During the second round this weekend at the Colorado Cup we experienced a bit of weather.

After a forty-five minute lightning delay, play resumed and the wind began to howl. Sustained gusts of 25-30 MPH (at least) seriously effected play.

The Jam/Revolver game turned into a complete shit show. The first point back from the delay was twenty minutes long with at least two dozen turnovers.

Considering these conditions, I wonder what sort of policies the UPA and its subcommittees have concerning severe and inclement weather. Between high winds, heavy rain and knee deep mud, and snow and hail, what sorts of conditions should and should not Ultimate be played in?

Is there a point where playing in these conditions completely devalues the sport and makes competing not worthwhile?

Back to rest and ice bath after a good first day for us.

One thing that stood out immediately in the morning (first games starting out at 8:30am) was that the top teams show up first. Japan showed up by 7am, Canada by 7:30, and then the other teams filed in. Japan is a great example of a team that gets there really early, and then just hangs out, gets warm slowly and steadily, and is able to go hard on point number one. Showing up 30 minutes early is almost guaranteeing yourself a break point against you in the first half.

This means that either a) we need to find a way, as a sport, to warm-up more efficiently and quickly, or b) if you want to compete at the top level, you have to be prepared to get to sleep the night before in time to be away 3 hours before game-time. I feel like that is about when NBA players show up to the gym on game-day….it at least makes a little sense.

First game was against the Netherlands. They have some very experienced handlers that were comfortable throwing over the top. Forcing them into a higher-pressure situation where they had to complete up the line throws was more successful than letting them go backwards, where they picked us apart. They ran a very solid 1-3-3 on D, and it is clear that their defensive game-plan is to lull offenses to dump-swing-sleep, and then pounce. I would not be shocked at all to see them in the quarters round and challenging if they can put it all together when it matters.

Second game was Finland, a team that is known as the fastest team in Europe. They did have good team speed. Very skilled handlers were using late-count around backhands to get out of trouble, which reminded me a lot of YR (a Bay Area team whos offense gave Sockeye fits at NW Regionals last year). Typically running vert stack, the Finns looked to put it deep often, and, especially on the flick side of the field, they time their deep cuts really well such that throwers are ready, but the cutter is close enough to force the defender to be thinking instead of just running.

Changing defenses was effective for us; the Finns seems to run one defense for the majority of the game and it may have been that seeing a different D on each point (rotating between 5-6 defensive sets) may have put their offense into ‘think’ mode, instead of run-throw-catch mode. The Finns are a for-sure quarterfinal team, in my mind, and as long as they don’t lose to anyone they should beat, they will set themselves up against one of the “Big 4″ and hopefully whichever one is struggling. If they were in semis, no one would think it odd. I wouldn’t be surprised if they battled up to the 3-4 spot, but it likely wouldn’t change the quarters-type matchup, so same scenario; they’ll have a chance to use their speed to deconstruct one of the top teams defenses and score some of their own D-points.

Colombia’s Junior Women beat the US, reportedly on the strength of good lane poaching (against the US flat-stack offense) and, seriously, just going out and making some big catches. Make no mistake, they are for real in terms of potential…and it sounds like they just beat to the Canadian gals. It’ll be interesting to see where the Colombian JW finish the tournament. We watched a good bit of Australia vs Canada JW as well. The Aussie gals were impressive with their ability to break marks to cutters going away from the disc; not straight to the endzone, but sweeping cuts across the field that made for easy continuation. Primarily zone D by the Aussies, some by the Canadians in a swirly stadium setting. Down 9-4, Canada made it 9-11, game to 12, as they started to play more zone. Personally, I was really impressed with how the Aussie gals kept their heads turned towards the disc on O and D, helping them to win more than their share of tipped discs.

Asa Mercer (Seattle’s best middle school team) had a great, well-spirited, and very entertaining game against Vancouver’s middle school team. Mercer’s abiilty to be calm-calm-calm-HUCK! is fun to watch. They seem able to take whichever throw they want, and they typically do a very good job of taking the option that their teammates would want them to take. If you were playing video game Ultimate, this is how you would play. Cool. It’s really fun for me to watch young players that genuinely like playing defense. Lastly, one of the Seattle Youth Camps focused on give-and-go moves lately, and you could see the kids using the throw-and-go often in this game. Seattle’s youth camps do a nice job of teaching skills that work at every level, and teaching them so that they can be implemented right now. Fun to watch.

I’m probably not going to watch as many games tomorrow, since we only have one game, and it is late in the day.

Just showed up in Vancouver, hit up the opening ceremonies, which were a mix of some pretty cool ethnic dance groups and a parade of nations.

The one thing to notice so far: team size at WUGC is massive. 28-30 players per team is common, and it seems like an absolute army is coming off the sidelines on each score of the Great Britain vs. Canada Mixed game. Probably due to a combination of bringing large teams for the week, and the fact that teams haven’t played tough tournaments in recent weeks, so there are significantly less massive injuries crowded on the sidelines.

The fields look good…unfortunately, the best 4 fields on the West Coast (the farthest fields at UBC, including the field that was kind of sunken into the ground and had bleachers) are now history, bulldozed for some reason. Those fields were unbelievably sweet. RIP.

WFDF World Ultimate & Guts Championships. It only happens once every four years. World’s begins this weekend in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With six divisions and seven days of play, it’s the highest level of international play found anywhere.

On Tuesday we’ll see some of the better match-ups of tournament in the Open Division with the first and second seeds of each pool taking on one another: Canada vs. Sweden, USA vs. Japan, and Australia vs. Great Britain.

OPEN: Schedule | Standings
WOMEN: Schedule | Standings
MIXED: Schedule | Standings
MASTERS: Schedule | Standings
JUNIOR OPEN: Schedule| Standings
JUNIOR WOMEN: Schedule | Standings

As Ben will be participating in Vancouver, he will be sending in updates to the weblog all week. Look out for that.

Colorado Cup. Unfortunately one of the most competitive tournaments of the year is on World’s weekend. The Colorado Cup, held in Boulder, CO, will host eight of the best Open teams in country and twelve Women’s teams looking to make a splash this year at Nationals.

On the Open side we’ll get our first real looks at Johnny Bravo, Jam, Sub Zero, Truck Stop, and Doublewide. The Saturday night showcase game between Bravo and Jam looks to be a great game, and perhaps a preview of the Finals the following day.

On the Women’s side we find only three teams that were at 2007 Nationals, and nine strong regional teams who are striving to make their mark during the 2008 season.

OPEN ELITE: Schedule & Results
WOMEN: Schedule & Results
OPEN: Schedule & Results

I will be in Boulder spectating this weekend. Early next week, The Huddle will have a full tournament review of the Colorado Cup, much like our previous Feature on the 2008 Sockeye Invite.

Over the holidays last year, I received a copy of Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man by Pasquale Anthony Leonardo from my quasi-uncle Jim Levine, team member of the ‘81 & ‘82 Open semifinalists, Hostages. A copy signed by the author no less.

The first thought that occurred to me while reading the book was the striking resemblance between it and another book that I had given my brother a few years back, The Hipster Handbook by Robert Lanham. Both incisive cultural anthropologic studies of groups of people who take themselves a little too seriously and sometimes lack a sense of humor.

Simply put, the book is funny. Mr. Leonardo has some hysterical sections: the player archetypes, from the Permanent Grad Student to the Local Oldster; the progressive stages of hooking up, dating, and marriage amongst Ultimate players; the day in the life of a college player.

And it’s not just a hilarious look at the sport, it’s also fairly informative. With various introductory sections to the game on rules, skills, and training, as well as interspersed “Tips From The Experts,” the book serves as a nice preface to any beginner looking to start playing.

While the book might perpetuate myths and stereotypes about Ultimate and its practitioners, can you really fault the author if the myths and stereotypes are in fact true?

LINK: Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man