool effort from this year. Another player who wants to succeed at both sports is Citrus. Coming off a career year for pool and another above-average pool season, Citrus is hoping to avoid being pool's latest one-hit wonder. Not helping that image is the Youth Movement curse that sees players oscillate a lot faster than other clubs. The Gems have shown the ability to succeed in both sports, but never at the same time, which is their goal for the upcoming season.
With another tweak to the team colors (from neon green to teal to light blue and orange), the Eastside Sharks hope a new image will help keep them in the spotlight. The Sharks have seen a lot of change over the years, always participating the draft. This has led to having players acquired in four separate years on the team. The leader is Graham, an Empyre-backed maestro that carries the Sharks at their lowest times and supplies solid efforts in both sports with little variance from year to year. Chelsea, a third-year Shark, came about when an old player was kicked out of the league and an emergency replacement was needed. She has likewise been solid since her arrival, but to a lesser extent than Graham. Fellow human Taylor Swift burst onto the Sharks roster as one of two rookies last year, and challenged Southridge Defender Debby Ryan for the Rookie of the Year honors, losing narrowly in both sports. Finally, since last year's other rookie left the league, Niki comes to the Sharks. Coming in on a compensatory pick raises expectations, but Niki rises to challenges, and she is expected to be an upgrade for the Sharks. The leadership structure here is wide-pyramid, with Graham at the top and the other three at the bottom. The Sharks challenged for the top of the cricket board, but couldn't keep pace with eventual regular season champions, the Whitewater Shores. They look to extend that success and find their groove in pool for this season.
While they appeared to have lost when they let Dustin go last season, the Everton Eagles appeared to be winners themselves by the season's end. No, they didn't find a title of any variety, and there were growing pains for the team, but they made the pool playoffs and they challenged for the cricket playoffs near the end of the season, so it's an improvement. Dustin was shown the door last summer because of the team's lack of offense in cricket. The Eagles brought on Blizzard to replace him, but she didn't match his production. Making matters worse was a slump from Cleo, who had challenged for Rookie of the Year in her first season but suffered in her sophomore campaign. Still, Goldy and Puff III carried the slack, and the result was an impressive pool effort, which is their preferred sport anyway. Goldy is a no-doubt captain for the Eagles, excelling in pool and playing above average in cricket. Puff III also plays to above-average levels across the board, but not as high as Goldy, cementing her more as a reliable veteran. Cleo is an unknown two years in, but the Eagles hope to see her pick a sport and excel at it while treading water in the other sport. The odd thing the Eagles did was bring back an underwhelming Blizzard. She did improve from her previous season with the Freedom Cascades, but not dramatically so. Still, the Eagles see potential, and Blizzard is a good leader in personality, making this a egalitarian leadership structure that incorporates all players well.
Another team from the 2014 expansion, the Freedom Cascades have also struggled dramatically, especially in cricket. The Cascades have shown flashes in pool, but with one of the worst road records in cricket two years running, it's no wonder players have cycled through the team. Both captain Jasmine and Stinky stick with the team for their third seasons in Freedom, but they'll have new complementary pieces in Roxy, a well-traveled former Swift, Flame, and Wave, and the bulky rookie Nikolai. Jasmine is the only small player on the team for her species, which would be human. She also plays consistently better than her teammates, but this has led to her being no more than average so far. Stinky tends to stick closer to Jasmine's numbers, but he is also unspectacular. His rookie season in 2014 showed some potential alongside fellow rookie Cowzart (now departed from the team), but it didn't translate this season. Roxy has yet to stick anywhere on some admittedly weak teams, but after a down year even by her standards in Oceanside, there's not a lot that says she'll find any more success with the Cascades. The biggest change for the Cascades is Nikolai, who is a high-ceiling player they grabbed in the fourth round. He brings new life to the team that has struggled on the road in cricket, and with him anchoring the back end, he could produce big points and help the team find another gear. The leadership structure here is more of a box-pattern, with Jasmine and Stinky the integrated veterans and Roxy and Nikolai the very big newcomers that could impact this team either way significantly. One big factor is that Jasmine is driven to be the best on the team, and if Nikolai can challenge her, the team will improve.
One of the most conservative teams in the league, the Harrison Specters had to shake things up after failing at both sports last season. A quick third-round collapse in pool coupled with a dangerously weak cricket campaign meant two team veterans were shown the door. Leandra, the highly-motivated league star went to the Hummingbirds, while the vendetta-fueled Stealth ran out of fuel for his fire here and went to the Blades. Staying with the team, the captain Slinks looks to bounce back from a season that could have sent her away as well but she stayed thanks to a slightly stronger pedigree. Joining her is the Specters' breakout star, Twinkie II, who finally found success after struggles with the Tradewinds and Waves. This lends the Specters to a narrow-pyramid structure for leadership. At the base of this are the newcomers. The first is rookie Sydney Sierota, who is part of the second crop of celebrities to join the league. The Echosmith lead singer was linked to Royal at the draft, but ended up going to the Specters in the third round. She is expected to match Stealth's near-average output in cricket, but may lag behind his pace in pool. Joining Sydney is Brownie, a journey-cat that flamed out with the Pirates last season and has also worn out her welcome with the Swifts and the Torpedoes. The Specters will need Brownie to do what her sister, Dusky, couldn't with the team, which is find success. Leandra, even in a down year, will be hard to replace, and it may be another long year for the Specters pending how Slinks bounces back as a heavily-criticized captain, how much regression affects Twinkie II, and what Sydney brings to the league. Brownie is the most known quantity, but she's looking to shake the perception that she's not good enough. The team would be happy with success in one sport.
In their best season yet, the Maplewood Lumberjacks hovered in the second tier in both sports. This prompted them to return the same roster that resulted from the 2015 draft overhaul after a bad 2014. The long-time captain, Fluffina, returns to lead the team. Known for her explosiveness in cricket and a remarkable steadiness and pedigree in pool, she has one of the most secure jobs in the league with the Lumberjacks. Fellow Delila Enterprises club member Diddley supports her as a solid and respectable veteran presence in the lineup with high upside in both sports. The former Torpedoes captain played through an emotional season, but Maplewood embraced him and he should be more comfortable this year. Another career-Lumberjack, Bryant supplies sneaky offense in cricket but very little of anything in pool, acting as the weak link there. Bryant is a solid player. Surprisingly, Cubby stuck with the Lumberjacks after faltering with Reyes Del Sur and the Tysini Hummingbirds the previous two years. Cubby solidified his roster slot with a high rank in pool come season's end, complementing Bryant by also being weak in cricket where Bryant finds success. The leadership structure is a box-pattern with Diddley around to support Fluffina at the top corners, while Bryant plays his role and Cubby also falls into a role situation. If 2015 was no fluke, expect big things out of the Hutton Cup runners-up and #5 ranked pool team in 2016.
The Pronger Tridents flipped their colors and changed their font, but that's the only change this team has ever made, continuing to be the only team to never cut a player. This, coupled with the lack of a true leader on the team, leads to a egalitarian leadership structure. With no new players, the team begins with Strawberry, their cricket leader last season who struggled with pool. The Youth Movement product has the most fire on the team, bringing the energy thanks to her lower age. Complementing her directly was Precious, the team's top pool player who worked mostly on the road last season. Precious saved her bacon with a pool effort from a determined player, after threatening her future with the team in cricket. Hoot couldn't say the same thing, playing an absolutely miserable first round that saw him leave the pool tournament quickly. He played above average in cricket though, earning another chance. Likewise, Paps was not great at cricket, but he survived enough in pool to warrant retention with the team, keeping the team together despite their biggest test in the three-year UPCL history. The previous logo, a blue trident on gray, was color reversed this season for logic purposes. Coming with this is a brand new blue jersey for the players. Occasionally, Pronger is expected to bring out the old gray uniforms, likely in Eastern Hills-region rivalry games with Atlantic and Diamond, and possible Freedom, as well as critical games given the reasonable success the old scheme brought about. Their third jersey may lead to other teams adopting the style. As for the game, the Tridents need to get on the same page amongst themselves to improve this coming season, but they know average performances will keep the team together for another year. For these players, this is the only team they've ever known.
The Web City Spiders also found a lot of success in 2015. They backed up a strong effort in cricket with a similarly strong effort in pool. Their superstar, Rainmane, finished second in the Champions' Cup. They played well in the Clan Cup as well, making the semifinals. This is a team that knows what they are doing, with only Dominic truly holding them back last season. After he returned to Atlantic, the future is bright for the Spiders. Shiny comes into Dominic's roster slot, with a higher upside given her history with a title to her name once in pool. She has yet to put it together in cricket, but this is a safer environment for that. Just ask her new teammate, Sugar, who came over to the Spiders from the Sharks last year. Sugar got out of a toxic situation in Eastside and thrived around average play in both sports with the Spiders, enough to stay with the team another season. At the top of the box leadership structure, Rainmane provides the fireworks with her flashy and virtuoso play. She is one of the most determined and aggressive players in the league, and she channels it well. Alongside her is the more reserved captain Shadow, a strong player in his own right who favors pool but also supplies good work in cricket from the leadoff slot. The Spiders are building off their best season yet, and they appear set to continue growing now, with no performance being too far out of line from career norms for any of the players. The addition of an established veteran in Shiny speaks to this.
That's all for the East Division, covering the Eastern Hills and Northeast regions. Later tonight, the Center and West Division teams will get their spotlight moments.
The Archtown Arrows are coming off a full year of disappointment. Attempting to shake the poor year, they've redesigned their logo, shunning the old bow-and-arrow look with a more forest-green arrows-in-bullseye appearance. The team wearing the new crest is the same as it has been for the last two years. The captain of the team is Ruby, a tenacious veteran that is a big threat every year in pool. Behind her are three very willing soldiers in Sally, Sleepy B., and Dusky. Sally is the most explosive of these three, a career Arrow like Ruby, and a cricket genius. Sleepy B. plays an all-around more reserved style, but she still works well with the organization. Dusky, a former Specter acquired in 2014 in the draft, brings the occasional explosive burst to cricket but has very little pool upside. Cricket is where the Arrows make their money. With that said, if they play like they did last season offensively, the market will correct on the defensive end and they'll be back to being a top danger in the playoffs. However, if their defense is just that bad, the band may be broken up next summer. The Arrows use a wide-pyramid structure for their leadership, with Ruby at the top and the other three holding their own below.
The Atlantic Arrows, one of three expansion teams in 2014, have yet to find any success at all in their two years in the league. They've routinely been near the basement every year with a rotating cast of characters. This year, the carousel spun them back around in the draft, retaining Delila after cutting her for poor performance, and bringing back first-season failure Dominic after his year-long adventure in Web City. To make up for the loss of potential biggest bust in pool, Steven, the Pirates acquired Americus, a former Wave and Tradewind with a very weak pedigree at both stops. Delila will return to her captain role, a spot that suits her well. Between the steady Amber, Dominic, and Americus, there's not another leader on the team lending them to the wide-pyramid leadership structure. Delila is a low-ceiling player who talks more than she plays, and acts as an agitator, although she has low 300s upside in cricket. Americus will be solid but unspectacular most of the time. Amber will also tend to be a little above average in cricket at the cost of being frequently mediocre in pool. Dominic has never lasted with a team more than a year at a time, but this is his second stint with the Pirates. They know they're not to expect much from him. With the Pirates using a retread philosophy, it's expected they will struggle again this season.
What's not to love about the Central Warriors? This team stood as distinctly second-tier in cricket all last season until going into hyperdrive in the Hutton Cup Semifinals. The result was a two-round binge that saw them knock off the hotshot Pacific Volcanoes and Cinderella-esque Maplewood Lumberjacks to grab a trophy. Then, they kept the good times going in pool, finishing second in both the regular season and Clan Cup, missing out on trophies galore thanks to the Queens Flames and Tysini Hummingbirds. The success meant that all four Warriors players returned for another season. Twilight and Gizmo, a pair of Club Reality players, are the leadership duo for the team, while Empyre's Noelle, a career Warrior, and Dustin, acquired in last year's draft, round out the team with finesse and muscle respectively in the box-pattern leadership structure. Especially remarkable is the official captain, Twilight, who challenged for MVP in both sports. Gizmo, less spectacular, tends to act as more of the leader, and he supplies solid effort with occasionally brilliance. Noelle is the finesse for the team, and also the reigning Champion's Cup winner after earning a bid in that postseason tournament by winning the 7-ball title. Dustin provides the muscle, and the former Eagle still has a chip on his shoulder to make Everton regret letting him go. The highly motivated Warriors are expected to challenge for more titles this season, as long as they can keep up their pace from last season and avoid regression.
Another team that went with redesigned logos, the Diamond Gems are as unpredictable as any team. In 2014, they were the darlings of cricket before a first round upset in the playoffs, and they were downtrodden for pool. In 2015, the cricket ability dropped away (while they also participated in the first-ever tie in league history), but many players earned another year on their pool performance. Diamond is switching structure this season, with Smokey the captain, Citrus the breakout star, Cassandra acting as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate in cricket, and the rookie Pedey looking to fill the void left by Olivia's retirement. The leadership structure is linear, a very tough structure to succeed in. Smokey is still better in cricket than pool, producing solid offense in cricket but stumbling in pool. Smokey is now on Brute Force in the club realm, where he'll mentor Pedey. Of all the rookies, Pedey has the highest expectations. He was drafted to replace a 320-average cricketer in Olivia, and also to play at least .500 pool as Olivia did. Having a friend on the team should help, as it did for Cassandra the last two years. Now without Olivia, Cassandra will have to find her own rhythm as she attempts to regain her 2014 MVP form in cricket without compromising the surprising pool effort from this year. Another player who wants to succeed at both sports is Citrus. Coming off a career year for pool and another above-average pool season, Citrus is hoping to avoid being pool's latest one-hit wonder. Not helping that image is the Youth Movement curse that sees players oscillate a lot faster than other clubs. The Gems have shown the ability to succeed in both sports, but never at the same time, which is their goal for the upcoming season.
With another tweak to the team colors (from neon green to teal to light blue and orange), the Eastside Sharks hope a new image will help keep them in the spotlight. The Sharks have seen a lot of change over the years, always participating the draft. This has led to having players acquired in four separate years on the team. The leader is Graham, an Empyre-backed maestro that carries the Sharks at their lowest times and supplies solid efforts in both sports with little variance from year to year. Chelsea, a third-year Shark, came about when an old player was kicked out of the league and an emergency replacement was needed. She has likewise been solid since her arrival, but to a lesser extent than Graham. Fellow human Taylor Swift burst onto the Sharks roster as one of two rookies last year, and challenged Southridge Defender Debby Ryan for the Rookie of the Year honors, losing narrowly in both sports. Finally, since last year's other rookie left the league, Niki comes to the Sharks. Coming in on a compensatory pick raises expectations, but Niki rises to challenges, and she is expected to be an upgrade for the Sharks. The leadership structure here is wide-pyramid, with Graham at the top and the other three at the bottom. The Sharks challenged for the top of the cricket board, but couldn't keep pace with eventual regular season champions, the Whitewater Shores. They look to extend that success and find their groove in pool for this season.
While they appeared to have lost when they let Dustin go last season, the Everton Eagles appeared to be winners themselves by the season's end. No, they didn't find a title of any variety, and there were growing pains for the team, but they made the pool playoffs and they challenged for the cricket playoffs near the end of the season, so it's an improvement. Dustin was shown the door last summer because of the team's lack of offense in cricket. The Eagles brought on Blizzard to replace him, but she didn't match his production. Making matters worse was a slump from Cleo, who had challenged for Rookie of the Year in her first season but suffered in her sophomore campaign. Still, Goldy and Puff III carried the slack, and the result was an impressive pool effort, which is their preferred sport anyway. Goldy is a no-doubt captain for the Eagles, excelling in pool and playing above average in cricket. Puff III also plays to above-average levels across the board, but not as high as Goldy, cementing her more as a reliable veteran. Cleo is an unknown two years in, but the Eagles hope to see her pick a sport and excel at it while treading water in the other sport. The odd thing the Eagles did was bring back an underwhelming Blizzard. She did improve from her previous season with the Freedom Cascades, but not dramatically so. Still, the Eagles see potential, and Blizzard is a good leader in personality, making this a egalitarian leadership structure that incorporates all players well.
Another team from the 2014 expansion, the Freedom Cascades have also struggled dramatically, especially in cricket. The Cascades have shown flashes in pool, but with one of the worst road records in cricket two years running, it's no wonder players have cycled through the team. Both captain Jasmine and Stinky stick with the team for their third seasons in Freedom, but they'll have new complementary pieces in Roxy, a well-traveled former Swift, Flame, and Wave, and the bulky rookie Nikolai. Jasmine is the only small player on the team for her species, which would be human. She also plays consistently better than her teammates, but this has led to her being no more than average so far. Stinky tends to stick closer to Jasmine's numbers, but he is also unspectacular. His rookie season in 2014 showed some potential alongside fellow rookie Cowzart (now departed from the team), but it didn't translate this season. Roxy has yet to stick anywhere on some admittedly weak teams, but after a down year even by her standards in Oceanside, there's not a lot that says she'll find any more success with the Cascades. The biggest change for the Cascades is Nikolai, who is a high-ceiling player they grabbed in the fourth round. He brings new life to the team that has struggled on the road in cricket, and with him anchoring the back end, he could produce big points and help the team find another gear. The leadership structure here is more of a box-pattern, with Jasmine and Stinky the integrated veterans and Roxy and Nikolai the very big newcomers that could impact this team either way significantly. One big factor is that Jasmine is driven to be the best on the team, and if Nikolai can challenge her, the team will improve.
One of the most conservative teams in the league, the Harrison Specters had to shake things up after failing at both sports last season. A quick third-round collapse in pool coupled with a dangerously weak cricket campaign meant two team veterans were shown the door. Leandra, the highly-motivated league star went to the Hummingbirds, while the vendetta-fueled Stealth ran out of fuel for his fire here and went to the Blades. Staying with the team, the captain Slinks looks to bounce back from a season that could have sent her away as well but she stayed thanks to a slightly stronger pedigree. Joining her is the Specters' breakout star, Twinkie II, who finally found success after struggles with the Tradewinds and Waves. This lends the Specters to a narrow-pyramid structure for leadership. At the base of this are the newcomers. The first is rookie Sydney Sierota, who is part of the second crop of celebrities to join the league. The Echosmith lead singer was linked to Royal at the draft, but ended up going to the Specters in the third round. She is expected to match Stealth's near-average output in cricket, but may lag behind his pace in pool. Joining Sydney is Brownie, a journey-cat that flamed out with the Pirates last season and has also worn out her welcome with the Swifts and the Torpedoes. The Specters will need Brownie to do what her sister, Dusky, couldn't with the team, which is find success. Leandra, even in a down year, will be hard to replace, and it may be another long year for the Specters pending how Slinks bounces back as a heavily-criticized captain, how much regression affects Twinkie II, and what Sydney brings to the league. Brownie is the most known quantity, but she's looking to shake the perception that she's not good enough. The team would be happy with success in one sport.
In their best season yet, the Maplewood Lumberjacks hovered in the second tier in both sports. This prompted them to return the same roster that resulted from the 2015 draft overhaul after a bad 2014. The long-time captain, Fluffina, returns to lead the team. Known for her explosiveness in cricket and a remarkable steadiness and pedigree in pool, she has one of the most secure jobs in the league with the Lumberjacks. Fellow Delila Enterprises club member Diddley supports her as a solid and respectable veteran presence in the lineup with high upside in both sports. The former Torpedoes captain played through an emotional season, but Maplewood embraced him and he should be more comfortable this year. Another career-Lumberjack, Bryant supplies sneaky offense in cricket but very little of anything in pool, acting as the weak link there. Bryant is a solid player. Surprisingly, Cubby stuck with the Lumberjacks after faltering with Reyes Del Sur and the Tysini Hummingbirds the previous two years. Cubby solidified his roster slot with a high rank in pool come season's end, complementing Bryant by also being weak in cricket where Bryant finds success. The leadership structure is a box-pattern with Diddley around to support Fluffina at the top corners, while Bryant plays his role and Cubby also falls into a role situation. If 2015 was no fluke, expect big things out of the Hutton Cup runners-up and #5 ranked pool team in 2016.
The Pronger Tridents flipped their colors and changed their font, but that's the only change this team has ever made, continuing to be the only team to never cut a player. This, coupled with the lack of a true leader on the team, leads to a egalitarian leadership structure. With no new players, the team begins with Strawberry, their cricket leader last season who struggled with pool. The Youth Movement product has the most fire on the team, bringing the energy thanks to her lower age. Complementing her directly was Precious, the team's top pool player who worked mostly on the road last season. Precious saved her bacon with a pool effort from a determined player, after threatening her future with the team in cricket. Hoot couldn't say the same thing, playing an absolutely miserable first round that saw him leave the pool tournament quickly. He played above average in cricket though, earning another chance. Likewise, Paps was not great at cricket, but he survived enough in pool to warrant retention with the team, keeping the team together despite their biggest test in the three-year UPCL history. The previous logo, a blue trident on gray, was color reversed this season for logic purposes. Coming with this is a brand new blue jersey for the players. Occasionally, Pronger is expected to bring out the old gray uniforms, likely in Eastern Hills-region rivalry games with Atlantic and Diamond, and possible Freedom, as well as critical games given the reasonable success the old scheme brought about. Their third jersey may lead to other teams adopting the style. As for the game, the Tridents need to get on the same page amongst themselves to improve this coming season, but they know average performances will keep the team together for another year. For these players, this is the only team they've ever known.
The Web City Spiders also found a lot of success in 2015. They backed up a strong effort in cricket with a similarly strong effort in pool. Their superstar, Rainmane, finished second in the Champions' Cup. They played well in the Clan Cup as well, making the semifinals. This is a team that knows what they are doing, with only Dominic truly holding them back last season. After he returned to Atlantic, the future is bright for the Spiders. Shiny comes into Dominic's roster slot, with a higher upside given her history with a title to her name once in pool. She has yet to put it together in cricket, but this is a safer environment for that. Just ask her new teammate, Sugar, who came over to the Spiders from the Sharks last year. Sugar got out of a toxic situation in Eastside and thrived around average play in both sports with the Spiders, enough to stay with the team another season. At the top of the box leadership structure, Rainmane provides the fireworks with her flashy and virtuoso play. She is one of the most determined and aggressive players in the league, and she channels it well. Alongside her is the more reserved captain Shadow, a strong player in his own right who favors pool but also supplies good work in cricket from the leadoff slot. The Spiders are building off their best season yet, and they appear set to continue growing now, with no performance being too far out of line from career norms for any of the players. The addition of an established veteran in Shiny speaks to this.
That's all for the East Division, covering the Eastern Hills and Northeast regions. Later tonight, the Center and West Division teams will get their spotlight moments.
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