The Eternal Battle of Love and Hate

Back From Hiatus

2009-11-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

With Socal Warmup starting up in less than 24 hours, it is time for me to finally return to this blog and the college season. I had originally planned on writing extensively about the mixed division since I was playing with LA Metro this year. I assumed some of the responsibilities of leadership, and I needed some time away from writing about Ultimate.

My team had a fantastic run to Nationals, and we finished 11th in Sarasota. Short of what we were hoping for, but all in all, we had a great season and set the bar higher for Metro and LA Ultimate as a whole. On a personal note, I ended an abysmal streak of 15 Nationals losses in a row (playing with Monster in 2006 and coaching USC this year) with a win over TAU in pool play. The next hurdle is to get to quarterfinals and beyond.

I'll write more about USC in an upcoming preview of the Southwest region, but I feel very good about our chances this year. The bulk of last year's team remains intact and reaching semifinals at Sean Ryan (despite the absence of several key players) bodes really well for the Hellions.

I'm also planning to post some thoughts about how to improve the women's college division as a whole and take a look at some of the hot topics for the 2010 season. If anyone out there is interested in contributing, drop me a line at frho@sbcglobal.net.

The College Championships - Q&A with UPenn Coach Marc Stachowski (Part 2 of 2)

2009-07-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

FJR: Having qualified for pre-quarters after pool play, you had exceeded the expectations of outsiders (including myself). The wins over UNC and Iowa State were solid wins but what came next was something that nobody could have anticipated. The win over Carleton eliminated any doubts about the strength of your squad, and turned Venus into the story of the tourney. Talk about the lead-up to the Carleton game and the game itself.

Stachowski: If we made the pre-quarters we'd match up with the winner of the Carleton vs. UNCW pool game. I was hoping it would be UNCW since I had watched them play a little bit and thought they were close to UNC in style and talent. I figured that could be a good way to encourage our team to pull off another upset. Unfortunately, Carleton beat UNCW 15-11. And since that game was happening at the same time as the Stanford/UNC game, I didn't even get to watch Carleton play. Uh oh.

So, on the minus side it looked like Carleton was playing some really good ultimate. On the plus side, I figured we'd be a little more rested since our last game of the day was over two hours before Carleton's... and also since we played a completely open rotation against Stanford to try to preserve our top players for later.

During our warmup after a five hour break, we looked a bit lethargic. Carleton was looking very efficient and sharp doing their warmup drills and I noticed with some concern that they were a very tall team. My message was the same as any other game during the series... play our game... keep a vocal involved sideline. As the game got underway we started out sluggishly but the mental toughness was there. We were making good decisions and working the disc really well and not panicking after they had a couple of monster skies by their tall receivers. We slowly got a grip on the game and took half 8-7.

During half time we seemed to find our second wind and came out very energized... running off 4-5 straight against a tired looking Carleton. When Katie Poulos, a third year player and super steady cutter and defender, made her first career layout grab on a disc that looked like nobody would get to, it was good for the 14th goal and the Penn sideline erupted. A turnover and a few throws later, Opi pointed to a corner of the endzone and Kate Anthony put it there... with Opi out-jumping a taller defender for the final goal. And just like that, we were suddenly in the quarterfinals of Nationals. And unbelievably, another goal change: "Lets make semis!"

FJR: Beating UNC and Carleton was one thing. Getting to the quarterfinals was amazing. But challenging Washington Element, a team that was on everyone's short list to win the title, took Venus from this year's Cinderella to one of the great underdogs in Ultimate history. How were you able to contend with a juggernaut like Element?

Stachowski: Honestly, I felt pretty good about our chances against Washington. We had been doing a great job of focusing on our own game the entire weekend and with a good night's rest I thought we'd be ready to pull off yet another upset. The message to the team was basically: nobody expected us to be here... everyone will be pulling for the underdog... just get out there and show everyone what we're made of and leave it all on the field.

As Penn warmed up up before the game I could tell it would be a much harder contest than anything we'd played in all year. Not only because of our opponent, but also because of the heat. I felt pretty confident that our top 9 could match up well with any other 9 at the tournament, but going against a team so deep and talented I was worried that we'd have fatigue problems towards the end of the game. Still, the girls had shown an incredible amount of fortitude so far... maybe there was another miracle to be had.

And for a while there, I really thought we were going to pull it off. At one point in the first half, we were making huge plays
everywhere... Opi got a huge deflection D then tore downfield for the score to make it 6-3. 6-3!! At that point, a girl from Pitt (we had fantastic support from players from all over the ME all weekend... Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, Cornell) stopped me on the sideline and said something like "Doc, what is going on here?" I shook my head and said "I don't know." I really didn't know. The euphoria of that early lead... the energy and excitement of the Penn sideline... the energy and buzz from the crowd... our team of underdogs playing their hearts out and taking it to the number 2 team in the nation... just an
amazing feeling. That's probably my favorite moment of the entire tournament.

Unfortunately, Washington was able to apply relentless pressure on both offense and defense and the chilly decisions we were making all weekend started thawing quickly. A couple of uncharacteristic drops... and turfed throw here and there... and suddenly it was 7-7. That focus that had been so sharp all weekend was showing some wear.

Still, we took half 8-7 and we were feeling very upbeat about our chances. But the Washington pressure was just too much for us and you could see our energy output dropping dramatically. We traded until about 10-10 or so, then Washington broke us twice I think. We traded again to 12-13 and Washington finished us off with two in a row. We'd come within 3 points of attaining a goal that we would never have thought possible just a few weeks beforehand. Our season was over.

FJR: Now that the 2009 season is over, what are your prospects going into next year?

Stachowski: It's hard to say what our prospects are for next year. We are losing Raha Mozaffari (three time all-region), Whitney Viets (captain, all-region, Callahan nominee), Rachel Shah (captain), and Kate Anthony. Basically, Raha, Kate and Whitney played every point of every victory and the quarters loss. And Rachel played every D point as a defensive handler and had zero turnovers. That's a lot of ultimate skill and leadership to have to replace.

On the other hand, to say that our remaining veterans and rookies have been galvanized by this whole incredible experience is an understatement. Every one of our rookies has signed up for a local league, and/or has written me for things to work on over the summer, and on and on. Hopefully some of the rookies will make good progress over the summer and come back with a purpose. We have a bunch of determined vets who are ready to step up and have their turn as well.

So, with some progress there and another good rookie class... maybe a transfer or two... maybe some hotshot HS player will read our story and decide to go to Penn to be part of our program... who knows?

What I can say is that by the time Sectionals 2010 rolls around, we'll come in with a low RRI but full of fire, determination, discipline and heart... and we'll be gunning for another trip to Nationals... playing our game... one point at a time.

The College Championships - Q&A with UPenn Coach Marc Stachowski (Part 1 of 2)

2009-06-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Lazy sportswriters have relied on finding a team to slap with the Cinderella label as a default storyline for some time now. I am certainly not above being lazy, but UPenn's performance over Memorial Day truly fits the bill and is one of the more remarkable runs in recent memory. In the short time that UPA has been maintaining scores on their score reporter, the only other run that can compete with what UPenn did this year is Northwest's 2007 performance that nearly landed them in the semifinals.

Coming into the tourney as the 20th seed, Venus more than justified the UPA's decision to expand the field to 20 teams this year. What they did this year will undoubtedly inspire future upset-minded teams to do the unthinkable and give fans a lot to chat about.

I emailed Marc 'Doc' Stachowski, the head coach of UPenn Venus, about their run to get a firsthand account of their successful showing at the College Championships. In his third year as head coach, Stachowski was recognized as the Metro East's coach of the year. As a player, Doc has qualified for mixed Nationals five times, twice with Donkey Bomb and is currently on a three-year run with AMP.

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FJR: Before we get to the big run in Columbus, how did you and the team leadership prepare for the College Series?

Stachowski: Sunday at sectionals was the first time all season that our entire team was on the field for a game. Our 5th year player and main handler, Raha Mozaffari, is in dental school and was barely able to make it to any tourneys at all this season. That meant a couple of things: 1. One of our main cutters, Whitney Viets, had to handle all year in Raha's place. 2. As a result of that, and the fact that I couldn't care less about things like RRI, we were a complete unknown even to our regional rivals and maybe even to ourselves.

Regardless, the mantra for our team is always "play our game". We talk a lot about making high percentage plays and factoring risk vs. reward in decision making and our players really bought into those concepts. So heading into regionals, it was all about making sure we were only thinking about the next point, and concentrating on playing our game. The only time we were rattled out of our game was in the semi vs. Maryland where they blew us out 15-4. As lopsided as that sounds, I felt like we were in every point and that most of our turnovers were mental mistakes. Fortunately, we had a great circle after that game and team captain Whitney Viets, who had a huge huge effect on team morale with her speeches, was able to rally the troops and leave everyone feeling confident and upbeat about the following day. "Three more!", was the cheer.

FJR: After a surprising upset win over Maryland (an underrated team who placed 11th at the 2008 College Championships), how did you keep the team motivated going into Nationals?

Stachowski: Prepping for Nationals was... interesting. Chaos, is probably a better word for it. As it turns out, the 2 weeks after regionals were finals weeks for everyone. And then school let out the week before Nationals. So basically, we had 1 or 2 practices between Regionals and Nationals... both of which were thinly attended. Naturally, our team was completely euphoric about our dramatic win vs. Maryland, and to be honest I was a little worried that we'd settle for just having made nationals. I basically told the team that making it wasn't enough: the whole nation thought we were lucky to be there... thought we didn't deserve our spot... nobody was giving us any respect. I told them we needed to go to Columbus and earn our respect one point at a time... with our game... the way we play it... our huge and active sideline... the whole works. If we won some games... so be it... but either way, we'd be able to hold our heads high if we just showed teams we could compete with them.

FJR: What were you and your team's expectations going into Nationals?

Stachowski: I'm a big believer in setting team goals. Our goal for every season I've coached (this was my third year) has been to play our game throughout the series... one point at a time... and ultimately make it to Nationals. So qualifying for Nationals at all would make our season a huge success.

Now that we had actually attained our goal, I had no idea what would happen next. This was the first Nationals appearance for Venus in 13 years. That, combined with the fact that we hadn't faced any other nationals qualifier left me with a lot of uncertainty as to where we'd ultimately place. I was encouraged by the fact that we had beaten Pitt, who had beaten NC a couple of times during the regular season. But beyond that, i had no idea what would happen or how good the competition would be... other than really good.

When the seeds and schedules came out it definitely seemed like we could make a run at pre-quarters if we could pull a couple of upsets... so that became our new goal: "Make pre-quarters!" We would play the 9 (NC) on Friday morning, then the 4 (Ottawa) on Friday afternoon. Then Saturday we had the 16 (Iowa St.) in the morning, and the 5 (Stanford) right after that... with a potential pre-quarters game in the evening. So, we planned to go all out for the two morning games... and if we won, we'd sub deep into our roster for the games against the 4 and the 5 to rest our starters for the potential pre-quarter matchup. That was our overall tourney strategy going in.

FJR: Opening the tourney with a win over UNC was the first surprise of the tourney and obviously huge for your team's confidence. What were the keys to winning against UNC?

Stachowski: Judging from the information we got from fellow ME teams that had faced UNC and/or had seen them play I thought we'd match up pretty well with them. The game plan going in was to poach the lane every time their main thrower Leila Tunnell had the disc, force her to give it to another handler (preferably on force side sideline) and then completely deny a reset back to her. Obviously, you can't keep the disc out of the hands of a player like Tunnell all the time, but I liked the pressure we were applying and the coverage we had downfield. I felt like we did a great job of coming out strong on D and mixing in our break mark/short game with our long shots on O.

Unfortunately one of the turning points in the game was a bad injury to one of UNC's main defenders, Kaitlin Baden. There was a long throw and Kaitlin was going stride for stride with Octavia "Opi" Payne on Penn. Both made a bid for the disc but Opi landed on Kaitlin in an awkward tangle and the play resulted in a torn ACL for Kaitlin. Seeing any player go down to that kind of injury is deflating to both teams. Nobody wants to see another player get hurt... and be reminded just how random and easy it is to be injured yourself. Without question and understandably, UNC was affected more. Kaitlin, along with her teammates had been doing a nice job covering Penn's main cutters Opi and Whitney. With her out, I feel like Penn gained a bit
of an edge both on the field and psychologically, and we were able to pull away in the second half.

I have to say a couple of things about UNC: I have to admit i groaned a little when i saw that we'd play them. Not only because they're good, but also because of that bad rap that teams from North Carolina get... "too intense"... "dirty players"... etc. Well i'm here to say that UNC was the MOST spirited team we played at Nationals. Our game was hard fought, physical, and completely fair. There were very few calls and almost all of them were uncontested. There was no "working" the rules, or ticky tack calls on bumps that had nothing to do with the play. Just ultimate being played at a high level with exciting plays everywhere. The coaches, Lindsey Hack and Brian Dobyns are class acts and their team is a reflection of them. Intense? YES! Fair? Definitely. Spirited? Unquestionably.

Also, in a display of courage that says all you need to know about the women that play this game, when I went to the sideline between one of the points in the UNC/Penn game to seek out Kaitlin Baden and offer my sympathies, she looked up from her chair, huge ice pack on her knee, shrugged, smiled gamely and said simply: "It happens." What a baller. Seriously Kaitlin, my hat is off to you. Come back strong!

FJR: After the upset win, UPenn lost to Ottawa, took care of business against Iowa State and then lost by a huge margin against Stanford, giving them a 2-2 record after pool play. UNC still had a chance to knock Venus out of the pre-quarters with a win over Stanford. Can you describe the anxiety of watching the UNC/Stanford game (knowing that UNC winning would drop you out of the pre-quarters)?

Stachowski: At that point in the tournament, our die was already cast. We had already accomplished everything we wanted to do at Nationals: Upset some teams, get some respect, and get everyone on our huge roster [FJR note: 28 players!] into a game. Of course I wanted us to continue on to pre-quarters but I was satisfied that we had done all we could to put ourselves in a good position. The rest was up to Stanford... and they managed to gut out a huge comeback win against a determined UNC team. With the Stanford win guaranteeing our appearance in the pre-quarter game, another goal had been attained. Time to reset it again: "Lets make quarters!"

The College Championships - Oregon Fugue (Part 3 of 3)

2009-06-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

GUEST BLOGGER: Lou Burruss

First of all, I want to congratulate the Burning Skirts on being very deserving champions. They handled every team they faced in Columbus and were never seriously challenged. They did it with poise and class. Nice work, UCSB.

Unlike the Ottawa game, our game against UCSB doesn’t fall into a sequential narrative sequence. It is a jumble of moments and ideas and realizations, so forgive me for jumping all over from here to there.

The biggest thing single factor we faced was fatigue. I went through and added all the scores up for us and the Skirts. By the time we started semis the Skirts had played 109 points of ultimate; we had played 141 points, enough extra for a 17-15 game. I am not making an excuse here. The Skirts took care of business in pool play and quarters in a way we did not. The Skirts rightfully earned the one seed and the easy road by winning their Region, Prez Day and Stanford Invite; we came in third in our Region. You have to play the hand you’re dealt and win with the hand you’re dealt. Also, we’d been the beneficiaries of an exhausted Michigan team that looked nothing like the team that gave Washington a hell of a time Friday afternoon. Anyway, all that said, we were tired and it showed. We had number of unforced execution errors that we had not had in since Friday. We made decision errors that arise from fatigue: rushed hucks, hucks to the wrong part of the field or to bad match ups.

Defensively, the Skirts did a great job of limiting our deep game. Some of that was the fatigue of our cutters, but some of that was just plain good defense. We were really able to work it short on them and nip and tuck for ten yards here and ten yards there. Still, when you are tired, small ball is a bad way to try to play. They also did a really good job of preventing us from scoring easy goals. We gave them a couple easy ones. In a game that was all about pressure (no team lead by more than 2 until 13-10,) easy goals make a huge difference.

I spent about five days after Nationals feeling pretty good about the season and finishing third and all that we accomplished. Then I found a scrap of time between work and the kids and I made the mistake of watching the highlight video on the UPA web site. 11-10! We were at 11-10! Argh! Looking back, I made three mistakes.

Mistake number one: losing the forest for the trees. This is the one I was angriest about because it is the most basic: the strategy that is most likely to score you the point is not the one most likely to score you the most points. At 10-9 or 11-10, with a team I knew was exhausted, I should have taken chances and played deep into the bench on defensive points. This rests the main players three or four points down the stretch. If you trade all the way out to 14-13, then you go back to stacking lines, but your players are that much fresher. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have hit on this in the moment, but I am mad that I didn’t remember the basic adage.

Mistake number two: Most of the time in good college ultimate, it is very clear who scored and why. It is very clear who is winning and why. You make a mistake, they score. They make a mistake, you score. We had been playing that level of ultimate all weekend and the other teams had abided by it. When we got in to the UCSB game, we (unknowingly) had stepped up a notch in quality of play. As well as we were playing and as well as the Skirts were playing, both teams reached a level where you do everything right and still get scored on. I played on the Sockeye D line for nine years, so to be in a game where you do everything right and get scored on was no big deal to me, but I only realized later how weird and frustrating it was for my team. So my mistake is in not recognizing this (I saw the frustration, just not the cause) and acknowledging it to the team. It was one of those moments that just required us to recognize it and then we’d have been okay with it.

Mistake number three: We didn’t do a great job of matching up defensively. UCSB has some nasty match ups and their offense allows for some real opportunism on the part of its main players (stay and handle, cut deep, run the lane,) which in turn makes matching up a lot trickier because a defender has to be good at guarding all threats. We have a deep, athletic team with a bunch of great defenders, so we didn’t get ruined by matchups; we just missed occasionally. Andrea Romano, Kaela Jorgenson and Carolyn Finney gave us trouble the whole way, but Marie Madaras played great and we never accounted for her.
In the end, the game was decided by two UCSB runs. We played wonderful, gritty ultimate to open the first half and took leads at 5-3 and 6-4. Then UCSB ran off four in a row to take half. We opened the second half with a break and then traded all the way out to 10-11. Then UCSB ran off three in a row. 10-14. Final: 11-15. Damn.

And now, some odds and ends to close up with. This year was really cool for women’s ultimate. I think the top of the division was stronger than it has ever been with six teams having a real shot at the finals (us, UCSB, UW, UW, Stanford and Ottawa.) This is the first year I’ve ever seen the women’s field stronger than the men’s field. I think the men’s division is still deeper, but the top of the women’s division was better this year than the top of the men’s (Florida and Oregon were missed.)
The weather was a huge factor in the success or failure of a lot of teams. Everyone was ready for the heat, but the total lack of wind was incredible. We played one windy half (first half against UCSB and both teams were so good at that point we just ignored it,) but the rest of the weekend was still, dead air. Who did this help? Us, Stanford, UCLA. Who did it hurt? Wisco, Ottawa, USC. It probably hurt the AC teams.

Lastly, I want to complement the UPA on a wonderful event. Hands down the best organized and best run tournament I have been to. (That’s out of ~300 tourneys, 14 College Nationals, 8 Club Nationals and 2 World Clubs.) Every year it gets better and better. This year the big improvements were in the quality of the observers and the schedule. I saw three missed calls all weekend in all games I watched and coached. I still have reservations about a four day Nationals (it is at such a cost to school, work and family,) but once it is underway, it is lovely. Two games a day makes for excellent ultimate, lots of socializing and lots of spectating.

The College Championships - Oregon Fugue (part 2 of 3)

2009-06-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

GUEST BLOGGER: Lou Burruss

Sunday morning saw us arrive at the fields two and a half hours early for our quarterfinal match-up with Ottawa. Fugue 2009 is hands down the faffing-est team I have ever been on and we really need the two and half hours to get ourselves to the fields and cleated up and so forth. As we went through our warm up, I could feel the pressure and focus building. We were relaxed and chatty and jokey like usual, but underneath was a sense of determination. By contrast, Ottawa was walking to the field 30 minutes before game time. I don’t know what happened, but the rest of the weekend they looked like a regular team in their warm ups and cool downs. Maybe they got Corvallised (not scheduling for the 20 minute walk from the parking lot to the fields) or maybe they went to the wrong field, who knows. In any case, they didn’t get in a very good warm up and it showed. I also don’t think they were ready for us defensively, either. It took them into the second half to sort their match ups out to the point where they were able to exert a lot of defensive pressure. Anyway, on to the game itself; it played out in four parts.

Part one was the entire first half. We picked up right where we had left off Saturday evening: playing great defense and punishing the other team’s mistakes. We focused pretty intensely on Ottawa’s big three: Anne Mercier, Alex Benedict and Danielle Fortin. We were fortunate to have the right combination of size, physicality and speed to matchup on those three. We played almost exclusively force flick or force backhand and challenged our defenders on the Big Three to contain the breaks as best they could. As I mentioned before, it took them a while to figure out match ups and we capitalized on this early by really opening the game up and hitting on a number of deep looks. Halftime saw us up 8-4.

Coming out of half, we traded points all the way out to 12-8. This part of the game was very well played on both sides. Ottawa’s defense picked up and we were forced to work the disc a little more, but they still weren’t generating a lot of pressure around the disc. Neither were we, though, so both teams were scoring fairly easily. Around 11-7, I called a time out and said, “Hey, let’s put this away. Let’s bank one on defense.” Two points later we got a great opportunity. We got a beautiful poach block right on their brick, but three throws later, we rushed a forehand into a little window and missed. The Lady Geegees took it 70 and scored. What would have been 13-8 (and game over) was 12-9 and another opportunity for Ottawa.

We blinked. Trading back and forth is a staple of elite men’s ultimate and I have been involved in many, many of these battles over the years with Sockeye. I love the slow build up of pressure and the constant, “We did it, now you do it!” It was very cool to be involved in a game of that caliber at the college level. Anyway, we blinked. Two points in a row, we made careless errors and they scored. Yikes. 12-11.

I thought about calling our last time out, but wanted to save it if we really needed it. Ottawa was playing crazy defense at this point, shutting down the deep game and locking down our handlers. In that circumstance, there is nothing to do but to step up and make plays. Again and again, we made tough catches, robbed defenders of blocks and threw timely breaks. We inched down the field ten yards at a time finally scoring on a high-backhand around the mark. 13-11. Ottawa scores to make it 13-12. We shake loose on a big backhand 14-12. Then Ottawa blinks. A beautiful forty yard forehand gets dropped (dropped!) in the endzone and we go seventy to win, closing with a Sherwood to Sharman backhand.

Final 15-12. UCSB, here we come!

The College Championships - Oregon Fugue (part 1 of 3)

2009-06-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

This post is brought to you by Lou Burruss, coach of Oregon Fugue and one of the great minds in Ultimate. His passion for the game is plain to see, and since I first met him at the 2008 Stanford Invite, he has motivated me to become a better coach and to contribute more to the sport on the writing end. Fugue's emergence from a solid regional team in 2007 to an appearance at Nationals in 2008 to this year's elite status owes a lot to the presence of Lou on the sidelines.

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GUEST BLOGGER: Lou Burruss

I want start with thanks. First and foremost I want to thank Fugue for taking me on a great ride; it was a wonderful, wonderful season. Thanks, Tobey and Megan for showing up in Columbus, carrying water and wrestling with the tent. Thanks, Guns for momming the team to victory. Thanks Luke, for filming all of our games! Thanks, Gator, for two games of SuperFan-dom. Thank you, U of O Senate, for bankrolling our trip to Columbus. And a huge thanks to all the parents who came to support their daughters and the team. Now to the tourney itself…

It’s hard not to feel disappointed. I know not to measure a season by the outcome of one game, but I can’t help myself. I know we had a shot to win it all, that we were playing well enough to win it all, so to lose, sucks. That said, I also know that as time stretches out, the scope of our accomplishment the last several years will slowly overtake the sting of losing. In 2007, we finished 7th at Regionals. To come so far in such a short span of time has been exhilarating and difficult.

There was a span at Nationals where we played some of the best ultimate I’ve been a part of: focused, disciplined and inspired. That run began Saturday morning with Dartmouth and carried us through the play-in game and quarters into the Semis.

The hardest work has been the mental adjustment to playing top-shelf ultimate. It is incredibly mentally trying to play great ultimate point after point, game after game. This is the challenge that Fugue accepted and met. Most of the season was easy. Prez Day: finals. Stanford Invite: finals. We worked hard, but we weren’t ever challenged mentally. Regionals: Lose twice, once to the UW and once to Stanford. Manage to gut out a win over UBC in the game to go. We talk a lot about playing tough and playing hard and that we actually have to play to win, that we’re not good enough to show up and win without trying. The last two weeks of practice before Nationals, rather than being the pleasant tune-up and taper you’d expect, were the hardest two weeks of the year. Physically, do we get anything out of them? No, it’s too late. Mentally, though, we raise the bar on effort and toughness. Still, we go to Nationals with a lot of questions about how good we really are.

Friday was perfunctory. We just went and did it, but without much passion. Lucky for us, our first game was against USC. USC looked just like we did a year ago in Boulder when we stumbled to a 2-4 record. Like us, they had challenged the top teams in some games. Like us, they’d failed to win any of those games. Like us, they’d backed into Nationals with the last bid. Like us, none of their players had been to College Nationals before. Like us, they thought their season ended at Regionals. Like us, they looked uncertain and like us, they played far worse than they could have and should have.

USC was one of the teams most affected by the weather. Lots of teams were affected by the heat, but USC was a victim of something more sinister: no wind. Not a puff. For a team that plays exclusively zone, a windless weekend is going to be rough.

The game was even early, then we straightened a couple loose ends and steadily pulled away, finishing 15-8.

Our next game was against Wisconsin. They’d beaten us in pre-quarters in Boulder, which was still stinging all of us. They’d also (justifiably) gotten a lot of hype as a contender and we wanted a shot at them. They played well, Georgia played phenomenal and we gave away a few too many plays. 10-15 Wisco. Damn. We didn’t say much after the game, just a reminder that our goal for the first half of the tourney was to make quarters.

Wisconsin would go on to be another victim of the doldrums. You never want to play a team from the Central on a windy day, but it wasn’t windy Sunday morning. Stanford and their Emily-Jenny-Elaine chip-and-putt is frustratingly difficult to stop in still air.

Saturday morning was a new day and we were a new team. This day would begin as lovely a streak as I’ve ever been a part of. We started with Dartmouth, a team that surprised everyone to finish 3-4 (and probably would’ve been the feel-good story of the tourney if it weren’t for UPenn.) They came out playing well on offense with Rohre Titcomb providing the poise and Molly Roy providing the legs with one up-the-line cut after another. I’m 90% sure we were tied at sixes. I’m 100% sure it was close late in the first half. We made a couple defensive adjustments, mainly a switch to The-Best-Defense-Ever, but also some match-up changes. This worked. They struggled to move the disc upfield and our depth let us cash in on their mistakes. Final score: 15-8.

Saturday afternoon’s matchup loomed: Colorado. This match-up had been looming since I looked at the schedule. Colorado and Oregon have had a love affair for a couple years now. Last May, we stayed at one of their houses in Boulder (thanks, yo!) and a couple Fuguers lived in Boulder over the summer. Courtney even came to my house for a barbeque! Plus, Tina and I have had a sneaky rivalry since Carleton and JoJah battled three Nationals in a row: 93-94-95 with the 94 match up leading to a Semis berth. This was a team that had knocked off UCLA twice at Regionals. Twice!

We came in flying. After two points we started playing The-Best-Defense-Ever and walked away from them. It was a bummer of a game for Colorado. A loss in this game is survivable, but it has to be a well-played loss if you are going to take any confidence into the pre-quarters. Tina was bummed about how they’d played and all of their players were looking pretty glum as they walked off to play UCLA. Final: 15-6.

Last game of the day with quarters on the line: Michigan. We came into this game playing our best ultimate of the season, confident in our path and physically rested. Our infrastructure was magnificent: tent, cooler for water, cooler for towels and ice, sandwiches and crazy helpers. Guns mommed everyone into eating enough food. Megan and Tobey had water for the players on the line point after point. It was awesome.

Michigan had just come from a devastating loss to UCLA in pool play. Michigan had their chances late, but UCLA pulled away down the stretch to win 14-10. Walking from losing in pool play to the play-in game sucks. It is one of the hardest tasks in ultimate. Welcome to the dirt road. This is where the weather made Michigan its next victim. They had to play a 10-14 heartbreaker and then walk. We played 15-6 and waited. Remember, Michigan played that UCLA game during Round 4 (3:15-5:30.) You think it was hot?

We played an almost flawless first half, which took 28 minutes and ended in 8-2. We played great defense (but not TGDE because I didn’t want to give Ebae a chance to throw her backhand.) They rallied a little in the second half and made a run, but we were able to answer each time they tried to make a move. Final: 15-7. Quarters, here we come!

Apologies...

2009-06-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

First, apologies as I've been busy with life matters. I've been getting sucked into the club season (I am playing with LA Metro this year), and frankly, I am also trying to overcome exhaustion from the long college season.

On a side note, I dislocated my shoulder last week at a summer league game right after Cal States. I took a crash course in how to type with my toes and remarkably, with my left hand and both feet, I am up to about 90 wpm. Once my right arm is back in commission, I might be able to set records and fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a court stenographer. That's only partly true; I wanted to be a regular on 'Night Court'. Details.

Over the next few days, I will be posting a series of accounts on this year's Nationals. I promise!

The College Championships - Initial Thoughts

2009-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Over the next two or three weeks, I'm going to be rolling out a series of posts on Nationals. I had planned on writing from Columbus, but we stayed at the Red Roof Inn where you had to pay for Wi-Fi service. I've been called a cheap bastard by many folks and poor fool by many others. I'll pay for the service once I've either made my first feature film or convince this blog's readership to pay for the extra coverage. Those of you who think I write way too much can pay me to hire an editor to pare down my posts.

The Big Stories

1) UPenn's Cinderella Run - I'm sure that the UPenn folks don't see themselves as a Cinderella, but coming in as the 20th seed and pushing Element with a tight match in the quarterfinals far exceeded the expectations of anyone following the women's division. More details should be coming soon from Marc 'Doc' Stachowski, the head coach of Venus.

2) UCSB wins it all - The best team won it all this year. Ending the Northwest's reign, the Burning Skirts came into the season as the favorite and had a remarkable run to the title. I think this was the most impressive season since Stanford's 2006 championship run.

3) Callahan voting - After last year's Nationals, I detailed a few thoughts on why I thought the Callahan voting was flawed. I remain convinced that the voting process is flawed. That said, Georgia Bosscher is certainly deserving of the award and congratulations are in order. I simply don't understand how Andrea Romano didn't finish in the top five, and no UCSB player finished in the top five in the three years their team has appeared in the finals. It doesn't add up.

4) The Northwest's dominance - With three teams in the semis, all doubt about which region was the strongest this season was eliminated. It'll be interesting to see what happens after the restructuring process takes effect, but it's a shame that Cal, UBC and Western Washington will have missed being potential beneficiaries of the new system.

I'll examine this more closely in a future post, but I think next year could be the year that the national balance of power shifts. The Southwest and Metro East will give the Northwest a run for the unofficial title of the strongest and deepest region.

The College Championships - Before the Storm

2009-05-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few final thoughts on the Callahan before I take a look at the big tourney. I meant to offer a hypothetical ballot and write a few more words of praise for the other top candidates. If I could vote, here's how my ballot would look:

1. Andrea Romano (UCSB)
2. Anne Mercier (Ottawa)
3. Georgia Bosscher (Wisconsin)
4. Emily Baecher (Michigan)
x. Anne 'Bambi' Ohliger (USC) - somewhere between 1 and 5

I forgot who it was that was describing the raw power of Mercier, and it made me think about Lebron James. I think the comparison is fair in terms of the type of player they are for their sport. Mercier brings a size and strength that you rarely see in women's Ultimate. Mercier can handle the disc, control the middle of the field and take players deep in a similar fashion to the way that Lebron can run the point, post up players (starting to) and take the ball to the rack.

This also got me thinking about other NBA comparisons for the top candidates (yes, I know it's patently absurd to compare players across sports, but it's also ridiculously fun to think about). I decided that Dre is Tim Duncan circa his MVP years. As the quiet big man, he wasn't particularly flashy but almost everyone would agree that he was unquestionably the best player in the league at the time. His team just won and he was the primary cog of that team.

I think Georgia is a hybrid of the young Vince Carter (when the sky was the limit) and Kevin Garnett. Both Vince and KG were freakishly athletic and at least in KG's case, he has always been an intense defensive player. I think a small forward would be a more appropriate comparison but the only person that I could think of was Scottie Pippen, who was an outstanding all-around player but was overshadowed by MJ and didn't have the charisma of a superstar. There's no doubt that Georgia is the star of Bella Donna and is very charismatic.

Emily Baecher is a combination of Chauncey Billups and John Stockton. She runs the offense with the same kind of poise and isn't always the flashiest player. She'll generate offense when needed but her biggest contribution is in her ability to make everyone else on the field better.

Anne Ohliger is a lot like Ray Allen (or Reggie Miller if you think Miller is better). Like Ray Allen, Bambi is someone you appreciate more and more when you see her in action. When both are at the top of their games, they are impossible to cover and run all over the court/field. Especially in his youth, Allen's game has been about mixing it up between driving the lane and getting free on set screens to spot up for the three. Bambi similarly switches between acting like a third handler/mid-cutter and running deep for the big huck.

Well, that's enough Callahan talk. We're done with the appetizers. Give me the frickin' steak (writes the pescetarian).

NATIONALS!!! ER, I MEAN THE UPA COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!
I meant to post this shortly after pools came out, but there weren't any real surprises in the seedings and they conform pretty close to what I had expected.

Wisconsin and Ottawa swapped spots which is certainly reasonable. I personally liked Ottawa over Wisconsin because of the Centex win, but this does prevent the intra-regional matchup between Bella Donna and Iowa State (who was a virtual lock at 16). Granted this means Ottawa and UPenn are in the same pool, but they haven't seen each other this season.

UNC ended up at 9 over Colorado and UCLA. Of all the variations between the UPA's seedings and mine, I find this one the most puzzling. If pools A and D hold seed (very strong possibility here), UNC and UNC-Wilmington will be meeting up for the fifth time this season in the pre-quarters. This seems like a mistake to me, especially since this could have been easily avoided by swapping Colorado and UNC.

The next variation occurred with Wash U. and St. Louis getting seeded ahead of USC. I thought we had the more impressive season overall, but I think St. Louis' two wins over Wisconsin in addition to beating us at Centex gave the two South teams a bump ahead of USC. I completely understand that and have no problems with the 15 seed. I was very confident that we would end up at either 13 or 15.

The final variation was putting Illinois over the two New England teams. This seemed a little odd to me because the same logic that bumped the two South teams above us should have been applied to Illinois and the New England teams. Dartmouth beat Illinois at Centex, but like the Hellions, Menace had the tougher strength of schedule. Perhaps I'm missing some other consideration here, but if we're at 15, Menace at 19 makes a lot more sense. Granted, we've played them twice already and it will be a lot of fun playing Dartmouth who we have never seen before.

Alright, that's enough discussion about the hypotheticals. Let's go to the pools.

POOL A - UC Santa Barbara, UNC-Wilmington, Carleton, Washington U., Illinois
I think Pool D is the most likely to go according to seed, but Pool A is a pretty close second. The Burning Skirts should easily win this pool. The only major stumbling block for them is facing Wilmington in their first game. As long as they are focused and ready to play, I think they will win every pool game by four points or more.

Carleton and Wash U. match up against each other immediately and a spot in the pre-quarters is likely at stake. Illinois is a dangerous five seed and have the athleticism to upset both Carleton and Wash U. Though Syzygy demolished Menace at Pres Day (13-1), that game took place in horrible conditions that played to Carleton's strengths and exposed Illinois' weaknesses. I expect the rematch to be considerably closer.

Predictions: UCSB, Carleton, Wilmington, Wash U., Illinois. It's no fun picking pools to simply go to seed. I'll go with Syzygy besting Wilmington after Carleton figures out how to create a microclimate that produces slush and sub-freezing temperatures. Yes, in order to do this, Carleton will likely have to summon the awful Mr. Freeze and brush dangerously close to the failure that is Batman and Robin, but great reward only comes with great risk. Or is that great power and great responsibility? Or great gatsby and great expectations? All these adages are so confusing.

POOL B - Washington, Michigan, UCLA, Saint Louis, Northeastern
I really love this pool. The Washington v. Michigan matchup should be a lot of fun to watch. Expect the game to look like a bombing range featuring Shannon 'the Howitzer' O'Malley and the 'B-23 Bomber' Emily Baecher. I just hope that Element doesn't sport the all-purple uniforms. It gives me a craving for a Happy Meal and those prelapsarian days when I ate mounds of Chicken McNuggets before a few rounds of shock therapy convinced me to become a vegetarian.

UCLA is well-suited to knock off Michigan. They haven't faced each other since UCLA beat them last year, and Flywheel will be eager to exact revenge. Coach Korb has been reportedly watching game footage on Michigan and found some weaknesses in the Flywheel machinery. Design flaws in a Michigan product? Crazy talk, FJR, crazy talk. (Just teasing, Flywheel. More cowbell, please).

I'm excited to see how SLU does against the top three seeds in their pool. I was a bit surprised to see them lose to Wash U. twice after doing so well at Centex. If they can recapture the magic they had in Austin, they will shock one of the top three.

Northeastern looks to be a dangerous five seed now that they are looking more like the team that was hyped in the preseason. They had a great run to 9th place last year in Boulder and having both Courtney Moores and Stephanie Barker healthy is critical for their chances of creating an upset.

Winning this pool is key because finishing 2nd or 3rd presents a potentially very challenging prequarters matchup. Also, the pool winner gets arguably the easiest quarterfinals matchup.

Predictions: Washington, Michigan, UCLA, St. Louis and Northeastern. That's some radical thinking there, FJR. The final standings aren't very exciting, but the way it is produced will be. St. Louis shocks Michigan but loses to UCLA. Going into day two, Element is 2-0, BLU is 2-0, SLU is 1-1, Michigan is 0-2 and Northeastern is 0-2. On day two, Element wins the pool with two close wins over UCLA and St. Louis. Northeastern severely damages St. Louis hopes of advancing to the pre-quarters by beating them in a nailbiter. Michigan needs to beat BLU to advance and does so by winning on double game point.

POOL C - Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, USC, Dartmouth
Welcome to the pool of death. Maybe that's self-serving to write since we're in the pool, but anyone who has followed the women's season will likely agree. Both Oregon and Wisconsin are among the handful of teams that have a good shot of winning it all. They will be facing each other for the first time since last year's pre-quarters where Bella Donna triumphed in a comeback win. One of the scheduling quirks is that Oregon will have played a game before this matchup while Bella Donna will be opening up their 2009 Nationals run with this game. I don't think this should really affect either team much, but it will be interesting to see if Wisconsin starts out of the gate well.

Oddly, Colorado and Southern California were both placed into the same pool, and I think both are underrated coming into the tourney. While it's likely that the matchup between the two will decide who advances to the pre-quarters, I really like the chances of one (or both) of these teams upsetting Wisconsin or Oregon. This pool has the makings of last year's Pool C where Texas upset Washington and nearly took out Wisconsin.

Dartmouth also has the look of an underrated team. The New England region is much maligned and has been seeded last in their pools for four straight years. In 2006 and 2008, one of the NE teams far exceeded expectations and finished considerably higher than their seed (Dartmouth was the 15 seed in 2006 and reached the quarterfinals; last year, Northeastern was the 14 seed and finished tied for 9th).

Predictions: There will be upsets. I was going to offer more specific predictions (no, I wasn't) but when I was staring into my crystal ball, all I saw was the haze of the blue, orange, green, red and yellow circles lingering from trying to beat Through the Fire and Flames on expert. Okay, I'm lying. I'm not that good at Guitar Hero. I'm still stuck on getting through Raining Blood. Stupid Slayer.

POOL D - Ottawa, Stanford, North Carolina, Iowa State, UPenn
Pool D is a very strong bet to go according to seed despite the close seeding among Ottawa (4), Stanford (5) and UNC (9). A number of people I've spoken with immediately thought that Ottawa was the biggest beneficiary in the UPA's new format and schedule for Nationals. I completely agree. They were lethal before. Now, they are crazygonuts lethal.

I think Superfly will have a tough time handling the power game offered by the Lady Gee Gees. It seems like a bad matchup for Stanford on paper, but Superfly has been remarkable at proving me completely wrong, so it shouldn't be a shock if Stanford reprises UCSB's role last year in the five seed upsetting the four seed.

Likewise, I think UNC matches up badly with Stanford. The two teams have a number of similarities but Stanford's roster is much deeper with skilled, athletic players. Pleiades should be motivated a little extra by their desire to avoid yet another matchup against UNC-Wilmington; meeting in the pre-quarters would be their 5th meeting of the season and UNC is currently 0-4 against Seaweed. You know the saying... the fifth time is the charm unless you are USC playing UCLA in which case the number might be four as long as the coach doesn't screw things up by writing stupid things on his blog... hey, look at the giant talking robot across the street!

Iowa State is probably the team I know the least about. Melissa Gibbs and Jasmine Draper are the two stars of the team. I think their best chance of moving on to the pre-quarters is getting into an up-and-down huck game against UNC. Give the fans what they want. Huck or die. Huck or die.

UPenn returns to the big show but I think they are going to be overmatched in all of these games. They simply haven't seen enough competition against top-tier teams this season. That said, look for them to upset teams in Sunday's placement games. As they proved during the Metro East Regionals, once they get used to the competition and gain the necessary confidence, they can take down quality teams (Maryland is definitely underrated outside of their region).

Predictions: Ottawa, Stanford, North Carolina, Iowa State, UPenn. Yes, this is a boring way to close out the preview. Yes, my logorrhea has limits. And yes, I need to pack.

I'm planning to write a couple quick posts while I'm in Columbus. If I'm highly motivated, I'll do the Twitter thing (twitter.com/fjrhox).

And now for the show!

The 2009 Callahan Award - Why You Should Vote for Andrea Romano (Part 2)

2009-05-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Part Two of my look at the 2009 Callahan Award will itself be comprised of three parts: (i) the qualities that define a superior Callahan candidate, (ii) an examination of the pool of the Callahan Award nominees, and (iii) a breakdown of why Andrea Romano emerges as the best candidate.

This is a really detailed look at the candidates and part two whittles the candidates down to three finalists in Survivor-style fashion. Luckily for me, I didn't have to do too much work for this post. I'll simply cut and paste my correspondence with one of this blog's fans.

Dear FJR,
My younger sister has recently made it know that all she wants for Christmas is a Callahan Award winner. I know that Christmas is seven frickin' months away. Last year, she wanted those awesome pink shorts that the USC Hellions wear, but unfortunately, Five Ultimate sold out of them on Black Friday. I got her the plaid shorts instead. She subsequently burned an effigy of me wearing the plaid shorts and wrote 'PINK!' with hot pink nail polish all over my bedroom walls. I'm scared out of my mind. I need to get her a Callahan winner, but I don't know where to start. Can you tell me where I can get one, and for that matter, can you tell me what one looks like? Your biggest fan, Stan

Dear Stan,
Glad to have you as a fan. I'm happy to help you in your search for a Callahan winner. As many people have discovered, finding one is very difficult, and you will find that people all across the US and Canada are seeking this elusive creature. In fact, many claim that they have seen one in their backyard, this despite the fact that people can't even agree on what the Callahan winner even looks like.

If you look at the official Callahan website, you'll find that the general appearance is pretty vague. They are recognizable for the following:

A. overall offensive and defensive abilities
B. dedication to ultimate and leadership ability
C. sportsmanship

At prima facie, these things are kinda difficult to ascertain about anyone. If you need an example of this, check out that guy who played Nordberg in the Naked Gun movies. I thought he was a goofy, fun-loving Heisman Award winner. Whoops! FJR FAIL!

We'll come back to the first characteristic after taking a look at the second one. Dedication to Ultimate and leadership ability seems a bit tough to assess, but I think one way to measure this is simply by looking at the team's success. A little known secret is that Callahan winners have been spotted traveling in the company of a Nationals-qualifying team. Crazy, right? The only exceptions were Jody Dozono (Oregon) in 1999 and Chelsea Dengler (also Oregon) in 2003. I think this has something to do with the fact that there is no sales tax in Oregon and Goonies being filmed in Astoria. We'll call this the Oregon Aberration.

The third aspect is also a bit tough to assess. Sportsmanship is obviously critical and can serve as a tiebreaker when evaluating two or more candidates. Poor sportsmanship is definitely grounds to eliminate a candidate though almost nobody outwardly puts this label on anyone in the women's division (behind closed doors, you'll get a different story).

Going back to the first criterion, this used to be a little more cut and dry. Past Callahan winners had the very clear appearance of being the best player on their team. This changed last year when Courtney Kiesow won the award, and suddenly the look of a Callahan winner was much more open (I think everyone can agree that Courtney is a good player but clearly not the best on her team). Whether last year was an aberration or a complete paradigm shift remains to be seen.

Well, Stan, I hope this helps you in your search for your sister's Christmas gift.

p.s. Keep your sister away from scissors and other sharp objects.

Dear FJR,
Sorry to bug you again but can I just get a list of names? I started reading what you wrote, but I don't read anything longer than what you can fit in a text message. Consider it a generational thing. Hook me up, bro! Also, thanks for the quick response. You must really love your fans! Either that or you have no friends and are desperate to connect with people. Your superfan, Stan
p.s. I just drank a fifth of vodka... dare me to drive?

If we use qualifying for Nationals to separate the Candidates from the candidates, we get the following 17 names:

KC Vampola (UCLA)
Andrea Romano (UCSB)
Heather Waugh (Colorado)
Rohre Titcomb (Dartmouth)
Tania Reitz (Illinois)
Emily Baecher (Michigan)
Kelly Tidwell (UNC-Wilmington)
Stephanie Barker (Northeastern)
Julia Sherwood (Oregon)
Anne Mercier (Ottawa)
Whitney Viets (Pennsylvania)
Kara O'Malley (St. Louis)
Anne Ohliger (Southern California)
Jenny Founds (Stanford)
Claire Suver (University of Washington)
Kate Stambaugh (Wash U.)
Georgia Bosscher (Wisconsin)

If you restrict your shopping list to the names above, I think you'll find what you are looking for. To allay any concerns that you might have overlooked someone, we'll look at those players who were eliminated in the game-to-go or late in Regionals.

Candice Chan (UBC)
Darragh Clancy (California)
Jennifer Jacobsen (UCSD)
Kristen Lamm (Florida)
Lucy Barnes (Harvard)
Charlie Katie Mercer (Maryland)
Liz Hand (Middlebury)
Claire O'Brien (Wake Forest)

All of these are good players, but do any of them stand out above and beyond players on the previous list? I don't think so. The one exception might be Candice Chan, but it can be argued that she wasn't even the most valuable player on her team (Tory Hislop looked a lot like a Callahan contender to me). Kristen Lamm has a big following too but Florida simply hasn't played on a big enough stage during the regular season to garner more consideration. Darragh Clancy is a great player as well but she also has the same issue that Candice Chan does. Speaking of Cal...

The two players that I think could have implemented the Oregon Aberration were Cree Howard and Tory Hislop. Neither were nominated so this is not an issue. Other surprising absences from the Callahan nominee list include Robyn Fennig (UW Eau Claire) and Alyssa Weatherford.

The first means to reduce the pool of 17 nominees who will be playing in Columbus is simply to eliminate those who haven't played enough at the elite tourneys. Personally, I think it is problematic to have the Callahan voting completed before the College Championships because the tourney offers the best opportunity to look closely at the top nominees. Especially this year, voters have more of an opportunity to watch the best of the best and more closely examine each nominee perform when they are on the biggest stage. Since this is not the case, it means that the teams/players who have not travelled to the elite tourneys simply do not have enough attention to be viable contenders for the Callahan Award. Of course, this only really affects Whitney Viets (UPenn) as all of the other nominees attended either Centex or the Stanford Invite.

To further refine the pool, I think you can eliminate all of the nominees whose teams didn't at least qualify for the pre-quarters or quarterfinals at any of the prestige tourneys (Pres Day, Stanford, Centex - apologies to Midwest Throwdown, Trouble in Vegas and Easterns). This is consistent with the past five Callahan winners, all of whose teams advanced to the quarterfinals at the College Championships. Applying this test eliminates Kate Stambaugh (Wash U.), Rohre Titcomb (Dartmouth), Stephanie Barker (Northeastern), and Kelly Tidwell (UNC-Wilmington). Wilmington actually has a solid shot at qualifying for the quarterfinals, and Tidwell has certainly been a major force in Seaweed's resurgence. Each of these players are obviously very good, but the remaining candidates are just simply better qualified.

With one major exception, the remaining twelve players can be further whittled down by eliminating those teams that didn't appear in the quarterfinals of any of the big tourneys. Anne Ohliger (USC), Heather Waugh (Colorado) and Tania Reitz (Illinois) bow out at this level. I love each of their games and each player means so much to their respective squads. I'm of course partial to Ohliger aka Bambi as she has played an important part in the rise of USC Ultimate from a team struggling to get seven to a tourney to one of the top 15 teams in the division. Waugh was tremendous at Regionals and the amount of respect she gets from her teammates is undeniable. Reitz was listed as one of my seven players to watch this year in the UPA magazine and I think she has proven herself as being one of the top 14 players in the division.

The one exception here that should not be eliminated because of the quarterfinals test is Emily Baecher. They lost a tight game to Wisconsin at Centex, but there is no doubt that Flywheel is capable of qualifying for the quarterfinals at Nationals. Baecher has certainly benefitted from quite a bit more exposure than Ohliger, Waugh and Reitz, but her play and leadership skills clearly merit the attention.

In reducing the list from nine to the five finalists, there are more subjective criteria that need to be employed. First, I think we can use what I'll call the Stanford Paradox: this is simply to eliminate those players who are surrounded by other very good players and consequently do not stand out as much as the others. After winning the second and third Callahan Awards, Stanford has become the poster child for this problem, and I think strong players like Enessa Janes, Christina Contreras and Lauren Casey all lost votes because outsiders couldn't agree on who Superfly's best player is. I'm sure that Stanford will gladly take the championships over the individual awards.

In employing this test, I am not suggesting that the remaining nominees aren't surrounded by very good players. I am simply offering my opinion that the disparity between the eliminated players and their teammates is much smaller than those of the other candidates. I guess you can consider this simply another name for the VORP test (Value Over Replacement Player).

The players that fall out of contention when applying the Stanford Paradox / VORP test are Jenny Founds (Stanford, of course), KC Vampola (UCLA) and Julia Sherwood (Oregon). I wish I had statistical data to back this up, but I'm fairly confident that the relative plus/minus of each of these players would be less than the others on the list. I have consistently been impressed by Founds and she deserves a ton of credit for anchoring Superfly' s handling line when Emily Damon was sidelined for a big part of the season. Vampola is underappreciated as a player and I have come to greatly respect her cutting and receiving skills. Sherwood has emerged as a fantastic defender and arguably Fugue's most lethal thrower.

The next player that I would eliminate is Kara O'Malley (St. Louis). SLULU is making their first appearance at Nationals and O'Malley is a big part of the reason why. She fits the profile of that dominant individual who is primarily responsible for a priorly unknown team's success. Similar past candidates include Lucia Derks (Wake Forest), Mia Iseman (NYU), Christina Wirkus (Truman State) and Amy Smith (Emory). When you compare O'Malley to the other candidates, especially Anne Mercier and Emily Baecher (players with the most similar profiles), I think they are simply better all-around players and offer more compelling intangibles than O'Malley. That said, for O'Malley to be on the cusp of being one of the five finalists acknowledged in Columbus would be a tremendous recognition for St. Louis Ultimate and that she is being considered here is a testament to her great contributions.

FJR,
Wow, so many words. Just give me a name. Stan

Andrea Romano. Text message version: Dre. D-R-E.

Of the five finalists (Romano, Bosscher, Mercier, Baecher, Suver), I think she has the best balance of all of the considerations that I have discussed above.

(1) Strong player with high VORP? Absolutely. UCSB was solid last year when Dre was on the sidelines, but they were a quarterfinals, maybe semifinals, team without her. With her? They got to the finals. As mentioned before, with her playing this season, they won two of the big three tourneys, reached the finals of Centex and won Regionals handily. Without her, they lost to UCLA at Sectionals. Kaela and Finney are both very good players but Dre brings an extra something that takes the Burning Skirts to another level.

(2) On-field intangibles? Check. That extra something I mentioned before is poise and confidence. She noticeably makes the other players around her better.

(3) Off-field intangibles? Yes. Dre has quietly contributed behind the scenes. She was part of the organizing force that resulted in the return of Pres Day as a national-caliber tourney and has strongly supported the growth of women's collegiate Ultimate by being part of women's teams' effort to take more control over their own division.

(4) Team success? Yes, on many levels. Over the past 3-4 years, UCSB has become a dominant force on the national level. Their growth from a mid-tier team to the number one seed at Nationals is a pretty big deal. This year, they have been regarded by most as the number one team in the division.

Objectively, if you applied the test of a hypothetical draft and who would be the first player picked, I would likely go with either Anne Mercier or Georgia Bosscher. It is really, really close between those two. I think Bosscher is the better defender and overall athlete, but Mercier has a more potent offensive arsenal and higher Ultimate IQ. If you want to vote for the player that makes the most eye-popping plays, you have to go with one of them.

But clearly, the Callahan Award is not and has never been simply a reflection of the above test. At present, I think Bosscher is the frontrunner because (a) she's very good, (b) she is very recognizable and has been a big name for a number of years, (c) the Wisconsin / Central Region voting bloc is a powerful force and clearly made a big difference last year in a year where Kira Frew was the clear favorite, and (d) she is very likable.

I also think that Kiesow winning the award last year weakens the case for Georgia Bosscher. The argument made for Courtney Kiesow over Kira Frew and the other candidates was that she brought a lot of the intangibles to Bella Donna. Kiesow is still at Wisconsin, but Bosscher's proponents maintain that she is a singular talent who deserves the award more than anyone else, including the teammate who won it last year. I find this a bit puzzling. Another problem I keep running into is that most of the arguments I can think of in favor of Georgia are also valid for Anne Mercier. As I suggested before, it's really close between these two players based purely on a skill set evaluation.

This being the case, I think Romano shines above the other finalists because of the other factors. Also, there are simply more objective reasons to support her candidacy above the others. The simplest one, of course, is that her team has made the greatest leap of all the other top candidates' teams, and there is no doubt that she has played a major role in that leap.

If you want to vote for the person who has made the biggest difference to her team, to her Section, to her Region and to her division as a whole, Andrea Romano is that player.

The 2009 Callahan Award - Why You Should Vote for Andrea Romano (Part 1)

2009-05-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

My original intent was to provide a number of profiles highlighting the top players in the women’s division. I started something similar last year with profiles on Katie Barry and Angie Sanan, but I simply got busy with other things this year. Perhaps one day I'll get paid to write these profiles. While I'm being unrealistic, I might as well dream of getting paid to run an individual's Callahan campaign once I'm done with coaching.

Anyway, I was planning to take a fairly objective stance on this year's Callahan Award, but after sifting through RSD and getting a general sense of the Callahan hype, I felt deeply that a gross injustice was taking place. The current frontrunner, Georgia Bosscher, is a very strong candidate but it is insulting to the entire women's division to think that she is a singular talent that is miles above the rest of the field. I love Bosscher's game and folks in Wisconsin are fully entitled to promote her as much as they can. That said, I think the case for Andrea Romano is more compelling and deserves a lot more consideration from all of the voters.

ANDREA ROMANO
Over the past three years, the UC Santa Barbara Burning Skirts have emerged as one of the dominant programs in women’s Ultimate. This year, they have had a very impressive run, notching tourney wins at Pres Day and the Stanford Invite. After a close loss to Ottawa in the Centex finals, UCSB was just short of winning the equivalent of the women's division's Triple Crown.

Beyond this year, UCSB defied expectations in both 2007 and 2008 by reaching the finals at the College Championships. In 2007, they eliminated UCLA, one of the most talented college women's teams I've ever seen. In 2008, they were up 8-5 in the finals before running out of gas.

The disparity between UCSB's accomplishments and the amount of hype they get on RSD and other blogs is enormous. The fact is that they demand considerably more attention and recognition for their rise to power. When you examine the factors responsible for the Burning Skirt's success, you will see that Andrea Romano has played a gigantic part in their ascent.

Andrea (aka Dre) grew up in San Francisco where basketball was her primary sport. She discovered Ultimate when she got to college and credits Karen Ko and Steve Dugan with her early development as a player. She recalls that Karen would "[stay] after practice and [throw] with me... encouraging me to play club after my rookie season." Her growth as a player took another big jump forward when Steve Dugan recruited her to play with the Gendors in 2006. That team qualified for the Club Championships and made it to the semifinals.

That same club season marks one of the most difficult times in Dre's Ultimate career and life. On the return trip from the Southwest Mixed Regionals tourney, just hours after celebrating their qualification to Nationals, Andrea was involved in a tragic car accident that took the lives of two of her teammates (Doug Baker and Will Wiersma). She spoke about this during CSTV's coverage of the 2007 finals against Stanford, and suffice to say, the accident was a very emotional event in her life.

The accident would also have a lasting physical effect on the field. When the 2007 college season began, the first signs of a mysterious foot injury stemming from the accident showed up and sidelined her early in the season. The same problem would put her on the sidelines for the bulk of the 2008 season. "Spending hours captaining the team and having an injury doctors can’t explain is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It’s hard not to be able to lead by example and be stuck on the sidelines not being able to work hard and run sprints with your team."

Andrea's ability to confront these adversities owes a lot to her work ethic. The Burning Skirts practice four times a week on top of conditioning during the winter and spring quarters. Their tourney schedule was among the most demanding in the women's division, and the fact that they remain highly motivated and perform consistently well is a testament to the team's leadership. Kaela Jorgenson and Carolyn Finney took on the role of captains this year, but Andrea has clearly remained a vital leader both on and off the field.

This year, UCSB has capped off their ascent by entering the College Championships as the number one seed. While she won't assume credit for it, there is a clear correlation between Dre's time on the team and their path to the top. She considers this journey to be one of the highlights of her Ultimate career. "When I started playing on the Skirts, the veterans were ecstatic to just qualify for Stanford Invite. When I was a rookie, we set a goal of making it to Nationals in 2007. Winning Centex in 2007 and transitioning from a team that was not guaranteed an invite to big tournaments to a national spotlight team was definitely one of the highpoints of my career."

Their success during the season was particularly impressive since last year's Callahan nominee Katie Barry had been on the sidelines prior to Regionals. All the while, Andrea has still been dealing with her foot injury (she sat out during their loss to UCLA at Sectionals). As part of this process, I have personally witnessed the evolution in Dre's game. Her nagging injury has at times limited her ability to dominate as a cutter the way she did early in her college career, but she has become a much smarter player and a steady handler that the rest of the team can depend on. Her presence on the field provides a great deal of confidence to her teammates, and her significance becomes more and more noticeable with every game you watch UCSB play.

Romano's confidence and demeanor also have an important impact on her teammates. By the middle of this season, the Burning Skirts looked like an unstoppable mack truck until they hit a few bumps at Centex and Socal Sectionals. Dre's manner of handling those losses provided a great example for her teammates and helped to motivate them to a dominant performance at the Southwest Regionals where they looked like the best team I had seen all season. Romano explains, “I am a very competitive person and I hate losing. However, [losing to Ottawa at Centex and UCLA at Sectionals] motivated our team to step it up at practice and work on our weaknesses."

Going into the College Championships, Dre and the Burning Skirts have their eyes on the prize. "Our goal is to bring the best possible team we can to Columbus and leave it all on the field." While there are a number of championship-caliber teams in the field, UCSB looks like a good bet to end the Northwest's reign. If the Burning Skirts are the ones hoisting the trophy on Memorial Day, let there be no doubt that Andrea Romano will be a major reason why.

------

I will be posting part two of this article tomorrow, and offer a detailed analysis on why I think Andrea Romano is the best candidate for the Callahan.

An Open Call for Contributors

2009-05-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

In the interest of adding more voices to this blog, I am looking for any writers who are interested in contributing and furthering the discussion on women's collegiate Ultimate. Please contact me at frho@sbcglobal.net. I'll likely want to see some kind of writing sample -- at the very least, send me a good joke or something that gives me a sense of who you are.

The College Championships - An Early Look

2009-05-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Seedings are coming out later today but I want to take a quick look at the teams that comprise the Nationals field. Before I do so, I want to revisit my predictions from last weekend's Regionals. Like a dumbass, I went against the Washington Corollary when I made my Northwest predictions. I desperately wanted to pick one upset in the remaining three regionals, and all three went basically according to what most would have predicted (I think the New England region was a closer call with Dartmouth, Harvard and Northeastern being the favorites).

One thing that this highlights is that qualifying for Nationals for the first time in a school's history is a big hurdle and will only become more and more difficult to do (as long as the field remains at 20 teams). After it was made known that the Southwest would get four bids, I thought it would be really easy for us. This was not the case at all. More established programs have the ability to step up and peak during the series. Both UCSD and Colorado demonstrated this.

Harvard and Middlebury (both men and women) also discovered this the hard way. Harvard had been 2-0 against Northeastern but came up short when all the chips were on the table. Middlebury had beaten Dartmouth earlier in the season but got demolished in their rematch at Regionals.

Another thing is that despite the increase in parity in the women's division this year, a clear pecking order is emerging. I see a number of distinct tiers at Nationals and I'll write about those below.

I've detailed my thoughts on what the seeds should be on RSD [link], but I thought I'd throw some other random thoughts and predictions before the pools come out.

FJR's Proposed Seedings
1. UC Santa Barbara (SW1)
2. Washington (NW1)
3. Ottawa (ME1)
4. Wisconsin (CN1)
5. Stanford (NW2)
6. Oregon (NW3)
7. Michigan (GL1)
8. North Carolina-Wilmington (AC1)
9. Colorado (SW2)
10. UCLA (SW3)
11. North Carolina (AC2)
12. Carleton (CN2)
13. Southern California (SW4)
14. Washington University (SO1)
15. St. Louis (SO2)
16. Iowa State (CN3)
17. Northeastern (NE1)
18. Dartmouth (NE2)
19. Illinois (GL2)
20. Pennsylvania (ME2)

My proposed seedings certainly do not reflect how I would rank the teams overall in terms of quality and predicted finish. I think people get really emotional about seeding and act as though their team is being disrespected. I've already gotten some flak from some folks who feel that Washington is too high (mostly fans of Wisconsin and Ottawa). I also heard from some proponents who felt that Stanford should be higher than Wisconsin. Honestly, I don't think it matters all that much who is seeded 2-7. The 1 and 2 seeds in pools B, C and D will all be very good teams and each of the 2 seeds are capable of beating the 1 seed. The big dropoff will be in pool A where UCSB will have considerably easier time in their game against the 2 seed (likely UNC-Wilmington). The tradeoff is that it means the Burning Skirts will likely have a much tougher quarterfinals opponent.

The big danger in pool play is avoiding the dangerous lower seeds. All of the likely 3 seeds (UCLA, Colorado, UNC, Carleton) are solid teams that will give problems to the top two seeds in the pool. I think the bigger concern for the top seeds comes in who draws the difficult 4 and 5 seeds. Of course, I put USC in this category, but St. Louis and Illinois also stand out as teams that could be capable of a big upset. SLU has already beaten Wisconsin twice and their style of play will give certain teams fits. Illinois is a very talented team that has the athleticism to run with almost everyone I've seen but they haven't been able to put all the pieces together. After a solid showing against Flywheel and a dominant performance in the backdoor game-to-go, the pressure should be off of Menace, and they could live up to the potential that I've seen since I first saw them at Pres Day.

One last note before I go into a look at the tiers -- I wish that the UPA had gone with power pools. The seeding wouldn't matter as much and teams would get a greater number of high-caliber games. I know the UPA is trying to highlight big matchups and allow teams to focus more on single games and enjoy the overall Nationals experience. I'm sure field space is a bit of an issue, but the power pool format is a lot of fun. There's a lot of excitement in seeing who gets to the top power pools and who emerges from the bottom.

Also, I was hoping that they would go with a full bracket of 16 instead of having byes for the top seeds. Adding another round with the potential for upsets would be fun. Granting a bye to the top teams seems unnecessary to me, and I don't think there should be any additional reward for winning a pool other than getting a better draw in bracket play.

TIER OF HEAVEN aka Ready to Play on Memorial Day
UC Santa Barbara
Ottawa
Wisconsin

I don't think there's any doubt that these three teams are primed to make it to Monday's big game. UCSB won Pres Day and Stanford and came in 2nd at Centex. Ottawa won Centex. The one knock on Wisconsin is that they haven't won a big tourney this season but that roster is loaded and ready to go.

TIER OF THE RAZOR'S EDGE aka the Fastest Way to Heaven
Washington
Stanford
Oregon

Northwest, you get a special tier of your own.

I remember some quote about the fastest way to heaven being on the edge of a razor. Whoa, morbid. Or enlightening. I tried to find this adage on the intertubes of webs but I couldn't find it anywhere. I know that Somerset Maugham's Razor's Edge has a quote from the Katha Upanishad that is supposed to help inform the reader about the title's meaning, but it's not quite the same thing that I've heard. I have not tossed out the very likely possibility that I have simply screwed up the quote and made something up that serves my needs.

Anyway, all three of the Northwest teams are no doubt in the title hunt, but it is unclear which team has the best chances in Columbus. Washington served notice at Regionals, Stanford won both previous times the Championship were decided in Columbus, and Oregon was one of the top two or three teams in the division during the regular season. All three have beaten each other once, and all three will be carrying a lot of confidence in Ohio.

I'M ALL ALONE *TIER* aka the Wildcard
Michigan

When you look at Flywheel's season, there's only one day where they lost to anyone not named Wisconsin. On the first day of Centex, they found themselves at the bottom of the A Pool after notching three losses by fairly slim margins to UCSB, Carleton and UNC. Some Flywheel fans declared that they were a juggernaut and should be considered one of the top two or three teams in the division. Fans are apt to write and say crazy things but Michigan is a very talented team. I don't think they are a good bet to rise above the teams in the top two tiers but I wouldn't be surprised to see them take down 1 or 2 of them and make a run to the semifinals.

FRANKLY, MY TIER, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHERE YOU PUT US aka Beware These Teams
UCLA
Colorado
USC
UNC-Wilmington
UNC
St. Louis
Carleton

Triple pun!

Of course, I'm putting the other three Southwest teams here. UCLA has the knowhow to peak at Nationals. They are becoming the Stanford of the Southwest (just don't compare the number of championships). Their biggest win this season was over UCSB at Sectionals, and BLU would love nothing more than to exact revenge by taking out the Burning Skirts when it counts the most.

Colorado is the most mercurial of the 20 teams. I think they match up particularly well with a team like Stanford. Kali's style of play is effective at disrupting system-type of offenses, and they will be hungry to prove that their performance at Regionals wasn't just the benefit of homefield advantage. They play with a lot of emotion and if they can harness that emotion and maintain consistency in their games, I think a quarterfinals appearance is within reach.

USC is one of three newcomers to the big show (Iowa State and St. Louis are the other two). I love this team. I can't write enough about them. I love the way that they play. The head coach talks too much and writes some crazy things. Go HoT Pink! Aliens are the new religion for uninspired screenwriters. My mother is a fish.

Of the two Carolina teams, I like UNC's chances of performing better than Wilmington's (despite UNC-W having a 4-0 record over UNC). Having been to the big show last year, UNC will be better accustomed to dealing with the pressure of performing well. Also, Pleiades is built to perform more consistently, and I think Wilmington's power game depends too much on a couple key players. The top West Coast and Midwest teams will know how to handle Wilmington's vertical game.

I would love to see St. Louis end up in a pool with Element, Bella Donna or the Burning Skirts. Wisconsin should be used to their style of play by now, but they do have a losing record against SLULU. I think St. Louis' slow-down offense could be really disruptive to teams that thrive on the deep game.

Somewhat like Colorado, Carleton has had a bit of an up-and-down season. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from Syzygy. After losing in the quarterfinals the past two years, this year was expected to be a rebuilding year. I would bet on them making the pre-quarters and falling just short of making the next round.

TIERRA DEL FUEGO aka Angry at FJR for Not Ranking Them Higher
Wash U. (WUWU)
Northeastern
Dartmouth
Iowa State
Illinois
UPenn

The only team on this tier that I have seen up close this year is Illinois. I saw Northeastern briefly at Pres Day, and I felt the electric buzz in the air coming from Dartmouth's jerseys at Centex. One might think that this makes my judgment somewhere between unqualified and head-up-my-ass. I am basing these rankings on previous results, word of mouth from my trusted sources and the entrails of the goat that I slaughtered last night. According to the Idiot's Guide to Prognostication and Other Practical Applications of Santeria, these methods are actually superior to witnessing a team's play in person.

All of the teams here are capable of beating the teams on the prior tier, but I don't see them upsetting anyone above that. The one exception might be Wash U. Having clearly gotten the better of St. Louis in their recent matchups, Washington could be this year's Michigan State. [Last year, Michigan State dropped Texas after Melee had upset Washington and nearly taken out Bella Donna. Texas went from potentially winning the pool on point differential to becoming the bottom of the pool and falling completely out of contention.]

The draw means a lot for each of these teams' chances of making it to the pre-quarters, but my best guess is that Washington and Illinois are the most likely to advance past pool play.

Once the pools come out, I'll take a more detailed look at each team and offer my predictions.

Regionals Update - Northwest

2009-05-02T17:51:00.000-07:00

A few wacky upsets in pool play and Washington defeating Oregon has resulted in a really interesting looking quarterfinals round.

UW vs. Humboldt - The Hags gave Cal a run for their money in pool play, but Element should be able to take care of business quickly in this game.

UBC vs. Davis - The Thunderbirds get the benefit of the draw with what should be the most lopsided matchup of the quarters. Both UW and UBC should be well-rested for the almost certain semifinals matchup.

Oregon vs. Cal - The bottom half of the bracket is rough. At least both winners will have had tough games before semifinals. Amazingly, these two teams haven't faced each other this year. Oregon should be the heavy favorite.

Stanford vs. Western Washington - Stanford's reward for winning all their games is a matchup with Chaos. Ouch. Superfly beat them in their one and only matchup this year.

The losers of the bottom half of the quarterfinals will face each other in an elimination game. That seems ridiculous when the other half of the backdoor will feature two considerably weaker teams. I think the reseeding creates unnecessary problems in this particular format and frankly, I'm not sure that the crossover matchups between the 1 seeds is necessary. I'm guessing that it is done to balance out the number of games, but I think it causes more potential problems than whatever benefits it is intended to bring.

The real problem here is that whoever wins the bottom two quarters has a big advantage because even if they lose in the semis, they will have a fairly easy matchup before the backdoor game-to-go. What will likely be a very interesting UW-UBC grudge match in the semis will mean a lot for the winner and loser. Win and you have a bid to Nationals; lose and you have to go through Western Washington or Cal (or if there's an upset, Oregon or Stanford) in order to get to the game-to-go.

The other semis will likely be another grudge match between Oregon and Stanford. If Cal and/or Western Washington has the game of their lives in the quarters, they will create havoc with the bracket and make their path to Nationals considerably easier.
I'm willing to bet a good amount of money that whoever loses the semis in that half of the bracket will still end up winning the game-to-go.

All of this further underscores what a tough, tough region the Northwest is this year. I think the Southwest will look something like this next year, but that's another post for another time.

For those who hated my predictions, it seems only fitting that UW and UBC will face each other with so much riding on the line. Sure, I think Element is favored in that matchup, but I think it'll be an interesting game to follow.

Regionals Preview - New England

2009-05-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

I thought about comparing the New England region to the Corleone family, but I want to save that for another day. I think the most appropriate comparison is to the pilots in Top Gun. Yup, I'm going there.

Of course, the folks in New England would even agree that the region is not the best of the best. In fact, the two bid-winners are likely to end up with 5 seeds at Nationals. Who cares? This region has five contenders and could be the most wide open of all the regions. Last weekend featured very few surprises and few true upsets. In stark contrast, this weekend is very difficult to predict. Close your eyes and let Kenny Loggins rev up your engines. It's time to go to the dan-ja zooooone.

NEW ENGLAND (2 Bids)
Before I start with the analysis of each team, I wanted to mention that the New England region is the only one that will be employing the double elimination format. I grew up with this format, so there's definitely a soft spot there. It's not practical for big regions, and it is heavily dependent on accurate seeding. If RCs would add more consolation games, I think it would be an interesting option for regions like the Metro East, Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes, but again, the seeding issue is a big one.

Anyway, the format is set for New England, and the contending teams will first be looking to ensure that they are playing on Sunday. With five legitimate contenders, the Tufts/New England matchup is going to be a key game with the loser looking at a tough road through the back door. Look for the top five seeds to get to Sunday and either Brandeis or Boston College rounding out the group.

The Model Pilot (aka Iceman played by Val Kilmer) - Harvard. They are the top seed led by Lucy Barnes of Brute Squad. Coached by Jeff Listfield, Blake Spitz and Jessica Blanton, the Quasars (Quasar? the Quasar?) are strong on fundamentals and embody everything you would expect from anything with the Harvard label. Sure, they seem like they do everything by-the-book, and you'd like to see them as more of the 'Top Secret' version of Val Kilmer, but they don't care. They want to win the Region and be Top Gun. Nothing else will suffice.

The Maverick (aka Maverick played by Tom McCain Cruise) - Northeastern. They are just lurking there at number 5. They have gone through their ups and downs and injuries to Courtney Moores and Stephanie Barker certainly account for some of their struggles. Both are expected to be back for this weekend. Laura Cedro has stepped up her game in their absence and could be the difference maker in their run at one of the bids. They will need to forget about Goose (Centex and previous losses to Harvard) and simply engage... Engage... ENGAGE, MAVERICK!!!

The Mentor (aka Viper played by Tom Skerritt) - Dartmouth. Princess Layout had a strong run of four straight appearances at Nationals from 2004-2007 that was broken last year. They are hungry and they will be ready to school all the young ones.

The Stealthy Star (aka Merlin played by Tim Robbins) - Middlebury. The amazing thing about Top Gun is that the best actor in the film, Tim Robbins, is just kind of in the background. Little was known about this Merlin guy. Sure, Tom Cruise was Mr. Bankable after Top Gun, but Tim Robbins is considerably more respected for his acting skills and his choice of causes (liberalism vs. Scientology, you decide). The Lady Pranksters have a win over Dartmouth at Southerns but little else is really know about them.

The Tough-nosed Veteran (aka Jester played by Michael Ironside) - Tufts. The perennial contender coached by Sangwha Hong has been on a steady rise and looks ready to peak at Regionals. Their aggressive offense relies on the Marie Alexander-Kate McCaffrey connection. Maverick was able to get the best of Jester but only after violating the hard top and creating some controversy. Perhaps this predestines a controversial game that should be the best match of the second round.

The Wingman that You Love But You Know is Dead in the Water (aka Goose played by Anthony Edwards) - Brown. Yikes, this sounds harsh, but how bad is it really to be Goose? He gets to shag the considerably hotter-than-Kelly-McGillis Meg Ryan (before she became the Queen of Romantic Comedies), he sports a goofy porn-stache and gets away with it, he was known as the likable and relatively cool Nerd, and he came back from the dead to have a great run on ER when it was a show that people actually watched. Brown has been a strong team in the past, and they are still coming back from the dead. Look for them to have their ER run starting next year. [Side note: I almost forgot that I saw Anthony Edwards on one of my flights. He was with his family and seemed like a great dad. Being in LA, I've seen my fair share of celebrities, but I prefer seeing the lesser knowns who seem like real people.]

The Character Guy that Stands Out (aka Stinger played by James Tolkan) - Brandeis. Who's Stinger? He's that guy on the aircraft carrier that likes to chew out Maverick and Goose and sends them off to Top Gun. Tolkan is one of the great character actors of the 80s and was probably best known for being the principal in the Back to the Future series. Like Stinger, Brandeis isn't going to be the star of New England regionals, but they are looking at a realistic shot at making the second day. If they upset Vermont in the first round, they will have a tough matchup against Dartmouth in the 2nd round. They would likely draw the loser of Brown and Wesleyan, another winnable game. Then they would likely run into Boston College with the winner advancing to Sunday (Brandeis and Boston College are 1-1 vs. each other). I've heard that this Greg Connelly character is kind of a good coach. Team USA, Ironside, Brute Squad, UBC... seeing him on the other sideline must be like how I feel when I have to match wits with Steve Dugan.

Who Makes It to Sunday: Harvard, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Tufts, Middlebury, Brandeis (gotta pick one upset here)

Who Goes to Columbus: Dartmouth, Northeastern

Tough Luck Loser: Harvard

My Take: In the first round, look for Brandeis to upset Vermont in the first round in order to facilitate the eagerly anticipated Dory (Ziperstein) vs. Rohre (Titcomb) matchup happens. If this were the NBA, I guarantee that the RCs would put Bennett Salvatore and Joey Crawford in as observers and make sure that all those close in/out calls went Brandeis' way. Dory vs. Rohre. Make it happen.

Other than the Dory vs. Rohre individual matchup in the second round, look for Tufts vs. Northeastern and Middlebury vs. BC to be the key games. In the semis, I'm picking Harvard over Northeastern and Dartmouth over Middlebury.

In the backdoor, Northeastern crushes Brandeis, Tufts handles Boston College, Northeastern squeaks by Tufts again and faces Harvard after they've had a barnburner in finals. Both teams are exhausted and battle each other to double game point. Jason Adams and Kayla Burnim are ready for this moment and blast Wagner over the sound system. Northeastern is inspired and drops napalm on Harvard for the one point victory. The Valkyries declare that Harvard can be their wingman anytime, hop on their Harleys and ride off into the sunset.

Regionals Preview - Great Lakes

2009-05-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Apologies to those interested parties on the East Coast who are interested in checking out my previews before this weekend. I've been trying to get these things out in timely fashion.

GREAT LAKES (2 bids)
When I started writing this preview, the GL region was going to use the double elimination format but it appears that they have switched to pools. Sigh. I think this actually makes sense for them, but it changes things a bit.

I feel reasonably confident in writing that the fight for the region's two bids is a four-team race. Truthfully, Michigan is a lock for the top spot so it is a three-team race for one spot. Apologies to Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame. I wish you the best at Regionals and would love to see some upsets, but this is the way it is.

The Top Dog (aka Alec Baldwin): Michigan. Flywheel is clearly the best and most accomplished of the GL teams. Like Alec, they seem to get better as time goes by.

The Crazy Bro (aka Stephen Baldwin): Illinois. Menace can look awesome (Stephen in 'The Usual Suspects'), they can be embarrassing (Stephen in 'The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas') and they can be a guilty pleasure (Stephen as himself in 'Celebrity Mole' and 'Celebrity Apprentice'). With respect to the rest of the region, the second bid will be mainly determined by which Stephen Baldwin Menace decides to be this weekend.

The Once (and Future?) Star (aka Billy Baldwin): Northwestern. I think a lot of people forget that Billy Baldwin had eclipsed Alec for just a little while in the early 90s. He was in Backdraft, Flatliners and what turned out to be the turning point in his career, Sliver. This flick was a key vehicle for both Billy and Sharon Stone who was just coming off of Basic Instinct. The film stunk and the verdict on Billy was that he wasn't leading man material (on a side note, it look a couple more films like Casino and sucktastic films like The Specialist and The Quick and the Dead before people realized that Sharon Stone was worthless as a leading lady). Billy has quietly been making a comeback with solid spots in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Squid and the Whale and the TV series Dirty Sexy Money.

Like Billy, Northwestern blew up at Nationals two years ago and had a dream run that almost landed them in the semifinals. Well, Gung Ho was forgotten last year and flew under the radar this year until their victory over Illinois at Sectionals. The addition of Laura Moore from Duke makes a big difference for Gung Ho. She carried Duke on her back last year and is capable of doing the same for Northwestern. Luckily, Moore has GL FOTY candidate Lien Hoffman to ease the burden.

The Femme Fatale (aka Kim Basinger) - Case Western. Alright, this doesn't really work because I don't think anyone has a serious shot of upsetting Michigan. I guess the logic I can apply here is who can be the entity that gets between Alec and his brothers? Well, that would be (or used to be) Kim 'How did I get an Oscar for LA Confidential' Basinger? Kim Basinger's best and most fitting role was that of Memo Paris in The Natural. Her character basically rendered the magical Roy Hobbs into an ordinary guy. As soon as Hobbs dumps Memo, he's back to being... well, the Natural.

Isn't this what happened to Alec Baldwin? Check out his list of movies while the two were married (1993-2002). Most of those flicks are duds. When he signed on to be the narrator for the Royal Tenenbaums (a great and underrated vocal performance by Baldwin), it coincided with his troubles with Kim. Now, he's a frickin' stud again. The Aviator, The Departed and 30 Rock. The man has been let loose! Anyway, the point here is that Case Western might be the anti-Baldwin. Beware.

Another reason to like Case Western is that there is always a surprise team at Nationals. Last year, Michigan State and Northeastern snuck up on everyone and did much better than expected in Boulder. The Fighting Gobies, led by seniors Ashley Gan and Elaine Leung, fit this description. CWRU already put a big scare in Illinois at the Chicago Invite and their only other loss came to St. Louis. They will return everyone next year so look for them to be contenders (and possibly the Alec Baldwins) next year as well.

The Troubled One (aka Danny Baldwin): Oregon Men's Ultimate. I just couldn't bring myself to equate any women's team to Danny Baldwin. It's just didn't work. But with all the stuff going on with the Oregon men's team (the drinking violations, the speeding tickets, the inappropriate nudity), I think they fit the bill pretty well. It sounds like the Oregon sports department gave them multiple chances to be on their best behavior. Now, they are making news for all the wrong reasons. FAIL.

Who Goes to Columbus: Michigan, Case Western

Tough Luck Loser: Illinois

My take: I really wanted to pick Illinois here, but I just have a bad feeling. I thought that their tough loss to Michigan State last year would have ensured that they wouldn't be in the same position again, but as much as I admire this team, they just seem to be a classic underperforming team. Plus, Stephen Baldwin has been on a losing streak lately (backing the McCain/Palin ticket and tattooing Hannah Montana's initials on his shoulder... these are bad, bad signs).

I think Michigan will take out CWRU in the semis and Illinois will avenge their sectionals loss to Northwestern in the other half. Illinois will sub tightly against Michigan and play them fairly closely for a half before losing by a decent margin. In the back door, CWRU will squeak out a tough win against Northwestern and then face Menace in the game-to-go. The Fighting Gobies get to hop on the I-71, hang out with the Mennonites for a bit before showing up for their first Nationals.

The New England Regionals preview will come soon.

Regionals Preview - The Northwest

2009-04-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm rolling out my previews as soon as I finish each one. The Great Lakes and New England will come soon.

NORTHWEST (3 bids)
Oh. My. God.

I love the Southwest (where I am now), and I love the Atlantic Coast (where I come from). The reality is that the Northwest has by far the toughest region with six national-caliber teams and only three bids. I think the Southwest and Atlantic Coast rank two and three in terms of the depth of quality teams (and higher than the NW if you factor in the next tier of teams like Colorado State, Claremont, Emory, Georgia). The other fact is that the Northwest has produced the Champion for several years in a row. This could be the year that changes, but the top two to emerge from the region are good bets to make semis and all three qualifiers will be strong bets to make quarters.

Just as it is difficult to determine who the best of the Northwest teams is, I think it is comparably difficult to decide which of the 'Arrested Development' characters is my favorite. Let's take a look at the parallels.

The Young Star (aka George Michael Bluth) - Oregon. Fugue has been strong in the past, but compared to UBC, UW and Stanford, they seem like the young ones in the region. Of all the cast members, Michael Cera's career has been the hottest since AD. Likewise, Fugue has been the star of the Northwest this year. The question marks for them include their relative inexperience as frontrunners and the long layoff between highly competitive tourneys. Almost two months will have passed since their last official game against a top-tier opponent. Still, with performances like that in Superbad (Pres Day) and Juno (Stanford Invite), I think I've got to go with George Michael (even if it means stepping outside the constraints of a contrived comparison to AD).

The Matriarch (aka Lucille Bluth) - Stanford. Like Lucille, Superfly can seem like a cold, merciless and power-hungry entity that seems to be deeply involved in every facet of the region's affairs. The reality is that the Northwest is like the Bluth Family and there would be no drama and no power in the region without all that Stanford has done. One thing I learned from the show is that you don't mess with Lucille Bluth and walk away without scars. I have questions about Lucille but I'm afraid to go against her. Plus, she is really funny.

The Crazy Liberal Starlet Wannabe (aka Lindsay Bluth Funke) - Washington. Apologies to Boulder, Boston and San Francisco, but Seattle is the center of the Ultimate world and they know it. Like the character played by Mrs. Ellen Degeneres (Portia de Rossi), Element is an attractive team that demands your attention, but beneath the pretty veneer is a certain kookiness that is best reflected in their complicated relationship with the Tobias of the Ultimate world. Who's Tobias? Consider Cu1timate, the attention-craving folks who a lot of people love to make fun of but end up as a major topic of discussion for so many. Tobias may be talked about more, but Lindsay is the much more interesting and fully developed character.

The Wildcard (aka Gob/George Bluth II) - British Columbia. "Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money." Whether UBC's struggles during the season were illusion or reality, the truth will come out this weekend. Much like Colorado, they have been a bit all over the map. They were very good at Centex and then struggled at Sectionals. Last year, I think a lot of people considered Gob to be their favorite Bluth, but times do change.

The Late (or Never) Bloomer (aka Buster Bluth) - Cal. It's time for the Pie Queens to come out of the Matriarch's shadow. Or womb. Or something less awkward. If Cal can survive their battle with the loose seal (or Lucille), they'll be sporting a hook and that is definitely something to fear.

The Spunky Upstart (aka Maeby Funke) - Western Washington. It's hard to call them an upstart when they have been solid for three years now. Like Maeby, Western Washington hates being in the shadow of the Crazy Liberal Starlet Wannabe and gets furious when people forget about them. The real key for Chaos is to get their cousin Oregon to fall hopelessly in love with them, strike a deal with a studio for a horror film that is based on the Matriarch and hopefully not cross paths with the Starlet after pool play.

Who Goes to Columbus: Oregon, Stanford, UBC

Tough Luck Loser: Washington

My take: The funny thing is that pool play really doesn't matter much here. No offense to seeds 7-16, but only the top 6 have a shot at Nationals. Whitman and Santa Cruz could pose challenges and upset one of the top six, but they simply don't have enough to go the distance.

The top eight teams are so obviously ahead of the rest of the region that the crossovers will just serve as perfunctory warmups to Sunday. That said, the one truly important thing that will come out of Saturday's play is something that is mostly beyond a team's control -- the quarterfinals matchups. Given that there are so many different possibilities in terms of who matches up with whom in the quarters, it is really difficult to predict out who has a leg up on Sunday.

Oregon will face either Santa Cruz or UBC/Cal in the quarters. Stanford will face either Whitman or Western Washington/Washington. Those are some huge differences. The top two seeds could lose their crossover games and actually benefit by drawing a better matchup depending on how the other crossover goes. Wacky.

Whoever draws Whitman and Santa Cruz in the quarters will benefit immensely. For whoever ends up in the B1 v. D1 matchup (almost certainly Stanford and a coin flip between UBC/Cal), I would pay attention to the other crossover and seriously consider tanking the game if it means getting the matchup with Whitman in the quarters. Unfortunately, the potential Oregon/Washington matchup would likely be a tight game that would be tough to call until the very end.

Some people will think my strategy is stupid and you should look to win every game. I'm not advocating actively looking to lose. I'm just saying that if the right circumstances arise, you have to go for the best matchup on Sunday, especially when you consider the smallest elements might make the difference between 3rd and 4th.

The four teams that get to the semifinals have a big advantage over the two other teams who don't. That's just a fact. I think Oregon and Stanford are deep enough that they can get by in any scenario. The other four teams need to seriously examine how to keep their top line as fresh as possible. I would be willing to be a lot of money that the team that wins the 3rd place game will be the one whose playmakers are fresher partially by virtue of a more favorable path to that game. As Tory Hislop, Cree Howard, Alyssa Weatherford and Shannon O'Malley go, so go their teams. Certainly, there are other great players on these teams, but each of these four players are the engines for their teams' offense. You take them out of the picture and you severely cripple their teams.

So my predictions... I can't believe I'm going against Washington, but honestly I'd say that about whomever would be the last team out. I think Cal and Western Washington are a step below the other four so it basically comes down to which of the top four is most vulnerable after a series of tough games. UBC is wacky unpredictable but I'm betting they'll do whatever it takes, including tanking the right games, in order to keep Tory and Candice fresh. Plus, you can't underestimate the defending champion thing.

I think Element will run hard in every game. If Shannon O'Malley and Lindsey Wilson are tired in the big game, that's trouble. For all I know, they'll just win the tourney and render my predictions useless. The more I think about this debate, the more confused I get and the more I just want to go back to my Arrested Development DVDs and just enjoy the show.

Southwest Regionals Recap

2009-04-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Before I go into my recap, I want to briefly address my picks from last weekend's Regionals. I ended up with 11 of the 13 teams correct (thankfully, one of the 11 was USC). I'll give myself a B+ for the predictions.

In the Metro East, I'm not sure anyone could have seen UPenn's backdoor win coming after Helpful Corn shellacked Venus in the semis (15-4). I'm looking forward to hearing a recap. Until then, I will make absurd speculations based on nothing but random comments on RSD, the UPA score reporter and a set of tarot cards I don't know how to read.

I'll be honest; I didn't think Maryland had the guns to seriously challenge Ottawa in the finals. I wish I could have watched that game. The fact that Maryland had a legitimate shot at winning may have been their undoing. In a two-bid region, the loser of a tight finals game is often vulnerable in the backdoor game. I don't know to what extent fatigue and the letdown of losing against Ottawa factored into their loss, but I'm sure that those two elements could have made a one-point difference.

I don't want to discredit UPenn either; they seized the moment and believed that they could take down Maryland after losing the previous day by 11. I am excited to see UPenn in Columbus. I was a big UPenn fan back when I was in school, and in my days of smoking crack, I was an ardent supporter of Val Kelly in her successful bid to be the first women's Callahan winner in history.

In the South, I incorrectly picked Texas to trump Washington. I forgot one really important rule when making my picks -- the Washington Corollary. When there is a realistic shot of having a Washington (University) vs. Washington (University of) matchup at Nationals, always go with Washington.

Washington, WA-SHING-TON
Two schools playing and hucking a ton,
Opponents beware
Proponents beware,
They're coming... they're coming... they're coming...

Let me drop a little rhyme,
They have seven on the line,
Two sets of seven gals so divine,
From the middle of the heartland
to the Emerald State
The only school that's missing
is by the Potomac Strait
Here comes the Washingtons
They're packing discs instead of guns
To shoot down teams and poop on your dreams,
They're coming... they're coming... they're coming...

I truly fear the day when GWU, UW and Wash U. all show up at Nationals. Make sure you hide your children (if you're British) and your pet bears.

Anyway, the real important thing here is that two St. Louis schools will be attending Nationals. SLU is joining Iowa State and the USC Hellions as first-timers at the Big Show.

SOUTHWEST REGIONALS RECAP
The primary points of interest in pool play were the following:

1) Would the real Colorado stand up and win their rematch with Colorado State?

2) Could UCSD challenge UCSB?

3) How would New Mexico and Colorado College perform?

The answer to number one was an unequivocal yes. Because we won our game against Claremont so quickly (details below), we were able to watch the Colorado vs. Colorado St. game. I hadn't seen Hell's Belles all season, and I was very impressed by them. By the time we started watching, the game was already out of reach (Kali was up 12-5). Even so, CSU kept fighting and they looked much improved from last year. In years past, I thought CSU was pretty solid but they seemed to have limited upside. The addition of a coach (Charles Stone) and a solid player in Brianna Quigley of Rare Air has made a tremendous difference. They have a much clearer system in place, and I expect good things from them in the near future.

The facile answer to number two is no, but I spoke with Steve Dugan before our semifinals matchup and he had nothing but good things to say about the Psychos. The score was lopsided but his respect for UCSD was very clear. As it turned out, UCSD scored more against the Burning Skirts than anybody else and turned out to be the only team to prevent them from reaching the point cap. It may seem like I'm grasping for straws, but on a weekend when UCSB was simply dominant, you have to grasp a little bit.

Regarding UNM and Colorado College, I didn't know much about either squad and took a stab in the dark by suggesting seeding UNM above UCLA-B and seeding Colorado College last. I don't know if they played out the last few placement games, but I think I was about right with UNM and completely wrong about Colorado College. Unfortunately, because of the uncertainty regarding both teams, pool C ended up as a difficult pool and I think UNM was prematurely eliminated from Nationals contention. Speaking of pool C...

POOL C
University of New Mexico
The Bombshells are a solid squad and they were a fun team to play. We played them in the first round and we came out on fire. Our defense forced them into difficult throws, and we managed to score three Callahans. UNM was very good-humored about it and at halftime, they cheered 'NO MORE CALLAHANS!' They fought hard in the second half, and though we emerged victorious, they succeeded in their halftime goal.

Colorado College
Coached by Emily Anderson of Rare Air, Colorado College has a number of exciting young players, led by Sophie Herscu. She is the engine for their offense, and her flick huck is their primary weapon. They very nearly knocked off Claremont in the first round, and ended up 8th in the region after beating Long Beach in a rematch. Lysistrata's Tools will need to develop their offense next year if they are going to take the next step up and contend with the top 6 or so teams, but the potential is there.

Claremont
We had played Claremont three times in the spring so we knew each other very well. I think this may have led them to tank the game quickly, a decision that I think was absolutely the correct one given their circumstances. The Greenshirts had an unexpectedly difficult first game against Colorado College where they were pushed to double game point. Erica Baken was on the sidelines for the bulk of the game with what may be a cracked femur. When Claremont was unable to pull away in the second half, she put on her cleats in order to help them beat Lysistrata's Tools.

I feel torn about Baken's decision to play hurt. I mean, this is the time of year you want to show up. Regionals is what everyone plays for. I just don't want to see her cause any long-term damage. She's an exciting part of the Southwest's future and she has many years of Ultimate to play. That said, she is one hell of a gutsy player. Apparently, she's been dealing with this injury since Santa Barbara Invite (in January). Wow.

Semifinals vs. UCSB
Well, they kicked our ass. I think it was the first loss of the season where our opponent gave an obviously superior effort when we were playing fairly well. Our defense was solid and produced some turnovers, and our offense was able to move the disc against one of the best defenses I've seen all year. We had plenty of scoring opportunities where we didn't convert and UCSB capitalized by marching it downfield.

The game was a respectable 8-5 before Santa Barbara demonstrated why they are the favorites to win it all. When they are firing on all cylinders, they will not give you another opportunity to score. Katie Barry's return to the team is obviously a huge boost. Fatigue was big factor in their collapse against UBC last year. This year, they should be able to keep Dre and Kaela fresher by simply picking and choosing points where the big four (add Finney and Katie) are on the field together.

Backdoor Game #1 vs. Colorado State
I was really nervous about this game because it was the perfect cocktail for an upset. We were facing an unknown opponent, we ended Saturday with a dispiriting loss, and we were facing a high-pressure day where each round would get progressively more difficult.

After trading the first few points, I actually felt relieved. We were playing at a high level, and I felt certain that the breaks would come. Our O line was moving the disc confidently, and despite not getting an early break, our D line was making Colorado State work hard much harder than they were making us work when we had the disc. Sure enough, the breaks started coming and we ran away with the game. The finishing blow came when we were up 12-5, and we played the hell point to end hell points. I guess that was only fitting given the teams involved. The point began with a quick turn on a block by Carrie 'Bubbles' Williams who read a swing pass perfectly. We had the disc in the red zone, but Katie 'Punky' Killebrew forced a high-stall throw that resulted in a turnover. Twenty-five minutes later and three times out later, Shinyi Chen lofted a floaty jump disc that was fittingly caught by Bubbles.

The point also featured one of the best bids of the weekend. Punky launched a deep throw to Balls whose bid at the disc made an observer (who will remain nameless) audibly express his admiration. I think Balls had the disc but the forceful impact on the ground caused her to lose control of the disc. Balls seriously has some of the most impressive layouts I have ever seen. I think it gets her injured often, but man, they are beautiful to watch when the situation calls for it.

We found ourselves on the other end of a 15-6 score, and in all seriousness, I definitely felt like it was the closest nine-point victory I've been a part of. The win made a huge difference for us as it ensured that we would only have two more games and two shots at one of the Southwest bids.

Game-to-go #2 vs. UCLA
What had been a beautiful day with virtually perfect conditions changed during the bye before our game against UCLA. While we were at Panera, the wind picked up and clouds started to approach. The game would unfortunately be primarily an upwind/downwind affair.

UCLA won the flip but we started the game with an immediate upwind break. We were unable to break BLU for the ensuing downwinder. When the game was tied at 4s or 5s, we got another upwind break, but again, BLU was able to score upwind to prevent us from taking the downwind advantage.

In the second half, I think we were down 9-10 when BLU got an upwind break. Unlike us, they were able to convert the back half and get a critical three point cushion. We fought hard to get one of those upwind breaks back but we couldn't make good on any of those chances. The final score was 14-11.

BLU did a good job of employing the huck-and-play-D approach. I think they also did a slightly better job of working the disc upwind, especially in the second half. They took some shots upwind and Bossa and Hawkins were critical in coming up with some tough grabs. A couple of lucky bounces ended up in their favor as well. I think Norm had something like 3 or 4 blocks that macked off her hands and were caught by BLU receivers. Kudos to BLU for making the big plays. I think the game basically came down to BLU making more of these plays than we did.

Game-to-go #3 vs. UCSD - The Do-or-Die Game
This was secretly the game I wanted to avoid at all costs (alright, it wasn't so secret). I was nervous about how the Hellions would respond in a high pressure situation, the highest they would likely face in the season. Also, this game felt like the season had come full circle. We began the fall with a scrimmage versus UCSD, and there we were facing them for the last spot to Nationals.

With the rain approaching and the prospect of an upwind/downwind game that could possibly be decided by the disc flip, I suggested to the Psychos that we change the field orientation to facilitate a crosswind game. For whatever reason, they elected to keep the field the way it was. As it turned out, the wind wasn't near as big a factor in this game.

We won the flip and broke the Psychos twice to take a 3-0 lead. At 5-3, the wind died down and the Psychos produced an important break to close to 5-4. The Air Squids were cheering in full support. A couple were crossing the line with obnoxious comments -- supporting your women is one thing, but heckling the other team in a game this important is another. Also, there is a double standard (justifiably so) when it comes to men heckling women's teams. It's something that you just don't do.

Anyway, the Hellions stormed back and broke the Psychos twice to take a huge 8-4 lead. The lead seemed insurmountable when you factored in the wind having changed directions 180 degrees, giving us the downwinder to start the second half. After trading the first few points, the wind died again. The Psychos held serve to close within 10-6 and then broke us to make it a three-point margin.

The next point ended up as the turning point of the game. The momentum was with UCSD and they were playing with the full confidence that a comeback was within reach. The point went back and forth but we ended up stopping their momentum with a critical score. On the next point, the cap horn sounded just a bit before we broke them. Up 12-7 with less than 15 minutes to go, victory was well within sight.

As I had been hoping to do, I put our senior line on in the hopes that they would close out the game. We only have six graduating players (Bambi's coming back for a fifth year), and four of them were with the team before Tracy and I joined the team. Unfortunately, Balls had to come out of the point after a collision at mid-field, but that line produced a break and put us on the brink of our first appearance at Nationals.

A couple of the players on the senior line were gassed and had to take subs, but I was able to get Balls back in for what was hopefully the clinching score. UCSD turned the disc just short of midfield and I think everyone could feel that the moment was imminent. Mary Kate controlled the offense and got the disc about 10 yards out and nicely centered. She spotted Rex breaking to the front of the backhand side, and she was able to zip the disc into the tight space. Rex dove for the disc and came up with the most important score in USC's short history.

I really loved that the clincher came on a no-turnover point, something we had been working on for the past weeks. In adverse conditions, we came through and I'm really proud of how far we have come. The mental game is something we have been working on all year long and I think it was extremely evident at Regionals that the mental work has paid off.

UCSD was a very worthy adversary and had been playing well over the weekend. Losing Molica to an ACL tear was really tough, but they battled all weekend and nearly took out UCLA in the first round on Sunday. As I've mentioned several times before, bouncing back from a one-year suspension is no small thing and I think they would have represented the Southwest well if they were attending Columbus. They lose great players like Meeko, Sir Robin and Ferris, but their program is one of the greatest in the women's division, and they have a number of talented, young players like Joule, Bonds and Loryn. They will be in the mix for years to come.

We had been aiming for 2nd in the region, but we are all ecstatic about our Regionals performance. We'll be going into Columbus with little pressure and the right amount of hunger. Our season is not done and we still have a lot that we want to prove. We're ready to show our stuff at the biggest stage.

My previews for the remaining Regionals and thoughts on All-Region will be coming up soon.

Regionals Previews

2009-04-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

I really love this time of year. I think the anticipation before Regionals is much greater than that before Nationals. I liken it to the NCAA basketball tourney where the buildup to the Final Four is considerably more exciting than the Final Four tourney itself.

SOUTHWEST (4 bids)
Even with four bids, nothing is guaranteed in this region.

Frontrunner (aka Tiger Woods on Sunday when leading): Okay, I retract. UCSB is a lock.

Virtual Lock (aka the Lakers chances of making the NBA finals): UCLA. BLU would have to fall apart in order to not qualify.

Strong Bet (aka UNC winning the NCAA tourney): USC. Hellions love.

The Next Contenders: Colorado and UC San Diego could end up in a rematch of 2007 Regionals which resulted in a double game point win for UCSD. The two squads are 1-1 against each other with UCSD victorious at Pres Day and Colorado winning at Centex. The potential rubber match is an exciting one.

The X-Factor: The weather in Denver is definitely a wildcard and both days are projected to be windy.

Who goes to Columbus: UCSB, UCLA, USC and Colorado (not in that order).

Tough luck loser: UC San Diego.

My take: Colorado is the most unpredictable team at Regionals. They beat UCLA at Centex and they are capable of being very good. I don't think they have the depth to win the tourney, but they are definitely capable of winning their pool and upsetting UCLA in the crossover. They are also capable of losing to Colorado State as evidenced at Sectionals. I still think that they will get it together and return to Nationals for the first time since they lost in the semifinals in 2006.

Arizona would have muddled the picture even more as they were 2-0 against UCSD and 1-0 versus Kali. Unfortunately, they took themselves out of the race by failing to turn in their paperwork on time.

Claremont and Colorado State both have outside chances of taking the fourth bid. I haven't seen Colorado State play this year, but I suspect that they need to adopt the same strategy as Claremont. The Greenshirts need to pick and choose their high intensity games and keep their key players as fresh as possible to go as deep as possible. These two squads and Long Beach are more likely to be spoilers than they are to be Nationals bound, and all of the top contenders will have to take these teams seriously.

ATLANTIC COAST (2 bids)
The Frontrunner (aka Rock): UNC-Wilmington. Honestly, the difference between the three Carolina teams is tiny, but Seaweed does have a 3-0 record vs. UNC and split their two matchups with Wake Forest. Always go with rock.

Best Bets for the Second Bid (aka Paper and Scissors): Wake Forest and UNC. Pleiades is 2-0 against Ruckus which bodes well for Chapel Hill in their potential matchup in the semifinals.

The Best of the Rest (aka Dynamite): Florida. When I was a kid, we used to play with dynamite as a special throw. Yeah, it was stupid. If FUEL can catch fire, they could take down any of the Carolina teams. I like their potential matchup against Wilmington. They suffered a surprising loss to Georgia at Sectionals, but I think they are the biggest threat to the big three from Carolina.

The Spoilers (aka Matchsticks): Georgia, William and Mary and Virginia. If these teams catch fire, they could end one of the previous four teams' national ambitions. I think each of them is unlikely to run the table to win the backdoor bracket, but they are dangerous squads for the primary contenders.

Who Goes to Columbus: UNC-Wilmington and UNC.

Tough luck loser: Florida.

Who I'm rooting for: William and Mary. My wife was and will always be a Mother Hucker.

My Take: The Atlantic Coast is the most compelling Regional to watch outside of the Northwest. The AC deserves to have three teams in Columbus but alas, they have only two spots. USC got to play all three of the Carolina teams this year, and each is stylistically different. Wilmington wants to bomb the disc and attack vertically while UNC has more of a balance of the deep game and possession offense. I can't really speak on Wake Forest because our game against them was in heavy wind, but last year at Nationals, Ruckus tended to run their offense through one or two players and everyone else centered on getting the disc back to them, especially Lucia Derks.

CENTRAL (3 bids)
The Frontrunner (aka The Moon Landing Happened): Wisconsin. I mean, there's a chance that the Moon Landing was fake... actually, no, there isn't.

The Virtual Lock (aka Crop Circles are a Hoax): Carleton. I can see Syzygy faltering in one game, but not two. It's also possible that aliens were responsible for crop circles, but again, not really.

The Next Contenders (aka All That Da Vinci Code Stuff Has Merit): Iowa State and Wisconsin Eau-Claire. I haven't seen Iowa State play this year. Come to think of it, I've never seen them play but never underestimate the power of a team named Woman Scorned. Scary. One of these two teams will be going to Columbus but there is much more uncertainty about which one. Consider Iowa State the stuff about Da Vinci hiding stuff in paintings and Eau-Claire the stuff about the Priori of Sion and Mary Magdalene as wife.

Who goes to Columbus: Wisconsin, Carleton, Iowa State

Tough luck loser: Wisconsin Eau-Claire

My take: Wisconsin is very strong but as their losses to St. Louis indicate, they are definitely beatable, especially by a team that values the disc really well. I think Carleton can be this kind of team, and as longtime regional rivals, they certainly won't be fazed by Bella Donna. I'm going to be boring and predict that the region goes Wisconsin, Carleton and Iowa State.

I think the drop off between the top four and the rest is really big and all three bids plus the game-to-go loser should could from this bunch.

METRO EAST (2 bids)
Allow me to dork out with some X-Men references. Yup. My dork factor just shot up several points. I'm okay with that.

The Frontrunner (aka I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch): Ottawa. I think the easiest bets for qualifying for Nationals are Ottawa, UCSB, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Gauntlet (aka the Brood): The separation between Maryland, UPenn, Pitt, Penn State and Cornell is very small. If you look at their matchups against each other, you will see a lot of games decided by one point.

The Spoilers (aka the Morlocks): NYU, Georgetown and Delaware. I have the feeling that one of these squads will pick off one of the top six seeds in the backdoor.

Who Goes to Columbus: Ottawa and Maryland. Man, I'm boring.

My take: I think Maryland benefits greatly from being the overall 2 seed. They will likely get a bit of an edge on the rest of the field since they should be able to get through pool play much more easily than their counterparts in the C and D pools. The 3-6 seeds play each other and the pool winners have an immense edge going into bracket play. I think the foursome of Pitt, UPenn, Penn State and Cornell have to treat pool play as a must win situation. If last year's ME Regionals are any indication, nobody has the depth to play two extra games and still have enough to win the backdoor game.

SOUTH (2 bids)
Last year, I dorked out and compared the South Regional to Highlander. This year, I'll do a complete 180 and do a comparison with my favorite Woody Allen movies.

The Frontrunners (aka Annie Hall and Manhattan) - St. Louis and Texas. Just as the conventional wisdom is to go with St. Louis this year, Annie Hall is regarded as Woody's greatest picture. What's wonderful about Annie Hall is that there's an adorable awkwardness to the film and it was very unconventional for the time. Sounds like SLU to me. You can pick apart the individual components but the whole package is there and you can't argue with their results.

On the flip side, you've got Texas aka Manhattan. This classic B&W flick is my personal favorite Woody Allen film, and I think it is one of the most perfect films ever made. That's a lot for Texas to live up to, but I fell in love with Melee at last year's Nationals. Just as my intellect tells me that there may technically be better Woody Allen movies, I keep coming back to Manhattan. The same is true for Texas -- I can't go against them until someone knocks them off. [One glaring difference from the brilliant aesthetics of Manhattan is Melee's new Five-Ultimate jerseys. I don't know when I became obsessed with fashion, and I'm certainly in danger of alienating more folks with my fashion sense, but wow, those are some interesting looking threads. They definitely fall below BLU level.]

The Challengers (aka Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors)- Washington University and Truman St. After Woody Allen tapered off a bit in the early 80s, he came roaring back with these two amazing films in the second half of the decade. Hannah and Her Sisters is a warm, sensitive film that heavily featured my favorite e.e. cummings poem. When I think of Wash U., I think of my friend from college who did her graduate work there in poetry. Ch-ching! Connection is made.

Crimes and Misdemeanors may be the most complex and challenging film in Woody Allen's oeuvre. I know quite a few people who think that this flick trumps the big films of the 70s. Likewise, Truman State isn't a popular choice to take one of the bids, but they are a familiar name and nobody would leave them completely out of the discussion.

The New Blood (aka Match Point or Vicky Cristina Barcelona, take your pick) - Vanderbilt. Alright, Woody has fallen off quite a bit as he got through the 90s and into the new millennium. These two flicks demonstrated that he's still got a lot to offer. Perhaps not so coincidentally, these two films feature Scarlett Johansson. Perhaps Vanderbilt should consider themselves Scarlett. I think they'd take that. They are the exciting new team on the scene and believe that they have the stuff to get to the top of the region.

Who will win: St. Louis and Texas

Tough luck loser: Washington U.

My take: I was excited to see Woody Allen come back with a couple good films recently, and I do have a soft spot for his 80s flicks. I also have a special place in my heart for the early slapstick films like Sleeper. In the end, I always go back to Annie Hall and Manhattan. St. Louis and Texas, you're like the eggs.

Best of luck to all teams (except those in USC's path)!

So Cal Sectionals Recap

2009-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yup, I've been a bit MIA with my posts. Things got busy with Centex and Sectionals. Plus, I got a bit wary of further alienating UCLA with my personal musings. Apparently, they have taken my words as being insulting. I hope that the BLU folks understand that I was only playing up the UCLA-USC rivalry and it was all meant as good fun. I thought making fun of their threads and calling them the Westwood Smurfs was fair game, but I guess I took it too far (one of my special talents). The fact is that I have a ton of respect for UCLA (past and present) and all that they have accomplished in the past six years, and my hope is that the bulk of my writing has reflected that. As one of the top programs in the division, they are going to draw their fair share of attention and criticism. That said, if I have caused any hurt feelings over there, I apologize.

Pool Play

Our schedule was eerily reminiscent of last year's schedule when we started off with Cal Poly-SLO, faced off against Irvine in the next game and finished the day with a big showdown against Santa Barbara. The only difference was UC San Diego-B in place of Redlands. The more things change...

I hadn't really seen SLO all year, but they were pretty much the same team that I remember them being last year. They don't have Rock anymore, but they have a bunch of solid if not spectacular players who have a good understanding of the game. I didn't see Jessup on the sidelines so I don't know if he's still coaching SLO Motion, but they did have someone else helping them out. Unfortunately, I don't get much of a chance to meet the other team since the Hellions have adopted the spirit circle in lieu of slapping hands and exchanging good-games after our matches.

We followed up our SLO game with a match against Irvine. We hadn't seen them this spring but they remain a very familiar team to us. Iris Leung and Annie Ngo are two of their standouts and you would have to be Charles Manson to not like the attitude that they bring to the game. Like Cal State Long Beach, I think Irvine is a ripe place to develop a great program. I'm ecstatic that both Irvine and CSULB are going to Regionals; programs like theirs are vital for growth in the region.

Our last game of the day was against Santa Barbara. This was an upwind-downwind game and UCSB got the first upwind break of the game. We worked the disc upwind on the next point to regain the advantage but UCSB returned with another upwind score and grabbed the momentum in the game. They pushed the advantage with the downwind half and produced another upwind break en route to a 4 point run that led to a 7-3 halftime score.

We received going upwind to start the second half. Both teams held serve scoring five upwind points in a row. This was particularly impressive since the wind was definitely a factor. We finally broke UCSB for the first downwind score of the half to close to 9-7. The soft cap was on and we battled UCSB on a critical point where the Burning Skirts worked against our zone for 53 throws in a row. Their patience finally broke about 10 yards out when one of their younger players turn the disc near the sideline. Our D line was gassed and unable to generate disc movement. We gave the disc back to UCSB after a couple of throws and they put it in the end zone for an easy score. At this point the game was virtually out of reach and the Burning Skirts seized the moment by finishing us off with an upwind score.

By and large, I think we've developed a fun rivalry with the Burning Skirts. It has certainly been one-sided, but the gap is closing. I do really like the bulk of UCSB's players and have tremendous respect for both Steve Dugan and Jenny Hanscom. That said, there is still an ugly element on the Burning Skirts that bothers me. I think it is limited to a few players, but I feel like there are a few that carry a superiority complex and negative attitude towards us. These players are likely the same ones who hate the spirit circle. That's fine and dandy if people hate things like that, but I can't support acting like you are okay with it and then snickering about it later. If that sounds hateful on my part, check out the title of my blog. I am a snakehead eating the head of the opposite side.

Bracket Play

In the semis, we matched up against UCLA, and it was pretty clear from their vibe during and after the game that they were none too pleased with the stuff on this blog. Sigh. I've come to the realization way too late that I have to watch what I say more closely because I don't know this generation of BLU very well.

Personal feelings aside, I hope that everyone can appreciate that this was a good game where both teams played well. I'd be curious to hear Korb's take, but I thought the game basically came down to two critical points. After we took half, we were on serve for the first couple points. I think it was 10-9 when we had the first really good break opportunity of the half. We worked the disc to within five yards of the end zone and called a time out. Based on how both teams were playing, I think we would have won the game if we had scored this goal. UCLA played some very tight defense and forced us into a high stall count turnover.

After they evened the score, they found themselves with a golden opportunity when we had an unexpected drop in our own end zone. Our end zone defense was up to the challenge and after the first few looks were shut off, I think it was Danger who looked to make a swing pass to Megha Shah (best name in the entire women's division). Bambi had the inside position and read the cut well to get what appeared to be a block. Megha called a foul that I am convinced would have been overruled immediately by any observer. If anything it looked like Megha had fouled Bambi in trying to get to the disc.

There's of course no guarantee that we would have scored on the next possession, but I think the game essentially came down to this moment. UCLA maintained possession and scored on an upline cut. With the wind being a pretty big factor, this break was huge. When BLU got to game point (12-11), we did produce one hell of a fight to get the do-or-die upwinder. I think we generated at least four turnovers and had two decent upwind possessions. In the end, BLU's defense and the wind were just too much to overcome. BLU wins 13-11.

On a random note, one of the low points of the game (or unintentionally high point depending on your perspective) occurred in the first half when BLU was up one upwind break and we worked up the field to put it in (or close to in) the end zone. Korb and I lined up on the end zone to debate whether a USC player (Kate Schlag) was in or not. Neither one of us had any business involving ourselves in the discussion and probably looked like tools. One thing Korb and I share is that we are masters of unintentional comedy. We ended up continuing the point and scored on the next throw.

Our next two games against Long Beach and Claremont were blowouts where fatigue on the other side pretty much guaranteed a win for us. Both are much stronger teams than the scores would reflect, but the lack of depth is a big issue for them and remains a factor in their hopes of doing well at Regionals.

I was able to see UCLA and UCSB play a bit from our field. UCSB had been up a couple of upwind breaks in the first half, but UCLA fought back to regain the advantage. The Burning Skirts had a number of uncharacteristic drops that gave UCLA additional chances to score. Andrea Romano was out for UCSB (foot injury?) and certainly impaired UCSB's ability to handle in the wind and stretch the field downwind. Kudos to BLU though for winning Sectionals and ensuring the top seed at Regionals.

As UCLA and UCSB were duking it out in the finals, Claremont and UCSD were locked in a tight affair that was arguably the game of the tourney. In the rematch or their pool game (the first of which was won by UCSD), Claremont had been up by four points late in the game (12-8, I think). UCSD stormed back and looked like they could do no wrong with five straight points. Somehow, Claremont sucked it up and found a way to score the next two points. Bayliss, Carny, Krump and Baken all factored in heavily as they took out the Psychos and further muddled the picture for Regionals.

I'll be posting again soon with predictions for this weekend's Regionals.

Tier Ye, Tier Ye (aka a quasi-preview of Centex)

2009-03-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Franklin... inspired by... Franklin!!! Double post!

With Centex less than 48 hours away, I think it would be both fun and instructive to look at the national picture by tiers. I'm sure that these tiers will change a bit after the big showdown in Austin.

Having expanded to 32 teams and focused solely on the women's division, this year's Centex reminds me of the great Japanese cult flick Battle Royale. Almost all of the contenders are going to be there (Oregon and Washington are the exceptions), and there has likely never been as good and deep a field of women's teams at one tourney.

TIER OF HEAVEN aka Ready to play on Memorial Day

If I were Vegas (I assure you that I am not; at best, I might be the City of Commerce Casino), I would favor the following teams to be battling on the final day of Nationals:

UC Santa Barbara
Oregon (not at Centex)
Wisconsin

The first two are no-brainers having reached the finals of both President's Day and Stanford Invite. Interestingly, Fugue is not attending Centex so there will be no chance of a third finals meeting (unless St. Louis is actually Oregon in disguise... imagine how awesome it would be if SLU had a dream run to the Centex championship and shocked everyone when they ripped off their masks Mission Impossible-style to reveal that they've been Fugue all along. I'm not sure if Oregon is Edward Norton or Tyler Durden, I have no idea why I picked St. Louis, and I know I'm just muddling everything with the Fight Club and Mission Impossible references. Just run with this.)

Wisconsin reportedly lost to St. Louis at the Midwest Throwdown in a game that was decisively upwind-downwind. Bella Donna also lost to Vanderbilt at Terminus -- no offense to Vandy, but my first reaction to the result was to wonder if Wisconsin was missing some of their players. Centex will be the true test of whether they belong in this tier, but on paper, they are a very strong candidate for the Tier of Heaven.

Each of the above teams have everything that you need to win the big one. Depth? Check. Star players? Check. Big game experience? Check. Knowledgeable coach? Check.

TIERRA DEL FUEGO aka Angry at FJR for not Putting Them in the Tier of Heaven

Ottawa
Stanford
Washington (not at Centex)
Michigan

Each of these teams could move up or down, and again, Centex will be a critical test before the series begins. The one exception, of course, is Washington who opted not to attend the tourney. This is complete speculation but my guess is that it has something to do with Cyle van Auken coaching the team and Element's close ties to Cultimate. It's a bit of a shame, and if Element underperforms at Regionals and/or Nationals, there will be plenty of speculation about whether their decision not to attend Pres Day and especially Centex will have hurt their title chances.

What keeps each of these teams from being in the top tier is each has at least one major question mark. With Ottawa, I think depth remains their Achilles' heel. Also, to my knowledge, they are one of the only top-level teams without a coach. Yeah, it's self-serving to write that coaches make a difference, but I think most people would agree that it is true.

Stanford is a bit like Jennifer Aniston. They are both very attractive and likeable, but they lack that extra something special you're looking for in a big screen star. Superfly has a number of very good players (Cassel, Platt, Founds, Damon), and one of the best systems in the country. I have had difficult time identifying exactly what they are missing; perhaps it is a dominant, crunch-time player (someone like Georgia Bosscher or Cree Howard) who will take over at the end of the game. This can certainly change over the next two months. Plus, there is also that glaring lopsided rivalry with Fugue.

Michigan may be the best candidate to move up. Except for their loss to Wisconsin at Mardi Gras, they have been nothing short of dominant. While they have played a number of decent teams (Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Florida to list a few), they have yet to play against the big dogs (except Wisconsin). Flywheel is arguably deserving of a one seed at Centex, but they get to prove their top-tier worthiness by taking on UCSB in pool play.

TIER-RAN-A-SAUR-US REX aka Intriguing Squads that Could Be Sleepers, Dinosaurs or Dennis Rodman

The teams in this tier are wild cards for different reasons. Each of them could move up or down a tier and a couple are capable of ascending to the very top tier.

British Columbia
UCLA
Cal
USC
Western Washington
Carleton

As I've mentioned in a previous post, UBC didn't have Tory Hislop or Jenny Lo with them at the Stanford Invite. I still think that we have yet to see the real UBC this season. However they do in Austin should be the best measure for what everyone should expect during the series.

UCLA is quite a bit like Stanford as the really good but not flashy team. Consider them the Katherine Heigl of the women's division (I think of Heigl as the younger model of Aniston; apologies to those who are big Heigl and Aniston fans). BLU is stealthily getting better with each tourney and could be one of the surprising teams in Austin (not that UCLA performing well should be considered a surprise).

Cal has the talent to move up but their big issue seems to be their mental game in particular matchups. Though the Pie Queens have the talent and ability to play each team tightly, none of their games against Stanford and UCSB have been particularly close.

As always, it's impossible to be objective about this one, but USC could be a breakout team if they can figure out how to upend a couple of the other big name programs. Consistently good but just short of winning (DGP losses to Oregon, Ottawa, UCLA, UBC, Cal), the Hellions finally broke through with a comeback victory over UBC at Stanford. I also think we figured something out in the process of winning the consolation bracket in Ripon. If we can come through with a couple of key wins in Austin, we could shake up the national picture.

Western Washington resembles USC in many ways. Both have been up-and-comers in tough regions and this year figures to be their breakout season. Whether this team is moving upward or downward is tough to say. Chaos had a very solid showing at Stanford, but they remain in the Northwest, where being number five or six just won't cut it. They are this year's Dennis Rodman, the team that could be great, be disappointing or create complete havoc.

Carleton is Carleton. I don't know this year's squad well enough to determine their breakout potential, but like I said, it's Carleton. They looked uncharacteristically weak at Southerns, and my guess is that their poor performance can be attributed to missing some players.

TIER-EE-YAY ELEISON aka The Darkest of the Light

This tier is crazy big and can likely be subdivided into two or three tiers, but at this point in the season, differentiating these teams is really difficult. I've separated the teams below by region.

What sets this tier apart from the above is that these teams here are almost certainly not going to beat any of the teams in the top two tiers during the series (or even at Centex). Each of these teams are capable of upsetting the teams in the prior tier though.

SOUTHWEST
UC San Diego
Arizona
Colorado

ATLANTIC COAST
North Carolina
UNC Wilmington (not at Centex)
Wake Forest
Florida

NEW ENGLAND
Dartmouth
Northeastern

SOUTH
Texas
St. Louis
Truman State

METRO EAST
Pittsburgh
Maryland

OTHER
Illinois
Wisconsin Eau-Claire
Iowa State (not at Centex)

I have written a decent amount on the Southwest teams (UCSD, Arizona, Colorado), so there's no real need to do so now.

As for the Atlantic Coast teams, if I had to bet on who gets the two bids, I would go with UNC and Wake Forest. When in doubt, go with the ACC (how's that for crack analysis?). If wind factors into the equation at Regionals, Florida, led by Kristen Lamm and Allison Walford, would likely be the biggest beneficiary. If Wilmington's star players can conserve their energy for the key games on Sunday, they will also be very much in the mix. A couple of sleepers in the AC include William and Mary and Elon.

In the New England region, I thought that Northeastern was going to run away with the title (I think that's what I wrote in the upcoming UPA magazine), but Dartmouth is looking strong this spring. Winning Southerns on double game point over Florida, Princess Layout also has quality wins over Iowa State (who won't be at Centex), Truman State, the Mates of State and the 51st State, Canada. Whazzat, you say? Rohre Titcomb of Five Ultimate is one of the star players on this team, and she can certainly add victories over VC and Gaia to her proud accomplishments. Dartmouth and Northeastern will have to fight off challenges from Harvard and Middlebury.

Texas and St. Louis are two of the favorites from the South region and though they have yet to play each other this season, they could potentially meet in a play-in game on Saturday. Michelle Ng did a great write-up of several Midwest teams after the Midwest Throwdown, so instead of rehashing what she wrote, I'll just direct all interested parties to that post. St. Louis will be drawing confidence from their recent Chicago Invite victory, beating Illinois in the finals.

Pittsburgh Danger and Maryland Helpful Corn are likely going to vie with Cornell and Penn State for the second spot out of the Metro East. Charlie Mercer is a difference maker for Maryland, and unfortunately, she was sidelined with injuries for the bulk of last year's College Championships. Having a healthy Mercer is critical for Maryland's hopes to return to the big show. Pitt comes in as a bit of a mystery team to me. They were certainly a solid team last year and notched big wins over Stanford, Wisconsin and UC Santa Barbara at last year's Centex. This year, they took 2nd place at the Queen City Tune Up and eked out close wins over UNC, Florida and Penn State. Their only losses this season have come at the hands of Michigan, but both of their matches were blowouts in favor of Flywheel. They get to prove themselves against three of the perennial powers in the women's division (Stanford, UCLA, UBC), all of whom they faced last year in Austin.

Illinois, UWEC and Iowa State round out the rest of this tier. I wrote about Illinois in my recap of Pres Day, and I'm a bit surprised that they didn't win the Chicago Invite. Being from the frozen tundra, Eau Claire has yet to really compete this season. They lost to Iowa State at High Tide, but that tourney is rarely a good indicator for how a team will perform later in the season. Getting to the play-in game will be an important step for them to assert themselves as a legitimate contender for one of the three Central region bids.

TIER-A-MISU aka It's Like Dessert, You Know... At the End

Claremont
Georgia
Emory
Kansas
Wash U.
Michigan St.

Attesting to the strength of the Centex field are teams like Claremont and Kansas who are seeded 27th and 32nd respectively. The two teams have both won tourneys (Stanford Qualifier and Frostbite) this season. Claremont could make an argument for being in the above tier (one win over Texas), but I see them as a step below UC San Diego, Arizona and Colorado so here they are. Likewise, Georgia and Emory seem to be a decisive step below the top four in the Atlantic Coast.

Of the teams listed in this tier, Wash U. and Michigan State have the best chances of qualifying for Nationals. Wash U. has a win over St. Louis and a DGP loss to Truman State this spring. Michigan State hasn't travelled much this season, but they pulled off one of the biggest upsets last year in Boulder when they beat Texas. Illinois is a good bet to take the second spot out of the Great Lakes region, but Infamous and Case Western should both be in the hunt.

I wish I had more on these teams, and hopefully, I'll get to see some of them in action this weekend. The schedule is pretty tight so odds are against it. In any event, this is going to be a very exciting weekend.

Stanford Invite Recap - Part Two

2009-03-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

And now for a game-by-game analysis...

Stanford
This was a fun and tight affair for the bulk of the game. We led 4-2 and 6-4 before they ran off the last three points of the first half to keep the game on serve. The game remained on serve at 8s. After scoring their O point, Superfly threw us a curveball by coming zone for what I believe was the first time in the game. The abrupt shift knocked us back a bit, and they scored two quick points to suddenly make the game 11-8. The soft cap was on at this point and a very long point ensued. Both teams turned it over 7 or 8 times which took us into the hard cap. We had plenty of opportunities to score but they won the point and the game, final score 12-8.

Unsurprisingly, Jenny Founds and Danielle Platt were the key playmakers for Superfly. Emily Damon was still out with her elbow injury, and Sam Zyck skipped the game for the Hellions as she was still wary of playing after her appendectomy (she ended up playing the next game). Aside from Founds and Platt, a number of players (Ali Mendoza, Elaine Hart, Caitlin Rugg, Ana Brown) played well. This year's Superfly squad doesn't blow you away with any one particular thing; they are fundamentally strong across the board and they run a deep rotation.

Also to nobody's surprise, Superfly plays a very solid team game. I am also very impressed with how their coaches, particularly Robin, maintain their poise and confidence during the game. Along with the Hellions, I am still learning how to deal with these tight elite-level games, and I am going through the growing pains of dealing with my frustrations and our lows. I am extremely fortunate to have a very understanding team and even luckier to have such a patient wife.

British Columbia
The differences between this game and our previous matchup at Pres Day were like night and day. UBC was without Tory Hislop and Jenny Lo, but they had Candace Chan (or at least someone who looked exactly like her) playing with them. The Thunderbirds were also sporting their new, super-sweet looking Five Ultimate jerseys.

In the previous game, the reigning champs had played very cleanly on offense, moving the disc quickly with short throws and utilizing a lot of give-and-gos. At Ripon, UBC was looking to stretch the field more, and although Chan was a big factor in our game, the Thunderbirds got a lot of different players involved. We got up early in this game (4-2), but gave up a four point run and found ourselves down 7-5 at half. When UBC got another break to go up 10-7, we looked defeated.

I don't know where our turnaround began or how it happened, but we stormed back to tie the game at 11s. UBC held serve to get to game point but we fired back with three in a row to win the game. One of the big factors on our side was our one true rookie, Kate Schlag, who had two big layout grabs including the game-winner where she picked up the trash from a pass that was intended for Lindsey Cross. Schlag ended up with six goals in what was probably the best game of her young career.

On a side note, one of the other notable things about this game was that it was the first time the Hellions had played with observers. The observers were operating under the experimental rules, and I was mostly in favor of them. The only thing I would like to see amended is to allow players to also call travels. Early in the game, there were a couple of blatant travels that the observers were missing and our players were a bit frustrated that they couldn't make those calls. On the whole, the observers did a great job of managing the game, and it was a great experience for the Hellions.

North Carolina
This game had letdown potential written all over it, and sure enough, we were flat through the bulk of this game. We managed to take half at 7-6, but the second half began in disastrous fashion as Pleiades rolled four straight on us.

While we may have been flat, UNC simply deserved this win as they outhustled us. UNC's offense moved the disc well and Leila Tunnell and Jill Simmerman did quite a bit of the damage on the throwing end. I also really like Karen Kimel as a receiver; she looked very solid in our game. Pleiades isn't particularly dominant in any one aspect of the game; instead they rely more on good teamwork and collective intensity. Tunnell does provide a lot of firepower as a thrower, but in our game, she played very much within the team framework instead of looking to take over every point. The offense undoubtedly starts with her, but UNC has a number of other players who can pick up the handling slack.

One thing that really impressed me about Pleiades is something that was also characteristic of Seaweed. They played every point as if it were the last one; I especially noticed this when they were playing Stanford. Superfly had opened a large and pretty much insurmountable lead on UNC, but Chapel Hill kept fighting as if the game was theirs to win.

The scariest thing about our game was that we ended up one point away from dropping down to the 4th seed in the pool. Down 12-9, we turned the disc over on our half of the field and UNC worked it to within 10 yards of the end zone. After a time out, they had a good shot at scoring, but floated a pass that Noelle Oh defended. We ended up scoring on that possession and secured the 3rd spot in the pool and a place in the pre-quarters. Certainly, we were disappointed with our play and losing out on the chance to grab second outright (and a better matchup in the pre-quarters), but coming through on this point was something that we could be proud of.

UCLA
This was a matchup that we had been looking forward to. As I mentioned in my previous post, there were very few breaks in this game and for the most part, it was a very even game. Though we were disappointed with the outcome (losing another DGP game.. blah), I was very pleased to see that we were able to rebound quickly after a dispiriting performance in the previous game. Our offense wasn't particularly sharp against UCLA, but we played considerably better than we had against Pleiades. I'm sure that playing UCLA was a bit of a motivator, but it still impressed me that we were able to reenergize ourselves.

Another bonus was that I got a considerably better sense of how to play BLU in future matchups. Of course, I'm sure that Korb thinks the same thing.

Claremont
The Greenshirts were missing one of their top players, Kate Bayliss, so they were relying even more on their fantastic rookie, Sarah 'Carny' Carnahan as their big receiving threat. Carny is an impressive athlete who utilizes her size very well and is capable of defending virtually any of the top receivers in the college division. She's a grad student so I'm not sure how long she will be at Claremont, but if she's on a Ph.D track, the Erica Baken - Sarah Carnahan connection will be the foundation for the team for the next three years.

On a side note, I think Erica Baken is the clear cut Freshman of the Year in the Southwest. Cailey Marsh would have made this much closer but she won't be returning to UCLA (she will likely reappear with Washington next year). It's possible that I'm missing other contenders in the region, but I can't imagine anyone who has had as much impact on her team as Baken. I'm still up in the air about how I feel regarding the FOTY award since it's becoming much more about the top incoming Juniors players in the region. Part of me would like to see it become a true Rookie of the Year award, but as Juniors-level Ultimate continues to grow, it makes it considerably tougher to exclude them from consideration for this award.

UNC-Wilmington
When I played at William and Mary in the 90s, Wilmington and ECU were the big, bad teams. Their men's team won the title my freshman year and their women's squad took the championship during my senior year. I was definitely eager to see how the team has evolved since I last saw them.

The team has retained a classic Carolinian feel, something that many may see as a negative. Their brash style of play isn't going to win them many friends, but they don't seem to be concerned about that. They are hungry competitors who are focused on winning through solid, aggressive play. I have yet to see Wake Forest and Florida play, but the Atlantic Coast should be at least a four-team race with Wilmington right in the thick of it.

After breaking each other once to fight to a 4-4 tie, we took the final four points of the half to go up 7-4. We opened the second half with three straight to essentially put the game away. One of the keys to our success was to limit Wilmington's deep game and force them, especially their weaker players, to make a lot of difficult throws underneath. Our marks were particularly good this game and helped us to create some easy scores.

One funny post-game note: the Hellions love to sing and cheer other teams, and as they have done with every team this season, they cheered Seaweed. The silence that met the Hellions after the end of their cheer might have been one of the funniest and most awkward post-game moments I've ever seen. Truly classic.

UC San Diego
This was an interesting game in that there were no major runs over the course of the game. After breaking Psycho on the first point of the game, we traded points to halftime. I felt like we had a good grasp on the game because our O line was firing on all cylinders. We didn't give up a break the entire game after giving up only four in the previous two games.

I had mixed feelings about O and D lines and the efficacy of this subbing strategy in the college division, but I think it can be useful when you have the personnel for it. During the first two years of coaching, I tried to work with a classic O and D line approach, but found that the best way for us to be competitive was to play our top 8-10 players on any key point regardless of whether it was an O or D point.

As a team is always fluid and changing, I became convinced at the Stanford Invite that we were now better served by running with a more traditional O and D split. We now have the depth to be able to run 14+ deep in any game which allows players to get into more a regular subbing rhythm. The split particularly benefitted us on receiving points as the O line was able to come in mentally fresh and focused solely on that point. I think when players are on the field for 3+ points, they have a tendency to lose focus and the potential for getting into ruts increases. While it is quite possible that my approach to subbing could change again, my hope is that the structure is now in place to operate this way for years to come.

Stanford Invite Recap - Part One

2009-03-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

I had been planning on writing up a preview for the tourney but I ran out of time. Dang. I also had to write up the women's division preview for the UPA magazine so I've been a bit delinquent with my blog posts. Double dang.

To make up for my tardiness, I'll be posting two or more entries this week. And now...

THE STANFORD INVITE

Going into the Stanford Invite, three of the most interesting storylines included:

1) The Battle for the Northwest

Washington and Western Washington chose to attend Trouble in Vegas over President's Day. Oregon, Stanford, UBC and Berkeley chose Pres Day over TiV. Who would emerge on top and how would the individual rivalries (Oregon v. Stanford, Stanford v. Berkeley, Washington v. UBC) turn out?

After the weekend, I would say that Oregon and Stanford are the two clear favorites in the region, but the margin between each of the top six Northwest teams is razor thin. UBC remains the most difficult team to assess. They were missing Tory Hislop and Jenny Lo this weekend, both of whom are vital to the Thunderbirds' chances of a repeat championship. My personal feeling is that the T-Birds are much better than they showed this past weekend, but they are in danger of losing the confidence that they need to compete with the rest of the Northwest. It is a brutal region and every little edge makes a big difference. At Centex, they are currently scheduled to play against cross-country rivals Ottawa and UCLA, the team they can never seem to beat. If they can't manufacture a big win in Austin, I think their best shot of making the College Championships would be to convince the UPA to redraw British Columbia as part of the Central region. Maybe that's a bit extreme... a much more likely scenario is to request the UPA to create a new region called the Great White North. Now, that would be awesome, but the travel would be a bitch. Thankfully, snowmobiles are plentiful in the GWN.

Berkeley had a very split weekend. On the downside, they missed a great opportunity to nab a key win against Washington and lost a contentious pool game to UNC-Wilmington, a team that they should have beaten. Worst of all, their psychological struggles with Stanford only got worse. Thus far, Superfly has simply owned the Pie Queens, winning all three matchups by an average of six points. The two teams are much more evenly matched than the results would suggest, but in a rivalry like theirs, the mental game means everything. If Berkeley can't find a way to play Stanford tight at Sectionals (or Centex), they will likely have to key in on upsetting Oregon or preparing for an arduous run through the backdoor gauntlet.

On the upside, Cal beat Western Washington and demonstrated that they are definitely capable of beating Element. The Pie Queens should feel confident that they could run the table if they had to go the backdoor route, and certainly one of their advantages is that they can run a deep rotation. They will have to find ways to keep their key players fresh (Cree and Darragh in particular) and get some of their role players to step up and have one of those Derek Fisher or Robert Horry type of games. They don't need to be big over the course of the tourney; they just need to make great plays in key spots or have a big performance in an important game. Look for Lucy Rosenbloom to provide one of these performances.

Western Washington is an interesting squad, and I'm looking forward to seeing them play more. They have quite a bit of size on their roster but I know very little about their rotation beyond Alyssa Weatherford and Hannah Kreilkamp. They played Fugue to double game point, and they can draw on their experience getting to last year's game-to-go. On the national scale, I think Chaos currently belongs in the same tier of teams that includes UCLA, USC, Cal and Carleton.

2) The Battle for the Southwest

After the weekend, a clear divide emerged between the top three (UCSB, UCLA, USC) and the next tier in the region (UCSD, Arizona, Colorado, Claremont). Truthfully, UCSB remains in a tier of their own ahead of BLU and the Hellions, but the UCSB-USC matchup remains an intriguing one.

UCLA has emerged as the team that I suspected they would. Featuring what may be the most patient offensive line in the entire women's division, Coach Korb has BLU playing very well. Most impressive is that this team has adopted quite a different style of play from past squads. Last year's team offered quite a bit more high-octane offense but had the versatility to switch between a smashmouth style of play and a Bostonian value-the-disc offense. This year, they are heavily geared to the latter, and what makes this squad, especially their O line, particularly frustrating to defend is that you cannot key in on two or three players. Sarah 'Atari' Peters, KC 'Bossa' Vampola and Adrienne 'Hawkins' Baker are their primary receiving threats -- all three are athletic players who all play within themselves very well. In the backfield, Karisa 'Danger' Tang, Samara 'Nokie' Leader and Rebecca 'Diggs' Delshad are three of their primary handlers who play very disciplined offense.

Our pre-quarters game was a fun matchup and should be the first of at least three meetings this year. We opened the game with a break, and almost followed it up with another quick one that was D'd in the end zone. The shocker was that both teams would only break three more times in the rest of the game. BLU got both of their breaks in the first half and they took half 7-5. The early break point definitely threw me off of what kind of game this was going to be -- it took a while for me to realize that this was going to be a very O-line heavy game.

True enough, the second half was dominated by both team's O-lines. I think we each had a couple of decent shots at breaking, but for the most part, there was a lot of clean offense and the receiving team very often overpowered the other team's D line. Down 12-11, we finally got our second break after BLU uncharacteristically gave us three good chances at scoring. On double game point, UCLA worked it patiently against our zone and eventually found Atari in the front corner of the end zone.

I'm sure that this felt good for some of the BLU folks who think I've been talking too much shit against them this year. I'm also certain that I'll continue to throw verbal logs onto the fire and risk alienating the younger crop of BLU players who take me too seriously. Here's a few more verbal bombs for any Westwood elitists who might be reading this.

V-BOMB #1 - USC will beat you soon and you know it. We're like the grim reaper and your time is coming soon. Enjoy your time on top of the LA pyramid while it lasts and don't forget to gather your plastic while you may.

V-BOMB #2 - I thought our previous jerseys from my first year of coaching were pretty ugly, but dude, your current threads make me think you were sponsored by K-Mart to advertise a deep discount ugly sale.

A few thoughts about UC San Diego... I'm really psyched (heh, get it?... *groan*) that they have bounced back. Our game against them was a lot of fun and notwithstanding Sir Robin's questionable taste in wardrobe, they looked good. Psycho has a number of good young athletes on this team, but they will need another year or two before they can realistically get to the next level. Even still, their current squad is more than capable of grabbing one of the Southwest bids. They will have to fight off Colorado, Arizona and Claremont, and they have realistic chances of upsetting either UCLA or USC. After a one-year suspension, getting a bid to Columbus would be a major accomplishment and a big step towards returning to the top of the Southwest.

One area where Psycho needs to improve is in their handling depth. In our game, they definitely relied a lot on Jennifer 'Sir Robin' Jacobsen, Amy 'Meeko' Chang and Molica 'Guano' Anderson. Usually, they would have two of the three on the field and by the end of the game, they looked a bit fatigued. If it's too late for them to develop a solid 5th or 6th handler option, they might be better served by stacking strong O lines and a few selective D lines. Their top seven can run with almost every team that I have seen, but against the top ten or so teams in the country, they have to pick and choose their points. They definitely cannot win any of those games by rolling out balanced lines (i.e. 4-5 top line players and 2-3 second line players).

3) The Atlantic Coast - Contenders or Pretenders

I have a soft spot for this region since I originally hail from the Atlantic Coast (actually there was no such region in my playing days... back then, it was the Mid-Atlantic). UNC and UNC-Wilmington came into the tourney as two of the region's top teams (Wake Forest and Florida round out the favorites in the region), and both demonstrated that they are capable of running with any of the top tier teams. I think depth is an issue on both teams which will be more evident at a longer tourney like the College Championships, but if either or both of these teams makes it to Columbus, they have great potential to upset a higher seed.

As the result of their consolation game indicates, Pleiades and Seaweed are two evenly matched teams. They may both be from the Tarheel State but they have very little in common beyond that. Pleiades plays a much deeper rotation and their offense is much more versatile than that of Seaweed. I was definitely impressed with how the team has progressed, especially offensively, since I saw them last year. Leila Tunnell is a gifted thrower and UNC has a couple of tall targets, especially Karen Kimel, who effectively stretch the field to open up options underneath.

Seaweed relies heavily on four players - Elise Bardsley, Kelly Tidwell, Lia English and Sara Casey - all of whom are strong and confident athletes. In our game against them, these four ran almost every point. I have the feeling that running such a short rotation will catch up with them at Regionals, but in a one-game winner-takes-all scenario, Seaweed is more than capable of beating anyone in the Atlantic Coast region. They also possess an aggressive style of play that can throw opponents off their game. Their wins over Berkeley and Colorado demonstrate how talented they are.

We had observers for our game, a brilliant move by my wife Tracy after hearing a few choice things about Seaweed from their previous opponents. Wilmington is more than happy to get into the call game, and the presence of observers made a gigantic difference in our game. After a bit of a contentious start, we took control in the first half and built a decent lead by halftime. Seaweed battled us to the very end of the game -- their effort was consistently solid and their never-quit attitude will serve them well at Regionals.

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My next post will have more specific thoughts on the other teams that we played (Stanford, British Columbia, Claremont).

President's Day - Part Two

2009-02-27T17:44:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to finish off my Pres Day thoughts today but it looks like I'll have to add another post or simply revise this one later. My apologies to Cornell, Long Beach, UC-Davis and Sonoma State... I'll get to you soon.

UC SAN DIEGO - One of the biggest questions coming into this season was how UCSD was going to look coming off of their one-year suspension. I had speculated that the fight for the four Southwest bids was primarily a battle between four teams - UCSB, UCLA, USC and Colorado. At Pres Day, the Psychos made it clear that the Southwest is going to be at least a five team race.

I don't know much about their depth behind Jennifer Jacobson (Sir Robin), Andrea Cardenas (Ferris), Amy Chang (Meeko) and Molica Anderson (Guano), but a win over Carleton in pool play and a decisive victory over Colorado is no accident. I'm not sure if their lopsided losses to the upper echelon teams (Stanford, Ottawa, Oregon, UCSB) is a result of opening up their rotation early or a true indicator of their relative strength. I do know that it is dangerous to underestimate a program like UC San Diego. Great programs like UCSD, Carleton and Stanford have the knowhow to develop their young players quickly and peak at the right time. It's like it's in their DNA... it's like they can simply manufacture good player after good player and send them straight from the assembly line to the Ultimate field. It's like they've got a secret... they've been hiding... under their skin...

Domo arigato, UC Psycho-boto!

COLORADO - Kali seems to be approaching the season in similar fashion to British Columbia. They are going to be very good but in the meantime, they are going to have some ups and downs as they develop their younger players. Apparently, Brenna Hokanson is not in school right now which definitely hurts them. They still have the Sisters Waugh and Courtney Verhaalen but they could definitely use an in-your-face type of thrower like Brenna. Of course, everyone could use one of those.

Speaking of Courtney, I think she has clearly emerged as Kali's top player. I love the fire and enthusiasm she brings to the field; she is fun to watch and her enjoyment of the game is infectious. I think Kali's success this season depends more on her than any other player. At last year's Regionals, our first half was really tight and Kali got a critical break on a goal by Verhaalen. She emphasized the importance of that point with a spirited spike (I'm personally in favor of certain types of spikes, but that's another discussion). That moment sucked the air out of us and they went on a big run to blow open the game. I like a number of their other players, but Courtney is the kind of player that can elevate an entire team.

We played Colorado on Sunday, and I was pretty happy with how we handled the game. We saw this as a dangerous game but approached it with the mindset that it was a game that we should win. It's a new position for the Hellions to be in, and we are steadily improving our mental game and bringing more consistency to every point.

The play was a bit sloppy on both sides, but some of this was due to the increased intensity on defense. Both teams wanted to get into the pre-quarters and it showed. Our only true rookie on the A team (T-Stamp) stepped it up in this game, tying Lindsey Cross with four goals. The only down note in an otherwise fun game was that Verhaalen and Trouble (Alison Wilber?) both went down with injuries late in the game. Fortunately, it sounds like neither was that serious.

Though their pool game doesn't necessarily reflect it, the difference between Kali and UCSD is pretty close. Aside from the players I've already mentioned, Christina Reams (Bambi) and Hanae Isobe will be critical players in Colorado's hopes for a bid to Columbus.

ARIZONA - I've been a big fan of Jodi McCloskey since I started coaching USC, and this year provides her with an opportunity to step up and assume a more visible profile. Scorch was a considerably stronger team last year, but they have a significantly better chance of qualifying for Nationals this year. Timing is key.

After losing key handlers like Julia Tenen, Scorch is currently developing their handling line which is led by Jen Pashley. Scorch's hopes this year are directly tied to how their young handlers perform. In the games that I've seen them play, the outcome of the game was a direct reflection of the play from the handlers.

Jeff Grobe (Barrio) has joined Todd Shipman on the coaching staff which certainly helps Scorch. I have been very impressed with their ability to stay competitive in what appeared to be a rebuilding year. At Pres Day, they notched an impressive win over Northeastern, lost on DGP to UBC and kept it fairly tight against Stanford and UCLA.

Our Monday game against Scorch isn't worth discussing as I know that they are a stronger team than the result would suggest. I would rank them a slight step below UCSD and Colorado in the region, but they are capable of taking out any of the teams ahead of them except UCSB.

ILLINOIS

Five Things I Love About Illinois

1. Tania Reitz - Yeah, she is a great athlete, but she is also one of those players that looks really smooth on the field. Of the top players I've seen, Tory Hislop and Georgia Bosscher are two others that have that same quality.

2. Joann Wong - She writes the blog for Menace and a voice like hers is really important for the continued growth of the women's division. She may sound at times like an eight-year old, but make no doubt about it, the content on her blog is both sincere and substantive.

3. Their Athleticism - Reitz is easy to notice but she is just one of many great athletes on this team. I spoke with players from both Ottawa and Oregon and the general sentiment was that Illinois was a much better team than you would think from the results. We won by seven, but I would generally agree. I won't mention what they are but I think they have a couple of big flaws that top-tier teams can take advantage of, but these are easily fixable. As they are now, they should be able to grab the 2nd bid from the Great Lakes region behind Michigan, but if they can address these flaws, they have the potential to be a quarterfinals team in Columbus.

4. The Jerseys - Those are some pretty sweet looking threads. I go back and forth about wearing official school logos, but it really works for Illinois. Despite the fact that they share the same colors as UVA, I really like how the orange, blue and white work together. On a side note, here's a shout out to the William and Mary women for beating down UVA at the Hellfish Bonanza.

5. Winning Pool J - This was easily the toughest of the bottom pools, pitting three evenly-matched teams (Texas and Northeastern) that may not get the attention of the top programs but are all very good programs. As I've mentioned before, Pool C was the toughest of the first day pools and it definitely took a toll on Menace. Bouncing back mid-tourney is always an impressive feat, and they were one point away from making it to the quarterfinals.

NORTHEASTERN - I didn't get to see the Valkyries play, but they are a quality team for certain. Jason Adams and Kayla Burnim helm this young program who are led on the field by Courtney Moores and Stephanie Barker. I'm sure that they were hoping to perform better at Pres Day, but considering that they get a later jump on the season than the West Coast teams, they strung together a number of good results (two wins over Texas, tight games against Colorado, Arizona, Illinois and UCLA).

The Valkyries should easily qualify out of the New England region, but they are aiming for something higher this year. After a surprising 9th place finish at the College Championships last year, Northeastern returns a lot of its squad and is hoping that their Pres Day experience and an appearance at Centex will give them more big-game experience to improve on last year's finish.

CLAREMONT - I have written a decent amount about the Greenshirts and I can't really shed much light on their performance at Pres Day since the one time I saw them was when I was passing them in the parking lot on Sunday. One thing that should be known is that Claremont hosted a lot of teams on Sunday night when the tourney had to relocate to San Bernardino. Maybe it is something that others see as no big deal, but it is really great to see the Ultimate community take care of each other in ways like this. Traveling to tourneys is only getting more expensive and when teams extend themselves to other teams in seemingly small ways, it goes a long way to promote bonding and growth in the community at large.

TEXAS - I was hoping to see Melee play, but Pool D was located somewhere else that was essentially the same as being in Texas. With Gina Phillips and Michelle Ng gone, Stephanie Redfern and Rebecca Shelton emerge as two of their go-to players. They had a number of close losses, including two DGP defeats to Cornell and Illinois and a two point loss to Berkeley.

I don't know what the South picture is like this year but knowing that there are two bids certainly helps that region immensely. I'd imagine that the usual suspects will be in contention (Truman State, Wash U., Vanderbilt) but Texas remains the powerhouse program in the South. I personally have favored a minimum of two bids per region and I think it is great that the UPA has made this change. I have a lot of thoughts about the upcoming changes in store for the college division so I'll save them for later.

President's Day - Part One

2009-02-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

Before I dive into the results of this past weekend, I wanted to mention a couple of things.

1) I am aiming to post a blog entry every Friday until the week after Nationals. I hope that writing more regularly will help develop more interest and provoke more discussion about the women's division.

2) I have no idea who, if anyone, has been reading my blog, but I hope that it is clear that my thoughts are my own and I will be interweaving a mix of objective assessments, subjective judgments and the occasional complete fabrication that is solely for entertainment purposes. I leave it to the reader to decipher fact, fiction and absurdity, and to be understanding when I write something completely inane (my wife hears me say something stupid every day so think about how hard her life is).

3) On a related note, though I coach the USC Hellions, my thoughts do not reflect those of the team. Let me clarify that. Anything that you find intelligent or correct is something you can attribute to the Hellions. Anything that you find appalling or loathsome, the Hellions have nothing do with it.

4) UCSD and the other Pres Day organizers are to be highly commended for running a superb tourney. Loryn Kanemaru, Sarah McNees, Michelle Ng, and the entire UC San Diego team deserve a ton of credit for a great weekend. They had to contend with difficult weather issues and a number of logistical challenges. Despite this, their communication with teams was excellent, they were able to post scores promptly, and they made the difficult but correct decision to move the tourney to San Bernardino on Monday.

Here's one example of a little detail that makes a big difference. When we were out at one of the satellite fields on Sunday, there was a UCSD-B player there to make sure that teams were adhering to the schedule and communicate with home base (report scores and any potential delays). This was all the more remarkable because there was only one field there. After we finished our game against Colorado, we had to rush to the main fields to play our pre-quarters game, but we didn't have to worry about getting assessed points or causing any confusion because they had someone at our field. Being that person at the satellite field is a pretty dull and thankless job, but it makes a big difference in how smoothly a tournament is run.

Make no doubt about it. The Pres Day organizers have set a higher bar for how the elite tourneys should be run. If other attending teams disagree, I'd love to hear their thoughts.

5) There is a great deal of parity this year in the women's division. I think UCSB and Oregon might be emerging as the frontrunners but the separation between them and the rest of the top 8-10 (Ottawa, Stanford, Washington, Wisconsin, British Columbia, Michigan and arguably USC, Cal, Carleton and UCLA) is very thin.

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And now, here are my thoughts on some of the teams that I saw at Pres Day (mostly in order of how I'll be ranking them on my next NUMP ballot).

TIER ONE - UCSB, OREGON, OTTAWA, STANFORD, BRITISH COLUMBIA

UC SANTA BARBARA - I went back and forth between UCSB and Oregon for the number one spot. Some might think this is a no-brainer since the Burning Skirts beat Fugue in the Pres Day finals, but I'm not basing my decision on that. I think Fugue actually has a little more talent and depth than UCSB does, but I'm splitting hairs there. For me, it simply boils down to the amount of big game experience on the two squads. Oregon does have a number of Junior Worlds players (McDowell, Zahniser, Suver) and they pulled out the DGP win over Stanford at Regionals last year. On the flip side, the Burning Skirts have been in the Collegiate finals the past two years and they return almost everyone from last year's run. Beyond that, UCSB blitzed through the Pres Day field without anyone scoring more than five points on them. Plus, they are doing all of this without Katie Barry. Yikes.

Though Kaela Jorgenson and Carolyn Finney are captaining the squad this year, Andrea Romano remains the de facto leader of this team. She is likely going to be their Callahan nominee and her impact on the field is well-documented. That said, I think Kaela is emerging as the player that poses the most difficult matchup problems. She is a bit more dangerous as a receiver and her throws have become lethal.

OREGON - The argument in favor of Fugue as number one has a lot of strength. They have beaten Stanford twice, UBC twice and Washington once. They have only been seriously challenged in three games -- Stanford (top 5 team), USC (feel free to disagree, but I think we're a top 10 team right now) and UCSB (numero uno). UCSB certainly benefitted from not having to play Ottawa in the semifinals, and my sense is that their finals matchup, an ugly affair in the rain, could have gone either way.

I haven't seen Washington or Wisconsin this year, so it's not exactly fair for me to write that UCSB and Oregon are much more deserving of the top two spots. Screw it, I'm going to write that anyway. UCSB AND OREGON ARE MORE DESERVING OF THE NUMBER ONE AND TWO SPOTS THAN WASHINGTON AND WISCONSIN.

I don't know how heavily you can weigh the results from the Bellingham Invite (which are difficult to access on the UPA score reporter), but Fugue beat down Element. They also proved their strength this weekend against a much more difficult field than the one at Trouble in Vegas. I am mainly being vocal about this because Fugue was ranked 7th in the last NUMP poll (I had them number one). I'm guessing that most of the voters didn't see the Bellingham results. I'll be harassing the other NUMP voters if they screw it up in the next poll.

Our game against Fugue in pool play was a ton of fun to be a part of. It reminded me of the time I got my wisdom teeth pulled out and was administered nitrous. I felt oddly queasy, deliriously entertained and by the end I wasn't sure how I got there but I definitely felt like I had gone through an out-of-body experience. It's like any other experience that is nerve-wracking while you're going through it but only induces good feelings after the fact.

The matchup was the last game of the day and both teams started in sluggish fashion. After the first five points or so, both teams stepped up their games and it turned into an entertaining slugfest with some tremendous Ds by Bailey Zahniser (please Ultimate gods, send a Junior Worlds player to USC), great cutting from Jenica Villamoor and impressive handling by Julia Sherwood, Molly Suver and Shannon McDowell.

The cap went on after we tied the game at 7s. We took the next point to go up 8-7, and they held serve to send the game to our second DGP of the day. That point was both incredibly entertaining and agonizing to watch. Miscommunication on a reset gave Fugue the disc at midfield but they couldn't capitalize. On an ensuing possession, a Fugue receiver dropped the disc in the end zone. We had a high-stall count punt into the end zone tail just out of bounds. I think both teams turned it over three or four times and players on both sides looked spent. The game winner went to the same Fugue receiver who had previously dropped it. I was obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game, but a) I was happy that the Fugue receiver got to redeem herself, and b) it was really great to see both teams elevate their games and push each other to play better.

Andrew Davis caught one of the highlights of the game when Lindsey Cross was targeted in the end zone with a low breakmark backhand. This disc was actually caught by Anne Ohliger (seen in the background) who had an equally impressive layout.

OTTAWA - I think Ottawa and Stanford could also have been easily interchangeable if not for Ottawa's 12-6 victory in power pool play. I was a little surprised that they won by such a sizable margin over an impressive Superfly squad, and unfortunately I don't have any details about that game. For those who are puzzled by the Lady Gee Gee's nine-point loss to Oregon in pool play, one of the major factors in the lopsided result is that Anne Mercier didn't play that game. I would still have picked Fugue to win the game, but I can definitely guarantee that the result would have been considerably closer with Mercier playing.

Our game against Ottawa was a weird series of runs. We opened the game with a 3-0 run only to see the Gee Gee's return with a four point run of their own. We went on a run to take half 7-6, but the momentum swung the other way when Ottawa scored five of the next six points to go up 11-8. The Hellions surged back with another 3 point run to send the game to double game point. Ottawa's big three (Mercier, Benedict and Fortin) were instrumental in moving the disc down the field and their poise was very impressive as they maintained possession of the disc for the game winning score.

I think the Lady Gee Gee's were missing Kate Crump, but even with her, depth is going to be a big question mark for them in May. They should have no problems qualifying out of the Metro East, but over the course of a tough tourney like the Collegiate Championships, they'll need to keep their big three as fresh as possible. It was definitely an issue for them last May, and I think they learned from that experience. In what I saw of their game against Illinois, they were clearly developing some of their younger players. I'll be interested to see how deep they are subbing at Centex.

STANFORD - Unfortunately, I have only seen Superfly in short spurts this year. The triumvirate of Emily Damon, Jenny Founds and Rachel Habbert are as steady as any handling corps in the game and Liz Cassel leads the cutting side. I'm curious to see who else is stepping up for Stanford. [Update: Emily Damon has been out with an elbow injury. Thanks to Ryan for the news.]

One major concern for Superfly has got to be the shift in power in their rivalry against Oregon. In a region where tiny variables could settle the difference between first in the region and not qualifying for Nationals, Superfly is developing a major mental hurdle against Fugue. Having lost to them on DGP at Regionals, they lost twice to them this past weekend. Losing again on DGP only shifts the balance further in Oregon's favor.

It is still early in the season, but unless they figure out how to produce a win over Fugue before Regionals, Stanford will not be wanting to go through them. Make no mistake about it -- these kinds of wins and losses do matter and the psychological impact should not be underestimated. On the plus side, the Stanford coaches are as well-equipped as any coaching staff to handle this challenge, and they have owned Berkeley in their two matchups this season. How Stanford matches up against Washington and UBC will be one of the major stories at the Stanford Invite.

BRITISH COLUMBIA - Don't be fooled by their poor record and lopsided losses to Oregon and Santa Barbara. The word is that they have been developing their younger players, and some ups and downs will be expected as they adjust to the post-Kira Frew era. If Regionals took place today, I would predict that Oregon and UBC would be the two teams to beat and Washington and Stanford would be battling in the game to go. Cal and Western Washington are both very solid but they are presently on the outside looking in. That's life in the Northwest.

I'm not sure if their subbing strategy changed in our pre-quarters game, but the team that played against us was every bit as good as Ottawa and Oregon. Tory Hislop played every point and I can't remember Jenny Lo taking a sub. These two contributed immensely on both sides of the disc. Their offensive game plan was based on constant disc movement and maximizing give-and-gos whenever possible. Most of their players played within themselves very well and whenever they needed a big throw, they would look to Hislop to find the weak spots in our zone.

To say the least, our loss was really difficult to take. Not only was it the third DGP loss of the weekend (our 4th of the season), we had never trailed until the final point and held an 11-8 lead. Worse for me was how much tougher each loss felt than the previous one.

I'll be ranking the Thunderbirds below Cal in the next NUMP ballot because of their head-to-head result, but I think at full strength in a winner-takes-all game, UBC is the better team right now. I don't have a sense of what UBC's depth is, and like Ottawa, this could be an issue for them at Regionals. They are certainly doing the right thing in addressing their depth concerns, but they will still need Tory Hislop and Jenny Lo fresh for their big games. Seeding is going to be crucial in the Northwest as minimizing the number of potentially grueling games is of paramount importance. Whichever team is able to keep their top line fresher for the game-to-go will have a big advantage.

TIER TWO - CAL, USC, UCLA, CARLETON

The next few teams are virtually interchangeable at this point in the season. Carleton's surprising loss to UC San Diego complicates things, and I was only able to evaluate their play in crappy conditions, but my gut tells me that they belong on this tier.

CAL - There's a decent argument for including the Pie Queens in the top tier as they have only lost to two teams this year (UCSB and Stanford). Unfortunately, they have lost in pretty convincing fashion in those four games. On the plus side, they have two quality wins against UCLA and another in their victory over UBC. I don't have details on their power pool games, so I can't really say how decisive these victories were.

Cree Howard is their most recognizable player (deservedly so), but I really like both Darragh Clancy and Lucy 'Bam Bam' Rosenbloom. They bring toughness to the Pie Queens, and they were the biggest factors in their victory over us at the SB Invite. They have a number of solid handlers, but I think a potential Achilles' Heel for them is that their handlers are susceptible to matchup problems, especially after a turnover. They can adjust to this by shifting Cree and Darragh back to the handling line, but their offense is much more effective when both are cutting upfield.

On a random note, one of their coaches, Ethan Schlenker, might be the nicest guy I've met in the coaching ranks.

USC - Objectively, I think we should be above UCLA and Carleton (despite our loss to Carleton in the 9th place game). The big knock against us right now is that we haven't won the big game. 0-4 in DGP games and losing by two to UCSB reflects the fact that we're a relatively young program and still getting used to battling the traditional top-tier programs. Looking at the upside, before our Carleton game, we were as consistent as any of the top teams at Pres Day and had lost five games by a total of six points.

I'm sure some BLU players will grumble about me placing USC above UCLA, but I'll just point to the current RRI ratings and our consistency over the course of the season. Plus, cardinal and gold will always be inherently superior to pansy blue and urine yellow. Yeah, I went there. Bring it.

Pseudo-joking aside, the USC-UCLA matchup will be one of the most interesting ones to watch this year. Though the Hellions closed the gap between them last year, the women's Ultimate version of their rivalry has never been particularly close until now. Many people I've spoken with think that the Hellions have overtaken BLU, but in a rivalry like this one, the mental hurdle remains a big one and UCLA will remain the favorites until we beat them in a meaningful game in the spring.

You see this kind of thing in sports all the time. In basketball, it took a few years for the Bulls to figure out the Pistons before they could become the dominant team of the 90s. In baseball, you've got the Red Sox and the Yankees and all the years of suffering for Boston until they figured out how to beat the Yankees in a big way. In these kinds of rivalries, it doesn't matter how you've done against other teams and who should technically win the big game. You can't get the monkey off your back if you don't wrestle with the monkey. I hope we wrestle with the monkey at the Stanford University - Ripon campus.

UCLA - As I mentioned in previous posts, the big question for them was to determine who was going to step up in Taz's shoes. The leading contender right now is Samara Leader aka Nokie. Her emergence is especially vital since it is unclear if Cailey Marsh will be returning to school. The Magic 8 Ball says that 'Signs Point to Yes', Cailey will return, but they benefit greatly from Leader's willingness to put the disc up to their young athletic receivers.

While their lopsided losses to UCSB, Ottawa and Berkeley suggest that they have a lot of work to do, I would advise against underestimating this team. Alex Korb is one cunning guy and a great motivator. Their fundamentals remain as strong as any other team out there, and there is tremendous value that comes with having been one of the dominant programs over the past few years. They could emerge as a team similar to the 2007 Stanford Superfly squad that in my estimation was weaker than the prior two squads, but still took home the trophy. If you look at their regular season results from that year, Stanford was less than spectacular; however, winning breeds winning and they turned it on at the biggest stage. While I would bet against UCLA reaching the heights of the past three years, they remain a dangerous squad and will be able to draw upon the confidence built by the first generation of BLU.

CARLETON - Yeah, they beat us on Monday, so they have a legitimate claim to being ranked above USC. I definitely had to rank them below UCLA, both because of their head-to-head and their overall performance this season. These rankings could easily be flipped after Centex so I would take them with a grain of salt.

I also want to apologize for having introduced Syzygy to Cranky Frankie. The rain coupled with the Hellions having prepped poorly with their weather gear made for a rough game. This was easily my worst coaching performance of the year, and I hate knowing that I let my team down by getting easily frustrated and making the miserable playing conditions worse. I still have a long way to go.

Kudos to Carleton as they simply out-executed us with their game plan. They fell into our mini-bracket as the other tough-luck team having lost two DGP games. Nicky Bloom, Rebecca Sheridan and Anna Snyder led their attack and their fundamentals were very impressive. In a game under these conditions, it was impossible to tell where their other strengths and weaknesses lie, but I can't imagine them not qualifying out of the Central Region. I am surprised that they lost to UCSD, but this was really early in the tourney, and I'd imagine that they haven't seen temperatures above 40 degrees in several months.

The most important thing that I took away from this game is that I finally found out what they had been saying in their end zone cheers for the past two years. Moooooooonshine! On top... on top... on top... HEY!!! I have no idea what that cheer is about, but I love it. It's strangely hypnotic and I hope that you bring it back.

This entry is long enough for now. I'll be rambling about the rest of the Pres Day field in my next post. I also hope to have a special bonus post for next week.