District 5

Remember The Mighty Ducks? District 5 Pee Wee Hockey? Gordon Bombay gets a DUI and has to take care of a bunch of misfits that aren't the best hockey players. At one point in the movie he raises a stink because the best team's superstar, Adam Banks of the Hawks, doesn't actually live in the district he plays for. Adam actually lives in District 5 and should be a Duck instead of a Hawk and Gordon wants his talent. Coach Bombay gets fired over it, but he gets the superstar and along with some financial help, turns the Mighty Ducks into Champions.

Sound like anything in Ultimate? Well, probably not because this isn't exactly a requirement in Ultimate. I'm not sure how many people actually have to deal with this, but recently, the frustration of having in-house players not play in-house reared it's ugly head in my little corner of the Universe.

Let me explain what I mean. Let's say you live in a city that is trying to start a club team and we'll call that city Hartford, CT. You are in the Metro New York Section but you neighbor a high quality section, East New England, mainly Boston area teams. You are doing your best to make it as a program, but as I'm sure most understand, this is really challenging, especially in a non-Ultimate hub. You don't have a ton of college talent with which to draw from, but you do your best and make due with what you have. You hit the track, you train, you take a cerebral approach to the game, and hope for the best.

The first year of your existence you are a laughing stock. In the first round of the series you get rocked 11-3 by the best team in the section, you don't make the next round, and you more or less feel like every other short lived club team. But the following year, you pick up a few committed players, one amazing All-Star and sure enough you improve. You make regionals by climbing out of the backdoor bracket on Sunday at sectionals and you're stoked that you made it to the next round.

In your third year you develop some synergy and give the #1 team in the section a close call, 14-16, and take second. Now that's what I call progress. You go to regionals and even win a few games. Wow, what about year 4?

Well that's a problem. See Ultimate is not exactly a sport, it's more of a hobby because there are no contracts or money associated with the game and loyalty is conditional. You can commit as much or as little time as you want to it and you can also make whatever choices you want, regardless of what others might think/do. In essence you are only bound by your passion and likewise, are free to go where your passion takes you.

What am I getting at? See the issue with having a city like Boston near, but not in, your Section is that it has a tendency to magnetize talent. I'm not confident everyone will appreciate this, but sometimes a player finds that their talents could land them on a better team and if they are comfortable driving 2-3hrs or more to practice, talent pools can start to drain. I'm not going to get into particulars but lets just say about a half dozen or so players that have and/or could really help us out this year are all headed out of state and I can't help but feel a little frustrated.

I don't blame these athletes for playing elsewhere, they have a lot to gain by heading to Boston. Some have a chance to win Nationals this year, not to mention earn a spot at Worlds in Prague next year, and most, if not all, will be headed to Sarasota. If I were in their shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. However, I can't help but question whether or not this is good for the sport and I feel that this "out of Section" play should not be an option for players.

Connecticut has this problem in both the Open and Women's divisions but this is not the only example of significant talent playing out of Section, or even out of Region. Chase Sparling-Beckley lived in Oregon while he played for Sockeye, Kurt Gibson lived in Dallas while he played for Boston, and Gwen Ambler and Robbie Cahill are in Seattle but play for San Francisco teams.

What's also interesting is that a lot of these players leave town to play for programs that don't really need them anyway, or at least would be very competitive without them. Chase is/was amazing but Sockeye already has three Callahan winners. Ironside has two college MVP's themselves not to mention all of Boston to draw from. Fury has won Nationals the last 3 years and Worlds, in addition to having San Francisco as a talent pool. It's fairly obvious that each out of Section/Region player probably wants to suit for a great team, but I wonder if their individual gain is worth the performance hit they leave behind. Rhino misses Nationals. Doublewide continually struggles to make it to/past quarters. Riot collapses in the Club National Finals, at the hands of Gwen no less.

Still not convinced this is a problem? Not only does this situation hurt for the obvious reasons, but when amazing talent plays elsewhere, local teams develop an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. It establishes an inferior state of mind that infects current players and potential tryouts. Current players feel incredibly disillusioned because as soon as they start to succeed, they feel like it is only a matter of time before the rug gets pulled out from underneath them. In addition, they can't help but feel like a AAA baseball team because their best players take off as soon as they have the confidence to tryout for a more estbalished contender. But this isn't baseball, we are not a farm system. We are a sovereign program that gets nothing from the teams that siphon talent away from us. Ultimately, we are left feeling as though our efforts and passion for the game are simply misplaced and we are be better off hanging up our competitive cleats, switching to mixed or simply jumping ship as well.

As for potential players, the propensity to pass up said team, or half ass the process, is through the roof because they think "hell if (such and such) won't play for them, then why should I" and who's to call them out? It's not like struggling teams have a bargaining chip. In the end, the level of play suffers, frustration runs rampant, and we become spectators watching our neighbors head off to Nationals and tear it up on Ultivillage. And this completely omits the downstream affect this has on the community as a whole, ie seasonal leagues, youth programs, etc... I feel like the situation is fairly easy to understand but for those needing further clarification, read up on the Gentrification phenomenon of poor urban cities and affluent suburbs.

The UPA does recognize the propensity for players to abuse Sectional/Regional lines, however, and in 2002 laid out series guidelines with regard to this topic. As it stands now, 50% of a team's players must live in the competing Section and 75% must be in the Region. But I wonder if this is sufficient. Our sport has moved by leaps and bounds in the last 7 years and I believe much like College Eligibility requirements, Club Eligibility needs to be more heavily scrutinized.

This topic is prevalent in mainstream sports in the form of a salary cap. Some sports do things better than others, but at least there is a system in place for most American sports, ie baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. In each case, the overall idea is to keep talent form aggregating via superior economic power and thereby maintain parity. This doesn't always work because in basketball and baseball, there is simply a luxury tax to punish teams that go over the cap, but punishing a wealthy owner by making them pay more isn't exactly an ideal system.

However, in the NFL, the salary cap is a big deal. If you go over it, owners face severe penalties and contracts can be canceled. I personally believe the NFL has the most parity, but with the Steelers winning yet another Superbowl and the Phillies winning the World Series for the first time in a long time, one could make strong counter arguments. Be that as it may, all governing bodies recognize the ability for teams to horde talent and try to prevent it in one form or another.

So what am I clamoring for? What is the improvement I seek? In my mind there are two possible solutions. The first option would be to go the Mighty Ducks route and require that players live in the Section they compete in. This rule may seem simplistically fair but it would reflect the real talent distribution across the country and peripheral to a few select outliers, I am uncertain how it hurts players. However, I am very aware of my own personal bias and the controversy associated with this type of idea, or maybe just the level of talent it would affect.

The second option could be the development of a promotion and relegation system where teams move between competitive tiers depending on series results. I believe that this system would be complicated to establish but it seems to fall in line with the Farm System/Combine examples that are showing up in places like Boston and Seattle with Ironside/Sons of Liberty and Sockeye/Voodoo respectively.

Each system has their own sets of pros and cons and are each equally interesting, complicated, and un/likely to come to fruition, but I want to discuss them anyway. Lets start with in-Section requirements. First off, I believe this to be the easier of the two because it utilizes existing infrastructure, and could possibly be a stepping stone towards a promotion/relegation system.   According to the UPA:

"The purpose of the UPA Championship Series is to provide UPA members a framework for quality competition for locally-based teams and to serve as a vehicle for the promotion and support of the sport of ultimate. All levels of the Series share certain principles, but the focus changes as the series progresses from one of participation and inclusiveness to the crowning of a champion and the showcasing of the sport at its best.”

In my mind, the existing system has been utilized to establish the competitive backbone we currently utilize as Club players, but I believe in order to continue this mission, more needs to be done. As it stands now, many elite players have a loose interpretation of what it means to play for a "locally-based" team and limitations associated with "the promotion and support of the sport of ultimate" are very significant. Rather than enrich and develop Sectional programs, stagnant Regional powerhouses seem to maintain their stronghold and the competitive growth of the sport is limited.

A 50% in-Section requirement is/was a good start, but it is not good enough anymore. Hubs like Seattle, Boston, and San Francisco have some of the deepest talent pools in the country, but when they need to take players away from up and coming Sections/Regions to compete, there is something wrong. I believe in this instance, the second half of the UPA Club Series mission statement conflicts with the first in that "showcasing the sport at it's best" means sacrificing "locally based teams". Personally, when a team wins or contends for a National title with players that do not live locally, I feel immense sorrow for the teams that are left behind. I can only imagine the frustration/humiliation of facing off against "should be" team mates and when it comes to these sorts of players representing my country, well....

As for promotion/relegation, I think it is time for the UPA to come to grips with the ceiling that most club teams have to deal with. In the last 10 years, the 40 teams that have played a semifinal game in the Open and Women's division are only represented by 11 teams: Open - Jam, Bravo, Chain, Boston, Sockeye, Furious, GOAT, Condors, Pike, Ring, and Sub-Zero Women's: Fury, Riot, Ozone, Lady Godiva, Brute Squad, Traffic, Rare Air, Backhoe, Prime, Schwa, Women on the Verge. Does anyone else think that this is too tight a circle? For a parity comparison, in Football and Baseball, 40 semifinal teams in the last 10 years are represented by 21 different teams in each sport. Regardless of whether or not players are required to play in their own Section, it is fairly obvious that most teams have no shot at winning a National title and it is almost foolish to try.

Much like Div III College Nationals, creating separate competitive spheres for teams of similar abilities might be optimal, for the elite and the not so elite. Pointless sectional games will potentially be eliminated and all programs will have attainable goals to shoot for. If you have what it takes to compete at the next level, your team can be eligible for promotion and if you can't cut it in the division you are in, relegation. At the very least, more than a handful of teams will get the chance to end their season with a win and more programs will be able to play at the National level.

In the end, much like most of my ramblings, the sport needs to mature in order to maintain fairness and parity. Each policy, each regulation, each rule is in place because at some point, some one abused it and things were adjusted accordingly. Everything from picks to college eligibility to alcohol at the fields had to be taken advantage of for a rule or policy to be put into place and now I think it is time for out of Section play to be addressed. Off the top of my head I can think of a dozen or so players that this sort of policy would adversely affect, but in reality, I think it would help a thousand players I will never know and those are the ones that really matter.

just my thoughts

match diesel

Back Behind Closed Doors

I'm not certain how the rest of you out there feel, but for me, 2009 seems to be very different than years past for College Ultimate. This doesn't really come as a surprise considering how much has changed in the last year. The economy has been rocked, Cultimate has drastically changed their tournament organization and my investigative efforts in this game have more or less ceased. With this in mind, I believe that the information with respect to College Ultimate is now, sadly, back behind closed doors.

Closed doors? No, I don't believe College Ultimate is the subject of a conspiracy but I do believe that the information pipeline has dried up. Because our sport only flirts with professionalism, a solid information pipeline is a luxury not a right. If we want pictures, stories, scores, or information from a tournament, we either need to be there ourselves or have a friend hook us up. For the last few years, people like Rob, Matt Lane, Scobel Wiggins, Alex Peters, Chad Borer, Gwen Ambler, Hector, the Count, Parinella, myself, etc.. have attempted to capture the tournament experience in our own little way and bring it to the masses. For the participants, much of this information isn't necessary because "they were there" but for the bulk of the Ultimate community, UvTv, Ultimatetalk.com, and RSD are the only sources of data, true or otherwise. However, considering the level of difficulty associated with this kind of hobby/work, maintaining the media pipeline is not a given.

With that in mind, I feel like the game has taken a step backwards this year, as far as media exposure and fanfare are concerned. With Cultimate more or less controlling the entire regular season, it seems like the bulk of information regarding the sport is only held by a select few. Schedules and scores are only known by participating teams and organizers, and while they may be the only ones that matter, I have found it incredibly difficult to formulate any solid opinions or predictions this year.

This isn't to say that anyone is being malicious or deceitful, it's just that it seems that very little information is making it past the parking lot at major tournaments this year. Skip asked me to write about Stanford Invite a while back and I declined because I didn't really know what to say. The schedules seem to involve a lot of thought but they don't follow any sort of historical algorithm and without well orchestrated score reporter updates, those of us at home are at the whim of RSD, something I'm sure none of us enjoys. Bottom line, we are not as informed as we once were, which goes to show you that we can't take information for granted.

It was only a few years ago that Rob attempted Fantasy Ultimate at Centex and with seedings and pools posted a week or so before tournaments, discussions spread like wild fire on blogs and RSD. Vegas was always a bit weird, but pool play predictions and point differentials were discussed in great lengths, but only because the information was available.

However, without said information making the score reporter, a lot of the data associated with our sport seems to be behind closed doors, a situation that eerily resembles Ultimate of yesteryear. When I first got started, keeping up with teams was impossible. You were lucky if you caught a top 25 from the UPA every other month or so and if a tournament was on the score reporter you stared passionately at the screen until the bracket results were burned into your brain. At the time, many college players were of the opinion, "if you weren't playing, then why do you care?" but I cared and I get the feeling a lot of you out there do as well.

I'm not entirely sure how the players feel about this year, but I doubt Kansas enjoyed watching Florida bagel St. Louis. From what I've read on UCSD's tournament blog, it looks like they are ok with things thus far, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed with the level of discussion this year. It just seems like there is not a whole lot to talk about.

I mean lets take a look at a major talking point every year, the Callahan. Can anyone give me a clear candidate? Has anyone been talked about much this year? Last year Joe Kershner's hype lasted from February to May, not to mention guys like Jolian Dahl, Kurt Gibson, Mark Sherwood, and Stephen Pressley. Mac Taylor has been talked about off and on the last few months, but Colorado has been anything but consistent and with a clear drop off in discussion this year, a bunch of red on your score reporter page does not help in the voting process.

Personally, I think Brodie Smith is easily the front runner. I mean who else is playing better than Florida? And better yet, who is known to be playing better? I thought Will Neff would runaway with the award this year but I get the feeling people are a bit indifferent at the moment. Rob doesn't seem to be as active as he once was and Cultimate TD's haven't done the best job articulating their tournament structure to the masses, so it is hard to even know who the best teams are, and this is coming from a NUMP member.

A year ago, I was at Centex balls deep in the game but everything I saw and discussed made it online faster than I could sober up and jot down my drivel. I can remember Reid Koss with his iPhone updating scores and Dale, Skizip and Rob scrambling around trying to get round by round coverage online for UvTv.

However, this year has come and gone and I've only got a handful of talking points. Hector had a nice little piece about two Wisconsin Women (Courtney Kiesow and Georgia Bosscher) but active player/writers like Ryan Thompson have been anything but vocal. I mean The Pulse hasn't been updated in almost a year. Michigan has gotten on the blogsphere as have a few others but consolidated discussion seems a bit absent. I suppose this just goes to show you how difficult it is to stay active as a writer in this sport. Passion will get you far but it does run out once the cleats are off. It just gets hard to stay motivated when winning isn't on the table.

I can't help but think that the economy has something to do with the situation. Last year I bought plane ticket after plane ticket and now I look back and scratch my head thinking "How did I afford that?". I had some help from some supportive family members, but I can't help but feel like the game has suffered from tough times.

Bottom line, all of this has me a little scared. I really enjoyed following the game, not only for my own personal interest, but because it kept people paying attention. With constant dialog and discussion, whether it be rooted in 100% objective fact or just rumors, we pay attention and where there is attention there is scrutiny. This year's Nationals will have two huge changes (potentially) and I wonder how a lack of discussion will affect things. Four more teams will be at The Show but without a lot of chatter this year, I feel like no one even really knows/cares who is on the bubble.

In addition, the whole Active Observer idea is a great one, but I wonder if it will come to fruition. I know that Florida is a big fan of them but having Virginia and Middlebury decline observers in the Finals at Easterns shook my confidence that AO will be voted for this May. These two teams are not what I would call Nationals powerhouses, but having teams make these types of choices is a little disheartening. I'm not certain why they went this way, but I wonder if other programs would have done the same. Active Observes seem to be an important form of scrutiny but with a clear drop off in 3rd party analysis this year, I wonder if AO will disappear the way fanfare has this season.

For those that followed things last year and for the last few years, I think it is pretty obvious how inconsistent exposure in this game is. With this in mind, I now appreciate how unoriginal people like myself are. At Club Nationals I met this old school Ultimate guy that was brought on as a videographer for Rob. He was telling me about how he filmed Club Nationals back in the Ken Dobyns' days and he was telling me that they had announcers/commentators. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me because I thought live commentary for Ultimate was a relatively new concept, but apparently it has come and gone and come again, as has tournament discussion, online magazines, and general media exposure. I know that the UPA was looking for a permanent media director which would be nice but with the volatility of UPA positions, I wonder if this is just a pipe dream. In any event, a stable media entity would undoubtedly be helpful.

Ultimately, I get the feeling that fanfare in this sport is a little bit like the "1" from the Matrix. There is a steady progression of people interested in following the sport and hype/media exposure picks up momentum. We reach a pinnacle of interest but such an emotional high cannot be sustained indefinitely. Once this moment comes and goes, things cool off and because college players turn over so fast, the proverbial "reset" button gets hit. I'm as guilty as any for not fully appreciating our sport's past, but with transient "historians" instead of permanent media personnel, it's very difficult to remain informed. The information just isn't passed on particularly well, or at least not for long. After a while in the information doldrums, someone is inspired to get back on the media horse and bring the game to the latest population of college masses. He/she may believe they are conducting groundbreaking work, but in all seriousness, it's all been done before.

I get the feeling the reason behind this is simply the sport vs hobby nature of Ultimate. There seems to be a faceless, yet extremely powerful, force keeping Ultimate from becoming mainstream and while there is significant sacrifice in becoming a full fledged sport, we are currently nothing but gold fish. We see our present as something new and fantastic but in reality, it is nothing new at all. Few talking points are unique, very little is remembered for more than a few years and history undoubtedly repeats itself over and over and over.

just my thoughts

match diesel

My Second Take on Team USA

Now that team USA has been announced, I thought I would discuss some opinions on each player, but first I would like to congratulate each on such an accomplishment. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to seeing you defend our title.

Gwen Ambler - Excellent!! So glad she made the team. Lets just hope she doesn't get relegated to alternate status again. I don't watch too much women's ultimate, but one image that does pop into my head when I think of it is Gwen in the Club National Finals last year against Riot. This game will remain in infamy long after I stop paying attention to the sport (sorry Miranda), and Gwen was definitely very instrumental in the victory. I know from interviewing her that she has played every position for Fury, but as a deep in their zone, she completely turned the tables on Riot and took away their long game. Gwen is also a sterling role model for all players in this sport, myself included, and I'm really happy for her.

Sammy C-K - Another great selection by Greg and the rest of the crew. Sammy is such an amazing player but I also think that he is perfect to represent the red, white and blue. My first exposure to Sammy was back in 2003 at Beware-O, a hat tournament in San Mateo, CA. He was on my team, along with Greenough, and he made a play that I still can remember vividly. A game winning trailing edge layout chest high hammer goal from Josh. I was a naive young Squid at the time and didn't really know what I was witnessing, but the guy is just plain good. He, like Gwen, is a great role model in our sport. A veteran leader for Sockeye and never the source of any sort of controversy or poor sportsmanship. I really wanted MC on the team, but I think Sammy CK is a great choice.

Cara Crouch - I know of Cara because I have a few Texas friends and they all speak very fondly of her and Tank. Apparently, the consensus seems to be that they will produce the most talented Ultimate offspring ever. I for one don't really date women in Ultimate, but I am glad that some folks are going to produce some 2nd generation talent. I also like that Texas got some love when so many players were from Atlanta, Boulder, San Francisco or Seattle.

Deb Cussen - Now that the selections have been made, I need to start getting comfortable with previous Team USA members on the 2009 team. To make me feel better, I need to remember that winning Gold is the bottom line and considering the fact that Team Canada should be a considerable challenge, we really need the best from the USA and Deb is one of them. Her experience in Germany will be very important because she is a veteran handler and generating a consistent offensive game plan will be a major challenge. She saw the field more than any other female 4 years ago, playing in 94 out of 132 possible points. She also caught 3 goals and threw for one in the 15-14 Australia pool play game and got two more goals in the Gold medal game against the Aussies. She will be quite an asset.

Jolian Dahl - From what I hear, Jolian was the best tryout in Sarasota and from watching him over the last few years, I am not surprised. He seems to be a freak athlete with the fundamentals of a much squirrlier player. I'm not sure what kind of role he will fill on USA because he was a very solid leader for Mamabird, yet seemed like a role player for Bravo. He is one of 4 Bravo Team USA members and I'm sure like every JB-er from 2007, representing the US after missing the opportunity a few years back is something each will cherish.

Kathy Dobson - I'm not too familiar with Kathy but I do know that she has been a standout for Brutesquad for the last few years as well as the coach of BU's Ozone Pilots. In college she was All Region the first 3 years they had the award (her Junior, Senior, and 1st year Grad) and she made the Finals of College Nationals in 2003 with MIT. She has also helped Gwen out with iculimate.com. I was really surprised to see only 1 Boston Area player on Team USA, so she definitely has a lot of pressure on her to represent, but I get the feeling it'll just be another day at the office.

Liz Duffy - Once again, I wasn't too familiar with Liz before she was chosen, but in doing a little research, I am glad to see her on this very short list. For starters, she is a PhD-er like myself in Marine Biology at the University of Washington, not to mention a veteran Captain for Riot. Peripheral to Team USA, she is also representing the Red, White and Blue as a part of Ultimate Peace this April in Israel. Definitely a standout Ultimate player that will represent our country well, on and off the field.

Cate Foster - Another women's player I don't know a whole lot about but one thing I do really like about Cate is that she built herself a program at College of Charleston. One of the things I have noticed a lot among many elite players is that they have no idea what it is like to be in the trenches and don't appreciate how frustrating/hard it is to work with low numbers and shallow talent pools. Many criticize lack of organization and commitment, but they underestimate the challenges of building infrastructure. Her personality also seems to be a bonus and I look forward to seeing her do well in the coming months.

Cree Howard - Cree definitely has a lot of pressure on her with this selection because she is the only active college player on the team. I remember when Zip made the team in 2005 and he blew everyone away, both in the College sphere and at World's. I think this has the capacity to spring board her towards a possible Callahan opportunity, but Cal has only been so-so this year, which might not be enough to get her the award. Regardless, Cree is one of those privileged youths like Oscar Pottinger, who will have a full trophy case well before she is even old enough to buy a house to put it in. I am always wary how such a combination of youth and success can lead to ego issues, but considering the pool of sharks she is swimming in, staying humble this summer will not be tough.

Jared Inselman - My first exposure to Jared was at the College All-Star game in 2007. Before Nationals that year I totally thought the West would pwn because they had two Callahan winners (Richter and Miranda), Ted Tripoli and Ray Illian. However, to my surprise, the East wanted it more. I remember TG and Jason Simpson played well, but I also remember the guy with "UPenn" on his back having a great game. In reading up on him I also came across a write up about an amazing display of sprit in a hotly contested game against Sockeye at Club Nationals back in 2004. I loved reading Miller's Bill Braski-esk post on RSD about him and now with his Team USA selection, we are all curious to know if Mike's accounts are accurate. I'm hoping to see him wipe his butt with a live elk.

Beau Kittredge - So Beau made the team eh? That's interesting.

Chelsea Dengler Putnam - I first heard of Chelsea back in 2003 when she and Ben Wiggins took the Ultimate world by storm earning the Callahan Awards for Oregon. However, after finishing up school we haven't heard much from her. This isn't meant as a criticism, but more of a sign of respect because she has stuck it out with Schwa the last few years, despite a less than stellar performance at Club Nationals in 2005 (11th) and no return trips to Sarasota. She could have easily played for other programs out of state like Fury or Riot, as Chase-Sparingly Beckley and Gwen Ambler have done, but she has stayed with Portland and I respect that. I'm glad that she has this chance to showcase her talents at the World's level and I bet she is as hungry as any to earn gold for her country.

Jonathan Remucal - It's funny, I know of several players from the CUT class of '98, Roger Crafts, Sam Rosenthal and Mike Caldwell, but Jon Remucal never came up on the radar. I assumed that most Bay Area talent was either Cal, Davis, Santa Cruz or Stanford and it was a nice little bit of information. Regardless, this must be an amazing year for Jon. He started playing with Jam in 2005 and despite the fact that guys like Bart, Gabe, Idris, Safdie, Jeff Eastham, Kevin Cissna, and Damien Scott get a lot of attention, I'm sure Jon has done his part to finally earn a ring. Getting an additional opportunity like this must be a great feeling and I'm sure the honor is one he will take with great humility and respect.

Steven Roussie - I don't know a ton about Rouisse but I do know that he has been involved with Boulder ultimate for a decade. He was Mamabird's Callahan nominee back in 2001 and had 6 fantasy points (2 goals, 4 assists) in the National Finals against CUT that year. He is also from Amherst, MA and was a guest Counselor at NUTC back in 2004. I find it interesting that such a veteran was chosen over younger Bravo standouts like Richter, Tripoli, and Mac Taylor, but I suppose that is just a testament to his abilities. If I had to guess, he will probably fill the leadership role that guys like Namking, Deaver, and Kubalanza did four years ago.

Gabe Saunkeah - I remember when Gabe was an undergrad at Cal and since 2005 he has been a solid handler for Jam. However, one of the most striking examples of his abilities came to me during a game he wasn't even playing in. Last year in Sarasota, Gabe went down with some sort of injury, in Semifinals against Bravo I believe, and was unable to play in the Finals. During the Finals, I was in the crow's nest watching the game and reading off emails that were being sent in during the live broadcast. On more than one occasion, players like Nick Menzies and Oscar Pottinger (both from Furious), emailed in asking about Gabe's playing status. Given the fact that Jam has so much talent to pay attention to, I overlooked his absence, but apparently Furious' D-line didn't, a clear sign of well deserved respect.

Adam "Chicken" Simon - After playing pickup with/against Chicken the last month or so, I'm not surprised at all that he made Team USA. His skill sets are very diverse and there isn't much he can't do on the field. He can cut, play D, handle, the works and I think it will be very easy for Greg to integrate him into the Team USA game plan, not to mention the other team he coaches.

Dylan Tunnell - In taking a look at the roster, it is pretty obvious that Team USA is going to be hugtastic and Dylan is no exception. He is such a moose and much like Sammy-CK, Beau, Jolian, Jared and Seth Wiggins, he will be a tough matchup. I'm not surprised Dylan made the squad and given the effort he has put into Georgia and Chain Lightning (not to mention NUTC), it is nice to see him get this opportunity. However, I have two concerns with respect to the big guys on Team USA. 1) Will all of them make the team? You can't have an entire team of downfield players can you? I wonder if Bart, Jon, Chicken, Gabe, and Steve benefit or suffer from being a bit smaller than these guys and I wonder who's official spots on Team USA are safer. 2) Can this collection of monster athletes be sewn together just right? Team Canada's men are all over the place with smaller scrappy players guys like Oscar Pottinger and Alex Hughes as well as guys like Hassell and Ouchterlony who are taller and more graceful (well Hassel, anyway). I'm sure Team USA will be no different in the end, but it will make the alternate selections all the more interesting.

Bart Watson - Like Deb Cussen, I was a bit put-off by having former members on Team USA, but Bart is a very good choice. As far as I know, he is the only college player to make it to the College Finals with two different teams (Stanford 2002, Cal 2004) winning in 2002. In addition, he has been a staple for Jam since at least 2003 and his most recent title is just an indication of the determination and commitment he has as a player. Off the field he is equally respectable as a PhD student in Political Science at Cal. He made a fine US representative in 2005 and 2009 will be no different.

Alicia White - I was stoked to see Alicia White on the tryout list, not to mention the "made it" list for the same reason I liked seeing her win Gold in Vancouver, she's a fellow UCSD alum. Her last year as a Psycho was my first year as a Squid and I remember very clearly that she was heads and shoulders above everyone else. Now that she has a few rings/medals, it makes the awe I felt back then all the more real and I am really proud of her. Plus, she was always nice to me and let me into the RIMAC gym when I'd forget my ID.

Seth Wiggins - Like Sammy CK, my first exposure to Seth was at Beware-O in '03 and it wasn't pretty. I remember Greenough warning us about his antics before the game and in looking over at the sideline, I got the impression that he was just another cocky jock. However, over the last few months, my opinion of Seth has changed dramatically. He has been very friendly the few times I've met him and despite being on the other side of the Furious/Sockeye rivalry, was very reasonable and objective when we've discussed the finer points of the game. Like the Boulder group, it is interesting to see who made it from the Team USA/Sockeye crowd, and I'm sure he is ready for another shot at Gold.

Closing Thoughts

The next step in the process for Team USA is the selection of the 13 players that will go to Worlds and the 7 that will not. I know it sucks being an "alternate" but I suppose the main thing to keep in mind is that out of the hundreds of applicants and 80 tryouts, you were chosen. Such an accolade is something each of these players will carry with them the rest of their careers and while it might not get them a medal or a ring, there are literally thousands of players that would gladly be so lucky. As I have stated before, this honor should be met with a great deal of humility and respect and I think we will get nothing less. The selection process has been so intense this time around and everyone involved knows what is at stake.

Yeah and Yale won High Tide....siiiiick.

just my thoughts

match diesel

Baseball and Ultimate, Steroids and SOTG

Several times on this blog I have discussed how Ultimate and Basketball are similar but this time I would like to draw some parallels to Baseball.

For a few years now there has been a lot of discussion regarding spirit of the game, referees, observers, etc.. and despite the fact that this topic has inherent worth, things have gotten fairly diluted and now every time I see a SOTG or Refserver titled post on RSD, I just role my eyes. With that in mind I thought I'd try to put a slightly different spin on the topic as well as discuss Ultimate in a way I haven't before.

One of the ways I like to analyze Ultimate is to correlate it with sports that have much more scrutiny associated with them and recently I discovered a parallel between the steroid issues in Baseball and SOTG/Ref issues in Ultimate. I read this article on CNN.com and not only did it reinforce some opinions regarding the Great American Pastime, but some connections to Ultimate began to emerge. The opinion I am referring to is this "self-righteous/above the influence" thought process that some people in some sports have. In essence, the idea that a person can perform or compete in a sport and not fall victim to the temptations and short comings that "lesser" sportsmen succumb too in the absence of rigorous rule enforcement. Despite what many may believe is true, in my opinion, this is a complete fallacy. We are all human and given the opportunity and lack of vigilant authority we can and will buckle under pressure, it is just a matter of circumstance.

Baseball and Ultimate
In my mind, SOTG abuse in Ultimate and steroid abuse in Baseball are quite analogous. In the case of steroids and Baseball, the issue first began to surface when some very suspect characters came forward or were accused/tested positive for performance enhancing substances. Not surprisingly, the stereotypes associated with muscle bound roid-raged jocks was prominent with some of the first steroid casualties. Players like Jose Cansaeco, Ken Caminiti, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were the first to be scrutinized because they were either too big, too good, too shady or some combination of each. In this case, the steroid debate was easy to articulate but sadly, one could stuff it in a drawer because these characters represented extreme cases of substance abuse and most people assumed they were outliers.

Much like this, abuse with regard to SOTG in Ultimate was very easy to identify and write off early on. I'm not going to name names, but I'm sure over the years we can all think of opponents or fellow team mates that had suspect or sloppy playing practices and despite the fact that we either hated what they did and/or wouldn't play in a similar manner, we could disregard them as being poor sportsmen. Perhaps they were inexperienced players or bitter old "has beens", but in either case, their transgressions were ignored because they either didn't matter as players or would snap out of it eventually. We were comfortable with the system and assumed the general body of competitive players weren't abusing the rules.

However, in Baseball, as home run records were being eclipsed and free agency became more and more prominent, the expectations and money associated with players drastically increased. Players were breaking records and signing $252 million dollar contracts, but such things came at a price, one's integrity. Steroid use started to show up (or always was) amongst Baseball's most treasured players and because the business is so valuable, pharmaceuticals like Balco began generating/distributing performance enhancing substances that didn't have obvious side effects and/or weren't easily detectable, such as HGH. Then, because there wasn't a rigorous system of testing, the temptation to exploit the system was massive. Pressure came from all sides: fans, competitors, owners, the press etc... and even players like Alex Rodriguez, Rafeal Palmero, Miguel Tejada, and Andy Pettite were abusing. These weren't jacked out monsters or ego maniacs. They were just ball players trying to compete, but just like Canseaco, Bonds, Caminiti, and Clemens, they broke the rules.

I'd like to say that Ultimate is different, but it isn't. There was once a day when the game moved at a snail's pace relative to today and with a fraction of the teams and commitment level, SOTG was probably all that was necessary to keep the game clean. There may have been a few outliers here and there that took a few liberties in order to win, but they were in the margins, at least I hope so. But just like Baseball, things change. With constant pressure to expand and expand, the number of teams competing has ballooned to several hundred in every division, a number that dwarfs team totals as recently as my first year playing.

In addition, with things like Ultivillage and Cultimate, the importance of the game has exploded. Not only are players hitting the gym 5-7 times a week and competing year round, but we as followers are watching highlight clips and discussing the game world wide. A sport that had a small following of hippies some 30 years ago has now become a lifestyle and everyone from students to professionals to families are involved.

But just like free agency and money, these kinds of benefits come at a cost. With so many people emotionally invested in this game, with so much pride and glory on the line, the level of scrutiny has not kept up and it is now clear (to me at least) that liberties are being taken at the highest levels by the best players. Maybe this comes as no surprise, but much like the steroid issue, the integrity of the game is at stake. With players sacrificing so much to succeed in a game that has become so competitive, rule enforcement is of the utmost importance. However, despite our efforts to maintain a self-officiated systems, National Champions, Gold Medalists, and Callahan winners are getting away with rule breaking and much like steroids in Baseball, continued neglect of this issue is the worst possible insult to the game.

An Ugly Realization

Before I went to Boulder last year I wanted to re-watch the College Finals from 2006 because I figured Florida and Wisconsin would meet again in the Finals and I wanted to see the '06 game again. This was a great contest between two of the best teams in the history of our sport but the piece of footage that jumped out at me had little to do with the actual rivalry between Wisconsin and Florida, and more to do with just how apparent rule breaking in this game is.

For those of you without the patience to sit through the 45 minute video, take a look at the final goal of the game, or better yet the replay at 42:10. Tim Gehret hits Kurt Gibson with a beautiful 30 yard hammer in the back of the endzone for the game winner. The Cinderella Story is complete, Florida is a first time National champ and not only are they National champs, they went something like 55-1 and Tim Gehret got himself the Callahan Award in the process.

But hold the phone, take a closer look at TG's feet. Look at his pivot foot, travel! Such an infraction may seem trivial but given the stakes of this particular game and the fact that this was the game winning assist, I couldn't help but think, "What if Ben Rothlisberger had stepped over the line of scrimmage when he hit Santonio Holmes in the Super Bowl?" Maybe it doesn't affect Ben's throw but I bet you anything a yellow flag comes out and voids the touchdown. The same could be said for Tim's hammer, but it wasn't because it really wasn't anyone's job to look.

The biggest goal of the entire year and he traveled and not only did he travel, he took a huge step to get a difficult throw off, i.e. the travel DID affect the play. To make matters worse, he was the best player on the best team and he broke the rules and got away with it. Maybe not on purpose, maybe he would have had no problem taking it back or apologizing or admitting it, but he did it none the less and reaped the benefits. But because our system of self-officiating has holes in it, much like the steroid policy (or lack thereof) in Baseball, players can and will take advantage.

Now one could make the argument that Wisconsin simply blew the call, but blaming the Hodags for missing this does not give me any solace and it just highlights the idea that future abuse like this can, and probably will, occur. I actually commend Wisconsin's defensive focus and given the gruelling conditions in Columbus that day, asking a player to play and remain so vigilant at the same time is unfair. A foul call, a strip, a stall count, these are situations where players interact directly and therefore spirit plays a factor, but in a situation like this, the simple lack of observation is abused and I believe the integrity of the game suffers.

In addition, one could also argue that steroid abuse in Baseball is an active choice and it appears that Tim's travel was unintentional, making him the source of unfair criticism. However, it is a slippery slope to plead ignorance and I believe Tim's culpability lies with the fact that he was attempting such a difficult throw. A breakside hammer is devastating in a man to man defense setting and keeping a sturdy pivot foot is one of the only restrictions a player must follow in a windless situation. Tim benefitted from sloppy execution and rather than being taken back, the goal was recorded and the game was over. Perhaps if it had been a slight toe drag on a back/forehand huck or not an assist (much less a game winning assist), the situation would be different. Never the less, the circumstances of the play speak for themselves and at a moment where scrutiny should have been at its peak, the integrity of the game was tarnished. What's funny is that despite the fact that this may seem like a meticulous critique, I am confident that a player of Tim Gehret's caliber would rather have had a whistle blown and had to score legitimately than win because of a lack of vigilance.

And what is paramount regarding this play is that this was the game that made it to TV. This was the game we used to showcase Ultimate to the rest of the World and the last play, the game winner, was a text book example of just how antiquated self-officiating in Ultimate is. How can we inspire people to pick up a disc when the very best that play it are able to take advantage of a flawed system? This wasn't a pickup game or a contest involving inexperienced players. This was one of the biggest games in our sport's history with two of the best college teams ever, facing off in the National Finals. Yet when the stakes were this high, when so many people were watching, when so much was on the line, the rules were broken and what's worse is that no one even noticed. When I saw this, I was embarassed to be an Ultimate player.

What is also worth mentioning is that I do not blame Tim Gehret or anyone else that commits a violation here or there, nor do I blame players for making suspect calls in tense game situations, I am guilty of both. Actions like these are simply an affirmation of one's humanity, their lack of perfection, it would be unreasonable for me to expect anything else. However, what I can expect, for both Baseball and Ultimate, is a rigorous system of rule enforcement that keeps a watchful eye on all of it's participants. What is the point of a rule if record breakers, MVP's, and National Champions break it? What kind of example, as a country that invented each sport, are we setting by tip toeing around such a blatantly obvious problem? MLB and the UPA have their work cut out for them, and it is up to the leadership of each sport to fortify the integrity of each game.

Action Taken

To address the steroid situation, MLB investigated performance enhancement abuse in Baseball with the Mitchell Report. Much to their dismay, not only were steroids abused in Baseball, the problem was everywhere. More players were using than anyone could have imagined and what was even more alarming was that if you could get a player to answer a question honestly, they'd tell you that steroid abuse wasn't all that rare or uncommon. What a black eye for the sport.

The equivalent to the Mitchell Report in Ultimate seems to be the Ultimate Revolution, a rigorous investigation on the UPA’s part with the purpose of evaluating the game and seeing where it could be improved. Topics from regional lines, to College Nationals bid allocation, to a more active role for observers, were discussed and there are plans through 2012 to utilize the information uncovered. I’ve already discussed a 20 team College Nationals format on this blog and am more interested in active observers.

To begin the implementation process, the UPA scheduled several experimental tournaments that will allow players to get a feel for what active travel and up/down calls from an observer will be like. Ultimately, there will be a vote sometime before Nationals involving qualified teams to determine whether or not they want this sort of role for observer at College Nationals. The vote will require a 60% supermajority, which could prove to be a sizeable percentage, leaving me with the fear that despite all the information available, there is still a chance that nothing will be done with regard to these sorts of rule abuses.

Much like with steroids in Baseball, despite the evidence and work being done, the power of the data has yet to actually be utilized. Alex Rodriguez has tested positive for steroids and self-officiating has been abused by the game's best, but neither MLB nor the UPA has proven to their constituents that one day things like this will not occur, or at least given us any confidence that such a goal is even possible. A vote seems like another bureaucratic hurdle against a more fair and strict system, but hopefully, the UPA members that are privileged enough to vote on this matter will see things my way.

With this in mind, I am posting this article on the eve of The Stanford Invite, one of the the most prestigious tournaments in our sport, and one of the tournaments on the experimental schedule. Considering the fact that most, if not all, of the 2009 National Qualifiers will be at this tournament, this is one of the most important weekends of the year. Their exposure to the possibility of active observers can and should give them the knowledge they will need in a few months when voting on this issue occurs. I for one hope each and every player is paying attention, because much like the Conference 1 issue, this is a vastly important decision that will be made by some of our sports youngest and most inexperienced participants.

Personally, I think, much like the instant replay issue in Baseball, a vote is simply unneeded, just implement active observers. Democracy is a great system but it isn't always necessary and can sometimes be inhibitory, especially when the voting population doesn't have the best interest of the sport in mind. Perhaps some, even most players (Ultimate and Baseball) want change, but I get the feeling that some may not. I doubt most players want to be guinea pigs and while they care about the sport at large, they care more about their own personal agenda. Once again, this is simply an articulation of their humanity and self-interest but such things present problems when objective and enlightened decisions need to be made. Luckily for us flatballers, the opinion regarding active observers seems generally favorable so I am optimistic about this vote and unlike baseball, I believe change can and will happen.

Closing Thoughts

I have a lot more to say with regard to this topic but it is difficult to articulate objectively and in a professional way. What I will say is that on practice fields and sports complexes across the country and world, we teach and play a game that is self-officiated. We all see the difficulties associated with this sort of approach, but we try and work around them. However, the paradox of our sport continues to rear it's ugly head. We cannot ignore the fact that this game has evolved into a lifestyle and as such we need to modulate our way of playing it. Without strict rules, abuse will occur and neglecting it just shows a complete lack of respect for the game. Our situation is no different than the issues with Steroids in Baseball, or even the current economic crisis. When so much is on the line, when there is so much to be won or lost, 3rd party observation and regulation is imperative, otherwise how can we trust the end result? How can we be sure our reality is strong and stable? Anyone's illegitimate success will ultimately lead to everyone's legitimate sacrifice.

I also believe that as we move in this direction, the distance between self-officiating and just plain officiating continues to shrink. It appears that the dam maintaining Ultimate's historic roots, preventing it from becoming mainstream, springs a leak once in a while and the bottle neck pressure has shifted once again. I remember a time when eligibility was a huge concern and now it is active observers. What will be next? And despite all our intelligence is there any way we can make progress without sacrifice or struggle? Probably not, but hey, remember it's just a game.

just my thoughts

match diesel

Some Actual Ultimate Discussion

I can't help it, I gotta talk some college disc. Here are some region to region discussions.

Northwest
Holy Cal! Wow, I suppose my Cal writeup came a year early. They are red hot right now with back to back tournament wins at Santa Barbara and Pres Day. I don't know what happened against Black Tide at Santa Barbara but their encore performance at Pres Day is very impressive. Way to go Choon. They came out this hot a few years back when they made Finals in '04 and I think they are #1 in the Northwest right now.

Outside Cal, Orgeon seems to be the other major NW contender. Their performance at TiV was very impressive but great Vegas performances have a tendency to matter a lot more in February than they do in May. I think Oregon is tired of being out of the Nationals discussion and I think Dusty is ready to end his career with Ego with a trip back to Columbus. Hopefully they get a shot against Cal at Stanford or Centex.

Stanford, eshk, these guys have been quite the wild card the last year or so. This year they turned a few heads by making the trek to Vegas and Ryan Thompson told me they did so because they wanted another tournament under their belt. Given the conditions and the fact that this was their first non-Kaimana February tournament since I've been paying attention, I'm not surprised they got worked. They did make Finals in Goleta, big surprise, and in doing so, proved that they've got the chops to compete in the Northwest, but also that Cal is legit in '09. They always seem to play well at home regardless of previous tournament performances, but then again Stanford Invite has 48 teams this year, so yeah, no idea whats gonna happen.

Outside these three, I've got nothing. LPC seems to make some noise at every tournament save Regionals, so I'm not surprised they've got a few big W's. UBC had a decent Vegas but they always seem to suck when the weather warms up. Hopefully they ditch the shants this year. Santa Cruz...I've gotta see it to believe it. Do something interesting at Stanford or you are going to be left out of any major Nationals discussion this year. More of the same with Davis. Decent SBI, decent Vegas, but not too many great wins to boast. I hope they get a chance to secure a few big wins at Stanford and potentially confirm who's who in the NW. Lastly, Washington... had Wisconsin played a little better, that W might have meant more, but oh well, the Sundogers, like everyone else, will have their chance to catch malaria, I mean earn W's, in Bum F$%@, Egypt next month.

Southwest
Big surprise, Colorado is good. Mac Taylor, Brian "Kibbles" Clarkson, Ted Phillips, Martin "Duke" Freeman, and Hylke Snieder are all ballers and will be the veterans that continue to dominate the SW region. They are going back to Stanford, which I like, but given the fact that the tourney is 48 teams this year, I have no idea what to expect. Most of the best teams will be in attendance, but predicting mactchups is impossible and given the question marks associated with the Hodags, who knows who will give Colorado a challenge? Carleton? Florida? Georgia? Regardless, I can't imagine anything less than another Regional title and trip to semis or better.

The rest of the Southwest is pretty tight with UCSB looking ok, when they actually compete as UCSB. Personally, I think outside the Fall, the whole UCSB-X thing is pretty weak, especially if their isn't a UCSB-Y. They handed Cal their only loss of the year which is commendable and they were one of the few SW teams to do well in Vegas. I'm getting tired of saying this, but Stanford will be a toss up, so I'm waiting until after Centex to make any sense of these gargantuan tournaments.

My squiddies are actually looking pretty stellar thus far, don't screw it up! Big wins over Claremot (loved that score) and Arizona, so they are no longer the pee-ons they have been the last 2 years. They got a big confidence win over UCLA but have yet to play SDSU so I think they still have a chance to slip. They also lost their only game against Black Tide this year but so far they are 9-0 in power/pool play so that's pretty sweet. Probably came out flat Sunday morning at SBI, so here's hoping they keep the Saturday night shenanigans to a minimum in the future. Regardless, with 3 bids out of the SW a return to Nationals for the first time since 2006 is definitely in the cards, but I'm sure they'd like to stick it to Tide in the Series and maybe even get a shot at Mamabird at some point this year.

Arizona, yikes, I was afraid they'd have some trouble without some of their 5th years. I don't think Austin Gregersen is on the team this year leaving just Erik Gafni as their primary threat and despite his talent (and enthusiasm) I think Sunburn's in for some trouble. They'll have their chances to rebound at Stanford and Centex, but I'm guessing Stanford will be another shit show and Centex will be brutal to a team that has lost a lot of it's depth.

South
Yeah, I'm still waiting for Texas to make an appearance. They'll be at Mardi Gras and Stanford so check back in a few weeks. North Texas, Texas State, still waiting for some clarity, sorry.

Central
Wow, Wisconsin feeling the fear a little bit eh? I had a feeling the 'Dags were in for some L's and now I'm waiting to see what they do in the face of some adversity. Animal and Foster are a great set of captains and I'm sure having Gaynor back for another year will help them remain confident. However, guys like Feldman and Geppert have never been in this situation with Wisconsin and a lot of people are interested to see how they handle it. I don't think Vegas is as indicative as some would like, because I get the feeling they opened their bench up in the face of some uber bad weather, but if they suck again at Stanford, the fear they once instilled in their opponents will be long gone.

Alright Carleton, way to not screw up my predictions. With only one loss against Colorado and the only team to beat Florida at Vegas, CUT is looking like this could be their year. They'll be another in the 8-10 bad asses at Stanford trying to solidify some sort of hierarchy and considering the fact that CUT usually peaks late, I'm sure we haven't seen the best the Northfield flatballers have to offer. Given the fact that they were ehh at Centex last year but still made Semis in Boulder, I'm not sure we'll know just how good CUT is until they potentially take the region back in May.

Considering the fact that the CN gets 20% of the teams at Nationals this year, the door is really wide open for a lot of teams. I was stoked to see Iowa take Warm Up and given last year's Universe finish against Wisconsin in Semis at Regionals, I will be paying close attention to IHUC.

Minnesota seems to be the only other team to jump out at me from the Central Region. They had a decent year last year with a great Centex, but so far they haven't done much. Hopefully they get a chance against Wisconsin at Mardi Gras and given the fact that the Hodags usually own Baton Rouge, a win over baby blue could be huge. Likewise, Mardi Gras will be Wisco's chance to get their demons sorted out before the wolves come-a-callin at Stanford.

Great Lakes
This region is going to be exciting. I've been a big Magnum fan since 2005 and with Will Neff as my pick for Callahan, UM will be a team to watch this spring. However, Notre Dame is hands down the team to beat in the Great Lakes. They had a great Fall and made the Finals at Queen's City Tune Up, while Magnum lost in quarters after taking their pool. Both Papal Rage (sort of) and Magnum will be in Louisiana this weekend so we'll have an idea of who's who in a week or so. Notre Dame doesn't have the rep to get into Centex or Stanford just yet, so they'll have to hope for some great games at Huck Finn, which is surprisingly loaded this year with Colorado, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan all coming out of the wood work. I suppose Fools Fest in Kansas wasn't good enough.

Anyway, I think Michigan has got the schedule to really test their squad and given their late-ish peak last year, it might be just the gauntlet they need to prepare for Regionals. Likewise, I think Notre Dame has a rough road ahead of them because they've got all season to lose their steam and they'll need to play as well in the Series as they are now if they want a crack at Columbus. Meanwhile, Ohio State is still very much a contender and after their experience at Nationals at home in 2007, I'm sure they are fired up for another shot at being the home town heroes in May. Bottom line, Great Lakes Regionals is gonna be sweeeeet.

Atlantic Coast
God damn it Florida, you were supposed to suck this year. What am I supposed to do with a 15-13 loss to Georgia but a tournament win at Vegas? I get the feeling like Stanford at Stanford, Florida just doesn't lose in Vegas. They've won the tourney 3 of the 4 years it has been in existence so who knows? I do know that Brodie seems to think that '09 is the new '06 which could mean another Stanford title, and given the fact it's not in Palo Alto this year (like 2006), he could have his senior year end up like freahman year. Anyway, I was very impressed with the way they finished out Vegas and hopefully we see another game against CUT at Stanford or Centex to see who's actually better. I'm not sure what kind of rotation they are using now that Cycle, Windham, and Gibson are gone, but success early is something Florida seems to be good at the last few years. Stanford Invite probably won't give us the answers we want, unless they win it all, so we'll have to wait until after Centex to see if they are title bound once again.

Alright JoJah!! My Athens boys are kicking ass this year and I love it. Maybe they came out flat against Iowa in the Warm Up Finals, but a split squad Mudbowl win and a dominating performance at QCTU is just what the doctor ordered. They took out Florida in their only meeting this year, which is actually a big deal because last year Florida had their foot on Georgia's throat wire to wire. I don't like that they aren't going to Centex (at least according to the score reporter), but considering the fact that they are on the Huck Finn badwagon, I'm sure we'll get an idea of whether or not Georgia is ready to pull a 2005 move and take back the AC by April. Regardless, I'm hoping for a Colorado/Georgia game in bracket play at some point (Stanford or Huck Finn) because fireworks always seem to fly between gold and red.

As for Virginia and Tennessee, ask me after Centex. Viriginia got a bid to the battle in Austin and Tennessee has a guarunteed game against Wisconsin in Baton Rouge, so the AC could have a few new faces this year. However, I still have no idea what to make of the NC crowd, and given the fact that things were fairly ambiguous up until Carolina Sectionals last year, I have no idea what to expect from NC State, UNC-Wilmington and UNC.

Metro East
Cornell is looking good early this year, especially with a close game against a juggernaut like Colorado. Pitt got themselves a few quality wins in Vegas as well with W's over Stanford and Santa Barbara. Delaware had a rough weekend in North Carolina and Maryland could be a contender, despite coming and going historically. However, despite all of this, things are still wayyy to early to tell in a region as volatile as the Metro East.

Huck of the Irish will be the first real opportunity we'll have to see most of the ME duke it out (save Pitt) and my guess is that Delaware will squeeze in between some of these teams, if not take them all by storm. Because the Centex team list isn't complete yet, I'm not certain which of these squads will be in Austin but I'm guessing most. Hopefully they all show because this region is usually quite the spectacle and I'd love more fuel for the Regional Prediction fire.

North East
Like the Metro East, much of the North East still has yet to come out of hibernation. Harvard had a great Vegas once again and Middlebury went 9-2 which is impressive but they never seem to make any noise when it matters. Tufts didn't do as well in the desert as they did a year ago but I'm sure A-Hole has got them focused for whatever tournaments they decide to go to. I like that Dartmouth is going down to Mardi Gras which should be all the competition they need to get the dust off the cleats. Perhaps they will do as well as Brown did at Warm Up and give some non-Regional teams a scare. My dark horse for the region is UConn because they have really come around as a program and even won a Fall Tournament (Coffee Cup). They have never made Regionals but this year could be one for the books. I'm sure Brown is unafraid though, considering the fact that they've taken the South NE Section every year since the beginning of time, but who knows? Everybody loves an upset.

Closing Thoughts
The main thing on my mind after looking at all this is that I really hope tournaments don't all become 50-80 teams. I mean having Vegas as the one early season tournament with a million teams is fine, but 48 at Stanford and Centex?! Not sure how I feel about this. As a NUMP voter, it gets hard to make sense out of a bunch of 9-6 scores and what not. It seems like 5-6 years ago players wanted to face off against teams across the country before Nationals but I wonder if it is beginning to be too much of a good thing. I like the 16-24 team tournament format with 3-5 pool play games, pre/quarters, semis, finals. When the bracket takes 30 minutes to even begin to understand, I lose interest quickly.

There was beauty in the distilled talent at Stanford and Centex because teams that were "in" felt a sense of pride and teams on the outside had a reason to play their hearts out in January. You know, the qualifier days? In addition, with the best teams heading off to their own special tournies, other events such as Southerns, Terminus, and Ultimax had their own 20-40 team showdowns and it was fun for all. Now with 48 teams at Stanford and Centex, I wonder if something is lost. Oh well, the new Stanford and Centex haven't even happened yet and maybe at the end of March I will be singing a different tune. Best of luck to all the teams and NO ONE GET HURT!!

just my thoughts

match diesel

My Take on Team USA

This Winter/Spring we will see one of the biggest events in our sport, the selection and preparation of Team USA for World Games in Taipei. I'm really interested in this series of events because I've been around long enough to see a few Worlds come and go and I also remember when Team USA had their fun back in 2005. From the looks of things, 2009 will be considerably different than a few years ago but the excitement and anticipation is ready and waiting.

Worlds?
So I've written about this a number of times, but it never loses it's importance. Worlds? Didn't we just have that last August? Yes but there are also 3 kinds of Worlds, each happening once every 4 years so there is a Worlds event 3 out of every 4 years.

WUGC ('00, '04, '08)- World Ultimate and Guts Championships is the World Cup of Ultimate. Each country is responsible for selecting one team to represent it's Nation. Some countries pick the winner of their country's National title (USA, Canada, and Japan) and others select an All-Star team to represent their Nation (UK and Australia). Either way, this is usually the best tournament from a team perspective. It has every division, Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, and Juniors (boys and girls) and there are usually a fair amount of teams competing. In Vancouver, there were 18 in Open, 15 Women, 12 Mixed, 10 Masters, 8 Junior Boys, 7 Junior girls for a total of 70 teams. I also think the team rivalries are the strongest here with USA (Sockeye) vs Canada (Furious), USA vs Japan (Open and Women), Australia vs Great Britain, etc...

World Games ('01, '05, '09)- This is a tournament that is more or less all the games that aren't in the Olympics, at least that is how it was explained to me. Each sport is given a certain number of players that can be present which drastically limits the number of competitors and the number of divisions. Also, Ultimate is only a small part of this Worlds event, unlike WUGC and WUCC, and because each sport is limited by participants, the Ultimate is Mixed. This tournament is probably the best from a player's perspective because it is such an honor to be selected. In the US there were hundreds of applicants for less than 20 final spots. The selection of the team is almost like American Idol, in that the hype and preparation for the tournament is probably more exciting than the tournament itself (or in the case of AI, their music career). Another major restriction for this tournament is that only 6 teams get to play in it, the top 5 finishers at WUGC and the host country. It is for this reason that the 5th place game at WUGC between Australia and Sweeden was such a big deal. Because the Aussies won 16-14 they get to go to World Games along with the other 4 semifinalists (Canada, USA, Japan, and UK) and Taipei.

WUCC ('02, '06, '10)- World Ultimate Club Championships is a bit weird. Some Nations send several teams, some Nations send one team and other Nations are only represented in some divisions or not at all. This tournament seems to be the most fun for players because the people that really want to be there are usually in greater numbers than people that should be there. For whatever reason, it does not have the draw of WUGC, so a lot of the best teams pass on the tournament (Furious, Sockeye, Fury, Riot, Jam, Boston, etc..) giving other teams an opportunity. This tournament will be in Prauge in 2010 and despite the fact that there is probably some sort of selection process, I do not know what it is.

Here is a website that discusses this in greater detail.

2005 vs 2009
In 2005, things were fairly different from this year. 4 years ago, the only selection criteria was an application process (no tryouts) which resulted in some interesting choices. For starters, without a tryout process, it seemed like the UPA wanted to give Open, Women's and Mixed representation. This made sense, but it was easy to see right off the bat that the team selection was going to be a bit more political, as opposed to strictly talent based. In addition, it seemed like service to the game was a big part of the selection process, which is fine, it just highlighted the idea that this particular Team USA had diplomatic goals in mind as opposed to just winning Gold.

Some of the roster choices in 2005 were easy to see and some not so much. Chase Sparling-Beckley and Josh Ziperstein made the team which seemed very appropriate because Chase had just won a club title with Sockeye and Zip the Callahan and College Title (Brown). Mike Namkung was the veteran captain which was also understandable given his experience with Black Tide, the Condors and Team USA (WUGC 2004). Will Deaver was/is a Bravo standout and given his role as Championship Director, it looked like he was a good choice for diplomatic reasons.

As for the woman, they were as strong as the men with Miranda Roth ('05 Callahan Winner), Deb Cussen (Riot, Club Champion '04), Angela Lin (Ozone), and Gwen Ambler (Stanford and Fury) but with Gwen came alternate issues. She, like Alex Nord, was an alternate for Team USA which at the time didn't make a lot of sense to me because few players in the game were as talented/decorated as Nord or Gambler. I don't think anyone including the participants were certain what alternates, if any, would make the Final team but in the end Nord and Gambler didn't go to Germany, which was more evidence that the team selection was fairly subjective.

Now many people will will quickly say that Ron Kubalanza or Dominque Fontenette deserved their spot on Team USA (and I even forget now who was on the team and who were alternates) but my only point is to just show that there were all kinds of players that were and were not on the team and this completely omits all the players that had their applications rejected.

With this background, I think the UPA is now more interested in selecting a team based not only on their on-paper accolades, but their full speed capabilities as well, hence the two tryouts. This is a huge step forward in the selection process of Team USA and is a major reason why 2009 will be so exciting as well as more objective.

The first round has already taken place with offers to 80 players or so and despite the fact that I know a few players that should be on this list and are not, I think the chosen few are fantastic and the whole process will be an experience each participant will never forget. The first tryout will be for West Coast applicants February 21st and 22nd at Cal State Northridge. The other will be the following weekend at the Polo Fields in Sarasota for the East Coast participants.

Former Members

In looking at the list, my first concern is that several players from the 2005 team are trying out again and that doesn't really seem fair to me. Considering the fact that only a select few can even tryout, seeing people like Jeff Eastham, Bart Watson, Mike Namkung, Miranda Roth, and Dominique Fontenette on this this list makes me kind of cringe. Players like Adam "Wormser" Bunn didn't even get a chance to tryout so in my opinion, giving spots to former Team USA representatives and not up and comers is a bit bogus.

I discussed the same argument when I wrote about Junior Worlds because there were several players from the Boys team in Vancouver that were on the Gold medal team in 2006. George Stubbs and Grant Lindsley had two chances to win Gold and I don't really think that is right, given the level of talent that was rejected and the fact that their closest game in Vancouver was 17-7. Because the 2009 Team USA will only have 15-20 players, it seems a bit unfair to give a roster spot to a person that has already filled the seat much less a tryout opportunity. Given the quality of players on the list, I think a Gold medal team could be selected without choosing any former members and I hope in the future there are restrictions on being selected more than once.

Who I want to see in Taipei

With that being said, I am kinda going back on my last point with this next one because the first person on my list for this team is Gwen Ambler. Seeing her as an alternate in 2005 sucked because I thought she deserved to go to Germany and despite the fact that I hoped she'd get a roster spot come tourney time, it didn't happen. She did just win a Gold medal in Vancouver but Taipei is more or less about being chosen by the UPA and there is no one that has put more into this sport than Gwen (male or female).

Another name that jumped out at me was Mike Caldwell. Mike represents the core of Seattle Sockeye's success the last 5-6 years and MC has been a fundamental part of the best team in the world for nearly a decade. Sockeye's example as a program has raised the bar in the Club sphere the way Wisconsin has in the College scene. Mike's role as Fish Captain, in my opinion, makes him a front runner to make Team USA and be chosen as one of the veteran leaders. Plus, I also think he got a raw deal in Vancouver because his wife gave birth the night before the Gold medal game with Furious. Now I know that this is a miracle of life and I am sure he loves his new child as much as his first, but I think his performance in the Gold medal game suffered because of it. I think a second opportunity to represent his country would be fitting and well received. Plus it'd make a great story.

Team Representation

Another issue that has come up with respect to Team USA is the number of tryouts that come from the same team. Johnny Bravo has quite a few, as does Sockeye, Jam, and Ironside. This makes sense though because they represent the best Open teams over the last few years and using Club experience as a major selection criteria is pretty objective and fair. The same could be said for San Francisco Fury, which makes even more sense because they are the most dominant team since the glory days of DoG.

However, the issue then becomes, who do you pick from these teams? Greg Connelly and whomever else is picking this squad, cannot pick 3 players from Bravo and zero from Ironside, or at least I don't think they will, so the question becomes, who gets chosen? Who do you pick from Sammy CK, Ben Wiggins, Mike Caldwell, and Seth Wiggins? I think the tryout process will streamline things but it will be a real challenge to figure out who you want handling, cutting, D-ing up, etc... If you pick a Bravo handler like Parker Krugg, can you pick a JB cutter like Mac Taylor? If you go for Dylan Tunnell does that mean Greg Swanson doesn't have a chance. I think this is the scariest case. Teams like Bravo, Ironside and Jam have made semis and finals but Chain has just made semis and isn't in the hightest tier of elite teams yet. Does that mean they can only hope for 1 player on Team USA and not 2? Once again, the tryout process will definitely help but it is still a dicey issue.

Along this Chain Lightning point, the issue of regional representation gets interesting. Ultimate hubs are in places like Seattle, Atlanta, Boston, and Denver, but what about guys like Tank and Muffin? Do you try and get players out of the South, Central, or Southwest (excluding Colorado)? Is that a selection criteria? Again, I think a tryout process streamlines things, but it will be really tough to pick 5 or 6 players (out of 20) from one region and completely pass up another one.

And what about Mixed? You have National champion players (or close to it) in the Smith brothers (Mischief), Kendra Frederick (Slow White), Mike Miller (Slow White) and Rusty Ingold-Smith (Slow White). Do they stand a chance? I am glad to see that a few tryout spots were offered to Mixed players and I wonder if their experience will help them in a tryout process that will require great skill across sexes.

With all of this to consider, the drama associated with Team USA is through the roof. The tryout event will definitely be a sight to witness/participate in because it will be one of the best showcases of talent since MLU back in 2006 and it will represent both Men and Women. The next round of selections, like the first, will say a lot about the players on the next list and more importantly, what kind of team the UPA wants representing the Red, White and Blue.

Closing Thoughts
The last thing to consider when looking at potential tryouts is their diplomatic skill and players like Ben Wiggins, BVH, and Gwen Ambler have a huge advantage because of their contributions as coaches and media sources. I'm not certain this will be a major selection criteria but it has me wondering. Players like Muffin, Seth Wiggins, and Tucker all have distinct personalities and I wonder how that will factor into player selection. I'm sure each tryout is humbled by this honor and will be on their best behavior but balancing personalities is a big part of building a team and will be important in defending our title.

In the end, this process is just exciting. Pretty soon we'll have an idea of who will be selected to the top 20 and following them through their preparation will be exhilarating. I remember when Team USA won Poultry Days 4 years ago and I was there when they beat Team Canada at Potlatch but lost in Semis to Vagabonds. However, they won Gold over Australia in 2005 and there is no reason why Team USA can't do it again in 2009.

just my thoughts

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