Bay Area Club Restructuring

SF Bay Area ultimate promises to look a lot different for this club season than it has for the past two seasons. In the past there have been two top level teams, Jam and Revolver, and then at least two second tier teams. With the disbanding of Jam this year, and Revolver's addition of Bart Watson, The Bay now officially has one commanding team and a bunch of leftover talent. It appears that a lot of that talent is looking to join up with a new team "Wolf" which will be conducting tryouts the weekend of the 24th (April).

Here's the interesting thing about Wolf, while Revolver draws it's talent from all around the bay area, it looks like Wolf will be primarily an east bay/SF team, with not much representation from Davis, the South Bay, or Santa Cruz. I believe this will lead to strong regional teams from these locations. From conversations I've had with friends around the area it sounds like there will be local teams in Davis, Palo Alto, and Santa Cruz. If you count Wolf as an SF/Berkeley/Oakland team, that would make 4 regional teams competing behind one super team.

I predict that Wolf will have a strong enough roster to compete for a bid to nationals, but I think the days of the Bay having two teams in the quarters is over. I wonder how having one top dog again will suit bay area ultimate.

Joaq

P.S. I wonder why I didn't post this April 10th when I wrote it.

P.P.S. More funk. I wish the sample game was still as tight as it was in the late '80s / early '90s

Notes from Stanford Invite Sunday

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Co-ed Scouting Reports

Last weekend I attended the one day co-ed thing in the bay as a member of Brown Chicken Brown Cow (BCBC say the name with a 70s porn bow chica bow wow melody), but wound up being a spectator. My plan was to have fun for a day, and maybe right something in the blog about scouting reports, my thoughts on co-ed, and why I'm playing open this year. Well, I don't really feel up to all of that, so I'll just stick with the scouting reports thing. Honestly, I wasn't as observant as I usually am, instead focusing on drinking and being obnoxious (I call it heckling). Still, I'll try and dig through the fog to say something useful.

Australia: I'm not sure about the ethics of giving stuff about a National team away right before worlds, but in reality, this probably won't help anyone. They run a vert stack and the dump goes up the line when activated. After that they like to hit the inside to the front as a space throw. Off the break the love to continue down the line. Even when you think you've cut off the around, they'll still take it, especially if you're forcing backhand. Aside from that, their cutters aren't the strongest throwers, but they are all good athletes. Employ hucker calls.

Night Train: I think loosing Nilla hurts them, they seem like they could use another set of hands. They still love the deep game, and Will DeBello is still the go to cutter in terms of the guys. Bethany is good, don't let her go deep on you. Doug needs to do more, he just doesn't have enough ego to assert himself like he should. Brian Yoxall is so married.

Mischief: They're a very different team at these things then they are once the series rolls around. They're also a very different team this year without Kevin 'Dollar' Smith and Tyler Grant. They still rely heavily on their athleticism, and seeing as most teams in co-ed can't match it, they probably won't regret their strategy any time soon. Chucky needs to sack up and drink more, I don't acknowledge 'I've been drinking for the past three nights' sort of excuses; sometimes it's 10 am and you need a beer.

CTR: They're a very meat and potatoes type of team. They move the disc well, and don't really take many chances. Still, if Shasta is indeed not back with them, they've lost a lot of the possibility for big plays (from the thrower end). Mateo is a nice pickup for them, super consistent, and has the ability to dominate as a give-go handler in co-ed.

All I can say about Monkey and AIR is that they have some beastly athletes. Don't underestimate Lil' Tom James or Beach.

Hope that was interesting, and good luck to all these teams as the season continues. Extra good luck to Australia at WUGC.

Word.

My Future in Ultimate

I've spent a lot of time this summer facing obstacles in the advancement of my ultimate carrier, at least, in how I saw it going while I was in college. I always thought I'd make an elite club team within the first two years I graduated from school, and that I'd be traveling around the western US playing high level disc. Well, by the time DUI ended I had been cut from both Jam and Revolver, and I had to settle on how to spend my summer.

If I was still in school at Claremont, the decision of where to play would have been easy. All I would have to do is find the best way to get better individually over the summer off season. Well, seeing as I no longer have a college team as a reason to devote myself to individual improvement, I had to reconsider my reasons for playing competitively. I thought about my personal goals in Ultimate, and decided to by into Yeager's desire to improve the UCSC program.

I agreed to co-captain a team with him, and once again became excited about the game. I wanted to help the Slugs, and have an outlet for playing quality disc with friends (of course, being in a position of leadership wasn't a downside). I also told Yeager that, seeing as I was helping to captain a Slug centric team for the summer, I'd be more than happy to help the Slugs prepare for the college series in whatever capacity I'd be useful. Even with these new reasons for playing the club season, I was unsure of my individual aspirations.

After a couple of practices with our fledgling team, Yeager and I led a rag tag bunch of 14 to solstice and wound up winning the open devision. This promising result, combined with picking up some Stanford kids and a couple more Yay Area club players started to get me reall stoked about the team's potential, and I dedicated myself to actually getting in good shape for Ultimate. Then, right as I had started to get into a grove in terms of workouts, feeling a little in shape, and even climbing reasonably strong (flashing easy 11s, redpointing some harder 11s and working on some easier 12s, still only climbing v5 though, I hadn't broken back into the 6s) I tore up my knee.

Injuring my knee brought me out of focusing on the short term success of SCUC (the Santa Cruz Ultimate Club, sort of what we settled on for a club name, we can still have different team names at tournaments), and back to thinking about my long term plans for ultimate. When I told my boy Robin I was no longer sure of why I play the game he responded "I think I get it. You've invested a lot of time in the community and you're well respected within it. You also have a lot of potential to advance your standing."

Robin is right, it's easy to know I'll continue to play ultimate for a long time just from the fun I have playing, and my involvement in the community. The real question is what are my competitive aspirations. I guess in every short term situation I play for my teammates (and therefore will remain dedicated to the SCUC guys this summer), I've just been struggling with finding a reason I play for myself.

I understand that at 22 I'm still young and have a lot of disc still ahead of me, but I'm no longer sure I'll need to play on the absolute best teams to fill my competitive aspirations. I'll still want to push myself athletically, and playing elite is one way to do that, but wanting to play elite is no longer the main reason I play competitive ultimate. I guess what I do next summer will really answer the questions I have about my competitive aspirations. Either I push myself to get in shape for the tryout season and dedicate myself to the process, or I show up in not the best shape again, and wind up playing with a second tear team for another summer (and likely many more). It seems that in the end I can't come up with the answer just sitting at my house and over-thinking it. I do know I want to make it back to open club nationals, and I would enjoy playing playing with the best. I also know that I don't have to play with the best to be satisfied, I just need teammates.

Word.

P.S. I really appreciate the concept behind Bob's WDUPU series.

Solstice Recap

This is the latest recap I've ever written. I guess I just have to post it so I can move on to writing about other things.

I am now officially part of the leadership of a team again. We were called the Yeager Bombs at Solstice in Eugene, but we're not settled on a name as of yet (okay, the program said Jaeger, but we all know it's with a Y). It seems like being a captain has potential to change how my tournament recaps go. Well, here is the first chance to see if it does. Game by game:

Game 1: UOish

Both teams looked horrible to start, with a 5 turnover point to start the game. Both teams were clearly learning to play with each-other, and I think they had a bit of a head start on this. Things that stick out: Us having bad zone points (these were gone by the end of the weekend), and Kevin Stout getting an amazing D on what looked like a great hammer from Yeager to Jughead. We wound up wining, and thus started and undefeated season (or so we joked).

Game 2: UWish

This was the game we played our poorest in for the weekend. Jughead played maybe 2 points due to a sore hamstring, Laurent was out due to a gimpy calf, and Aman reinjured his rotator cuff. Anyway, they wound up winning a close one. Our shorthanded roster couldn't keep up with their deeps, and we continued to learn to play with each other. I guess our undefeated season was over. We were down to 11 at this point, and we could have mailed it in for the tournament but we resolved to stick with it.

Game 3: Predator (Tacoma)

They looked really organized, and had a really tall receiver. It was our third game of the day and they came in really confident, we came in really tiered. Well, the wind picked up a tad and made the game noticeably upwind downwind. I think it was in this game that Yeager hurt himself getting a huge layout D. That Injury brought us down to 10 guys which was pretty devastating considering how out of shape we were (people have been taking a small break since hard college seasons, I was just out of shape). It seemed like we were loosing the whole game, mostly because we were working so hard for the points we scored. Somehow, it turned out the game was really close, and we wound up wining by about 2. We were surprised and excited. The reward was #1 in our pool and a crossover with the Seattle 3rd team.

Game 4: 3rd (Seattle)

We were exhausted. Sitting on the sidelines, sitting during time outs and half, stalling for more rest. It was just bad. It felt like we were being crushed the whole game. Still, somehow half was on serve, and we won on universe point. It wasn't glamorous or pretty, but it felt damn good.

After finishing an exhausting day we went back to the house where we were staying (3 blocks from the fields! sick). And gathered to plan the evening festivities. We were able to grab showers at the Y then head over to the showcase game and dinner. After dinner we regrouped and eventually made our way to the party.

The party was really good. The beer wasn't great, but I enjoyed to local. And of course, any party with Alex Wells will be great. We stayed pretty late, I got good and toasty, and Yeager rocked the dd status seeing as he had hit his head on a bid earlier in the day.

Game 5: Kirkland Frisbee Club (KFC)

Day two started with us playing a young team from the Seattle area. They wound up scoring one or two points, it was a nice warmup, and even better than a bye. Winning this crossover put us in the semis against the UWish team.

Game 6: UWish

Our second game against UW was also really close and contested. We commited to taking away Sean's flick, and we tried to keep the disc out of Gabe's hands. Well, we wound up winning by a couple this time, but not before letting our out of shape-ness catch back up with us. Winning this one put us in the finals against a local team.

Game 7: Eugene Open

Our seventh and final game of the weekend was against the team formerly known as Darkstar. The game was close, with us up one or two the whole time. I don't remember that much because I tweaked my back early in the game, and was relegated to sitting on the sideline trying to stretch out. I do remember Aman dropping one huck because he had to go left handed, then deciding to do the sure thing and catch the game winner two handed.

It was great to win Solstice, even if it was just the open devision. We had victory cigars thanks to Aman (they were for Spain winning in the UEFA Cup), and everyone on the team got excited for the upcoming season. Anyway, we've got Chico next weekend. Maybe having a larger roster can help us throw down.

My Ultimate Life

So, tryout season in NorCal has come and gone and I didn't make the team I was trying to make (Revolver). The week after that happened I hurt my knee at work randomly, and for a number of reasons I was really close to not playing competitive ultimate this summer. Luckily, James Yeager of UCSC came along with the perfect opportunity.

Yeager realized that the best way to try and get the Slugs back to nationals next year was to have everyone play club together this summer. He also realized that simply turning your college team into a club team isn't amazingly effective, so he recruited me as a co-captain for this as yet to named* summer team. We invited all of this year's Slug A players onto the team, then, using our ultimate nerdy-ness and connections, Yeager and I started recruiting and trying to fill out the roster. Well, we eventually settled on having tryouts, and have been doing so for the past couple of weekends. As of now, we're really stoked on the potential our team has (I'll release a roster once we have a team name, it'll be on the Score Reporter).

So, after starting this team so late, we were stuck without a bid to CalStates, but we came up with an awesome alternative. We held tryouts in the form of a double practice on Saturday, then had tryouts in terms of heckling practice on Sunday. Because we weren't actually playing in the tournament, we were able to go huge at the tourney party Saturday night and bond as a team the next day.

On Saturday, Shy and I arranged to pick up with some LA homies for the first game Sunday morning so I could get in some hungover co-ed play in prep for Potlatch. We got to play against the team Shy left to play with Yeager and I for the summer, LA Metro. It was a lot of fun seeing as Shy and I had a bunch of friends on both teams. Basically we ran around the field doing give and goes until one of us jacked it to an open receiver (if felt like the good ol' days). 808 was supposed to pick up with us, but he overslept, what a bummer. I'll just have to wait until Discos and e-bay to play with Bobby.

That's what I got from the personal side for now. I'll try and get back to spreading rumors about the top teams soon.

*I was originally pushing for us to be the Yeager Bombs, but James has insisted on spelling it with a J, so we'll hold a team vote to settle on a name (hopefully it won't be Justice League**).

**Too Soon?

Quick notes from CalStates

CalStates went down here in town this past weekend, and thus the hype machine for the summer has started. Here's my early contribution.

Condors:
They've been picking up a couple of LA guys per year for the past few years, this time they're just going bigger (also, with only two bids from the SW, the LA guys want to get back to the show). There are no '09 college players not from the SB that are still trying out for the Condors, so they're not poaching the young talent from LA. In fact, they're letting LA do the work in developing the young guys. Still, their roster is not set yet, and we'll see how big of an effect the new influx of personnel will have.

Furious George:
It was cool to see these guys at such an early tournament. It was also predictable because of Worlds. It looked like Lugsdin and Cruickshank both didn't make the trip down, and Oscar, while present, wasn't playing. Also of note, due to CUPA rules, they were trying out a bunch of non-Vancouver guys, 5 of whom were from GOAT. So remember, while Furious will be representing Canada at Worlds, GOAT placed higher at the UPA Championships last year.

Jam:
They took 3 new guys this year, and it wasn't to get younger (although they did a little of that). I don't know how much of the JL stuff is carrying over, seeing as JL ran a ho while Jam seems to primarily be a vert stack team. Their performance at CalStates was a little surprising, but I think it'll just light a fire.

Revolver:
Funny thing, of the new players they took, there is only one player who will be playing college ultimate next year, and none of the players they took were from Stanford. In fact, I'm not sure if any Stanford guys even tried out this year. They got a lot taller with their additions, picking up Seth Wiggins, David "Fetch" Janinis, Tyler Grant, Chuck Kindred, Alex "Dutchie" Ghesquire, and Patrick Sweigert. As per CalStates Seth Wiggins spent most of his time playing with Sockeye, and both Nan Gao and Nat Kinsky were out.

Sockeye:
They did their usual CalStates thing. Winning a lot of games, and getting the tryout guys a good amount of time. They moved all the tryouts onto the finals team to get a closer look. Seth didn't play for either team in the finals.

That's it for the 'Elite' teams. It's weird writing about people I know (and some I don't), but I guess I'm just trying to get some information out there. Does the public really have a right to know? I'll have to struggle finding the answer to that one.

D-III Nationals - Why We Didn't Go

The first year of D-III nationals, captain Alex and I talked about attending it briefly after the tournament announcement and decided the we (Claremont) wouldn't go. We decided that the combination of school being out of session and the team not being accustomed to flying to tournaments was enough to not go. In addition, we thought we had a legit shot of making it to UPA Nationals that year, and we didn't want settling for D-III nationals to be okay with anybody on the team. Some people brought up the idea of going, but the majority of the team was in favor of out decision to focus on the UPA series.

The next year I was a senior and a captain and the team had almost no shot of making nationals (we wound up tied for 3rd in a region with one bid, but we knew Colorado and SB were better than us that year). We decided to have a team meeting about D-III nationals (it's not that hard to have team meetings when everyone lives on campus). My stance, along with that of many of the other seniors, was that we wanted to be as proud of our senior season as possible. To us, that meant finishing as high as we could at regionals, and pouring our harts into doing so.

At the team meeting, the general consensus was that because D-III nationals isn't hosted by the UPA, and because we knew other top level D-III teams wouldn't be there, any victory wouldn't be satisfying. We also wanted to put the team in a position to succeed in years to come, and we thought having people focus on regionals was the best way to do so. The team voted something like 16 to 3 not to go to D-III nationals that year. If the UPA hosted some sort of devision two event for small schools, we would have gone (especially because our club sports department would have paid for our trip).

So that's where Claremont stood on D-III nationals while I was there, and it seems like not much has changed. Also, as the team improves, I wonder if they'd even go to (or be eligible for) a UPA hosted D-II style event (still, it'd be hard to pass up the free accommodations).

Word.

NW Regionals

This was my first time ever as a spectator and not a player at college regionals. Man that sucked. Still, I got to watch the team I should have been playing with win regionals. It was great to see all the guys I call friends and used to call team mates step up.

What stood out to me:

All of Stanford's cutters not named "Ezra" or "Tom James" are willing and eager to loose yards to give the disc to Sherwood. They'll catch an in cut and turn around and give the disc to Sherwood loosing 5 yards. By now Mark must have a sore back.

Jeremy Nordan played great in the Whitman vs. LPC game. I thought that if Whitman was eliminated on day 1 things would be a lot easier in terms of FOTY voting, well, Whitman wouldn't let that happen. Of note, Daryl, the SC coach was kind of fed up with all the Cassidy vs. Jeremy talk and said "Why can't they just be co-freshman of the year? It's happened before, it should happen again. One as a cutter, one as a handler." Seeing as both were within 5 yards of him at the time I just said, "Maybe they should fight to the death."

Speaking of Daryl, he doesn't get enough credit for the development of the young players (and even the vets) on the Slugs (I know, he doesn't really want the credit, well to bad!). Yes Danny is the on field leader, and yes Danny is deserving of their callahan nomination, but he isn't responsible for the Slug's hard nosed D or team wide understanding of the rules, or their practicing calling marking violations in practice. Also, Daryl called all the lines at regionals, and is a great calming force to counter Danny's fiery-ness.

Um, it was 99 degrees when I got in my car to leave Davis. So yeah, as hot as SoCal Sectionals. People were talking about how they couldn't believe they were playing in that kind of heat, try playing in the desert section, or a lot of SoCal.

I know, it's not much, but who needs scouting reports now that the best part (regionals weekend) of the season is over?

Word.

Re: I'm not feeling the love

I guess I'm writing this because Cassidy Rasmussen is my boy, but also because I feel like the FOTY* award isn't discussed enough. The guidelines for the awards are laid out pretty well on the UPA website (and I wish they weren't, screw them, I'm sticking with my definitions. Also, can we get a search function UPA? thanks.) but the chatter is definitely pretty low quantity (and low quality, I don't pretend to help there) regarding FOTYs.

I think the FOTY award isn't about the best individual freshman in the region, but instead the freshman that contributes the most to a relevant team (that's right, I don't think a FOTY should come from a team that isn't competitive at regionals, same with all-region players).

In my All-Region post (column? maybe when I get an editor) I talked a little about FOTY candidates, but I didn't want to distract from my real purpose. Anyway, I wrote:

[NW] FOTY: Jeremy Norden, Whitman - I think he's had this locked up since Vegas. That being said, I think Cassidy Rasmussen should get some dap if UCSC wins regionals.

I stick by my statement, still, I'd like to explain. I think Cassidy is an exceptional player, and if I had to choose between the two, I don't know who I'd take, (but I do know I'd have Cassidy play D). The thing is, I think Jeremy has had to do a lot more for Whitman than Cassidy has for UCSC. Also, I think Whitman stepping up and being better than expected has helped Jeremy, while UCSC underperforming for much of the season hasn't helped Cassidy. If UCSC wins regionals and Cassidy plays huge, I think people should consider him for the award. Still, I expect both players to make the all region team in the coming years, probably as soon as next year.

As far as the SW debate goes, I just don't know enough about Hylke Snieder from Colorado to comment. I guess I'll let The Pulse (that nickname was for you, Conor) do the talking for me:

I've played against both Markham and Hylke, and Markham, while I do think he's the better player, also means so much more to his team than Hylke. . . . He's a big part of [Claremont's] rise to contention in the SW.

Okay, there you have it.

*Can we all agree to pronounce FOTY like E-40 when he calls himself 40 Water? Just listen to Yay Area, and focus on the chorus.

Notes From SoCal Sectionals (Sexuals?)

Last weekend I used SoCal open sectional being hosted in Claremont as an excuse to make it down south and visit my alma mater and catch up with some non-frisbee friends. Well, I know you're probably not here to read about me chillin' at Mudd, so here goes that sectionals scouting reports thing.

I managed to watch:
Cal Poly-Pomona
Cal State-Long Beach
Cal Tech
Claremont
Claremont - B
Occidental
Redlands
San Diego
SDSU
UCLA
UCSB
USC

I figure I'll keep the reports down to teams that made regionals (it's always a shock to me the quality of some of the teams that make SW regionals, I guess that's what happens when your section sizes are 20, 8, and 5 for a region).

Cal Poly-Pomona: Um, they have girls on their open team. Their program is really young, and the enthusiasm for the sport is inspiring. I with them the best of luck as their team grows. They go into regionals seeded 16th, and will finish as such IMO.

Claremont: Their zone O is a lot better than the last time I saw it (in fact, it's good now). They rely on Stout and Jay to heavily, also, more people should want the disc in their own hands, sometimes it's just chicken shit to only cut deep.

Occidental: I saw them playing against Claremont-B, so I couldn't gain too much from watching them. I can say that they like to huck, and frequently travel while doing so. Okay funny story. I'm watching Claremont-B vs. Oxy with my boy Monkey (a sophomore at Mudd who wasn't playing ultimate due to injury, he was playing acoustic guitar covers of songs like Digital Love and Ignition (Remix)) and we were yelling at the B guys while they were on D. Well, one of the B guys not on the field turns to me and says, "Did you used to play?"

I reply "Yes." So he says "Why did you stop?" At this point, Monkey can't stand my dumb grinning anymore and says "Manz, do you know who this is? He's Joaq, the captain from last year." The B team kid sheepishly walked away and Monkey said "Sometimes I hate you, wanker."

SDSU: Not much has changed since the Stanford Qual. They don't play good man D, and instead have to rely on a match-up zone with poaches on the handlers. If you move the disc quickly, you should shred it. Steve isn't assertive enough and can be taken out of the game to easily.

UCLA: The Sultan is a baller on D. When Seraph is heated, they're a much better team. And finally, force Fozzy under, he's great in the air, but not as good with the disc. Um, make them throw a lot of throws to score, their handlers are okay with it, but it seems like their cutters don't want to have to grind things out.

UCSB: Rory was out, making Jeff handle. I don't think that'll happen at regionals. I do think that loosing A-bomb really hurt their D, because now not as many people can front. They really want to jam it up the sidelines, and don't want to have to use the middle of the field. They'll throw clam on a turn, and it's pretty good, but not as good as last year's when Alex was lurking deep. Also, Tide has always been good about not showing their hand at sectionals, I think that'll hold true this year as well.

Okay, that's all from sectionals in terms of Ultimate. I can say it was fun doing halftime shows for the easy games on day 1. Also hosting sectionals in Claremont was a great idea for the Brains, and there'll be more field space next year, so it might happen again. Word.

Edit: Jay deserves credit for at least half of my blog posts.

All-Region Hype NW & SW

I think what All-Region really means is ambiguous and I've talked to many people who have different thoughts on the matter. So, before I make my pics, I'll elaborate on what I think the all-region team represents. I've heard two dominating theories, both of which I disagree with (to some extent).

The first theory is the all-region team is a regionals tournament team. I guess the logic here is that regionals is the only meaningful tournament for a majority of the good teams in the region. Still, I think there is more to all-region than just one tournament, and even the people who subscribe to the tournament team view definitely know who their looking for before hand.

The second theory claims that the all-region team is a reword for work put in all season. I think this is unfair because it overly benefits those who have played stronger competition. Also, I think the ability for teams to peek for the series is important.

So, this brings me to my theory. The all-region team is about the series. Basically, players should be rewarded for how they perform when there is something besides sectionals seeding on the line. I think this explains a few all-region decisions from the past few seasons in the SW (no Assa in '06 and no Rory in '07). Still, it makes me wonder how Mike Stout, Senior, Claremont got it last year (the UPA should check with schools before the post all-region teams to make suer their info is correct. I guess someone should also tell them that MStout was a Junior last year and goes by Michael not Mike). Anyway, with those qualifications in mind, here goes my all-region breakdown in terms of people I think are locks, likely, and deserving (I'll only write about the regions I know well, and watching TiV, SI, and Centex doesn't mean you know all the regions well).

NW
The parity and depth in the NW this year makes it hard to decide on an all-region team. Once a player makes all-region it's typically hard to leave them off the list the following year. That being said, I think there is a lot of potential for some of last years all-region recipients to be left off the list this year. I think the team that wins the region will get two players on the all-region team. There is a chance the second place team will also get two, but that more depends on who finishes second. I also think each top 4 team will have at least one representative.

Locks:

Mark Sherwood, Stanford - I think this is an obvious choice. Sherwood is widely considered one of the best college players in the country, and is the focal point of everything Stanford does.

Likely:

Dusty Becker, Oregon - Having made it last year, I only see dusty being left out if UO fails to make a game-to-go. I guess putting Dusty here tells you something of what I think of Ego's chances (um, good).

Mark Leduc, UBC - UBC is a very top heavy team and Leduc manages to stand out among their top players. If the T-birds make the top 4 at reagionals, I don't see how you can leave him off the list.

Danny Karlinsky, UCSC - Danny is the face (or at least perceived voice) of the Santa Cruz program, and his leadership // throws put him among the top handlers in the region. SC winning sectionals is a good start, now if they finish top 5 at regionals Danny will repeat as all-region.

Kevin Stout, Oregon - If UO makes nationals, KStout is on the all-region team. If not, he'll have to once again be the clearly dominant athlete at regionals to make the team (yeah, I think he'll do it).

Deserving (there's some order to this list, see if you can figure it out):

Nate Castine, Western Washington - Great player and nice guy. Western might be a year away, but if they make enough noise, it'll probably be because of Castine. Definitely all-region '09.

Nick Chapman, UCSC - Chapman is the go to receiver for the Slugs, along with one of their best cutter defenders. If UCSC makes nationals, I have to assume they'll get two people on the all-region team. I think Nick is at least second in line from the Slugs, but there is always a chance one of his teammates will steal his thunder at regionals.

Charles Denby, Cal - The perception that Cal has no stars hurts Charles's chances, but his insistence on getting open under helps. Still, I think Cal will have to win regionals for Charles to make it.

Choongil Fleischman, Cal - I think Choon's chances are better than Charles's because of his impact on D. If Cal is in the game-to-go, I think Choon deserves all-region.

Tom James, Stanford - If they win, he's in, in my book. Great on D, and has to do a lot for Stanford to be successful against athletic teams.

Michael Liu, LPC - I don't really think LPC has a chance of getting anyone on all-region, mostly because of the prejudice against them. That being said, enough people like 808 to give him a chance if LPC makes UPA Nationals (they'll go to D-III if they don't make UPAs, I think).

Joe "BJ" Sefton, Washington - Washington's finish at sectionals helps BJ a lot here. If they can make the top 5 at regionals, it'll be because they relied heavily on BJ (and Dutch). Anyway, if they're in it on Sunday, BJ will have a shot at all-region.

James Yeager, UCSC - Amazing handler defender, and the anchor of the Slug's dline O. If the Slugs make nationals there's a pretty good chance Yeager played huge at regionals.

FOTY: Jeremy Norden, Whitman - I think he's had this locked up since Vegas. That being said, I think Cassidy Rasmussen should get some dap if UCSC wins regionals.

SW
Doling out SW all-region spots seem pretty straight forward to me (at least compared to the NW). It's true that there is a depth of candidates, but I think the lack of depth in terms of teams helps in determining who gets it. I'd give the winner of the region three spots on the team, the second place team two spots, and 3rd team would get one, with the last spot a little more up for grabs. With that said, it'll be hard to keep Colorado and Arizona from getting two guys each on the team, no matter where they finish.

Locks:

Jolian Dahl, Colorado - Word.

Austin Gregerson, Arizona - In my opinion Austin is the best player on Arizona (even if he doesn't have the same psychological effect on the rest of the team as Gafni or Kershner). He's both one of the best throwers and receivers in the country, in addition to playing some of the best deep D.

Joe Kershner, Arizona - Everyone's favorite Arizona player, and understandably so. He's a well rounded player, and amazingly explosive.

Michael Stout, Clarmeont - On the team last year, and only more beastly this year (and hopefully less injured at regionals). I really don't see any way to leave him off the list, also, it'd be cool if brothers were on different all-region teams consecutive years.

Mac Taylor, Colorado - Arguable the best player on Mamabird, and certainly the one that creates the most matchup problems.

Likely:
Jeffrey Silverman, UCSB - Missed a lot of the season, but clearly the key player for SB at sectionals (and likely will be at reagionals). If they get only one representative, I'd go with Jeff.

Deserving:

Daniel 'Maniac' Bobrowsky, Claremont - Claremont relies on a pretty tight rotation, and there are a lot of candidates for a possible second representative, I think Maniac stands out the most. Because MStout hasn't been as much of a threat with the disc since his labrum surgery, having maniac step up as a primary cutter // thrower has been huge for the brains. His hucks are amazing, as is his D and ability to get open.

Martin Cochran, Colorado - Martin is an interesting case. He's made the team the past two years, but if Colorado doesn't win the region this year, I don't see them getting three all-region representatives. Still, his impact on Mamabird is immense, allowing people to not play out of position.

Eric Gafni, Arizona - Gaf is a big-time leader and receiver for Sunburn. In addition, he's not hesitant in putting up hucks (like the rest of the 'zona guys). If Arizona wins the region, I think he'll get their third spot.

Rory Orloff, UCSB - Rory was hurt at sectionals, which hurts him a little, but he can easily make that back at regionals. Hopefully he'll be able to play, I wouldn't with missing your last two years of eligibility for injury reasons on anyone. If the Tide goes to nationals, Rory is easily on the all-region squad. If they make the game-to-go, I guess he and Jeff will just have to fight to the death to determine who get all-region.

Steve Prodan, SDSU - As Steve goes, so goes the feds. When he's able to get the disc you can count on break mark hucks and easy goals for SDSU. Otherwise, their O often becomes stagnant. With the results SDSU has put up this year it wouldn't be too surprising to see them in contention on Sunday, if they're there, Steve deserves a lot of credit.

Chris Shepard, Arizona - Shep is a great thrower and a reliable anchor for the Arizona offense, weather dline or oline. Without his calm handling, their other stars wouldn't be able to shine.

Ben 'Seraph' Tong, UCLA - Seraph is probably the most explosive player I've ever played with. He has all the tools, and is clearly the focal point for UCLA when they're successful. It sometimes seems like he gets frustrated with his team to easily, but other times it seems like he makes every big play in their victories (like over SDSU at sectionals).

FOTY: Markham Shofner, Claremont - Word.

I realized I left out two teams that have good chances of being in contention on Sunday of their respective regionals, Whitman and UCSD. Don't worry, I had my reasons. Whitman because I've haven't seen much of them, and because I don't think Jeremy has a shot at all-region as a freshman. And UCSD because I think they're even more of a faceless army than Cal.

I won't give up who I think will actually get all-region, because that'd give away my pics for regioanls, and I'm not quite ready to do that. Anyway, feel free to comment, but please actually address the post instead of just throwing out more names. it's lame to not respond, but instead try and just make your own mini post (I guess I'm just asking for it now, fuck).

DUI Recap

This past weekend I played in my first ever tryout tournament. I think I'm moving into the veteran ranks of trying out soon. I played with half of Revolver (we were called Bulldog). Anyway, game by game . . .

Game 1: S-M-A-U-G Smaug! Smaug! (UCLA)

We got to play my old SoCal friends first game. They've got sectionals next weekend and are looking to peak at the right time. The game went about as I expected, UClA made some execution errors, and we didn't. Still, there were some things I didn't expect, notably UCLA hucking a lot, and those hucks not coming to or from Seraph. I think they'll tighten the rotation a bit next weekend and lean more heavily on Seraph/Sultan/Devinci. Final score 15-7 ish.

Game 2: YR

They came out fired up, we came out without much chemistry on O. Not a big surprise for a team with only 7 returners, at least 4 of whom played D last year. We scored on O first, then they scored 5 strait before we finally scored on O again. Well, getting our D on the field was a good decision. We wound up taking half 8-6 to on a 7-1 run. Early in the second half we were able to reap the benefits of them having such a tight O rotation and continue take and build to a 12-8 lead. And a 15-9 final. I think this game speaks volumes towards teams giving the D line a shot on O after maybe two consecutive breaks.

Game 3: Condors

Um, I think they broke us three straight times before we got on the board. That's right, in typical Bulldog fashion we were down 3-1 before the D got on the field. Well, also in typical Bulldog fashion we took half 8-6 (awesome). We wound up winning 15-11 ish. Wow, that was my first time beating any team called The Condors. That was a big moment for me. I played all right, but got beat deep once or twice (I also got the D on a deep shot).

The game against the Condors concluded our day and Revolver headed over (two blocks over) to The Graduate for greasy food and final 4 b-ball. Well, I could only stay for like 30 min before having to jet to B-town for a dinner party (so good). Anyway, the night was fun, but I didn't quite have the time I usually do in Berkeley, but only because I had to get up at 8:20 to make it to the fields by 10:00.

The next morning was easy and headache-less (rare for Sundays when I wake up in Berkeley) and I was able to make it to the fields 3rd out of everyone on my team.

Game 4 (Quarters): J-men

Um, it was lame and boring. Luckily, this was the game I played worse in (two drops, the only two turns I had with Bulldog).

Game 5 (Semis): Spoonbender (Jam)

I spent this game trying to stay with Matt Bruss. It should have gone better, but I can't say it was a total failure. There was only one point where my man touched the disc multiple times, but Matt did score some goals on me. While I was guarding him Bruss was hucked to 5 times, 3 resulting in goals and two in turns. Unfortunately, we didn't convert any of our upwind chances on D, turing it over 5 yards out twice, and turning it after both of the timeouts the D called. Anyway, this was a game we could have won, and I'd like to be in this matchup again.

Magnum, the other Revolver split squad, also lost in the semis. So, instead of essentially scrimmaging, both teams called it quits to socialize instead. Well, Charles and I decided it'd be more useful to us as tryouts to play with YR in their last consolation game.

Game 6 (with YR): Smaug

Both teams were very tiered, one happened to play a game predicated on high percentage throws and disc movement while the other relied on big strikes. It was fun playing with YR and getting to be a primary cutter. I found that it was easier to take on a large role with these guys than with the revolver guys. Mostly, I didn't feel out classed in the throws department. Anyway, we won easily and I played well scoring a few goals and assisting on a couple. Still I had a turnover, that shouldn't happen. I had a good time playing with these guys.

All in all it was a fun weekend, the tryout season is in full swing. I can't wait until the season starts after Cal States.

Fools Recap

Last weekend I got to play with my two favorite teams in my favorite tournament. What a treat. Anyway, here goes the boring style recap.

Game 1: Claremont vs. YR
Claremont was without their three primary throwers for this tournament so I tried to fill that role (luckily it's what I did last year). Also of note, this version of YR was clearly a tryout team, and they weren't trotting out top lines or anything like that. I don't remember all the specifics of the game, but I do remember that we went up a couple of breaks in the first half. We then proceeded to give one or two back in the second half before the hard cap blew with us up by two. They had the disc and Gordy decided he'd pad his states getting his 4th layout D of the game and letting us score the final goal.

What stuck out to me most in this game about my own play was how out of shape I am compared with this time last year. I played far fewer points then I would have last year and was far more tiered. Where the two teams are concerned, YR really liked their IO breaks, and they moved the disc really well. Still, height on D was an issue for them, but I think that will get worked out as the season approaches. Where Claremont is concerned, I was impressed with the younger players, they seem to have good heads for the game, instead of just running aimlessly. I think it's more a lack of skills instead of understanding (play club this sumer guys, really).

Game 2/3: DTB vs. Cruz current and past.

These games blended together for me. It was all a swirl of sweet beats and playing against UCSC hommies. I played pretty well in these games, as did my brown teammates. Still, I got D'd once on a huck, that sucked, and I put a little too much zing on an upline throw to Jimmy. I had a couple of goals and assists, along with a D or two. Winning these two games won us the pool and put us in a crossover game with YR.

Game 4: YR (again)

This time the outcome didn't seem as uncertain before the game. Also, it was funny to hear people getting frustrated about Nick getting touches. They were like "Will someone shut down the fat kid?" I just bit my tongue. We won.

That was it for the games on day one. We helped DJ dave load up the truck and all sat down for the circle. It was great, it always is, and I look forward to sitting down with everyone once again. After we finished up Haddock and I picked up some food at Charlie Hong Kong's and headed back to my place. We eventually made it down to the party at Rosie's. It was a lot of fun, as it always is. Okay, on to day two.

Game 5: Claremont

We rejected the box, mostly because we don't take handouts (and we were afraid they wanted Manhattan). Anyway, I didn't play in this game until it was like 7-3. I went on for D, guarded Rook, and we scored. Rook did manage to get the disc once, that kind of bothered me, but hey, he has broad shoulders and I wasn't going to try and bit through a good friend. Anyway, I only played like 6 points that game. Jay commented that it was boring while I guarded him. It was like practice or something. Jay did have a good game though, including a layout D on the first point. We wound up wining 15-10, I think it would have been a bit closer if Claremont wasn't missing 3 of their top 10 guys.

Game 6: LA/SB

We were up 10-9 on O going down wind on O. They got the break, we didn't recover. I can't wait for a shot at winning this tournament next year. We'll see.

I really enjoyed playing with and meeting new people. Also, I dug playing open again (first time since college regionals last year). DTB will come back stronger in '09. Word.

Stanford Invite // Qual Scouting Reports

These past two weekends have been great for watching and getting back into the swing of things with ultimate. Seeing as game by game recaps would be boring, and nobody really wants to know the details of me hanging out with X at the 5 booth or hitting on the Texas girls (hot), I figured I'd just throw out some scouting reports (kind of like what I did for club teams this past summer, man, I didn't know what I was talking about, that seems to be a theme). Anyway, here it goes.

From the qual:
UW: They have a lot of height, but they don't seem to be that explosive outside of a few top guys. I think they would benefit from having Dutch and BJ play more on both sides of the disc. On the other hand, they focus really well, and seem to have dedicated coaches. Not much, but that's all I got from one game watching them. Um, force backhand, Dutch's flick is that good.

SDSU: Make Daze work to get the disc. It all runs through him, and if he's tiered he'll have more turns. Also, have the dump defender watch his feet for the first three-four seconds he has the disc. He travels to set up his throws, but not on the throws themselves. Also, their dump set is always the same. First guy up line, front of the stack strait back. It works a lot, but they don't do a good job of going deep from the front, so it should be easy to adjust.

Claremont: You're fucked. :)

From the invite:

Pitt: They move the disc well with their handlers, shut down the around and they'll be hurting. Also, pressure their under cuts, they're not trying to huck right away, so make those first few hard. They have a good 4 man cup zone, and you won't beat it by working the disc side to side; once you're around the cup you need to attack downfield by fast breaking // give-and-go-ing, then they'll crumble (out of the zone).

Arizona: Loppy and Snatch are all region players. I like these guys to give up too much more for free. Um, pressure the dump.

Stanford: Make Sherwood stay around the disc, it's not that hard, because he's often near the front of the stack. Make people besides Ezra, TJ, and Sherwood beat you. Pressure their young throwers, intelligent poaches can hurt them.

Texas: No around, make them prove it with the IO throws. Go deep on them. stay at home, poaching won't help you.

UBC: They want to huck, don't over commit on the first in cut, they're just setting you up to go deep. Make them throw more throws, and expose their lack of depth with patient O.

Wisconsin: Their defenders really want to get the D on the inc-ut, once you turn you hips and take a step or two, they'll close their cushion. Take them deep on the double move, oh, and don't float your huck. Um, try poaching? I really don't know how to stop their O.

That's all I got for now. Maybe I'll write something else, like about how awesome 5ultimate is, or how cultimate is trying to good things, even if they seem unresponsive, but don't count on it.