Devin Nelson's Uneducated Tournament Power Rankings (Pre-Tournament Article #2)
7/16/14
by Devin Nelson
As the NWLA Tournament is now less than a week away I decided it was time for me to chime in with a few predictions for the tournament in article of my own. A few things to remember before reading this article: I haven’t researched any of these teams extensively, Trent and I have talked about a few, and I’ve read most of the other leagues articles, and I looked at a few of last years articles and such, but no real “research” was done. I will TRY to write at least 3 sentences about each team, but once again I haven’t done any research so that could be a challenge for some of the “lesser-known” teams. Most of those 3 sentences probably will have nothing to do with Wiffleball. Also, I am from the land of 10,000 lakes so my opinion and viewpoints really don’t mean anything at all.
16. SRL Hotel Sterling
Word everywhere has it that this team sucks. Everybody has them at 16 as far as I’ve seen. They have 3 players coming, which is bound to be an issue. But they did receive more votes to get into the tourney than our league, so I guess I can’t say much.
15. HWL Brew Jays
After going 1-5 last year (I think) The Huntington League apparently is bringing 8 guys in 2014. I’ve read that these 8 players each led the league in some category. Is most beers shot-gunned between innings a category? Judging by their name, I feel like this league is going to drink the most beer per player than anyone else.
14. MYWL Landsharks
I believe the Land Sharks went 1-5 last year as well. Has anyone even heard from this league since then? Interesting. I also heard the Landsharks are younger than most teams so that’s why I put them ahead of the Brew Jays.
13. HVWBL River Monsters
They got less votes than us, and were the last team to make the cut for the 2014 Tournament. Their River Monsters logo kind of scares me. Their team summary article on the NWLA Website said something not about Wiffleball in the first line so I didn’t bother finishing it.
12. MWLWI Mequonderers
I took more time trying to spell “Mequonderers” correctly than I did trying to pronounce it correctly. Mequon also went 1-5 in last years
tourney, so my bottom 4 teams either didn’t attend last year, or went 1-5 (The trend will continue.) So why is Mequon higher? Trent knows Mike Boyles and said he’s a pretty cool guy, so that’s why they’re 12. Them being from Wisconsin and all, I made sure they weren’t any higher than 12.
11. MNWA Gophers
When you’re writing a rankings article it really is tough to place yourself. I kind of wanted to put us a bit higher in the rankings, but I’d rather do better
than my predictions than worse. We will be the youngest team in the tournament, and probably not as cool or as good as the other team from our state, but we plan to have a hell of a time either way.
10. CWCB Clubbers
First of all you have a great logo, but I still don’t see the caveman drinking from the straw in the bottom corner of ours. Either way you’re the team I put 10. I don’t know anything about you guys, sorry. Be sure to prove me wrong by doing better than I have you ranked.
9. GBL Paw Chests
Was it the GBL that went 3-0 in pool play and got a #2 seed and then the wheels came off the train? I don’t see that happening again, as that is usually reserved for a team like HVWBL or us. I see the GBL to maybe come out with a #9 seed and pull of an upset first round of the DE tourney. I would’ve stuck with the Panthers as my team name, but I probably don’t recognize the significance of the new name.
8. KWL Aces
I feel like any of the teams 3-9 could honestly be switched around in almost any order. I have KWL next because on the podcast I believe everyone had them ranked 8. I would love to be ranked 8th because the expectations aren’t to low, yet they’re not too high either.
7. PWL Nationals
After going 5-8 combined in previous years, and being “pleased” with their performances I see them returning with a similar showing in 2014. Having the defending champs over for a scrimmage is a great way to “scout” their 2014 team out, smart move by Gallaway. I feel this team will go 2-1 in their pool, get a 6 seed and win their first round game against the 12th seeded Mequon, before losing to HRL, and then winning a couple of
games in the losers bracket and ending up 6-3.
6. SWBL Cardinals
With a 6-6 all time record at the tournament, I see Skibbe’s Cards having a similar performance to PWL. I see them being an 8 seed, but exceeding their rank in the DE Tourney by pulling an upset or 2. That was only 2 sentences so here is a third. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Lol)
5. WSEM Dads
If you see someone at the tournament who you don’t recognize it’s probably fair to assume their from WSEM. By next year they’ll have 20+ guys attending the tournament. With 7 coaches they’ve got enough for 4 base coaches plus 2 coaches designated to yell at the umpires. I’ve talked to Carl on Facebook and he said he would “be nice” to us in the podcast, instead we get picked apart and he ranks us 15. As of right now Alex Shore seems more
like my kind of guy (he ranked us 12.)
4. WWL Warriors
I’ve read the Regis Pollard is this teams best player and is sure to get them a win when he’s on the mound. I’ve heard he’s also good at the plate. Who he has playing with him is what I don’t know about. I’m sure if I did some more research I would find out more about their secondary players, but who has time for that?
3. HRL Touched By An Uncle
I had to rank our fellow Minnesotans at #3. I watched their pre-tourney practice video and they look like they have improved pitching with their young guys, plus being its Trucks last season, I hope they have a tournament to remember. Also the MNWA has the best retirement “gift” for Truck, so all the other leagues can give up.
2. TBW Lightning
Winning anything automatically puts a target on your back. I feel like TBW will have an awesome tournament and surely finish in the top 3. They may get the #1 in the DE because of the tiebreaker system, but I still see OCWA coming out on top.
1. OCWA Freaky Franchise
Repeats are boring. I’d like to see OCWA to win. Everybody I talk to says Ryan Bush is an unbelievable wiffleballer. I’d also like to thank Tomkins for drafting me for the All-Star Game, I guarantee at least a one hit performance. Anyways I see the Franchise coming back in 2014 like they had unfinished business in 2013, and taking home their 2nd trophy.
In closing, I hope I hurt everyone’s feelings, and that you all come out and dismantle the MNWA. I can’t wait to meet guys from all these leagues in less than a week. It’s going to be a great weekend and I look forwarding to spending it with all of you!
by Devin Nelson
As the NWLA Tournament is now less than a week away I decided it was time for me to chime in with a few predictions for the tournament in article of my own. A few things to remember before reading this article: I haven’t researched any of these teams extensively, Trent and I have talked about a few, and I’ve read most of the other leagues articles, and I looked at a few of last years articles and such, but no real “research” was done. I will TRY to write at least 3 sentences about each team, but once again I haven’t done any research so that could be a challenge for some of the “lesser-known” teams. Most of those 3 sentences probably will have nothing to do with Wiffleball. Also, I am from the land of 10,000 lakes so my opinion and viewpoints really don’t mean anything at all.
16. SRL Hotel Sterling
Word everywhere has it that this team sucks. Everybody has them at 16 as far as I’ve seen. They have 3 players coming, which is bound to be an issue. But they did receive more votes to get into the tourney than our league, so I guess I can’t say much.
15. HWL Brew Jays
After going 1-5 last year (I think) The Huntington League apparently is bringing 8 guys in 2014. I’ve read that these 8 players each led the league in some category. Is most beers shot-gunned between innings a category? Judging by their name, I feel like this league is going to drink the most beer per player than anyone else.
14. MYWL Landsharks
I believe the Land Sharks went 1-5 last year as well. Has anyone even heard from this league since then? Interesting. I also heard the Landsharks are younger than most teams so that’s why I put them ahead of the Brew Jays.
13. HVWBL River Monsters
They got less votes than us, and were the last team to make the cut for the 2014 Tournament. Their River Monsters logo kind of scares me. Their team summary article on the NWLA Website said something not about Wiffleball in the first line so I didn’t bother finishing it.
12. MWLWI Mequonderers
I took more time trying to spell “Mequonderers” correctly than I did trying to pronounce it correctly. Mequon also went 1-5 in last years
tourney, so my bottom 4 teams either didn’t attend last year, or went 1-5 (The trend will continue.) So why is Mequon higher? Trent knows Mike Boyles and said he’s a pretty cool guy, so that’s why they’re 12. Them being from Wisconsin and all, I made sure they weren’t any higher than 12.
11. MNWA Gophers
When you’re writing a rankings article it really is tough to place yourself. I kind of wanted to put us a bit higher in the rankings, but I’d rather do better
than my predictions than worse. We will be the youngest team in the tournament, and probably not as cool or as good as the other team from our state, but we plan to have a hell of a time either way.
10. CWCB Clubbers
First of all you have a great logo, but I still don’t see the caveman drinking from the straw in the bottom corner of ours. Either way you’re the team I put 10. I don’t know anything about you guys, sorry. Be sure to prove me wrong by doing better than I have you ranked.
9. GBL Paw Chests
Was it the GBL that went 3-0 in pool play and got a #2 seed and then the wheels came off the train? I don’t see that happening again, as that is usually reserved for a team like HVWBL or us. I see the GBL to maybe come out with a #9 seed and pull of an upset first round of the DE tourney. I would’ve stuck with the Panthers as my team name, but I probably don’t recognize the significance of the new name.
8. KWL Aces
I feel like any of the teams 3-9 could honestly be switched around in almost any order. I have KWL next because on the podcast I believe everyone had them ranked 8. I would love to be ranked 8th because the expectations aren’t to low, yet they’re not too high either.
7. PWL Nationals
After going 5-8 combined in previous years, and being “pleased” with their performances I see them returning with a similar showing in 2014. Having the defending champs over for a scrimmage is a great way to “scout” their 2014 team out, smart move by Gallaway. I feel this team will go 2-1 in their pool, get a 6 seed and win their first round game against the 12th seeded Mequon, before losing to HRL, and then winning a couple of
games in the losers bracket and ending up 6-3.
6. SWBL Cardinals
With a 6-6 all time record at the tournament, I see Skibbe’s Cards having a similar performance to PWL. I see them being an 8 seed, but exceeding their rank in the DE Tourney by pulling an upset or 2. That was only 2 sentences so here is a third. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Lol)
5. WSEM Dads
If you see someone at the tournament who you don’t recognize it’s probably fair to assume their from WSEM. By next year they’ll have 20+ guys attending the tournament. With 7 coaches they’ve got enough for 4 base coaches plus 2 coaches designated to yell at the umpires. I’ve talked to Carl on Facebook and he said he would “be nice” to us in the podcast, instead we get picked apart and he ranks us 15. As of right now Alex Shore seems more
like my kind of guy (he ranked us 12.)
4. WWL Warriors
I’ve read the Regis Pollard is this teams best player and is sure to get them a win when he’s on the mound. I’ve heard he’s also good at the plate. Who he has playing with him is what I don’t know about. I’m sure if I did some more research I would find out more about their secondary players, but who has time for that?
3. HRL Touched By An Uncle
I had to rank our fellow Minnesotans at #3. I watched their pre-tourney practice video and they look like they have improved pitching with their young guys, plus being its Trucks last season, I hope they have a tournament to remember. Also the MNWA has the best retirement “gift” for Truck, so all the other leagues can give up.
2. TBW Lightning
Winning anything automatically puts a target on your back. I feel like TBW will have an awesome tournament and surely finish in the top 3. They may get the #1 in the DE because of the tiebreaker system, but I still see OCWA coming out on top.
1. OCWA Freaky Franchise
Repeats are boring. I’d like to see OCWA to win. Everybody I talk to says Ryan Bush is an unbelievable wiffleballer. I’d also like to thank Tomkins for drafting me for the All-Star Game, I guarantee at least a one hit performance. Anyways I see the Franchise coming back in 2014 like they had unfinished business in 2013, and taking home their 2nd trophy.
In closing, I hope I hurt everyone’s feelings, and that you all come out and dismantle the MNWA. I can’t wait to meet guys from all these leagues in less than a week. It’s going to be a great weekend and I look forwarding to spending it with all of you!