2014 US Nationals in Dublin, OH this weekend
Contributed by: Troy Thompson Thursday, October 09 2014 @ 10:59 pm ACDT
The 2014 US National Championships kick off this Friday ahead of a big weekend of footy in Dublin, Ohio. This year's tournament will have four men's divisions and a women's division. The weekend will also include a coaching course, an umpires clinic, an administrators conference and an alumni match. Players, officials and fans will travel from all over the country and special guest from overseas will be in attendance. Alex Benjamin gives us his take on how he see the tournament panning out - and details the coverage his USAFL Weekly site will provide over the weekend.
Below see the full divisions and the predictions for each of the division pools. The schedules also have the current year's records and ranking (as collated by Alex at USAFL Weekly - http://usaflweeklyreport.com[*1] )
Division One Preview
Key: Team (Record, Points, Current USAFL Weekly Report Standings)
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Pool A
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Seed
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Pool B
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Austin Crows (12-0, 28, #3)
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1st
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Calgary Kangaroos
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Denver Bulldogs (5-3, 11, #12)
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2nd
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New York Magpies (9-1, 28, #2)
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Orange County Bombers (11-1, 28, #1)
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3rd
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Dallas Magpies (5-8, 14, #8)
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Minnesota Freeze (8-1, 23, #4)
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4th
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Golden Gate Roos (7-2, 12, #9)
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Austin and Calgary are the top seeds, even with a very strong Orange County at 11-1 being ranked #1 for the majority of the season as they are the defending pool champs in their respective pools from the 2013 Nationals. The toughest pool in the Division One is, of course, Pool A with 3 of the top 4 teams in the USAFL, and the perennial 8-time champs Denver rounding out the pool. The matches to watch during the weekend are:
· Pool A: Austin vs. Orange County (3 pm EDT, Saturday). The winner of that game will win the pool and will be a strong contender to win Division One.
· Pool B: Calgary vs. New York (11 am EDT, Sunday). They save the best of Pool B for Sunday, but I think it will be worth the wait as the winner of that game will win the pool.
Predictions:
· Pool A: Austin vs. Orange County will decide it and I think at this point until Austin gets toppled, they will be the team to beat. Austin.
· Pool B: Calgary vs. New York will decide it and I will go with New York to win it in a close one.
· Grand Final: Austin vs. New York. These two teams have played each other last month with Austin pulling a 16 point win on a neutral Dallas field. I think on this one, unless the champs are knocked down, Austin will take it by less than a goal.
Division Two Preview
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Pool A
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Seed
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Pool B
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Los Angeles Dragons (6-4, 15, #8)
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1st
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Columbus Jackaroos (11-9, 19, #5)
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Nashville Kangaroos (5-3-1, 17, #6)
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2nd
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Houston Lonestars (5-5, 16, #7)
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Baltimore/Washington Eagles (1-5, 4, #24)
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3rd
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Boston Demons (2-2, 6, #19)
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Quebec Saints
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4th
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Chicago Swans (2-6, 8, #15)
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Matches To Watch:
· Pool A: The Nashville Kangaroos being seeded #2 and in Division 2 might shock a few but their National’s record of 2-4 in the last 2 years has earnt them this slot. That said, the match to watch will be their match with Los Angeles (Sunday, 10 am EDT). Whoever wins that match will win the Pool.
· Pool B: The match to watch will be the Houston vs. Chicago at 5 pm EDT. Whoever wins that game may have an outside chance to topple Columbus.
Predictions:
· Pool A: The winner of LA vs. Nashville will win the pool. In my opinion, Nashville with the tougher schedule this year, should beat Los Angeles and wins the pool.
· Pool B: Until someone can topple Columbus, they will be the team to beat.
· Grand Final: Nashville vs. Columbus. This will be an all-out war as the teams have split the season series. I will go out in a (biased) limb and will say, Nashville, by less than a goal, to win their first Grand Final ever.
Division Three Preview:
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Pool A
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Seed
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Pool B
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Sacramento Suns (3-9, 9, #14)
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1st
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Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids (0-3, 0, #29)
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Des Moines Roosters (3-6, 7, #18)
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2nd
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Philadelphia Hawks (3-3, 10, #13)
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New York Magpies B
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3rd
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Calgary Kookaburras B
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Cincinnati (Ohio Valley) Dockers (5-4-1, 12, #10)
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4th
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Portland Steelheads (2-2, 4, #22)
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Matches To Watch:
· Pool A: With the Houston Lonestars moving to Division Two, Sacramento, as the runners-up, are top seed. The one to watch in could be the biggest toss-up, Sacramento vs. New York Magpies B (Saturday, 3 pm EDT). Whoever wins that game will have the inside track to win the Pool A.
· Pool B: Top seed, the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids will have their hands full if they can get through the tougher Pool B and the game to watch will be their final game against Philadelphia (10 am EDT, Sunday). The winner will take the pool.
Predictions:
· Pool A: Both pools will be difficult to predict, but more so in Pool A. In Pool A, I will go with the Sacramento Suns to win the pool, but don’t be surprised to see Des Moines pull off some upsets.
· Pool B: The game between Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale will decide it and with Philadelphia playing the tougher schedule, I will take the Hawks to win the pool.
· Grand Final: Sacramento vs. Philadelphia. These teams faced each other in Pool B last year in Austin, in which I umpired that game to decide that pool. Sacramento won that game and I think they will win the Grand Final to take Division 3. Sacramento by 2 goals.
Division Four Preview
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Pool A
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Seed
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Pool B
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Tulsa Buffaloes (4-5, 8, #16)
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1st
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North Carolina Tigers (1-3, 4, #23)
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Denver Bulldogs B/Kansas City Power
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2nd
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Columbus Jackaroos B/Orange County Bombers B
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Houston Lonestars B
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3rd
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Milwaukee Bombers/Indianapolis Giants
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Minnesota Freeze B/Seattle Grizzlies
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4th
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Atlanta Kookaburras B/Baltimore-Washington Eagles B
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Match To Watch:
· Both Pools: With the only two full teams in the Pool, the match of the Division Four will be Tulsa Buffaloes vs. Houston Lonestars B (4 pm EDT Saturday). That match most likely will decide Pool A and have a great chance of winning Division Four.
Predictions:
· Pool A: Tulsa vs. Houston will be the match of the Division and with the stronger schedule for Tulsa, I will go with Tulsa to win.
· Pool B: With 3 other teams being split teams, North Carolina is the class of the field and will win Pool B.
· Grand Final: Tulsa vs. North Carolina. This will be a tight one. Tulsa has played more games in the USAFL this season (9) to North Carolina (4), so I will go with Tulsa to take their first Premiers in only their 2nd Nationals ever. Tulsa by 2 goals.
Women’s Division Preview
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Pool A
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Seed
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Pool B
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Denver Bulldogs
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1st
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San Francisco Iron Maiden/Portland Banshees
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Calgary Kangaroos
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2nd
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Sacramento Suns
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Montreal/Baltimore-Washington Eagles
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3rd
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Minnesota Freeze Blue
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Minnesota Freeze Blue/Columbus/Boston
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4th
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New York Magpies/Toronto
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Matches to Watch:
· Pool A: Denver, with all of their power, will have to wait for, in my opinion, the match of the entire Women’s Division as they face Calgary (3 pm EDT Saturday). The winner of this match will likely win the entire tournament. If there’s any chance for the dynasty to end, this will be the game.
· Pool B: San Francisco Iron Maiden/Portland vs. Sacramento Suns (Noon EDT Saturday). Sacramento has absolutely owned San Francisco in the regular season as they taken 3 out of 4 games this season, but this is the Nationals. Does Sacramento have it in them to do 4 out of 5?
Predictions:
· Pool A: Until Denver gets beaten, I have to believe Denver will win Pool A and go for 5 in a row.
· Pool B: The San Francisco/Portland vs. Sacramento will decide who will face Denver. Move over, San Francisco. Sacramento will win Pool B.
· Grand Final: Denver vs. Sacramento. These teams faced each other last year with Denver winning in the Nationals Final by 45. Expect more of the same. Denver to win 5 straight by 6 goals.
Showtimes This Weekend:
This year, due to work constraints, I am forced to cover the Nationals from home base Smyrna. Rob De Santos and Brian Reiss from Gem City Sports will be our liaisons in Dublin. We will have 7 shows this weekend. Here’s our showtimes and what we will cover during those shows (All times USA Eastern Daylight Time):
Friday
9 pm: Our Opening Ceremonies (2 hours): We will preview all 5 Divisions and will have special guests during our 2 hours.
Saturday
1 pm: Halftime Report (1 hour): We will be on Darree Fields as we recap the morning session and preview the afternoon session and our games to look ahead.
4 pm: Special Show (1 hour): During the 4 pm show, we will be interviewing the newest teams in the USAFL and what they are doing to strength the USAFL in new areas and we will recap the first half of the afternoon games.
7 pm: Day in Review (2 hours): Our Day in Review will recap all of the games and have the standings for each of the divisions and preview Sunday morning’s games. During the show, we will have an open segment to answer questions from our Facebook, Twitter, Chat on UStream and our live audience in Dublin. For those on Twitter and Facebook, use #FootyCentral with your question throughout the day on Saturday and we will answer them during the show.
Sunday
1 pm: Grand Final Preview (1 hour): We will be on Darree Fields as we recap the final round robin games and set the stage for the Grand Finals.
4 pm: Special Show (1 hour): We will recap the Division 4, 3, 2 and Women’s Grand Final during this hour.
7 pm: Grand Final Day In Review (2 hours): Our Grand Final Day in Review will recap all 5 Divisions and hopefully have interviews of the winning teams during the 2 hour show. Remember, as we did Saturday, we will have a Q and A session as well. Use #FootyCentral with your question throughout Sunday and we will answer on this show.
Please bookmark our websites during this weekend:
Video: USAFL Weekly @ The Nationals: www.ustream.tv/channel/usafl-weekly[*2] : Alex will be hosting the video portion here.
Audio: Gem Sports Radio Network: radio1.gemcitysports.com : Rob and Brian will lead the audio here.
I hope everyone makes it to the websites during this weekend. The NATIONALS begin Friday….time to bounce for the titles!
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