Yale Cup and Sectionals pre/reviews

This is the first of a series of exciting weekends that are coming up over the next month or so. This past weekend was Yale Cup, which is basically a rehearsal for NE Regionals, Florida Sectionals, Desert Sectionals, and East Penn Sectionals. Next weekend also has it's fair share of action with the Bay Area, Carolina, and SoCal sectionals. Here are some thoughts.

Yale Cup

Ok, first off, folks in the southern part of the country, be glad you don't play in New England. Playing ultimate in this region (and possibly the Metro East) sucks ass. First off, Dartmouth has yet to play outside. Seriously?!?! They have their sectional tournament in 2 weeks and they haven't played outside since November. Can we start to talk about taking the Canadian initiative and have the series in the fall instead of the "Spring". Yesterday the weather was ok, maybe mid 60's and light but not crazy wind. Today? Yikes, for bracket play the teams got 30 mph winds and the temperature was 41F before the wind chill. I watched one game and peaced out.

As for performance, I will base my comments on Saturday because thats when I saw the most disc. First off Tufts is good. I think their two main strengths are leadership and depth. Andrew Hollingworth (1) is a great captain for Tufts. He has play making talent but he is also SO positive. Very encouraging, very self-less, a great team mate. He is 1 of my NE all region picks (lets keep track). Secondly, they have 2 great coaches in Mike Zalisk (yep the callahan winner) and Dan Forseter (DoG and Tufts Alum). With so many intelligent eyes watching the game, sub calling, play calling, team scouting and in-game strategy is top notch.

Their depth is their second weapon. They have many veteran players and their main contribution seems to be defense. These guys include Eli Blackman, Dan Resnick, and their 5th year superstar, Chris Skipper. They poach well, they have good closing speed and they are just competent on the field. As far as offense goes, Andrew is doing a ton of the grunt work. His flick break is excellent and his backhand bomb is very good. Because this team is 2/3rd Junior/Senior, all of these smart defenders transfer to smart cutters and Tufts' ability to hit several options is prevalent. They don't rely on a major receiver and Resnick and Hollingworth can basically get open at will. They have been one of the more consistent teams out of the NE, I just wonder if they have peaked a bit early.

Harvard is really a team I enjoy watching. Their success relies on 4-5 players that work extremely well together. Zirui Song (second all region pick, 2), Phil Roebuck, and Dave Lipson have a very obvious chemistry as they should. They all played for New Noise last year and they are all ultimate veterans. Chris Stevens is also very talented player despite being a freshman and Andrew Vogt is my pick for NE Freshman of the year. The guy is such a talent and could be mistaken for a 5th year captain. These 5 are great on offense. Good at resets, everyone has breaks and hucks, they also have a very fluid presence. Each can handle or cut and they are all valuable defenders. I was kind of disppointed to not see George Stubbs. He may have been there Sunday but I didn't see him Saturday. He seems to be the Amarie Stoudemire of this year. Very talented, but injury ridden.

Williams, the eventual tourney winner, is really an experienced team. They gave me a Colorado feel this weekend. They have basically been silent all year because they got rained out at Santa Barbara AND Terminus. They did ok in their first full tourney, Southerns, but once given the right circumstances, have returned to their 2007 status as a contender for Nationals. They aren't exactly deep but Tom Samuelson and Charlie Upton are their two best players. They both know how to get it done. Tom (3) is my third pick for All Region because he is very composed all around. Good defense, good breaks, cuts with intelligence and leads his team well. Charlie is great in the air. Pulls down stuff well, especially on defense. They each rely on different skill sets but they compliment well and Williams' nationally experienced roster rounds out the rest of their deep team.

Brown is definitely not down and out. They may have been less than stellar this year, but their program peaks extremely well and their roster is very experienced. Mike Vandenberg (4) has a Junior Worlds title, a college title, and 4 years of Brown ultimate under his belt. Noel Fetting-Smith is also a solid all around player as are Drew Raines and Jimmy Lowe. Each of these players is calm with the disc, even in high wind, and are each fast, competent and patient. Andy Miller is also an extremely fast cutter and does Zipperstein's number well. Their semis game against Williams was good. They moved the disc well against Williams' zone and it seems like their weakness came on defense because they couldn't disrupt Samuelson's and Upton's rhythm. However, they weren't spectacular last year at Yale Cup and still made nationals.

Dartmouth had a rough weekend. I was talking to my friend Socks on the team and it looks like their issue is offense. Their O-line has been spectacular this year but they may have gotten comfortable too soon. They do have experience on their side but not in the series. Pain Train has routinely struggled at Regionals and their last trip to nationals was well beyond the duration of anyone's eligibility. I will say that Sam Haynor (5) is a great leader. Dartmouth is loud and has a ton of spirit and I think Haynor is at the core of it. Socks is a great D-line handler and Macky is really fun to watch. They are all in shape and smart cutters but their weakness is inconsistency within their region. It seems that against NE opponents, they have issues with catching simple passes and making smart decisions. I want to see them make nationals with Tufts just because neither has been in a while, but I think if anything, only one will make it.

Middlebury...I got nothing. They seem to have had a good spring break and they are definitely a like-minded and committed team. They are a bit weird however and I am not into that. They play in weird shit, which is great if your team buys into it, but I wouldn't sign up for it. They did make the finals however, and I think their ability to play in poor weather is a great asset come the series.

To wrap up, Yale Cup is weird. Teams have up and down performances, probably because they are trying to iron out the last of their season long preparation. Veteran teams that are more consistent but potentially have a lower ceiling have a tendency to do well. In addition, teams that peak late, Brown, can sometimes struggle. Last year Harvard and Dartmouth were in the finals and neither team made nationals. Long story short, I have no idea what these results mean for NE Regionals, it is all up in the air. One thing that is good about Yale Cup is that it is a TON of ultimate against teams at your level. The tournament format allows a lot of good teams to duke it out on both days of the tourney. Harvard/Tufts and Dartmouth/Brown were pool play games and they could both be game-to-go situations in a month. In addition, it also gives up and comers the chance to showcase themselves. Middlebury, UMass, and Brandeis all played great and now have an idea of what they need to work on for the series. Lastly, one team that has been really under the radar but is very good is Wesleyan. Philip Benjamin (6) is a phenomenal leader and has really taken Wesleyan's program to the next level.

(I know I didn't pick a 7th All-Region player but there are definitely some wild cards out there. Teddy if he is still eligible, some UMass guys, and yeah, I dunno.)

Florida/Desert/East Penn Sectionals

Florida took their section as they should. A 12-8 final seems a little suspect but they may have been a little hesitant to go 100% with so much ultimate still left to play. Weather.com said there was some serious rain and temps in the 60's in Orlando. The game could have been sloppy, who knows? Regardless, i am not sure I like the new split of this section. Georgia and Florida used to be in the same section and I thought this was more or less the Stanford/Cal, UCSB/UCSD, Furious/Sockeye of the AC region. Both good teams that see each other twice before nationals. I think Florida has had the advantage recently but I think this separation is bad for both teams.

Arizona won their section for probably the 33rd year in a row. Like Colorado, they represent the 2/3rd of the Southwest that doesn't matter until regionals. Arizona State gave them a game late in the day but they rocked the 3-1 team, Northern Arizona, 13-4. I also think it's weird that Arizona beat their B-team 13-0. Probably not a good indication of the future of your team.

East Penn sectionals I care about for 1 reason, Penn. A consistent team all year that has a lot of quality wins over Pitt, Harvard, and Cornell. They have also been to a ton of tournaments so they should have a decent idea of what their weaknesses are. If they want to remain Pitt's biggest challenge they need to sweep through their section and that is exactly what they did. Keeping every opponent at 7 or less in cold/windy weather tells me 1 of 2 things. 1) They have their shit together and can make a run or 2) their is no challenge in their section. Either way Penn has not slipped and this is all the more motivation for Pitt to push themselves at their remaining practices and track workouts.

Sectional Preview
There is a lot going on the next few weeks so I will keep it isolated to a few interesting things.

Bay Area Section - This is obviously going to be good. Never in my years of watching ultimate has the NW section been this helter skelter. Santa Cruz and LPC have been to nationals but not in like a decade and this is their year to break back into that circle. Stanford is in a tough spot. They pulled out of Davis (which is why I am not talking about it) because they only had a dozen or so guys on Sunday at Centex, which is odd because they did better on Sunday. I have only seen them lose this section once, 2004, to Dan Hodges, Gabe Saunkeah, Bart Watson and the rest of Cal. There isn't a clear front runner and this gap favors the experience and confidence of Bloodthirsty. What also makes the Bay Area section spectacular is that the Washington/BC and Oregon/NorCal sectionals are basically just UBC and Oregon respectively. The bulk of the NW madness is in San Francisco and in a week we'll know who is going to be a 1 seed in Davis at the end of the month.

Carolina Sectionals - Holy Shit, this is the most competitive section in the country right now. It is amazing how this title can change so quickly. In 2004 it was the Bay Area section with Stanford and Cal. In 2006 it was the Georgia/Florida section with Georgia and Florida and now in 2008 it is North Carolina. UNC-Wilmington, NC State and UNC have all taken turns breaking into the NUMP top 15 and I am clueless who the front runner is. UNC has depth, UNC-W has synergy, NC State has a bit of both. UNC made the finals at Centex, NC State won Queen City, and UNC-W won Easterns. The RRI between the 3 is 43, WOW, that is close. One of these teams will probably make nationals with Florida but who, no idea.

SoCal sectionals - This is a tournament that Arizona should pay close attention to. Santa Barbara and San Diego are not the powerhouses they used to be and Claremont could be the best team in the Southland. It is weird that the Braineaters are the most consistent SoCal team this year but it is not surprising. They are like-minded, they are committed and they are fun. They really deserve a lot of spotlight. They have been improving consistently for many years and with Stout as a standout and Markham Shofner as an unreal freshman they are the #3 team in the region. San Diego and Santa Barbara definitely have history on their side however, and if they can somehow keep a lid on a usually vanquished foe, all they need to do is figure out who is better between the two. Each has won and each has lost to one another and only UCSB has played Arizona. Sectionals/Regionals is definitely the most bizarre time of the year for some teams. There is so much history is in this section, not unlike the Bay Area, and those things have a way of affecting emotion and playing ability in April.

Closing Thoughts

There is a ton going on and the wrap up for 2008 can/should be as crazy as the last few months have been. The Metro Boston sectionals is going to be good with Harvard and Tufts and I am glad all the regionals except the Northeast come and go this month. Hopefully two weeks is enough time to get my callahan and nationals predictions sorted out, not to mention where the hell in Colorado I am crashing in May.

just my thoughts

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