July 26, 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.
First Round Playoffs Survey Results
How many first round upsets will we see this weekend?
Zero: 8.8 percent of votes
One: 55.9 percent of votes
Two: 32.4 percent of votes
Three or four: 2.9 percent of votes
Week 13 Reactions
“Dallas over Houston times two?! Incredible.” Kyle Henke, Austin Sol
“Toronto Rush guys continue to be the funniest dudes on and off the pitch. Absolute lads.” CJ Colicchio, Philadelphia Phoenix
“Oakland with the golden opportunity to tie it up vs. Los Angeles and unable to convert—wild.” Kyle Henke, Austin Sol
“The ‘Chokeland’ Spiders.” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified)
“Chugga chugga chugga chugga CHOAKLAND.” Chris Roach, Seattle Cascades
“In the wake of their heartbreaking losses over the weekend the Oakland Spiders have joined arms with the rest of Oakland sports franchises and have elected to move to Las Vegas.” Jacob Blackman, Atlanta Hustle
“Insane choke job from Oakland. Did they intentionally lose to force a move to Vegas?” CJ Colicchio, Philadelphia Phoenix
“That Oakland team is a lot of fun to battle with. I'm even more excited to play them someday in the future once they've learned how to mark a thrower without fouling.” Mitchell Steiner, Los Angeles Aviators
“Major props to San Diego for playing their best game of the season against a really good Oakland team. San Diego had nothing to lose or gain but they came out and played with a lot of heart. Love to see it.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
On to the Playoffs
“Very excited to see Flyers at Sol. Should be a great game and a great test for both teams. I think Flyers pull it out over Sol. I think the Flyers are a much more complete team. They have a lot of the main pieces from their championship season. Sol have looked great this year but have also had the benefit of playing Dallas and Houston a lot...” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
“Austin vs. Carolina is the best first round matchup. Excited to see if Austin playing the Texas teams 50 times pays off.” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified)
“I still think Colorado is more talented than Salt Lake but Salt Lake really plays like a team. They have a great system that everyone has bought into. I believe Colorado is as good as all of their parts and Salt Lake is better than the sum of theirs.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
Champ Weekend Predictions
“Salt Lake Shred, New York Empire, Minnesota Wind Chill, Carolina Flyers.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
“DC Breeze, Salt Lake Shred, Atlanta Hustle, Minnesota Wind Chill.” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified)
“DC Breeze, Austin Sol, Colorado Summit, Indianapolis AlleyCats—why not?” Kyle Henke, Austin Sol
“New York feels unbeatable at this point but if anyone will do it, it will be Salt Lake.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
Water Cooler
“You might be dumping on the West, but the bottom half of the West (minus Portland) could easily contest the top half of Central. Still, O'Donnell asking to move the Rush to the Central Division is weak-sauce” Anonymous AUDL Player (verified)
“I believe I was the best rookie in the league this year. [Walker] “Frank” [Frankenberg] from Oakland was good on the endzone line except when it counted. Lukas Ambrose out in LA is a great defender on guys shorter than me and that was shown when I put 500 on his head. I didn't really get covered in deep space once this year and caught more than 3,000 yards. I threw for 2,000, definitely had too many turnovers. I think my stats were pretty overwhelming. Especially because the other ROY candidates were born in the 90’s and made the decision to jump over to the AUDL on a whim after playing high level club and all that. I made throws of the week a handful of times, had the throw of the week (Week 8), and the play of the week against salt lake. 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.” Max Gibson, San Diego Growlers
“Rookie of the Year: props to Walker Frankenberg but I really think Lukas Ambrose is the ROTY. I know he is getting a lot of love for DPOY but he should honestly win both. He might actually be the biggest game changer for LA. Most Valuable Player: [Ryan] Osgar made an incredible push at the end of the year and I think he has to be the favorite again. I do think Jordan Kerr could win if Shred make championship weekend. If Shred wins the title, he should win the award for sure. Coach of the Year: gotta be big dawg Bryce Merrill. He’s taken a team of great players and made them into an excellent team that has become so much more than the sum of their parts. He holds his players to a very high standard and it’s incredible to see how every player on the team seems to be in sync with each other.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
“Moments I will remember from my rookie 2023 AUDL season: Clint McSherry hand blocked me my first game, giving me my first turnover of many, props brother. Max Sheppard tried running right through me on an under cut, I said, “Ayyy take it easy man,” and he immediately responded “Pfft, there is no taking it easy!” And you know what? That psycho was absolutely right, there is no taking it easy in this game. Going 0-12 blows, but I did love getting to give Indianapolis and Madison a run for their money at both of their home fields. Future prediction: Carson Chamberlain and Daniel Robinson will be making noise in the AUDL for years to come. Best players I had to guard this season: Jeremy Keusch (IND), Anson Reppermund (PIT) and Bryan Vohnoutka (MIN).” Colin Beauregard, Detroit Mechanix
“Cascades and all of the other eliminated teams are having our own playoffs in Cancun. Only rule change is that you’ve gotta have a drink in hand at all times.” Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
