S8 E5 - Brotherly Love!

Episode 5 is hosted by Emad Ahmed, featuring Hammad and Hassan Shabbir. Special thanks to MyCommunity Services for sponsoring this episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_07 0:13

Alright, salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to another episode of the Brotherhood Softball League podcast. I am your host, Imam Ahmed, and alongside me I have two very beautiful brothers in this league, both brothers in real life and brothers in Brotherhood. Mr. and Mr. Hamad and Hassan Shabir. How's it how's it going, guys? Salam alaikum.

SPEAKER_04 0:41

Yes, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Assalaamu alaikum, my brother and my real brother. What's going on? Well, we're gonna get into it.

SPEAKER_07 0:52

We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna hear from the uh from Hassan and Hamad, both the Shabir brothers. Um we've got quite a lot to talk about today, but we're gonna try and keep it uh brief because uh, you know, there's been a little bit of uh, you know, some attendance issues in the last few weeks with uh with regards to brotherhood, with regards to the bye weeks and people missing weeks and all that kind of stuff. Some vacation, but we'll get into that. Um but first things first, we're gonna kick things off with our sponsor. This week's sponsor is My Community Services. My Community Services is a group of diverse professionals dedicated to enhancing newcomer community engagement. They offer a wide range of services and learning opportunities to connect newcomers to a better future in an ever-changing Canadian society. Visit mcsservices.org. This week's podcast, we have several things on our agenda. We're gonna talk about uh Hamad and Hassan, the Shabir Brothers playing with each other. Uh, we're gonna talk about our mid-season power rankings, we're gonna talk about who's hot and who's not, which kind of goes hand in hand with those power rankings. Uh, we're gonna talk about some bye week slumps and uh maybe we'll get into the uh all-star voting and early season award prediction. So first things first, Hamad and Hassan. Uh I believe this is the first, is this the first league that you guys have played uh in together? Or enlighten me. Tell me if this is the first time you guys are playing against each other or with each other in a softball uh in a softball uh league.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

I think this is the first league that we're playing against each other. I don't know, Hassan, you can correct me if I'm wrong. Like I don't remember playing against you much in softball.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

That's uh correct, yeah. We've never faced each other. We've played uh with each other plenty of times, but never against each other. So uh definitely first time for me facing Hamad.

SPEAKER_07 2:45

How does that feel? How does that feel? Like well Ham Hamad, we'll start we'll start with you. I I think you I'm assuming that you've uh faced uh the Ayubids a few times this season. Um I'm gonna quickly just pull up the Abbasids. Uh have you guys faced each other this year?

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Yeah, and so just one time had a doubleheader three times.

SPEAKER_06 3:06

And then once oh, several times, several times.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:11

And how has that been, man? I feel like uh looks like you guys split last week.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Yes. Last week we split, and then I don't remember the last time we faced them.

SPEAKER_07 3:24

So Ayub is 15, Abbas is 10, a boss is 12, a Ubid's four, and then the last time you guys faced each other, Abbas is won 10-5, and then you guys had uh a tie in the rain out. So Abbases have taken uh taken uh taken the season series so far. Uh, don't believe you guys are facing each other for the rest of the um rest of the year, but tell me about how that is, how about that? Like how is it facing your brother? Seeing him on the other side of the field. Are you uh you know aiming for him when the ball is coming uh to you in the batter's box, or uh are you trying to hit away as as as far away from him as possible?

SPEAKER_02 4:03

You know, it's it's interesting. It's um obviously never done it before. Well, I've played with Hassan uh for quite some time now, but you get you get that competitive feeling, you know, when you're playing against your brother and you're like, all right, you know what? This is what he did. He hit a triple or he did this. I want to try to one up him and do even better, you know, just uh some friendly competition. Uh so I like I like to challenge him. If if I if I can, I'll try to hit towards him and see what he does. And defensively, I'm hoping that he hits towards me to see if I can make a play and get him out.

SPEAKER_07 4:38

Now, Hamad, have you been playing? I I haven't really played you too much this year, but have you been playing shortstop or have you been playing outfield most of the time?

SPEAKER_02 4:45

I've I've only been playing shortstop.

SPEAKER_07 4:47

Okay. Now Hassan, same question to you. When you're in that batter's box, are you trying to hit to Hamad? Are you trying to be like, nope, not trying to hit to him at all?

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Uh I mean, generally I would say I try to uh avoid hitting towards Hamad, but I at the same time I don't really see fielders. I'm just trying to hit the ball hard, to be honest. Uh so you know, uh and in terms of playing against Hamad, I I feel like he's been pretty mellow. I don't feel like he says anything aggressive or he's uh uh he might be trying to get under my skin. I don't know if I if it's registered for me, but uh yeah, I I haven't really felt any pressure. Just so you know, Ahmad.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

I mean, I I have tried to kind of get under your skin and you know saying things like he's gonna take a walk or he's gonna swing at anything, and who knows, maybe maybe he does get to you and maybe it doesn't. But even if it does, I don't think you tell us.

SPEAKER_07 5:50

I think there's a league-wide collective understanding that both both of you guys are like the league nice guys, like everybody associates both of you guys with just being really, really just you know, nice, positive people. So I want to instigate a little bit. Which one of you guys is better?

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Is that even a question to ask? Come on, bro.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

I think Hassan is a nice guy for sure. Uh the those who know me really well, they will they'll not agree with this uh reputation of a nice guy that I have. I'm not a nice guy.

SPEAKER_07 6:26

So by that you mean Hassan, you think you're better than Haman. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 6:30

I know I didn't say that. I just said I'm not a nice guy compared to Hamad, I'm not a nice guy.

SPEAKER_07 6:35

I I need I need a I need a one-word answer. Hamad, I'm gonna start with you. Who do you think is better? Yourself or Hassan?

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Better as in like a nice guy there or skill-wise.

SPEAKER_07 6:44

Bro, who's a better softball player? I don't care about personality. Bro, it's me.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

It's me. It's me, bro.

SPEAKER_07 6:50

Okay, and Hassan. Hassan, are you gonna take that? Are you gonna agree with him or are you gonna disagree with him?

SPEAKER_03 6:56

If I'm a GM, if I see uh both Hamad and Hassan available, I'll probably pick him up.

SPEAKER_07 7:03

Okay, so I think I think Hassan's the nice guy here. Has a nice guy. We know who's more humble. We know who's more humble. But uh it's great to see you guys playing uh playing well, both of you guys playing really, really well. I mean, obviously, I can speak as somebody who has faced both of you guys as not one of your actual blood brothers or whatever. Whenever I see both of you guys either on the field or in the batter's box, like it is kind of a scary sight to see. You never know what's gonna happen. I'm always in left field or center field, and I always am ready to have the ball get dumped over my head from either of you guys. So um there is that offensive prowess from both of you guys and the defensive prowess as well. But um, you know, at the end of the day, only one team will win. Let's see if the brother, one of the brothers in this call will will end up lifting the trophy. Hopefully neither, and hopefully it's me.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Inshallah, whoever is the bet the better team, you know.

SPEAKER_07 8:03

Inshallah, inshallah. Let's move on to the next segment of the podcast. Um we've got mid-season power rankings and who's hot and who's not. Um Hamad, I I I heard from a little birdie that uh you've done some severe analysis uh with the help of Mr. Microsoft Copilot. Um I want to hear a little bit about who's hot and who's not uh who's not. I want to hear about some of the analysis there, and then maybe we can go into um a little bit of our our power rankings. We'll go one by one. Um Hassan, while he is you know telling us the AI breakdown of who's hot and who's hot, who's not, I think I need you to get your eight teams ready to go because I'm gonna call on you and you gotta give me your eight teams and the power ranking. So Hamad, give us a give us a little AI breakdown of everything.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Oh, okay. I don't know if it was an in-depth analysis. I'll just say and then you made it sound like it was in-depth.

SPEAKER_07 9:02

You said you sounded so prepared coming into this goal.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

The wrong way. But uh obviously, um, you know, I I I'm looking at the last uh five um games and the and the record. And according to not my analysis, but AI's right now the hottest team is NASRIDs. So there it seems like their stock is up. They have uh four, one and all last five records, uh plus 31 run differential. That's uh tied with the second in the league. Um obviously they have the best record in the league uh by one one win. They're one point uh one point above of acid's. Um seems like they have a strong balance between offense and defense. They're not the highest scoring team, but it seems like they're the most efficient.

SPEAKER_05 9:53

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_07 9:55

You're right. That totally wasn't as in-depth as I was uh I was as I was thinking, but um right now let's just let's just go through the standings. We got the Nasrids, we got the Abbasis, we've got the Ottomans, Ayubid Sultans, Mamluks, Mughals, and Seljuk's. I can't remember what we had as the power rankings before because we had several people who were giving um their their in-depth analysis of what they thought was was the power rankings at the time, which was relatively close to the beginning of the season. Um But I I would say that the last time we talked about power rankings, I had said that the next time we talk about power rankings, they're gonna be completely different, right? You never know how the teams are actually gonna play with regards to injuries, you know, who's hot and who just gets hot at the right time and whatnot. But um let's go into our own power rankings uh and then let's give it a little bit of an analysis uh by ourselves with regards to who we think the top uh eight teams are in order. Um Hassan, do you want to go first? Yeah, look, um, let's let's do let's do let's do eight to one. I want to hear your teams before you go deep into analysis. We'll go jump right into it. We'll go eight, seven, eight, uh, six, five, four, three, two, one. So who do you think is the worst team power rankings all the way up to the best team?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Okay, you want me to just list the teams?

SPEAKER_07 11:21

I want you to list your teams, and then I want to uh uh you to give the rationale after you list all eight teams. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Okay. Uh I'll say Seljuks, Yubits, Mamluks, Mohals, Sultans, Ottomans, Abbasids, and Nustrids.

SPEAKER_05 11:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 11:42

Let me hear. I I want to know why you put uh put you especially your own team pretty low.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Like I know my team. I mean, uh, you know, uh I'm just gonna put us low because I that's what my team feels, and uh yeah, nice guys.

SPEAKER_04 11:57

I'm representing them.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

I'm representing my team's uh opinion here. Uh cell jerks uh, you know, like their record shows. I think it's it's a team that probably has a really good vibe. Um but uh numbers don't lie, right? Um I know Mohals have been having issues with attendance, and I think attendance really matters. Half the battle I find in this league is just showing up, and you can see the teams that have overall good attendance, they tend to do well generally, especially coming into the playoffs. Of course, you have issues like injuries that come up. Mamluks, I don't recall the last time that they won over the last couple of weeks. I think this is a team that's really good. Uh Reza is definitely one of my favorite GMs. I mean, I haven't uh really played for a lot of GMs. This is my first full year in the league, right? Uh, but I did play a few games uh with Reza last year, and uh you know I really enjoyed playing uh with him, him being the GM. So I'm sure Mamluks will be able to turn around, but I put them at number uh what number five, right? Because Seljuke's at eight. Yeah, yeah. Uh Ayyubs, Mogels, Mamluks, Sultans. Uh I think uh I've seen these guys when they're here, they're really uh dangerous teams. Sultans are really dangerous uh when they have the full team. Oh at least like the core of the team. So anything can happen, right? Moving forward. Uh same with Ottomans, they have key pieces. I think you're an Ottomans, right, Imad? Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah. And you've been doing really well. Like I've seen you hit this year. Um, I mean I've seen you hit in the past as well, but I I just feel like you're a different beast this year. Um again, I haven't seen a lot of you play. I did see you play last year and uh a couple of times before that in some tournaments, but uh like Salon Cup and stuff, but um yeah, so they've got you, right?

SPEAKER_07 14:06

Uh you make me blush. I think defensively be a pretty sound team.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Right? Um yeah, I put them at number two, and that's trades again, their their record is shows, and you know, you know, you look at the players, I can't really identify any any holes defensively in Dustrads. And for me, having had some experience in the past being a GM, I I value defense more than anything. You know, you can pe teach people how to hit, it's really hard to teach people how to defend quickly. So if you have a defensively strong team, that will take you really far. No, 100%.

SPEAKER_07 14:51

I think I I I think I think that's a really, really good point that you made at the end that you know you know, hitting is something you can practice for and you can really develop throughout an entire season, but but defense is not something you can just kind of pick up really, really quickly. You know what I mean? Like you either have it or you don't. Um, personally. Ahmad, you have your you have your top eight?

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah, it's uh I think you I would say it's uh similar, so I would put Salyukes, um Mamluks, Mughals, Sultans, Ayubids, Ottomans, um Abbasids and Masters.

SPEAKER_06 15:26

Okay, and what's your analysis, man?

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Um for for Salyukes, it's just a run differential. Um I'm not sure what's like not clicking, they have solid players in you know the key positions. Um it seems like they're not able to score. Um I think they have the lowest run score again in the league and the second highest uh runs allowed. So biggest run differential. Something needs to click there. Um and then the reason why I'm a mooks at number seven is because they're on a it seems like they're on a downward trend where the last five games is zero, four, and one, and I'm not sure if it's whether their players are missing or it's a defense. It can't be the offense. Looking at their lineup, it cannot be their offense. So their offense has to has to be better. Um just look looking at how deep it goes. Um I I think it could be the defense. That's why they're on a downward trend or they're missing people. Mughals, um I mean Imran Merchant, he's got 37 Ruby's, Samir's got 21, and then you know, they have a deep lineup, but again, just based off of their run differential, it's like negative 37. And then Sultan's Ayubeds. No, I was talking about San He was saying that Ayubids are having a little bit of attendance issues. So I think defensively Ayubids are very sound um with players in key positions. Um and then they they just they can hold the hold the other team from getting runs, they just have to consistently score. Ottomans just looking at uh the lineup and the batting goals pretty deep as well. I mean, I don't know, I don't have much to say about the Ottomans, they're they're doing pretty well. And the reason I'm I put a bosses, so we we have I'm on bosses obviously, so we have the highest uh run differential. Uh so we're producing runs, but I think the issue with our team is we have a lot of innings um where we get cold and we're unable to produce, and you know, and sometimes if one person makes a mistake, it's just a continuous thing where we're just going downhill. So I I think we need to do a little bit better if we want to you know be on the top. And then obviously right now Naster's first place overall. Um they're doing well, really well in the in the in the last five. Great pitcher, and Fessel Said and you know Saf is a great offensive duel.

SPEAKER_06 18:17

Pretty solid, pretty solid.

SPEAKER_07 18:19

So you guys have I would say relatively similar um rankings. I also have something pretty similar. I'm gonna give the rationale as I list them. So in eighth place, I have uh the Cell Jukes. Uh I think the reasons are pretty obvious. You can listen to the last podcast. I think a lot of my reasoning still stands, but I will say that they're on a little bit of an upward uh trend. Um they're definitely um they're definitely coming around for sure. Uh seven, I have Mughals. I honestly, between the attendance issues plus the Mron merchant, I feel like it's just kind of you can only carry the team on your back so much. Um and I think there's still a little bit of a question mark with regards to their their their pitching and injuries and all that kind of stuff. So it was pretty sad that Mike had to drop out. Um still waiting to see like the full kind of effects of of Zayn Shake on the team. Like I I like it's you know, but amongst all the bye weeks and whatnot, I feel like we haven't been able to get a consistent look at all these uh all these different teams and whatnot. Um then I have the Ayubids. Um something about like Hassan, I'm sorry, but like um, yeah, I mean the run differential is very, very high. Um and I I just I just see this team being very, very streaky, um, which is why I had them pretty low. Um in fourth, the fifth, I have the Mumluks. Uh the Mumluks, I I still think are a very, very good team. Um, I think obviously they've been you know going downhill. They haven't really won a game in the last um five games, like you know, four losses and a tie. But they still lead uh lead the league in slugging percentage. Um and they lead the league in extra base hits, right? So the batting goes very, very deep with guys like Khatab, Tamor, uh Amadama, Attik, like if the everybody is firing on all cylinders, Tahir as well, like you know, it's a great, it's a great hitting team, right? Um so you can never really count those guys out. Um the Ottomans on top of the Mumluks uh in fourth. I I also feel like we're a little bit of a streaky team, uh, myself included. I had a really, really good start to the season, but in the last two weeks, I think my average has dropped like literally 100 points or something like that. So um it's been tough. Um, you know, we've had some attendance issues, we haven't played in a few weeks and whatnot. So um we have a tendency to be a little bit more streaky. I think a little bit more of a surprise on my power rankings is in third, I have the sultans. Um, you guys had the sultans pretty low compared to what I had the sultans as. I think the sultans are a really, really good team, man. I think now that Omer is showing up, they're they're a completely different ball club. I feel like uh Omer really makes a huge difference with regards to how that Sultan's team is composed. Fazel got hit by by Kara on uh on the hand, and Omer literally came in and pitched, and he won both the games that week. So um, you know, having a guy like that showing up for you every single week is is so important. Um he just changes the momentum of the team so much by just being you know such an amazing leader, and you know, he leads with the bat, he leads with the glove, he leads on the mound, and he leads with his voice. So I think having a guy like Omera on your team, just consistently showing up, really just changes the momentum of the team in terms of communication and and hits, man. Um and then number two, I actually have the Nustrids. Both of you guys have the Nustrids on top, but I actually have them in second. Um I think they're a really, really good team. Um I think their hitting chos, their pitching is great, their defense is great, and like there's not really much negative things to to say about the Nustrids. Uh they've pulled themselves back into first place, but I actually have the Abbasids as uh the first. Uh place in my power power rankings. One, because the run differential is just crazy high. You know, it just seems like this is the kind of season where like a lot of the teams are really, really balanced. But to have a 55 run differential at this point of the season, it's kind of ridiculous. And I was actually looking at the Abbasids in all the games that you guys have played this season, Hamad, you guys have every single game that you guys have won, you guys have won by over five runs, right? Um you were talking a little bit about how your bats have a tendency to go cold or whatever, but in the games that you guys have won, you guys have won uh 10 runs, 11 runs, 5 runs, uh 7 runs, 8 runs, 10 runs, like you guys are obliterating people, right? So when you guys are going, you guys are going. And you know, you can make an argument there that you guys can be a little bit streaky. Um, but I think the fact that your run differential is super high and the fact that you guys really, you know, string things together when you guys win. Like it's not like you guys are winning any close games, like um, you guys are you know winning by a landslide. So the fact that you guys can kind of put games away, I think, is gonna be very, very powerful come postseason time. But at the same time, you guys will get tested when you guys have those close games. We'll see how you guys hold up in terms of your composure and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Yeah, for sure. That's gonna be a big test.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

Uh briefly, I just really want to emphasize here, I've never yet gone into any game this season thinking, okay, this is gonna be an easy win. We've played uh, you know, even the Cell Jukes, and it's never been like, okay, this is gonna be an easy win. On any given day, I felt any team can win. Um, so the parody is really good and it's challenging because you can't just, you know, can't sleep on any team.

unknown 24:02

100%.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

So I agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

Things are just you know how we feel at this point in time, but it doesn't really mean much.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

I I agree with you. I think you can go in with a mentality that, hey guys, okay, we're playing this team and you know, these two teams today or this week, and you know, it's all good. Take you know, if you go in with that mentality, just you're just starting thinking about okay, this team has this weakness, that weakness, and you don't play at your level. I think you just gotta cut it off right for the front right from the beginning. And I've always said to my teammates, it doesn't matter who we face, every week we play our game. That's it. Because it's at the end of the day, it could be anybody's game.

SPEAKER_07 24:37

So Hazan, I think this is technically like your first full season in Brotherhood, Hamad. You've been playing since 2023, I believe. Um and I I've been playing since 2021. And I don't know about you guys, but I personally feel like this is the one season that I've played where it seems like all the teams are relatively even.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yeah, I think so. I uh you know the stats may say something else, but definitely in terms of on paper, every team is deep, every you know, key position is filled, um, there's not many holes uh in in any team whatsoever. So yeah, I agree with you. I think it's very uh similar.

SPEAKER_07 25:20

Yeah, I mean uh uh you you never know, like the the the standings dictate a very, very different story than how the playoffs usually play out. Um and that brings us to the next kind of topic of conversation is is the bye weeks and the bye week slumps. Like I feel like personally, like I feel like I haven't played sophomore in in so long uh with the civic holiday and having the uh like the the by the bye week right before that. Like I feel like I haven't played in like two, three weeks, especially playing at night versus playing in the morning on a in in in different leagues is is a completely different ball game personally. Waking up on Sunday morning versus versus you know coming to play on a Thursday night. You know, it's it's it's a completely different ballgame. So how has that been for you guys? Have you I think you guys have all basically gone through your your bye weeks and whatnot? I real I feel very, very sluggish personally. I feel like um, you know, I my my team feels the same way, which is why may we may or may not be having a practice pretty soon, uh, just to kind of keep ourselves on our toes. But how have you guys been feeling with regards to you know the bye week? How does it really affect your kind of gameplay um mentality? Um, what kind of effect does it have on uh on you guys?

SPEAKER_05 26:32

Hassan, I'll start with you.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

Um look, I um as I said, half the battle is showing up, and I like the idea of bye weeks, just to be clear, because you know, I I hope people utilize that and plan their travel and other things around that, because I do just saying. Um having said that, yeah, I think if you're a team that is on the upward momentum, having a bye week can throw things off. Um, if you know, you know, if you're like a Ubits that might be uh slightly struggling with injuries, having that bye week and gives your players some time, um, you know, extra week or two to recover, right? Two weeks for us in this case, since this coming uh Sunday is our bye week. So that in addition to the civic holidays, uh it gives us some time to recover. Um yeah, uh, but you know what? Uh on the flip side, if you're a team that's struggling to get guys together or get or you know struggling to get a win, having a bye week could be a good opportunity to get together with the team, practice, and change the momentum before uh going into the playoffs. So, really what I'm trying to say is it depends on how you as a team and uh you know, starting with the GM, how you decide to utilize this bye week that will play a key role in moving forward. That's just again drawing from my experience in the past.

unknown 28:05

Right.

SPEAKER_03 28:06

How about you? So just sorry. Go ahead. Mornings versus evenings. This is my first league where I'm playing in the mornings, so it's uh been a bit of an adjustment for sure. Um I don't know if I enjoy it or I I don't enjoy it. I'm not saying anything, you know, I haven't made a decision, but uh the league itself definitely has been fun. The mornings are a bit challenging for me.

SPEAKER_07 28:33

Gotcha. Hamad, how about you, man? I I believe you guys had the bye week on the day that the World Cup final was occurring, correct?

SPEAKER_02 28:41

Yes, yes, we've so we've had our bye week already. Um yeah, I think coming back from a bye week, it's it's tough, especially for players that are not playing in any other league or doing anything else. So, like for our team, we had, I guess, half the players, or I think majority of the players that haven't played at all in two weeks, right? And it's it's a struggle just to kind of get back into the rhythm. We were feeling pretty good going into the bye week, but then coming back, it's like you know, no one's really played. Um, I think one way to fix that is just literally, you know, the team has one practice in the in the two weeks, whether if if it's for like half an hour or an hour, everyone just takes a few swings, that can kind of get rid of the rust. But you do definitely feel the you know, the effect of the bye week coming back and playing.

SPEAKER_07 29:31

For sure, for sure. Um, moving on, um, in the interest of time, I just want to be cognizant of that. Uh, we're gonna skip over um just all-star voting and talking about that. By the way, if this uh if polls are still open, do complete your uh all-star voting and get your favorite brothers into the all-star uh game. I want to talk about uh some early award predictions. You know, obviously I think there's around you know four to six games left in the season for um the uh the playoffs comes. Uh now we're starting to kind of see the stats kind of develop. Uh and I want to talk a little bit about some awards and who you guys have. If you guys were to pick one one player for each of these awards, who would they be? Uh we're gonna start, we're gonna do MVP, we're gonna do pitcher of the year, we're gonna do rookie of the year, we're gonna do most improved, and we're gonna do brotherhood. Uh we'll start with our MVP. Hamad, if you had to pick one person for MVP, who would it be at this point of the season?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

That's honestly that's uh that's tough.

SPEAKER_07 30:36

Besides yourself, besides yourself.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

No, I wouldn't pick myself. Uh but I think like for me, if I look at MVP, the uh you know the qualities of an MVP is not just like an offensive thing, it's defense as well, but also um you know being a leader uh on the team and just going based off of you know average, uh RBI, extra basics, um, you know, defense, offense. I I think it would be a close one right now, based uh like between uh Imran, Fessel and Saf. I don't know, it'd be hard for me to pick one. I think just going off of stats um and defense.

SPEAKER_07 31:19

Yeah, I think I think those are those are fair picks. Uh obviously, um you know MVP is different than offensive player of the year. Offensive player of the year usually is pretty clear towards the end of the the season. How about uh Hassan? Who if you had to pick one person? Please don't give me three answers like your like your brother, but if just pick just pick one, please. No, no, no, no, that's not allowed. You're not allowed to pick. No, no, no. Look, uh look, I'm telling you. Listen, Hassan, I'm gonna interrupt you right there. I'm the host of the podcast and I make the rules. You can't pick your brother. Sorry, I'm about to do that.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

I look at I look at why if um the key thing I look at when determining who if this person is an MVP or not is is this person making players around him better? Okay, the uh offensive numbers or any stats, they don't capture that. Right? That's what I'm looking for when I see teams play. I'm looking for body language, I'm looking for uh the tone this person uh communicates with uh with their team members, or they the tone that they use. Um are they uplifting, you know, are they holding themselves accountable before holding others accountable? Right? Um these are the things that I look at personally. Uh I think no stats capture that. And that's why I said Hamad.

SPEAKER_07 32:48

Wow, he's just straight up ignoring me.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

All right, brother, you're trying to butter me up, man. What can I do for you? What do you need? Yeah, no naser, mashallah, mashallah, mashallah, no nuzzer.

SPEAKER_07 32:58

Um well, since I'm the only one who's gonna follow rules here, I'm gonna give one answer. I'm gonna give uh uh my prediction will be Imran Merchant. Um, I think when you when you look at the way that the Mughals are playing, they're sitting in seventh place right now. I think if like the only reason they're not in last place is literally because of Imran, personally speaking. I think he is literally carrying that team on his back. I mean, there are other great guys on the on the team like Sammy and a few others, but uh I think Imran, you know, he's towards the top of the the the charts when it comes to on base, when it comes to slugging, when it comes to extra base hits, when it comes to average. Like he's really just kind of everywhere. Um, solid defense. Of course, if you played an elite uh played in a league with uh or a tournament with Imran, like you know, he's just like a fantastic leader. Everybody wants to be on that guy's team. Um he's definitely, you know, he's definitely practicing how he preaches for sure. I think he's somebody who puts in a lot of work uh and it shows. So if I had to pick one person for MVP, based off of how it stands right now, encompassing offense, defense, leadership, and all that kind of stuff, I would give my vote uh to Imran. Uh Haman, we'll start with that. Hamad, we'll start with you for pitcher of the year.

SPEAKER_05 34:20

Who would you give to uh the award for pitcher of the year to? Pitcher of the year. I give it to my boy Z. Okay, and you have a rationale behind that? What's it like playing behind Z?

SPEAKER_02 34:41

You know, he's it's so it's so different uh playing behind Z. He's telling me where to move, he's setting up the defense. Um you know, he's he's a great leader. Um and then, you know, um I think he knows what he's doing. He knows how uh how to pitch to the different players. It's not just you know trying to hit trying to hit the plate or whatever. There's a lot of great pitchers out there for sure, but I think uh Z Z would be my guy.

SPEAKER_05 35:13

Okay, Hassan, how about you? It's a tough one.

SPEAKER_03 35:17

Um I would say it's gonna be between uh Zaid and Nerv. And and I'm split. I'm not trying to play safe, I just want to be clear. I I I can't decide between the two. You know, they're they're experienced, and you know, I played with Nerv last year a bit. Um I know what that's like, you know, knowing that a pitcher is, you know, he controls the game. To the best of your ability, at the end of the day, it's slow pitch golf ball, right? Um so I'm I'm split between the two. If any one of these guys wins, I think he'll be you know, I'll be happy for them.

SPEAKER_07 35:57

Yeah. Um I think just if I were to like this is a prediction thing. So I think I think nerf is also my pick. I think he is has the lowest ERA in the league, lowest whip, lowest batters uh um batting average against. He has seven wins on the season. He's pitched uh four games less than the people who have more wins than him. So he would likely have more wins as well. But um, you know, he has fantastic defense behind him with guys like Sammy and Safan. Um, so when your defense is just kind of locked down, Reyaz at first base, like when you when your defense is great, then of course like it's gonna reflect uh on the pitching stats and it's gonna help you pad pad those stats a little bit. So I'll I would give my uh my pick to nerve as well. Um we'll go with um most improved player first before uh rookie of the year and brotherhood. Uh Hassan, do you have a pick for that?

SPEAKER_03 36:49

You know, I'm not sure because uh as I said, it's my first year. I I don't want to uh make anyone feel left out. So I don't know if I can even make a prediction.

SPEAKER_07 36:57

No problem. I think that's very fair. Hamas, how about you?

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Um to be honest, you know, I yeah, I have been in the league for a while, but um it's hard, it's hard to say. Uh one name that pops up uh because I've seen his name multiple times um uh is Homade. He's in top 10 in terms of average, and you know, he's he's doing really well defensively as well. I've seen him play, and you know, I think he's improved significantly from from last year. That's just one name that pops up to my head. I don't I there could be others again, um, but honestly, like when I when I play, I don't I don't look that deep into uh these things. I just go and play and do my thing, but this is just one name that I can think of right now.

SPEAKER_07 37:41

Yeah, no, I think that's uh that's a really, really good pick. Uh and I think my pick personally would be Yapser Mullik. Uh, he's got way more extra base hits than he had last year. He already has uh more hits and he's played six less games, way higher OBP. His slugging has almost doubled uh and he has over 200 uh batting average points up as compared to last year. So if I had to pick somebody for most improved, I would pick Yasser Malik. That's also rookie of the year. Who would you say uh is your pick for rookie of the year?

SPEAKER_06 38:21

Hassan, we'll start with you this time.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Um I'm not sure how many rookies uh there are in the league. And um, I mean, one name I hear a lot uh uh is it Sami and uh also Sofian Sofian or Stu?

SPEAKER_07 38:43

Sofian played last year. He played last year, so he's not a rookie.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Okay. Uh but yeah, that's the name I hear a lot, Sami. I haven't uh really seen him play defensively that much. I've heard he's he's really good um at short. Um you know my boy Numer has been doing really well. Just gonna throw Numer's name in there. Yes, sir. Good contender.

SPEAKER_07 39:06

There's a ton of people. Sami Numer, I think, is also Imran Mogul's uh rookie to the year, uh rookie to the league. Um I think uh Fahim and Momo, like those are also a few other names that have um you know that are playing Brotherhood Sundays for the first time.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Come on, how about you? Man, it it's it's a tough one, as you said it, man. There's so many names that come up, the every one that you mentioned. Uh I've heard Sami's name multiple times, defense. Uh, I I didn't look at his stats actually, but um yeah, it seems like he's doing pretty well uh offensively, but I've heard great and you know, defense. I would say Nomer as well. He's been you know, he's on my team, he's been killing it in key times, getting RBIs for us, and defensively as well. You know, we've we picked him up as uh backup second baseman, but threw him into the first baseman role, and you know, he he picked it up really quick. And um, you know, the other guys that you mentioned as well, they're the fact that they're rookies. I don't know, we've seen them play before in other leagues, but um, you know, they're they're all really good. So it's gonna be a really tough one.

SPEAKER_07 40:12

Yeah. Um, if I had to pick somebody, it would definitely be Sammy. I think Sammy is um definitely somebody who was drafted pretty high and he's actually living up to the hype. That's uh obviously like his defense is amazing. He's got a solid bat as well, great contact hitter. Um, he's got some pop as well. And I think um, you know, that uh the baseball IQ slash that uh baseball experience is definitely uh making a huge difference in in his gameplay, especially for the Nustrids being in first place. Uh last award uh is going to be the Brotherhood Award. Who to you guys has been somebody uh who has been a standout uh in terms of um, you know, somebody who you've seen contributing to the league, whether that's behind the scenes, um, you know, on game day, or just being an all-out, just really, really solid teammate or brother to be around. Hamad, I'll start with you. And no picking each other, please.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Uh man, there's so many guys that help out. Honestly, um, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I don't know who uh I I I I can't say. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 41:18

Um I I wouldn't be able to pick one name.

SPEAKER_05 41:23

Okay, Hassan. Core analysis.

SPEAKER_07 41:27

Well, very core analysis.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

I'm disappointed.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

Copilot couldn't help with that. I'm I'm I'm sleeping, brother.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

I could just go based on my uh my interactions, right? But I just don't want to be clear, like I don't want to make anyone feel left out. I think Riyadh is someone who seems to be very involved, and you know, he's it's just like when I interact with him, it's I always get this feeling he makes me feel heard, and it just sounds like it's not he's not my therapist, but um, I feel talking about about you know about stuff. So that's I would say Riyadh.

SPEAKER_07 42:06

That's a great pick. I'm I'm 99% sure he's already run one Brotherhood Award before, but um we'll let it slide. Uh I don't expect you to know all the Brotherhood winners from the past. I don't even know all the Brotherhood winners from the past. Um, but I'ma I'm a I'ma pull a pull a card out of your deck of cards from both of yours and just be like, hey, like I'm playing with one of the best teams I played with in Brotherhood. I love my guys, the Ottomans, it's a sick team to play with. Um just all-right positivity. There's so many guys I can give a uh give a shout out to. Uh Sham, Neil, Atif, Tassin, these guys are all great teammates. Um Osman, Kara, like Nabil, like every Sean, literally everybody on my team. Mo Mo's not allowed Brotherhood Award because he's the commissioner. But um the Ottomans, they've been like literally like it's been such a fun team to play on this year. Um, obviously not in first place where we want to be. We want to win win the championship and whatnot. But I I think just um being around those guys, like it's like it's it's one of those teams where I'm like actually looking forward to practicing with them. I'm actually looking forward to just like coming out on Sunday and just like talking to everybody, whether it's about softball or golf or sports or whatever it is, is just like all like just a really, really positive group of guys to be around. And I think that's what Brotherhood's all about, right? So um if I had to give a team brotherhood award, I think for sure we would get that award. I mean, I saw Hassan, you guys are passing out chains, Hamza's, like, you know, it's I don't know what kind of things he's doing to boost up morale for the UVids, but um, you know, you guys seem like you guys are having a lot of fun as well.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

I agree. Yeah, the team's uh vibe is pretty uh pretty good.

SPEAKER_07 43:53

Sounds good. Okay, awesome. I think uh I think that basically wraps up the podcast for today. I think we went a little bit over the allotted time that we had set out for ourselves. It's getting pretty late. Um apologies for some poor analysis from all of our ends and some lack of uh listening to the prompts from the podcast host from the Shabir brothers. But hey man, that's what you get when you're uh when your last name is Shabir, just uh really, really positive vibes. People who are not trying to talk down on anybody, no, they're not trying to add Masala to the podcast like I am. Uh you know, trying to instigate a little bit, but um, you know, played with Hamad last year, had a fun time playing on this team last year and Thursdays, and uh Hassan, I look forward to playing with you and uh in the future, inshallah. It wasn't good times, man. We lost in the finals, but you know, it is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Yeah, inshallah. Hopefully, you know, I can play with play with Hassan too. That's uh that's just what at least one season, you know. So let's see what next year has in store.

SPEAKER_07 44:51

Hey, who knows? Mo, make me GM. I'll draft them both, man. I'll make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 44:56

I think if that happens, there's uh the other teams can just pack up and not even show up.

SPEAKER_07 45:02

Oh Mo, let's make it happen. Let's make it happen. Let's make it happen. Anyways, we'll wrap it up here. Take care, guys, salamakum, and hopefully you guys enjoyed the podcast. Uh, and stay tuned uh for the next edition coming soon. All right, take care, salam.