I can't believe that the club series is already getting started. It feels like Arizona's romp through Vegas was just yesterday. Oh well, this weekend kicks off the first of many that will have club teams across the country squaring off to determine who's the best in the Nation.
First on the score reporter is the DC section. This is a great section because DC, like Philly, Boston, and Seattle, has a ton of ultimate talent. Not surprisingly it is the biggest sectional showdown with 23 teams. The main contender from this region is Truck Stop, who after a pretty tough Labor Day, need to get the motor running for the series. They should take the section fairly easily but they should focus on consistency and playing "their" game because a showdown with Ring is tattooed on their calendar.
Peripheral to the obvious DC National contenders, two teams in this section have really hit the summer circuit hard in Medicine Men out of Baltimore and Wiretap from DC. I'm amazed at how mobile Med Men have been with showings at tournaments in Upstate NY (Cazenovia), Mass (BI), Canada (No Borders), Maryland (Chesapeake), Colorado (Colorado Cup), and Illinois (Heavyweights). From what I've seen they seem to do the best with their full roster is present so sectionals could be their best showing. Likewise, Wiretap has really hit the circuit hard and I really like these guys. They seem to have the most fun of anyone at these tournies (outside me) and they should look good against Med Med. They are 1-2 against them with a 13-10 win and two DGP losses (12-13 and 11-12). I would expect a hard fought semis if they each take their pools, which means Truck Stop should get an easy final.
The big story of this section is how far Pike has fallen. In 2004 Pike was a major contender making Semis against Sockeye (losing 15-13). However, in the last 4 years much of their talent has taken off with guys like Danny Clark and Bailey Russell moving up to Metal and then to either Ironside (Danny) or PoNY (Bailey). Trey Katzenbach has also moved on from Pike and is now a great O-line presence for Boston. I will say that they have a lot of young talent that could be dominant in the future but I get the feeling the college kids won't sit still long enough to help out. Aman Nalavade (UPenn) is unreal and Ryan Thompson (Stanford) is a very committed flatballer. But they both are bright kids and will probably end up moving elsewhere once they get through college.
The one team that has surprised me the most out of this section has been Roots of Rhythm who seem to be a bunch of Pennsbury HS Alums that are all fast and squirrley as hell. They tooled on us at BI and have the speed and depth to really take it to teams. I don't know much about Forge, but their season performance has been pretty legit with quality wins over Med Men (Chesapeake) and an undefeated Sunday in Chicago. I'm guessing they are a bunch of Pitt guys which would make a nice little club team considering they have made college Nationals consistently for the last few years.
This is probably one of the more exciting tournaments on the weekend because it will showcase the #3 and #4 teams out of the Northwest Region, Jam and Revolver. Both went 3-3 at Labor Day and their RRI's are insanely close at 2542 (Revolver) and 2554 (Jam). This final will probably be the best game of the weekend because neither team has an experience advantage over the other and they both really want to win this game. However, despite my interest, this sectional showdown means very little considering Revolver beat Jam last year at Sectionals but Jam went on to win the region and Revolver didn't qualify for Sarasota.
I think the advantage Revolver has is their tournament schedule. They are 21-10 while Jam is only 11-8. I think more games will benefit a young Revolver team that is working on chemistry. Chicken was telling me that he thought Seth and Martin didn't look like they had each other figured out, but I think Revolver will only get stronger down the stretch. Tyler Grant, Josh Greenough, Martin Cochnran, Adam Fagin, and Seth Wiggins are all amazing competitors and they will really give Revolver the jolt they need to get past Jam.
However, Jam is Jam. They have so much talent and after a poor showing at Labor Day, they will be focused. They are a team that just needs to do what they've been doing for a decade. Nothing flashy, nothing over the top, just play the game that their start studded team has showcased over and over. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still working on their game plan and took second in the section only to peak at Regionals. I also hope that even if Revolver wins, they keep it in perspective and remain focused enough to get past Jam or Furious in a month.
This is the tournament I will be paying the closest attention too. My SD buddies have been trying to get past the Condors well before I ever picked up a disc and this is their best chance yet. They took the Goleta crowd to 14-16 at Cal States and haven't played them since. I think their little rivalry with Madison Club has been good them with a 1-2 record because it has allowed them to practice their composure against a familiar foe. San Diego has always been a crowd of head cases and I hope that some true competitors emerge to challenge Santa Barbara. The team has been together for several years now and should have the athletes and chemistry to win, all they need to do is execute.
However, the Condors are going to make it hard on San Diego. They are a team with a mental edge and they really take advantage of history where they can. They always play Jam tough and are 2-1 against them this year. They also beat two great teams in GOAT and Truck Stop at Labor Day and I don't think SDU has ever beaten a Sarasota team. They might be a young overall team but veteran juggernauts like Tim Paymaster and Steve Dugan will carry this team if need be. I really hope to see some fireworks here.
Then there is the mother of all sectional tournaments, Washington/BC. On paper this tournament is about as exciting as it gets for this early in the series, but I don't think anything exciting will go down. I don't know why Furious got the 1 seed because they don't deserve it. They went 5-1 at Labor Day, as did Sockeye, but they have 5 more losses than the Fish and shouldn't get the top seed. However, I will say that Furious has looked phenomenal this summer. They are 25-6 going into the series when last year they were like 16-12. However, I'm not confident this is a good thing. Good showings at every tournament this year mean that they were prepared for Worlds, and I wonder if they have the ability to keep it up for the series. They seem to play just as hard as they need to which is why I see the Fish owning Furious in the Finals to the tune of 15-7. The Monkies know that they will see Sockeye again in a month and I can't imagine them really charging for a sectional title.
As for Sockeye, they will be incredibly amped to play Furious after their 17-15 loss to them in Vancouver. In addition, a 13-11 loss to Boston shows that their star studded O-line isn't perfect. Without the bail out presence of Chase, Sockeye should focus on their consistency. Moses, Ray, and Mike are the best trio of downfield cutters in the game and Ben, TG and Bestock are 3 handlers that could run an entire offense on their own. However, they all need to find their varying slots to avoid costly turnovers. They have the athleticism and legs to run all day but I think this tournament will be a great opportunity to work on near 100% efficiency from the O-line.
The Colorado and Oregon sectionals should be cake walk for Bravo and Rhino.
Closing Thoughts
Because there are much fewer teams in club than college, a lot of these sectional foes will see eachother again at Regionals so the results here mean very little. I can imagine Revolver or SDU knocking out Jam or the Condors this weekend only to slip in a month or so at Regionals. With this in mind, it seems like the main goal for this weekend is scouting. Jam and Revolver have only played once (12-11 Jam) and same with SDU and the Condors. Sockeye and Furious haven't seen much of eachother this summer and I think all 4 of these teams will be paying careful attention to their challengers.
Truck Stop, Bravo and Rhino are all sharks in a kiddy pool and should use this weekend to test out new things like putting the O-line on D and the D-line on O. I think Bravo's main goal should be to work on this because last year their O-line had issues down the stretch in the finals and improving their O-line D will help if the jitters return in Florida. Likewise, the converting power of their D-line will need to be better than Sockeye's if they want to earn more breaks and working on their D-line offensive chemistry could be a good strategy.
just my thoughts
match diesel
10 comments:
you can delete this comment after you delete frank's. is there any way to just ban him?
Isn't Thompson High supposed to be pretty decent in the oregon section?
I have equal fun with you at tourneys.
wow, I suppose Solstice was not a fluke. Great work Thompson, I stand corrected.
Tough to go out on a limb on a team with only 4 games, and their biggest one being a loss. Best of luck to both teams.
You really know very little about revolver, Fagin and Greenough are great guys but are hardly the "true competitors" that will push Revolver over the edge. If your looking for competitors try Jit, Nick Handler, Marc Sherwood, or Robbie Cahill. Its little things like these that serve to discredit you to people who actually at least semi-informed. Its better to say nothing then to show off ignorance.
he was only mentioning them because those 5 players are all new to the team, where as the players you mentioned might be better competitors, they've been with the team for a while
The last few years, the pitt college team has played club under the name Burgh, and got 5th at regionals in 2006, and 6th in 2007. Edinboro U/other pittsburgh area guys made a club team last year named Sir Duke that finished 7th at regionals. This year they combined to make Forge, and are looking very strong
No write-up of Northeast sectionals? Any of the 2/3 games going to be competitive in any of those sections? Come on Match--some insight, please.
looks like the haters beat you michael.
hey Match, no posts on nw regionals? Your beloved monkeys failed to qualify, perhaps you might share some thoughts.
Maybe Match is to depressed to write... I guess this all goes back to one of Match's posts last year. Can a team double peak? Furious shat the bed at UPA's after winning Canada and this year they pissed the bed at regionals after winning worlds. I would still say that it is a good year for them and that sockeye is jealous and will be more so at the end of the year when they have no championship trophies to add to the mantle. Could 2 dynasties be put to sleep this year?
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