SBL POWER RANKINGS
ranking the teams in the sbl
based on current level of play
through week 3
1) THE LASER
CATS (6-0)
Nobody could reasonably put the cats
anywhere but number one right now. They
have absolutely destroyed everything that has been put in front of them this
season, which was capped last week by a 19-7 win over a 4-1 voltron
team in which they’ll admit they actually played pretty poorly. So far this year they’ve outscore their
opponents 132-62, and over the past three games that number is an astounding
62-9. Everyone knew at the beginning of
the season they would be competitive with Nate Tomko and Terry Shernisky, but nobody would have picked Bob Spohn and Tim Martin to play the way they have been. Both are batting well over .500 and playing
phenomenal defense. Even without one of
the big two, this team would still be a handful.
Up next:
Jukebox and the Democracy
2) THE
For some reason, this team sat at 1-3 only
a few days ago. They’re as talented as
any squad in the league, which they proved last weekend by dismantling a pair
of previously unbeaten teams in voltron and the
oatcake hate monsters. They’ve played a
brutal early-season schedule, and have to be pumped to emerge from it even at
.500. Bryan Frankovich
is having a player of the year caliber season, and the addition of Stud to the
lineup last weekend seemed to be exactly what this team needed to turn those
close early season losses into wins. Two
teams in the SBL may sport better records right now, but this is a team nobody
wants to be playing.
Up next:
the Kamikazees and the Democracy
3) THE OATCAKE
HATE MONSTERS (4-2)
Just one week ago, this team sat at 4-0,
atop the SBL and probably would have gotten more than a few votes as the
league’s best squad. An embarrassing
showing in one game last week against a 1-3 banana democracy, then a tough loss
to a good queen team the next, and now the hate monsters find themselves in the
middle of the pack and a far cry from the feared offense they boasted over the
fist two weeks of the season. Shelley Goodpastor struggled last week, and I can’t remember ever
typing those words before. Captain Terry
Hall is looking more and more like a Billy Weisberg-type player every
week: he’s good, he plays the right way,
and he’s got all the talent in the world, but he’s never going to be considered
one of the elite players in the game because he just seems to lack the ability
to take a game over like a Shernisky or a Frankovich. Katie
Kelly has played well, but she’s just not capable of winning a game by herself. This team,
talented as it is, needs Matt Mcclelland back in a
hurry.
Up next:
the Kamikazees and the Funbridges
4) VOLTRON (4-2)
The least likely 4-0 squad in the league thorugh two weeks proved their doubters right and that they
were beneficiaries of an easy early season schedule this past Sunday at Free
Air Arena when they finally had to play two tough ones in a row. The results were a pair of humbling defeats
at the hands of the top two teams on this list, and suddenly the voltron offense I myself was raving about a few days back
looks downright pathetic, having put up a measly 13 runs in two outings on
Sunday. And this teams seems to feed off
how their shooting, as the normally solid defense got just 9 double plays in 18
innings and 6 of those came from captain Bill Weisberg, who is certainly more
adept at keeping the other teams best players out from under the hoop than
being his teams go-to guy on D. The
schedule will certainly get easier this weekend, which is exactly what the big
V needs if it wants to right the ship, hold onto first in the National, and
keep themselves in consideration for a regular season
title.
Up next:
Jukebox and the Funbridges
5) THE BANANA
DEMOCACY (3-3)
If one had just watched the games, paying
no attention to the outcome, I seriously doubt anyone would guess this team has
won half of its games. They literally
stole a pair last weekend, somehow catching Shelley in a 3 for 11 game in knocking off previously unbeaten oatcake and winning
a coin toss for Rando knight against the KK, who
pretty much carried a squad that wasn’t his own to victory by himself. Still, you can’t argue with results, and an
optimist would tell you that winning 3 of 4 without any of your good players is
a damn good sign. Somehow, this team is
right in the thick of things, and only one win away from sitting atop their
conference. Getting Ben Smith (car
troubles), Chuck Muszik (stupidity) and Dennis Lackey
(being a lackey) back from wherever the hell they are will be huge, because
with the three of them in the lineup this team can compete with anyone. This weekend will be very telling as to this teams contender-ship or pretender-ship.
Up next:
the Laser Cats and the
6) THE FLESHY
FUNBRIDGES (2-4)
Captain Rando Knight
was given a solid starting four of Jon Biddle, Jamie Moroco
and George Kovac in the predraft
lottery. He then filled out his bench
with less than spectacularly talented rookies and single-shooting
veterans. If you told him before week
one that none of his big three would show up at all (except for Kovac, who for some reason came to week 2, but left halfway
through the first game and has apparently had his ringer shut off constantly
since then) and that Knight himself would miss an entire week and his ragtag
squad would somehow be only a game under .500, I’m betting he would have taken
it. This team has done a commendable job
of treading water thus far, and a recent trade with the laser cats has bolstered
their roster with Lee Nespor, Pat Lackey and Hammy
Wareham at the cost of only Biddle.
Couple Nespor’s bombing from long range with
Danielle Hennon’s consistency at getting on base, and
this team suddenly has an offensive combo it can count on. (no offense to Opie Neff and his ridiculous 2-innings at K-Y a few
weekends ago). A starting lineup of Hennon, Knight, Neff and Nespor
will be solid, and if Kovac or Moroco
start showing up, this team could climb these rankings pretty quickly.
Up next:
Voltron and Oatcake
7) THE
How on earth does Kyoto Kamikaze not win in
any of their first four games with a lineup featuring Mike Moroco,
Jon Olsavsky, Lenny Crist,
this Chris Pacsi kid who is pretty much guaranteed to
win rookie of the year if he shows up, Greg Lackey and PJ Nespor? Then, with Moroco,
Jeanne Mentrek and Rob Whiting, they finally get
their first duke against a jukebox squad featuring Stud and Jamie Fabes? Bizarre. The bad news
for KK is obviously that they’re 1-5 and a few weeks ago Greg Norman-ed their
way to the most epic collapse in league annals.
The good news is that they’ve been close in all of their games, with the
largest loss being a week one defeat at the hands of the #1 cats. Hopefully finally getting a win last week
will be enough to push them over the hump and get them on a winning path,
because in my opinion this team should be way better than 1-5 and there are at
least 3 teams above them that I feel they should be better than. Mikey needs to take
command of this team… not only has he underperformed on the court, but he’s
been less than stellar at getting his squad to show up. If he starts playing like the all-star he is
and captaining like he should be, this team could be the double stuff of this
season, shaking off a rough start to come on at the end of the season and
perhaps even make a run at the finals.
Up next: Oatcake and the
8) JUKEBOX HERO
(1-5)
As expected, jukebox is in last. Not as expected, however, is that they’re not
alone. In fact, this team probably
should be 3-3 right now, as a pair of 3-2 losses last weekend could very, very
easily have been wins. Jeanne Mentrek, who started the season as captain of this squad,
has yet to play for the yellow mesh. As
a result, the SBL removed her from her position last weekend and replaced her
with John Offutt. Can Offutt turn
jukebox around without ever knowing who will be playing for it, including
himself? Probably not. But it’s always nice to think of jukebox
making the playoffs, which has never happened when at least one team was
eliminated from participating in the postseason. John, get out there and fight!
Up next:
Voltron and the Cats