Today Cultimate announced that they are prepared to offer a total of $7000 to the two best college ultimate teams in their respective gender divisions over the course of their four-tournament spring series. On top of that, they're donating $1000 to the school whose alumni team wins the Open Alum division of Club Trouble in Vegas. Their Collegiate Championships Series includes Warm Up: A Florida Affair (Jan 19-20), Trouble in Vegas (Feb 8-10), Stanford Invite (March 8-9), and Centex (March 22-23).
So far, Florida, Oregon, and Wisconsin's mens teams have committed to attending all three of the major events (TiV, SI, Centex), along with the Washington womens team. Conceivably, most elite teams are going to want to follow suit, strengthening the reputation of these three already high-level tournaments. Stanford will not be joining in, at least on the mens side - the schedule this year does not allow for back to back three-day tournaments in Vegas and Hawaii.
But what does this mean for tournaments that hope to host the local elite teams? While it's unlikely that the Santa Barbara Invite will be affected by Warm Up this year, tournaments like Queens City Tune Up, Terminus, Easterns, and Pres Day that have typically hosted teams like Wisconsin, UNC, Georgia, UCSD, Colorado and others may be faced with a field more representative of Regional than National rivalries. And will newer tournaments like Mike Gerics' Spring Collegiates be able to attract the strong field that they're hoping for?
As long as Vegas continues to host 64 mens teams, there will be an outlet for younger or up-and-coming teams to test their mettle against the strongest teams in the country. But when Centex boasts a stronger field than Nationals and Stanford Invite only has one spot for a qualifying team, it may end up that local teams don't see the strongest teams in the area until Sectionals and Regionals.
The Collegiate Championships Series will not spell the end for UPA College Nationals. As gratifying as it is to be recognized as the best team over the months of the regular season, especially with a $5000 or $2000 prize, the best teams will still aim to peak at Nationals. Had the 2003 Stanford team won a Collegiate Championship Series, I think that every member of the team would have traded it in for a National Championship. The fact that every single college team in the country is competing against each other for one single championship is something special. College Nationals will not turn into a red-headed stepchild "Canadian Nationals" that teams only care about when a Worlds berth is on the line.
The infusion of money into the college game initially comes as a shock, considering how much the NCAA regulates money and amateur status in every varsity sport. It's not inconceivable that this college season is a test run for a larger bid at an elite club competition circuit during the summer and fall. The Texas Livelogic Shootout has been held for the past few years, with several thousand dollars up for grabs to the winning team. But it's mostly local Texas teams - including a splitsquad Doublewide - and Johnny Bravo that play in that tournament. It's not the money that makes the CCS exciting, although it doesn't hurt. It's the prospect of increased intense elite competition. After all, Stanford Invite already has a stronger field than last year - with Wisconsin and Florida committing to attend, the tournament has locked up 3 of last year's semifinalists.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
CHS Alumni Game 2007
After several years of terrible Thanksgiving weather, including rain, ice, sleet, snow, and 40-mph winds, it seemed that 2007 would be different. The weather in Maplewood at 5 pm was a balmy 69 degrees. But by 7:45, the time most of the active team assembled at the lot, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. In the dark, the temperature dropped down to 45 degrees, and the swirling winds picked up. They would change direction several times over the course of the game, but they never abated. By 8:15, several alumni could be seen up and throwing - mostly younger players like Evan Padget, '05 (Colorado), and Stephen Panasci, '06 (NC State).
As alumni and parents drifted in, murmurs spread through the crowd. Where was Joe Barbanel, '72? When he finally showed up, with his bright silver hair in stark contrast to his old-school red RPI jersey, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and got ready to begin the game. The alumni huddled together around 8:45, and there was a noticeable void in the circle without iconic line-caller Spencer Rosengarten, '88. But Bill Blatcher, '82, stepped up to the plate this year and called out a first line that stretched over 28 years. Joe Barbanel, class of 1972. Dave Paris, class of 1980. Doug Wolski, class of 1984. Larry Anouna, class of 1987. Benny Haim (ex-NC State/Rutgers), class of 1998. Anthony Nunez, class of 1998. Matt Kushner (ex-NYU), class of 1999. Noticeably missing were alumni from the late 70's and early 90's.
The first line suffered from miscommunication errors and were just not fast enough to keep up with all seven players on the active line. Captain Brian Walter, '08, scored the game's opening goal, and two more followed in quick succession. The first alumni line went down, 0-3, under intense pressure from the actives. The second line was made up of 2000 and 2001 graduates - Emilio Panasci (Pike) and Shawn Murphy from 2000, and Raj Prasad (Black Molly), Ari Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, Ben Sprung (Tandem, 2005 college national champion with Brown), and Amit Simha from 2001. Although this line was used to playing together, they too fell victim to the active team. The actives brought out their zone for the first time, and Brian Walter gobbled up any deep throws that came his way. They game had only just begun, and already it looked out of reach for the alumni, down 0-6.
The third line brought out five of the homeschooled alumni CHS has used in the past: two Yates's (Mike, '02, and Tim, '05), two Cincottas (Joel, '02, and Nick, '03), and one Cooney (Eddie, '05), along with Ed Frowley (Boston University), '03, and Jake Levine, '05. After surrendering a seventh straight point to the actives where Walter torched Cooney deep, the alumni finally got on the board with Jake Levine's short endzone cut and catch. An emphatic spike followed, and yells from the sideline of "He didn't even play in high school!" dogged the actives as they walked back to the line. The alumni managed to get a D and then another goal, and at 2-7 the alumni might have held hopes of starting a comeback.
The next line in was what remained of the CHS team that got 2nd place at Easterns in 2005, missing notable players Campbell Morrissy (Colorado), '05, currently in Australia, and Michael Johnston, '05, currently in Wisconsin. The line still had former captain Evan Padget, Michael Rubin (Maryland), '05, Travis Volpe, '05, Jaryd Emmens, '05, Ryan Thompson (Stanford), '06, and Stephen Panasci. The 7th was Eric Cooney, '07, and the team came down strong in a straight-up man defense, trying to deny the huck. After several turns by both teams, the alumni turned the disc over by their own endzone and paid for it, going down 2-8. Off of the ensuing pull, Eric Cooney was replaced by Jesse Moy (Skidmore), '07, and Columbia came down in a hard zone defense, exploiting the wind in the faces of the alumni. After a lot of swinging on their own goalline, the alumni turned it over and found themselves receiving at 2-9, in the small endzone. As the pull came down, Thompson tried to stop the disc with his foot, but a gust of wind pushed the disc into his foot before it hit the ground, giving the actives the disc on the goalline. But Thompson got redemption as he stalled Sam Cohen-Wade, '08, and the alumni quickly turned the disc over against Columbia's zone. But Emmens got a big D on an ill-advised hammer and the alumni began to work the zone, finally turning the disc over in the opposite endzone - but getting it right back on the line. Thompson to Padget for the goal, 3-9.
With an uneven number of players, the alumni turned to mixed-generational line to close out the half. Eric Cooney and Jake Barreiro, '07, were joined by Barbanel, a late-arriving Ed Summers, '72, Paris, Wolski, and Anouna. Despite Barbanel forcing a turnover as the "chase" mark in the alumni zone, the actives got the disc back and scored, and then their own zone forced a quick turn. At half the score was 11-3, actives. In the absence of a rousing Rosengarten halftime speech, talk quickly turned to which "kill line" should be put in the game to help drag the alumni back. Padget, Nunez, and Haim all collaborated on the line and finally decided to bring out Mio Panasci, Prasad, Ben Sprung, Joel and Nick Cincotta, Padget, and Thompson.
Receiving out of the half, the kill line patiently worked the disc against the active team's zone and punched it in. But the next two points did not work nearly as well, and a rocket hammer from Captain Zander Padget, '08, to Brian Walter, just barely beat out a fast-closing Joel Cincotta. On the ensuing offensive possession, once again turnovers close to their own goal hurt the alumni. After going 1-2, that "kill line" headed to the sidelines talking strategy, and the next "bomb squad" headed to the line. Nunez, Prasad, Frowley, Rubin, Stephen Panasci, Eric Cooney, and Moy tried to bring back the deficit. But the line had communication issues, and a couple of turnovers on dumps doomed the alumni. A bulleted huck from just outside the scoring endzone was almost caught by Moy in the brush by the train tracks, but the pass fell incomplete. Again, the line went 1-2 and down 5-15, the alumni began to mumble on the sidelines about reaching double digits. Also on the sideline, Joe Barbanel, Benny Haim, and Jake Levine could be overheard discussing the "Joe Barbanel" facebook that the two younger alums had set up in honor of his performance at last year's alumni game.
The next line was the same as the first line out of halftime, except with Matt Kushner replacing Raj. The actives came down zone again, and Thompson's scoober over the top was dropped by Joel Cincotta, giving the actives the disc only a couple feet out of the endzone. Heading back to the line, the alumni agreed that working the disc against the zone was pointless if cold hands and muscles would just give the disc to the actives with a short field. But the actives came down in man, and the alumni took advantage, working the disc up the open side until Thompson hit Kushner in the front of the small endzone to claw another point back. 6-16. On the last point for their line, the alumni's straight-up defense forced turnovers and missed throws by the actives, and the alumni scored a second-straight goal for their second break of the game. 7-16.
Was a comeback mounting? Blatcher opened up the rotation a little, letting Anouna, Haim, Volpe, Frowley, Tim Yates, and Emmens back into the game, while giving late arrival Brett Druck, '04, his first PT of the night in his jeans, dress shirt, and sweater. After Frowley picked up a big D in the alumni zone, his huck to Benny Haim looked a sure goal, until Haim stumbled in the endzone and fell to the ground, with the disc landing agonizingly close. The actives took advantage and scored, but another D by Frowley set up a short field for the alumni on the ensuing possession. It was a perfectly thrown inside out backhand from Anouna to Druck that raised the spirits of the alumni and kept the deficit under 10. 8-17. The line's last point once again found the disc on their hands in the endzone, but Frowley couldn't hold on to an ill-advised and partially D'ed pass up the line. 8-18.
Another split-generation line found themselves on the line, under pressure to score at least once to let another line play afterwards. Barbanel and Summers represented the 70's, and they were joined by Prasad, Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, and Amit Simha (all 2001) and Judith Garder (Rutgers), '07. While the alumni's zone caused a few turnovers, the actives' swarming man defense pressured Summers and Prasad into turnovers. However, on their second point, the line assured at least one more line would take the field. After a quick turnover by the tracks by the actives, Barbanel picked up the disc. His teammates rushed past him into the endzone, but on stall 7 he threw an inside-out backhand (while forced forehand) straight into the waiting arms of Prasad. Their run ended after Brian Walter gobbled up a huck meant for Judith, eliciting a chorus of boos from the sidelines, and the actives took a 20-9 lead.
The line called on the sidelines was "Dave Paris, class of 1980! Plus 6 others!" He was joined by Nunez, Emilio Panasci, Joel Cincotta, Mike Rubin, Evan Padget, and Ryan Thompson. Some members of the sideline called for Evan to come off for Vanessa Low (Rutgers), '05, but Evan refused and stayed on the field. We received and worked the disc, eventually resulting in a blistering Panasci huck to both Padget and Thompson, who had outdistanced their defenders. The alumni stayed alive for another point. After an excellent pull, pinning Josh Cincotta, '08, in the corner of their endzone by the tracks, the alumni cup stymied him, and as he tried to break through the cup, Thompson got his fingers on the disc. It skidded across the pavement to Nunez, who looked off his first cutter but hit Joel on an upline cut to bring the alumni tally to 11.
The next point of the game may have been its longest. The alumni threw a 1-3-3 zone, with Thompson chasing the disc, a wall of 3 players, and 3 players further downfield. The actives were patient, with Tim Morrissy, '09, Josh Cincotta, and Zander Padget smoothly working the disc with lots of high backhands and around forehands. Joel Cincotta got several D's for the alumni, but Thompson and Panasci gave the disc back with hucks to a well-covered Evan Padget, as Brian Walter gobbled up the less-than-perfect throws. Eventually, after a long goalline stand, the alumni defense finally caved and the actives were able to punch in the final goal for a 21-11 win in slightly more than two hours, for one of the shortest alumni games in recent memory.
The active team was notable for their high energy and sideline presence throughout the entire game, including rushing the field after many scores, and combating alumni heckles with barbs of their own. After the game, brothers and parents greeted each other, friends said their goodbyes, and another alumni game was in the books. That makes the overall record 24-11-1 in favor of the alumni, with two games unaccounted for. A string of 38 consecutive alumni games, and one of the best alumni networks in the country. Hopefully, the next two years will see more alumni presence, with the 40th anniversary of the team and then the 40th anniversary of the alumni game.
Five alumni played four lines, tying for the most points played at 12. Only Joel Cincotta scored more points than he gave up (7-5), and Evan Padget and Ryan Thompson were 6-6. Emilio Panasci was 5-7, and Raj Prasad was a woeful 3-9.
As alumni and parents drifted in, murmurs spread through the crowd. Where was Joe Barbanel, '72? When he finally showed up, with his bright silver hair in stark contrast to his old-school red RPI jersey, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and got ready to begin the game. The alumni huddled together around 8:45, and there was a noticeable void in the circle without iconic line-caller Spencer Rosengarten, '88. But Bill Blatcher, '82, stepped up to the plate this year and called out a first line that stretched over 28 years. Joe Barbanel, class of 1972. Dave Paris, class of 1980. Doug Wolski, class of 1984. Larry Anouna, class of 1987. Benny Haim (ex-NC State/Rutgers), class of 1998. Anthony Nunez, class of 1998. Matt Kushner (ex-NYU), class of 1999. Noticeably missing were alumni from the late 70's and early 90's.
The first line suffered from miscommunication errors and were just not fast enough to keep up with all seven players on the active line. Captain Brian Walter, '08, scored the game's opening goal, and two more followed in quick succession. The first alumni line went down, 0-3, under intense pressure from the actives. The second line was made up of 2000 and 2001 graduates - Emilio Panasci (Pike) and Shawn Murphy from 2000, and Raj Prasad (Black Molly), Ari Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, Ben Sprung (Tandem, 2005 college national champion with Brown), and Amit Simha from 2001. Although this line was used to playing together, they too fell victim to the active team. The actives brought out their zone for the first time, and Brian Walter gobbled up any deep throws that came his way. They game had only just begun, and already it looked out of reach for the alumni, down 0-6.
The third line brought out five of the homeschooled alumni CHS has used in the past: two Yates's (Mike, '02, and Tim, '05), two Cincottas (Joel, '02, and Nick, '03), and one Cooney (Eddie, '05), along with Ed Frowley (Boston University), '03, and Jake Levine, '05. After surrendering a seventh straight point to the actives where Walter torched Cooney deep, the alumni finally got on the board with Jake Levine's short endzone cut and catch. An emphatic spike followed, and yells from the sideline of "He didn't even play in high school!" dogged the actives as they walked back to the line. The alumni managed to get a D and then another goal, and at 2-7 the alumni might have held hopes of starting a comeback.
The next line in was what remained of the CHS team that got 2nd place at Easterns in 2005, missing notable players Campbell Morrissy (Colorado), '05, currently in Australia, and Michael Johnston, '05, currently in Wisconsin. The line still had former captain Evan Padget, Michael Rubin (Maryland), '05, Travis Volpe, '05, Jaryd Emmens, '05, Ryan Thompson (Stanford), '06, and Stephen Panasci. The 7th was Eric Cooney, '07, and the team came down strong in a straight-up man defense, trying to deny the huck. After several turns by both teams, the alumni turned the disc over by their own endzone and paid for it, going down 2-8. Off of the ensuing pull, Eric Cooney was replaced by Jesse Moy (Skidmore), '07, and Columbia came down in a hard zone defense, exploiting the wind in the faces of the alumni. After a lot of swinging on their own goalline, the alumni turned it over and found themselves receiving at 2-9, in the small endzone. As the pull came down, Thompson tried to stop the disc with his foot, but a gust of wind pushed the disc into his foot before it hit the ground, giving the actives the disc on the goalline. But Thompson got redemption as he stalled Sam Cohen-Wade, '08, and the alumni quickly turned the disc over against Columbia's zone. But Emmens got a big D on an ill-advised hammer and the alumni began to work the zone, finally turning the disc over in the opposite endzone - but getting it right back on the line. Thompson to Padget for the goal, 3-9.
With an uneven number of players, the alumni turned to mixed-generational line to close out the half. Eric Cooney and Jake Barreiro, '07, were joined by Barbanel, a late-arriving Ed Summers, '72, Paris, Wolski, and Anouna. Despite Barbanel forcing a turnover as the "chase" mark in the alumni zone, the actives got the disc back and scored, and then their own zone forced a quick turn. At half the score was 11-3, actives. In the absence of a rousing Rosengarten halftime speech, talk quickly turned to which "kill line" should be put in the game to help drag the alumni back. Padget, Nunez, and Haim all collaborated on the line and finally decided to bring out Mio Panasci, Prasad, Ben Sprung, Joel and Nick Cincotta, Padget, and Thompson.
Receiving out of the half, the kill line patiently worked the disc against the active team's zone and punched it in. But the next two points did not work nearly as well, and a rocket hammer from Captain Zander Padget, '08, to Brian Walter, just barely beat out a fast-closing Joel Cincotta. On the ensuing offensive possession, once again turnovers close to their own goal hurt the alumni. After going 1-2, that "kill line" headed to the sidelines talking strategy, and the next "bomb squad" headed to the line. Nunez, Prasad, Frowley, Rubin, Stephen Panasci, Eric Cooney, and Moy tried to bring back the deficit. But the line had communication issues, and a couple of turnovers on dumps doomed the alumni. A bulleted huck from just outside the scoring endzone was almost caught by Moy in the brush by the train tracks, but the pass fell incomplete. Again, the line went 1-2 and down 5-15, the alumni began to mumble on the sidelines about reaching double digits. Also on the sideline, Joe Barbanel, Benny Haim, and Jake Levine could be overheard discussing the "Joe Barbanel" facebook that the two younger alums had set up in honor of his performance at last year's alumni game.
The next line was the same as the first line out of halftime, except with Matt Kushner replacing Raj. The actives came down zone again, and Thompson's scoober over the top was dropped by Joel Cincotta, giving the actives the disc only a couple feet out of the endzone. Heading back to the line, the alumni agreed that working the disc against the zone was pointless if cold hands and muscles would just give the disc to the actives with a short field. But the actives came down in man, and the alumni took advantage, working the disc up the open side until Thompson hit Kushner in the front of the small endzone to claw another point back. 6-16. On the last point for their line, the alumni's straight-up defense forced turnovers and missed throws by the actives, and the alumni scored a second-straight goal for their second break of the game. 7-16.
Was a comeback mounting? Blatcher opened up the rotation a little, letting Anouna, Haim, Volpe, Frowley, Tim Yates, and Emmens back into the game, while giving late arrival Brett Druck, '04, his first PT of the night in his jeans, dress shirt, and sweater. After Frowley picked up a big D in the alumni zone, his huck to Benny Haim looked a sure goal, until Haim stumbled in the endzone and fell to the ground, with the disc landing agonizingly close. The actives took advantage and scored, but another D by Frowley set up a short field for the alumni on the ensuing possession. It was a perfectly thrown inside out backhand from Anouna to Druck that raised the spirits of the alumni and kept the deficit under 10. 8-17. The line's last point once again found the disc on their hands in the endzone, but Frowley couldn't hold on to an ill-advised and partially D'ed pass up the line. 8-18.
Another split-generation line found themselves on the line, under pressure to score at least once to let another line play afterwards. Barbanel and Summers represented the 70's, and they were joined by Prasad, Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, and Amit Simha (all 2001) and Judith Garder (Rutgers), '07. While the alumni's zone caused a few turnovers, the actives' swarming man defense pressured Summers and Prasad into turnovers. However, on their second point, the line assured at least one more line would take the field. After a quick turnover by the tracks by the actives, Barbanel picked up the disc. His teammates rushed past him into the endzone, but on stall 7 he threw an inside-out backhand (while forced forehand) straight into the waiting arms of Prasad. Their run ended after Brian Walter gobbled up a huck meant for Judith, eliciting a chorus of boos from the sidelines, and the actives took a 20-9 lead.
The line called on the sidelines was "Dave Paris, class of 1980! Plus 6 others!" He was joined by Nunez, Emilio Panasci, Joel Cincotta, Mike Rubin, Evan Padget, and Ryan Thompson. Some members of the sideline called for Evan to come off for Vanessa Low (Rutgers), '05, but Evan refused and stayed on the field. We received and worked the disc, eventually resulting in a blistering Panasci huck to both Padget and Thompson, who had outdistanced their defenders. The alumni stayed alive for another point. After an excellent pull, pinning Josh Cincotta, '08, in the corner of their endzone by the tracks, the alumni cup stymied him, and as he tried to break through the cup, Thompson got his fingers on the disc. It skidded across the pavement to Nunez, who looked off his first cutter but hit Joel on an upline cut to bring the alumni tally to 11.
The next point of the game may have been its longest. The alumni threw a 1-3-3 zone, with Thompson chasing the disc, a wall of 3 players, and 3 players further downfield. The actives were patient, with Tim Morrissy, '09, Josh Cincotta, and Zander Padget smoothly working the disc with lots of high backhands and around forehands. Joel Cincotta got several D's for the alumni, but Thompson and Panasci gave the disc back with hucks to a well-covered Evan Padget, as Brian Walter gobbled up the less-than-perfect throws. Eventually, after a long goalline stand, the alumni defense finally caved and the actives were able to punch in the final goal for a 21-11 win in slightly more than two hours, for one of the shortest alumni games in recent memory.
The active team was notable for their high energy and sideline presence throughout the entire game, including rushing the field after many scores, and combating alumni heckles with barbs of their own. After the game, brothers and parents greeted each other, friends said their goodbyes, and another alumni game was in the books. That makes the overall record 24-11-1 in favor of the alumni, with two games unaccounted for. A string of 38 consecutive alumni games, and one of the best alumni networks in the country. Hopefully, the next two years will see more alumni presence, with the 40th anniversary of the team and then the 40th anniversary of the alumni game.
Five alumni played four lines, tying for the most points played at 12. Only Joel Cincotta scored more points than he gave up (7-5), and Evan Padget and Ryan Thompson were 6-6. Emilio Panasci was 5-7, and Raj Prasad was a woeful 3-9.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Motivation
Mamabird 2007 Highlight Video
UVTV Wisconsin vs. Stanford Nationals Semifinals
I've watched both of these videos over and over again. Watching high-level college ultimate and watching my team lose has gotten me fired up before practice and tournaments more than anything else. These are the teams that we should be talking about, not LPC or Claremont. That's the level of play we should be aiming to surpass this spring, with the same level of intensity and drive. Watching Sockeye vs. Buzz Bullets tells me nothing about my team or how we need to play in order to win College Nationals. Seeing clips of Ring of Fire vs. GOAT from Club Nationals might be fun, but it does nothing for me. I won't be matching up against Chris Hinkle or John Hassell or Ben Wiggins. I'll be matching up against players like Muffin and Mac Taylor and Clark Bishop. Until then, nothing to do but practice and hit the weights.
UVTV Wisconsin vs. Stanford Nationals Semifinals
I've watched both of these videos over and over again. Watching high-level college ultimate and watching my team lose has gotten me fired up before practice and tournaments more than anything else. These are the teams that we should be talking about, not LPC or Claremont. That's the level of play we should be aiming to surpass this spring, with the same level of intensity and drive. Watching Sockeye vs. Buzz Bullets tells me nothing about my team or how we need to play in order to win College Nationals. Seeing clips of Ring of Fire vs. GOAT from Club Nationals might be fun, but it does nothing for me. I won't be matching up against Chris Hinkle or John Hassell or Ben Wiggins. I'll be matching up against players like Muffin and Mac Taylor and Clark Bishop. Until then, nothing to do but practice and hit the weights.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sean Ryan Recap
This was our last tournament of the fall season - three tournaments in four weeks. This was also as close to our spring team as we've seen all season. Eighteen of 23 members of Bloodthirsty 2008 played this weekend. It's a little sad to know that we won't play another tournament until Santa Barbara in late January (unless this Bay Area scrimmage happens), especially with CCC on December 1st and 2nd with teams like Wisconsin and Colorado attending. But now we can get together as a team and start developing and talking strategy. We played the entire fall with a rudimentary vertical stack, and until Sean Ryan we only played force forehand and backhand defense. I'm excited and ready for the spring season. It starts at practice today.
The weekend started off slow, and we came out sluggish against Humboldt. Maybe it was the late 11:30 start time. Maybe it was BNeil dislocating his shoulder in warmups (cutting!). Either way, soft cap went on as we took half 8-7, making it a game to 10. They were a huck-first team with athletes and some throwers, but they overshot their receivers a lot. We gave the disc right back as we tried to play the hucking game too, but our throws were all over the place. We only scored on one huck all game - when we worked the disc up the field we couldn't be stopped. We closed out the game 10-8 and moved over to face UCSC B.
The Santa Cruz B game was over quickly. Our rookies played a lot this game, got some layout D's, and made some ridiculous grabs. James caught an overthrown huck with a great layout in the back corner of the endzone for us to go up 1-0, and the game was basically over right there. We won 15-3 and got ready for Claremont.
Claremont had the best sideline cheer we heard all weekend - the zombie chant "Braaaaains!" was hilarious and a welcome alternative to anything out of UCSB. They also hucked a lot, and this game was close solely because our defenders got skied in the endzone over and over again. It would have been better if they'd at least jumped. This was without Stout. Also, during this game I broke a kid's face when I threw a backhand huck endzone to endzone. He jumped in front of my hand as I was throwing, and he got smashed in the eye/nose. Also notable was my lefty high backhand break for a goal and Doug remarking that my shorts were "so tight that I can see your pulse." We won the game 15-13 and drove back in heavy rain on windy, windy CA-17. Think miles of S-curves, Columbia alums.
On Sunday we were scheduled to play UCSB in the quarters after their 17-16 loss to Cal which decided the G pool. The game started fast, with both teams hucking effectively and playing hard defense. Tom played almost every single point in this game. We were playing well, but we had a really hard time stopping their hucks, especially to Tyler, who towered over us at 6'5" or 6'6". We basically traded early on, until they broke the game open with a few breaks towards the end of the game. We ended up losing 12-15, after a couple points where Jameson called a dubious foul on Schlag's deep D and Rory called a terrible foul on Sherwood's point block of his huck.
Rory: I respect you, Sherwood. Can't you respect my call?
Sherwood: Not if it's a terrible call like that!
But my favorite part of the game was Rory yelling at Ethan, screaming, "You're a fucking faggot! You're not going to play another point this whole fucking game!" about midway through the second half.
We moved a few fields down to a confusing diagonal field to play Oregon, who were sans Dusty but plus Stout. Both teams played a lot of rookies, and after going down 3-0 we finished the first half even on breaks 7-8. At one point in the second half, we played with only six players on the field after Luke thought that Stout scored for Oregon (when instead he dropped the disc) and walked off the field. There were also chippy discspace calls by the Unabomber, showing off his angry, wily veteran side. Oregon disagreed, but the 11th edition rules say what they say - let's all learn the rules! At one point Sherwood and Tom just threw to each other for the entire offensive possession. In the middle, Unabomber's deep voice broke out with the classic co-ed heckle, "Throw to your women!" We ended up winning that game 11-10 after Colin got a monstrous layout D on a breakside in-cut, and it was on to our third game of the season against LPC.
LPC beat us on Sunday of every tournament we'd played so far, and Sean Ryan was no different. True, we had a larger and better squad, which explained why the game was much closer. We were even on breaks until 9-9, when we started miscommunicating on offense, dropping discs, and leading receivers out of bounds. At one point they got two breaks in two minutes after turnovers on first throws after receiving the pull. Earlier in the game, we played some great defense and I got a stall in the back corner of the endzone, then turned the disc over on the goalline, and then got it back with a footblock. Put me back on the D team, coach! LPC threw some zone, and we had more silly turnovers. We generally fell apart at the end of the game, losing 15-10 and bringing our fall record against them to 0-3. It's good to have a bogey team to shoot for in the offseason.
Cal ended up winning Sean Ryan over UCSC, making it two tournaments in a row for them. Oregon and Stanford finished 8th and 6th, respectively, but I don't know anyone who expects the same come Regionals. It looks like UBC is back on top of the Washington/BC section after Sundodger, but we'll see where things shake out in the spring. MLC was also this past weekend - Carleton, Colorado, and Wisconsin all sounded strong, even with less than complete squads in attendance from last year's college finalists. College ultimate is exciting again - bring on CCC!
The weekend started off slow, and we came out sluggish against Humboldt. Maybe it was the late 11:30 start time. Maybe it was BNeil dislocating his shoulder in warmups (cutting!). Either way, soft cap went on as we took half 8-7, making it a game to 10. They were a huck-first team with athletes and some throwers, but they overshot their receivers a lot. We gave the disc right back as we tried to play the hucking game too, but our throws were all over the place. We only scored on one huck all game - when we worked the disc up the field we couldn't be stopped. We closed out the game 10-8 and moved over to face UCSC B.
The Santa Cruz B game was over quickly. Our rookies played a lot this game, got some layout D's, and made some ridiculous grabs. James caught an overthrown huck with a great layout in the back corner of the endzone for us to go up 1-0, and the game was basically over right there. We won 15-3 and got ready for Claremont.
Claremont had the best sideline cheer we heard all weekend - the zombie chant "Braaaaains!" was hilarious and a welcome alternative to anything out of UCSB. They also hucked a lot, and this game was close solely because our defenders got skied in the endzone over and over again. It would have been better if they'd at least jumped. This was without Stout. Also, during this game I broke a kid's face when I threw a backhand huck endzone to endzone. He jumped in front of my hand as I was throwing, and he got smashed in the eye/nose. Also notable was my lefty high backhand break for a goal and Doug remarking that my shorts were "so tight that I can see your pulse." We won the game 15-13 and drove back in heavy rain on windy, windy CA-17. Think miles of S-curves, Columbia alums.
On Sunday we were scheduled to play UCSB in the quarters after their 17-16 loss to Cal which decided the G pool. The game started fast, with both teams hucking effectively and playing hard defense. Tom played almost every single point in this game. We were playing well, but we had a really hard time stopping their hucks, especially to Tyler, who towered over us at 6'5" or 6'6". We basically traded early on, until they broke the game open with a few breaks towards the end of the game. We ended up losing 12-15, after a couple points where Jameson called a dubious foul on Schlag's deep D and Rory called a terrible foul on Sherwood's point block of his huck.
Rory: I respect you, Sherwood. Can't you respect my call?
Sherwood: Not if it's a terrible call like that!
But my favorite part of the game was Rory yelling at Ethan, screaming, "You're a fucking faggot! You're not going to play another point this whole fucking game!" about midway through the second half.
We moved a few fields down to a confusing diagonal field to play Oregon, who were sans Dusty but plus Stout. Both teams played a lot of rookies, and after going down 3-0 we finished the first half even on breaks 7-8. At one point in the second half, we played with only six players on the field after Luke thought that Stout scored for Oregon (when instead he dropped the disc) and walked off the field. There were also chippy discspace calls by the Unabomber, showing off his angry, wily veteran side. Oregon disagreed, but the 11th edition rules say what they say - let's all learn the rules! At one point Sherwood and Tom just threw to each other for the entire offensive possession. In the middle, Unabomber's deep voice broke out with the classic co-ed heckle, "Throw to your women!" We ended up winning that game 11-10 after Colin got a monstrous layout D on a breakside in-cut, and it was on to our third game of the season against LPC.
LPC beat us on Sunday of every tournament we'd played so far, and Sean Ryan was no different. True, we had a larger and better squad, which explained why the game was much closer. We were even on breaks until 9-9, when we started miscommunicating on offense, dropping discs, and leading receivers out of bounds. At one point they got two breaks in two minutes after turnovers on first throws after receiving the pull. Earlier in the game, we played some great defense and I got a stall in the back corner of the endzone, then turned the disc over on the goalline, and then got it back with a footblock. Put me back on the D team, coach! LPC threw some zone, and we had more silly turnovers. We generally fell apart at the end of the game, losing 15-10 and bringing our fall record against them to 0-3. It's good to have a bogey team to shoot for in the offseason.
Cal ended up winning Sean Ryan over UCSC, making it two tournaments in a row for them. Oregon and Stanford finished 8th and 6th, respectively, but I don't know anyone who expects the same come Regionals. It looks like UBC is back on top of the Washington/BC section after Sundodger, but we'll see where things shake out in the spring. MLC was also this past weekend - Carleton, Colorado, and Wisconsin all sounded strong, even with less than complete squads in attendance from last year's college finalists. College ultimate is exciting again - bring on CCC!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Santa Clara Recap
We sent two teams to Santa Clara, supposedly split evenly X/Y, unlike UCSC and Cal who split more along A/B lines. Each of our teams had four veterans, and by the end of Sunday Stanford Y (my team) had two healthy returners and Stanford X only had one. It turns out we're a little short on handlers to field two teams, so veteran, B-team, and even rookie cutters sometimes had to step back behind the disc in order for other tryouts to get a chance to prove themselves as downfield cutters.
I suppose I should have started out by saying that the late-starting tournament was a really interesting idea, but that the schedule was an absolute mess. There were two pools of five teams and one pool of four teams, and six rounds were scheduled in order to accommodate all 14 teams on just 5 fields. However, pools didn't seem to mean much of anything, as teams played teams within and outside of their pools seemingly arbitrarily. Even worse were the Sunday "power pools" that had us playing Oregon State again in the first round and Davis Y playing two teams that they'd already beaten the day before.
We started the day at 12:30 against a splitsquad Santa Clara team. They were inexperienced, relied on the huck, and turned the disc over a lot. They did run a ho-stack that we had some trouble with. We stormed to a 7-3 halftime lead after being down 0-2, but then we started forcing terrible throws and dropping discs. They tied the game at 12-12 and hard cap went on, bringing us to universe point. We called a veteran line and worked the disc up the field, with only one game-saving layout required after a miscommunication between two veterans. We won 13-12, and some rookies had done well to distinguish themselves with strong deep cuts or hucks.
We followed up that game with a bye, and we watched Stanford X lose a squeaker to a Davis splitsquad team on a loooong universe point, and the X team also had difficulties stopping the Davis ho-stack and just seemed prone to drops in general. We turned our attention to our game against San Francisco State, which was a mismatch even with only four vets playing. We confidently closed out the game 13-5, not allowing them back in like we had Santa Clara. Matty Sung spent most of the game on the sideline, coaching and taking notes.
Our next game was against Alameda HS, and the game quickly became a chance for both teams to work on certain offenses and defenses. We threw zone for three or four points, then force middle. They broke the force middle once, and they scored twice the whole game. It was not much of a game for us although we did try to represent the sport and the university well while we played. We didn't go easy on them, but we didn't spike the disc or call ticky-tack fouls or travels either. The game ended 13-2, and we had a little bit of a wait before our anticipated night-game matchup against Oregon State, who had beaten us 13-6 at CHUG.
We were definitely excited to have a rematch against Oregon State, and the game started similarly to last time. We scored first, and then they scored three times in a row. But we played our force-backhand defense well the entire game, taking away their huck opportunities and forcing them to work the disc up the trap sideline for their scores. We never let them get more than two points ahead of us, and we even had a chance to take half up 6-5. But they rebounded and took half 7-6, then went up 8-6 afterwards. At 9-9, Sherwood finally entered the game, still nursing a sore groin that had been plaguing him since before Sectionals last April. It didn't help immediately, as we found ourselves receiving at 10-12, before some long and hard points tied the game at 12's. We anticipated playing win-by-two, but halfway through the point and after several turnovers (on great D's by both teams), the hard cap horn blew. We immediately turned it over on their goalline, and they immediately turned it back. We took our time and finally punched it in for the 13-12 win.
The game was notable for a couple reasons. First, our defense looked as good as it has all season. We did not get broken on the marks, we took away their hucking game, and then we started to grind them on their upline cuts. Also, we kept cramping up, and at some points in the game were down to just 9 players, some of them freshmen playing in their first tournament. Everyone stepped up to help the team win, and it was a great feeling to go home that night 4-0, exhausted but happy with how we ended up playing. Last year our mantra was "get better every game," and we definitely did that on Saturday.
After skipping one of the two biggest Stanford parties of the year in favor of sleep and our 6 am wakeup time, we got to the fields around 7 and realized that we were scheduled to play Oregon State. Again. In the first round. Instead of bracket play for the 8 teams in the upper pools, we had "power pools," or random games against other teams with good Saturday records. We weren't too happy about playing OSU again, but we jumped out to a quick lead in this game, going up 4-1. But they fought back as we got more lenient on the marks, and as their big downfield receiver in his orange hat and sock finally arrived at the fields. We were pulling to them at 11-11 when the hard cap horn went off, and we were able to get a turnover. But we couldn't convert, and they had the disc back. After a layout D on the sideline, there was momentary confusion on the field, and Steve Scardato was uncovered 30 yards deeper than everyone else. Sherwood picked up the disc and hucked it to him to end the game, as we won another nailbiter over OSU.
Our next game was against Cal "A," as they try to break back into the upper echelon of NW teams after their finals appearance in 2004. They looked extremely smooth on offense, and we had a lot of trouble trying to break up their short game and middle cutters in the ho-stack. We had slightly more success once we forced them to huck it and go deep, but we still turned it over more than they did. Our D's were pointblocks and skies, while theirs came on layout D's and our miscommunications. As the game drew on, we started losing players to injury again, and we went meekly in the second half after Cal took half 7-5. The game finished 13-7, but it remained to be seen how our final squad would fare against Cal.
We were set to play LPC next, but with only 9 healthy players we combined with Stanford X in order to make it more of a game. As it turned out, that meant that of the 20 or so players we had available, only three of us were returners, and I was the only handler. That led to B-team players and rookies being forced into handling roles against a vicious and poachy LPC handler defense, and we had lots of turns on dump sets when people turned too late or hesitated to hit the open man, either upfield or back. We still managed to get our share of goals, and some people surprised us, like the freshman who threw two forehand bombs for goals after hardly throwing upfield all day. Our defense was shaky, and LPC broke us almost at will. Their offense moved the disc with a lot of speed, and their dishy cuts tore us up, although not nearly as bad as Oregon State's had earlier in the morning. We ended up losing 15-7, which was not a bad result for a team so inexperienced playing against a group of guys who knew each other inside and out.
So, for the weekend Stanford Y was 5-2, while Stanford X was 3-4, and we were able to see what players could step up and be contributors against other schools' A-teams. Next weekend we'll take a single squad of 6-8 returners and about 16 tryouts to Sean Ryan and see where we stack up against California and NW competition. It will be interesting to see what the 2008 versions of Oregon and UCSB have to offer, and since we're the #1 seed, starting at 11:30 on Saturday is quite the bonus. Of course, some of us might head out earlier to watch Superfly Y play, but two straight tournaments with late start times is quite the change after play started at 7:30 am in the rain at last year's Sean Ryan.
I suppose I should have started out by saying that the late-starting tournament was a really interesting idea, but that the schedule was an absolute mess. There were two pools of five teams and one pool of four teams, and six rounds were scheduled in order to accommodate all 14 teams on just 5 fields. However, pools didn't seem to mean much of anything, as teams played teams within and outside of their pools seemingly arbitrarily. Even worse were the Sunday "power pools" that had us playing Oregon State again in the first round and Davis Y playing two teams that they'd already beaten the day before.
We started the day at 12:30 against a splitsquad Santa Clara team. They were inexperienced, relied on the huck, and turned the disc over a lot. They did run a ho-stack that we had some trouble with. We stormed to a 7-3 halftime lead after being down 0-2, but then we started forcing terrible throws and dropping discs. They tied the game at 12-12 and hard cap went on, bringing us to universe point. We called a veteran line and worked the disc up the field, with only one game-saving layout required after a miscommunication between two veterans. We won 13-12, and some rookies had done well to distinguish themselves with strong deep cuts or hucks.
We followed up that game with a bye, and we watched Stanford X lose a squeaker to a Davis splitsquad team on a loooong universe point, and the X team also had difficulties stopping the Davis ho-stack and just seemed prone to drops in general. We turned our attention to our game against San Francisco State, which was a mismatch even with only four vets playing. We confidently closed out the game 13-5, not allowing them back in like we had Santa Clara. Matty Sung spent most of the game on the sideline, coaching and taking notes.
Our next game was against Alameda HS, and the game quickly became a chance for both teams to work on certain offenses and defenses. We threw zone for three or four points, then force middle. They broke the force middle once, and they scored twice the whole game. It was not much of a game for us although we did try to represent the sport and the university well while we played. We didn't go easy on them, but we didn't spike the disc or call ticky-tack fouls or travels either. The game ended 13-2, and we had a little bit of a wait before our anticipated night-game matchup against Oregon State, who had beaten us 13-6 at CHUG.
We were definitely excited to have a rematch against Oregon State, and the game started similarly to last time. We scored first, and then they scored three times in a row. But we played our force-backhand defense well the entire game, taking away their huck opportunities and forcing them to work the disc up the trap sideline for their scores. We never let them get more than two points ahead of us, and we even had a chance to take half up 6-5. But they rebounded and took half 7-6, then went up 8-6 afterwards. At 9-9, Sherwood finally entered the game, still nursing a sore groin that had been plaguing him since before Sectionals last April. It didn't help immediately, as we found ourselves receiving at 10-12, before some long and hard points tied the game at 12's. We anticipated playing win-by-two, but halfway through the point and after several turnovers (on great D's by both teams), the hard cap horn blew. We immediately turned it over on their goalline, and they immediately turned it back. We took our time and finally punched it in for the 13-12 win.
The game was notable for a couple reasons. First, our defense looked as good as it has all season. We did not get broken on the marks, we took away their hucking game, and then we started to grind them on their upline cuts. Also, we kept cramping up, and at some points in the game were down to just 9 players, some of them freshmen playing in their first tournament. Everyone stepped up to help the team win, and it was a great feeling to go home that night 4-0, exhausted but happy with how we ended up playing. Last year our mantra was "get better every game," and we definitely did that on Saturday.
After skipping one of the two biggest Stanford parties of the year in favor of sleep and our 6 am wakeup time, we got to the fields around 7 and realized that we were scheduled to play Oregon State. Again. In the first round. Instead of bracket play for the 8 teams in the upper pools, we had "power pools," or random games against other teams with good Saturday records. We weren't too happy about playing OSU again, but we jumped out to a quick lead in this game, going up 4-1. But they fought back as we got more lenient on the marks, and as their big downfield receiver in his orange hat and sock finally arrived at the fields. We were pulling to them at 11-11 when the hard cap horn went off, and we were able to get a turnover. But we couldn't convert, and they had the disc back. After a layout D on the sideline, there was momentary confusion on the field, and Steve Scardato was uncovered 30 yards deeper than everyone else. Sherwood picked up the disc and hucked it to him to end the game, as we won another nailbiter over OSU.
Our next game was against Cal "A," as they try to break back into the upper echelon of NW teams after their finals appearance in 2004. They looked extremely smooth on offense, and we had a lot of trouble trying to break up their short game and middle cutters in the ho-stack. We had slightly more success once we forced them to huck it and go deep, but we still turned it over more than they did. Our D's were pointblocks and skies, while theirs came on layout D's and our miscommunications. As the game drew on, we started losing players to injury again, and we went meekly in the second half after Cal took half 7-5. The game finished 13-7, but it remained to be seen how our final squad would fare against Cal.
We were set to play LPC next, but with only 9 healthy players we combined with Stanford X in order to make it more of a game. As it turned out, that meant that of the 20 or so players we had available, only three of us were returners, and I was the only handler. That led to B-team players and rookies being forced into handling roles against a vicious and poachy LPC handler defense, and we had lots of turns on dump sets when people turned too late or hesitated to hit the open man, either upfield or back. We still managed to get our share of goals, and some people surprised us, like the freshman who threw two forehand bombs for goals after hardly throwing upfield all day. Our defense was shaky, and LPC broke us almost at will. Their offense moved the disc with a lot of speed, and their dishy cuts tore us up, although not nearly as bad as Oregon State's had earlier in the morning. We ended up losing 15-7, which was not a bad result for a team so inexperienced playing against a group of guys who knew each other inside and out.
So, for the weekend Stanford Y was 5-2, while Stanford X was 3-4, and we were able to see what players could step up and be contributors against other schools' A-teams. Next weekend we'll take a single squad of 6-8 returners and about 16 tryouts to Sean Ryan and see where we stack up against California and NW competition. It will be interesting to see what the 2008 versions of Oregon and UCSB have to offer, and since we're the #1 seed, starting at 11:30 on Saturday is quite the bonus. Of course, some of us might head out earlier to watch Superfly Y play, but two straight tournaments with late start times is quite the change after play started at 7:30 am in the rain at last year's Sean Ryan.
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