Just a couple of months in, and we’ve already hit the 250,000 mark. We are excited that our dominant readership appears to be coming not from RSD but from individual team listservs! We hope that this means that people are finding value in what we are providing, and that they are forwarding this along to their teams back home.

It’s been a frenetic summer so far; we’ve put out seven issues and five features, and another published this morning. It’s been an absolute mountain of work, but with the continued input of our volunteer authors we hope to keep going just as strong in the next three months.

If you want to help, there are actually three ways that can really be useful to us:

1. Keep giving us feedback! We use the feedback for everything from editing to content design, and having knowledgeable readers worldwide is a big help to us. info@the-huddle.org

2. If you like a particular writer, or want to hear from a particular player, let us know. Suggestions or nominations for good authors are useful both as a guide, and because we can use those words to help recruit new authors. Recruiting new authors is not always easy, especially in finding authors that meet our goals of increasing regional diversity and more female representation on the panel.

3. If you like what a particular author is writing, and you see them at a tournament, go ahead and say thanks. The authors are unpaid and are giving their time very generously, and making them feel good about it is a great way to ensure that they keep wanting to make The Huddle work.

Thanks for reading!

· Over at Inside College Ultimate, Gwen Ambler reports on the Women’s division at World’s

· Idris Nolan returns from a hiatus with a post about not pivoting.

· Andrew Davis has a great set of photos from World’s in Vancouver.

· The Way-Back Machine: May 26th, 1975. Time Magazine covers a game between Tufts University and Hampshire College.

The second biggest tournament of this past weekend was the UPA Youth Club Championships held in Blaine, Minnesota. It was a Northwest sweep with the Seattle, Washington teams winning the Open and Women’s divisions, and the Eugene, Oregon team winning the Mixed title. Congratulations to the winners, and to all who participated.

FULL RESULTS
Open
Women
Mixed

Canada Brings the Intensity
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Furious George play with so much fire and emotion before. Maybe it was the stage, maybe it was the hometown crowd, maybe it was their opponent. But Furious brought it and took it. Their effort was monumental and that will never be taken away from them.

USA First Half Offense
The Sockeye Offense was so out of whack the first half, you wouldn’t recognize them from the second half squad that looked unbeatable. Their first half play saw them misfire on a handful of throws—all of which Furious took advantage of. That is important to note: Furious took advantage of all Sockeye mistakes. Also of note, the second half score was 9-8 in favor of Team USA.

The Rain Started To Pour
Early on in the game, there was little downpour. Perhaps only a sprinkle. But around 6-4 it was really coming down. Furious may have lucked out and struck at the right time, getting all of their breaks early. With the slippery field, it was difficult for either team to set and effective mark or stay close to their man downfield. There were no breaks for huge stretches of the game.

Again, congratulations to Team Canada.

17-15. Canada wins the WFDF World Ultimate Championships. Canada moves the disc side to side, and puts the disc in the back corner. Congratulations Canada, you played awesome this game.

16-15 Canada. USA’s O rolls again, with a Chase huck to Run Kubalanza.

16-14 Canada. Canada’s O finally finds their legs. Their handlers looked patient, and they took the right shots.

15-14 Canada. The USA defense is looking tough. Chase Sparling-Beckley gets a huge D, cutting off a huck. USA and Canada trade turns. USA, after bit of chippy foul and violation calling, stick it in for their second break in a row.

15-13 Canada. USA with their first break of the game. Nate Castine (go Dirt!) with a huge catch D. Seth Crockford hits Andrew Fleming with a hammer in the back of the endzone.

15-12 Canada. USA’s O hasn’t turned the disc over this half.

15-11 Canada. Huge catch by Mike Grant! Travel. Canada’s offense does it again and gets a quick score. The crowd is going wild. Canada has the momentum.

14-11 Canada. The USA offense continues to roll. The Canada D will need to bring more intensity if they want to ensure a victory. No time to let up.

14-10 Canada. USA’s D can’t get a break, let alone a turnover.

13-10 Canada. With the rain pouring, Andrew Lugsdin slips around the disc allowing Ben Wiggins to streak deep wide open.

Who’s going to bring the D?

13-9 Canada. Canada’s does the same. Amazing catch by Marc Roberts over Andrew Fleming.

12-9 Canada. The USA O keeps chugging. Easy point for the boys in blue.

12-8 Canada. Andrew Fleming gets his D on a huck from Mike Grant. Canada gets the disc back on a misfire. Nate Castine gets another D coming backwards on a short pass. Canada gets a stop on the goal line as USA threatens for a break for the first time in the game. Time out. USA is getting their blocks, they just need to convert if they are going to get back in this game.

The long point has worn down the Canada O. Their movement is stagnant, relying on their handlers to hold the disc, and their cutters aren’t getting any dynamic motion. But USA’s offense can’t finish. Canada hits Mike Grant with another hammer in the back of the endzone.

11-8 Canada. Canada comes down in a transition zone; it’s the right thing to do to try to get USA out of there rhythm. USA, being heads up, finds a big space over the top in the middle of the field.

11-7 Canada. Canada’s offense continues to punish the USA defense. They find Mike Grant in the endzone for a slicing huck.

10-7 Canada. The USA offense is continuing to click into the second half. They’re finding big openings in the middle of the field, and taking easy passes.

10-6 Canada. USA pulling to start the half. Mike Enns turns the disc on the goal line off of a tough break-mark-high-release-fall-away backhand. USA cannot convert as Canada backs up the defensive O in endzone. They get a poachy D close to the goal line and quickly punch it in.

9-6 Canada. Half. USA comes down in another junky-transition D. Without any pressure on the off-handlers, Canada is working the disc up easily, side-to-side. And USA’s transition to man comes too late as Canada gets into red zone quickly.

8-6 Canada. USA’s offense is clicking. Ben Wiggins hits Moses Rifkin for a 70-yard huck score.

8-5 Canada. Canada’s offense is looking invincible at the moment. USA’s defense needs to turn it up and find a way to get Canada out of their comfort zone.

7-5 Canada. USA doesn’t sway from their game plan, attempting to get into some sort of rhythm. They huck to Mike Caldwell who catches the disc on the goal line and USA puts it in.

7-4 Canada. USA’s transition zone comes down looking to get Canada to get out their offensive rhythm. However Canada patiently keeps their heads up, throwing over the top to the wings, working the disc in easily.

6-4 Canada. Both teams are struggling to find any sort of rhythm on offense, a drizzle falling on the field now. Time out Canada. USA’s offense finally gets a turnover after Canada forces a bad huck. USA’s offense executes like clockwork, getting huge separation downfield.

Video now working again.

6-3 Canada.

5-3 Canada.

5-2 Canada. Another break.

Video buffering. Please stand by.

4-2 Canada. USA’s offense seems a little out of sync. A huck from Ron Kubalanza to Aly Lenon doesn’t hit, and Canada takes advantage with another break. Time out USA.

3-2 Canada. Canada continued to be patient on offense, resetting the disc and taking easy looks. Mike Jaeger interrupted that flow with an excellent D on the dump pass. USA, with another miscommunication, turns the disc over immediately and Canada strikes, hitting Mike Grant with a hammer in endzone.

2-2 Canada. After a bad pull, USA quickly takes advantage. Three passes and in. In those situations you have to take advantage and USA does.

2-1 Canada. Canada is spreading their stack deep, allowing for long under cuts of 20-25 yards. USA seems to be giving them those cuts without too much resistance. Canada hits Marc Roberts on a huck, past a laying-out Andrew Fleming.

1-1 Canada. That’s what Alex Nord does. Sockeye scores after being patient at the handler sets, breaking the mark, and hitting Ryan Seguine in the endzone.

1-0 Canada. Canda starting out on D. Andrew Lugsdin marking Ben Wiggins, as per usual. This match up can prove difficult for USA on the turn. After USA turns it over on a miscommunication in the endzone, Canada hucks downfield to Lugsdin, and works the disc into the endzone. First break of the game to Canada.

Pregame. Sitting in my living room in Denver, Colorado—1,400 miles away from Vancover, B.C.—you’ve got to love technology. You’ve got to love Ultivillage. Thanks Rob.

Barring any technical difficulties, I’ll be doing live, point-by-point commentary and analysis on the Open Finals. So have your streaming video in one window and this commentary in another (refreshing it yourself every so often), and enjoy. This should be fun.

If you have any insights to what’s happening, feel free to e-mail in at: info@the-huddle.org.