As the NBA said goodbye to the Pistons and Seacombe Spurs - and turned back time to a dream finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and Portside Lakers - Prince Alfred A sent Somerton back to the drawing board with a comprehensive 60-42 drubbing at the Mars Planetarium yesterday. Opening the game 17-4, Prince Alfred signalled their intentions early and whilst the Thunder narrowed the margin to six in the second half, it was clear it wasn't their day. We tried to get a quote from any player after the game but they were all business, each uniformly offering a "no comment" as they walked to the endline for a post-game autopsy. With four games potentially still remaining between these teams as they seek the title, it's not time to write off the season just yet but even the cubbyhouse faithful admitted "the maroon looked good".

The SACBA competition takes a break next week with the Thunder's SACBA players joining in a voluntary training session with the South Australian Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament Contingent as they prepare for the big event just five weeks away. Meanwhile, the Thunder turn their attention to the Arndale Allstars as a semi-final and ticket to the SABASA grand final awaits at the Distinctive Homes Dome. Stay tuned for our official game preview tomorrow as the Thunder try to go back-to-back.

PS. "Jultopia news" (see the headline menu to the right at the top of this website) has been updated with full training details.

Due to popular demand, we'll include game previews for each of the Thunder's finals matchups. Here's our look at this week's game against the Arndale Allstars. The above picture comes from the home of the Southport Sharks, who were visited by tonight's chief combatants back in 2006 as part of the AFL's push into the Gold Coast. Pictured are Arndale point guard Josip Vucetic, Thunder centre James Smith and Thunder point guard Cal McKinnon, with Thunder guard Josh Gondolf and Thunder forward Terry Sleep partially shown to the left and right respectively.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
5/5/2008: Somerton 48 d Arndale 38
31/3/3008: Somerton 50 d Arndale 38
11/2/2008: Arndale 38 d Somerton 36
26/11/2007: Somerton 60 d Arndale 46
5/11/2007: Somerton 38 d Arndale 33

THIS SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 3: Somerton 2, Arndale 1

ALL-TIME SOMERTON SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: B.Smith 340, J.Smith 316, N.Kyriazis 262, Gondolf 253, Reu 174
Triples: Gondolf 261, McKinnon 180, N.Kyriazis 163, B.Smith 75, J.Smith 72
Free throws: J.Smith 580, B.Smith 326, N.Kyriazis 152, Gondolf 101, McKinnon 94
Free throw %: J.Smith 67%, McKinnon 66%, Gondolf 54%, N.Kyriazis 53%, T.Kyriazis 53%
Fouls: B.Smith 587, N.Kyriazis 494, J.Smith 470, Gondolf 264, Reu 223
Points: J.Smith 4229, B.Smith 2992, N.Kyriazis 1472, Gondolf 1468, McKinnon 1152

ALL-TIME ARNDALE SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: Vucetic 116, C.Merrett 109, Vandenbroek 97, D.Merrett 94, Coombes 92
Triples: Vucetic 326, Vandenbroek 87, Penn 58, D.Merrett 51, Gillard 39
Free throws: Vucetic 226, C.Merrett 176, D.Merrett 62, Vandenbroek 61, Gillard 42
Free throw %: Vucetic 70%, Vandenbroek 67%, Penn 64%, Gillard 60%, C.Merrett 53%
Fouls: C.Merrett 192, Coombes 173, Vandenbroek 164, D.Merrett 144, Howie 141
Points: Vucetic 2044, C.Merrett 1411, Vandenbroek 715, Coombes 557, D.Merrett 482

OUR PREDICTION
It'd take a brave camper to bet against the Thunder, who are on a 13-0 tear since Arndale knocked them off in round two. Of particular concern to Arndale has to be the form of carnival quintet Josh Gondolf, Cal McKinnon, Terry Sleep, Bradley Smith and James Smith, who are all scoring at an exceptional rate over the past two months as they prepare for the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament. For that reason, we're going with the $1.60 favourites. Too many weapons and an incredibly deep bench to call on should the going get tough. Arndale deserve their $2.10 odds - and look ready to claim the crown - but not tonight. Thunder by 8 points.

The Dark Side jumped out of the blocks in last night's second chance semi-final, leading the shell-shocked Rebellion 11-2 early on. The Rebellion then began a gradual takedown of the Dark Side, despite a bevy of long-bombs from Jar-Jar Binks, Captain Needa, Count Dooku, Darth Maul, the Emperor and his new apprentice, Darth Vader. The Rebellion led 27-25 at the half and opened up a 10-point lead with 3 minutes remaining when the men from Dantooine allowed the Dark Side a faint sniff, narrowing the margin to 1 with a minute remaining. Enter General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, who calmly nailed a long-range photon torpedo to preserve the 59-55 win for the Rebellion. Rumours abound that the Dark Side are planning a new Death Star but more on that later. Of note, the Rebellion's young carnival padawan missed the game due to his fiancee's badly dislocated finger but all is good now and he should be OK for the grand final in three weeks' time.

Earlier in the evening, it was all Wicket W Warwick and the Ewoks as they comfortably accounted for the Trade Federation 71-36 in a one-sided drubbing on Naboo's centre court, setting up an intriguing Dark Side v Ewoks preliminary final in two weeks on Endor, after the bye.

But for those who need a little entertainment now, watch the above video of Obi-Wan buying a used car. Champagne comedy.

Editor's Note: At the request of JT of Burnside, we've published an English version of yesterday's post. Apparently not everyone out there in cyberspace is as familiar with Star Wars as we are. So without any further adieu, here's the English translation.
The Arndale All Stars jumped out of the blocks in last night's second chance semi-final, leading the shell-shocked Thunder 11-2 early on. The Thunder then began a gradual takedown of the All Stars, despite a bevy of long-bombs from Kerwin Penn, Dale Merrett, Steve Gillard, Daniel Vandenbroek, Ed Howie and his new apprentice, Josip Vucetic. The Thunder led 27-25 at the half and opened up a 10-point lead with 3 minutes remaining when the men from Somerton allowed the All Stars a faint sniff, narrowing the margin to 1 with a minute remaining. Enter Cal McKinnon, point guard, who calmly nailed a long-range three-point field goal to preserve the 59-55 win for the Thunder. Rumours abound that the All Stars are planning a revenge grand final rematch but more on that later. Of note, Terry Sleep missed the game due to his fiancee's badly dislocated finger but all is good now and he should be OK for the grand final in three weeks' time.

Earlier in the evening, it was all the Happy Valley Jets as they comfortably accounted for the Marion Magnetics 71-36 in a one-sided drubbing on the Distinctive Homes Dome centre court, setting up an intriguing Arndale All Stars v Happy Valley Jets preliminary final in two weeks at Findon, after the bye.

As for Cal McKinnon and his used car, that has nothing to do with anything. We just thought it was a funny video.

And for an added treat - just for those who made it to the end of the English version of yesterday's article, click here for a downloadable 200kB copy of Lakers v Celtics. Aaaah, Kareem and his unstoppable skyhook. Good times, good times. For the keen players, the controls are space, enter, arrows and "5" on the keypad.

We've now been visited by 28000 Thunder Fans in 18 countries, which coincidentally is the same number shown on the tail of Air Force One. A Boeing VC-25, Air Force One is the designation of a U.S. Air Force passenger transportation aircraft, a military version of the Boeing 747.

Of interest, the VC-25 is most famous for its role as Air Force One, the callsign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. The two aircraft currently in U.S. service are highly modified versions of Boeing's 747-200B, with tail numbers 28000 and 29000. Although the Air Force One designation technically applies to the planes only while the President is aboard, the term is commonly applied to the VC-25As more generally. They often operate in conjunction with Marine One, the helicopter which ferries the President to airports in circumstances where a vehicle motorcade would be inappropriate. The 28000 was introduced to active service on 23 August 1990.

To send pictures and videos, suggest stories, pass on rumour and innuendo, or to join worldwide global efforts to make us the homepage of all PCs aboard Air Force One 28000, send an email to somertonthunder@optusnet.com.au or visit our guestbook. Thanks for visiting our site!

A reminder to all Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament players, that training starts tomorrow at St Peters College. See Jultopia News for more info. Non-carnival players are also welcome. Training is from 12.30pm to 2.00pm.

It's a long weekend here in Adelaide, South Australia, so it'll be fairly quiet here at leaguelineup.com with our regular editors taking a break from their usual duties. The NBA Finals are on, with the Celtics defeating Ryan Sherlock and the Portside Lakers in Game One. We've scoured the interweb for the best report and found this Rudy Tomjanovich special. Enjoy and for us, we think it'll be the Lakers 4-3.

PS. Jultopia training starts today at St Peters College. Stay tuned for more Jultopia details, with big news to come in the next few days.

It's a name that strikes fear into Jultopia opponents throughout Australia, let alone SABASA teams here in Adelaide. Scott Ninnis. His SA teams rampaged through Jultopia - and his Norwood teams through the SABASA - before his career slid into the lesser leagues of Australia's NBL and representing Australia in overseas tournaments etc. But now he's back. With thanks to the Scott Ninnis Fan Club, the Adelaide 36ers' new coach will appear at the SABASA Presentation Night on Monday 30 June 2008 at Arndale Salvation Army, to present the A Grade Men premiership shield 22 years after he last held it aloft in the red and blue of Norwood. We caught up with Scott and several members of the Scott Ninnis Fan Club at their recent AGM (see picture above) and he said he was "thrilled to be coming home" but not as much as several of his fans, who fainted and had to be rushed to hospital when told of the news. So with tickets at a premium, be there early on Monday 30 June from 7.30pm for the SABASA Presentation Night. Trophies for all grades will be presented, with a pizza and drink supper afterwards.

PS. It'd be remiss of us not to mention that there'll be only one presentation night for the SABASA this year, with the Christmas evening set aside indefinitely at the request of clubs, with too many other Christmas commitments already dominating the calendar. So be there!

Boston Celtics v Portside Lakers on Justin.tv

Watch the NBA Finals live here. The audio and video can be a bit choppy. Click refresh if it freezes. Will be on 10.30am - around 1.00pm.

With the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament now officially less than four weeks away, plans for the national lampooning Jultopia vacation to Queensland are almost complete, with flights and accommodation booked for all players, scorers, wives and girlfriends, and their families. Doubt still exists over the final make-up of both the A Grade and B Grade Men sides, but this apparently will remain until the final minute. "Doubt still exists over the final make-up of both the A Grade and B Grade Men sides," said a very B Grade spokesperson in Nick Kyriazis. "This apparently will remain until the final minute," added A Grade Men Coach James Smith.

Meanwhile, we caught James and his family at the annual Winnebago family holidaying show yesterday, where they reportedly signed up for this beauty to travel to Jultopia in. Seriously, a motorhome that can carry a car in it. Go on, click on the above picture to see more photos. We've cancelled our plane flights and have decided to travel by road in six-star class. We're not sure what the sixth star is, but it deserves one.

PS. Damian Gallacher and the Portside Lakers have their backs against the wall in the NBA Finals, with the Boston Celtics taking a 2-0 lead. The Lakers narrowed a 24-point deficit to just two after a typical last quarter fade-out by the Power but this time, Port Adelaide held on for the win. Game 3 will be here tomorrow, with the game played from approx 10am local time. As for Port Adelaide ..... imagine an evening with Sugar Dunkerton and Jackie Moon, topped off with a mayonnaise pizza, and you'll get an idea of where we're at re the AFL at the minute.

Boston Celtics v Portside Lakers on Justin.tv

Watch the NBA Finals live here. The audio and video can be a bit choppy. Click refresh if it freezes. Will be on 10.00am - around 12.30pm.

Amidst rumours that the Sydney Kings are to be forcibly removed from the NBL for the 2008/2009 season due to their owner's inability to do complicated things like pay people (!), we thought it was an opportune time for another "You're on notice!" update, after a 2-month hiatus. So, with no further adieu, You're on notice! Keep those suggestions coming in via email to somertonthunder@optusnet.com.au or the guestbook.

PS. We left the Sydney Kings off the list for now but will have more on that developing story tomorrow. Big news for the 50 people who follow the Kings. And to think, we've got 28,306 registered fans. Maybe the Somerton Thunder should replace Sydney in the NBL?

Boston Celtics v Portside Lakers on Justin.tv

Watch the NBA Finals live here. The audio and video can be a bit choppy. Click refresh if it freezes. Will be on 10.00am - around 12.30pm.

Jultopia players should note that training has moved from the original 7pm schedule to 8pm. Senior Men are asked to be there by 7.45pm. Meanwhile in Australia, the NBL have sent the Sydney Kings packing - but the Kings are taking the matter to court. Good times, good times.

Continuing with our SACBA game previews, here's our look at this week's game v St Peters. The above picture is from June 1999, when forward Steve Rudd gave birthday boy James Smith a Powerade shower after a SABASA premiership win at the Clipsal Powerhouse. James is 34 today and from everyone at Cabra, Cambridge, Duke, Geelong, LaFevre, Oxford, Prince Alfred, Southern Vales, St Peters, Tatachilla, Trinity, Tyndale, Westminster, Woodcroft, leaguelineup.com and the Thunder, we wish him all the best and hopefully a big SACBA win.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
3/5/2008: Somerton 44 (J.Smith 14, Gondolf 7, Hill 7) d St Peters 39
23/6/2007: St Peters 20 d Somerton 0 (forfeit)
31/7/2004: Somerton 76 (Hallsworth 24, J.Smith 16, B.Smith 15) d St Peters 36
19/6/2004: Somerton 57 (J.Smith 22, Hallsworth 14, Zajer 8) d St Peters 25
8/5/2004: St Peters 56 d Somerton 55 (J.Smith 19, Hallsworth 13, Kyriazis 12)
30/8/2003: St Peters 47 d Somerton 46 (J.Smith 15, Hallsworth 10, B.Smith 10)

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 14: Somerton 10, Draw 1, St Peters 3

ALL-TIME SOMERTON SACBA STATS LEADERS (only players playing today are shown)
Games: J.Smith 260, Kyriazis 161, Gondolf 136, Zajer 30, Halman 19
Triples: Gondolf 94, Kyriazis 74, Halman 21, J.Smith 16, Penn 12
Free throws: J.Smith 514, Kyriazis 102, Gondolf 72, Zajer 47, Halman 28
Free throw %: J.Smith 70%, Halman 65%, Hill 60%, Gondolf 58%
Fouls: J.Smith 581, Kyriazis 425, Gondolf 173, Zajer 59, Halman 44
Points: J.Smith 3934, Kyriazis 825, Gondolf 694, Zajer 217, Halman 185

MILESTONES
Andrew Zajer needs 3 free throws to reach 50 SACBA career free throws
Josh Gondolf needs 6 triples to reach 100 SACBA career triples
Josh Gondolf needs 6 points to reach 700 SACBA career points
Tom Halman needs 15 points to reach 200 SACBA career points

OUR PREDICTION
With the Thunder's twin boulders Steve Rudd (fishing charter) and Bradley Smith (hamstring) unavailable, it'll be a new-look Somerton team that takes on St Peters today at the Mars Planetarium. In fact, it won't be but we thought it'd make for a good soundbite. It's actually the same team that faced the royal blue and white last round, with veteran forward Andrew Zajer braving the Mars Vortex for the 31st time. Aside from their blowout loss to raging-hot title favourite Prince Alfred A, the Thunder have looked good of late so the key here is the fortnight off. What have St Peters been doing? Have they been training for the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament like the majority of Thunder players have? With some of the intense training regimes that the Jultopia guys have been through over the past few weeks - and strangely enough, they've been training at St Peters' very own stadium - we can't see this being close. Barring St Peters having completed several triathlons a day over the past fortnight, we're tipping the Thunder by 10 (or 34) to mark #10's 34th birthday.

PS. Go the green train. Celtics overcame a 24-point deficit to defeat the Portside Lakers by 6 yesterday, and now lead 3-1. Choo choo!

With the coach's voice echoing in their ears about " getting off to a fast start" , the Thunder did just that yesterday, with a 23-0 opening burst that had the cubbyhouse faithful scratching their heads. With injured forward Steve Rudd lifting the decibel level from the sidelines, the Thunder looked like the Somerton of 2001-2004, when they won four consecutive A Grade titles. St Peters eventually responded, with a brilliant one-man shooting display of six triples by some guy we don't know, which at least made the game interesting. The game fizzled out in the second half despite some promising play from the Thunder's two Jultopia rookies, who look ready to make some noise at Runaway Bay next month. The final scoreline of 49-27 ends the second round of matches with the Thunder at 7-3, eclipsing last year's win total of 6 games with another half of the season yet to come. Thunder coach and birthday boy James Smith said afterwards, " It's good to get the win but more importantly, we're starting to gel. We're a new team and with some of us carrying or rehabbing injuries, we'll continue to improve. And while I've got the mike, I'd like to send a big cheerio to Boy George, Sam Perkins and Donald Trump, who share my birthday. Wahoo." Boy George? Mmmmm.

PS. We've had a few emails lately about Port Adelaide's disastrous 2008 AFL season. So for all those Port fans who aren't wearing the club colours at the minute, today's picture shows five Port fans who won't be silenced. Join with them and fly the flag. Teal is the new black.

Boston Celtics v Portside Lakers on Justin.tv

Watch the NBA Finals live here. The audio and video can be a bit choppy. Click refresh if it freezes. Will be on 10.00am - around 12.30pm.

Later tonight, the Arndale Allstars and Happy Valley Jets go head-to-head for the remaining SABASA grand final berth next week. Continuing with our SABASA finals previews, here's this week's preview of the knockout preliminary final between this season's #2 and #3 ranked teams.

LAST FIVE THREE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
26/5/2008: Arndale d Happy Valley
21/4/2008: Arndale d Happy Valley
3/3/2008: Arndale d Happy Valley

THIS SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 3: Arndale 3, Happy Valley 0

ALL-TIME ARNDALE SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: Vucetic 116, C.Merrett 109, Vandenbroek 97, D.Merrett 94, Coombes 92
Triples: Vucetic 326, Vandenbroek 87, Penn 58, D.Merrett 51, Gillard 39
Free throws: Vucetic 226, C.Merrett 176, D.Merrett 62, Vandenbroek 61, Gillard 42
Free throw %: Vucetic 70%, Vandenbroek 67%, Penn 64%, Gillard 60%, C.Merrett 53%
Fouls: C.Merrett 192, Coombes 173, Vandenbroek 164, D.Merrett 144, Howie 141
Points: Vucetic 2044, C.Merrett 1411, Vandenbroek 715, Coombes 557, D.Merrett 482

ALL-TIME HAPPY VALLEY SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: Sawade 136, Nuske 122, Graetz 97, Hocking 92, Milton 67
Triples: Hocking 113, Nuske 73, Milton 51, Heavyside 21, Konstantinoff 13
Free throws: Nuske 102, Sawade 76, Hocking 73, Graetz 42, Milton 39
Free throw %: Hocking 68%, Nuske 59%, Milton 51%, Sawade 42%, Graetz 33%
Fouls: Sawade 256, Nuske 130, Graetz 111, Milton 109, Konstantinoff 81
Points: Hocking 1626, Sawade 865, Nuske 740, Milton 543, Graetz 506

OUR PREDICTION
With a 3-0 record against Happy Valley this season, it'd take a brave man to tip against Arndale. Having revamped their roster this off-season with the addition of Jultopia players Ed Howie, Kerwin Penn and Josip Vucetic, the Allstars have run roughshod over the league and very nearly claimed the minor round title with a 13-2 record. Happy Valley meanwhile, have struggled to find their groove this season but it should be remembered this is a team that has played in the last six grand finals, so shouldn't be taken lightly. We're predicting a crackerjackmajetski of a matchup but we can't go past Arndale, who pushed the Thunder hard last week and deserve a crack at the title. Arndale by 6 points.

In an entertaining affair, the Arndale Allstars triumphed over a spirited Happy Valley Jets last night, the final score of 50-35 reflective of a persistent Arndale side who wore down their opponent. Jultopia premiership player Craig Merrett was brilliant all night and won maximum votes for the John Pilley Medal, with plenty of help from his teammates. The win sets up a much-anticipated showdown between the Thunder and Allstars, with the winner set to gain all-important bragging rights for the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament the following week - and in the end, that's much more important than the premiership itself. Happy Valley meanwhile, end the season in third place, their lowest ever finish after an incredible run of six straight grand final appearances in the SABASA competition.

PS. A big thanks to photographer Paul Wake-Dyster, who took some brilliant shots. Click on the above picture to go to his photo album.

Boston Celtics v Portside Lakers on Justin.tv

Watch the NBA Finals live here. The audio and video can be a bit choppy. Click refresh if it freezes. Will be on 10.00am - around 12.30pm.

Boston won the NBA Championship yesterday after punctuating a big fat exclamation mark on the Portside Lakers' collective heads, with a 39-point blowout in the sixth game. Stay tuned for more news in the coming days.

With thanks to Isaac from Hoops SA, we're introducing a new link to our Main Menu called "The Big Picture". We've had a good look and it's definitely worth a daily visit, with some spectacular photos of this world of ours - including snaps of the Boston Celtics. To quote Isaac:

Recently I've discovered a great photoblog called The Big Picture at Boston.com. Bookmark it and put it on your daily hit list. Each day features a series of photos on a given topic (natural disaster, war zone, etc) and they're big shots - no stuffing around with enlarging thumbnails, or "full size" shots that turn out to be 320x240. And now is a great time to pass on the site recommendation and make it relevant to Hoops as today's entry is all shots from the Celtics win and subsequent street parade.

Continuing with our SACBA game previews, here's our look at this week's game v Beaumont Uniting as the third round of minor round matches begins. The above picture is of Messrs Halman (#10) and Gondolf (#4), who both celebrate potential milestones this week (see story below).

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
10/5/2008: Somerton 54 (J.Smith 14, Halman 8, Hill 8) d Beaumont 44
29/3/2008: Somerton 48 (Hill 11, Gondolf 10, Kyriazis 7) d Beaumont 44
8/9/2007: Beaumont 50 d Somerton 39 (Halman 13, B.Smith 10, McKinnon 9)
25/8/2007: Somerton 64 (Halman 17, Peck 13, Whitmore 12) d Beaumont 51
7/7/2007: Beaumont 45 d Somerton 41 (Todd 16, Halman 8, J.Smith 7)

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 21: Somerton 15, Beaumont 6

ALL-TIME SOMERTON SACBA STATS LEADERS (only players playing today are shown)
Games: J.Smith 261, B.Smith 224, Gondolf 137, Halman 20, Penn 9
Triples: Gondolf 94, Halman 22, J.Smith 16, Penn 14, B.Smith 8
Free throws: J.Smith 516, B.Smith 215, Gondolf 72, Halman 29, Mitchell 8
Free throw %: J.Smith 70%, Halman 64%, Hill 64%, Gondolf 58%, Mitchell 57%
Fouls: J.Smith 583, B.Smith 394, Gondolf 174, Halman 46, Mitchell 19
Points: J.Smith 3944, B.Smith 1725, Gondolf 696, Halman 199, Penn 65

MILESTONES
Tom Halman needs 1 point to reach 200 SACBA career points
Josh Gondolf needs 4 points to reach 700 SACBA career points
Josh Gondolf needs 6 triples to reach 100 SACBA career triples
Paul Mitchell needs 7 points to reach 50 SACBA career points

OUR PREDICTION
The Thunder will be without veteran guard Nick Kyriazis (Australian citizenship ceremony) and forward Steve Rudd (piscatorial pursuits), with their absence offset by the return of "The Chog" (TV commitments) and Lieutenant P.Mitchell (filming Top Gun II), giving the Thunder a traditional Jultopia carnival feel - assuming Barry Smith Medallist Tom Halman one day plucks up the courage to join his Jultopia counterparts in Jultopia competition. With the Jultopia contingent at Jultopia training at St Peters' homeground only hours before the game, we see this one being decided by Jultopia management. Beaumont will score 44 points again - like they have both times this season - so it's just a matter of how many points the Thunder score. If the Jultopia coaches wear them out at the Jultopia shooting session, the Thunder won't score a lot and Beaumont will win comfortably. We're predicting the Thunder will muster up 51 points, giving them an 7-point win and an 8-3 record.

We're with the coach when he says that the team should forget lasterday's game and leave it where it belongs - in the past. The Thunder had their pants pulled down by a switched on, fired-up Beaumont who didn't stick to their 44-point script, winning 61-49. On to next week, folks.

After five months of basketball, the 2008 Season 1 grand final is now upon us with the two best teams going head-to-head. 17 men will put it on the line for 40 minutes, running and jumping their guts out over roughly six kilometres in a series of short sprints forwards, sideways and even backwards, as they toss around a leather air conveyance in the hope of putting it in a rim twice the size of the ball more often than the other team. Ladies and gents, welcome to the SABASA grand final. We chose the above picture for our preview because it raises a whole lot of questions about Ed Howie, Craig Merrett and Josip Vucetic. For what it's worth, we think they look good in black.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
2/6/2008: Somerton 55 d Arndale 51
5/5/2008: Somerton 48 d Arndale 38
31/3/3008: Somerton 50 d Arndale 38
11/2/2008: Arndale 38 d Somerton 36
26/11/2007: Somerton 60 d Arndale 46

THIS SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 4: Somerton 3, Arndale 1

ALL-TIME SOMERTON SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: B.Smith 340, J.Smith 316, N.Kyriazis 262, Gondolf 253, Reu 174
Triples: Gondolf 261, McKinnon 180, N.Kyriazis 163, B.Smith 75, J.Smith 72
Free throws: J.Smith 580, B.Smith 326, N.Kyriazis 152, Gondolf 101, McKinnon 94
Free throw %: J.Smith 67%, McKinnon 66%, Gondolf 54%, N.Kyriazis 53%, T.Kyriazis 53%
Fouls: B.Smith 587, N.Kyriazis 494, J.Smith 470, Gondolf 264, Reu 223
Points: J.Smith 4229, B.Smith 2992, N.Kyriazis 1472, Gondolf 1468, McKinnon 1152

ALL-TIME ARNDALE SABASA STATS LEADERS (stats to the end of 2007b)
Games: Vucetic 116, C.Merrett 109, Vandenbroek 97, D.Merrett 94, Coombes 92
Triples: Vucetic 326, Vandenbroek 87, Penn 58, D.Merrett 51, Gillard 39
Free throws: Vucetic 226, C.Merrett 176, D.Merrett 62, Vandenbroek 61, Gillard 42
Free throw %: Vucetic 70%, Vandenbroek 67%, Penn 64%, Gillard 60%, C.Merrett 53%
Fouls: C.Merrett 192, Coombes 173, Vandenbroek 164, D.Merrett 144, Howie 141
Points: Vucetic 2044, C.Merrett 1411, Vandenbroek 715, Coombes 557, D.Merrett 482

OUR PREDICTION
Arndale - born from a merger between Kilkenny and Renown Park just a few years ago - have never held aloft the premiership shield, let alone competed in a grand final. Kilkenny last competed for the crown in 1993 Season 1, falling to the ACH Domination in a double-overtime epic. Renown Park's last grand final appearance was in 1991 Season 2, when they won for the fifth consecutive season before the ACH Gungadins burst onto the scene in 1992. So it's been 15 years since they played in a grand final, and 16 years since the premiership cup went home to Centro Arndale. Somerton meanwhile, continue their run of success by chasing back-to-back flags, and that's the big grand final question. Will a new, ravenously hungry team be able to beat a vastly more experienced, premiership-hardened lineup in the big Juntopia dance?

We're predicting an open, high-scoring, free-flowing affair, with both teams to score in excess of 50 points. In the end, it'll come down to Somerton's ability to contain Arndale's bevy of outside shooters, and Arndale's ability to contain Somerton on the boards. Both teams have a plethora of Jultopia experience and most interestingly, will travel away together in just two weeks to represent South Australia in the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament. We can't split the teams but in the end, there's no substitute for experience. With the last three games in the bag, we can't go past the black and gold. Somerton by 6 points in what should be one of the more memorable grand finals of recent times. Mark our words when we say either team could win in what should be a crackerjackmajetski.

Before we begin, let's first say the Thunder defeated the Arndale Allstars 53-30 last night in a terrific display of SABASA basketball. The game was closer than the score suggested and showed the SABASA is in great shape, with the more experienced lineup winning on the night - but with Arndale far from disgraced. In fact, we'd suggest laying some hard-earned on them for next season if you can get half-decent odds.

The game began early for us when we heard the bass tones of "Footy Fire-up Songs 2007" blaring on at least two car stereos as the Thunder players pulled into the Distinctive Homes Dome carpark. It was at that stage we knew they'd bring the trophy home and more importantly, we'd have an all-important theme to focus on for our post-game write-up - and to hopefully move on from the whole Star Wars thing.

The Thunder began hungry like the wolf, moving quickly to a 9-2 scoreline. Arndale showed they too had the power and the passion to win, turning the score around to 15-11 before the Thunder exploded like TNT to a halftime lead of 17 points. With the holy grail within reach, all the good things needed to go Arndale's way out of the half if they'd be winning it all. Unfortunately for the blue-baggers, the Thunder came out with the same ol' burning feeling, again displaying the eye of the tiger that gave them such a large half-time margin. With all players contributing and the crowd waiting for the hammer to fall, it became the stuff of dreams as the final countdown awaited. One fan in the crowd, wearing his LBJ guernsey, yelled "We are the champions - Cleveland rocks" just as the Thunder bench screamed "Teddy K, are you gonna go my way?" in unison. With the real thing in reach, the final minutes became a case of "here we go again" for the thunderstruck Allstars, who fell 23 points short despite their best efforts to tear it up. So for the 24th time, the Thunder flew like a big ol' jet airliner, to take me higher once again.

From the Port Magpies and everyone at leaguelineup, we congratulate the Thunder on the win and Arndale on a great season. Now for Jultopia.

With the news that 1987 Jultopia veteran David Collinson is joining the South Australian Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament Contingent, we thought it was an opportune time to link to his blog in our Main Menu. Captain Collo is the Territorial Youth Secretary for the Southern Division, which means he rules the youth aspects of the Salvo world for South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Check his blog regularly for Collo's insights into the wonder of God, life, love and other mysteries - and from Kent "Toast" French, Eddie Palubinskas, Scott Ninnis, leaguelineup.com and the Thunder, we welcome Collo to Jultopia 2008.

With only 10 days until the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament Opening Ceremony, it's time to focus on the weather. So from now until Jultopia concludes, the weather link at the top of our website has been reset to show the Gold Coast weather and it's all earth-shattering news for those of us in Adelaide. With Adelaide temperatures averaging 15 degrees and cold, it seems global warming has taken hold in Runaway Bay with the temperature around 21-22 degrees and sunny every day - and a nightly minimum equal to our daily maximum temperature! How is it fair that we freeze down here while this guy, this guy and this guy are kicking back, maxing and relaxing, soaking up the sun? Remember to visit here and visit often for more weather updates as Jultopia draws nigh.

With Kingfish Guru Brad Smith sweeping all before him in the world of piscatorial pursuits - click on the above picture to read an Ifish article about a recent sojourn to Port Augusta which will feature on Ifish's TV program later this year - jealous teammates have called off the penultimate Jultopia training session to prepare for Jultopia and hopefully outfish the man they call Hollywood.

"I've had a gutful of all this media attention being heaped on Hollywood," said Jultopia coach James Smith. "No-one talks about the day I caught a 15cm bream in a river out the back of Victor Harbor. It's always Hollywood this, Hollywood that."

Several other players concurred, but none were prepared to have their names printed. We're hoping the weekend off helps their basketball 'cause Jultopia isn't far away. Players are asked to focus on catching bullnose sharks in preparation for the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament - which actually has nothing to do with basketball (but don't tell Hollywood) - with players participating in the "ultimate fish-off" in the canals of Runaway Bay. Stay tuned for more news as Jultopia draws nigh. 9 days to go.

Continuing with our SACBA game previews, here's our look at this week's game v Prince Alfred B as Jultopia draws ever closer. The above video takes us back to a better time, when Port Adelaide were relevant to the premiership race. "What is this place, Sergei?" Jultopia. For the celebrity-spotters who possess a keen set of eyes, yes, you can see 115-game SACBA veteran guard Andrew Brook at the 5-7 second mark.

LAST FIVE GAMES HEAD-TO-HEAD
17/5/2008: Somerton 35 d Prince Alfred B 24 (J.Smith 12, Halman 11, Penn 5)
1/9/2007: Somerton 62 (Gondolf 14, J.Smith 13, Halman 12) d Prince Alfred B 40
11/8/2007: Prince Alfred B 52 d Somerton 39 (Halman 16, J.Smith 7, Whitmore 7)
30/6/2007: Somerton 60 (J.Smith 19, Halman 13, Todd 8) d Prince Alfred B 32
19/5/2007: Somerton 53 (Byford 14, Todd 14, Whitmore 13) d Prince Alfred B 47

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played 5: Somerton 4, Prince Alfred B 1

ALL-TIME SOMERTON SACBA STATS LEADERS (only players playing today are shown)
Games: J.Smith 262, B.Smith 225, Kyriazis 162, Gondolf 138, Rudd 56
Triples: Gondolf 95, Kyriazis 75, Halman 23, J.Smith 16, Penn 15
Free throws: J.Smith 516, B.Smith 216, Kyriazis 103, Rudd 93, Gondolf 72
Free throw %: J.Smith 70%, Halman 64%, Rudd 62%, Hill 60%, Gondolf 58%
Fouls: J.Smith 583, Kyriazis 426, B.Smith 397, Gondolf 176, Rudd 92
Points: J.Smith 3952, B.Smith 1730, Kyriazis 829, Gondolf 701, Rudd 509

MILESTONES
Tom Halman needs 2 fouls to reach 50 SACBA career fouls
Bradley Smith needs 3 fouls to reach 400 SACBA career fouls
Josh Gondolf needs 5 triples to reach 100 SACBA career triples
Michael Hill needs 6 points to reach 50 SACBA career points

CURRENT SACBA PREMIERSHIP LADDER
1. Prince Alfred A: 8-2-1, 28 points
2. Hope Valley: 8-3, 27 points
3. Somerton: 7-4, 25 points
4. Beaumont: 5-5-1, 22 points
5. St Peters: 4-7, 19 points
6. Prince Alfred B: 3-8, 17 points

OUR PREDICTION
With Jultopia players skipping training today to sharpen their bullnose shark-catching techniques in preparation for Jultopia the following week, the team should be fresh, albeit smelling like a tuna farm. With a full squad available, we shouldn't have to sit through another low-scoring bore-fest like last time. Look for a more free-flowing game from the Thunder, who will be hungry to atone for last week's defeat by Beaumont. Meanwhile, Prince Alfred B struggled against St Peters last week so in honour of the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament, we're going for a Thunder win by 4+2+1+6 (Runaway Bay's Post Code), a total of 13 points.

It was a cold morning yesterday, as the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament Contingent set off early for the shores of Adelaide in an attempt to land a bullnose shark before departing for Runaway Bay later this week. We're told no-one was successful in landing one (something about them not even being in waters around Adelaide may have had something to do with it). The morning wasn't a total failure though, with West Lakes locals telling us they saw an unnamed player from West Lakes trying to land a bullnose shark in the waters immediately adjacent to AAMI Stadium! He reportedly was muttering to himself, "AAMI Stadium. Bullnose shark. AAMI Stadium. Bullnose shark. Gotta catch one. Do it for AAMI Stadium," over and over again. If anyone saw him, please send pictures!

The afternoon's events were a little less uneventful, though Michael Hill missed the game after a nasty incident with a fishing hook. Somerton began in Jultopia form against Prince Alfred B but it wasn't until Josh Gondolf hit the court, that things went crazy. Bang, bang, bang, bang - for four triples in the first half - and along with James Smith, had 12 points at the main break. The second half meandered to the final 48-28 score, with most interest surrounding Tom Halman (50) and Bradley Smith (400), and their attempt to reach their respective foul milestones. They did - in the dying minutes - with Josh Gondolf left stranded on 99 triples as time expired. The win shores up third place for the Thunder (8-4), and leaves them within striking distance of the double chance. Hope Valley (9-3) and Prince Alfred (8-3-1) remain first and second.

PS. We've now reached 29000 registered Thunder Fans in 18 countries, averaging 40 fans per day over the last month! If we get over 30000 soon, we're writing to the AFL and submitting the Thunder for the AFL's 17th licence, currently going to the Gold Coast with only 20000 fans.

With Scott Ninnis back home in SABASA-land, it promises to be an entertaining evening at Arndale tonight, with the night's events tipping off at 7.30pm, followed by free food and drink after Scott's finished presenting trophies for the season past. For those who don't get flashbacks of Scott throwing them down (and breaking a backboard one night) in warmups at Apollo Stadium everytime they hear Jump by Van Halen, Scott flashed across the SABASA landscape like a supernova and went on to bigger and better things like NBL championships and representing Australia. He'll always be remembered by those of us at leaguelineup.com though, for his Jultopia efforts in Melbourne 1985, where his 22 dunks in one carnival remain a record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon. So with the presentations on tonight, here's our predictions. We apologise to grades other than A Grade Men but we haven't seen a whole lot of games this season due to interweb commitments.

A GRADE PREMIERS
Somerton Thunder. We can't see them losing it from here.

A GRADE RUNNER-UP
Arndale Allstars. With the home crowd behind them, this one's guaranteed.

A GRADE BEST & FAIREST
We're going for a top six because it's too hard just to pick one or two players. We're thinking Happy Valley's Paul Hocking, Arndale's Josip Vucetic, Somerton's Terry Sleep and James Smith, Marion's Travis Schmidt, and Westside's Steve Rudd. The winner and runner-up should come from this pool of players. For what it's worth, we're liking Hocking for the win, and Vucetic for runner-up.

A GRADE STATS AWARDS
For the statistically-minded, it's going to be a long and boring night because these awards won't be handed out just yet - rather, they wait until leaguelineup.com have analysed the season's data, which likely won't be until late July. Stay tuned 'cause stats are where it's at.

SOMERTON THUNDER BEST & FAIREST
Again, this won't be known until the data has been fully analysed but we're tipping a close race between 6-7 behemoths Sleep and Smith.

BEST INTERNET COVERAGE
Well, we don't want to appear biased, but .....

If you're free tonight, come along to Arndale Salvos from 7.30pm for a fun night and your last chance to farewell the Runaway Bay Jultopia Carnival Classic Bullnose Verandah Shark Deathmatch Tournament Contingent, with players heading off from as early as Thursday this week.