CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Thursday, February 7, 2008

What to watch for in 2008

So after doing a fair amount of research and now that some tournaments have been played (and some big ones are coming up) I thought I would talk about a few things that I think will make this year interesting.

Trouble in Vegas
One of the reasons I wanted to post this right before TiV this weekend was that I wanted to give folks a few things to consider. A big change is that Wisconsin has already been outside. They destroyed teams as usual at Mardi Gras and have had a chance to get some grass stains. I think this gives them a new advantage in Vegas and considering that the weather is supposed to be good this year, I would expect them to dominant. Colorado will also draw some attention because now we get to see who they are going to bring in 2008. Will Beau saddle up again? Regardless of how Mamabird does this weekend, if their roster is more or less 2007 (minus Rabbit) they will be playing a lot on Sundays this spring. Florida will also be ready and the hype that they have received concerning this tournament can and should give them the fear of being publicly toppled. This will give them more focus, playing one game at a time and hopefully they can do well. The biggest question mark for me is Carleton. TiV will be the first chance CUT has to show that they belong. They beat Colorado last year at TiV with a healthy Jacob Goldstein. If the wind is bad, CUT will have an advantage with scores of seasoned throwers. However, weather.com has picnic weather planned for Vegas this weekend and that will favor the taller/faster teams. Also watch UCSD for their encore performance. They played great at Santa Barbara, winning the tournament for the first time since I have played disc. My undergrad buddies tell me that their roster depth isn't spectacular though and the grueling nature of Vegas may hurt them in the long run. Oregon will also look to make a name for themselves. So far most of the NW talk has hovered around Cal, and for good reason. Dusty and the rest of EGO will look to pop their 2008 cherry and their results will begin to paint a picture for NW regionals in the spring. UBC is also in this mix and I am curious to know what 2008 will bring for the Thunderbirds now that Oscar Pottinger and Morgan Hibbert are long gone. Also watch for Santa Barbara, Central Florida, Illinois, and North Texas. They have all had their ups and downs this year and are hungry for blood. Tide managed to beat everyone save the Squids in Goleta but they usually do well in Vegas. Hopefully their depth and experience will give them an edge. Central Florida had early season W's last year but dwindled as the season wore on. Hopefully they can repeat their success from a year ago and keep the steam through the series. Illinois and North Texas took turns earning big wins at Mardi Gras but both need to develop considerably before they can begin to dominate their respective regions. This is the time for them to gain the experience to challenge the best in the Great Lakes (Michigan and Ohio State) and South (Texas). Look for surprise wins from UCLA and Claremont. They both got screwed out of Santa Barbara and will look to show why they should have been in the slop. They are each trying to show that they are contenders in the Southwest and now is their time to either put up or shut up.

Will Neff's Transfer
One thing that I think will be really interesting and I haven't heard much discussion about, is Will Neff's transfer to Michigan. Will has been a stand out on every team he has played on including the 2004 WFDF Junior USA Team, Twisted Metal, and Northeastern. I can only speculate as to why Will decided to transfer, but coming from a large program (UCSD) to a smaller one (Yale) I can imagine his potential frustration. I hope Camden Kittredge (yes, Beau's brother) will forgive this transgression, while he is left to play without his 2006 FOTY teamate. I will say that Michigan has been a consistent program for many years but has yet to really break past the pre/quarters threshold. Ryan Purcell represents the core of this team and despite being a devastating defender, cutter, handler, and all around south paw iron man, he could still benefit from some added star power. I think Will's arrival will be like Nash and Stoudemire pairing up together. I have watched Ryan for a few years now and I think his heart and commitment will be rewarded in his fifth and final year for Magnum.

So far Michigan has looked good. They have had close games against Wisconsin and Carleton, not to mention winning their indoor tournament, beating Ohio State in the finals. Will's defensive presence will be felt right away but I know that it will take time from Ryan and the rest of Magnum's offense to adjust to him. With that being said, I would imagine that their results will improve tournament to tournament. Since the departure of Craig "Polar Bear" Forshee, Tom Worsfold and others, Michigan State has really dropped below radar. Michigan had a forgettable season last year, failing to qualify for nationals. However, Indiana and Ohio State have quickly stepped past these two motor state power houses by going #1 and #2 at Great Lakes Regionals last year. However, I think if Will can fit in with Magnum, they will have a 1-2 punch that cannot be stopped in the Great Lakes region.

The first chance we will get to see this Magnum team truly in action will be at Queen City Tune Up, which is an alternative to going to TiV. Notable teams that Magnum could use to prove their abilities include Georgia, UNC, Pitt, and THE Ohio State. I'm excited.

Queen City Tune Up
There is another big tournament this weekend outside the Cultimate umbrella in Charlotte, NC. Some of the leaders in the AC chose the shorter trek north instead of west and this is where the Great Lakes and Metro East powerhouses chose to go. Georgia and North Carolina are definitely the favorites to make the finals. Unlike Warm Up, North Carolina will be in attendance and could give us fans a chance to see where they stack up against Georgia. There might only be 2 bids out the AC this year and 1 of these 2 teams will attempt to knock off the other this spring as well as challenge Florida for that trip to Boulder. I have already talked about Michigan, but they must continue to show dominance over Ohio State and prove that they can beat them both indoors and out. The Leadbelly boys got the better of Michigan last year and made nationals. They will have the experience of knowing they are better, but they will need the heart and motivation to back it up. Delaware and Pitt will both be in attendance and each has shown success in the Metro East. Who will take the region? Delaware took the region last year and beat Florida lat natties but Pitt has made nationals the last 3 years. Hopefully they play each other or at least some common opponents to give us an idea. Lastly, UNC-Wilmington and Georgia Tech. They both did well at Warm Up but in deciding to go to Tune Up over Vegas, they are going to have to show that they can hold their own and need to make a good showing in bracket play if they want to contest the rest of the AC.

Wisconsin's Callahan Selection
This is probably going to be one of the tougher choices for the Hodags this year. When I asked James Foster about this he told me to look for Muffin, Shane, Drew Mahowald, Will Lokke, and Rebholz. Muffin is absolutely the face of Wisconsin. He writes more than I do on his blog and I think he definitely can make a case for the team's MVP nomination. However, despite his superb athleticism, his impact seems to revolve around his handling and his flick, which to me isn't enough to earn you the award. I personally think Shane is their best player. He can shut anyone down and has more consistency and dominance than most college players. 2008 will only be his second year on the team, however, and I can't imagine him getting the team's nomination this early in his Hodag career, despite his obvious talents. Mahowald is definitely a top notch player. It is too bad he plays with a slew of superstars because he would be a callahan nominee anywhere else. I didn't know his name at nationals but I kept thinking to myself, "that dude with FBI hat is ridiculous". Will definitely gives a good name to red heads in ultimate and I think he is a superstar. However, what he has seems to be almost the standard on Wisconsin and I don't see him really breaking away from Shane and Mahowald. Rebholz is one of the team captains and has some Heijman qualities. A silent killer with the fundamentals and skill to really punish his opponents while making his teamates look good. If I had to guess, the team will nominate him and if not Reholz than Muffin. The reason I bring this up is that I think Hohenstein deserves a Regional Coordinator nomination and I want whoever that RC is to be ready to look out for #19. I think the voters should decide this one and in the event Shane gets/accepts an RC nomination, I think he might sneak past a teamate on his way to getting a top 5 finish.

I am interested in this because Wisconsin has two major issues to deal with when it comes to the callahan. 1) They are on everyone's radar, meaning their candidate can win. Some sophmore who plays in the NW or the South or wherever, will be encouraged to vote for the callahan this spring and when he does, he will vote his team's candidate #3 but for #1 and #2 he will go with the guy from the team he knows. That will either be Jolian, Kurt, or whoever Wisconsin has. That is how Heijman won the callahan last year (I think) and considering that the talent distribution on Wisconsin is more or less the same as it was in 2007, the same thing could happen again. 2) They have a lot of potential candidates. They could easily nominate any of the 5 players I have named here, which would leave 4 remaining. However, like Heijman said when he got his callahan, he felt he was only the 4th or 5th best player on his team. Those 3 or 4 better guys are still there and I think an RC nomination could put them up there with Nord (RC nominated Callahan winner). Bottom line, folks pay attention, this is a good story.

Junior Ultimate Players
I am not the biggest fan of juniors ultimate (although I am trying), mainly because I never played it, nor really had that many teamates that played it. However, junior players are continuing to make a name for themselves and I think they deserve a vigilant eye. I have already talked about this a lot here, but keep an eye on Sam Kanner and Grant Lindsley for Carleton. Chirstian Foster is also part of the Carleton College Juniors elite. I hope he manages to play to his potential, despite attitude problems that hurt him and his teamates at Connecticut College. I hate to keep hounding this poor kid but when you are the #1 scorer for team USA yet can't get a long with your teammates, people are going to notice. A name that sometimes gets left out, but who I think is the real deal is Tufts Captain, Andrew Hollingworth, who opted to stay in Boston after winning gold and currently captains Tufts. He will definitely spend time covering his former teamate George Stubbs, who is now a freshman at Harvard (eh, fuck him). Bottom line, it has been two years now since team USA won gold and I think that their players are really going to start impacting teams throughout the country. I think CUT is in the best position because they arguably have the largest influx of talent that can and will impact their team right away. I believe this to be their main weapon against Wisconsin in the hopes of getting back on top of the CN region. Aside from CUT, Colorado and Florida both have spectacular freshman pick ups in Hylke Snieder and Alex Hill (actually they were both teamates on Sack Lunch).

Stanford Invite
This tournament is going to be incredible this year. If you are an ultimate fan and live within an hour of Palo Alto, do yourself a favor and go to this thing and watch. The #1 seeds are probably going to be Wisconsin, Florida, Colorado, and maybe Stanford, sound familiar? This is the closest we will get to a true carbon copy of what waits in Boulder. Hopefully the weather is decent because this tournament is going to set the tone for Centex and the series. I almost wish I were going to this Cultimate tournament instead of Centex, but hey, they will all be at Centex, as will Georgia, so I can't complain.

Coaching Impact
Today's college teams are benefitting from years of complex strategy and development. Now that more and more teams are being led by former college greats and current club all stars, teams that may have had trouble breaking out of their performance level, may begin to earn some crucial W's. Most notably are Stanford and Cal. Cal is coached this year by Ryo Kawaoka and Stanford is being coached by UPA president Mike Payne. Other teams like Georiga, Colorado, and Brown also benefit from stellar coaches and I think coach-less teams are now going to have to wonder if they should hire their own Morris Buttermaker. I for one am very curious to know if the right coach can get Stanford in the finals or Cal to Boulder. Believe me, if a coach can do that, I think most teams will consider hiring.

College Nationals
I suppose this is a no brainer, but I am curious to know if there are going to be any tragic stories about players that can't make nationals for whatever school related reason. Maybe there are issues every year with Memorial Day, but I doubt it. Hopefully we will be talking about how great the CSTV exposure was and how awesome the Boulder facilities are. I will be there and come Monday the 19th, I will have an article letting you guys know what I think for whatever its worth.

I suppose I am just trying to convert some college players out there into fans of this great game and hopefully give you guys a few interesting things to keep in mind. Hopefully one of these stories actually comes to fruition. Stay tuned folks, should be a good year.

just my thoughts

match diesel

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Regarding the Metro East, Delaware won the region, but never played Pitt. Cornell beat Pitt and then lost to Delaware in the finals, and then Pitt beat Cornell to go. Pitt beat Delaware for placement at Nationals.

degs said...

Coaches are certainly invaluable, but teams like Wisconsin and CUT (perennially) and Florida (recently) seem to be doing okay without them. I'm curious as to how long this will last.... though someone probably said that 10 years ago about CUT & Wisc.

The UPA is even requiring college finalists' coaches to be UPA-certified, beginning in '09... if they have coaches.

Hector is on the ground in Vegas, so to speak. Hopefully we'll get some blog entries covering the action.

Match said...

I've got a friend there who said he'd help me out. We'll see if he is sober enough to get me some 411.

Coach Lou said...

I know and like Hohenstein, have been watching him play for years, and would love to have the guy on my team, but with his oft-ill regard for the safety of other players (see photo you linked), does he fit the model of a callahan nominee?

Rule XVI.H states players should avoid contact in "every way possible" and does a player with a propensity to injure others really exemplify "great sportsmanship?"

Maybe it's worth dismissing on the basis that his D is sheer dominance. Hell, knowing what I know about him and Wisconsin right now, if I were RC, he'd get my nomination.

---

I talked to some CUT guys in the Fall and Foster was already one of the least popular kids on CUT. Not a good sign. And is it me, or does he look like a young Frank H?

He's a great player, though. No doubt about it. With him, Lindsley, and Kanner and all with at least 3 college seasons in front of all of them, CUT's already good and only going to get better for a few years.

---

Somewhat off the radar, but maybe worth keeping on eye on in 2008 is that the best high school player in the country last year, Jeremy Norden, went to Whitman and claimed a lot of other Juniors players had interest in going there as well. Plus, he said the club gets an enormous amount of support (financially and otherwise) from the school and community. He's good enough by himself to propel a team into the mix. And the RSD chatter supports the rumor that there are other solid HS standouts on the freshman line. No word on their bureaucratic recruiting (they had a paperwork related DQ last year), but if their papers are in order, this team could be THE team on the rise.

They're at TiV this weekend, so by Monday we should have a little more info on them.

The Carr said...

Match,

I believe Camden Kittredge is out of eligibility, at least that's what I remember one his teammates telling me at regionals last year. Oh, and he was on Johnny Bravo's roster this fall, so yeah, likely not in school anymore. Talk about a blow to a school, losing your two best players like that. It'll be interesting to see if they even make regionals this year after placing 6th last year.

I'm pretty sure in 2005 that the Brown seniors (Zip and others) skipped their graduation to win nationals, so memorial day conflicts have happened, though maybe more with private schools that end later than the state schools.

As for Wisconsin's callahan nominee, if their goal is to nominate a player who could win the award, Shane and Muffin aren't great choices. Shane, for lack of a better wording, has a rep for hurting people, and a lot of people think Muffin is a jerk. I'd look for Rebholz or Drew to get the nod, both are great players with great reputations.

-theCarr
Former Dartmouth

Match said...

I have been reading some Wisco write ups and it definitely looks like Shane and Muffin are more intense and physical than most would probably like. I think Rebholz will get the nomination but I think if the RC feels compelled, he could nominate Shane for his incredible (albeit dangerous at times) presence.

Handy said...

Match,
I think you're right about Rebholz and Shane is an undeniable force, but as someone who did a nice piece about Callahan you know that the award is similar to the MVP award but there's more to it than just being a dominant player. Think about the level of play of a Zip or Forch and also the tremendous level of respect they have for the other players and how that translates into not having any blemishes about injuring people despite their positively RIDICULOUS D's.

Dan said...

first of all, this is Shane's 3rd year on the Hodags, and was voted in as one of the team's officers (showing the respect that his teammates have for him). He played for two years at Winona State before transferring. Obviously much has been made of Shane's "ill regard" for other players, but let me just say that this is false. I've been his teammate for 5 full seasons of college and club and have never seen him lay out with malicious intent. That play that got him so much grief last year was the result of his man stopping immediately in front of him to toe the line and shane did all his could not to run him over.

he is obviously an intense player, and with his size and skill people are going to point him out as a "dangerous player", which is unfair. The guy is a total stud, an incredibly nice guy and the best teammate you could hope for. He also helps his team stay loose by having probably the most hilarious vocabulary of anyone I've met. if wisconsin does indeed nominate him, it would be a good pick. But with that being said, any of the top players on the hodags would be worthy nominations and would demand recognition from around the country for their skill and leadership.

In regard to CUT's opinion of Foster all I have to say is hahahahaha. How could they like a guy who is constantly dominating them? and I'm not sure what joe's brother means about him and kanner/lindsey all having three years left. jim plays for the Hodags and has only 1 season left after this spring.

The Pulse said...

Christian Foster. Not Jim. Of ARHS and Jr Worlds infamy.

Dan said...

my mistake. obviously thought he was talking about jim foster.

j-rome said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
j-rome said...

Christian Foster is a great player, a great teammate, and a great friend. No one on Carleton thinks otherwise.

-Jerome Potter
Carleton #23

Match said...

I can say that I have HEARD adverse things about Shane's playing style. From what I have SEEN, he is nothing short of dominate which is why I talk about him so much.

I am glad to hear that Foster is doing well at CUT, I am not surprised. I didn't mean to insinuate that he is a poor teamate, I just think he didn't gel at Conn College. As an ARHS alum and JR world's player, I would guess that he is completely committed to his performance. I would guess that this is why he didn't really party at Conn unlike the rest of his team, which really enjoys their inebriation. I think the CUT mentality is probably more ideal and I hope he does well. He is an incredible player.

Kyle Weisbrod said...

If I could nominate and vote for a Callahan out of Wisconsin it would certainly be Drew. While they are obviously a deep and talented team - Drew exemplifies all of the qualities of the Callahan award from dominant play to respect.

From what I could tell of Shane he is a very nice guy, but have seen him make a number of plays at College Nationals, Club Nationals, and CCC where I thought that players around him were at a greatly increased risk of being injured. Part of that is just his size, but a lot is that he plays somewhat recklessly - bidding at people's backs and jumping with momentum into people who have position on him.

BrettyBrett said...

Interesting write up on Queen City; no mention whatsoever of NC State, this year's Queen City Champions.
Along Side Michigan Captain, Ryan Purcell, is also David Fumo who is a skilled Defensive receiver. Michigan started with a strong Saturday showing with only loss to UNC on double game point, eventual finalist. Went into sunday with round of 16 match up against Penn which they lost by 2-3. Talked to Ryan and Fumo and said they just didn't play well at all. They ended up finishing 9th, winning the consolation side.