Here at Blowouts, Upsets & More! aka the BUM Report (patent no longer pending, it was refused by the trademark office), our cup is ever half-full.  Mostly because it is filled with the tears of those who dared hope too much that stats and odds alone would see them through to victory.  Oh, no!  We are ever aware that Olmec is a fickle, stone-faced, and bloodless master whose affections stray in unpredictable ways, unless you are one of the 'chosen' for Season 11.  You know who you are, and so does the BUM Report.  What none of us know is whether or not Olmec's fondness for certain flying mammals will last another 3 sessions, or will suddenly fade as sharply as the Hogs' hopes of a back-to-back National Championship.  Either way, we'll be here to revel in the Upsets or gloat in due commuppance, whichever way the wind blows.

Starting with Blowouts of the Week!  We once again were a far cry from our current season-leading +49 points, yet there were some matches worth mention.  Match 33, Holyoke opening round, and Antioch (83) came out to try to salvage an otherwise sunk season with a strong final tourney push.  Schnectady, meanwhile, did not.  What's interesting is that the Squirrels dropped a 90-rated lineup in both Match 29 (conf play, away at Burlington) and in Match 31 (TMVL Shield round 1), matching the top away lineup and third-best neutral court lines we've seen this season.  Anyone else know the arboreal rodents were capable of being a top 3, or at least a top 5, team when they bother to put out a top line and stop just running around and burying nuts for the offseason?  In any case, I must note that Schnectady did NOT put out a 90-lineup here.  Instead, the Kits came to play and their 61-rating was rather unimpressive.  Antioch rolled in three nearly-even sets, winning handily by a combined 30.

For the #2 Blowout, we again feature Schnectady.  Only this time it was in match 31, where Brian dropped a 90 on the neutral court for the TMVL Shield opener.  Dallas sent the Pups, clearly uncaring about this -33.25 pens match to help identify which of the losers is more of a loser than the other losers, and dropped a 70 on the floor.  While not the lowest rated-team of the opener, they ran into the highest-rated one and the end result is being investigated by the Society for the Protection of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA, it's an American thing) for the beating the 'Dogs took, only scoring 12 and 14 in the latter sets as they lost by a combined 31.

And for our top Blowout, the high-flying Eagles are prepared for a TMVL Cup challenge as they sent out the top lines (88, neutral court) to face off against the Chihuahuas.  The large-eared ones must have resembled rabbits or rats, with the way the Eagles feasted on weak serving and weaker blocking.  Martyn clearly wasn't holding out hope of advancing, and didn't even try by putting out a mere 65-rated team, the lowest of the TMVL Cup round 2 teams.  The end result was a 33 point killing, with Alton holding Santa Clara to only 12 points in the opening two sets before getting bored and letting up a bit to allow 18 in the final set.  It was never that close.  Congrats to Alton and James for the Blowout of the Week!

On the Upsets of the Week! side of the column, we had a few notable upsets, and starting with a "mere -1" upset that is far, far more impressive that it sounds.

Match 32, opening round of the National Championships on neutral court.  Cinciannati are (er, were) the Defending National Champions and the #1 seed.  Baton Rouge boast a veteran manager and a lineup this season that's a tad off their once-blistering top pace, yet still (begrudingly) respectable and can't be taken for granted.  Cinci trotted the trotters out to the tune of an 87-rated team.  The Bananaramamen came at them with an 86.  After Cinci took the opening two sets in convincing fashion (19-25, 21-25), it seemed that Mike's final shot at a meaninful tourney win this seaon was going to end without fanfare.  How often has Cinci won the opening 2 sets and lost this season?  Not once, 14-0 going into this one.  And then the Punchin' Palm Fruits dropped a dominant 25-16 in set 3.  Cinci was perhaps shell-shocked, or just overconfident.  Then set 4 lingered on, with neither team ever getting up more than 3 points on the other.  As it hit 24-23 and set points/match points started coming on the line, neither team could muster consecutive top plays.  Both teams had chances to finish it, and served the ball out (BRB twice), or had hoped-for-final kill chances dug or blocked (CWH twice).  It wasn't until they topped 30 that they finally had a 3-point run, with Baton Rouge closing it out from 30-31 to 33-31 to finish it, that the dust settled.  By now, the Flying Pigs seemed grounded.  Cinci kept it close, never trailing by more than 3 in set 5, yet also never once led in the set.  With the game on the line at Cinci 13-Baton Rouge 14, Cinci serving, it seemed fitting that Green pushed too hard and hit it out, with the service error closing out a comedy (for Mike) or tragedy (for James) of inopportune errors by both sides at key moments.  Congrats to Baton Rouge for the highly impressive Honorable Mention Upset of the Week over this season's top team!

For our #3 Upset this week, we had a tie.  Starting in Match 29 (conference), it's column fave Sheboygan again.  -4 down at Spokane (66 v 70).  Yeah, you read that right.  Neither side put thought or effort into this one as Spokane put out much better effort in the Shield (81) and Holyoke (87) and Sheboygan put out Cup (86) and National (86) lines meant to win.  But, c'mon, Jason!  70, at home?  Versus Olmec's current darling?  Maybe he thought it wouldn't matter, given John's run of upsets lately, yet that 70-rating matched the lowest home total of the round and Olmec did it's thing.  At least Spokane got 5 sets from the deal, as they dropped to yet another John H Upset.

Tying that mark, also in Match 29 (conference) it was a clash of the SEC Frenemies as Antioch (76) traveled to Teutopolis (72).  Have we mentioned T-Town is having a really good season?  Despite lack of effort here, C-Ball got to take advantage of Rob's horrible luck this week, as the Twisters not only took the Upset, yet it was also an upset sweep!  Three sets that went fast, with Antioch only close in set 1.  That set the mark for the #3 top upset sweep of the season, only to be knocked off that perch by a match later in the weekend (see below).

At the #2 upset, and also our The Opposite of Trying (TOoT) Award Winner of the Week, we head to Match 31, TMVL Shield round 1.  Kentucky (61, neutral court) did not come to play.  The Kittens also made minimal effort in the Holyoke (68), so apparently there were XP needs as the T7 wasn't pressed to be elsewhere outside the home match in 29 (76, v BRB).  Meanwhile, Kentucky's opponent is one of the top T7 squads, San Jose.  The Shrimp through out 88 on the road this session, at Denali, matching the 3rd highest road lineup we've seen this season (though to little avail as Denali dropped 90 at home to hand San Jose the #2 rated away loss with their 88 effort).  San Jose also came out with an 88-neutral court effort for the Nat'l Championship.  Apparently the B-team is more of a C-team though, as they put out a "team" of just 66 for the Shield.  This match was the one of only two for the session where both teams put out a sub-70 effort, and the combined 127 was the lowest.  Clearly, neither side had enough talent out to win points, and without double-checking the score sheets I think there may have been more points scored by service and hitting errors, or players in the net, than by kills and aces.  Somehow, this one went to five sets, and then drifted out all the way to 19-17 in set 5 before Kentucky finally managed to end the fans' tedium.  It almost appeared that the players were conspiring to keep the match alive, knowing that this might be their last chance to get on the court this season.

And for the #1 Upset, we stay in Match 31, TMVL Shield opener.  Neutral court matches between New Orleans (88) and nemesis St. Charles (81).  For the record, we tried.  The 88 neutral court-rated lineup matches the 2nd highest to lose a match this season, and we didn't even get a 4th set out of it!  The 'Crows had all the right moves at all the right times, and though it was close (23-25, 24-26, 21-25), it seemed to never be in doubt.  Congrats to Max for the Upset of the Week at -7, and also for the new #3 Upset Sweep of the Season!  On a side note, to voice commisserations with all those who only seem to appear on the negative side of this column, I must point out that the Swamp Rats' hold on the #2 neutral court rating (88) was done not once, yet twice this session.  Match 32, Nat'l Championship opening round, was also met with a loss, as we ran into our new SEC-hated-rival Red Pandas (who put out a 91, tied for 2nd best neutral court lineup of the season).  New Orleans is famous for its funeral processions, of which there is now one going down Bourbon Street, should any of you wish to come and join us for the annual end-of-season-long-title hopes that all came to a crashing halt last weekend.

Despite losses by some of us that now has us looking forward to Season 12, there are still some teams cranking up the title talk and putting out lines to match it.  Of particular interest (and worry to you still alive in tourneys), are Portland (92), Pekin (91), Nashville (91), Columbia (90) and Schnectady! (90).  Those five all put out Neutral court lines at 90+.  For their next-round opponents, bring your best and hope Olmec does the rest, or toss out the C-team and pray the BUM Report will sing of your Upset of the Decade for seasons to come!

Signing off from weekend 9 as it's snowing in midwest USA today.  Like the ground, stay frosty Olmecians.  There remains hope that the best of the season for the BUM Report are yet to come!