I made it out to the invite last Sunday with Daniel "DMC" Max Chazin. Good times were had, beer was consumed, and ultimate was observed.
So, scouting reports:
On the Woman's side there are four good teams this year and they will all make semis at nationals: Oregon, Santa Barbara, Washington and Wisconsin. I'd put my money on Oregon winning nats, their height and athleticism is hard to handle even for the other top teams.
Open is a little less clear cut. There are two legit teams who probably would have made club nationals out of the Central or South West last year (Carleton, Oregon), then there are a bunch of teams on the level. My observations (alphabetically)
Cal: A strong team with great fundamentals, and a great coaching staff. I'd say their strengths are end-zone O, d-line O, and decision making. That's really all you need as a college team.
Carleton: They look like a club team based on their team speed and the speed they play at. The youth on their O-line hurt them a little at Stanford, but I think they'll right the ship by nats. They'll be in the semis at worst.
Colorado: They're big and they play physically which is hard for college teams to handle. Still, they're very much a college team. Still, I'm not even sure they'll win the SW.
Florida: Didn't get to see much of them, and Brodie wasn't playing while I was watching. The one observation I have is that while on the field they looked more like a collection of athletes than a team.
Oregon: They're experienced and fast and their O line has at least 4 5th year players on it. They're going to win the NW and take one of the top 4 seeds at nats. They should make Semis at worst.
Those were all the teams I got a good look at. Quick note, there should have been more qualifying spots and the following four teams should have gone to the "Stanford Open" instead of the invite: Texas, Stanford, UCSB, Brown. I guess having a good history as a program helps you stay at the top.
P.S. I'm know 808 is a proponent of adding pictures to posts. I not so much of a picture guy, so I'll try and throw out some funk instead:
Word.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
More about Sean Ryan (a birthday present for the Jughead)
I didn't get to see all the teams, I did watch: Santa Cruz, Cal, Claremont, UCSD, Chico, Humbodt, and Santa Barbara. From what I saw graduation hit a lot of these teams hard. I'd say the level of play was slightly down at this years tournament, Daryl commented "I think the Slugs were playing at the same level as they have in the past at Sean Ryan, the other teams just looked bad."
Anyway, team by team:
Cal: Mateo played well, as did Hagen. They lost a lot of guys to graduation, but they still play smart and break the mark well. They have good coaching and team speed, they're still a presence in the NW.
Chico State: The Hops looked much better than they have any of the past three years. They have throws and athleticism, we'll see if the work ethic is there come spring. They'll make regionals, but I'm not sure how far they'll go. Oh, and they still love hucking.
Claremont: Is back to the level of competition of 2006 or so, but they aren't a similar team. The team is smart on O, and committed to having a system. Although they had a good weekend, Maniac didn't play well. If he and Markham can start connecting on hucks for their D line they'll be really scary. In classic Claremont fashion have to work on not playing down to the level of competition.
Humboldt: The Ben Carlson show!
Santa Barbara: Didn't get to see much of Tide, but they look to have the same intensity and discipline that they're known for. They peak really well, and I didn't recognize more that three faces from years past.
Santa Cruz: The Slugs have a lot of potential, but they'll have to make sure they don't get complacent after winning their home tournament. I think Cassidy, Russell, and Max will lead by example well. If they can avoid the injury bug that bit the team both of the last two years they could have a very successful spring.
Jay, let me know if you need more.
Anyway, team by team:
Cal: Mateo played well, as did Hagen. They lost a lot of guys to graduation, but they still play smart and break the mark well. They have good coaching and team speed, they're still a presence in the NW.
Chico State: The Hops looked much better than they have any of the past three years. They have throws and athleticism, we'll see if the work ethic is there come spring. They'll make regionals, but I'm not sure how far they'll go. Oh, and they still love hucking.
Claremont: Is back to the level of competition of 2006 or so, but they aren't a similar team. The team is smart on O, and committed to having a system. Although they had a good weekend, Maniac didn't play well. If he and Markham can start connecting on hucks for their D line they'll be really scary. In classic Claremont fashion have to work on not playing down to the level of competition.
Humboldt: The Ben Carlson show!
Santa Barbara: Didn't get to see much of Tide, but they look to have the same intensity and discipline that they're known for. They peak really well, and I didn't recognize more that three faces from years past.
Santa Cruz: The Slugs have a lot of potential, but they'll have to make sure they don't get complacent after winning their home tournament. I think Cassidy, Russell, and Max will lead by example well. If they can avoid the injury bug that bit the team both of the last two years they could have a very successful spring.
Jay, let me know if you need more.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Post Sean Ryan NW and SW all Region Preview
The Slugs won Sean Ryan for the first time in a long time. This means Sean Ryan is over and we have a better idea of who's good in the NW and SW. As such, here goes my all region preview.
NW - A lot of this is speculation
1. Cassidy Rasmussen - UCSC
2. Russell Wynne - UCSC
3. Andrew Hagen - Cal
4. Eli Janin - Oregon
5. Eli Friedman - Oregon
6. Jordan Mcphee - UBC
7. Taylor Lahey - Davis
SW - None of this is speculation
1. Dominic Sheehy - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
2. Dom Captan of SLOCore - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
3. D.C.S. - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
4. Dom "Cunnilingus" Sheehy - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
5. Dom King of SLOCore - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
6. "You can't spell dome without" Dom Sheehy - Cal Poly San Louis Obispo
7. To Be Determined
Word.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Cal States 2009
Cal States is one of my favorite tournaments and provides an interesting early season glimps at the best west coast teams. I only had a chance to watch Open and Mixed this past weekend, so here's what I got.
Notes from the Open Division:
NW:
Tier 1:
Jam: Didn't get so see much of the defending champs, but I did notice a lot of roster changes. Gone: Bruss, Cissna, Gabe, Husak, Scow?, Steets, Woody?. more?
In: Julian (Kansas/CLX/Monster/BCBC), Tommy (Cal), Fast Asian Guy (MagnUM), Johnny Hester (Condors), Ian Ranahan (Revolver), Will Chen (Harvard, Stanford Coach). Maybe more?
As long as Damien is around, the team will be strong.
Revolver: This years Revolver team has the most team speed I have ever seen. An already very fast team with Chapman, Weisman, Martin, and Jit has added Ashlin (Davis), Cassidy (Santa Cruz), and BEAU (word on the street is that there might be a late addition). Damn. It didn't look like they were challenged all weekend. Oh, and Cassidy was unstopable in the finals (while being guarded by a high school tryout on Sockeye). He played every O point and had 2 goals and 2 assists with 0 turns and 1 awesome spike.
Sockeye: Looks like they should be keeping Skip and adding BJ and Kurt Gibson. I hope they take The Sultan, and we'll see if Seth chooses to play club or just focus on team USA. There were some other no shows this weekend, but I have no info on that front.
Tier 2:
Portland: Looks like Thompson High from regionals with more bodies. More skilled then Rhino, less desire // work ethic. Their fate depends on Aaron Richards.
Rhino: A fast hard working team. Didn't see any UO guys, but they do have finals next week, so Solstice might show a fastly differend Rhino team. They seem like the team most prone to runs, either for or against.
Scumbags: Looks like they had a lot of fun. This team was sharing a bid with the Slugs, so there were a ton of players, with lots of them coming and going. It will be interesting to see what the roster looks like at Solstice, and how it changes at tournaments closer to the bay.
Shark (YR): It looked like their O line rotation wasn't nearly as tight as in years past. I think having Will the Thrill captain will really help that, and I think it could change the culture of the team. Loosing 808, Joey D, Corey Lee, and Charles also changes things. They had a strong showing, but it looks like some of their stronger tryouts decisded to play elswhere (Fedi from Arizona, Kissman, and Jamison from tide).
SW:
Tier 1: Only contains Bravo until proven otherwise.
Tier 2:
Condors: AKA Black Tide alum from '06 or later with some SLOCore. Look for them to improve as the season goes on, while having the best fundimentals of any tier two team. The SB isolation will help the Tide, especially if Husak and Steets decide to come out for the later half of the season. Word on the street is that Dugan will be around to help, but will be playing masters with DoG come fall time.
LA (Strike-Slip): LA is once again full of talent, but it's all from different college programs that teach different things. The team will take time to jell, and they need to get on the same page ASAP. The team also seems short on blue-colar type players. To many people who are used to being the star. Until their downfield cutters work hard consistantly, they are going to have issues. I predict Dr. Buel will bring it all together. Also, a lot of their hopes rest on where Matt Welsh decides to play.
SD (Street Gang): The actually united Sand Diego team looked very strong, and a lot less like a Squids Only club than either PBR or SD United looked. They also emerged as the potentially dominant team in SoCal for the season. If this weekends results (and team rosters) are any indicators, I'd expect SD vs LA in the Game to Go come regianls with SD going back to Nationals for the first time since '05.
Notes from the Moxed Devision:
A lot of teams in the Mixed devision are waiting on Womans teams to anounce their rosters. Mischeif and CTR are not among those teams. Scotty Conway was playing with the home town people after playing with Flycoons last year and Family Style before that.
Personal: I played co-ed this weekend working on my recovery from ACL surgery. I felt faster than last time I played (Memorial Day), but I think I was limping a bit more. I've decided to stop climbing for the next two weeks and focus more on rehab. Hopefully I'll be able to play Open come Solstice, if not, maybe I can find a co-ed team to take me.
Notes from the Open Division:
NW:
Tier 1:
Jam: Didn't get so see much of the defending champs, but I did notice a lot of roster changes. Gone: Bruss, Cissna, Gabe, Husak, Scow?, Steets, Woody?. more?
In: Julian (Kansas/CLX/Monster/BCBC), Tommy (Cal), Fast Asian Guy (MagnUM), Johnny Hester (Condors), Ian Ranahan (Revolver), Will Chen (Harvard, Stanford Coach). Maybe more?
As long as Damien is around, the team will be strong.
Revolver: This years Revolver team has the most team speed I have ever seen. An already very fast team with Chapman, Weisman, Martin, and Jit has added Ashlin (Davis), Cassidy (Santa Cruz), and BEAU (word on the street is that there might be a late addition). Damn. It didn't look like they were challenged all weekend. Oh, and Cassidy was unstopable in the finals (while being guarded by a high school tryout on Sockeye). He played every O point and had 2 goals and 2 assists with 0 turns and 1 awesome spike.
Sockeye: Looks like they should be keeping Skip and adding BJ and Kurt Gibson. I hope they take The Sultan, and we'll see if Seth chooses to play club or just focus on team USA. There were some other no shows this weekend, but I have no info on that front.
Tier 2:
Portland: Looks like Thompson High from regionals with more bodies. More skilled then Rhino, less desire // work ethic. Their fate depends on Aaron Richards.
Rhino: A fast hard working team. Didn't see any UO guys, but they do have finals next week, so Solstice might show a fastly differend Rhino team. They seem like the team most prone to runs, either for or against.
Scumbags: Looks like they had a lot of fun. This team was sharing a bid with the Slugs, so there were a ton of players, with lots of them coming and going. It will be interesting to see what the roster looks like at Solstice, and how it changes at tournaments closer to the bay.
Shark (YR): It looked like their O line rotation wasn't nearly as tight as in years past. I think having Will the Thrill captain will really help that, and I think it could change the culture of the team. Loosing 808, Joey D, Corey Lee, and Charles also changes things. They had a strong showing, but it looks like some of their stronger tryouts decisded to play elswhere (Fedi from Arizona, Kissman, and Jamison from tide).
SW:
Tier 1: Only contains Bravo until proven otherwise.
Tier 2:
Condors: AKA Black Tide alum from '06 or later with some SLOCore. Look for them to improve as the season goes on, while having the best fundimentals of any tier two team. The SB isolation will help the Tide, especially if Husak and Steets decide to come out for the later half of the season. Word on the street is that Dugan will be around to help, but will be playing masters with DoG come fall time.
LA (Strike-Slip): LA is once again full of talent, but it's all from different college programs that teach different things. The team will take time to jell, and they need to get on the same page ASAP. The team also seems short on blue-colar type players. To many people who are used to being the star. Until their downfield cutters work hard consistantly, they are going to have issues. I predict Dr. Buel will bring it all together. Also, a lot of their hopes rest on where Matt Welsh decides to play.
SD (Street Gang): The actually united Sand Diego team looked very strong, and a lot less like a Squids Only club than either PBR or SD United looked. They also emerged as the potentially dominant team in SoCal for the season. If this weekends results (and team rosters) are any indicators, I'd expect SD vs LA in the Game to Go come regianls with SD going back to Nationals for the first time since '05.
Notes from the Moxed Devision:
A lot of teams in the Mixed devision are waiting on Womans teams to anounce their rosters. Mischeif and CTR are not among those teams. Scotty Conway was playing with the home town people after playing with Flycoons last year and Family Style before that.
Personal: I played co-ed this weekend working on my recovery from ACL surgery. I felt faster than last time I played (Memorial Day), but I think I was limping a bit more. I've decided to stop climbing for the next two weeks and focus more on rehab. Hopefully I'll be able to play Open come Solstice, if not, maybe I can find a co-ed team to take me.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Notes From Bay Area College Sectionals
I went to my first Bay Area sectionals this past weekend to help out the Slugs and watch the first suspenseful college sectionals in the Bay Area in a while. I was with the Slugs pretty much the whole time, so I don't have much insight on either Stanford or a non-tiered LPC. So, notes from the teams who are going to regionals (and a little on LPC).
Cal: The team nobody seems to want to play. They have a ton of versatile players that are conservative and break the mark well. They play to their strengths as a possession team, and communicate better on D than most teams. They have a lot of depth and work very hard, but from what I saw, they don't have a ton of team speed (note, when the Slugs played Cal, Choongil wasn't playing). Also of note, Ryo seems like an evil genius sort of coach.
Davis: The Davis Dogs are a very fast team. They have lots of height and athleticism to go along with strong leadership from Taylor Lahey. In the game against the slugs the did a good job possesing the disc amongst their handlers on both D and O. They also run a lot of called huck plays on the D line. Look for the Dogs to be strong again next year returning their top two players, and geting a lot of cub experience.
Stanford: I only watched them a little so my observations are limited. First, props to Will Chen for rocking the suit on Saturday, baller. I was surprised by the inconsistancy of their O, especially considering the individual skill of their players. Look for them to play much better at regioanls. Also, Alex "Glass Eye" Drlica-Wagner
UCSC: What a difference a day makes.
LPC: Watching their game against Davis it was clear that they were puting all their regionals eggs in that basket. As the game went on, and as the heat ramped up LPC's regionals hopes grew dimmer. Still, they stuck to their guns, and played their top guys almost the entire game in the game to go to regionals. If Adam, Zip, 808, Ernst, and Sticks are indeed done, I wonder what comes next for their program.
That's all I got for now. I'm intending on going to NW club regionals, so maybe I'll write something about that. Hell maybe I'll write somehting about all region hype again. Or maybe I'll not post for 4 months. Honestly though, I think I'll post more as I satart to play again.
Cal: The team nobody seems to want to play. They have a ton of versatile players that are conservative and break the mark well. They play to their strengths as a possession team, and communicate better on D than most teams. They have a lot of depth and work very hard, but from what I saw, they don't have a ton of team speed (note, when the Slugs played Cal, Choongil wasn't playing). Also of note, Ryo seems like an evil genius sort of coach.
Davis: The Davis Dogs are a very fast team. They have lots of height and athleticism to go along with strong leadership from Taylor Lahey. In the game against the slugs the did a good job possesing the disc amongst their handlers on both D and O. They also run a lot of called huck plays on the D line. Look for the Dogs to be strong again next year returning their top two players, and geting a lot of cub experience.
Stanford: I only watched them a little so my observations are limited. First, props to Will Chen for rocking the suit on Saturday, baller. I was surprised by the inconsistancy of their O, especially considering the individual skill of their players. Look for them to play much better at regioanls. Also, Alex "Glass Eye" Drlica-Wagner
UCSC: What a difference a day makes.
LPC: Watching their game against Davis it was clear that they were puting all their regionals eggs in that basket. As the game went on, and as the heat ramped up LPC's regionals hopes grew dimmer. Still, they stuck to their guns, and played their top guys almost the entire game in the game to go to regionals. If Adam, Zip, 808, Ernst, and Sticks are indeed done, I wonder what comes next for their program.
That's all I got for now. I'm intending on going to NW club regionals, so maybe I'll write something about that. Hell maybe I'll write somehting about all region hype again. Or maybe I'll not post for 4 months. Honestly though, I think I'll post more as I satart to play again.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
I Love This Game (Warriors Basketball)
It's true.
I'm a big time fan, and have been through bad times and good. The current state of the team is a bit depressing, but it doesn't mean I'll jump ship, it only means that I have a lot to say (and that I'll be able to go to more games because people will be StubHub-ing their season tickets like hot-cakes).
Over the next week or so I plan on breaking down my thoughts about the team. I'll start with the summer // going into the season, then move on to the early season and the play, and finally move into what I'd like to see happen. A lot of change within the organization appears eminent over the next few months, I just hope it goes down at all like I'd want it to.
My current top 5 favorite Warriors:
5. Capn. Jax (More so when there is a real play maker to bring the ball up, he's not a point forward. Loved him the last two years).
4. Marco Belinelli a.k.a. poor man's Manu
3. Andris a.k.a. Drago
2. BWright (I really liked him last year, and he seems to do good things for spacing and ball movement when he's out there. Sure he'll make some mistakes, but he's young let him develop.)
1. Monta (I don't care that he hurt humself in a freek accident, kid is sick. I was going to buy a mid 90s throwback Monta Jersey if the Ws made the playoffs last year.)
More to come.
I'm a big time fan, and have been through bad times and good. The current state of the team is a bit depressing, but it doesn't mean I'll jump ship, it only means that I have a lot to say (and that I'll be able to go to more games because people will be StubHub-ing their season tickets like hot-cakes).
Over the next week or so I plan on breaking down my thoughts about the team. I'll start with the summer // going into the season, then move on to the early season and the play, and finally move into what I'd like to see happen. A lot of change within the organization appears eminent over the next few months, I just hope it goes down at all like I'd want it to.
My current top 5 favorite Warriors:
5. Capn. Jax (More so when there is a real play maker to bring the ball up, he's not a point forward. Loved him the last two years).
4. Marco Belinelli a.k.a. poor man's Manu
3. Andris a.k.a. Drago
2. BWright (I really liked him last year, and he seems to do good things for spacing and ball movement when he's out there. Sure he'll make some mistakes, but he's young let him develop.)
1. Monta (I don't care that he hurt humself in a freek accident, kid is sick. I was going to buy a mid 90s throwback Monta Jersey if the Ws made the playoffs last year.)
More to come.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Questions for the Upcoming College Season
Okay loyal fans, I'm sorry that I'm a bad blogger. It happens. There is no way I can catch up on all the post ideas I've had in recent months, so instead I'll throw out something quick to try and get me going again. So, with all the controversy this fall over the '09 college season, and all the eventual inactivity, I figured I'd review some things to think about going into winter break.
1) Who will emerge as the Open devision front runner in SoCal? We should get the answer to this question post SB invite. UCSB has historically performed very strong at their home tournament, but I don't know if that can be expected from them in this rebuilding year. As I see it now, Claremont, UCSD, and UCSB seem to be relinquishing the hold they've had on the section of late with a Semis birth at Sean Ryan for SLO and a SoCal Warmup Championship from CSULB. My instinct tells me this is SLO's year (they've got this guy Dom, Captain of SLO-Core, and I think he'll wind up being the difference maker).
2) How strong will Arizona be? Sure, they lost a lot of guys, but they've built dedication, and their younger guys got great experience last year. I predict they make semis at SB Invite.
3) Will any SoCal team make semis at SB? Right now I'd go with no.
4) How strong will the NW be this year? After a recent low in strength as a region last year, can the NW rebound? I think it will, and I think there will again be a top 10 team left out of Nationals because of the current bid allocation process.
5) When will the Stanford invite happen? Well?
6) Where will the competition go? In a way, this was the question that defined the fall, and it can still define the spring. Most of the teams invited to C1 were prepared to go where the competition went. Now the question is, where will they go next. I think Vegas, Stanford, and Centex will prove strong again this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of teams defected from Centex for Southerns or Easterns (tournaments where the men's and women's teams could both play, and then spend the week together). Also, I wonder how many teams can really afford to travel across the country all the time anymore.
and the big one for me:
7) What does the separation of Women's Centex from Open Centex, and the emergence of Pres Day as the choice tournament for top women's teams early in the season mean for the future of college ultimate tournaments? Will we see more single gender events with the creation of a regular season.
I do like the evidence of growth in the women's devision this year. With the expansion of Women's Centex and the addition of a Qualifier for the Women's devision at the SB invite. Maybe we'll see more college women's tournaments this spring.
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