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The WW Club was cramped on W5 Sunday, and one of the VIPs was a surprise. BBQ put two wins together for the first time all season, and on the same day! First they took down The Chosen Ones, 15 to 13, and then they survived against WLHS despite a dropped pull at universe point. Whew. Dance all night BBQ, and say hey to The Rejects!

Up at Inwood, Reject Anna Meyendorff noted that Mom and Dad (Maggie and Mateo) weren’t around, and so Meyendorff insisted The Rejects party all over the MTA, 15 to 10. When Dad showed up for the second game vs. JAWS, a “don’t tell Mom policy” was put in place and The Rejects filleted the shark, 15 to 4.

On Tuesday, after surveying the weather all day, BBQ met The Rejects to see who could get the triple W. Captain DQ was injured and his BBQ had only a savage 4:3 line showing. Captain Mateo, in his relentless pursuit of a guaranteed winning record, played 5:2. BBQ’s Jan Vanous had some pinpoint hucks, but ultimately couldn’t beat the Reject zone. DQ reminded The Latest that he had claimed at the draft: “The only thing that will beat us this season will be attendance.“ Classic deflection. BBQ lost 14 to 5.

The game was actually The Rejects’ eighth win in a row, and it gave the team Sp16’s first league trick. More importantly, it was Phil Vlahakis’s 100th win in this league. The new Centurion took 182 games to get gold, and The Rejects is Phil’s 12th team. He got 80 of his 100 with his current captain, and won two of the four finals he’s been to in the same company. Can they go all the way this season? They’re in first place by a mile.

JAWS took a huge bite out of The Chosen Ones on Wednesday, winning 15 to 6. The win officially prevented JAWS from suffering the worst differential ever. Reynaldo and the Clouds can hang on to that for a while longer. Meanwhile, Chosen is in a tailspin. Wednesday was their fourth loss in a row. Their only win in the last seven games was at universe point. Co-captain Karina should be held responsible. Her other half is stuck mourning his lost baggage. Get it going girl.

Thursday was big time. MTA and WLHS played the third game of their five-game weekday series in which WLHS is up 2-0. MTA got one back in the series, winning the game 15 to 11. According to Captain Travis, “Steve Carpenter had a nice huck to Ryan Drost, finally finding a cutter he can't overthrow. Carpenter also had a poach layout D on our goal line right after I told him not to poach. Other than that, it was a boring spectator game as the MTA went into local-stops mode due to zone construction by wooloohooshoo. There were some attempts to bypass stations and go express, but those just resulted in more train delays. So we stuck to the semi-ironically named Fast Track plan and worked our way to our final stop of 15th St., leaving WLHS behind at 11th St., stuck in signal malfunctions.” One thing spectators saw was LooLoo co-captain Sakon skying Isaac Saul on D and then catching his co-captain Emily Grad’s huck over Saul in the loss.

Another thing the spectators witnessed was Steve Carpenter's stunning awakening as a Centurion. The big guy now holds the title of fastest to 100 wins. He got there in his 10th season, which is the fewest ever. And it took him only 148 games (the previous record was 155 by Carolyn Louth). Carpenter has been to the finals three times and won twice. He hasn’t been back since that last win in Sp13 with The Funeral, which named its championship-winning “Steve Defense” after the new Centurion. Steve also carries an impressive 67.57% win-percentage, which is second best among all 45 Centurions.

Goodness, Steve. Save some for the rest of us. Get your big Week Six match-ups, here!

Monday night saw the continuation of week four and a showdown between The Rejects and wooloohooshoo for mid-season first place. Despite Reject Malcolm Deck's callahan in the first half, WooShoo had the lead and control of the game throughout. At 11 to 7, the captains agreed that soft cap was on: game over in ten minutes. Then as LooLoo's momentum crumbled, The Rejects captured the next four points to force universe. And then rookie standout Dan Wekstein got a layout D and The Rejects stole first place.

On Tuesday, JAWS narrowly managed to dodge the infamy of worst streak ever by defeating BBQ 15 to 12. This slightly legitimizes JAWS's bid for not last place, and it puts BBQ squarely as their rivals in that quest. Believe it or not, 2-9 JAWS could still end up with a winning record. They'll have to basically win out to do it, and they'll need those top draft picks to show up and quit being the great mistake of 2016 for their captains.

HooHoo rebounded on Thursday, getting that 8th win against the suddenly slow MTA. Shoo co-captain Sakon slapped a handblock on Ryan Drost, the league’s Patrick Ewing. HooLoo actually got two other handblocks from honey baggage Liz Lee and David Willis. Not to be outdone, even in the loss, MTA captain Travis showed off his new Centurion glory, getting a deep D on Sakon and then scoring the bookend. Regardless, ShooHoo won 11 to 8.

The Chosen Ones were forced to play The Rejects on Passover Friday. They got flattened. To be fair, The Rejects had a full line and played 5:2. Chosen started the game 3:4, and eventually they picked up BBQ co-captain DQ to put out savage 4:3 lines and to calm the anxious co-captain Sean. In the 15 to 5 win, The Rejects dominated with zone D and deep offense. After the game, Reject Maggie Mead was asked about her numerous deep scores. “I just waited until a thrower got it. Then I looked at my mark and thought, well…see you later.”

Boom! The Latest gets a new catch phrase. C'mon Sunday.

After a year, Comp League finally returned to Inwood. The event was marked with minimal fanfare, but as BBQ co-captain DQ said, “A field is a field.” In Sunday’s round-robin at Manhattan’s northern tip, no team got their footing and each won and lost.

Sunday started off quite well for Captain Travis Rothbloom. MTA’s 15-11 victory over BBQ was Travis’s 100th in the league. The new Centurion, now in his 14th season and 6th as a captain, had to notch 211 games to reach the monster milestone. As a first-time captain in Sp14, Travis brought his team to the finals. But more impressively, as a sophomore captain in Sm14, Travis led I Barely Know Her to a 14-0 undefeated regular season, the first and only in MUD’s history.

After the big win on Sunday, Travis took off according to witnesses, and MTA ground to a halt against The Chosen Ones. They lost on universe point. Chosen couldn’t keep it going though. BBQ roasted Chosen, 15 to 12, with Aly Martori doing most of the heavy lifting, slathering the endzones with deep catch after deep catch.

Riverside Sunday featured last-place JAWS in a double-header vs. The Rejects and then HooShoo, the two teams tied for 1st place. Despite the two games and the shining sun, the shark’s roster mostly chose to be elsewhere, leaving a savage version of the team to fend off the dangerous opponents. The games went as expected, though JAWS had an excellent showing against The Rejects and only lost by two. LooHoo dispatched Great White 15 to 8, setting up a Monday night battle for outright first. JAWS, on the other hand, has now lost 9 straight. 10 is the record, the one that’s stood since F12, the record you really don’t want. Maybe the missing sharks will show up vs. BBQ on Tuesday. C'mon Josie, legacy is at stake.

Three weeks are in the books, and goodness, we've been all over the place. Call us the Metropolitan Ultimate Disc League. Sp16’s third week started in the Bronx. And though the Van Cortlandt fields were wonderful, the week began shamefully for one team. JAWS, in their 7-15 loss to ShooHoo, were made to bear a league licking. (For you 31 rookies, that’s losing to every other team, one after the other.) Meanwhile, Chosen grabbed their third win in a row against BBQ, 15 to 8, and MTA went express against The Rejects, stealing the momentum to win 14 to 10. These results temporarily put Chosen and Reject one game back of HooWoo for first place.

Matt Wiener at the hospital in an air cast. Also pictured are the lower halves of his parents.

The big guy was missed in The Chosen Ones’ next game, a bid for first place vs. WooLoo. In their third meeting already this season, Chosen lost 12 to 15.

MTA put the second W together vs. BBQ, 15 to 11. And The Rejects tied a nice 1-1 bow on the weekend with a 15-11 defeat of JAWS, the shark's sixth consecutive loss.

The 72^nd St. Riverside Park debut was rained out on Tuesday, which robbed BBQ of another game. LooHoo lost the game as well, so both teams should start looking at Makeup Mondays.

On Wednesday, a mile away from any reasonable public transportation, on the East River, MTA swiped a win against JAWS, 14 to 9. The win put MTA captain Travis on the Centurions' doorstep, 99 in his MUD career.

Finally, we graced the earth of Riverside72 on Thursday of W3. The Chosen Ones met The Rejects again, but this time both teams were struggling for numbers. The Rejects took advantage of the opportunity to move into a tie for first. They whooped The Chosen Ones 15 to 8 while snuffing out the struggling sprigs of sand grass. Two more romps should return that field to its charming west-side dustbowl state. May the dirt begin circling the shower drain. Mud!

Back at Randall’s for Week Two Sunday, gale force winds besieged the fields. Chosen Ones co-captain Sean wondered aloud if games should even be played. MTA conductor Travis debated whether or not pulls would be ridiculous. Eventually, The Chosen Ones and The Rejects proved their mastery of the wind (and the turf) as both went win-win. MTA fell to both, despite having most of its top line in attendance. Chosen also swam past JAWS, 9 to 7, and The Rejects scored nine in a row in their 12-9 route of ShooWoo. Earlier, HooLoo licked BBQ, 10 to 8, who then slaughtered JAWS, 11 to 5.

East River hosted just one weekday game in W2 due to rain and permit availability. On Wednesday, LooWoo solidified their winning record, jumping the turnstile on MTA. It was 9 to 5.

MUD 2016: we have begun. Just who are we? There are 130 of us on six teams. 31 are first-timers; 31 others have played the past five seasons. 18 of those have played the past 10 seasons, and 2 of those have played all 25 seasons. 21 of us are Centurions. 13 are returning champions. And among the teams, 5 men and 2 women played in MUD’s first ever season back in spring 2008. Can you name them? Clue: at least one of them is on your team unless you’re Chosen.

Randall’s Island hosted the league’s first Sunday games, and right away things seemed balanced. Sure, MTA and BBQ didn’t send rosters to the season’s short-notice opening games, but the other four teams each went 1-1. In the very first games, JAWS bit off a narrow win against WooLooHooShoo, 10 to 9, and The Chosen Ones scored the last point despite a 6-0 run to force universe by The Rejects. Though he lost, Reject captain Mateo said, “That comeback may have set the tone for our season.” In the next round, WooHoo and The Rejects won battles of attrition against Chosen and JAWS, respectively.

Next we went to the Lower East Side. The first week’s weekday games were held exclusively at East River Park. Chosen and LooShoo met again on Monday and suffered the daylight situation of a pre-April Week One. WooShoo managed a 9 to 6 victory.

On Wednesday, BBQ met each other at last vs. The Rejects. First-game excitement brought a few too many out for BBQ, which left them struggling to find chemistry and momentum. The Rejects impressively put up 14 points as the sun set in a five-point win.

On Friday, MTA unveiled itself with authority, handing JAWS its second loss at 12 to 7.

Scandal has besieged the league. Faintly, but by no means silently, Andy Eklund is knocking on the door to the Centurions' Club. He, like the eight candidates profiled in the previous post, has a chance to gain entrance to MUD's milestone club of 100-game winners. But how close is Andy? That all depends on how you interpret Summer 2015.

As is well known, in summer of 2015 Andy accepted the stewardship of a team drafted by Commissioner Suntaree. He named the team Dessert, and won his first game. After losing the second, Andy abdicated the captain hat to A. Werblin and deserted Dessert and the league for "a job offer irresponsible to turn down." His vacated roster spot was filled four days later.

Dessert went on to be Wet Hot Pink American Summer which went on to finish the season 5-9. These five wins and nine losses are currently part of Andy Eklund's MUD record. The five wins mean Andy currently has 91 wins.

Without Wet Hot Pink's record, Andy would be at 86 wins and, like Kelsey Brooks, would need to win all but one of his remaining games with his team, MTA, to get 100 wins. And if he accomplished that, it would end Kelsey's bid and likely disturb the other seven candidates. No shame: comp league.

So what do we think? He's got a chance either way: slim and slimmer, but there. Vote here.

It's early Spring of 2016 and we're poised to induct the largest class of Centurions ever in one season. In the Spring of 2013, 9 players became centurions. This season we've got 11 eligible.

Whoops! Cancel that. It's week three now, and, at best, we'll be one behind the record.* Good night Zukoff and Kramer, and hopefully not, but probably Brooks.

Let's break it down.

Travis Rothbloom, captain of the finely-drafted MTA and answer to several unpropitious MUD trivia questions, leads our list with 99 wins. He's in his 14th season and 6th as a captain. One more win with the Transit Authority and he's first ballot. How about Sunday?

Steven Carpenter has a chance at massive glory. He's just starting his 10th season (only one of them a losing season), and he's got 97 wins. If Steve (also with MTA) wins 3 out of the next 12, he'll be the fastest to 100 in MUD history (154). MTA has 15 games remaining; blow it out of the water, Carpenter.

Kevin Hsu sits at 94 wins. He's is a namesake of his 14th MUD team, and Wooloohooshoo has 14 games left. Interestingly, even if Woohoo plays the rest of this season at Kevin's disreputable win percentage, ol' Baywatch will exactly get to 100 by the season's end. Considering that he waited 13 seasons for his first finals' victory, the 21 in-league Centurions believe the candidate is a shoo-in for this season.

Philip Vlahakis is also at 94 wins. His team The Rejects can fill Phil up with 14 games remaining. Vlahakis has used his current captain for 80% of his wins so far. Seems like a pretty good bet he'll get there in this, his 12th season.

Benjamin Graf plans to walk all the way to 100 wins this spring. At 93, he needs to win the majority of The Chosen One's remaining 13 games. In his 11th season, Big Ben can still rely on his arm to steer his way to a gold jacket. Some say he's in a covenant with the Centurions.

Karina Ray has a shot at Steve Carpenter's glory. Ms. Ray spent her first captaining gig winning finals (last season); perhaps she can lead her sophomore effort with The Chosen Ones to this personal excellence. Ray has 92 wins and needs to win 8 of the next 11 to get there fastest (assuming Carpenter slows way down). Also in her 10th season, Karina has beaten Carpenter once this season and will have a chance to stall him again this Sunday. But she and her co-captain need to quit these 1-1 weekends.

Alex Becker still has a decent shot, but he's the last of the likelys. He's at 91 wins with 16 games to play. He and his co-captain need to fire up the BBQ and get cooking this season. Becker's win percentage is 53%. That won't cut it for 9 of 16 more games. But the man has been a first round pick in all 12 seasons he's played. So let's see it, Alex.

It's gonna be quite a trick for Kelsey Brooks (87) to pull it off this season, her 14th. She needs her team, Woohoo, to win all but one of its remaining 14 games. The good news is that six of Kelsey's teammates, including both of her captains, have been on teams that have put together the sort of record Kelsey needs (I Barely Know Her and Toast). The better news is that even if Kelsey gets all her wins, all of the above can still become Centurions.

That's right the 100 Club are rooting for every team except JAWS this season. But that's ok, the big shark's got three big sharks already: their captain, the league founder, and MUD's own dramatis personae whose also got two finals and one finale under her press badge.

*There's a small controversy concerning a possible ninth Centurion this season. A separate, participatory post will discuss that individual's circumstance.