Player Chatter: Divisional Championships


August 7, 2023
By Matt Rezin

“Player Chatter” is a series consisting of player quotes, thoughts, and feelings from around the league. All current AUDL players were sent a handful of prompts earlier this week designed to be as open-ended as possible. Additionally, players were asked to vote in a single-question, multiple choice survey.

Divisional Championships Survey Results

Which team is most likely to take down New York this year?

DC Breeze: 39.5 percent of votes
Atlanta Hustle: 31.6 percent of votes
Salt Lake Shred: 23.7 percent of votes
Other: 5.3 percent of votes

First Round Reactions

“What a game by LA to make it to the West final. Big game Sean McDougall does it again. Back to back games with five and seven goals in win-or-go-home games. To play away at Colorado and bring home the win is big! Can they do it again in Salt Lake? I guess we'll see!” Jeremy Hill, Toronto Rush 

“LA surprised me, give ‘em their respect. Radack getting clamped by Bloodworth LMAO.” Alec Wilson Holiday, Dallas Legion

“LA over Colorado was definitely a surprise; [Sean] McDougall has been looking like a monster all year and was super impactful in that game too #top25.” Matt Smith, Atlanta Hustle

“Bad week for the teams that start with ‘C’. Pretty sure Carolina threw the playoff game cause they didn’t want to lose to the Hustle three times in a row and same thing goes for Colorado with the Shred.” Justin Burnett, Atlanta Hustle

“Indy owned us this year. Can't teach tall. Indy has guys so tall they make tall guys look not tall.” Andrew Sjogren, Chicago Union

[Kyle] Henke can make some extraordinary plays. Too bad Austin has to throw a dozen in catchable balls at him for him to create the highlights.” Mike Kobyra, Atlanta Hustle

Joe White still has a tag hanging from his jersey? Someone from Sol should've ripped it off.” Alec Wilson Holiday, Dallas Legion

“With so many people's season ending last week, this week's Player Chatter is probably going to be all Jacob Blackmon and Mike Kobyra comments. Why wasn't Liam Searles-Bohs or [Matt] Gouchoe-Hanas playing the last 2 games for Flyers? Where was [Jonathan] Nethercutt for Summit? Also if the AUDL needs a sideline reporter for CW please contact me.” Tannon Hedges, Atlanta Hustle

On To The Divisional Championships

[Lukas] Ambrose on [Jordan] Kerr will be a good matchup.” Jeremy Hill, Toronto Rush 

“It’s been cool watching the Aviators revive themselves mid-flight a few times, but these Shred guys can’t disappoint their grandchildren at home.” CJ Colicchio, Philadelphia Phoenix

“Over the years Austin-Atlanta has been just as much of a rivalry as Atlanta-Carolina in the AUDL; looking forward to adding another chapter to the story next week!” Matt Smith, Atlanta Hustle

"Really looking forward to traveling to Atlanta as underdogs." Kyle Henke, Austin Sol

“I hate to say it but the way [Brett] Hulsmeyer has been playing I don’t know who from Austin can stop him…Oliver Fay? Forget about it” Alec Wilson Holiday, Dallas Legion

Josh Klane—wack.” Xavier Payne, Indianapolis AlleyCats

"Hustle vs Sol is going to full of fireworks. I can foresee another top 10 highlight coming from this game. Would love to see WindChill take care of business and be a home team at championship weekend. The depth of these final 8 teams is really showing why they are successful." Jeremy Hill, Toronto Rush

“I’m thinking Minnesota wins a gritty game against Indy for the chance to play for it all at home.” Mike Kobyra, Atlanta Hustle

Jasper Tom and Ryan Osgar is always an electric matchup to watch. One of the best person defenders against one of the best offensive players in the world is bound to give viewers a good time.” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified) 

"DC, despite not getting past NY in the regular season, beats em and throws Champ Weekend for a loop." Kyle Henke, Austin Sol

Water Cooler

“Anyone who puts anything in chatter anonymously is absolutely irrelevant.” Adam O’Donnell, Toronto Rush

“Just wanted to shout out to the ultimate community and especially my fellow players in the AUDL. I had successful ACL surgery last Tuesday and the amount of people who reached out from across the league was amazing. Players from all divisions including division rivals, it didn't matter. Thank you, and see you on the field next year!” Jeremy Hill, Toronto Rush 

"Will the integrity rule get used less and less the better refs become?" Kyle Henke, Austin Sol

"Zion Bank stadium (Salt Lake) is a sweet venue" Jeremy Hill, Toronto Rush

Walker Frankenberg for ROY. Lukas Ambrose for DPOY. Max Gibson for most cringeworthy POY.” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified)     

“If I don’t win 'Most Improved' the league is rigged.” Alec Wilson Holiday, Dallas Legion“I, too, believe I was the best rookie in the league this year. Frank from Oakland was good on the endzone line except when it counted. Lukas is a great defender on guys shorter than me, which was shown when Max Gibson put 500 on his head. I didn't really get covered in deep space once this year (did you see my cuts in the Colorado game?), and I called at least 40 successful timeouts that led to breaks. I threw for 5,000, but [Sean] McDougall still thinks I'm washed. I think my stats were pretty overwhelming. Especially because the other ROY candidates were born in the late 90's and decided to jump over to the AUDL on a whim after playing high-level club and all that. I made Manscaped-type throws a handful of times, busted out all the dance moves at Mile High Spirits on Saturday, and reminded at least a dozen teammates to stay hydrated as the night progressed. We didn't win nearly as much as we could have, but I do want to take this last chance to speak for myself and ask to be considered.” Pawel Janas, Los Angeles Aviators

“Championship Weekend [prediction]: Shred, Wind Chill, Empire, Hustle.” CJ Colicchio, Philadelphia Phoenix

"Parlay: Aviators, Empire, Hustle, Wind Chill" Anonymous Aviators Player (verified)