Rug Burn Ball Rankings: Top 3 Players per Team By Andrew Simmons In rug burn ball, there are 3 true positions (attack flex and defense). Though there are goalies, I consider them part of defense. So I felt the need to write about the top player at each position per team. I will start with the champion, The Mullet Maniacs, whose coach was KJ Hoover. The number 3 player is Jack “Singapore” Machulski [Flex] Jack was a fantastic player who really knew how to score the ball. Though not the highest-rated star Jack knew how to score better then any one else in the game. 2 Josh Fyffe Josh was a flex who could score at will, and was one of the main reasons his team took home the hardware. 1 KJ Hoover KJ, the number one goalie in rug burn ball, could stop anything that came his way, and was the player/coach and owner of the team that won the championship, plus he scored the final goal in the championship game. The next team up is the 2011 runners-up, Miller Time. 3 Tim Best: The goalie for the majority of the season after being acquired from Jammin’ with Jaffe, he played there during their playoff run to the championship game. 2 Fritz Fritz. a flex player, was a steal at the second pick in the supplemental draft. He was one of the top players in the whole league. 1 Jeff Miller The coach, owner, and star player on the runner up team, Jeff was able to play and position himself on the floor. He usually played flex but also sometimes had to play goalie. With out Jeff Miller, Miller Time would easily be the worst team in the league. The next team up is The Bad Hair Bureau, captained by Zeke Sprague. 3 there was no obvious number 3 for BHB during the pre allstar break. It was Taylor Snyder, but then after it, he was traded and the number 3 went to Evan Cooper, who was the goalie during the latter part of the season. 2 Andrew Simmons Andrew, the best young player on BHB, was one of the top attackers in the game. He scored often, and led his team to the biggest comeback in rug burn ball history. 1 Zeke Sprague Zeke was the founder of the sport, the commissioner, and the best player in the league. Zeke could actually score at will, and was the leading scorer of BHB. Some times, his temper flared, and he argued with refs. He will always be a legend in rug burn ball. On the clock now is Jammin with Jaffe (postseason)/Saltalamafia (regular season), captained by Jon Jaffe. 3 Tanner Walters Tanner, the steal of the draft, was picked in the 7th round, and was used as a defender and flex. Sasquatch, as he's called, was a very good player. 2 Matt Carrigan: A second year player and excellent striker for Jaffe’s team. He’s a player with a very good arm, and could riffle the ball in to the net better than most. 1 Jon Jaffe Though injured at the beginning, Jaffe played very well for his team, leading his team to the upset of the year. That was when the Saltalamafia beat the Mullet Maniacs in a regular season game. Ginger Giants, captained by Adam Balk., 3 Andrew (striker) Andrew was one of the best players in the league at tip-ins and drop shots. He was part of one of the most dominant teams in RBB. 2 Benji Friedman Defender of the year Benji knew what he had to do for his team to win. He only scored once, but he was a star defender who protected the goal like few can. 1 Shane Godek The number one pick in the 2011 draft, Shane was a star flex player who was dominant at long shots, and could even defend with the best of them The last team is All Heart, who was captained by Jeremy Treatman and Sarah Barshop. 3. Jeremy Treatman Though highly overrated when playing, Jeremy was a very good goalie, and when he played it, allowed other All Heart players to score more goals. 2 Jimmy Siettmann Jimmy was an underrated player because he mainly played defense and goalie. He knew how to be a lock down defender, and whenever he played an attacking position, he scored. 1 the other co rookie of the year Tyler Murry, who when at goal was the best goalie on his team, and when at flex, had games were he was the only player who scored. In sum, Tyler was an excellent player Lastly, this goes to the best player who got traded, and that was Kevin Linsey, though he rode the bench for the saltalamafia and Mullet Maniacs, he had one of the best single game playoff performances when he netted 4 goals against All Heart. 2011 RBB Awards by Taylor Snyder An award is given to a player that shows great skill and passion for the game both on and off the court. This year there were a number of awards given out to players that showed us who they are and why they got an award. This 1st award is regular season MVP and that went to Jeff Miller of “Miller Times”. Jeff received this award because of being one of the top scorers in the league and being a great captain and player. Jeff before starting the season missed the cut on the Boston hot spot top 15 and was furious about this. Therefore all the officials agreed that Jeff had worked hard enough and should definitely deserve this award. The 2nd award was playoff MVP and the winner of this was KJ Hoover of “mullet maniacs”. KJ deserved to win this award for various reasons. One reason was because he did lead his team to win the 2011 title with him in goal. He also scored the game winning goal to win the championship. He also made a lot of key saves for his team down the stretch in the playoffs and allowed the least goals by a team in the whole playoffs. And KJ was also voted best captain. It was an easy pick for playoff MVP this year. The 3rd award was defensive player of the year. This award went to none other than Benji Freidman of the “ginger giants”. Benji was a winner of the defensive player of the year in 2010 so it was no surprise that he would win it again this year. Benji is by far the best defensive player RBB has ever seen. Benji is quick, explosive, powerful, and is not afraid to throw himself in front of that ball. He led the league in blocks and really helped his team on the defensive side. He pushed his team down the stretch with him on defense and keon in goal the giants were a top ranked defensive team. The 4th award is rookie of the year and that was a tough pick because there were so many rookies that stepped it up for their team. But the winner is Tyler Murry of All Heart. Tyler had the most goals by any rookie in 2011 and was the main reason that All Heart was able to score in such close situations. Timmy Wing and he were two very good players that attacked and no one was able to figure it out so that’s why Tyler scored so many times. Tyler was an explosive player that got a ton of trade offers throughout the season. At some points it looked like he would be traded but Sarah team owner said “there is no way I will release my best player”. Tyler was definitely a fair pick for rookie of the year. The 5th award was an award the RBB officials enjoyed to give away and that was best distraction and that went to Andy Lenser. Andy was a funny and entertaining player that everyone loved. Andy was such a nice player and loved joking around with everyone on the court. Andy was known for his yelling in front of goal and his funny pranks to catch a forward off guard. Andy scored a couple times and some thought that he would comeback in 2011 and be even better from 2010 but he used this year as a fun year and joked around most of the year. The last award is most improved player and the RBB staff was honored to give this to Kevin Linsey. Kevin was the biggest shock in RBB history only scoring 2 times in 2010. Kevin scored over 6 goals this year and started off the year on the bench being a 3rd string and eventually before you knew it he was a starter. A lot of people hated on Kevin most of the year and in my opinion I thought it wasn’t very nice. Kevin is an awesome player and a great kid and when he stepped on that court he got the crowd into it. The crowd went crazy for Kevin throughout the whole year. And when Kevin scored the winning goal against all heart in the playoffs fans went crazy! They jumped on the court and all ran to Kevin. He scored 7 more goals than last year and improved a lot and that’s why he deserves most improved player. Those are all the awards for 2011. Now it’s time to see who will get these awards in 2012, but we will have to wait for that too comes. The 2011 Season in Review: Mullets Take the Title Home. by Taylor Snyder The 2011 Rug Burn Ball season was everything that it possibly could be. It was intense, thrilling, exciting, and dramatic. All of these words relate to one thing and that it excitement. Excitement is something that fans were hoping for at the start of the season, and boy did they get it! The season started out with the combine and draft. The combine was the 1st ever for rug burn ball. The combine was filled with rookie talents showing off what they could do and a couple of veterans surprised the crowd with how much they had improved. Some of these veterans were Tim Scott, Shane Godek, Matt Carrigan, and Taylor Snyder. But the one that shined in the combine the most was Shane Godek. Shane last year was a great forward that scored a decent amount, but was never the top player. When Shane showed off in the 1st round of the combine he surprised everyone. But the combine was not about Shane; it was about Matt Carrigan doing great work. Matt did great in the sprint and was one of the top drop shooters. But who could forget the rookies? Owen May ran a 1.9 in the sprint making the fastest time in the combine. Preston of All Heart was the 2nd to fastest time. One player that had improved on his arm a lot was Taylor Snyder of Bad Hair Bureau & Saltalamafia. After all was said and done in the combine it was time for the draft. The 1st pick of the 2011 draft was Shane Godek which came as no surprise. Shane was selected by the ginger giants. The 2nd pick was Matt Carrigan who was selected by Saltalamafia. The rest of the 1st round was self-picks by the rest of the owners. The 2nd round was the round were most of the top rookies went. That was for example Mullet Maniacs selecting Jack “Signapore” Machulski. Bad hair Bureau selected Owen May the fast and explosive player. Preston was also selected by All Heart. The Saltalamafia selected Tim Scott as well. The 3rd round was kicked off with Bad Hair Bureau selecting Taylor Snyder. Some other names going in the same round were Zach Dyne and Matt Stolbof. Later in the rounds some other veteran players like Tim Sorota were selected by Miller Times. The draft was quite until the 7th round with just 10 players left. Saltalamafia made the most amazing pick ever selecting Tanner Walters (aka “Sasquatch”). This was a great veteran player who had a great 2010 season. The remainder of the draft was picks like Andres Cordoba to the Ginger Giants, and Zach Lawless to Miller Times. After a long draft with a lot of picks. it was time to close things down and gets the arena ready for tip-off. The next day was opening day and everyone couldn’t wait to get started. But at the last minute there was a change saying “We will be moving back to the arena from the 2010 season to play the 2011 season”. People were excited because of the great year of 2010, they knew that with this the season would just get better. It was tip-off and it was Bad Hair Bureau vs. Mullets the game was a blowout at first when Frank “The Tank” Feeney scored 6 of his team’s 7 goals. They got up 6-2 then the bureau came back and cut it close but the mullets held on and won 7-5. Then followed by Ginger giants beating All Heart and Miller times beating Saltalamafia. The 2nd round of games was Bad hair bureau VS. All Heart. This game was about Zeke Sprauge and Taylor Snyder. Taylor Snyder shined the whole game with a explosion scoring 4 goals, and 3 assists. Snyder scored 3 times in under 2 minutes along with Zeke closing the door scoring 3 goals and leading Bad Hair Bureau to a 7-5 victory. That concluded night 1. The 2nd and 3rd night was where it got started. The 2nd night was ending in 4 out of the 6 teams drawing to 500. And the Mullet maniacs and ginger giants battling for the top seed. The Ginger Giants would play next and this was rookie Andres Cordoba’s time to shine. Cordoba went on a scoring rage scoring 5 times in 1 game. He took over the spotlight and kept on non-stop scoring. With all these goals he was able to lead his team to the top seed. The next game was Saltalamafia vs. Miller Times. This game was all about the crowd favorite Tim Scott. Scott scored a hat trick and totally awoke the crowd into cheers. He scored 2 of those 3 goals behind the halfway mark scoring at impossible angles. After Scott getting the crowd into it, it was time for bad hair bureau to keep it going. The score was 6-0 and All Heart had the lead. Bad hair bureau was just 1 goal away from falling to 1-3 and setting them up for a bad spot. Then Cinderella broke free from her tower and bad hair bureau made the greatest comeback in rug burn ball history scoring 7 times, including 6 un-answered. All of the sudden they had the lead at 7-6. Andrew Simmons had already scored 4 times in the game and all eyes were on him. Then Simmons answered with his famous drop shot scoring and completing the greatest comeback in RBB history. The 2nd night was over for playing. But for off the field it was just getting started. At about 11:47 PM the trade market exploded. With over five trade, These trades were Taylor Snyder and Clayton Collier heading to Saltalamafia, Tim Scott going to Miller Times. This surprised seeing a great player like Tim Scott being traded. Bad Hair bureau in return got Connor the big defender to come play for them. The trades were supposed to be kept quiet till morning but that was broke only 30 minutes later at 1:00 when all over the news was the trades being announced. This put everyone is shock to see all there top players being traded and brought worry to them. The final day of the regular season was Wednesday night and all these new players were ready to shine for their new teams. Saltalamfia came with a new name to the court and that was “Jammin with Jaffe”. Andres Cordoba added to his goals with a leading victory with Shane Godek for their team the Ginger Giants. Benji Freidman also did great for his team on the defensive end. All Heart also battled there was to the 4th seed lead by their great rookie Tyler Murry. Tyler scored all of their goals and kept of firing for his team the whole final night. Jammin with Jaffe lost 2 games in a row making it to 2-5 tied with BHB. So it was token down to a tiebreaker game for who would get the 2nd to last seed. Despite being very dull and quiet the game was important in some ways, both teams were worn out so there was no effort on the court. But in the end Jammin with Jaffe came out on top with a win. Now with all of the places set it was time for the playoffs. But there was issues right before the playoffs when players: Taylor Snyder, Ethan Sears, Preston, Frank Feeney, Tim Scott, Andrew Simmons would be suspended for the 1st game for various reasons. The playoffs were ready to get started and BHB VS. Miller Times would be first; the 1st game BHB won 7-4 and the 2nd game Miller times blew them out winning 7-3. They were tied up in wins but the goals is what made the difference. Miller Times would be advancing on to the Final Four. Now it was time for All Heart VS. Jammin with Jaffe. The 1st game came as a shock when Jaffe’s team was able to win without Snyder or Sears. Despite captain Timmy Wing could effort he could win it for his team in the 1st game. This game Matt Carrigan stepped it up and Zach Weiss played good defense. But the 2nd game was all about heart. All heart scored 6 un-answered goals and took a 6-2 lead and eventually shut the door on Jammin with Jaffe. This ended the season for Jaffe’s team who were picked to be the underdog run at the beginning of the playoffs. This upset players like Jon Jaffe and Taylor Snyder who deeply wanted a title in 2011. Ginger Giants, Mullets Maniacs, Miller Times, and All Heart were the 2011 final four. All Heart was absolutely dominated by the Mullet maniacs in the final four losing both games despite Tyler Murry scoring 6 goals in all in both games. The mullets were led by Kevin Linsey who scored 4 times including the game winner that made the crowd go absolutely insane. This was the end of All Heart who put up a great fight throughout the whole season. Now it was time for the better matchup which was Ginger Giants VS. Miller Times. The 1st game Ginger Giants won who were led by Byron who scored 5 times and had the best game of his career. Byron carried his team to a 7-5 win that game. But then the 2nd game was when it got debatable when the ginger giants were leading 6-3. If the giants held that 1 goal off they would be in the finals. Then Shane Godek scored and they won 7-3. Or did they win? They took it to replay and it showed that Godek’s knee apparently left the ground. This was described as a bad call because of the way he moved made the throw legal. But in the end it was ruled “no goal”. Soon after this Miller Times “Zach Lawless” scored a goal. Then Benji scored and won the game for Ginger Giants. But it wasn’t over because of Lawless goal we would be heading to sudden death. Then in Sudden Death, Jeff Miller scored and it was all over. Miller Times had won and the championship would be Miller Times VS. Mullet Maniacs. The game was hard fought but the Mullets pulled away with KJ Hoover in net. Eventually KJ Hoover scored a full court shot that slipped by Tim Best and the Mullet Maniacs were champions! The Mullet Maniacs won the 2011 RBB title. The season was over and everyone was disappointed for it to end. They never wanted the season to end but not everything will go on forever. When all is over we say goodbye to 2011 and let the champion celebrate but we all know that it’s time to get ready for 2012! THE 2011 RBB HALL OF FAME CLASS by Dennis Begley Well, since NFL hall of famer week is coming, I thought that it would be great to talk about the people that should be in the Rug Burn Ball (RBB) Hall of Fame. This class would be the first ever hall if fame class, and will be known throughout history forever. Well saying there is a hall of fame class this year, the top ten people that should be nominated should have to be right of the bat. Zeke Sprague would easily be put in first, not even having to fight other nominations. Not only is he the best player and coach of all time, he made the sport, so obviously he would probably have his whole area in the hall of fame, and not just a plaque similar to James Naismith in the Basketball Hall of Fame. A great player and coach, he made the game, which makes him easily part of the hall of fame, and makes it in without even a glance at the other nominations. Second is Jon Jaffe. Very well known as the second best player in rbb history next to zeke, he was a great goalie apparently had an insane 2010 season. Not the best 2011 season but, hey as i said in previous article, I am a rookie and may have no buisness in what I am saying, but this is just my opinion. Another nomination...KJ Hoover! A great goalie who got post season MVP, he blocked many shots and had a great 2011 season. He had two goals in the championship; one from his own crease and one in the only play he didn't play goal in the whole year. He came out of net played offense had the ball passed to him and scored the championship winning goal. Fourth would have to be the leader of all the Boston Hot Spot, Tim Scott. A great player, he was very passionate and intense with the sport. A legend, he's a well known great guy who is very passionate. Next is Shane Godek. Maybe i am being a little biased because he was on my team, but he was a great player. An insane player/team captain of the Ginger Giants, he led us to a high seed at second place, which gave us a bye to the semi finals. He was also a great scorer and assist maker, and was also part of the Ginger Giants big three along with Benji Friedman and Keon. Also my favorite thing about Shane would have to be his heart and love for the game. If he got hurt, he would just get up and keep playing. In the semi finals game, he was hurt bleeding and I believe he got a concussion but kept playing and scored goals. I believe shane is a easy pick for the 2011 hall of fame class and I am glad that i had the privilege to play with you Shane. Next is Benji Friedman, a great defensive player. He earned the defensive MVP award, and had many blocked shots and great ground ball recoveries. He could score from his own side of the field with a cannon for arm ,and of course is part of the ginger giants big three, along with his great breakout year this year. Changes in RBB Rules Should Be Made by Dennis Begley Honestly, I believe some of the rules for RBB are very blown and over the top out of proportion. The rules are to harsh, and refs can take some rules to far. I know i'm a rookie, so I may have no business putting my nose into this, but I believe this sport has to many rules and regulations. Some of them have cost people games. Such as the sudden death rule, I believe it be so much cooler to be like soccer and have penalty kicks i think it would be much more intense, and also the whole two limbs must be on the floor the whole time cost actaully my team, the Ginger Giants, a championship match because when my teammate Shane Godek was in the air as he was shooting for the game winning goal, which he didn't get because his limbs weren't on the ground. HE WAS IN THE AIR, and so my team lost the semi-finals due to a dumb call because the refs aren't lessening the rules, and also now to how you can't move with the ball in every single sport. You are allowed to move with the ball soccer, lacrosse, hockey and basketball, so I believe they NEED to make that a rule because it makes the game much more fun to watch; it makes the defense stronger, and keeps the goalie up on his feet more so this deserves to definitely be a rule in the 2012 season. Finally, to how little the physicality in this sport, there is almost no physicality that makes every sport so much more exciting to watch, so I would love to see the refs losen this rule just a little bit more it makes defense easier to defend, and makes the game VERY EXCITING to watch. This will make RBB games more intense because it of how it couples the physicality would make this sport a great sport to watch, and also to my knowledge there has never been a fight in this sport. Every sport has had a fight even GOLF has had a fight obviously, with the more physicality could lead to this and make the game a very very exciting sport to watch obviously. The rule should be you get kicked out of the game if you get into a fight, but it also makes the game very cool for the fans to watch, but maybe rug burn ball isn't ready for this. Injuries are already high enough, but I would just love to see these rules instituted into the 2012 rbb season and lead into the most exciting season hopefully ever of rbb. TOP 25 RUG BURN BALL PLAYERS Voted for by: The Writers of the Boston Hot Spot 1. Zeke Sprague (Wang Bang) 16.7 Rating 15. Tyler Hylton (Natty Ice) 5.3 Rating 16. Andy Lenser (Munchkins) 5.1 Rating 17. Alex Lebowitz (Tropics) 4.6 Rating RBB Players Pumped for 2011 Draft by Taylor Snyder The 2011 Boston Rug Burn Ball League draft is tomorrow, and the players, fans, and staff are filled with excitement. It’s hard to believe we are just 2 days away from the first tip-off. The draft is the first ever, and it is expected to be dramatic and very fun for everybody. The players are already getting their things packed and heading down to the arena to get ready for it. The big focus about this whole draft will be the veteran players. One veteran that will definitely be back with his great shots will be Jack “Singapore” Machulski. Singapore was one of the top goal scorers in the 2010 season, and was a very dangerous player. He will definitely be a 1st round pick in my opinion. One other player who is very excited for the season than none other than Tim Scott. Scott was a fan favorite last year and was a great scorer, so I project him in 2nd or 3rd round. He will definitely be a good and safe pick for whatever team can get him. But besides the veterans, who could forget about all the rookies? There are a ton of rookies coming to play in the BRBBL, and with all them coming, the draft will be longer that expected. It's also hard to project were they will be picked because of there little experience and their unknown talent. I think that they will be picked in the lower rounds perhaps 5 or 6 would be a safe place to say were they will be drafted. The draft start time will most likely be 8 or 9 PM tomorrow night at Boston University. Andres Cordoba, a notable rookie stated earlier to the press and fans “I am shaking with excitement.” This shows just how ready and pumped up these players are. The one person I think you should definitely keep a eye on during the draft is Shane Godek. Shane was a very powerful forward who scored and assisted a lot. I think he is a very powerful player that is a very good draft pick. I would definitely get him 1st round a build around him with one more veteran player, and then get young guns to support your team. That’s how I think the draft will turn out. It’s really hard to believe that the draft is tomorrow, and tip off is Monday. It seems like just yesterday Wang Bang won the 2010 RBB cup. Now it is time for a new season filled with big anticipation. So get ready rug burn ball fans, because the season is just a matter of short days away from starting. Are you ready for the 2011 season? Tim Scott's Top 20 Rug Burn Ball Players by Tim Scott Here is my top 20 list of the greatest Rug Burn Ball Players. This list was made out of popular demand and reaction from the readers. Enjoy! 20. Brendan Lambert-Ryan (Wang Bang): The goalie helped aid his team to the first championship ever with his polished skills. 19. Mark Weinstein (Wang Bang): Weinstein's brain and ability made him a crucial part of any team's success. 18. Tyler Hylton (Natty Ice): Hylton and teammate Elliot Rosen (#12) made for a duo that was lethal enough for 4th in the inaugural season. 17. Alex Lebowitz (Tropics): The leader of the Tropics, Lebowitz was good at any position, despite making a costly blunder in Game 1 of the semifinals. 16. Andy Lenser (Munchkins)-Good leadership qualities; captain of the Munchkins during the regular season 15. Tim Sorota (We Suck)-Captain of We Suck; led the team in goals on a team that only won 1 game. 14. Matt Carrigan (Munckhins)-Great all-around player, was a force in the middle of the field, leading to many goals. 13. Timmy Tully (Wang Bang)-Self proclaimed "quarterback" of the team, led the team in assists and steals. 12. Elliot Rosen (Natty Ice)-The leader of Natty Ice, he led the team in goals, and was a great all-around player. 11. Jack Machulski (We Suck/Wang Bang): Singapore was a certified goal scorer who had a gift in finding the net for whatever team he played for. 10. Shane Godek (We Suck/Wang Bang): Another clutch player, Godek was a crucial player in the Wang Bang championship recipe. 9. Michael Singh (We Suck): VJ was a very talented goalie, making saves left and right for We Suck. 8. Tim Scott (Munchkins): Game 1 of the Semifinals, on what was one of the most classic goals is the reason I'm 8th. 7. Roger Bourland (Tropics): Bourland was one of the toughest goalies, and his grit was proven when he took many hits to the face in Game 2 of the finals. 6. Alex Putterman (Tropics): The Defensive Player of the Year, Putterman's knowledge of the game and his execution of the skills made him intimidating to all. 5. Jake Smith (Wang Bang): The 2010 MVP, Smith was a ferocious goal scorer and was very valuable to those who played with him. 4. John Paul Chunga (Tropics): The Pope of Rug Burn Ball is a natural-born striker with a nose for the net. 3. Jeff Miller (Munchkins): A fan-favorite amongst the Munchkins, Miller was a talented goal scorer who made goalies intimidated with his talent. 2. Jon Jaffe (Munchkins): A goalie who used every part of his body to make saves, Jaffe had one of the highest save percentages in the league (93.5%) 1. Zeke Sprague (Wang Bang): The founder and current player-commissioner, Zeke was critical to Wang Bang's success as a powerhouse team. Without him, RBB would never come to light as a great game. Don't agree with this list? Send your list to Tim Scott on Facebook, and we will have a composite list posted on Saturday, July 23. Jeff and Jaffe: The Perfect Combo by Taylor Snyder The Munchkins were a average team last year when getting to the playoffs. They were in 2nd to last; 1 point ahead of "We Suck". They needed a player that would pick their goalie spot up, and they also needed a star forward. The two players that they knew would be perfect for this job would be Jon Jaffe, the great goalie, and Jeff Miller, the powerful forward and defender. The Munchkins had a serious problem with their goalie as they were currently switching out players in goal. They tried Drew, Matt Carrigan, and they even put me in goal for one game. It was obvious that their really big problem was at goalie. The Munchkins discussed deals with notable free agents, and players from every different rug burn ball league. Then finally, they talked deals with Jaffe, and they were able to persuade him enough to come join the team. The only thing left was a forward, and for this job would be Jaffe’s good friend, Jeff Miller, who would come over to play for the Munchkins in the package they traded for. The Jeff and Jaffe trade was sometimes called “the greatest trade in rug burn ball history”. With Jeff Miller leading at the forward spot they would be unstoppable as Jeff would be one of the top scorers in the league, and the top scorer for his team, The Munchkins. Jaffe was the perfect goalie for the Munchkins. Jaffe would make the most remarkable saves with all parts of his body, which is why he would get so many injuries. This did not slow him down one bit, as he fought throughout the whole playoff stretch for the Munchkins. Jeff Miller was also a big solution for the Munchkins because of his great power and great shot angles. He would make the munchkins very dangerous near the opposing team’s goalie. Jeff is ranked in the top 5 best forwards in the league because of his great ability to score goals, and to drive a team forward, along with teaching them to never give up and just keep playing. This trade was something that turned the whole season around for the Munchkins. Without these two great players on their team the munchkins would’ve probably never made the playoffs. The two great combo will be returning in 2011 for what should be an energetic season. Recently Jeff Miller was not ranked in the top 15 best players of 2010 which made him furious and saying “How can they forget the only player on their team that scored for them?” This made Jeff very upset and got him even more fired up for the season. These two great players will be ready for 2011 to come so they can strike again and make their mark in rug burn ball history. The season is believe it or not just 5 days away from starting and 4 days away from the draft. So get ready for this year because Jeff and Jaffe are coming. Taylor's Top 15 Rug Burn Ball Players by Taylor Snyder The following are my power rankings of the 15 best Rug Burn Ball players that have graced the playing field. Here they are: 15. Matt Carrigan- Matt was a very skilled and had a great arm. He could make plays from all over, and I think he really should've gotten more publicity for making all around great plays, and scoring from all angles. 10. Jack "Singapore" Machulski- Singapore was often given the nickname "Sharpshooter" because of his very strong arm, great aim, and all the goals he picked up. He was put on 3 different teams in the 2010 season. he eventually ended up on Wang Bang. He was a amazing player with great skills, and I feel like come next season, he could be the best. 7. Tim Scott- He was a great player for the Munchkins, and everybody loved him because of his kindness and ability to make everyone smile when he played. When Andy had to leave early, he was given the captain job for the remainder of the playoffs. Tim Scott brought some great talent to the field, and no one could ever forget his game winner in game 1 vs. the Tropics. 4. "Pope" John Paul Chunga- Pope was easily the best player on the Tropics besides Roger. Pope played great for the Tropics. He led the team in goals, and was even in the top 5 for most goals scored in 2010. Pope could do it all Assist, play defense, score; he makes stuff happen. He was also a very fast player with a cannon for an arm. He is a very talented rug burn ball player that really wore teams down in close games, because of his shooting range. 1. Zeke Sprague- Zeke not only invented the game rug burn ball, but is the commissioner of the league. He was the captain of the championship team Wang Bang. Zeke had the fastest shot in the league and was #2 in the league in most goals scored. it seemed like every couple of seconds, Zeke would score again. He was a awesome player and scored everywhere on the court. Zeke in my opinion is the number 1 player because he was the best at doing it all, and because of his amazing passion and skills. New Rule Changes and Draft Announced by Taylor Snyder There will be a number of changes that will be added on for the 2011 Rug Burn Ball season. The first big one that was announced that in 2011 there will be a draft. The draft will most likely run like the NFL and NBA style where everyone gets a pick, and each team is on a clock for 1:00 to decide their pick. The draft will go on until every player is selected. The Board Of Governors (BOG) will decide who drafts first and the other details for the draft. The decision will most likely lead up to a lottery where they would pick a name from a box and the order they pick in will be who will go first, and who will go last. This year, something new will happen to the tournament style. The Rug Burn Ball League has decided to bring up more kids from the Continental Rug Burn Ball League to come join the majors for the 2011 season. What this means is that there will be so many kids, that there will be more kids on a team, and most likely 2 more teams will be added on. So in this case this could affect some of the classic rug burn ball rules because of all the kids on the court, they may have to put 7 instead of 5 on the court at a time. This is just one change. Another would be with all the new players coming up, the charter teams from last year would most likely fold, so what this means is there would be brand new teams. There have been rumors floating around about what the team names will be but, nothing has been final. The captains of the teams this year are going to be the counselors and the older campers, preferably over 16. This Rug Burn Ball season may be one of the most interesting we have seen yet due to all the rule changes and new franchises coming on. One of the last rules that has not been finalized, and may never be, is the decision to have a combine for the players. The reason this may be a good idea is for the captains and teams to look at the skill of the players to refresh their minds on who is good and who is not and who changed most over the off-season. This rule will most likely not come into place this year, unless the B.O.G decides to make it happen. But out of all these rug burn ball changes, the ones that interests everyone the most are the draft and the new players. Everyone is curious about the draft because they want to know how it will lay out and which teams are drafting first. This has brought a lot of attention to people after the new rules were announced. They are also wondering if it will be a competitive or non competitive season with all the young talents coming to play. The main thing they wonder is how these new players will play, because of being in the minors for so long, and coming up to play with great veteran players. Will there young talents shine and make a stand? Or will the young players struggle in 2011? Those are the questions people are asking. The 2011 season will give us the answer to all the questions floating around. So what do you say? Let's try out these rules in 2011. What Players, Staff, and Fans are Going to Expect. by Taylor Snyder The 2011 Rug Burn Ball season is just around the corner, and after a great and thrilling 2010 it's time to put that behind us and look forward to what should be a 2011 season filled with excitement. One issue that was a problem over the off-season was the trades. One team that has already been working on trades is the Munchkins, who finished 3rd last year. The Munchkins, in recent trade offers, have tried to acquire Tim Sorota, the captain of "We Suck". The deal would have consisted of releasing Drew and Alec, the two brothers, to the free agent list for "We Suck" to acquire and take Tim Sorota to the munchkins. This deal was turned down recently but this turn down did not affect the munchkins one bit as Tim Scott of the Munchkins had this to say after the Sorota trade. "I think we [The Munchkins] have the most experienced team on the field, and we should do well. The other teams will have a rebuilding year which will make us a prime choice for a championship". Andy Lenser, who was the captain of the Munchkins in 2011 stated "I expect our team [The Munchkins] to be very good if we can keep our team together and not lose key players like Jeff [Miller] and [Jon] Jaffe". The Munchkins were a team that made a great underdog run led by their young players, making great goals and great goalie skills by Jon Jaffe. They will look to find a title this year. One team that everyone has a good eye on is "We Suck," who finished dead last in the standings last year. "We Suck" had a struggling year with Defense and Offense together. Michael Singh was a very big help for them as he was able to come up with the most saves of the year next to Roger Bourland. When asked about their team in 2011 they had both a positive and negative response. Tim Sorota stated, "I don't think there will be a "We Suck" in 2011. I don't know which stars are returning. Therefore i may think about joining another team. or I may stay there. We will just have to see". Kevin Linsey stated "I expect are team [We Suck] to contend for a title this year" . The last team that everyone is excited to see in 2011 is "Wang Bang" who is the 2010 Rug Burn Ball Champions. Wang Bang was a team that was very big and aggressive last year. They lost 2010 MVP Jake Smith over the off season, as well as Mark Weinstein, who led their team in assists. Not to mention Timmy Tully, who was very dangerous in the scoring area. With all these big names gone, everyone is starting to wonder how good Wang Bang's chances are. When asked about Wang Bang, Shane Godek said, "I expect our veteran players to step it up for our team". Wang Bang's best option would probably to hold on to their big named players and get good young draft picks to build around their veterans. But the big problem about that is Wang Bang gets the very last draft pick due to the fact of them winning the title in 2010. So the big Wang Bang issue for this year is getting decent players that have potential to build around their big named players, that may be the key to success for Wang Bang this year. The season is just 13 days away and the combine/draft is just 12 days away. As it continues to get very exciting as the season approaches, this just makes the fans and players more excited for the season to start. Replay and Close Calls Close calls cause the 2010 season to turn into controversy. by Taylor Snyder 2010 was a great Rug Burn Ball season filled with emotion, excitement, intensity, and roughness but one thing that really affected it was its close calls in important and tight games. One example of this would be game 3 of the Munchkins vs. Tropics series where final goal scored by John Paul “Pope” Chunga turned into a heated argument about if the ball ever cleared the line. Did it go over or did it not? There is no true way to tell due to the fact that there was no replay in 2010. This is one example of a important game where a controversial call turned the game around. This was not the only bad call of the series there were a number of calls in pool play and even in game 3 of the championship. Was it a goal or was it not? Was he offsides? Did it go out or not? There is never any true evidence that shows whether it was a bad call or not. Some Rug Burn Ball officials believe that they should step it up this season with the officiating so that there aren’t any controversial calls this season. The Rug Burn Ball league has never faced instant replay before in its history and people are starting to wonder if it should be introduced this season. Some may believe that the solution should be to put more line judges on the court and get better officials this season. Where to put these line judges may be the problem. The best places to put them would probably be right next to the goal watching the line and to have two at half court to decide offsides calls and one on the offisides line to call offsides or not. This would leave with 10 officials in all 2 at goal at each end, 4 line judges, and 2 at half court. This would definitely have a big difference for 2011. If 10 are too big to have then they would probably have 2 guys on each end to call offsides and goals which would leave 4 in all. But it is up to the Rug Burn Ball officials to decide how many judges would be necessary. But what if they're no judges? Then they would turn into replay. How the replay would probably work is too have one camera next to the goal or have it right next to the out of bounds line and have it at an angle too see if there is clear evidence of it clearing the line or not. There are a ton of other ways that they could set up the cameras behind the goal, on the ground next to the goal so you have a ground angle etc. the basic idea is too make sure we have the best officiating and play calling they can for the 2011 season so that it doesn’t end in controversy like 2010. So you guys make the call should rug burn ball have instant replay or line judges? Its up to the Rug Burn Ball staff to decide about the future of the 2011 season. NON-RETURNING PLAYERS AND COURT CONFLICTS HEADLINE 2011 RUG BURN BALL SEASON by Taylor Snyder Disappointment came to a lot of RBB fans when they heard that favorite players Roger Bourland, John Paul Chunga, Alex Putterman, Elliot Rosen, and Matthew Tonis would not be returning for the 2011 season. Matthew Tonis, who will not be returning due to being on a teen tour this summer, said "end of a era". Tonis was upset to leave BU this summer but he later announced that he would be back in 2012. Dismissals of these players like Roger, who came up big in goal for the Tropics and pretty much did most of the work in the best of 3 finals series against Wang Bang. People are starting to think about how much competition there will be for a goalie spot in this year's tournament. Along with John "Pope" Chunga being fast and explosive and scoring 5 times in all in game 3 of the Munchkinz vs. Tropics series, one other player who lead the goal category was Elliot Rosen, who helped lead Natty ice on a great run only to get shutdown by Wang Bang. Alex Putterman, who was big for the Tropics and was named Defender of the Year, did a great job scoring and setting up great plays for the Tropics in the finals series vs. Wang Bang. With all these players leaving, some are questioning how this season will turn out and what this means for a competitive draft this season. With a lot of veterans leaving, it will be up to the remaining great players like Andy Lenser, Tim Sorota, Shane Godek, and the combo of Jeff Miller and Jon Jaffe, to step it up for their teams. Players leaving isn't the only issue as there is a problem with getting a court this year for the 2011 season. The tournament will most likely not be returning to last year's location as they will be moved to a smaller area with not much space to play. The RBB officials are still in debate for how the arena dilemma will turn out; we will keep you up to date with the latest news. 2011 RUGBURN BALL SEASON: July 24-29, 2011 WHERE: Boston University |  Benji Friedman, the 2011 RBB Defensive Player of the Year, poses with Ginger Giants GM Adam Balk. (picture courtesy of Sports Broadcasting Camp)  Mullet Maniacs Captain KJ Hoover and Jack Machulski were the 2 top players for the 2011 Championship Team. (picture courtesy of Sports Broadcasting Camps.)  Zeke Sprague plays defense against Frank Feeney and Josh Fyffe during a Rug Burn Ball Game. (picture courtesy of Sports Broadcasting Camps).  Miller Times teammates Jeff Miller (green) and Fritz celebrate their victory over Ginger Giants in the 2011 RBB Tournament. (picture courtesy of Sports Broadcasting Camp)  Sleeper Hall at Boston University, the home of the 2011 Rug Burn Ball Draft. (picture courtesy of Boston University)  Jeff Miller (green) and Jon Jaffe try to stop Zeke Sprague in the Philadelphia Exhibition League. (picture courtesy of Sports Broadcasting Camp)  John Paul Chunga, the Pope of Rug Burn Ball, is ranked 4th on Taylor Snyder's All-Time List. (picture courtesy of Natalie)  Zeke Sprague, the commissioner of the Boston Rug Burn Ball League. (picture courtesy of Facebook).  The Munchkins, who are the early favorites to win the title, are looking to trade Alec and Drew (far right), and gain youthful talents to supplement their vets. (picture courtesy of Natalie)  The Tropics, led by Pope John Paul Chunga (Jazz uniform), are the inspiration for the testing of instant replay. (picture courtesy of Natalie).  Rug Burn Ball's defending champions, Wang Bang, will have a rebuilding year in 2011. ABOVE: Brendan Lambert-Ryan, Zeke Sprague, Jake Smith and Timmy Tully & BELOW: Mark Weinstein, Shane Godek, and Jake Malchulski (picture courtesy of Natalie) |
