S8 E3 - Regression or Progression?

Episode 3 is hosted by Emad Ahmed, joined by Nabeel and Safwan to discuss the season so far as we approach the mid-season tournament.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:10

Assalamu alaikum mu rahmatullahi wa barakatu. Welcome to another edition of the Brotherhood Softball League podcast. I am your host, Imam Ahmed, and joined by me today. I have Seljuk's GM, Nabil Jabbar, and I have Nasrid's, I think, first overall, first or second overall pick, Sef Wan Fan. How's it going, man?

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Thanks for having me, man. Just been um back being here, yo. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Of course, of course.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

It's my annual uh podcast time. Good to have you guys. Good to have you guys. I I I thought I'd bring you two on just to get a little bit of banter going. You know, it's always nice having some on. And and yo, Nabil, you've already seen the preview of the agenda. You know I'm gonna come for your throat a little bit. But first things first, we're gonna get going with our sponsor. This week's sponsor is Optical Zone. Optical Zone is conveniently located in Ridgeway Plaza and is the one-stop shop for all your optical needs, glasses or sunglasses. Reach out to them for all your requirements. Myopticalzone.com. Now I want to start off by giving a little bit of a standings update. Um We are officially eight games into the season. Of course, two of those games got rained out for Brotherhood's first ever uh official washout day. Uh the standings are as follows Ayubids, Mumluks, Nestrids, Sultans, Ottomans, Abbasids, Mughals, and Seljuks. The last time I was on the podcast, I talked a little bit about power rankings, and I shared my power rankings uh with Riyadh and Faye as well. I'm gonna talk about that in a few moments, but first things first, I want Nabil, I want to talk to you. Seljuks man, you guys are at the bottom. How do you feel about that? Obviously, you know, we shared some sentiment before about this being the team that is the power of friendship, and you know, predictions have been somewhat correct to start. So, how do you feel about how do you feel about that so far? And how's your experience been as a first-time GM for Brotherhood Softball Sundays?

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Man, can this be my therapy session? Can we can we count this as my therapy? By all by all means, but you know, I don't build insurance, so you can just send the cash my way. I I need a break from my friends. I need new friends for the other 96 guys out there. Uh no, it it has been um it has been an interesting experience, uh, good and bad. Uh it is a crash course in in uh in being a GM. I I start off uh the season with uh four losses and four ties. Uh um the power of friendship is strong. Uh Omer has been screaming at us from first base, from right field, from left field. Uh uh, but overall it's been an interesting experience being a GM. Uh and it has been a good experience. I I think I give kudos to the league. Um the guys make it easy to be a GM. There's a lot of good advice, there's a lot of good voice uh at the leadership table that makes it easy. Um and then I think my draft, uh my team makes it easy for me. It hasn't been the best start of the season, but the guys have been good about it, man. Like guys like Casey, Hasan, uh Tucky. You know, Tucky's being a great voice uh and a great sounding board. Uh he's been an ex GM as well, so you know it's always good to hear his giving you like Woba advice or um anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Like, what's Tucky saying?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

It's so funny you say that because the first conversation we had after I drafted him, he sent me a video link to uh say it uh uh uh telling me how I should put my best hitters at the top.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

And so hey, so uh for those of you who don't remember, Safwan and I were actually the last time we were on a team for uh Brotherhood Sundays was actually with Ducky and he was RGM. A lot happened that year, a lot happened that year. That's all I'll say. You know, it's good it's good to to hear Nabil that you you know found that find that he's a you know a good little soundboard on the team and he's a good leader and a good voice. So Fuan and I, you know, may may share the same sentiment, we may not. I don't know. I'll just leave that up, uh I'll leave that up in the air. Um but um it was definitely an experience having him on the team as a GM. It's uh I don't know how different it would be as with him as a player, but um you know he's having he's my brother-in-law, so I have I have nothing good, nothing but good things to say about him.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

You you can only say good things about him. I, on the other hand, can be impartial. And I I will say Tucky's been uh uh it's been great to have him on the team. Man, I will tell him something new every week, uh, or a new position to play every week, and Tucky takes it in stride. Uh first week we played, I told him second base. Second week we played, I told him right field, uh right center field. And last week we played, I said, can you play third base? And he takes it all in stride. So thank you, Tucky. If you're listening to this, thank you to Tucky, thank you to KC. I really appreciate you guys. The other 10 guys I've known for over 10 uh 20 years, and I will have to live with them for the rest of my life. But shout out to those two, because you know, first time I'm playing with those two.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

That really sounds like the power of friendship is going strong because he didn't really kind of share too much about uh the bad parts about the Seljuks. So I'm gonna leave it at that. Um, you know, I'm a I'ma you know, just pat myself on the back a little bit and say that I was totally right about that prediction. Hey, you guys got the rest of the season. I think there's literally like 20 games left or something like that for you guys to change the change uh change the standings. Of course, there is so much time, and I can almost guarantee you that 99.9% that the standings as it stands right now will be completely different by the end of the season. Um speaking of the standings, I want to talk to you, Stefan. The nuts raids are two points out of the first place U bits. Uh, you guys actually beat them this past week, so how do you feel about your team? Um I know I I believe uh Jav was on the last podcast. I'm not I I can't remember what they talked about on the last podcast, to be honest. But uh I want to I want to hear from you. You know, you're also one of the leaders, one of the captains on the team as well, alongside Jav. Um who has been like a surprise to you? Like how how has it been being on this team? You know, you've got you know lots of leadership and a lot of young guns on the team as well. So tell me about uh what the experience has been and and how you're looking forward to playing with the the guys on your team.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yeah, man, I've really just been enjoying all of this, man, so far. Um doing being part of Brotherhood. It's my eighth, eighth year or something like that, and this stage of life between work, family, and kids, uh, where we can come on a Sunday and just compete and have fun. Um I just want to say thanks, man. And uh talking softball, and uh hopefully nothing I say gets me traded or anything like that. But it's been fun, man. We've been feeling pretty good, right? So I mean the you guys are first for a reason, and uh also the moments are second for a reason, but you know, gave us uh definitely confidence. Um you know, as you said, we're not hanging out, we're not like celebrating like that. Um nobody wins in June. But what I like about our team is probably the depth. Um everybody's stepping up, like everybody's stepping up. Like last week we were missing our big dogs, and uh you know, catching things, player of the week, umseini, like you know, one of your armor like uh you know, one of your guys, and you're he doesn't really do this, he's played right field for the whole game, right? Uh the whole day. Um, you know, and uh Yubas are a good team that we'll probably see them again. Uh Monks are a great team too. But we're we're we like where we're sitting and we're feeling pretty good. I also got to give credit to Rey Azio because that man had a big offensive day on six RBIs against the Ayubans. He probably won us the game right there. And also nervy, man. We got our picture back. So it's just the depth of our team, just enjoying it. Um we got some big dogs too, you know, you know, the big names, and you know, probably future first round pick too, Sammy. Um so we like our we like our um we like our chances and we're feeling pretty good, but we're not like getting too overhyped right now.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

That's good to hear, man. That's uh that's a good analysis. A good breakdown. Glad to see that you guys are gelling well together and uh have been performing uh like your chemistry is kind of speaking. I'm gonna talk a little bit about my power rankings. These were my power rankings just to refresh everybody's memories. It was Seljuks at eight, got that one right. A Yubids at seven, and they're actually first place right now. A boss is at six, got that one right. Mughals at five, they're actually, I think, in seventh place, so within two spots. Um Ottomans at four, we're in fifth place right now. Nussards at three, got that one right, three for eight. Uh Sultan's at two, they're in fourth place, and then the Mamluks at one, and they're in second place. So I would say I was I was pretty accurate. I wasn't, I wasn't uh, you know, apart from the Ayyubids, I was like fairly accurate, like within one or two spots or bang on. Um I was completely wrong about the Ayubids, man. I think we faced them twice this season already. Man, they're a very, very scary team, man. They've got um they've got uh just power all throughout the lineup with uh with guys like literally Ish, uh with uh Hassan Shabir, Jibs, uh Abdullah up there. So they've got some good power, they've got some great contact hitters in in Mobo and Basir. Owes Nuri is like a perfect utility guy to have. And I'm not even gonna lie, that's kind of the team that you want to be on because Hamza Wahib, man, shout out to Hamza. He's doing a sick job. I don't know if you guys were there right after the games uh last week when everybody was enjoying the Helbachi Ellie. It was like we were all a part of the Ayubid circle, they were just giving out awards, you know, they had a chain that was being passed around, you know. Uh Hamza was bringing that useful energy. I don't know, I don't know what was going on, but I I felt like a part of a team. I felt like I was, you know, on the Ayubids again. And you know, I know I I know I mentioned I know I mentioned the power of uh the power of friendship for the Cell Jukes, but I think the power of friendship is really coming through for the uh yubids as well. Um, you know, when you guys when you like that's what softball is all about, it's all about having fun. Um what do you guys think about the Ubids?

SPEAKER_02 11:21

I like that too. I like I like what the U Bids are doing, yo. I like I like it's more than just softball, right? They probably have barbecues and stuff like that too. Like they genuinely like each other. Um, no one's sleeping on them. They're first for reason. But I want to know, Imad, is like, but why did you have them so low before? And what's changed your your view here?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

So I personally had them very low, mostly because there is just a lot of question marks. Um honestly, I looked at that team and I just didn't see a lot of like I I just saw that I I felt like you know Hamza was kind of picking a little bit of the people that he knew. He picked his brother, he picked Hassan, uh, you know, fellow League 2 guy, they've been in the in in OUS League 2 for a few years. Uh Saw that sorry, so I was like, oh, you know what? You know, he might be kind of picking a little bit of his friends and whatnot. And um, to be honest, Jabron has had a down year the last few years playing on the big um playing on the big diamonds, so I felt that you know maybe he was just not a big league, uh a big uh a big field player. Uh maybe he's just been taken a little bit too high or whatnot. Of course, that being proven wrong, this guy burned me one time and he literally hit the fence or the warning track. And you know, guys like Ibron Karaishi are literally killing it, Hassan Children, Britt, like these guys are like even Sol and Sari's got you know his average close to 600. So um I'm definitely you know eating my words here with regards to the U bids. Um they definitely came came out with a chip on the shoulder, and you know, got like literally Ish's pitching is is insane. So this guy has such a hard read on the on his pitches. So um I do feel like there is a little bit of regression that is about to come for this team as well. Um, I think they're riding on a little bit of a high. How can can can Huston Joldry maintain that average? Can Imran Koreshi maintain that average? Um will we have some hero ballers on this team? Will people figure out Kashev and Sadh and Sari? Will their average kind of dip towards uh what they're normally um you know producing in this league? I I do think they're running on a little bit of a high. We almost beat them last week while we were missing um some guys. So I do think that they are a beautiful team. Um and I I I think like I mentioned, like the standings are not going to be the same uh what by the time we get to the end of the year. I actually think you guys, the Nestrids are very, very scary uh with the way that you guys are performing, and I still stand by the Mamluks being the top uh pick for the for the league, in my in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

So yeah, I disagree with that. Um we played the Mamluks this weekend, and wait, we're number eight. We still tied with them, and they were running a full squad. Um it's not like we were playing amazing. Our problem our problem has been guys playing out of position the entire first six games, and so I can sympathize with some of the Celus, but I disagree. I don't think the Mumlukes are that good.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

No, I will say that a lot of the teams this year are fairly like balanced. Like I think that um everybody has like a legit chance. Like I think if it's all just about getting your bats going at the right time. Um, we weren't seeing the mumlukes last year. We didn't think that they were gonna make a big run into the post uh into the postseason, but they ended up winning the championship, right? And I think they were I think fourth, fourth in the standings or fifth in the standings or something like that by the end of the year. Nabil, you were on that team, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Yeah, fifth in the standings, pretty much like the Sallukes this year. Everyone was like, yo, this team should actually be. Yeah, so but well, everyone had the Moblukes last last season too. And that's okay, man. You know, it's it's that one weekend in September where everything matters, remember? And it just needs to click on that weekend, and then everyone will forget the rest of the summer. I'm not saying we're gonna be bad forever. Look, uh, we've we've lost or tied. We have what two ties and we lost one game with a week with a one-run differential, so the score uh the standings could be completely different.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

So, what needs to change, bro? What needs to change?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Um I think I need to I need to settle on my defensive lineup. So it's not something the team is doing. I think it's something I am doing.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

And do you have a I saw um Zucky come in um for pitching? I saw Unsung Hero Zucky. What? Like he started pitching now?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Yeah, so he signed up as a pitcher this year, and I was missing Hanan for one of the games uh this weekend, this past weekend, and I thought, you know what, why not give Zucky a chance? Um and he did I think he did amazing uh for uh for a first-time pitcher uh playing like pitching in in game in game. I and I know he's pitched in exhibit exhibition games and whatnot, but I think he did amazing. I think this the that's something I can keep in uh in the back pocket trying different things out. Uh and so I think once I land on my defensive lineup, uh it changes things. Also, I would like to call out we're scoring scoring a lot of runs. Like we're we're what fifth, sixth place, uh fifth place in runs uh runs four, and so things will change in the Celyukes camp, inshallah. Inshallah, and I'd love to be back on this podcast and rub it in a mod's face.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Hey man, I'm just being the host here, man. I'm just trying to stir the pot a little bit. Speaking of stirring the pot, I want to talk a little bit about like the early season surprises. Now to you guys, uh, we're gonna talk like pitching, hitting, um, and just just generally like team performances. Um, staff, I'm gonna start with you. Who do you think has been you know kind of a surprise and who do you think deserves like that kind of unsung hero shout-out? Uh, maybe not some of the typical guys that you know perform like our first and second rounders, but um, who do you feel are some guys that you think are are are performing above their usual potential that deserve a shout-out right now?

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, for sure. This is the fun part, I guess, because you get to shout out people. Um, I have so we haven't even played the Sultans, right? But I looked up and I saw um Shaheen, our guy. I think I think it was nice to see Shaheen's numbers, and I think he's performing pretty well and he's like batting pretty high too. So good to see um Shaheen. Um that's a nice surprise there. Um and I also again I shouted him up for I'll just say it again, Reyaz, he did well too because he had a big time performance in a big time game. I like those. Um and T, you know, he had a big yeah, so those two homers, he had a grand slam against us and he brought it brought back into the game. There's so many, man. Um the eighth, ninth round, tenth pick. I said Arnold Husseini because he played the whole right uh right field for two two uh games. I saw Saud and Sari do it for the other teams. Yeah, man. I I see like so many people like just picking it up, like playing different positions, like it reasons for us played left center field the entire like two two um two games, right? So and I think I think yeah, we played you guys two Ottomans, you guys beat us. So I think was doing pretty well for you guys, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like there's so many, like who you got?

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Nabil, man, let me hear from you.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Uh I I don't have uh unsung heroes, but I will call out some standouts. Um Sammy on uh uh on the Nustred, the shortstop. Man, he's amazing. He is elite level shortstop. Um you saw him play? We haven't played you guys, so how did you see him play? Uh we played the uh exhibition game with you guys, right? Against the Nosreds the first week. May 3rd or May 10th. Um that's where I saw him play. Man, and then I've just watched some Nasreds game. Uh oh wait, I don't know if he played that game. Uh, but I I I saw him firsthand on the exhibition game, so I know what what uh he brings to the table. Uh Homeid on the Moggles, he's having a great year to start off with. Uh on the Ottomans was Shams. Uh U Imad after last year. I think you've really turned it around this year on the Ottomans. Um, Yu Bis as a whole, as a team. Uh Atik. Atik, shout out. He had a great weekend last week.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Oh, yeah, yeah. So just totally not cheap hits at all. Oh, yeah, totally not cheap hits. Totally not, just amazing hits. Right, Zaid?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Um who else can I think? Uh Salansari was another one that I I I was uh on top of my mind. Um and then um uh I think a new addition to the league, uh Ali Chaudhry man, uh he's had a great start to the to the year. He's doing really well. KC Kizer has is doing well on our team. He's he's really good. Yeah, those those are my standouts. Uh uh obviously we're only six games into the season, so there's like as you mentioned, there will be some regression, there will be some progression. So let's see, let's see where we are 16 games in, and then we'll go from there.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Yeah, shout out to shout out to I have some more shoutouts to for some other guys. Um, EVP, he's freaking killing it. Um, the dude is batting like literally 733, uh, 11 hits in 15 at bats, all singles. Just that third kill power.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Just that third kid power.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yo, just power. That guy is killing it. Um you know, Akif is literally killing it as well. He's doing a really sick job.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Yes, and yo, I want to say something about Akkif, yo. Yo, uh he has some crazy stance now. Yo, he has a crazy stance. He gets some sort of torque on his body. He hit the ball in a way that I've never seen um like the dragon. trajectory like a low liner to the wall type. But yeah, good, good call. Nice call out, Iman.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Nice call-out. I like it. Yo, I mean I I like what I'm seeing from him. And same thing with Butt as well. Ahmed Butt, he's killing it as well. He's batting 636. You know that team where you guys where you got guys like Casey, uh like Hurum, Zahid, Hamad, the two best players in terms of average on that team, Aki Fahen and Ahmed But. So I don't know what kind of power friendship is going on over there that's getting their average up, but they're definitely doing a sick job. Some other names Imran Merchant literally has four home runs which is absolutely absurd. This guy is literally mashing the ball and I I like the way Fiji is playing as well on the Nustrids. The you know there's a lock in in the outfield as well. He had a sick week. I think he went like eight for 10. He had a few triples and whatnot. So it's nice to see these guys performing well. Mukhtar Hadi literally on the Sultans he he's got uh you know a triple and three doubles he's batting almost 600 so uh even Stefjanchik the new pitcher that's on the Muggles uh he's he's doing really really well three 6'11 batting average so we've got some some standout performers this year which is always nice to see um but I want to uh shout out shout out to uh staff he's uh yeah dude leading RB guys and hits yeah shout out to staff because staff had a killer week this week as well I honestly voted for you for player of the week we didn't want to give somebody player of the week again because it's just not that fair um especially if you're having nine hits in a week like multiple weeks in a row like it's it's just not fair for the rest of the league.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Can Staff pull his first MVP with regards to Brotherhood Sundays I don't know let's see what happens I would love to see that stop it man I'm just trying to inshallah mashallah mashallah no nuzzer no nuzzer no nuzzer no nuzzer you know gotta dude I'm not like the age where I'm like stretching more than I can now you know so I'm just taking this all in it's nice man but yeah like team the team is playing big man um yeah we really are looking for the rest of the year and yo there's so much parity in the league now like the Sal Yukes are not that far away from the Ayubits manybody's game it's anybody's game in any given on any given game right if anybody can take it so that's just the way we're looking at it. And I hope everybody else is like not taking anybody too lightly because we're not like the Salyukes I feel like those guys are gonna come like any any week now they're gonna be ready.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

And Ottomans see you guys too because you guys beat us so um looking forward to seeing you guys I'll I want to flip the coin a little bit and you know we won't you know dog on these guys a little bit because obviously it's very very early in the season but um I want to actually ask who are some of your early season snoozers like in terms of you know either like you can say like the team performances like I don't want to say the cell jukes again like it's whatever like you know run that joke a little bit too many times this podcast or whatever but who's been a little bit of like a snoozer in terms of like a uh a team uh like uh any sort of hitters uh pitchers who do you think you know needs to be pushed a little bit into the right in the in the right direction I'll go first to be honest I think that you know just to dog on my own team a little bit um just to kind of set the tone I don't I I think that our team is definitely underperforming I think we have one of the lowest amounts of um uh RBIs I think we're second last in RBIs we're last in average um we're close to the bottom in uh in extra base hits as well um now we're fifth in the standings tied with the Sultan so we're like right in the middle of the pack but I don't know just being on this team I found that there's just like been a little bit of an inability to string hits together we're leaving a lot of guys on base so first things first I think that the Ottomans are definitely snoozing a little bit I mean we're missing Osman one of the weeks as well um but I definitely think that you know we can have a little bit more of that like clutch performance on on our team from both the bottom of the lineup and the top of the lineup and the middle of the lineup I think um you know we can't just keep hitting singles and expecting us to score runs like we need to start taking extra bases be a little bit more mobile on the base path so um I think that we've been definitely snoozing a little bit so uh it's like every single time every single week I think we win the first the first game of the week and then the second game we lose so we end up being very very sluggish and just slow in the second game. So I think we definitely snooze a little bit there. But how about you guys I want to I want to hear from you guys maybe if you have any sort of individual teams that you want to you know kind of encourage to get a going or some some guys that are either on your team or off your team I'll just think like you can you can say this very politely by the way like you know I don't think anybody will take it personally no man I feel like it's everybody probably everybody past the age 38 probably is a snoozer by game two.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Like father time is like catching up to all of us right some of us little guys are still trying to prove I'm wrong but like by that second game and that hot sun is on you you're just like because I don't know about you guys but like the last couple of weeks when I came home I felt like I was good but then I just so I think yeah like father time like that is really catching up to a lot of us and we're just trying to prove he's wrong but that's I think the biggest like snoozer you can kind of say like everybody's kind of feeling that I see so many different guys just feeling that and like trying to find out like okay what are you guys doing? I mean the food is is a good thing to look forward to I'm I don't think they like just get out of this inning man to get that get that Havalkey or whatever they got quick enough like get that burger in you as soon as you can thank you guys for the food. But yeah man I just think like the big bats they'll probably get hotter later on in the season people get more used to and adjusted to like their stamina and like you'll probably see more people stretch one to three. I like our team again because we got the young bucks right this is why you need the young bucks um it's it's paying off right now I think in the like the dog days of the summer when things get you know it's gonna get hotter but hopefully guys get more in stride and more people pick it up yeah what do you think in the field man the one team that uh that really surprised me uh was uh Mughals I legitimately when after the draft thought that was uh top team um and so it's been a little bit of a surprise but again they have Imran merchant they have Ali Hadi they have they haven't had same for two weeks they haven't had same for two two weeks and and Mike has also gotten injured as well I think like yeah well Sunda Mike I think he had a little bit of like a separated shoulder or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

So um they're definitely performing well under their their capabilities so it's only a matter of time before they can turn things around yeah so I think um Mughals will turn that ship around um too much firepower on the Mughals for you for us to say oh um they're not gonna turn it around they will turn that around um I think there will be uh looking at the standings um a little bit of uh return to the mean or the Ayubids I think people will are too high or sorry too low on the Sultans man Sultans are our top team these are like elite level players on that team you have proven proven elite yeah you have Amr Askari Rehan Shaheen uh uh Fay Sufian man that team is stacked did you say yo don't forget omare yo oh my god I forgot omare jabbar oh man yo that team is stacked stacked yeah yeah yeah yeah now and I you know I to be honest I was looking for a little bit more of like that masala those masalay answers where you're shouting out people that you hated in the league or whatever but you know it's cool it is what it is I know we're all about that brotherhood and stuff like that even I didn't shout out anybody I didn't want to get I don't want to get in hot waters either but um we got that that that midseason tournament coming up as well this weekend so here are the matchups uh 9 30 a.m we've got the Abbasids versus the Nustrids and then we've got the Mughals and the Mumluks um we've got the Ottomans and the Sultans and the Seljuks versus the Ayyubids uh and then of course we've got the semifinals and the finals uh after that that is going to be single elimination um now I'll tell you what I have heard so far I have heard that Nabil Alam and Usman Batar will not be playing uh as well as Mokala for the Ottomans so I think we have nine guys potentially a sub um and then I also have heard that Umer Jabbar is not playing on the tournament as well so um we're I and I and I and I have also heard that a lot of people are missing this weekend. Um so just based off of what you guys have heard and maybe what you guys know about your team um could you guys maybe tell you tell me if you know anything about like your absences and stuff like that before I actually hop into our predictions for the midseason tournament Nabil do you are you guys missing anybody um Mozam and Omer Sheikh uh and I also want to take this opportunity obviously Mo sent the message out but if we could all take this moment and really quickly say a quick dua for Omer and Mozam's mother uh who's going through treatment um I would really appreciate that but yeah those are the only two guys I'm missing this weekend. Yeah may Allah grant uh grant her shifta inshaAllah and grant her speak speedy recovery and you know make it easy on on the Sheikh family inshallah safer you guys missing anybody for the midseason tournament I can't even really say bro all right looks like the Nusrids are locked in okay so I'm gonna go through this and uh I'm just gonna do rapid fire who who do you think is gonna win so uh sof one Abbas or Nusrids what is this for the midseason the midseason who do you think is gonna win Abbas's or Nusrids whoever um whoever brings their full team bro this guy's not even glazing his own team I gave him the opportunity he's not taking it whoever brings their own team uh is this ayyubids do you say ayyubids or who do you say your team versus the Abbasids us versus Abbas oh yeah um yeah like yeah Nasrids yeah we should win that okay but the Nusrids are Abbasids Abbas why is that I mean you know just uh Zahed he's gonna bring that you know Kobe mentality and the and and come tournament time come playoff time I've seen Zaheed he man goes all out so I'll take my chances I'll I'll I'll go I'll roll with Zahed and Hamad for for this one okay okay uh I got the Nustreds I think they're they're they're hot right now so I'm gonna roll with them uh Mughals and Mumluks of one Mughals and Mumluks ooh again yo whoever brings their full roster bro give me a give me give me a proper answer dog gotta give me gotta give me a shit yo share the pot a little bit bro don't don't don't give me like uh these half answers if they both bring their full teams I like um the mumluks man yeah I'm in the mod is playing up how about you uh go with the Muggles man okay why is that um Imran Merchant those merchants man you can't count them out you definitely can't he was a big player in our midseason tournament title two years ago two two years ago I think that was Saf?

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Two years ago yeah um I'm gonna go with uh the Mumluks I think uh if they have their full team uh they're gonna bring a lot of power they're gonna make things very difficult um Ottomans and Sultans Saf Ooh this is a good one man I wish I could watch this game um the home team who's the home team the sultans okay I'm gonna go with the sultans I think they're gonna manage the game I think they're gonna get it but again it's assuming they bring their full roster how about you these teams are tied in standing although it's the first game of their tournament and you know what I'm gonna go with a controversial answer here contrary to my own belief I uh I I say that because I think the Sultans are are are an amazing team I think I'm gonna roll with the Ottomans on this one this particular one okay why is that um just based on some of the names that you mentioned are who are missing the game uh I think you guys may be rolling with a full squad that day.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Nope we are not I mentioned that we're missing Osman and Nabil who are our second and third round picks both of our center fielders are gone. Osman and Nabil yes that changes things I'm gonna roll with the Sultans okay and I think and I think that's a very fair sentiment um I I obviously believe in my team uh I think that there's there needs to be a little bit of a mentality shift my team knows what we're talking about if they're hearing this podcast before the midseason tournament I think we need to lock in a lock we we lock in we are lock in none of this uh none of this golf talk you know show up to this midseason tournament ready to play I'm ready to play center field if Sham puts me there if uh Osman and Nabil are missing and I'm ready to chase after that ball so I'm gonna pick the Ottomans you know because I believe in my team uh and then the last one the the Seljuk's versus the Ayyubids one Salyukes versus Ayyubids you got your full team coming yeah I do I just I'm just missing Omer and Mosum yeah yeah if I I think you could steal this one man I believe me guys I would love to steal anything right now it doesn't count towards the standings but um yeah no I think I'm just gonna okay yeah I'm gonna go with the Ayubits though but I'm assuming they have their full team because um that team is is really good man because yeah we played them last week yeah but if if they're missing jibs again then I think you guys you guys got them nice um I'm gonna go with my guy my guys um I cannot wait to stick it to Jabron and Ish who are both my friends um but yeah hell yeah I'm going where I'm rolling with the Cell Uks yeah I'm gonna go with the Ayubids I think the the answer is pretty clear I think you guys have heard enough of me say things throughout this part you might have just right as like no one else is Aubids I'm sorry Matt I love you you're my you're my neighbor you know what I'm saying uh I just you know this this team is this team is running hot and yo I was I was right about the you know the power rankings and so I cannot wait to rub it bro rub it rub it in my face bro no problem no problem you can knock on my door and rub it in my face no problem um now i instead of going through like the permutations of like what you guys picked in terms of who you guys think uh are gonna win the next few matchups I'm just gonna ask you guys who do you think are gonna win uh who do you think is gonna win the midseason tournament uh if you were to pick any team that is not yours. Someone I'll start with you.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Yeah um you already know man I think any team that brings their full roster is gonna win. So that could be the Seleuces that could be Ottomans that could well you already know Ottomans are not going to bring their full roster so they're not gonna win right but it's gonna be tougher road for you because you got the auto elch right I'm thinking they might need to just think of a new um form like something different for next year. Happy to you know I know they do a great job you know in the background doing all this um ideas and procurement I really appreciate it but just the attendance I'm wondering if it's related to just not um having any meaning um but uh I think yeah I'm just gonna go with AUBids man but I like the Ayubids um especially if they have their full roster I think they're very difficult to beat and the standards kind of show that okay okay Nabil how about you I'm a toss up between Abbas and uh Sultans whoever brings their if it's not my team I could see it going to one of those provided they're bringing their full rosters.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Yeah I I think that's fair um I'm gonna I'm gonna point one thing out the Abbasids lead the league and team batting average and then right after it's the Mughals and then right after it's the Sultans so I think you know the standings are definitely not indicative of how people are batting and whatnot. But um from what I have seen in terms of um just like just the way that playoffs usually goes in Brotherhood it's whoever's hot right like whoever is getting those base hits whoever's stringing hits together whoever has a good combination of extra base hits and uh you know just one baggers uh they're gonna be able to to take home the trophy and uh I I I do believe that the the Abbasids and the Mughals are gonna make uh you know really really good matchups against the Mumluks and the Nestrids but I do think that the winner is going to come from that side of the bracket. If the Abbasids or Mughals come up with some sort of an upset I think they're gonna end up um rolling through all the way to the end for the championship. That's my prediction uh no specific team that I'm gonna give over there but I think that the winner is going to come from from that side of the bracket. I do think that the other side has a lot of missing people on that side of the bracket. So um it's gonna be very interesting to see how it plays out but um you know Ottomans, Sultans, Teljukes, Ayubins they all have I would say a relatively simple road to the finals I would say um with the way that I have it playing out in my head I feel like I already know that the Ayyubids are going to be in the finals facing one of the guys on um on the that side of the bracket but um I do think that you know Abbas, Nasrids Mughal's Mumluks like I feel like just by the way that I'm thinking it thinking it in my head like they have a little bit more of like tournament players I'd say yeah so you know it's gonna be whoever like that last game is going to be very very you know difficult you got three games you have a little bit of a break and whatnot so um you know there's gonna be a break in between for them to kind of re-energize before they play the 1230 in the two o'clock game so whoever has the most energy from that side of the bracket you know guys like Zaheed the Hamad like they can definitely you know turn up the Jets in the third game and stuff so um it would be very very interesting to see but that's pretty much it that's all I wanted to talk about today.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Hopefully you guys have an amazing tournament and um once again please make dua for um the mother of Omer and Wazam Sheikh uh boys any last words from you guys nah man thanks for having me man just appreciate all the brothers brotherly vibes um prayers out to sure um see you guys everybody on the field salam alaykum to everyone yeah yeah agreed salam alaikum guys all right assaal alaikum guys take care