Final Thoughts on 2008

Wow, what a year. It began with my team write-ups and it ended in the best way possible, a front row seat at College Nationals in Boulder, CO. I wanted to comment on some things that really stuck out for me throughout the season and I suppose it’s a good way to end the college year.

Arizona
Wow, this team was so much fun to follow. Not only did I get to write about them after Vegas and throughout the year but I also got to hang out with them in Boulder and they are such a class act. Their team has such a collection of entities that really facilitates their synergistic development.

Chris Shepard is such a phenomenal leader. He isn’t the teams highlight reel but everyone likes and respects him. Everyone depends on him to lead the team on and off the field and he kind of reminds me of myself with the teams I have played for. It was pretty awesome to share shots Saturday night and from what I can remember, I think we had a really good time.

Joe Kershner is also such an amazing person. I got the chance to talk to him right after he got the Callahan award and it was so cool to see a guy like him win it. Nothing against previous winners but people like Ben Wiggins and Zipp must have known it was coming. Likewise, Richter was such a big leaguer that he wasn’t even there to accept the award in 2004 but Loppi embodied how most players would feel if they got the award. He was absolutely speechless and for a guy with so much heart and commitment to our sport, there is nothing better than seeing someone like that get the award.

Another Sunburn player I really like is Austin Gregersen. I have been talking him up a lot and the thing I like the most about him is that he is so humble, not unlike the rest of his team. He is such a baller and can handle just about anything on the field but he is still so chill and down to earth. I was this crazy red head that came into Boulder and was all in his, and the rest of his team’s, face and he just took it in stride and had a good time with me. Thanks again Austin, you’re a champ.

Lastly, I want to thank the team as a whole. Gafni, Scharf, Palmer, Husid, and everyone else on this team really accepted me and that was a validation I needed. I work so hard to do this and feedback from the players is something I really enjoy. Some people get on my case for not talking up this team or that or for not saying what they want to hear, but when the players support me, it makes it all worth it. Sunburn really gave me the reassurance I needed. I am all alone at this and despite my confidence in my opinions, I still feel it when people criticize me. Thanks again guys, it’s been a pleasure.

Georgia
These guys are absolutely crazy, but they are a ton of fun. Their team mentality is something I cannot even begin to transcend here. Travis Smith is such a great character and despite Dempsey’s and Swason’s amazing skill, they are very down to earth guys. Ben Morrissey is also a great guy to chill with, as is Will McDonough and when you see Georgia mixing it up with this team or that off the field, it is obvious that they are easy to like. Alex Deckhard and AJ Tiarsmith coach a great team and I can only imagine the stories this team has. I have always been a big fan of Jojah and it was really nice to hear positive things tossed my way this weekend. Thanks again guys, it means a lot to me.

Michigan
Magnum didn’t have the best weekend but they are a team that isn’t finished. Ryan maybe done but their young talent will get Michigan back to Nationals in the future. One person I cannot say enough about is Will Neff. I suppose I don’t expect much from superstars, but his demeanor is really refreshing. I talked with him after pool play on Friday and despite the fact that he had no idea who I was (sort of), he was willing to talk shop with me. I am not out to bug these people or follow them around like idols. I just really want to give "you" the reader a sense of what the Nationals experience is like. Like Chris Shepard, Will is a great leader that has the ability to make his teammates better by simply being himself. They can turn to him on and off the field and despite his obvious talents and experience, he is right there when they need him. Great work this year and I’ll do my best to hype you up in 2009 so you can get a spot at the podium.

Carleton
I have a complicated relationship with Carleton. I will admit that I have not talked them up much and from what they had to say to me in Boulder, I got the feeling they knew they weren’t my favorite. However, the main reason it went down this way is that when I did my team write-ups, they were the only team that didn’t take me seriously. I am a young aspiring writer, I know, but every team from Florida to Wisconsin to Stanford all talked to me with respect and CUT didn’t.

However, I think things are drastically different now. I have had the chance to see them at their best and I can say that I was wrong in doubting their talents. In addition, I got the chance to party with them and I hope they know now that I’m not such a bad guy. Baylis, Lindsley, Fagin, Evangelides and the rest of CUT are great guys and I now hope that there is some mutual respect there. Maybe in 2009 things will be different.

Also, I want to offer a formal apology to Jacob Goldstein for implying that he was fat. I can’t even remember what post I said he was “stocky” but I meant no disrespect. I actually meant quite the contrary. So many players out there, especially on CUT, are scrappy twigs and for us bigger kids, it’s tough to compete in this game. I think Jake is a great player and I really enjoy watching him play both for Boston and when he was at Carleton. Best of luck in the coming club season and sorry you don’t like my flames. It’s my flare and I would be doing myself a disservice if I sacrificed what I like because some folks don’t.

The Callahan

Wow, this was probably the biggest surprise of the weekend. I have heard from a variety of sources that Kurt was really trying to change his image to get this award but despite his efforts Kershner’s likeable nature was the determining factor. I suppose, in this case, it all boils down to appreciating what you have. Despite the fact that Loppi now has a huge trophy to take back to Tucson, his team never played in the finals after Vegas. I am sure all of Arizona wants to be National champs but it’s not something they could ever do. No matter how hard they worked, it just wasn’t in the cards. It took each of these players 5 years just to make Nationals and despite the fact that they were rewarded with a Callahan and team spirit awards, they still were watching ultimate on Sunday instead of playing it. Conversely, Kurt is a National champ and has had more success than most other players out there would even dream of. It is nice to have it all but truth be told, it just doesn't work that way. Kurt will have a great club career playing with the most elite players in the world and Loppi tells me he is probably going to take some time off. Regardless, congratulations to both players, you've played a hell of a season.

On a more general note, the Callahan is really just a popularity contest. I think people try and put too much focus on it, especially the online community. Remember, most of these kids that are voting have no idea what the hell they are doing. Most vote with their hearts instead of their heads, because they haven't paid as close attention as people like myself and have nothing else to go on. Most people will agree that Kurt was the best player hands down but a friend of mine once told me that when choosing a Callahan nominee you should think of who you would most like as a teammate. Nothing against any of the other candidates, but Kershner is such a great guy and I can only imagine how awesome it was to be on the line with him.

In addition, people seem to always want to perfect the voting system or promote this or that way of choosing a candidate. Bottom line, it is a lot like the BCS. Computer based and most of the time, someone is always going to have an argument to bitch. Every year something unpredictable will happen that will influence the Callahan like Arizona's performance at Vegas, Wisconsin ('07) and Florida's ('06) romp, Zipp's polished character in 2005, Richter's leadership in 2004, and Wiggins' popularity in 2003. This marks the 13th year of the award and with the rise of ultimate media and nation wide discussion/tournaments, the award is still as subjective as it was when Keith Monahan won it 1996.

In the end, people see a title like "MVP" and they all respond differently. Some people vote based on their hearts, their spirit, what their captain told them to do, what they read or just randomly. Trying to perfect the award to mean "the best player" over the most spirited player or whatever runs much deeper than the award. In order to walk down that road you would have to change the values of the game and who votes for this award. Take the NBA, MLB, or NFL. In most cases the main value is to win and sports writers get to vote on who wins MVP. In ultimate that isn't the case. Spirit seems to be the underlying value and the players get to vote. So unless you want to change things around, expect these sorts of results. They aren't better or worse, they are just their own breed.

It is funny, so many people in this sport want it to be more competitive or objective yet they still demand intangibles like spirit and no refs. The later relies on emotion and gray area mind sets which are going to result in emotional and gray area consequences. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want a black and white objective award, you have to let it stand for something black and white (ie winning) and voted on by objective people like media personal because they spend their time watching/following the sport, not playing it. This title is more or less the NUMP team which is not the Callahan and never will be. It will never replace the Callahan because the Callahan award pays tribute to a great man who stood for things like spirit of the game. College kids are too inexperienced in this game to understand these kinds of implications and by the time you realize everything that goes into this and what it takes to change things, the end result is to just be complacent and laugh at the Callahan dicussion that rises and falls every spring. Just like those "Who are the best 10 players of all time?" or "who would win in a match up, Alex Nord or LeBron James?" these are arguments that come up on RSD every year and before you know it, you won't care. Just enjoy the game folks, winning isn't everything, games are supposed to fun and we all should try and party/get laid more often.

Freshman/Junior World's Kids
I am really glad I had the chance to research, watch and talk with some of these kids. Andrew Vogt, George Stubbs, Grant Lindsley, Andrew Hollingworth, Hylke Sneider, Ollie Hondred, and the rest of these guys are really amazing. My relationship with Kyle Weisbrod and Tiina Booth has more or less revolved around them talking up their Paidea and ARHS kids and juniors talents all around and seeing that I have seen it in the flesh, it is really awesome to witness. These kids are the future of the sport and I laugh when I think back to when I started playing ultimate and how little juniors talent I came across in San Diego. Over the last 6 years the sport has changed so much and I can only imagine how much the sport will continue to change in the future.

Ultimate Media
Ultimate coverage has really exploded over the last few years. I can remember the very first COTD (A UCSD guy getting skied in Corvalis) and now 4 years later, Rob has really changed the way people watch ultimate. Likewise, people like myself, the mssui crowd, and my fellow blogger homies like Ryan and DLK, have really tried to make the delivery of ultimate information credible, objective and interesting. I like to think that this is only the beginning and hopefully as you readers look back over the last year you can appreciate the product that we have developed. These kinds of things can potentially change the sport in good and potentially bad ways but believe me when I say that these new media friends of mine are good people and we are just trying to package ultimate the way it deserves.

College Nationals
Natties was pretty sweet this year. I think the whole CSTV/CBS thing was a waste of time but thats just my opinion. The only people at the fields were ultimate people and despite the fact that there could have been other athletes, we as ultimate folk like to congregate with ourselves becuase lets be honest, we are a bit weird and despite the fact that the ultimate subculture is bad ass, it isn't for everybody.

I am not sure where Nationals is going to be in 2009, but hopefully its more towards the East coast. Driving/flying to Columbus and flying to Boulder has been tough and it would be nice to have nationals back in Boston because Devens is legit and it is only 2 hours away from me. I think Atlanta would be a good spot as well, although it might be just as hot as Austin back in 2003. Who knows, but folks out there, if you have the chance, really try and check out Nationals, it's a great time. So much energy, so much fantastic ultimate and for you veterans out there trying to get your rookies more fired up about our sport, take a road trip with them and show them what it's like at the very highest level. You never know what impact this kind of experience can offer. Plus I want more fans to read my drivel.

Club Season
I am not sure what is gonna happen this summer. I have a few contacts scattered across the country in the elite club scene and hopefully it's enough to put some good stuff together. I think the Boston crowd is still steamed at me from a year ago and hopefully they have seen that I have changed a lot since then and will talk to me.

On a more personal note, certain things in my life have been incredibly frustrating this year. My lab work has not been as promising as it once was, my grandfather passed away, and my foot injury has not healed as I would have liked and I will be out for most of the summer, ie no Potlatch :( . This might be my body's way of telling me to slow down and focus on things that don't involve cleats and grass. However, I am lucky that I have met someone who has made me happier than I have been in a long time. She has been so great in keeping my motor running and I am very thankful to have her.

Closing Thoughts

It's funny, I think more people know me as Match than my real name, Michael Fiedler. I have met people from all over the country and at all levels. The best thing about this is that I am nothing special on the field. I work really hard, I condition a lot, but I wasn't a teenage athlete like most of you out there were. However, I have had the ability to develop a name for myself in this sport. This isn't meant to be an egotistical statement, but rather an affirmation out there to everyone in this sport. Just because you aren't a highlight reel doesn't mean you don't matter. I was a B-teamer and I have never played at a level that I write about. However, I have a passion for this game and I put it to good use. I used a free blog to change the way people read and follow ultimate. I am not unique. Nothing I have done requires a significant amount of skill or money. Anyone can do it and I really hope more people do so.

I get asked to write about Women's ultimate or to focus on certain regions or teams, and my simple response is, if you want something written about this sport, do it yourself. I am lucky that I have a lot to say and if you've ever talked to me in person, I never shut up. However, if you want ultimate content, take the Rob or Gambler initiative and do it yourself. It isn't easy, it doesn't pay much/at all. It takes a ton of time and you will never get the appreciation you want. However, if you are passionate about it, it is truly rewarding.

To sum up, thank you to all those players out there that made ultimate fun to follow this year. Thank you to all my readers and supporters, without you, this wouldn't be possible. And lastly, I want to say thank you to all my haters. You have motivated me to work harder than I ever thought possible to create and package a beautiful thing that is read by people all over the country/world. Once upon a time you may have rattled my confidence, but in the end, more people know and like me. Wear it bitches!

just my thoughts

match diesel


PS Not that anyone is going to do this, but if you are on a team that has appreciated some press from me over the last year or just likes my stuff, feel free to send me some of your team merch. I love to sport jerseys, shirts, shorts, hats or whatever from organizations that matter to me and it really is the only payment I want for putting this stuff together.

Texas, Texas...YEE-HA!!!

A cheer for the Lone Star State, but uttered by the scaley boys from Florida after winning their first Centex, a goal that I am sure Gibson and the rest have had for quite some time.

Quarters

I tried to catch as much action as possible during quarters but I found myself spending most of my time watching Florida/Wisconsin and Michigan/Arizona. The weather was awesome on Saturday with slight winds and temperatures in the low 70s. However, Sunday was WINDY. More or less up wind/down wind and it was a little chilly. Lastly, because of Colorado's and Michigan's success, Stanford's struggles and Wisconsin's loss, the championship bracket was ridiculous. One half was Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pitt (3 teams in semis last year) and the other was UNC, Michigan, Minnesota and Arizona (only 1 nationals team, UNC, that lost in pre-quarters to Carleton). Also, no Northwest representation. HOLY CRAP!!

Florida (14) vs Wisconsin (13)

Reid, who is a FANTASTIC TD by the way, had a great line during this game about Florida. He said playing ultimate at Florida is like High School cross country. If you are not in the top 7 you don't compete and the same is true for the Gators. I don't know how they do it, but for more or less the entire game, their 7 on the line is always the same. Kurt Gibson, Brodie Smith, Cyle Van Auken, Chris Gibson, and Cole Sullivan probably played 97% of the points on Sunday which translates into roughly 75 points after a Saturday of 5 games. My god!

This game was as expected. TONS of calls, really poor spirit and for the most part, frustrating to watch. Muffin and Kurt are such similar entities on their respective teams. They both yell A LOT, they are both rarely happy, they both have spectacular flicks in the wind, and their spirit is so depressing. I think Wisconsin was extremely surprised at their record and were definitely rattled. They were very spiteful towards one another which isn't surprising given the fact that they are an intense team and intensity can turn on you at times. Florida started out on top going up 3-1 and given their recent success against the 'dags, many thought Florida had the game locked up. Wisconsin would rally however and take the lead in the second half. James Foster, who I don't talk about enough, is a great player for Wisconsin. He is tall and experienced and is really good at getting the disc deep after Kurt and Brodie were preoccupied with Shane and Will Lokke. Rebholz is also extremely patient and composed and his handling is a polar opposite from Muffin. The two work well together however and compliment one another well. Will Lokke also had a great game. I really hope he gets the callahan nomination for Wisconsin because he is having a great season. He gets epic layout scores like they were nothing and his defense is impervious top to bottom. His composure is almost scary at times. Wisconsin yells a lot, they are really amped but Will is silent. He comes out of nowhere to make great plays and his playing style is as cold as a Wisconsin winter. Shane also had a great defensive game which I expected, despite some goofy bobbled huck scores caught by a lucky as hell Brodie Smith. I asked him how he pulled in two D'd hucks and he just shrugged, "No idea. I looked down and it was in my hands".

As for Florida, wow, this team will be soo different in 2 years. Gibson's throws in the wind are unreal. His flick is so good, it is scary. He launches hammers full field, he has a 3/4 field up wind flick huck, and his back hand breaks are perfect at ~18 inches off the ground. As for defense, Florida basically stuck with their zone which is probably the best in the country. Like I said before, they really hang out at the double-team threshold and because their team is SO tall, their cup is basically a fortress. Cyle has a great mark and with Cole, Chris, and Brodie in the cup, it is a steel trap. Brodie is 6'4" and looks like an Andean Condor on the field. This forces handlers to go over the top and who better to pick off hammers than the best deep in the country, #20. Kurt's deep D is unreal. I don't know how he doesn't get tired or doesn't get hurt. He throws his body in the air with complete disregard and lands so hard on his hips and his sides that I wonder how he doesn't have internal bleeding.

With so much wind there were a fair amount of turns instead of D's and Wisconsin in this game was not as successful against a great Florida offense, as they were against Colorado in a windy final last May. They had the lead 13-11 (pulling), game to 14. Florida managed to get the down winder and would come back with an upwind break because of a poorly placed Wisconsin throw. On Sunday, an upwind break usually meant another down wind break was coming your way and that basically happened. They tied it at 13's with the upwind break and that was all they needed. They forced Wisconsin to work it up conservatively which is something they don't do well and Florida capitalized. Their game in the wind is really amazing because their offense is so comfortable. Cyle gets open for dump cuts, Kurt is a great handler with superb breaks, Brodie can get wayy up and everyone else just tries not to screw up.

Michigan (15) vs Arizona (10)

I didn't see as much of this game as I wanted, mainly because Michigan was well in control. It was really exciting to see Purcell and Kershner line up on one another. They are both work horses and are both smaller players. At one point Purcell had an awesome layout D only to be outdone by a follow up D by Kershner. Kellen Geselbracht is also a fantastic defender for Sunburn. On the offensive side, Erik Gafni had a great game. He might be the teams' best player. He is so valuable at every stage in the Arizona offense. He had a great hammer to Kershner who may have some of the best hands in the country. Erik also exhibited great leadership calling lines along with Benjamin Gray and did his best to keep Arizona focused. I also think that Arizona may have one of the best handler cores in the country. Chris Shepard is phenomenal. He is tall, he is confident, he has every throw in the book. He and Henry Scharf really do a great job of making Kershner and Gafni look good. I think they sometimes take a few too many chances but I think they have what it takes to make nationals this year.

As for Michigan, Will Neff is a class act. Tiina Booth told me that he made ARHS Varsity as a freshman and was a sophmore captain, unheard of. He also was a major part of the 2003 and 2004 world championship juniors team. I really like watching him play for Michigan. As an elite level player, he could have walked into Michigan and been a big leaguer, but he isn't. Apparently Mo-Hawks are in and he sported one along with every other Michigan player. He is also at the core of their cheering and really exemplifies a truly great leader both on and off the field. Ryan also played a great game. Because he is a lefty, his breaks are really powerful and it keeps teams on their toes. His defense is also top notch and he really is good at getting the disc back when the offense turns it. Another thing that was really awesome about this game is that as far as spirit goes, it was 180 degrees from Wisconsin/Florida. I know that SOTG kind of gets a bad wrap from some people because it appears to be a pansy element to the game. However, the reason spirit is so important is that it takes the place of refs (at least for now). Call after call after call is BORING to watch and it really affects the game in an adverse way. Good spirit allows great D's to NOT be called back, it prevents bogus travel calls from derailing great offensive flow, and it keeps competitors focused on their game instead of how much they hate their opponent. With refs, spirit is out the window for a variety of reasons, both good and bad. But for right now, seeing Will, Ryan and the rest of Michigan as well as Gafni, Kershner, and Arizona play good and clean ultimate is really a beautiful thing.

Semis

Florida (15) vs Colorado (13)

This game had fewer calls than Florida/Wisconsin which was nice. Florida jumped out to an early lead and took half 8-4 which would be all they needed. This game was more or less an up wind/down wind contest and an early up wind break by Florida would lead to a downwind break and Colorado struggled to get those back all game. Colorado's O-line looks good however. Jolian has been much quieter than I thought he would be but he does a good job of setting up Mac Taylor deep and vice versa. Once again, Wicus and Pebbles did a great job of handling the grunt work, especially in such high wind. Catt Wilson also impressed me at one point calling a play off a Florida turn in the endzone. Jolian picked up and instead of walking it up to the line, he just jacked it from inside his own endzone down wind to a streaking Mac Taylor who reeled in a 85 yard back hand bomb. Florida was not happy.

Florida played razor sharp though. Their ability to keep their same 7 on the field is something you don't see much, but if your players can do it, you're in good shape. I wonder what Florida will have once Gibson graduates though, yikes. I also talked to Brodie after the game and he had some interesting things to say. First off, I really like this guy. He is chill, funny, and friendly. He might make some calls or intentional fouls, but I like him off the field a lot. Apparently he had mono after Vegas and has not played since mid-February, which is one of the reasons Florida didn't go to Stanford. He was really stoked for high wind because he said he had no legs what so ever and would be able to rely on his height, jumping ability and throws, rather than speed. Martin Cochran, who is also a really great guy to talk to, covered him for most of this game, but like-wise, his broken foot has kept him from being in top shape. Towards the end of the game, Martin was getting tired and switched to covering Gibson because Kurt had handled mostly in this game. Brodie told me this was a golden opportunity for the gators and twice they switched the Kurt to Brodie flick bomb to Brodie to Kurt flick bomb and without stellar speed, you aren't going to catch Kurt going deep. This sealed the deal for Florida and put them in the Finals.

UNC (13) vs Michigan (12)

This game was a heart breaker to watch. Magnum was up the whole game but UNC was right there with them. An early break allowed Michigan to lead 9-7, but UNC kept going score for score for Michigan in the second half. In watching Michigan both in this game and the Arizona game, it appears their one weakness is weather. They have a huge indoor facility that they practice in so their offense is really good. I think this is why they had success against Wisconsin on Saturday consider the wind wasn't so bad. However, Sunday was not good for the boys in blue and yellow. They seemed to have poor throws in the wind and even Ryan and Will were floating passes. Many passes were caught at full arms length in the air and some would sail over heads and out of bounds. Early in the game, UNC couldn't capitalize on these turns, but later, they played better windy offense and punched in the 2 breaks they needed. Having the ability to practice outdoors seems to be good for Darkside and I think once Michigan is able to get outside, they will be able to improve this part of their game. In addition, I really think that Michigan's depth will be an issue. Like Florida they rely on a small core group of players and in poor weather a lot of their star offensive players have to play D because of turnovers. I think they can beat almost anyone in good weather but if the wind is bad come the series, they might get stuck being #2 behind Illinois out of the Great Lakes. I also wonder how the weather will be in Boulder if/when they make nationals.

As far as UNC goes, they really are not what I was expecting. They play chilly offensive and have athlete after athlete recording D's. I think they were a bit out matched by Stephen Presley (Texas) on Saturday which is why they lost in pool play, but their composed offense was better in the wind than Michigan down to the wire in semis. UNC definitely had a clutch offensive possession late in the game after they had taken the lead. At 12-11, Michigan gained a crucial upwind break and was now pulling on universe point with the wind at their back. They came zone and with Will Neff deep it was almost guaranteed that a turn would come. However, UNC sent a deep cutter to challenge Will and then came back in. Will took a few steps to follow him back in and as he was distracted a second cutter took off for the endzone and a perfectly placed backhand bomb was farther than Will could recover from and UNC reeled in the game winner. Great play on their part.

Finals - Florida (15) vs UNC (7)

The finals was probably the weakest game of the day that I saw and considering the difference in competition from each side of the bracket, a blow out final was eminent even before quarters were played. Florida's upwind offense and zone defense were much more than UNC could handle and despite miscues by Florida in the wind, their defense was suffocating. UNC challenged Kurt many times and every time he would reel in the hammer. I thought a lot about how Beau used to play deep in zone and I think Kurt is far superior. When Beau would play zone he would rely on his legs to get to the right spot. This worked a lot because he is incredibly fast, but sometimes, it just isn't possible with a well placed hammer. The disc is just moving too fast and you can't catch up. Kurt on the other hand plays excellent head as well as body deep D. He loves putting up the hammer when a cup comes his way and therefore is very good at knowing when and where a handler wants to place a hammer when he is playing D. His positioning down field is excellent and he always knows exactly where to be to make a play. He is also very good at knowing his limits and would routinely just barely sky a guy for a disc after a full out sprint to the spot.

This game also had a fair amount of calls and I spent most of it hanging out with my UCSD buddies. I am really jealous of their crowd, the team is so much fun and they have so much potential. I know they beat a burned out Oregon and didn't exactly dominate in their pool, but they look good for the future. Their young talent has yet to gain the experience they need to handle the best in the country but they have several coaches and good youngsters. They also took out Tide pulling upwind on universe and have yet to play Arizona this year. They have as good a chance as any in the shit show that is the Southwest, and I will look forward to seeing how regionals goes.

Closing Thoughts

Skippy runs a great tournament. A line that I heard that really rang true was that at Centex, the B-Bracket is better than most A-brackets out there and I really think Cultimate is the future of college ultimate. Not to say that Nationals isn't up to par, but for teams that want to work out kinks and get the most out of a tournament, there is nothing like Centex. Reid was all over the place with his iPhone and he really knew what he was doing both in tournament organization and getting information from the field to the score reporter. I also got the chance to hang out with Rob some and his contribution to the sport really translates to him in real life. He is really a great guy as is his co-camera man and good friend, Dale. Skizip and the rest of the Texas crowd really made this trip for me again, just like Kaimana. I got my Lone Star jersey which I am wearing as I write this, and I can not thank them enough for taking care of me and showing me a good time.

I also want to thank Ryan Purcell, Martin Cochran, and Brodie Smith for taking the time to talk to me. I really love to talk shop and I have no agenda what so ever. All three were very friendly and made my life easier, thank you so much. Hopefully I can get some more interviews at Nationals. Also, thanks to all the people that came up to me just to tell me they read this stuff. It really means a lot to me and if you ever recognize me at a tournament, don't hesitate to introduce yourself. I love making new friends and I really want to hear input on how to make this sort of ultimate information delivery better.

Lastly, I am really tempted to get some callahan talk out there but I will save that for a future post. I have a ton of thoughts on the subject and hopefully I can get the voters some credible and objective material this year before they vote. Good luck to all teams out there in the series. Stay tuned.

match diesel

Thats why they play the game

I am going be honest. I had almost an entire write up done going into the finals. I started researching Queen City and had updates about TiV through semifinals. I was ready to go, I knew it was gonna be Wisconsin vs Arizona (shocking, I know but I was ready) but I figured the Hodags would take Sunburn 13-6 or something. However, I am getting text updates from my cousin, 5-3 Wisconsin, 10-8 Wisconsin, what the fuck? How is Arizona scoring? Sunburn lost to Claremont in quarters at regionals last year, what the hell am I missing? I dunno whats going on in the desert, but I am gonna find out. I want to write more, but I will save that for later. I will say, though, that like the Patriots, no team is invincible. Go Arizona, please talk to me.

Here is my original writeup. More to follow:

So Trouble in Vegas has come and gone, as has Queen City Tune Up. There were a lot of big winners in Vegas, not mention a few broken hearts. Charlotte also housed the biggest barn burner East of the Mississippi and my NUMP ballot looks like the floor of a Pedro Martinez sponsored cock fight. Here are my thoughts on each tourney.

Trouble In Vegas

First lets start off with the Cultimate extravaganza that has been dubbed the best and worst idea in the history of ultimate. I hear the weather was actually good this year which is nice considering the last two years were like Wyoming in November.

Wisconsin: I thought the 'dags were gonna steam roll folks but they definitely had their pulses raised en route to winning their 2nd tournament. They had close games against CUT (11-9) in semis and Arizona (12-11) in a capped finals that ended with a Sunburn score. I want to draw some conclusions, but like the 6-5 Wisconsin loss to CUT and Texas beating Colorado back in 2006, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Arizona: I get a text Saturday night, "Arizona beats Florida". I know that Sunburn has a few winter wins for the ages. They knocked off the Squids at Santa Barbara a few years back but Florida?!?! They managed to do something that no one has EVER done, beat the Gators in Vegas. The next thing I know Arizona beats Cal and faces Harvard in semis, semis?!?! Ok, Vegas is weird, Arizona wins, good luck against Wisconsin. 23 points later Arizona scores it's 11th goal to end a capped game. 11 on Wisconsin? Oregon got 9 on the Hodags at nationals and a team that has never made nationals gets 11? Are you serious? I have no idea what this result means, but I will say that no one has gotten this close to Wisconsin this year and this really shows that Arizona could be significantly better than just a quarters/semis team at Regionals. My sources say the finals were exceptionally well played on both sides. I think I am one of many that is blown away with this performance and I really hope to see more of Sunburn this year. The Southwest royalty could shift significantly this year and if Arizona can keep it up, they may have a chance to finally play in a game-to-go. I wish I had more information on them, but I'm on it.

CUT: When I asked my buddy JAM (who was there) what he thought of Carleton, he had one word, "Fast". The crafty boys from Minesooota are definitely experienced, polished and on track to challenge the best in the country. It's too bad they got all this World's talent right around the time Wisconsin was on their way to an unprescedented, and un-possible, undefeated season. Tough draw in semis but they really belong this year. Their biggest advantage, their Junior World's talent, is actually 2-fold in the sense that not only are these kids spectacular, but they have all already played together and in analogous systems (ARHS and Paideia). If they can overcome the size barrier by playing crisp, mistake-free ultimate, they can challenge Wisconsin when it matters. Unlike the rest of the country, CUT is unafraid of the baby blue and if they can capitalize on Wisconsin's raw intensity with composed ultimate, they maybe the NY Giants against the NE Patriots this May.

Whitman: I am really glad someone from Washington reads my blog. Here is what Joe's Brother had to say about the Walla Walla Sweets:

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.

Turning heads and making quarters (over Ego no less) was definitely not what I was expecting from this Pool F second seed. They have their work cut out for them and are going to need to keep it up to get out of the Northwest.

Haavard: Aside from the Ivy rivalry, I am really impressed with these these guys. They are the new Brown. Making semis by beating two hot teams in Whitman and Illinois is impressive considering what teams usually make it this far in the desert. Most NE teams play their best in the spring and seeing that Redline is getting big wins (but not against the squids, HA) when they can't even practice outside says a lot. They have stellar freshmen with Andrew Vogt and George Stubbs (injured), but Zirui Song, Dave Roebuck, and Dave Lipson are all superstars. I had the pleasure (sarcasm) of playing against them this past summer/fall when they suited up for New Noise and like Cal, their club experience is really paying off for their program. However, NE teams have a tendency to shuffle around a lot come the series. Harvard definitely has their work cut out for them in a region with the most teams fighting for a spot at nationals (Williams, Brown, Dartmouth, and Harvard) with no clear front runner.

Santa Cruz: Finally, they show up. Despite a slow start they battle back from starting 0-2, and go through UCSD to make quarters. DLK gives me far too many shout outs, but I will say the slugs finally showed why they are in contention to win the Bay Area section and come out of the NW. Vegas is cool because there are 3 days of good ultimate and several teams get a chance to do well. Illinois owned day 1, Santa Cruz had their time to shine on Saturday, and Arizona owned the Lord's day. They beat my Squids (by 1) making quarters, but got stuck with the ravenous wolves (Wisconsin). It would have been cool to see them play any other team because they might have stood a chance. Regardless, they brought themselves back to their status post Sean Ryan and have the knowledge that they can bring it to Stanford and Cal. I feel sorry for LPC because they will have to play one of these teams while the other two duke it out in semis come sectionals.

Illinois: For a team that wanted to break into the elite, they definitely did not disappoint. They managed to knock off 2 juggernaut teams in Oregon and Colorado, on the first day no less. Folks have been talking them up a lot on RSD as of late and I continually understand why. They lost in pre-quarters to Haavard, but this kooky format with 10-8 scores and 80 teams really doesn't blemish Illinois' hopes. They showed that they are #1 in the Great Lakes and have given Ryan Purcell and Will Neff an enemy to fear.

Colorado: I wanted to mention a few words about Mamabird's seemingly poor weekend. It looks like Beau is no longer wearing black and gold considering that he wasn't in Vegas for the first time in 3 years. Martin Cochran was also not in attendance but a broken foot has sidelined him only until March and if he heals alright, #17 and the rest of Colorado will be back for the series. I will say that without Beau their offense is going to have to make some serious adjustments. Jolian can't throw to himself and with Mac Taylor streaking deep as well, their handling responsibilities are going to fall on veterans like Chris Wicus.

Closing Thoughts

TiV is just as crazy as Vegas itself. Arizona 11-10 over Florida, Santa Cruz 11-10 over UCSD, Whitman 10-9 over Ego, Carleton 11-9 over Colorado, all of these scores are close/exciting, but suspect and do not paint a clear picture. There are many more positive things to take away from this than negative, though. Arizona and Harvard need confidence, and their results help them. Florida and Colorado need to know that they have weaknesses and their results help them. Whitman and Santa Cruz need to prove they belong and their results help them. UCSD and Oregon need to know that they can win but also know that they can lose and their results help them. CUT needs to know that they have got the talent and Wisconsin needs to know they can't intimidate their way to another national title and their results help them out.

Queen City Tune Up

Just when I thought I had it all figured out, UNC, Georgia, NC State, and Michigan had to go and screw it all up.

NC State: The biggest winner is obviously the winner. But damn it, where the hell did they come from?!?! They weren't at Warm Up. I didn't write about them. What the hell?!?! They played spectacular and hats off to them. They really have dropped below radar since finishing 5/8 at nationals in 2004 but they could be back in black...and red. If I had to guess, i think that they took advantage of a gassed UNC team, twice. They played them in the last round on saturday after UNC barely beat Michigan 9-8. They then played them in the finals after a 15-14 semifinal game with Georgia. I wonder if they can handle UNC at 100% and I also wonder if UNC has the depth to make it to out of the AC.

UNC: I am not sure what to say about Darkside. At 100% it looks like they are the real deal but I wonder about their legs. They made the finals but they lost to the same team twice after winning double game point matches. I think their depth has got to be an issue and this problem will not fix itself considering that Georgia is very deep and Florida has more star power. They took 2nd in the region last year so they have history on their side and I hope they can keep it up against the AC's best in Florida, Georgia and now NC State.

Georgia: Ahh, I wish you guys were going to Stanford. They sweep their pool, they dismantle Edinboro and Georgia Tech, and then WHAM, get taken out by UNC. I think behind NC State, Georgia gained the most from this tournament. The funny thing about ultimate is that unless you are challenged, you really can't see your weaknesses. I remember Furious at nationals in 2006. They raped everyone, including Chain Lightning 15-7 in semis, but their offense really wasn't tested and Sockeye took advantage in the finals. What's cool is that this is just QCTU. Georgia now knows that UNC, as well as Florida, can take them down and they will take this knowledge into practice the next 3 months. Hopefully Swanson stays healthy, but he is lucky that he plays for a very deep team.

Pitt: Delaware won the region last year but after this weekend, Pitt is definitely the aggressor. Pitt has some phenomenal talent in sophmores Chris Brenenborg (team USA) and Eddie Peters (Pike), not to mention a lot of veterans with nationals experience. They were definitely the best Metro East team in Charlotte. They beat Penn and finished ahead of Delaware, not to mention taking NC State to 12-10 in semis. However, this is just February. Keep the engines burning boys, you'll need it if you want to earn big wins for yourself and your region in May.

Michigan: Will is a great pick up but like I said, I think Michigan's performance will improve tournament to tournament. Their offense is going to have to adjust to #1 and it is no wonder that playing outside for the first time in '08 was not kind to Magnum. However, they did play UNC 8-9 (what kind of score is that) and dismantled a national caliber Delaware team 13-3. They did lose to Penn when it mattered though, but I have a feeling they may have looked past them considering they had beaten Georgia Tech 10-6 and Penn lost to Virginia in the last round on Saturday. Needless to say, I am sure they have a lot to think about back in Ann Arbor and hopefully they have the tools to put together a fight against a fired up Illinois team that had a great weekend in Vegas.

I want to reiterate how amazing NC State and Arizona played this weekend. I was expecting Wisconsin/CUT and Georgia/UNC but like Berman says, "thats why they play the game".

In the next few weeks we have two prez day tournaments, Kaimana, Hellfish Bonanza and Mudbowl. I will be watching Stanford this weekend in Hawaii and I wonder what Mike Payne has done with Bloodthirsty after they got rocked in Santa Barbara. Stay tuned, this year is just getting started.

Just my thoughts

match diesel

CUT's got me in stitches

First off these guys are entertaining. I wanted to continue my collection of objective ultimate material with who I believe to be the #2 team in the country right now and these guys crack me up. I got a hold of Patrick Baylis, Carleton's captain, and he answered some questions of mine and I thought I would share them with you.

Player Departures

Jacob Goldstein seems to be the biggest name that is not coming back to Carleton this year. I am a big fan of this kid because he gives hope to the stockier players out there. In watching him at college nationals and club regionals this past year, I was very surprised at how well he plays D despite the fact that he isn't the standard 6'2" 160 lbs twig that many elite disc players are now a days. Two other names that aren't returning are Keith Christianson, a spectacular down field defender and Craig Hogle, one of CUTs veteran handlers.

Talent for 2008

Despite player departures, Carleton still has a very young crop of players. I went back and watched what I believed to be the best game at college nationals last year (Stanford vs CUT) and most of the guys making plays will be suiting up for CUT this year. One of the bigger stars will probably be Sam Kanner (sophmore #33). This kid lined up against Robbie Cahill and Mark Sherwood a lot in that game and his fellow head band wearing team mate, Jerome Potter (junior #11), was also in that mix. These two heavy hitters, as well as Baylis, all played for Sub Zero this past year and are definitely ready to break some hearts. It is also worth mentioning that Kanner was on the juniors team USA that won gold in 2006 and runs track at Carleton, yikes. Another club player that has definitely picked up some experience over the last two years is Adam Fagin (sophmore #6) who suited up for Mischief the last two years. All in all, the best of Carleton is still very much a part of the team and will definitely have the ability to break into games late on saturday at nationals.

Tournament Schedule

Carleton has signed on for the CCS and will be attending Vegas, Stanford, and Centex in addition to the series. I suppose these 3 tournies are the best out there but I wonder if CUT would benefit from another tournament in that mix. Stanford goes to Santa Barbara, Wisconsin goes to Mardi Gras, Florida has their Winter Classic, etc... I am sure that this team will be focused and ready, however, and I think that the annual regional match up with the Hodags will continually be as exciting as ever. I asked Baylis to give me some thoughts on Wisconsin and this is what he told me:

"Nobody knows this, but the way Wisconsin plays defense is particularly vulnerable to the now-forgotten “Trident Stack” popular in the ’80s. We have revived that offense and added a top-secret wrinkle, called The Reversal, which eliminates the primary weakness of the flip-side poach draw without requiring the handler to scuttle his D1 and D4 options so early in the count. This really opens up the inside flick dump to the broadside hucker coming across for E2. And of course, our failsafe is still flying in on the diagonal to bring down the easy crabwise floater. As far as we can tell, it can’t be beaten. And we haven’t even mentioned our defense (nor will we)."

Hilarious, I love the spittle.

Goals and Expectations

Not surprisingly, Baylis and CUT are true competitors. When I asked him what his goals were for the season he told me "Three wins on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday". You gotta love the black and white intensity. What I think is interesting is that they seem to focus their attention on nationals where as Wisconsin seems to focus on winning the region. I suppose there are different ways at looking at the same sets of goals. In any event, I think CUT will definitely have what it takes to make a run at the golden disc. They have the talent (which is now more experienced) and definitely have some painful memories, Phill Vozza's (Florida #26) layout D in quarters, the double game point loss to Stanford, and the JoJah upset, to motivate them to condition, improve, and stay focused. I am excited to see what they'll do especially at Centex when they will face their toughest competition until Regionals.

College Nationals

I was also curious to know how CUT felt about the new change in when nationals will be played. This is what Baylis had to say:

"We’ll see how it goes this year. We wish it wasn’t two weeks earlier because it limits our outside practice time even more than usual, but as far as the event itself goes we don’t really know what to expect."

Closing thoughts

I definitely think that CUT can give Wisconsin a run this year. They have a Fall tournament win over the Hodags, which Baylis says was no big deal, but I think it still gives CUT the notion that Wisconsin is not invincible. CUT has nothing to lose and everything to gain and the Hodags are not in that boat anymore. I think the best disc is played when players are truly motivated. Nothing can replace that sense of focus on offense and that intensity on D. One final question that I had for Baylis that I think most people are curious about is, how CUT continually manages to stay at the top of the ultimate community despite being a really small school? Baylis said that it's all about "Heart. (And Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water)". Ha, I love it. Thanks for being entertaining and good luck.

just my thoughts

match diesel

Ultimate Upsets

I was watching my favorite college basketball team (Kentucky) get rocked by Gardner-Webb by 16 the other day and it made me think about upsets in the ultimate community.

I first want to say I think that tournaments outside the series are basically irrelevant. I can understand that there are a lot of great games out there, but looking at non-series tournaments is a bit too subjective. You never know about injuries, when teams are gonna peak, and who is trying their hardest (especially in club). With that in mind I thought I would talk about a few upsets that I think are interesting.

Delaware 15 Florida 13, College Nationals 2007 (Pool Play)
First and foremost, probably the biggest upset in college ultimate over the last few years has got to be Delaware over Florida this past year at nationals. I made predictions for college nationals and this was the only game I got wrong. I mean come on, Florida, former champion, the 2 seed in the tournament, favorites to make at least semis. Delaware, an up and coming team, has never played in bracket play at nationals, the 11 seed and WHAM!! They take down Florida 15-13 in the first game of pool play. The year before Florida only had 15 points scored on them in all of pool play (actually it was 22, but who's counting). They also played Delaware last year and took them out 15-5. However, in 2007, minus TG, the gators get upset HUGE in the first game. I wish I could have been there to watch it but I was over at the Stanford/Georgia game. Regardless, Delaware really showed in 1 game that the Metro East isn't all that bad. I have a friend on the team, Dan Cuoco, and he told me going into nationals 2006 that they were gonna turn some heads at nationals. Didn't happen that year but it DID happen in 2007. Good for Sideshow. Too bad they left it all on the field and an absolutely gassed team got their tits lit by Oregon 15-3 and they lost again to Indiana 15-10. Oh well maybe Delaware will make Pre-Quarters next year, good luck to them.

Georgia 17 Colorado 16, College Nationals 2006 (Quarterfinals)
Another huge upset that I also think was really interesting, albeit depressing for my region, was the Georgia over Colorado quarterfinals game at nationals in 2006. This game was actually really exciting to watch because Beau and Dylan were absolutely tearing it up. I think that Colorado came in wayyy over confident and it hurt them in the end. They had been to the finals the previous 2 years and had a great team with Jolian, Beau, Rabbit, Chicken, etc... However, the previous day they pulled out an AMAZING double game point win against Stanford. I feel like this should have been a wake up call to Mama Bird letting them know about their weaknesses. In my opinion I think the major weakness of Colorado that year was their D line. Their O Line was ridiculous and like most elite teams now a days, they played a strict O/D line game. However, this is college, everyone is bound to screw up at some point. I think that Colorado assumed their O line was perfect (and it was close) and their D line would get them the breaks they needed to win. However, there are some good defenders out there and they got breaks that Colorado wasn't expecting. In the Georgia game, the Colorado D line could not put the disc in the end zone. They have some great defenders, and they would generate Ds, but they would just give it back. I guess that’s what happens when your best offensive players are on the sideline. Anyway, by the second half, Georgia was already up enough and despite the fact that Beau and Chicken played every remaining point, they didn't have the time to get back in the game and they lost 17-16. This game showed me two things, 1) Dylan is really good. He played so well and I think it was when he peaked. He didn't seem as good in 2007 but this game, he was on. 2) Beau is ridiculous. I mean he had jumped over David "Runner" Flock at Regionals that year but I can remember a huck going up to Dylan and maybe Jolian was covering him. From half way across the field Beau comes a running and as usual, skies the piss out of both of them. Guy is an athlete.

UCSB 15 Colorado 11, SW College Regionals 2004 (Finals)
Keeping with the Colorado upsets, I think the UCSB/Colorado regional finals game in 2004 is another great example of an epic upset. Since I have played disc Colorado has always won the SW. They won it this year and last year and the year before and so on. However, arguably the best Colorado team (2004 Champions) lost in the regional finals to a soon to be DQ'd UCSB Black Tide team. Now this team got DQ'd but Nate Bouxsein was not one of their marquee players. He was a better version of Sean Laing. An experienced guy with good disc skills that was there to support the team, not dominate, so despite the fact that he got UCSB booted form natties, doesn't mean he really helped them get there on the field. Now I have talked about this game a number of times, and I just want to express how big a deal this game was. I mean this Colorado team had everyone, there weren't any "just graduated" players worth mentioning. Richter, Parker, Beau (at his best), Rabbit, Chicken, JV, they were all there. This was the Colorado team that beat Cal 15-7 to win nationals and they lost to UCSB? Black Tide? Yeah they were good in the late 90's and what not but they hadn’t made a nationals run in some time. Yet their zone D completely shut down Colorado's offense, in a stadium no less. How do you do that? Regardless, this game was amazing to watch not because I liked UCSB (in fact I hated them) but just because I was there, I got to witness a perfect team get pwned. It did suck however because then UCSD had to play a pissed off Colorado team and Beau went up and down the field on Kubiak and Colorado won 15-11.

UNC Wilmington 17 Carleton 16, College Nationals 2001 (Pool Play)
If you look back a bit further another great college upset that needs to be remembered (and I think Gerics will agree) is the UNC-Wilmington/Carleton game at nationals in 2001. This was the last time a team lost a pool play game yet still won nationals. In Devens, the year Nord went horizontal over a Colorado player and knocked himself out, they lost a pool play game. UNCW beat them on double game point (17-16) in the second round of pool play. That has got to feel so bizarre. You beat a team that wins nationals AT nationals. This is similar to the Delaware/Florida game in that UNCW didn't manage to win another pool play game, but at least they took down CUT. I really think a game like this should never be forgotten (well maybe forgotten by that CUT team but no one else) because it goes to show you that not every national champ is perfect. I know Wisconsin basically treated the competition at nationals this year like asian schoolgirls at my house this past year but these teams can still lose. Florida can, Colorado can, CUT can. As Chris Berman says, "upsets are why we play the game" and I think college players out there should know that a seed or a ranking is just an arbitrary number and any team can have a bad game, any team can lose and any team can win.

UCSD 15 Georgia 6, College Nationals 2005 (Pool Play)
In keeping with the college theme, another upset that was awesome was the UCSD/Georgia upset in 2005. I am biased cuz I was a squid, but that game was so cool. You have Georgia, a team that was really breaking into the elite circle with their first 1 seed (4th overall). They were the 13th seed in 2003. First pool play game was against UCSD, the 9th seed, and the Air Squids took Jo-Jah down 15-6. This was awesome because it was totally unexpected. I thought Ice (UCSD A) was gonna have some serious trouble against such a hot team but Georgia's composure really was not there and they went down without much of a fight. This game was the main reason UCSD made semis that year, because this, and Georgia taking out UBC, spring boarded us to win the pool and we got to skip pre-quarters. Georgia did come out on top in pre-quarters but had to play a very experienced Stanford team. They were so close to winning that game but a costly huck perpendicular to the field on double game sent Stanford to the semis AGAIN and Georgia out of it.

Oregon 15 Stanford 13, NW College Regionals 2003 (Semifinals)
Another college upset that I think is HUGE is the 2003 NW Regional semifinals game between Oregon and Stanford. What is worth mentioning is that Stanford had won nationals the previous year with a 37-1 record (one of the best teams in history), but for whatever reason, there was only 1 bid for the NW the following year. In any event, Stanford and Oregon meet in the semifinals. This was Wiggins’ 5th and last year and this game is where this picture of Nick Handler comes from. However, apparently, everything went Oregon’s way (or so a friend of mine, Cameron Shelton, who was on the Stanford team tells me) and Oregon made it to the finals. I wish I had more information concerning this game, but I just can't find it. In any event, I think Oregon went on to beat Oregon State in the finals and Ego made it to nationals as the 2 seed but lost in the finals to Wisconsin. This is probably the 1 game I wish I knew more about. I would also like to mention that since 2002, this was the only year that Stanford has not made at least semis at nationals. It also seems like Stanford and Oregon have a serious rivalry, very Wisconsin/Carleton esque. In 2006 Stanford was the 1 seed going into Regionals. They rip through their pool and Western Washington to make the finals against Aaron Bell and Ego, who had just taken out Oscar Pottinger, Morgan Hibbert, and the rest of the 2nd seeded UBC Thunderbirds. In this game, Oregon completely blew Stanford away (something that just isn't done) 15-10. I don't know if Stanford was over confident or what. However, it did set up a great Robbie vs Oscar game in the backdoor finals and Stanford made nationals. I would also like to add that Stanford did get the last laugh though. At nationals, as if by some stroke of good/bad luck Stanford and Oregon meet in quarters after Stanford toppled Michigan in pre-quarters and Oregon had won their pool. This game would be all Stanford though and they won 15-11 making semis AGAIN and managed to be the 2nd team to upset a pool winner that year. Oregon was relegated to a consolation game with UCSD to see who would get the strength bid, the NW or SW and Oregon did what they always do to UCSD, won, 15-11. One of the few reasons why I butt heads with Greenough.

Rhino 14 Justice League 13, NW Club Regionals 2006 (Pool Play)
Taking a break from college, I think another great upset was the pool play game between Rhino/Justice League at NW Regionals last year. You have Justice League (aka Jam) and they are up and down all year, talented but not polished. They did win Solstice by by beating Rhino. Actually there is a great ultivillage interview after that game with Kevin Cissna where he acknowledges that Rhino is good and will be tough to be beat in the series, foreshadowing? Needless to say, JL was an elite team, period. However, Regionals was not their tournament. There were 4 bids to nationals that year and all JL had to do was get past Rhino or Revolver. They had beaten Revolver 13-10 at sectionals but boy did they have a tough Regionals. They lost to Rhino (6 seed, JL was 3) in pool play 13-14, ok, lets not panic. Then they lost to Revolver by the same score in the backdoor semis. Ok, now it's crunch time. The prospect of not making nationals is becoming very real. Justice League now has to beat Invictus and then Rhino to take the last bid to nationals. They take out Invictus 15-9 but then get taken out BIG time by the same score only it was Rhino 15 and JL 9. This was really surprising. I suppose it just goes to show you that winning is about a team effort and despite the talent, Rhino was just a better team and peaked at the right time. They had a forgettable performance at Nationals but boy I am sure they relished that JL upset. I think the bigger story than the 4th place game, was the pool play game. Justice League was really knocked down a few pegs by not winning their pool and I think it put them in a huge hole. They would have to go through the best young teams in the country to get out of the region and I think all those games just go to them. Had they won that pool play game and been playing from ahead in bracket play as opposed to being the under dog, maybe they would have made nationals. Regardless, they came back with a vengeance this past year and made semis. Good for Idris, Cissna, Watson, Damien, Gabe, Hodges, and the rest of the Frisco gang.

Rival 15 Shazam 12, Mixed Club Nationals 2007 (Pool Play)
Another awesome upset, and a game that is analogous to the Carleton/UNCW game, is the Rival/Shazam pool play game 3 weeks ago. Here you have Shazam, everyone's favorite to win nationals by leaps and bounds but they lose in pool play to Rival, the 8 seed?!? Shazam had only lost once the entire year (Brass Monkey 13-11 at Labor Day) yet they go down relatively big 15-12 to the 2 seed in their pool. This must have been huge for this Atlanta based team seeing that they had not beaten a top tier team all year. Kendra from Slow White told me that their offense (Rival) is awesome and considering the lack of wind early at nationals this year, I suppose the results aren't too surprising. Too bad they never got to face off again, I wonder what Bestock and the rest of the Seattle folks would have done to Rival in bracket play. AMP would get the honors and got the better of them 15-10 in quarters. I do hope that this game, as well as the UNCW/CUT games are not soon forgotten. As JP said in Angels in the Outfield, "It could happen".

Vagabonds 16 Team USA 15, Potlatch 2005 (Semifinals)
Thinking about coed, another game that must have been spectacular to be on the winning side of was the Vagabonds/Team USA game at Potlatch in 2005. Now this isn't a series game, but it's still a pretty cool story. You have Team USA, who was hand picked by the UPA and coached by Ted Munter. Now let me make sure I articulate this well. This Team USA was going to World's in Germany. This is not like the WUCC World's in Perth last year or the WUGC World's coming up next year in Vancouver (confusing I know). This World's is a coed tournament where the players are chosen, it's not like a team earns the chance to make it to this particular World's. This Team USA had a collection of all stars that were chosen not only based on their ultimate skills but their service to the game as well. It had greats like Zipp, Watson, Namkung, Miranda Roth, and Chase. However, it was not a team per se, like Sockeye will be next year. Anyway, you have this all-star team (Justice League-esque) playing at Potlatch as a warm up for World's. They had already won Poultry Days and looked like they were the best coed team in the country (better be). They managed to take down Canada in the showcase game (great game) and were looking good, at least to make the finals. However, the Vagabonds, a pickup team from Portland, had other plans. They took down team USA in the semifinals, I don't know what the score was, I had to catch a flight. This propelled Vagabonds to the finals where they lost to Team Canada. I think it is worth mentioning however that team USA probably got a wake up call and went on to dominate at World's beating Australia 13-11 in the gold medal game. I would imagine Keith Monahan gets drunk at bars and talks about how the Vagabonds were the best co-ed team back in '05, at least I would. But he's got a few club championships to keep him happy.

Truck Stop 15 Furious George 10, Club Nationals 2007 (Pool Play)
Another game that is a huge upset (and I don't want to write this but I will) is the Truck Stop/Furious game a nationals this past year. I think this is up there as the biggest upset in recent club ultimate history. I think Furious was better than 15-0 in pool play over the years and that loss to the boys from DC was probably earth shattering. Had Furious actually pulled that game out they might have made a decent showing at nationals. It seems like Furious doesn't enjoy losing and really doesn't play their best once the odds are heavily stacked against them. I think everyone in the country was surprised by this game. I am curious to know what feeling was more intense, Furious' depression or TS's elation. I would like to go with the latter, but I think it's the former. In any event, hopefully Furious re-groups after this and I think TS will be able to pick up some serious talent now that they have a win like this and a great overall nationals performance under their belt.

Illinois X 16, NC State 14, College Nationals 2003 (Pool Play)
I am going to be honest, I don't know a whole lot about this last game but I know it was a big deal. NC State was looking very good this year. They were 37-1 going into nationals, they had 3 tournament wins (probably some combination of Terminus, Southers, Easterns and Ultimax) and because Stanford lost at their regional tournament, they were granted the #1 seed at nationals. Now this pre-dates Centex so there was no nation wide tournament before nationals that really helped establish who was the best in the country. Oregon had won Pres Day (the best college tournament on the west coast at the time) as well as the NW region so they were given the #2 seed at nationals. Wisconsin and Carleton were the other 1 seeds. I like to think that this NC State team was not dissimilar to Queens-Kingston back in 2005. They were a team that had a good record but hadn't necessarily seen the best in the country. Needless to say they took out Michigan (the 3 seed) 15-10 but then played a really close regional rematch against Georgia 15-13. This left them moderately gassed for Illinois X (2nd seed, 8th overall) who took them out 16-14. NC State then went on to pre-quarters against another regional rival, William and Mary, and lost 15-11 sending them from the 1 seed all the way down to a 12th place finish. I think it is also worth mentioning that at that same nationals, Colorado (10th seed) went from a 1-2 pool play showing all the way to the semis with huge wins over higher seeded Ohio State (7th) and Illinois (8th). They were also the only team at nationals that year to score more than 10 points on Wisconsin, 15-12 in semis. Lastly, the Oregon/CUT semis that year was probably one the best games in the history of college disc. The epic Chase/Seth picture (cover of Parinella's book) is from that game. Can you believe that Chase (CUT) and Seth/Ben (Oregon) are now team mates on Sockeye? And Jimmy Chu (CUT) used to be in that mix as well before he moved to LA. That just seems weird to me.

I am sure that there are a ton of other games out there that I have neglected to mention. Feel free to contribute.

just my thoughts

match diesel

College Disc: 1st Big Weekend

So this weekend is probably the first big weekend for college ultimate. I for one love college disc, probably more than club, because there is so much history, pride, spirit, and best of all, turn over. You have teams like Florida that came out of nowhere to win nationals in 2006, UCSB has been off the radar for awhile but they are coming back with a vengance, Oregon looks like they are ready to make it back to the finals. Also, there are teams that are close to the top every year. It has got to be extremely difficult to be among these teams because players can only play college for so long. Wisconsin, Stanford, and Colorado all did very well last year but they have been at the top for so long, which should serve as a reminder that these are "true programs" and will always be at the top.

So with that in mind, this weekend there will be 5 tournaments scattered throughout the country that will pit some of the best programs against one another. These tournies are 1) Sean Ryan in Santa Cruz, CA, 2) Missouri Loves Company in Jefferson City, MO, 3) Delaware Showdown in Newark, DE, 4) Sundodger in Burlington, WA, and 5) Brown in Providence RI. Of these 5 tournaments 10 of the 2006 college nationals teams will be playing: 1) Wisconsin 2) Colorado 3) Stanford 4) Carleton 5) Oregon 6) Indiana 7) Ohio State 8) Delaware 9) Brown 10) Kansas. I dunno about other folks out there but I am amped for the college season and I wanted to talk about each of these tournies and some others that have happened or are happening soon.

First off I should say that these are fall tournies and the results are pretty worthless. A lot of these teams are going as split squads or only sending certain players so they are defintely not at their best, but it is nice to have these teams play eachother so early. I can remember a time when most of the best teams never saw eachother outside of centex, ultimax, southerns, or nationals. Now they are playing in November?!?! Awesome.

Sean Ryan
This is a tourney that is dedicated to the memory of Sean Ryan, who was part of the Santa Cruz ultimate team from 91-95. He was an avid outdoors men and became a park ranger after college. However, he died tragically during a resuce. In his memory, the UCSC team created the Sean Ryan Award for a person on both the men's and women's team that embodies the spirit of Sean Ryan. Sammy CK won this when he was an undergrad there in 2002. This tourney is the first really bad ass west coast tourney. It used to be that there was only this and SoCal in San Diego. The SW teams went to SoCal and the NW teams went to Sean Ryan. However, this year there will be teams from all over the west coast in attendance. First Stanford, ok their my boys, and they have won this tourney. They have been to the semis at nationals 5 times in the last 6 years, they are gonna be awesome this year. Oregon is also gonna be there. A team that used to win tournies (NW regionals and Pres Day back in the Ben Wiggins era, 2003). They won regionals in 2006, made quarters at nationals this past year and they are arguably the best young team in the country. They are ready to break into the top 4 at nationals. Black Tide will be there as the 3 seed. This team is ready to make another nationals run. They gave Colorado a close game at SW regionals last May and they are ready to take that 1st/2nd bid out of the SW. UCSD will make their first apperance at this tournament. When I was there, it was only SoCal in the fall which kinda sucks. I am really glad they are sending a team this year. UCSC and Cal will also be there and my sources say that they were the top teams at Santa Clara last weekend. LPC is also a quality team that seems to be the rock in a lot of elite team's shoes due to their cagey veterans and experience, thank god for Div III nationals. Other SoCal notables include UCLA and Claremont. It is nice to see that the SW is finally playing tournaments in the fall, something that should have been done a long time ago.

Missouri Loves Company
This is probably one of the top 3 fall tournies. I would say #1 is Classic City Classic, #2 Fall Collegiates and this would be #3. This year it will be the first look we'll get at Wisconsin and Colorado. I would say Wisconsin is the pre-season favorite and there are the annual Beau rumors circling about eligibility and what not. Carleton will also be there. Despite losing Goldstein, I think this team is the real deal. They picked up Christain Foster (2006 Junior World's #1 scorer) from Connnecicut College. I got the chance to play against him a number of times. Definitely fast, great throws and plays bigger than he looks, too bad he isn't as well liked off the field. Maybe he'll like North Field better than New London. Indiana, Ohio State, and Kansas will be there, not to mention Wisconsin Whitewater (2007 Div III national champs). Michigan will be there as well. Probably hoping to get back on that nationals horse. Too bad there is no Texas, we'll have to wait till CCC to hear that "Texas Texas Yee-HA!!" cheer (yuck).

Sundodger
This is a tournament I am not very familiar with but exciting none the less. There aren't any nationals qualifiers but there are 3 programs that will be making their '07-'08 debut in Washington, UBC, and Western Washington. I think Washington is a good team, they have been at nationals recently although not withouth Ray Illian. UBC is also another team that has shown signs of greatness. I think they were at their best in 2006 when they still had Oscar and Morgan and made the finals at Stanford. They had a good showing at Canadian College nationals, despite losing 15-11 in the finals to Toronto. Morgan was on the team in Vancover, I wonder if he is still on the team now. I also like seeing a new face in NW college disc in Western Washington. They have been knipping at Stanford's, Oregon, Cal, and the rest of the NW's heals and they are right at the edge of breaking into late Sunday play at regionals. I hope they can at least make semis at regionals this year.

Delaware Showdown and Brown
I wouldn't call these elite tournies persee but they will have Delaware and Brown at them. I wonder what the weather in Newark is gonna be like because Providence is gonna SUCK. Hopefully no one gets hurt or frostbitten.

There have also been some good tournies that have already happened in Fall Collegiates, Purple Valley, and Coffee Cup. I suggest reading Mike Gerics' write up of the UNC/Pitt final at Fall Collegiates on RSD, sounded like it was a GREAT game. Purple Valley had Harvard winning the whole thing. They have this kid, Zirui Song, from Johns Hopkins. Guy is nasty, very Will Chen esk. Played against him and Johnston while they were with New Noise. Not sure of their eligibilty status, but they can really help out a veteran Harvard team coached by the psychotic Josh McCarthy. Coffee Cup wasn't as exciting as it could have been. Weather made it only a one day tourney but Williams managed to win the thing.

Classic City Classic is also coming up December 1-2 in Tennessee. This will be the first chance we'll have at seeing Florida, Texas and Georgia. I am also amazed at what teams go to this thing. I don't know who plans it, but Cal has been in attendance in the past and I can't believe Colorado and Wisconsin are going to this and MLC. Those that think that disc is just a sport in the spring aren't paying attention to all these tournies. I am excited.

match diesel

Notable Tourney Performances

I thought that since the series is still in full swing, i would write about some tournament performances that I think are very interesting over the last 5 years or so.

North Carolina Darkside, Stanford Invite 2004 - This was a stellar performance by UNC. They get a the bid to stanford and are slated as the 15 seed. That is bascially dead last because they give the 16th seed to the stanford qualifier winner. In any event, UNC comes out huge on saturday and beats Stanford in pool play, wow. Ends up making it all the way to the finals and falls just short of winning the tournament. They had to face off against Stanford again in the finals where they lost on double game point 16-17. They broke 13 seeds and I am sure enjoyed themselves on the west coast.

UCSB Black Tide, SW Regionals 2004 - Arguably the best UCSB team in the 21st centruy. Take down UCSD at sectionals and in semis at Regionals and have to face Colorado in the finals. Colorado had won the past 2 previous regional finals game and was going for the trifecta. This colorado team had Beau, Richter, Chicken, JV and Parker. Needless to say, Tim Henshaw, Mike Brown and the ineligble Nate Bouxsein took them down 15-11 in a stellar game that had UCSB own Colorado's hammer happy zone offense. Too bad UCSB got DQ'd and Colorado went on to win it all.

Florida, Trouble in Vegas 2006 - This tournament was the first showing that Florida was the real deal. They had previously won the Florida Winter Classic, but beating CUT in the finals and taking down Wisconsin, not to mention other college national qualifiers was their acid test. This tourney result showed that the likes of TG and Kurt Gibson were the best in the country and could potentially do the unthinkable, go to nationals for the 1st time as the #1 seed and win it all.

Stanford Bloodthirsty, Kaimana 2002 - This has been, historically, the best college ultimate team ever (maybe not anymore), but their dominance has never been more prominent than in Hawaii in February 2002. They travel to Kaimana, as usual, only this year, they bring it. They go a spectacular 7-2 making it all the way to the finals, beating eilite pick up squads like Grey Tide. One would think a flashy college squad would go down fast and quiet to some cagey experienced veterans, but these guys came to ball. However, they hit a brick wall known as Nada Mooger and fall 17-12. However, they were down 9-2 at half and fought them 10-8 in the 2nd half, not bad for a bunch of under age, barely shaving, undergrads.

Stanford Superfly, College Nationals 2007 - This womens team showed 2 things at this tourney, 1) heart and 2) experience. Stanford has won like 4 college national titles in the last 6 years and this past year was probably their toughest. They come in as the #5 seed (nothing special) and in retrospect, how can a national champ come in ranked 5th? I'll tell you, the weather sucked and they were the only ones that could play in the wind. In any event, they start out OK, and go 2-1 in pool play, losing in the last round to the burning skirts. However, they claw tooth and nail to win prequarters/quarters/semis/finals. I don't know of another champion that has had to play in pre-quarters, not to mention get through quarters and semis by a combined 5 points. I am sure that the finals rematch between Stanford and UCSB was spectacular for Stanford taking them down 15-7 (after a 15-11 loss in pool play).

Wisconsin Hodags, Centex/Nationals 2007 - This team is freaking good and there is no more proof than them completely dominating at centex and nationals, a feat that has never been done. For the first 3 years of Centex, the winner was always the loser in the finals at nationals. Colorado loses 14-15 to Cal at Centex and Wins 15-7 at nationals (2004), Colorado rolls Florida 15-7 but loses to Brown at nationals (2005), Florida loses 14-15 to Wisconsin only to beat them 15-12 at nationals (2006). Wisconsin was better than the curse, better than the rest, they stand alone. I am glad I never had to play them.

UCSD Air Squids, College Nationals 2005 - After years of taking a back seat to UCSB and Colorado, UCSD finally earns its bid to nationals. Comes in ranked 9th, the best seed for a non #1 seed at natties. Takes on Georgia in the first round and shocks Dylan 15-6 (that was a fun game to watch). As per usual, we lose to UBC (Oscar and Morgan owned UCSD) 16-17. However, by some miracle of existence, UBC loses to a revamped Georgia and by differential UCSD makes it into quarters. How serendipitous? Instead of having to play Wisconsin, Colorado, or Standford in quarters, we draw the winner of Texas and Queens Kingston, Texas, which is a much better game than we could have dreamed for. manage to cruise into Semis (without a close win) and play against Colorado. We still choke though losing 15-13 to our regional rivals. If only Phelps were there. Not every team in semis is missing their all region deep/defender/etc... cuz he is abroad for a year.

Chain Lighting, Club Nationals 2006 - Not unlike UCSD of 2005, these guys went from a 10 seed all the way to semis. Great wins over Sub-Zero, Revolver and Ring, not to mention a close 14-15 loss to the eventual champs, Sockeye, in power pools. I don't think anyone had John Hammond, Dylan and Jason Simpson pegged for the semis, but they definitely earned it. Too bad they didn't have it against a more dominant Furious. Maybe Zipp will sling this late peaking team to another semis berth or maybe the finals.

Southeast Storm, Potlatch 2006 - This was 1 of 4 MLU teams at Potlatch and I think was the most surprising. After winning college nationals Kurt and TG were brought up to the big boy table to play with the club all stars. Seeing that they are truly as good as billed, and maybe in better shape, they teamed up to be the best fantasy 1, 2 punch. SE Storm shocked most, me at least, and made it to the finals where they almost won. I think most figured the NW would roll seeing that they were all FG or Socekye guys, but SE held tough and showed that the region with the best combination of warm and active weather can ball.

Mischef, Club Nationals 2006 - Coming in as the 2nd seed, expectations are always high. But after 2 close pool play games (15-12 to poodle club, 4 seed, and 16-15 to 2nd seed AMP) I didn't think Mischef could win the 8 games to win natties. Power pool was more or less the same, win 15-12 (gendors), win 15-13 (slow shite), on to quarters. A barn burner against quarter final against Tandem (15-13), a 15-13 semifinal close one (Gendors) and then another game against Slow, this time they won it all, 15-11. Thats a lot of points to play. I could not believe that Mischef kept winning these close ones. They won their first game easy (15-9) but after that they finished with a combined score of 106-89, thats an average score of 15-13. By comparison, Fury went 120-45 or an average of 15-5/6. Lots of heart/legs on that Mischef squad, they ain't gonna blink at the wire.

Ring of Fire, Club Nationals 2002 - This team came in ranked 8th and had a decent run through pool play (2-1) and power pools (1-1). They draw Bravo in quarters (who came out 2nd in power pools after a great win over Furious) and manage to win a universe point thriller 15-14. Then they have to play Sockeye who looked pretty legit after owning in power pools. For whatever reason they roll the fish 15-8 and successfully claw their way into the finals. They have to play Furious again and go down 17-12, but they brought it and I am sure they were as intense as I am long winded.

Carleton, College Nationals 2001 - They come out the 4 seed and potential national champion. However, they get shocked in the first round of pool play, 16-17 by UNC-Wilmington. However, rather than hang their heads, they kept it together and rode Nord all the way to the finals, winning most games by 5 or more. I think they are one of only a few teams to ever win college nationals without a perfect memorial day record. Never the less, they still won it all. Hopefully natties will be in Devens again while I am stuck in New Haven.

Next week will be my preview for natties. Good luck to all remaining teams in their regional tournaments.

Match Diesel

Free Agency in Ultimate

So one thing that I find really interesting in ultimate is how players change from team to team. Now for the most part a lot of these changes are relatively inconsequential. I move from UCSD to Yale, no one cares. But there are a lot of players out there that have changed from elite team to elite team. These changes are not only good/bad for the teams involved but they are also intersting because it begs the question, "did you move to change teams or did you change teams cuz you moved?". Now I doubt that most people will move across the country to change teams but you never know. I also know that some people's real lives result in them moving and whatever surrounding team gets the benifits. I thought I would talk about some really interesting moves in ultimate over the last 5 years.

Ron Kubalanza - By far the most popular free agent in ultimate today. The guy started out at the university of wisconsin in 1993 and bounced around the east coast playing for D.C.'s Electric Pig and Boston's DoG. Already touching on 2 of the best teams on the east coast. However, in the 21st century, Kubalanza has made his mark on 3 major ultimate programs all in the NW. In '04 and '05 he was with San Francisco JAM. Made the finals in 2004 losing to Sockeye and made semis in 2005 losing to Furious. However, in 2006 he picked up with Furious George where he made the finals again, only to lose again to sockeye. As if this wasn't enough he is now a member of seattle sockeye. Is the third time a charm? In any event, I find this to be very interesting because he has managed to play for 4 teams that have recorded a total of 11 club national championships in the last 13 years (6 DoG, 3 Furious, 2 Sockeye). How can one do this? What sort of life style percipitates this? I think kids in college need to know that they have the ability to bounce all over the country given whatever field Ron has chosen.

Idaho - One of the biggest sluts in the ultimate community. Has played in college in Idaho and Berkeley. Picked up with the Condors in 03/04 when they finished 2nd at club nationals and represented the US in the 2004 world's tournament. Now suits up for Sockeye. In my opinion, I wonder 1) how do your previous team mates look at you? I am sure it is not horrible, but are there any "Jonny Damon" feelings out there. and 2) How can you just pick up with a whole new ELITE team and contribute? Guy must be absolutely unreal. One more reason why these ultimate players are truly as close to professional as it gets.

Tim Gehret/Kurt Gibson - I put these two together because I just want to articulate how screwed Vicious Cylce is. VC rides the two best players in college disc at the pinnacle of their physical ability and talent and then as soon as they came, they were gone. After winnig a college national championship and TG won the callahan, these two went on to dominate MLU (2 best fantasy players) and took Vicious Cycle to club nationals where they managed to beat Revolver on double game point. But with the coming of the club season in 2007, these two took off. Tim headed across the country to Sockeye and Kurt returned to his original neck of the woods (New England) and now plays for the new Boston team. I feel so bad for VC, hopefully they have a chance against Double Wide/Chain Lighting. With a masters in Mechanical Engineering, I am sure Tim sought a job in a lucrative market, such as seattle, and managed to pick up with the best mens team in the world. I wonder if one had anything to do with the other. Kurt on the other hand probably played his cards the best he could and decided to play club where his roots are instead of where he went to school.

Zipp - Now this is a person that I think actually had a life changing event, Med School, and decided to play for the nearest ultimate team, which just happened to be chain lighing. I am sure John Hammond and Jason Simpson were thrilled to know that zipp was planning on attending emory for med school (or so I hear) and hopefully he can carry them to a semifinals birth again, if not farther. I think that this is a solid move because it occurred peripheral to ultimate, not unlike mine. Chain is a great team and I am sure Zipp will be a fantastic contributor.

Seth Wiggins - Now I can only speculate as to the nature of Seth's choices in club disc, and because its my blog, I am going to say what I think. He and big bro make it to the finals in 2003 for college. Kinda get rocked, no biggy. Seth never really gets to the same level in club but does pick up with Rhino, a great team out of Oregon. Big bro, however, picks up with Sockeye and manages to win 2 national championships. He wants in on the deal and decides to head to seattle. Like Vicious Cycle, I feel bad for Rhino because they lost one of the more dominate cutter/defenders/all around players in the country. I wonder if there is any bad blood between these two groups at NW regionals. What I also find funny is that the seminal photgraph of ultimate involves Seth and Chase laying out for a disc which Chase gets in the semi finals at 2003 College Natioanls. Seth gets owned which is funny cuz his mom took the pictures and what is also ironic is that they are now team mates.

Bart Watson - Now this is one of my favorite stories in college ultimate. Bart was the golden boy of Stanford for years. Played there as an undergrad, wins a national championship as a junior, but fails to qualify for nationals his senior year in 2003. Now, a lot of Stanford guys, ie Nick Handler and Josh Wiseman, stuck around and got masters in their respective fields and played with stanford for 5 years. However, Bart wanted a PhD in poli sci and headed across the bay to Berkeley. Now I think Bart's motives are completely pure, but I do find it interesting that he left one elite college ultimate team to join up with Dan Hodges and Gabe Saunkeah. In 2004, Cal is the top dog in the bay area section and the northwest region taking down stanford twice. Oh I wish Colorado had gotten the 1 seed that year so that Stanford and Cal would have met eachother in the sectional finals, regional finals, and college semi finals. I can't imagine what that must have been like for Bart and the SMUT guys. What I also find interesting is that Bart has stuck with SF JAM (probably out of convenience) in the club circuit as opposed to playing with his original team mates from stanford who all play for Revolver.

Jimmy Chu - A more recent addition to the ultimate free agency, Jimmy Chu has revitalized a struggling condors squad. After amassing 2 club national titles with Sockeye, Jimmy gave up the life in Seattle and went back to school at UCLA. Attempting to decide between Monster and Condors, he settled on the boys from Santa Barbara. I for one am a big fan of jimmy and hope he does well there. Also, another example (I think) of life changes affecting ultimate. Hopefully he won't have to play against his old buddies at club natties.

Moses Rifikin - Now Moses is an interesting character because I think he probably decided to change teams because he wanted to return to his home state, pure speculation. However, take a look at who he has played for. He goes from Brown to DoG (the standard move for NE players) and plays in Boston for 5 years. Very Forch/Parinella esk but then decides to leave Boston and join up with arguably the most polar opposite of teams in seattle sockeye. DoG seems to be very conservative, in my opinion, and Sockeye, well they are a bit more flashy. I think this was an interesting move and after two finals appearances and a national championship, I bet Moses is pretty happy with his decesion. I wonder how DoG felt about it though during that 15-11 semi final game aganist the fish at club nationals in 2005 the year after Moses left.

Sam O'brien/Nord/Chase - Now these 3 are defintely some of the more exciting players in club disc and they all seemed to end up on the same teams. At one point or another they all played for Carleton, then made the obvious switch to sub zero and as the pipeline dictates, headed to seattle. I think Chase and Nord are from there, but Sam, I have no idea. In any event, i am sure Sub Zero knows that among there alums are 3 guys that are now 2 time club national champs. Once again, another sad story like VC and Rhino, of players just growing up, getting better and heading to better teams. Life choice or ultimate choice, I wonder?

Jack Marsh/Will Chen - Now this is just too cool. You have 2 guys who are team mates for 4 years as well as co-captains of a very respectable Harvard Redline team. They make the trip to natties a few times and then decide to move on to bigger and better things. Two harvard grades should be able to go anywhere and they do, Will heads to Stanford for computer science and Jack goes to Wisconsin Law School. So they leave a great school for 2 great schools and 2 great ultimate programs. What is so awesome though is that these two met in the finals at Centex and the semi finals at college nationals. I can only imagine the emotions going through their heads. I suppose Jack was a bit more relaxed seeing that the Hodags took stanford down by a combined 30-17, but I am sure it was a fun experience. Too bad they didn't cover eachother

shane hohenstein - now this pick up by wisconsin just isn't fair. A transfer student from Winona comes out of no where to become arguably the best defender in college disc. I can only imagine what Heijman, Muffin, and Dan Miller were thinking when they saw this guy come out for the first time. A national title was almost guarunteed.

BVH/Danny Clark/Bailey Russell - I can barely keep track of the teams that these guys play for. Danny and Bailey start out with Pike while BVH is on DoG. Then Danny and Bailey head up north and play for Metal for a year (not a bad set of pick ups). But then BVH and Bailey drop down to play for PoNY in New York once Boston ultimate mixes it up, maybe help get them to Sarasota, good luck. I dunno where Danny plays now, but I can only imagine what sort of circumstnaces precipitate moves like this. I suppose, once again, it is nice to be able to just cleat up for anyone, but you'd think players of this caliber would stay put once they played for a club nationals team, or another one, or another one.

To compliment this kind of observation, I thought I would also talk about some players that have managed to avoid the migration temptation.

Will Deaver - Now this guy is really a team player. Granted he is the championship director and probably should stay in boulder, but the guy could easily play for anyone. However, he has played with Bravo for as long as I have been around and he has helped them go from a team that didn't even make nationals to a semi-final elite bunch of
ballers. His commitment to them has been outstanding.

Jeff Eastham - Another class act. This guy has been on JAM through it all. Played with them when they made the finals in 2004 as well as 2006 when they didn't even qualify for nationals. I am really glad this guy was on the 2005 USA team. Fast, got ups, and as dedicated as he is skinny. Never faultered, never changed jerseys, stuck it out and is a true semblance of a team player.

MG/Shank/Lugsdin/Savage - it seems like these guys have been together for life. I can remember watching "above and beyond" which chronicles club nationals in '99 and '00 and its the same guys. Now, 8-10 years later they are still together and still winning championships. I dunno what they have in the water up there, but its unbelievable.

Parinella/Forch/Al - the true heart of DoG and I am sure there are more. There in the good times as well as the not so good. I suppose, like Furious, its tough to walk away from a team that is winning national championships, but I still think its cool that they stuck it out and played with the same team for a decade.

Roger Crafts - probably one of the most verteran and muscle bound members of sockeye. This year will be his 10th as a fish and I think he is really a showing of team dedication. I don't know how this guy does it. In a few years I'll talk about Sammy CK, Mike Caldwell, Jeremy Cram and Will Henry like this, but for now, Roger Crafts is the balls. 6 years on the team before they won their first title, way to stick with it.

Now I do not think that any of these moves are suspect or shady at all. I think people should play where ever they want to. I just think that it is interesting to follow these sorts of moves. It also goes to show you that ultimate is not too different from any major sport. There are the mobile superstars like Alex Rodrigues out there as well as the stable giants, like Brett Favre. I wonder if in 50 years there will be a draft system so that teams like Sockeye don't end up with 3 callahan winners.

just my thoughts

match diesel