Feel the Burn

It happens to the best of us. We forget to re-apply our SPF 50. We grease up in the hotel room before we head to the fields, but the excitement of the tournament, the thrill of victory, the pain of defeat, they all distract us and we forget to block those UV rays. The burn is coming whether you are ready or not, though, and in Vegas last weekend it came two fold, the singe of those pasty mid west/east coaster that haven’t seen the sun since Labor Day and the burn from Arizona Sunburn.

I was just as shocked as the rest of the ultimate community, glued to RSD last Sunday. Wisconsin in the finals, yeah, ok no biggy. But Arizona? Did anyone see that coming? Now that the dust has cleared and we have all caught our breaths, it is time to find out who this team actually is. Chris “Shep” Shepard was kind enough to answer some questions of mine and this is what I have on Zona.

Standouts

So who is this squad? Who was reeling in the fantasy points? First and foremost, Shep describes Joe Kershner as “one of the most inspiring players I have ever played with. His creativity and strength really shine on the field”. Joe was a member of the 2004 gold medal Juniors team in Finland, along with greats like Jacob Goldstein, Mike Vandenburg and Will Neff. Despite the fact that he looks like a more masculine version of Jack Sparrow, it is obvious that his talents really inspire respect from not only his teammates, but anyone who he lines up against. Another standout is current captain Erik Gafni. Gafni was Sunburn’s 2007 team MVP and “is also an amazing player who deserves a lot of credit for helping this team to where it is now”. Gafni is one of 5 Arizona players who suited up for Barrio last October at Mixed Club Nationals and it is without question that his experience and talent have really propelled Arizona to unforeseeable heights. In addition to these two standouts, Arizona also has several players who played for Arizona’s Kaos at Junior Nationals in 2003. Ben Gray, Henry Schaff, Gabe Wigtil and Shep himself were all on this Kaos team in addition to Kershner. They also have a young Junior player in Marco Alatorre who played at High School Westerns last year. Bottom line, each one of these kids had a flick well before freshman orientation.

Synergy

I was very curious to know what kind of development this team has gone through and I know I’m not the only one. I think the main benefit that this team has is experience playing with one another. It’s obvious that I like to focus on superstars but if good players play together for long enough, they can/will form a great team. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Most of these guys are in their 4th or 5th years with Sunburn and I agree with Shep when he told me that, “our O line is one of the best in the country”. If every player is on the same page, having played with each other at the Juniors level, the club level, and year after year of sweating it out in Tucson, their offense will be as crisp as the New England Patriots in every month but February. I think, like the Kaos experience, playing with Barrio has really elevated this team beyond a semis/quarters team at Regionals. With open teams getting better and better it is not surprising that a lot of talented men are transferring to mixed. Players like the Smith brothers get the chance to dominate at the national level despite a somewhat “grip and ripe” style offense that would be punished on most elite Open teams. This gives more up and coming college players the chance to get experience at a much higher level than the college series, especially if they never make nationals. With the ability to play against the very best in the high winds of Sarasota and year round commitment to ultimate/conditioning, it is no wonder that these guys came to Vegas ready to ball.

Trouble In Vegas

Before TiV, Arizona was pretty modest. This will be a recurring theme and I really like that. When I asked Shep about his expectations he told me, “as for Vegas, most of the team came in with the goal of making it to quarters, but we were really put into a tough place by the format. So I lowered my expectations to 9th once I figured we would have to play the #1 seed (meaning Florida or Wisconsin) from one of the power brackets in the round of 16”. No ego, I love it. However, their trip to the finals was no cakewalk. Aside from the obvious challenges associated with Wisconsin and Florida, Shep felt that “Tufts was also a very formidable opponent. They played an amazing game against us when we weren’t at our top form. Fortunately, after a timely footblock [on universe point] and some more luck we managed to secure the final point”. This set them up against the reigning TiV champions and this is what Shep had to say about taking out Florida in pre-quarters:

Florida is a really amazing team, we were lucky to beat them. We won the flip and managed to hold serve the whole game. Our O line is one of the best in the country and I place a lot of faith in them, but also our D line did get us a break in the 2nd half of that game.

Cyle told me had a costly drop at 4-3 allowing for some significant momentum shift, but either way, Arizona’s ability to match the Gators explosive offense really says a lot for their team.

Fast-forward through Cal and Harvard and Arizona was in the biggest game in their program’s history. Arizona actually had a surprising level of confidence going into this game due to “previous success against them. Two years ago they beat us 10-8 in the quarterfinals after breaking us once. This year our D-line is better and we are a deeper team with a lot more experience”. I think a lack of intimidation is the only thing that will allow teams to challenge the Hodags this year and like CUT, Arizona is not afraid of the baby blue. I suppose things like Shep’s scoobers show a lot of poise and I think a 12-11 final expresses some serious offensive ability against the best defensive team in the country. Despite the cap controversy, Shep seems very content with the way Vegas went down. This is what he had to say about the situation:

I can see that from an outsider’s standpoint they might feel like we’d been robbed. Especially since we were on a 6-4 run since half, but most of our guys aren’t that greedy. We don’t know whether we would have won that game or not and we might have had Wisco on the ropes, but we were very satisfied with our performance and accomplished our goals of getting into Stanford and Centex. Essentially we feel like we won that game.

Listen up folks, this is what fall/winter tournaments are for. Get the experience and credibility you need to set yourself up to challenge the best in the country when it matters. I could not have said it better myself and Shep and the rest of Arizona’s focus clearly articulate why they are the team to beat in the Southwest.

Tournament Schedule

After having done exceptionally well not only at TiV but New Years Fest, Arizona has a few more chances to shine before the series. They are making their usual trip out to Pres Day in San Diego this weekend where they will have a chance at the Squids, UCLA Smaug, some sort of Tide team, Texas, Arkansas, and whoever else makes the trip to La Jolla. In a few weeks they will get another chance to face the best in the country again at the 3rd NCUS tournament, Stanford Invite. They could be looking at a #1 seed if they continue their success at Pres Day and at the end of the month I will have the chance to see what they have at Centex. I believe this is their first trip to Austin and I really hope they are ready. Unlike Vegas, these 3 tournaments are not going to offer a home field advantage. It is not surprising that a desert team did well at a desert tournament and Shep told me that Vegas is “very similar to Tuscon” and that he feels that “Cultimate with TiV has really done a great job brining quality teams to our doorstep”. I doubt the desert offers any significant advantage peripheral to travel distance, but I will say that their ability to play and win so many tough games in such a short span will really help them in Van Auken style tournaments.

Closing Thoughts

I really like seeing some new faces in the southwest and I hope to see Arizona and my Alma Matter make it out of the region. Arizona has never made nationals and it is their primary goal, not unlike most teams. I think this team really deserves all the attention they are getting, but I think of any team, they will need to really stay focused. This is definitely a topic Arizona is prepared for though. One of the really intelligent things Shep told me about his team was that they changed their leadership from Kershner to Gafni and himself. This has “allowed our best player to focus on playing”. As a captain, I can say that playing and leading is really taxing and can really hurt your personal performance. I am really impressed with the modesty of this team and I really like their style. They remind me of the New York Giants. Not a mainstream powerhouse, very under the radar, but when you really pay attention, they have had the pieces all along and can take it to the best in the game. This is their time to shine, but they aren’t popping the Andre yet. When I asked Shep about Vegas and if this Arizona team is the best ever, he said “this is our best tournament performance in the 5 years that I have been here” but as far as the best Sunburn team ever he simply said “talk to me in May”. Hopefully you guys will be in Boulder and I’ll get that chance.

match diesel

PS Sorry this is lacking in the hyperlinks, but I wrote this in transit to Kaimana and I wanted to get it up before Pres Day.

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

What to watch for in 2008

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

Trouble in Vegas

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

Will Neff's Transfer

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

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

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

Queen City Tune Up

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

Wisconsin's Callahan Selection

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

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

Junior Ultimate Players

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

Stanford Invite

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

Coaching Impact

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

College Nationals

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

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

just my thoughts

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