DMBL Mirror League wrap-up

There are already some rumors of potential new owners swirling around the DMBL office. There could be an announcement as soon as this week. Speaking of announcements, some of the league awards will begin to be announced this week. You may already know the winners of the Eck and the Rintel awards - look for the write-ups shortly, as well as the Gold Gloves. Make sure to get your votes in for the other awards.

This year the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen won the DMBL Mirror League. Vancouver was second, with Newark and D.C. following? Does this bode well for the fortunes of these teams in 2008? And what does this say for Team Buddah, the Sharks, and the Cutters who brought up the rear?

In 2006, Hillsborough also won the Mirror League, with Newark and Vancouver in second and third, respectively. Newark of course went on to win the 2007 DMBL World Series, but Hillsborough and Vancouver both narrowly missed the playoffs. How did Series runner up Marietta do? They finished ninth! The last place team, the Hoboken Cutters, was the fifth seeded playoff team in '07. Honolulu, the fourth seed, finished 12th! Ok, maybe that's just an aberration.

In 2005, Vancouver finished atop the Mirror League, with Hillsborough second and Newark third (same three teams, huh?). Vancouver and Newark met in the '06 World Series and the Hitmen finished just outside the playoffs again. Westwood finished in last and weren't competitive in '06, but the Arkansas Falcons finished 13th in the ML and ended up making the playoffs. Other playoff teams: Carolina (4th) and Marietta (6th) were the top seeded wild cards. The '05 ML had a better track record.

In 2004, Newark, Philly, and Arkansas headed the ML standings. Arkansas and Newark won their respective divisions and met in the World Series and Philadelphia made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In fact, five of the top six ML finishers made the 2005 DMBL Playoffs. The sixth, Honolulu, finished seventh in the ML, so 2006 is looking more and more flukey by the minute.

Finally 2003, the year the Mirror League was first put to use. Newark took the ML in '03 followed by Stanhope, Carolina and Hillsborough. Newark, of course, began their historic four-season championship run in 2004 and Carolina and Stanhope both made the playoffs. Hillsborough, however, finished dead last in the league. Two playoff teams, Honolulu (12) and Tijuana (11), finished in the bottom four of the ML standings.

So what's it all mean for 2008? Probably not much, really. Newark, Hillsborough, and Vancouver probably stand to be in good shape come draft time. Expect some competition from D.C., Vegas, and whoever takes over South Boston. Honolulu, who doesn't have a great ML track record is always a wild card, blatantly disregarding the ML's prognostication powers. As the saying goes, "That's why they play the games!"