Notable Tourney Performances

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Match Diesel

Late Summer Elite Disc

So the regular season is pretty much over with and sectional tournaments are gonna start popping up everywhere. I thought I would talk about some teams and some things that I think are interesting.

Elite Open

Furious (start off with my team) - One can never really get a feel for this team until regionals. Seems like they always have a less than stellar showing through sectionals and then wham! they win regionals and make the finals at natties. Some things to think about. 1) I think Furious at CUC is the furious we'll see at Regionals. Everyone was there, and everyone wanted to win. From the ECC footage I saw it didn't look like MG was there and who knows who decided to make it down to Santa Cruz for their 3rd tournament in a row. I think they are resting up their heavy hitters and are preparing for the series. 2) Furious, to me, seems like they are getting older, at least with their head liners. Alot of their guys, Lugsdin, Savage, Shank, MG, AL Bob, Seragalia, have been with the team for almost a decade. Now this is great, lots of chemistry, experience, etc... but they do not have the young college recruits that some other teams like Sockeye and Bravo have. Its been a while since an "Oscar" has popped up in Vancover and with guys like Kubalanza going over to Sockeye, its gonna be tough for them to compete with the likes of Tim Gehret, Ray Illian, Seth, etc.. on Sockeye not to mention other teams like Chain, Boston, Condors, Bravo and Revolver who are all picking up young college/club studs like Zipp, Kurt Gibson, Jacob Goldstein, Jimmy Chu, and the mama bird/hodag crowd (respectively). Now I think Furious can compete now, but in 2-3 years, without some new blood, its gonna be tough to match the athleticism that some of these teams are gonna have. I for one think they'll find a way, I mean come on, 3 UPA championships and a world title in the last 6 years.

Sockeye - These guys are interesting. It seems like they can win at will, but only at will. It looks like they know that they are the most talented team in the country and they let some teams creep up on them. I mean they won ECC but letting Boston get the better of them in pool play? I dunno. I do however know that they are the best team in the country. if they are focused and wanna win, they are going to. Their handler core is too good with Sam O'brian, TG, and Wiggins. Their deep game, when they want it to be, is unparalled with Nord, Chase and Ray, and their middle cutters like Sammy CK, Seth, and Moses can't be covered. Not to mention they have some of the best defenders in Skippy and Roger Crafts. So I think that their performance against the buzz bullets (both times) is pretty indicative. labor day not so much. I think they'll take sectionals 15-8 over Furious and then maybe 15-11 over Furious or JAM at regionals.

JAM - Despite hideous uniforms, these kids are good. JAM is having a fantastic year coming off "chokefest '06". It looks like they got Damien Scott back, and anyone who has played near this guy will tell you he is the balls. really impressive showings at Colorado, ECC and Labor Day. I think they'll play well at regionals (finish 2nd/3rd). I would love to see them upset Sockeye, but I don't see JAM breaking out of the clutch-less cage they have been in for awhile. In any event, they seem like they have the fire, which might be all it takes. Should sweep sectionals and if they don't they are screwed.

Bravo - This is a team I want to see in the finals. These guys are so good and work so well with eachother and they deserve to break out of the semi-finals and make it on Sunday at natties. Their young guys are soo good and are basically the legs and the leaders on this team. Their handlers are so good with Chicken and Parker, their deeps are so good with Jolian and Beau (notice how I put Jolian first, guy is sooooo good and doesn't get the press he deserves), fired up cutters like Richter, rabbit, and JV can play both sides of the disc and they still have a whole troop of veterans in Willy D, Valdavia, Tripoli, etc.... Their height is pretty polar though with tall guys playing really tall and not so tall guys, yeah not so tall. However, their chemistry is top notch and I think they will do well.

Revolver - These fellas are so up and down. They are a good squad but I think some of the Stanford guys might need a break from elite disc. I'd be surprised if Sherwood, Robbie, and Nan are fired up about playing another elite level season after playing another semi-finals loss in Columbus. Who knows though? Those are my guys, I'd love to see them take down JAM at sectionals. The good news is that they have had a few great late season wins with W's over Rhino, Furious and Condors. Hopefully they bring it this weekend in Santa Cruz.

Boston - I am gonna do some serious word eating if Boston gets lucky in the series. I am so impressed with them and they have done far better than I expected. Huge wins at ECC over Sockeye and Bravo. A less than stellar showing at Chesapeake, but thats their 3rd tourney in 4 weekends, so I'm not too worried. It looks like Kurt and Goldstein are doing well for the Boston crowd. Somewhere Vicious Cycle is crying after losing their top 2 players. I would like to see them do well at Nationals but they have a lot of guys that haven't been there for open, ie Teddy and Jasper, and hopefully they will continue to play as they have. I think they have a shot at quarters but beyond that, it is gonna take somer serious luck.

Condors - Now these guys have been off the radar for about 2 years now. After losing Namkung and Steets (both I think play for JAM) they have seen their success dip at nationals. However, now they have Jimmy Chu, who I believe is one of the best D line handlers in the country. Great showings at Colorado and Labor Day. Not getting into ECC must have sucked but I am sure they want to return to the glory days of '00 and '01. I think they'll make power pools at natties but they'll probably have to fight in the "play-in game" for quarters.

Rhino - I wish I knew more about this team. I know that Seth used to play on it and there were rumors that Chase was going to. All I know is that they are basically an Ego squad (correct me if I am wrong) but according to most, they are legit. maybe a bit young but defintely talented. Have the ability to catch anyone sleeping and I hope they do. I think if they bring whatever they had at Solstice they'll do well but making nationals with a fired up JAM and Revolver fighting for spots 3 and 4 and Sockeye and Furious for spots 1 and 2, its gonna be tough.

Chain Lighting - Now this is a team that I think is having a rough year. Made semis last year and they picked up Zipp. They have dylan, Jason Simpson, and John Hammond so they have the talent to do well. I dunno if they are gonna have any competition until nationals. Maybe with Double Wide at regionals. Hopefully they get it together and do well.

Elite Co-ed (I have gotten into Co-ed recently because of some friends, so here are my thoughts)

Shazaam - Watch out. These guys are on a tear. They have won every tourney they have gone to and are my favorites to take the region. i watched them at Boston and they looked wayyy to complete to be stopped by any other co-ed team. With them, Brass Monkey and Mischef, NW co-ed regionals could be almost as good as natties.

Mischef - the current champs are having a decent year despite not making it into Potlatch. They had such an interesting showing at nationals last year with close win after close win, so who knows with them. The smith brothers really know their stuff and can dominate most teams. However, their grip and rip style could be a little more conservative and might get them into turn over trouble against pateint teams. They managed to win it all last year and they have picked up some new/better players, so who knows.

Slow White - The only team that really draws water in the NE deserves to make at least semis at nationals this year. Really close to winning it all last year but fell short. Their guys are top notch and their girls, if used better, are some of the best i have seen in Co-ed. Don't know how they are gonna do without Jasper or Teddy but they do have Miles and a few other new players that can ball. Heavy weights should be a good tournament and they should sweep that and the series in NE. Hopefully they get a nice little confidence boost to carry them to the promise land.


match diesel