Burgmann Towers, IL- In a winner takes all contest this saturday on the lakefront, the upstart Rhinos take on the sheer power that is the LS Tigers in a battle that some pundits have already dubbed “the game of the century”. With undertones of hatred between the two teams this is a battle of mate versus mate, coach versus assistant coach, president versus treasurer and good (Rhinos) versus evil (tigers). Everyone should get down to Waveland for this game which should be an absolute cracker.
The Tigers go into this outright favorites after a sensational second half of the year. Vegas bookmakers have seen feverish betting since Burgmann returned on saturday and they are now at 5/4 in the red. Punters like DeJong’s move of resting himself over the weekend and are showing no concern with regards to Ponchos shoulder or the Burgmann finger. Tommy Gunn is another injury concern for the Tiger hierachy. His run and pop is an integral part of this outfit and it will be him, along with Brennan and the flying peanut (if he can be found) that will look to stem the influence of first year Rhino onballers Deehan, Blundell and the very impressive Herrmann. The Tige’s will be expecting huge games from stalwarts Poncho, who will get the job on Drake, DeJong, Meyer and Braddis and these guys will be backed up with a whose who of United football including the brothers Dhoory, Fitzgerald, an out of form Hoyt, Trimberger and the effervesant Frenchy. Infact, a quick look through the Tiger list and I think I may do a Pete Rose and throw a few dollars on the Tigers myself. They have a huge height advantage and runners that are quick of foot to boot. Their one weakness has been kicking goals but Burgmann can kick 10 in the blink of an eye and Oscar Meyer will be especially please with the return of the big man as he looks to crumb off both him and Braddis.
The Rhinos are a gutsy team, there’s no two ways about it. They are by no means star studded like the Tigers, nor as flamboyant as the Piranhas but their last up win against L.P was nothing short of amazing and they will look to recapture that form again to pull out an unlikely victory on the biggest stage of all. Already behind the 8 ball with the loss of 2 big name players, betting on the Rhino has drifted from 4/1 out to 8/1, an effect of the Burgmann inclusion which bookmakers have dubbed “the Katandra tsunami” for its effect on both odds and world markets. The ace up the Rhino sleeve could be the perennially drunk Rocky Deehan who leads a merry band of midfielders that have shown some amzing improvement this season. Herrmann has champion written all over him, Wolfe is starting to run into some pre nationals form and Blundell, when sober, has the skill to take it up to both Brennan and Dhoory. Look also for Borchardt to have a good game. Ambrosino has been in rare form lately and is the forward the Rhinos will look to to bag a few 6 pointers for them. The Rhino backs look strong too. Led by Disco Panek and featuring the rock of Rodgers in Johnny Scher and the human muscle in Glenn Clarke (he better be there!), all three have been terrific for the Rhino this season. Kicking goals will be an issue though. Big Nate has to fire to take pressure off Drake and Ambrosino and McClamroch need to have big ones indeed.
Who will win? The Rhinos have the pace, the Tigers will dominate in the air and have lots and lots of talent at their disposal as well as a plethora of experience including a massive Australian contingent along with a Revo contingent that can’t be ignored. The Rhinos will need something extra, extra, extra special to stop the Tiger from roaring this saturday and running away with its first Metro title.
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Wrigleyville Rhinos v Lincoln Square Tigers
WHEN: Saturday, August 19th at 4.30pm
WHERE: Waveland
WHAT: Fourth installment of the Metro Grand Final. If you are wondering, previous winners are.. 08- Piranhas, 07- Piranhas, 06- Rhinos
Players to watch:
TIGERS: Burgmann, Dejong, Meyer, the Big Lebowski, Braddis, Uhlmann, Dhoory
RHINOS: Ambrosino, Herrmann, Wolfe, Scher, Panek, Blundell, OBK
Big Match ups:
Drake v Poncho/ De Jong, Wolfe v Trimberger, Herrmann v Dhoory, Blundell v Brennan, Deehan v Lebowski
After match function:
Come to the Globe Pub to toast the Metro premiers and the culmination of a successful Metro season in which the Piranhas didn’t make the final.
Umpires:
Anthony Hendrie has the honor of the first bounce and he will be supported with a full compliment of Piranhas running the boundary (Hayse and MacGlashan have volunteered for that) and Roofy and Deri have volunteered for goal umpiring duty.
LAST WORD:
Roofy seems to be a runaway winner in both the MacGlashan and Burgmann awards this year but Oscar is still nipping at his heels for the MacGlashan side of things but he looks to see a lot of John Scher so can the Warrick Capper lookalike kick a bag?
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