Official Team Thread Las Vegas Bears S38 Official Team Thread ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ 🎰 Year of the Bear? Ah, Who Are We Kidding!

[SSSSSS]

Congrats MWPP and Test Tickle. Lets get the W.

 

[tony]

The Bears took on the Hawks at the stadium in the sky, with Test Tickle (200) and MWPP (250) celebrating their milestone games. Both were looking to make it a day to remember, but the wind had other ideas, heavily influencing the game from the start.

In the first quarter, the Bears took full advantage of having the wind at their backs. Chipmunk slotted an early goal, followed by Art Vandelay, RonnieRaven, JoshWoodenSpoon, and Test Tickle, who all added to the scoreboard. A special mention to Matera92, who kicked a goal with his first possession in eight quarters. By quarter time, the Bears were up by 28 points, looking like they had control of the game.

The second quarter saw the Bears kicking into the wind, and things went a bit quiet. Despite our best efforts, we struggled to produce chances, while the Hawks used the breeze to chip away at our lead. By the end of the half, they’d turned things around to take a 7 point lead into half time, leaving us with work to do.

In the third, with the wind at our backs again, we mounted a strong push. JoseMourinho, MWPP, and Millky95 found the goals, and Art Vandelay added another for good measure. The Hawks kept themselves in the contest with a few goals of their own, but the Bears ended the quarter with a 15 point lead and some hope heading into the final term.

The fourth quarter was a slog. Kicking into the wind again, we struggled to break through the Hawks' defense. They managed to build a 16 point lead by the time the game entered its final stages. With just 9 seconds left on the clock, Art Vandelay finally kicked our first goal into the breeze, but it was too little, too late, as we fell short by 8 points.

Final Score:
Las Vegas Bears 13.10 (88)
East Side Hawks 14.12 (96)

• Chipmunk was highly productive, gathering 12 kicks, 11 marks, and 14 handballs. His 101 Dream Team points reflect his significant influence around the ground, providing both defensive and offensive support.
• MWPP, in her milestone game, delivered a strong forward performance with 3 goals from just 3 kicks, making her an efficient target up front. Her ability to make an impact with limited possessions was crucial.
• Art Vandelay had a busy day up forward, finishing with 7 kicks, 4 behinds, and 3 goals. He worked hard to get on the scoreboard but struggled with accuracy at times, though his persistence paid off late.
• Ronnieraven was one of the Bears' most consistent contributors, collecting 15 kicks, 5 marks, and 8 handballs while also kicking a goal. His work rate was a standout across the wings and through the midfield.
• Test Tickle, celebrating his milestone match, made a solid contribution with 7 kicks, 7 handballs, 4 tackles, and a goal. His physical presence around the contest was noticeable.
• Cap led the ruck division with 13 hitouts, 10 kicks, and 8 handballs. He also applied defensive pressure with 4 tackles, offering versatility both in stoppages and around the ground.
• Rookiepick was another important midfield contributor, collecting 11 kicks, 7 marks, and 5 handballs, while SSSSSS chipped in with 10 kicks, 8 marks, and 8 handballs and his 2nd tackle for the season. Both players were valuable in transitioning the ball and providing marking options.
• JoseMourinho and JoshWoodenSpoon each kicked a goal, with Jose gathering 7 kicks and 4 marks. JoshWoodenSpoon added 6 kicks, 4 marks, and 3 handballs, playing an important role forward of centre, after being swung forward early in the game.
• In defense, Electronic_Renaissance and Shadow Man contributed solidly, helping out in key moments to stifle the opposition's attack. Millky95 stood out with his 8 kicks, 8 handballs, and a goal, not to mention his 4 tackles. He also seemed to have the umpires on his side, receiving 7 free kicks, which had some wondering if he’d bribed them with free Vegas buffet vouchers.

Art Vandelay_ Cap Chipmunk CountryLad Electronic_Renaissance Fizzler Grin I Dont Care Jezmiester40 JoseMourinho JoshWoodenSpoon kane249 Matera92 Millky95 MKMatty Muddiemoose MWPP RonnieRaven RookiePick Senor M Shadow Man SSSSSS Tandy Test Tickle Tommycash

 

[tony]

In our highly anticipated clash with our city rivals, the Rats, we came into the game looking to assert ourselves early. However, the opening quarter didn’t exactly go to plan. It took just over three minutes for the Rats to register a rushed behind, quickly followed by a goal. Before we knew it, we found ourselves 20 points down. We managed to hit back with a goal from MWPP, showing the fight that we’d need all game. Matera92 got one for us late in the quarter, cutting the margin to 15 points, but we trailed by 14 at the first break.

The second term saw the Rats extend their lead with two quick goals, and it wasn’t long before they piled on three more, kicking 5 goals to 1 for the quarter. MKMatty's goal gave us some hope as we tried to chip away, but another major from the Rats late in the quarter had us facing a 40 point deficit at halftime.

The third quarter saw the Rats kick the first goal of the half, stretching the margin out to 46 points. MWPP was the first to hit the scoreboard for the Bears, followed by goals from Cap and Shadow Man, closing the gap to just 27 points. Our intensity lifted as we peppered the goals, but we could only kick 5 behinds in a row, with Art Vandelay contributing 3 of them before he finally broke through late in the quarter, cutting the lead to 16 points and keeping us within striking distance heading into the final term.

The Rats drew first blood in the fourth, but MKMatty responded for us with a much needed goal. Senor M followed up with two of his own, dragging the margin down to just nine points. We could feel the momentum, but the Rats kicked one more to stretch the gap. Despite several chances in the final moments, we could only manage behinds, leaving us 12 points short at the final siren.

Despite a valiant effort, in the second half, the Bears now sit 12th on the ladder, with the lowest percentage in the league. We’re one win from the bottom, but still just two points and a chunk of percentage away from the top 8.

In muddy conditions that made clean ball handling a challenge, some of the Bears still managed to rack up impressive stats. Senor M lead the way, racking up 8 kicks, 5 marks, 11 handballs, and 2 goals for an impressive 82 Dream Team points. MKMatty wasn’t far behind, contributing 6 kicks, 4 marks, 5 handballs, and 2 goals of his own, tallying 70 DT points. Matera92 was another key contributor with 6 kicks, 6 handballs, and 5 tackles, while RonnieRaven was solid on the wing, gathering 8 kicks and 7 handballs. Tandy supplied the donuts this week, never coming off the bench.

When it came to goals, Senor M, MWPP and MKMatty all found the big sticks twice, while Cap, Shadow Man, Matera92, and Art Vandelay each added singles. Though Art did manage to sneak one goal through, his radar seemed off, as he sprayed 5 behinds.


Art Vandelay_ Cap Chipmunk CountryLad Electronic_Renaissance Fizzler Grin I Dont Care Jezmiester40 JoseMourinho JoshWoodenSpoon kane249 Matera92 Millky95 MKMatty Muddiemoose MWPP RonnieRaven RookiePick Senor M Shadow Man SSSSSS Tandy Test Tickle Tommycash

 

[Art Vandelay_]

We need broken back. At least then we'd have his finals curse to worry about.
#progress

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

We need broken back. At least then we'd have his finals curse to worry about.
#progress

The real curse was the friends we made along the way.

 

[tony]

You might have noticed this weeks review is running a little late this week. It's tough to find motivation when we keep losing, and it’s even harder to come up with a good idea to make these reviews entertaining. I actually had a brilliant idea for a match review this time, but I decided to save it for when we actually win a game. So you can expect to see that sometime in Season 45.

For Round 10, we made the trek to Coney Island to face the Warriors. It was a special occasion for Art Vandelay_, who was celebrating his 300th game. Given our track record in milestone games, I’d basically accepted defeat before the first siren even sounded.

But, credit where it’s due, Art started his big day on the right foot, slotting a goal in the opening minute and then backing it up with another later in the quarter. Both sides were getting plenty of shots on goal, 9 each, but while we were busy racking up 4.5, the Warriors showed a bit more accuracy, finishing the quarter with 5.4.

The shootout continued into the second quarter. The Warriors kicked the first three goals, and I thought to myself, "Ah yes, here’s the milestone curse kicking in.” But then, out of nowhere, we actually mounted a comeback. Goals from Cap, MWPP, and Tandy brought the margin back under a kick. The two teams traded the next six goals like it was a tennis match, and the Warriors took a slim lead into half time.

The third quarter started promisingly. Art banged through another to put us in front for the first time in the match and then Cap added another for good measure. But just as we started to think we might be onto something, the Warriors responded by slamming through six straight goals. Our defense was sinking faster than the Titanic, leaving us scrambling for a lifeboat. Test Tickle found a lifeboat and floated down from the backline to sneak in a goal late in the quarter, pulling the margin back to 23 points heading into the final term.

SSSSSS got us off to a good start in the last quarter with an early goal, but the Warriors hit back almost immediately. The young gun wasn’t done, though, slotting another one to give us some hope, and when Tandy popped one through, the margin was down to just 9 points. The sim gave us a glimmer of hope, only to stomp on it mercilessly as the Warriors kicked the last four goals to run out 32 point winners.

And so, we sit in 12th spot on the ladder, still with the worst percentage in the comp. This week, we head off to play the Furies, who are sitting pretty in 2nd. What could possibly go wrong?

A few players can hold their heads high. Cap had 12 hitouts, 12 possessions, and kicked 4 goals. Chipmunk had 21 touches of the nut. MKMatty racked up 22 possessions and added a goal. On the wings, Ronnie “King of the Wing” Raven collected 25 touches and 7 marks, while SSSSSS had a career best game with 27 touches, 3 goals, and his first 100 DT points game.

Other goalkickers were Art, who celebrated his 300th with 3 goals, Tandy with 2, and singles from Matera and Test Tickle.



Art Vandelay_ Cap Chipmunk CountryLad Electronic_Renaissance Fizzler Grin I Dont Care Jezmiester40 JoseMourinho JoshWoodenSpoon kane249 Matera92 Millky95 MKMatty Muddiemoose MWPP RonnieRaven RookiePick Senor M Shadow Man SSSSSS Tandy Test Tickle Tommycash

 

[I Dont Care]

And not one mention about my glorious donuts!

 

[Test Tickle]

And not one mention about my glorious donuts!

Your donuts are to salty.

 

[tony]

And not one mention about my glorious donuts!

Sorry mate, I noticed last Sunday you got donuts but when I looked this morning, I saw 8 instead of 0, so I didn't mention it.
I'm not sure how I saw an 8, considering I wasn't drinking at 8 in the morning, maybe that was the problem .

Anyway Congratulations

 

[MWPP]

BEARS BASH THE FURIES IN A BOILOVER

Desperate to snap a 4 game losing streak with qareers on the line, the Bears headed to the hippodrome to face off against the highly rated Furies. Tigerturbulance 's entrances ensured that both teams were ready to Rumble from the start. To their credit, tony and the selection panel did not hesitate to make mass changes. Tommycash made a comeback as Tandy returned to his pet engine room spot . The dream team of Matera92 and Art Vandelay_ at CHF and FF were also reunited.

On a Cloudy day, JoseMourinho and Art Vandelay_ wasted no time in getting us in the board with 2 behinds in 2 minutes before yours truly slotted our first major at the 3 minute mark. Two goals to Millky95 at the 5 and 7 minute marks before a major to MKMatty stretched our lead to almost 5 goals. The Furies appeared to spring into action when they kicked their first at the 12 minute mark but we kicked 4 of the next 5 goals in the quarter thanks to JoseMourinho , MKMatty , Millky95 (again) and Tommycash to take a surprising 42 point lead at the first change.

The Furies copped a spray from their qoach at quarter time so came out firing but luckily for us, their early quarter momentum translated to 4 straight behinds in 3 minutes. Returning veteran Tommycash goaled at the 5 minute mark before Millky95 (yet again) , talented rookie SSSSSS and JoseMourinho all added majors of their own to take our lead beyond 50 points. The Furies kicked the next two and appeared to steal the momentum back soon after but we kicked the final 4 goals of the quarter thanks to Art Vandelay_ , Tommycash and yours truly (twice!) to take a stunning 68 point lead at half time.

With the game albeit iced at half time we would have been forgiven for taking our feet off the pedal in favour of putting some of our stars on ice. To our credit, we fought back after the furies' first 3 goals of the term with a goal against the run of play to Tommycash in the middle of the term. Another late goal to Tommycash before a thriller to MKMatty left us with a handy 63 point lead at the final change.

The final quarter followed a similar script to the third but this time it was SSSSSS who broke the run of 3 straight Furies goals with a major at the 5 minute mark. Not long after , Matera92 , Tommycash and Chipmunk kicked the next 3 majors to put the game beyond doubt. Yours truly kicked the final goal of the game with just seconds to go to give us a game-high (and easily season-high) winning margin of 75 points.

This performance had the hallmarks of a champion team full of a team of champions , to the point where questions were asked . For whatever reason, we were dominant all over the park for the first time this season. Big Man Cap (22 hitouts, 27 disposals, 5 tackles, 117 DT) dominated as engine room partner in crime Millky95 (118 DT, 4 goals, 24 disposals, 8 tackles) displayed such a clinical performance that what he did to his opponent was bearly legal. SSSSSS (99 DT, 2 goals, 26 disposals, 6 marks) and RonnieRaven (89 DT, 21 disposals, 4 tackles) played with composure beyond their qooty years. Chipmunk (92 DT , 28 disposals, 6 marks) also dominated. Surprisingly Art Vandelay_ (18 DT, 1 goal) had a day to forget despite the silver service but yours truly kicked 4 goals and could've easily kicked 4 more in an opponent-massacring performance. MKMatty (3 goals, 78 DT) was also dominant up-forward. Tommycash (6 goals, 67 DT) was outstanding and exposed his opponent's frailties.

This was a special win for our long-suffering fans. We can still mathematically make the 8 so there’s plenty to play for this weekend. Bring on the Roys!

 

[SSSSSS]

Still hiding from QSADA after the last game. They aren't getting their grubby hands on my golden piss.

 

[tony]

Still hiding from QSADA after the last game. They aren't getting their grubby hands on my golden piss.

I got you covered.

 

[SSSSSS]

I got you covered.

View attachment 2138392

That explains why my Qatorade tasted funny.

 

[I Dont Care]

I got you covered.

View attachment 2138392

Took me two weeks to fill those bottles

 

[SSSSSS]

Took me two weeks to fill those bottles

Thank you for your ser-piss.

 

[Braklet]

c/o http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/24/1024/25.html

 

[tony]

View attachment 2138787

c/o http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/24/1024/25.html

It's not a dream, that is just Dingster following you everywhere.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

2 wins in a row.

We may actually never lose again.

 

[SSSSSS]

This qooty thing is pretty easy when Millky95 decides to turn in to prime Judd for two weeks.

 

[tony]

This qooty thing is pretty easy when Millky95 decides to turn in to prime Judd for two weeks.

His making his run to finish runners up for the Mobbs Medal 3rd season running.

 

[Millky95]

His making his run to finish runners up for the Mobbs Medal 3rd season running.

I hate you. I hate you so much

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I hate you. I hate you so much

Adopting a Bears nemesis. I am so proud of you.

 

[tony]

We really are the team that really loves one another.

 

[Test Tickle]

We really are the team that really loves one another.

That is why our post match showers are the best, so good.

 

[MWPP]

13. BEARS HOLD NERVE AGAINST THE ROYS IN WET-WEATHER THRILLER

The Bears were on a high thanks to the weekend boilover win and subsequent afterparty - we all know that what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas. As we sobered up on Monday evening and prepared for our road trip to Brunswick Junction Oval to take on the similarly-positioned Roys in a do or die clash, philreich 's overview ensured that our leadup was relaxing and full of dad jokes. The Las Vegas faithful travelled with us on the team bus and cheered us on in training before joining Test Tickle , Chipmunk and others at the notorious local pubs.

On a rainy day, it was the Roys who drew first blood but Matera92 produced the quick response at the 5 minute mark. We didn't adjust to the worsening conditions and could not score again for the rest of the term. Thankfully, we remained within reach thanks to the Roys' inaccuracy with a 15 point margin at the first change.

After a spray from the qoaches at quarter time, we responded with 6 straight scoring shots in the first 10 minutes. This included a team rushed behind in the first second and a goal to Millky95 in the first minute. We should've been ahead by more, such was our domination, but a few people including SSSSSS, Shadow Man (twice in a row) and Chipmunk clearly left their glasses at home as we missed even the simplest of goals over that patch . A goal to MKMatty at the 8 minute mark gave us the lead before Matera92 majored (again) to take us 8 points up. When the rain reached torrential levels, we again struggled to adjust, conceding 3 goals in a row in the second quarter to leave us trailing by 10 points at the main change.

We had to respond in the third term and to our credit, usual suspects MKMatty and Millky95 did just that with a goal apiece within the first 2 minutes. Art Vandelay_ kicked a special goal at the 8 minute mark before two straight but very different looking goals by yours truly took us to a game-high 15 point lead. The local crowd got behind their team and prompted a late 2 goal surge by the Rays, resulting in a narrow 4 point lead to the Bears at three quarter time.

The final quarter began as an arm wrestle with goals to the classy Millky95 (yet again) and Cap the only scores to either team in the first half. This gave us a seemingly comfortable 16 point lead. Unfortunately either the usual complacency or fitness issues set in soon after after as we allowed the Roys to kick 3 goals in 3 minutes and conceded the lead at the 16 minute mark. The writing looked to be on the wall but to our credit, we responded. The following 6 minutes were similar to the beginning of this term - an arm wrestle with neither team able to score. In individual moments of brilliance, Tandy and Chipmunk were our heroes at the 22 and 23 minute marks to give us the lead and a tiny buffer after time-on. A late Roys goal with just 33 seconds to go brought the margin back to 4 points. The crowd were on the edges of their seats, but we held on thanks to our trusty platypus formation to seal a crucial 4 point win. Never in doubt!

Millky95 (99 DT, 3 goals, 22 disposals, 6 tackles) was the best on ground and was well supported by midfield partners in crime SSSSSS (79 DT, 22 disposals, 5 marks), Chipmunk (77 DT, 23 disposals, 7 marks, 1 goal) and Tandy (82 DT, 1 goal). RookiePick (70 DT, 8 marks, 18 disposals) had his opponent's measure throughout. Matera92 (56 DT, 2 goals) stood up as frenemy Art Vandelay_ (9 DT, 1 goal from 1 kick) had a day to forget. MKMatty (15 DT, 2 goals) made the most of limited opportunities, and I Dont Care massacred his opponent after starting from the bench.

It may not have been another thrashing like last week, but crucially we strung together consecutive wins to keep our finals chances mathematically alive whilst providing a glimmer of hope to our long-suffering fans. The best teams win even when not everything goes their way, and we certainly showed resilience. At the same time, there is certainly plenty of upside ahead of our clash with the Royals this week.