I thought about comparing the New England region to the Corleone family, but I want to save that for another day. I think the most appropriate comparison is to the pilots in Top Gun. Yup, I'm going there.
Of course, the folks in New England would even agree that the region is not the best of the best. In fact, the two bid-winners are likely to end up with 5 seeds at Nationals. Who cares? This region has five contenders and could be the most wide open of all the regions. Last weekend featured very few surprises and few true upsets. In stark contrast, this weekend is very difficult to predict. Close your eyes and let Kenny Loggins rev up your engines. It's time to go to the dan-ja zooooone.
NEW ENGLAND (2 Bids)
Before I start with the analysis of each team, I wanted to mention that the New England region is the only one that will be employing the double elimination format. I grew up with this format, so there's definitely a soft spot there. It's not practical for big regions, and it is heavily dependent on accurate seeding. If RCs would add more consolation games, I think it would be an interesting option for regions like the Metro East, Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes, but again, the seeding issue is a big one.
Anyway, the format is set for New England, and the contending teams will first be looking to ensure that they are playing on Sunday. With five legitimate contenders, the Tufts/New England matchup is going to be a key game with the loser looking at a tough road through the back door. Look for the top five seeds to get to Sunday and either Brandeis or Boston College rounding out the group.
The Model Pilot (aka Iceman played by Val Kilmer) - Harvard. They are the top seed led by Lucy Barnes of Brute Squad. Coached by Jeff Listfield, Blake Spitz and Jessica Blanton, the Quasars (Quasar? the Quasar?) are strong on fundamentals and embody everything you would expect from anything with the Harvard label. Sure, they seem like they do everything by-the-book, and you'd like to see them as more of the 'Top Secret' version of Val Kilmer, but they don't care. They want to win the Region and be Top Gun. Nothing else will suffice.
The Maverick (aka Maverick played by Tom McCain Cruise) - Northeastern. They are just lurking there at number 5. They have gone through their ups and downs and injuries to Courtney Moores and Stephanie Barker certainly account for some of their struggles. Both are expected to be back for this weekend. Laura Cedro has stepped up her game in their absence and could be the difference maker in their run at one of the bids. They will need to forget about Goose (Centex and previous losses to Harvard) and simply engage... Engage... ENGAGE, MAVERICK!!!
The Mentor (aka Viper played by Tom Skerritt) - Dartmouth. Princess Layout had a strong run of four straight appearances at Nationals from 2004-2007 that was broken last year. They are hungry and they will be ready to school all the young ones.
The Stealthy Star (aka Merlin played by Tim Robbins) - Middlebury. The amazing thing about Top Gun is that the best actor in the film, Tim Robbins, is just kind of in the background. Little was known about this Merlin guy. Sure, Tom Cruise was Mr. Bankable after Top Gun, but Tim Robbins is considerably more respected for his acting skills and his choice of causes (liberalism vs. Scientology, you decide). The Lady Pranksters have a win over Dartmouth at Southerns but little else is really know about them.
The Tough-nosed Veteran (aka Jester played by Michael Ironside) - Tufts. The perennial contender coached by Sangwha Hong has been on a steady rise and looks ready to peak at Regionals. Their aggressive offense relies on the Marie Alexander-Kate McCaffrey connection. Maverick was able to get the best of Jester but only after violating the hard top and creating some controversy. Perhaps this predestines a controversial game that should be the best match of the second round.
The Wingman that You Love But You Know is Dead in the Water (aka Goose played by Anthony Edwards) - Brown. Yikes, this sounds harsh, but how bad is it really to be Goose? He gets to shag the considerably hotter-than-Kelly-McGillis Meg Ryan (before she became the Queen of Romantic Comedies), he sports a goofy porn-stache and gets away with it, he was known as the likable and relatively cool Nerd, and he came back from the dead to have a great run on ER when it was a show that people actually watched. Brown has been a strong team in the past, and they are still coming back from the dead. Look for them to have their ER run starting next year. [Side note: I almost forgot that I saw Anthony Edwards on one of my flights. He was with his family and seemed like a great dad. Being in LA, I've seen my fair share of celebrities, but I prefer seeing the lesser knowns who seem like real people.]
The Character Guy that Stands Out (aka Stinger played by James Tolkan) - Brandeis. Who's Stinger? He's that guy on the aircraft carrier that likes to chew out Maverick and Goose and sends them off to Top Gun. Tolkan is one of the great character actors of the 80s and was probably best known for being the principal in the Back to the Future series. Like Stinger, Brandeis isn't going to be the star of New England regionals, but they are looking at a realistic shot at making the second day. If they upset Vermont in the first round, they will have a tough matchup against Dartmouth in the 2nd round. They would likely draw the loser of Brown and Wesleyan, another winnable game. Then they would likely run into Boston College with the winner advancing to Sunday (Brandeis and Boston College are 1-1 vs. each other). I've heard that this Greg Connelly character is kind of a good coach. Team USA, Ironside, Brute Squad, UBC... seeing him on the other sideline must be like how I feel when I have to match wits with Steve Dugan.
Who Makes It to Sunday: Harvard, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Tufts, Middlebury, Brandeis (gotta pick one upset here)
Who Goes to Columbus: Dartmouth, Northeastern
Tough Luck Loser: Harvard
My Take: In the first round, look for Brandeis to upset Vermont in the first round in order to facilitate the eagerly anticipated Dory (Ziperstein) vs. Rohre (Titcomb) matchup happens. If this were the NBA, I guarantee that the RCs would put Bennett Salvatore and Joey Crawford in as observers and make sure that all those close in/out calls went Brandeis' way. Dory vs. Rohre. Make it happen.
Other than the Dory vs. Rohre individual matchup in the second round, look for Tufts vs. Northeastern and Middlebury vs. BC to be the key games. In the semis, I'm picking Harvard over Northeastern and Dartmouth over Middlebury.
In the backdoor, Northeastern crushes Brandeis, Tufts handles Boston College, Northeastern squeaks by Tufts again and faces Harvard after they've had a barnburner in finals. Both teams are exhausted and battle each other to double game point. Jason Adams and Kayla Burnim are ready for this moment and blast Wagner over the sound system. Northeastern is inspired and drops napalm on Harvard for the one point victory. The Valkyries declare that Harvard can be their wingman anytime, hop on their Harleys and ride off into the sunset.
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