The State of West Coast Elite Disc (open)

I'm writing this because Match Diesel seems to be the only non-player writing about elite disc, and I think he's way off base when it comes to the west coast. I figured I'd write scouting reports about some of the top teams (I think he did this a few weeks ago). I'm going to break up my little scouting reports into two categories, a "how they play" category which should be self explanatory, and a "talent/culture" category about who plays on the team, how the team operates, and the over all talent level.

Revolver:
How they play: They move the disc well, and the majority of their risks come with break mark throws. They are built on consistency and seem to run into the most problems when they put up too many 50/50 shots to Wiseman.

Talent/culture: A lot has been made about how this is the Stanford team and Jam is the Cal team, that's bullshit. It's true that Revolver has a good amount of Stanford guys (at least 9), but they also have 2 from UCSC, 2 from Cal, 2 from UCSB and 1 from Davis. Basically, they're the younger team and Jam is the older team. Talent wise they're very strong, but mostly their strength is that nobody on the team thinks they're better then they are.

Jam:
How they play: I've already said a good amount about this team. They like the long ball and they like "keeping it fun" as Idris explains in his blog. Each individual seems to hold the disc a long time. I think this happens because everyone on Jam can make things happen with their throws. I think Jam would benefit from a culture of fast disc movement (but I think that about every team). Basically, there aren't any role players on this team (no, I don't think I'd fill this void, I just think some of the better players might have to take a little bit of a back seat).

Talent/culture: This team has a lot of great players, none of whom payed college last year. I think Boo is the youngest guy on the team, and I'm pretty sure everyone else played in club nationals '04 (just as a point of reference). A lot of these guys are at least 5 years out of college, and there doesn't seem to be much of a talent pipeline into Jam.

Sockeye:
How they play: The same as last year, just with more talent. They do a good job of not showing their hand while still dominating during the summer, but I think everyone knows that their O line from the finals last year will be back in effect this fall (just with Tim G instead of Dave Bestock as an O handler)

Culture: Sure there is strong imported talent, but this team does the best job of any team in developing the local talent pool by taking on young local players. As far as team dynamics go, I don't think chemistry will ever really be an issue for the Fish unless Seth becomes captain (I kid). Anyway, it seems like everyone wants to play for these guys, even if they don't need to be a hanger on to some great players coattails (I'm looking at you Michael Stout). As per what has been said about their chemistry issues in '05 and their recent stockpiling of Callahan winners, the '05 finals were just real windy, and just because you've won a Callahan this decade doesn't mean you would have won in '98 (when looking at that list, remember that UCSB, who won that year, doesn't nominate candidates and Namkung, Steets, Husak, and Yarbrough were on Tide in '98). Whatever, they're still stacked.

That's all I'm writing for now, I don't know enough about Rhino or Furious to write anything intelligent about them.