#22 Vito Power (5-1) vs.
#27 Milwaukee's Best (4-2)
June 16, 2011
|
Anacostia Park
Vito - MB
Preview
Despite some of the roster
changes the last few years,
it is remarkable how much
these teams remain the
same. Both are “Old Guard”
teams who have been around
at least 10 years. Both
teams have been to one Elite
8. At least one of these
teams has been in a Sweet 16
every year since the
League’s inception. They
are tied head-to-head
all-time (3-3). They’ve
never finished a season more
than 5 spots apart in the
rankings since the League
began, and twice finished
back-to-back. And both
teams are coming off
losses. The only thing
that sets them apart is Vito
owns the lone tournament
head-to-head matchup – back
in 2006, a 27-12
dismantling.
While Milwaukee’s Best is
making their 2nd
GOTW appearance already this
season, Vito is making their
2nd ever GOTW appearance –
since 2009 when, you guessed
it, they played Milwaukee’s
Best, and won a 28-20
shootout.
One thing you can probably
expect on Thursday is a lot
of runs – 4 of the 6
meetings have gone over 30
runs, and only once has a
team failed to score at
least 10. Given this mirror
image of teams, I would be
putting my money on
Milwaukee’s Best on Thursday
since Vito won the last one
– you know, if gambling were
legal. But if Vito takes
this game, it will certainly
put some daylight between
the teams, staking them to a
6-1 record and dropping
Milwaukee’s Best to 4-3 with
at least 5 more top 25 games
left on their schedule. Not
quite a must-win game for
the Beast, but one which
would get them some momentum
back heading into the 2nd
half.
