Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Doublewide Wins South Open Regionals

by Andy Lovseth

This past weekend Doublewide, the club Open team out of Austin, Texas, was the surprise winner of the South Region, defeating favorite Chain Lightning from Atlanta, Georgia. Doublewide standout cutter Kiran Thomas has graciously given us a recap of this past weekend’s events:

The weather for our Semifinals game against Ronin saw winds of 10-15 mph creating a slight upwind/downwind situation. Initially, Ronin ran a man defense but it became apparent that our cutters were having their way downfield. Midway into the first half Ronin started to run a 4 man cup to slow Doublewide’s offense. This generated a few turns for Ronin but their transition offense had no luck in putting the disc in the upwind end zone.

In the second half, their zone was eventually neutralized by the play of Doublewide’s handlers who were able to go through and over the cup. Essentially this game came down to Doublewide’s ability to generate and convert turnovers and Ronin’s inability to score upwind. Final score 15-10 Doublewide, to setup yet another Regional Final with Chain Lightning.

Sunday’s weather could be best described as a gusty cross-wind. The game started out great for Doublewide as our defense continued increasing our conversion efficiency by capitalizing on a Chain miscue to take a 1-0 lead. After Chain put in their first score, the first offensive point for Doublewide was a grinder for our cutters, as it seemed like nickel and dime in-cuts were all that was available. Chain’s defense clamped down in the end zone and generated a turn on a dump getting a break back to make the score 2-1 Chain.

The two teams continued to trade, showcasing different styles of offensive play. Chain’s athletic and tall defensive deeps and sagging handler marks forced Doublewide’s offense out of our horizontal stack to a vertical stack. This allowed our offense to swing the disc and hit open under cutters for big gains. Those big in cuts opened up the deep space for 20-25 yard scores. On the flip side, Chain’s offense seemed to somehow always run the disc up the sideline eventually putting up beautiful 50 yard hucks to answer back. Both offenses traded points until right before half when Chain had an errant first throw. Doublewide’s defense was again able to capitalize on Chain’s mistake to take half 8-7 with our offense receiving.

In the second half, after some efficient offense by both teams, Chain was able to close the 2 point deficit and go on a 3 point run because of their defense’s ability to generate blocks off of great bids. One of these great bids was a nasty Callahan on an in-cut to take the lead 11-10. Doublewide’s offense was somewhat rattled but settled down to start trading points again with Chain’s offense. Doublewide’s defense began to apply more pressure on Chain’s offense by consistently pinning them deep in their end zone with well placed pulls and zone crumbles. Although Chain was able to work their way out of the end zone multiple times, it seemed as if they were a throw away from giving Doublewide the lead back.

Eventually, Doublewide got the turn they were looking for based on this end zone pressure and capitalized with a cross field hammer to take the lead 15-14. With the cap on, both teams traded points for the rest of the game. DW’s offense punched in the double-game-point score with what got them there in the first place: swinging the disc and great cutting.

Doublewide’s victory shakes things up for National’s seeding. Chain Lightning was expected to be a top 5 or 6 team, but with their loss the seedings look to be more up in the air. We’ll see how things pan out in the Central, Northeast, and Southwest Regions this coming weekend, and we’ll get a full picture of what to expect in Sarasota.

Monday, October 6th, 2008

Northwest Open Regionals, Day Two

by Ben Wiggins

Great weather today for the Northwest; just about 60 degrees, a thrower’s wind (8-ish MPH, just enough to allow only good throwers to hit the endzone from anywhere, but not enough to make them shy), and very little rain.

Did the 15:3 format scare anyone? With the possibility of a 4-game day, all four top seeds crushed in the first games, all about 15-8. Usually, someone overlooks a lower seeds and get themselves in a tense or tight game, but this time all four top seeds came out of the blocks ready.

Semifinals featured two very familiar matchups in Revolver/Jam and Furious/Sockeye. The second of these was a high-turnover game, with lots of long points and few clean offensive plays. Both teams used big defenders against the other team’s smaller handlers, and neither team tried zone more than once.

Revolver beat their rivals to advance to Nationals, and the finals with Sockeye was a very tight affair. In the end, after two hours, there was only a pair of overthrown hucks to separate the teams and allow Sockeye to pull out a close one.

Jam versus Furious was the obvious main event, with two of the world’s top teams in a game-to-go. Jam took an early lead, 7-5, but Furious started throwing to Lugsdin deep and around the endzone to bring it back to 13-13 with the advantage. (It’s only in games like these, with little wind, where you realize late in the game how glad you are that you chose offense…or how sorry you are that you lost the flip. Until we start using non-rally scoring, that advantage will always be there).

Jam needed a break, and made a couple of really gutsy throws (a Bruss hammer to Boo, in particular, from the backhand sideline to the far cover) just to stay in striking distance. A first-throw mishuck should have killed them, but they tempted Furious into a blady huck of their own. Jam squandered a chance to get the break they needed on a low huck, but at 14-14 they scrambled to cover the endzone after a huck, forcing an additional dump swing that was mishandled at the far sideline. Greg Husak immediately found Jeff Eastham on a looping long forehand, and two lefty backhands later they had their crucial D-point.

Furious, running the same Lugsdin/Grant/Seraglia/Pottinger/Hibbert/Ortiz line out, hucked from the forehand sideline to Grant. Last point; the Jam combination of Saunkeah/Watson/Remucal/Steets gives them a lot of deep options, and Justin Safdie is on as well to cap what has likely been his most complete tournament since joining Jam. Four throws into the point, Bart bursts free down the forehand sideline for a low out throw, and no one but Bart is going to catch it. 16-15, Jam going to Florida, and Furious is out of the show for the first time this decade.

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Northwest Open Regionals, Day One

by Ben Wiggins

The elements ruled the day, occassionally letting us get a glimpse of traditional Ultimate between long periods of field-position battles.

The biggest effects were in Rounds 3 and 4. The gale blew in during the first 5 minutes of Round 3, gusting about 35 mph and causing misthrown 2-footers to blast all the way to the far downwind endzone. Hilarious, but also pretty devastating for teams that lost the flip (or, worse, winning the flip and failing to have predicted that the weather would be so much more important than the first possession).

Teams that were able to make forced throws were the most successful. In those conditions, players that are limited to “good” throws, flat and calm and with long pivots are going to be relatively useful. You need to be able to get a quick huck off, sometimes throwing a backhand bomb against a force flick (something that Tim Gehret is very good at). Zones need to keep the disc in front of them, occassionally allowing some yardage on a swing as long as it didn’t lead to a second, yardage-gaining, throw back through the middle of the field.

Round 4 brought the Jam/Sockeye and Revolver/Furious matchups while the wind was still howling. There were no real upwind threats in either game very early, and then the wind started to die down. All four teams had to adjust to the new conditions: defenses had to stop allowing large underneath cuts (playing for the punt) and offenses had to regain confidence in their ‘across’ throws (short breaks and dump-swing combinations).

That team meeting that your team had 4 months ago when you decided who was going to decide strategy? All of the sudden, that meeting is really important. Did you decide to have meetings during time-outs between strategists, or did you decide to ‘just figure it out, we’re all pretty smart’. Did you empower the rest of your players to voice opinions (’Hey, the wind isn’t that bad anymore, we can just work it in’) or have you been stomping the voice out of them in favor of iron-clad discipline? Has your strategist group been imagining these weather possibilities and practicing different subcalling, or have you been working on an O and D that only work in 15 mph of wind or less? These decisions probably started months ago…and if you made mistakes then, or were forced into certain decisions (by team experience, competing personalities, etc) then you are hurting now, and the top 4 teams in the NW have an advantage over you.

That isn’t the most important point; my real thought here is more that early-season decisions can come back to sink you, and early planning is going to have a direct effect on Regionals.

Sockeye defeated Jam 14-8, and Revolver won over Furious 10-5.

We’ll see how that works out tomorrow.

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Sectionals: Weekend Three

by Andy Lovseth

The final weekend of Club Sectionals wrapped up this past weekend with a small handful of tournaments, including the Capital Open Section which was postponed from Weekend One due to wet weather and field concerns. That Section was handily taken by Washington, D.C.’s Truck Stop.

Of other note, Boston’s Ironside ripped through the competition of the East New England Section.

Next weekend we look forward to the Mid-Atlantic Open Regional where we’ll see Ring of Fire, Truck Stop, Forge, and Pike battle for the two or three spots for Sarasota.

We’ll also see the strongest Women’s Region, the Northwest, battle in Burlington, Washington with Fury, Riot, and Zeitgeist competing.

Finally, the Open Division of the Northwest Region will see some of the country’s best fighting for three spots. Not Sockeye, not Furious, not Jam, not Revolver are a sure thing to make it to Sarasota. It will be interesting to see which of these teams will be left out of Nationals.

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Update on UPA BOD Election Coverage

by Ben Wiggins

Follow-up questions have been sent to the candidates, and we are asking for responses to come to us in time to publish our Special Feature on the Board Election early next week.

These questions have been crafted using the candidate statements, audio interviews, RSD history, and independent research with other Ultimate players who responded confidentially to our inquiries.

Stay tuned for the answers on Tuesday, and then the start of the election on Wednesday!

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Election Coverage: Wrapping Up the Research

by Ben Wiggins

The Huddle is finishing research for coverage of the UPA Board Election. Our goal is to provide fair, informative coverage of the candidates in a manner that is positive (fitting the impressive qualifications and energy for the sport that the candidates have shown).

If you have a comment or a story that you think the editors should know about any candidate, please write to us at info@the-huddle.org. We will hold all contributors completely anonymous, regardless of the nature of their information. The Huddle will use all available information as responsibly as possible in crafting and publishing an opinion about the candidate pool.

Do you have something about a candidate that The Huddle needs to know? Please write to us at info@the-huddle.org.

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Sectionals: Weekend Two

by Andy Lovseth

The second weekend of the UPA Club Series saw less competitive action than the first. Throughout the country the heavy favorites showed why they were heavy favorites and made short work of their Section.

Chain Lightning (East Coast), PoNY (Metro New York), Backhoe and Ring of Fire (North Carolina), Mischief (Northern California), Sub-Zero and Alpha Cobra Squadron (Northwest Plains), Doublewide (Texas), and GOAT (Upstate New York) all easily took first in their Section.

The one big story this weekend came out of the Mixed Division in the Northwest Region. Seattle’s Shazam, defending UPA Mixed Champions and this year’s Team USA, lost in the Washington/British Columbia Finals to D’oh!, a longtime, newly reunited Seattle squad.

We get a recap of this double-game point victory from D’oh! captain Gabe Pedersen:

D’oh! came out really hot. We got a break on the first point with Joe “BJ” Sefton, and Bert Abbott playing out of their mind D. After trading a few points to 4-4, D’oh! up a break, D’oh! struck again going up two breaks. D’oh! had the chance to take half up two breaks at 8-6, but the reigning national champions would not see it happen. Led by excellent defense by Jon Ladd, Will Whitwell, Mike Schwin, and Megan Zdancewic, Shazam breaks twice to end the half on serve 8-7.

The second half begins with D’oh! receiving the disc. D’oh! was moving the disc, but an unfortunate drop leads to a fast break and long huck to Will Whitwell for the goal to make it 9-7, Shazam up a break. After scoring quickly, D’oh! saddled up a strong defensive effort and gets the turn only for Emily Grad to get a D near the Shazam goal line. Two throws later, Shazam was up 10-8. The following possession, D’oh! would score quickly when James Evans would score on a 65 yard huck from Greg Shiring.

The next Shazam O point saw many turns by both teams, but D’oh! answered the call, and put the disc in the endzone for a 10-10. D’oh! would add a break on the following point to make it 11-10, and then two points later to go up 13-11 before Shazam would make their final push to victory. Up 14-12, Shazam scores a really easy O point to bring the score 14-13. After a Shazam break, D’oh! is left what was thought to be double-game point, at 14-14, but after a captain’s meeting at the middle of the field, the SC and both captains decide it will be a game to a hard 16.

Both D’oh! and Shazam score easily on their next O possessions, so D’oh! received at 15-15, double game point. D’oh! works the disc up field and James Evans gets off a nice huck to Joe “BJ” Sefton for the apparent winning goal, only to have his heel stepped on by Jon Loeffler. After an injury sub, Pat McCarthy comes in and throws the winning goal to a diving Greg Shiring for the victory.

So D’oh! supplies the first and only real upset of the Series thus far. It will be interesting to see what sort of noise they make at Northwest Regionals, and if they can get a surprise bid to Sarasota. We’ll be watching.

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Sectionals: Weekend One

by Andy Lovseth

This past weekend saw the first action of the 2008 UPA Club Championship Series. All across the country teams were competing to move on to the next round of the Championship Series: Regionals. In most cases, contenders for the tops spots in Sarasota glided through their section. Ozone (East Coast), Slow White (East New England), Johnny Bravo (Rocky Mountain), Condors (Souther California), and Riot (Washington/British Columbia) all made short work of their weekend.

In some Sections, though, there were match-ups that previewed possible qualifying games at Regionals and elimination games at Nationals.

Brute Squad vs. Lady Godiva

Brute Squad and Lady Godiva met in the finals of the East New England Section with both teams missing several key players. The game was fairly close the whole way through, with Brute Squad getting a couple of breaks late in the first half, and then Godiva closing the gap again early in the second half. Brute tried a few different D’s, but the lack of wind made man D the preferred choice. Godiva showed a few different looks as well, including a loose 1-3-3 and a clam. The game was good spirited and both teams are looking forward to a Regionals re-match. The final score was 13-10, Brute Squad.

— Peri Kulshan of Boston’s Brute Squad

Jam vs. Revolver

The first half of the game was very tight, with several defensive breaks for both teams. Jam was able to break to take half with a one point advantage. The second half saw Jam capitalizing on a few dropped discs and solid defensive plays to pull away and finish the game 15-10.

Revolver had a solid strategy for offense and defense, and stuck to that strategy for most of the game. Utilizing their quick handlers, they exercised a lot of patience in working the disc down in 10-20 yard chunks. Defensively, pressure on the dump resets was definitely a focus for them, which resulted in several defensive blocks or errant throws.

Jam threw a lot of different looks at Revolver defensively, mixing in different zone looks despite the lack of wind. On offense Jam utilized a mix of deep throws, winning several discs in the air, and patient “small ball” offense.

— Jeff Eastham-Anderson of San Francisco’s Jam

Fury vs. Zeitgeist

Fury, having just beaten a college team (a combo of many bay area colleges) came into this game pretty fresh. However, they were missing a number of players—Sprout, Jody, Alex Snyder, Gwen, and Alicia Barr. Their first game against Slackjaw was not much of a test (they won 15-4), and neither game lasted to cap by a fair margin.

On the other hand, Slackjaw came to Sectionals with one thing on their mind: beat Zeitgeist. After a long, hard-fought battle Zeitgeist won and had to play almost immediately. This was probably what made the difference in the de facto finals; Fury went up 3-0 before Zeitgeist scored a point, then up 5-2 before Zeitgeist got back into the game.

The lack of wind didn’t prevent either team from playing zone, with Fury working in a new three-man cup zone, and Zeitgeist playing a fairly standard three-man cup as well. The zone D seemed to work well for Zeitgeist, with Fury throwing uncharacteristic turnovers, allowing some fairly easy fast-break points from the Zeitgeist D. Capitalizing well, Zeitgeist takes half up 8-7.

The second half saw more zone, with (we have this on video and counted) one point of Zeitgeist offense scoring after 70 passes (71 if you count catching the pull). However, the offense couldn’t keep that up all game, and Fury’s O started clicking more smoothly, leading to a hard-capped 13-11 Fury win.

Northwest Regionals should prove to be exciting with so much parity between the high level teams. Much of who makes it to Nationals could come down to how many teams attend (and its influence on the pools).

— Kath Ratcliff of the Bay Area’s Zeitgeist

Sockeye vs. Furious George

Sectionals, for the top teams, is a chance to work out some kinks, play with new strategies, and avoid injuries at all costs. In those Sections with two top teams, the Final can be a kid-gloves pushing match—both teams want to win, but nobody wants to give full effort. The outcomes aren’t Win>Loss, instead it can be Win-without-effort>>Win-with-effort>Loss-without-effort>>Loss-with-effort. Since bids to Regionals, especially in the NW, are easy to come by it makes sense to withhold full effort.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the WA/BC section. In NorCal, Jam and Revolver have a deep-seeded rivalry and haven’t played each other much this year, so this tournament was about flexing a little. Similarly, though maybe more dramatic, Rhino/Thompson High was probably a bit more passionate of a final game in the Oregon Section. Thompson is a very skilled collection of players that have years of elite experience but don’t want to practice week-in and week-out. Rhino is significantly younger, with only 3 healthy returners from the Rhino team at Nationals last year.

Furious and Sockeye have already seen each other in peak form (at Worlds, Team Canada vs. Team USA was primarily the same people). Sectionals, with nothing on the line, was an expectedly different feel. Mike Grant and Kirk Savage were not in attendance, as was the case with several Sockeye players. Furious worked in several new international pickups, like Abra (a D-handler with the Dingoes) and a tall, talented Swedish player who is filling in the John Hassell O-cutter role.

Both teams scored easily to start the game, with Furious scoring in fewer passes on each point. It wasn’t until 4-4 that a Furious huck went a bit too far for the first break. Furious scored on O and then immediately got the break back after a Sockeye drop. Ray Illian pulled down a fantastic catch-block on a huck that set-up a second break for the Fish, and at half it was 8-6 Sockeye. Sockeye mixed in zone in the second half to pull away by a very slim margin in the second half.

Furious rotated players equally and got everyone experience and accumulated no major injuries. Sockeye lost three players to injury, none of which is likely to keep those players out of Regionals, but which will all hamper training. As the likely #1 and #2 seeds at Regionals with no difference in path difficulty, who is to say who really won this Sectional tournament?

— Ben Wiggins of Seattle’s Sockeye

Over the next two weeks, we’ll see the remaining teams from across continent vie for their spots at Regionals. It will be interesting to see if there will be any upsets along the way.

Monday, September 15th, 2008

UPA Board Elections

by Ben Wiggins

The Huddle is planning on doing some coverage of the UPA Board Elections.

We’ll be following the UPA information (both candidate statements and audio interviews) and we’ll be placing one question to each candidate; we’ll ask something that seems important based on what they say in their statements. We’ll try to craft questions that force candidates to be specific and to answer a tough question on a relevant issue.

This is obviously our first time covering an election, so it is a work in progress, and will also depend on the candidates willingness to answer a tough question publicly. Hopefully we will have something for you to read right around the start of the voting.

Lastly, The Huddle will be “endorsing” a candidate for each vote; we’ll tell you how we would vote and why for each race, and we’ll try to fully disclose our own inherent biases as well.

In the meantime, keep checking the site for new issues, weblog updates, and features!

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Write for The Huddle at Nationals

by Andy Lovseth

The UPA Club Championship Series begins this weekend with Sectional tournaments being held all around the country. While we cannot cover every Section, or even every Region, we are looking to Sarasota at the end of October to bring our readers innovative coverage of Nationals. We have some really interesting ideas of how to present our coverage, but we need some help.

We are searching for 1-2 writers to help report on the four-day tournament.

The type of person we’re searching for has an enthusiasm for Ultimate first and foremost. Experience writing and an understanding of photography and video—be it professional, amateur, or personal—are the main criteria we are looking at for people we think would succeed working with us.

The Huddle is a volunteer effort; we can’t pay your way to Sarasota. We are looking for people willing to volunteer their time and efforts to help us present Ultimate coverage in unique and innovative ways. So if you are going to Nationals, or are thinking about going, (or perhaps this persuades you to go), and are interested in helping out, let us know. Email us info@the-huddle.org.

We look forward to hearing from you very soon. And if you do get in touch with us, we plan on getting back to you in three or four days.

Thanks.

Andy & Ben

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

The Sideline

by Andy Lovseth

This week’s issue on sub-calling got me thinking about the sideline.

In Ultimate, the sideline is a funny thing. It’s unlike any other team sport. In baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, volleyball, cricket, softball, kickball, and field hockey, players on the sideline are required to stay in their dugouts or on their benches.

The only sport relatively close to Ultimate in this fashion is American football, where players and coaches can roam the sideline to either 25 yard line, and only on their designated side. (Though this might just be a response to the amount of space necessary to house such large rosters).

Ultimate is different. Players can be on either sideline at any time, from back endzone line to back endzone line. You see opponents standing side-by-side, yelling to their teammates as their words become muffled together.

I wonder what difference it would make if there was no sideline as we know it. If players and coaches were restricted to a bench, how would the tone of the game change?

It seems as though defensives get more help from sidelines with “up” calls and “strike” calls on the mark. Take away the sideline and I think it would be to the advantage of the offense. Then again, it would force players on the field to talk to one another even more, which in any rule set can only be a good thing.

When players intermingle there can be a fair share of jawing between rivals during heated moments (that can easily escalate), and I have been in my fair share of uncomfortable situations standing among a group of opposing players as they criticize your team, its methods, and your teammates (which can also escalate).

Of the many things that make Ultimate unique, free sidelines is on the list. But I’m not totally convinced that the free reign that players have is in the best interest of the sport or of sportsmanship.

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Links About Town

by Andy Lovseth

· Transatlantic: From Prague, an article about Czech Ultimate.

· The Collegiate Nationals website has a handful of videos from the 2008 UPA College Championships.

· From Flickr, a great action shot from Marco Malaca in the Philippines.

· The Way-Back Machine: From 1988, the New York Times does a feature on the sport on its twentieth anniversary.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

We Get Letters

by Andy Lovseth

In our newest Letter From The Editor, we answer some of our readers’ email. Take a look.

If you have any questions of your own, feel free to emails us at info@the-huddle.org.

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Coming Wednesday: Labor Day Coverage

by Andy Lovseth

This week The Huddle will be publishing a feature on the events of this past weekend’s Labor Day tournament in Santa Cruz, California. With both coverage of the Open and Women’s Divisions, this week’s feature will be the biggest and best recap and review of a tournament thus far for The Huddle.

Look for it Wednesday morning, and thanks for reading.

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Youth Ultimate & DiscNW

by Andy Lovseth

Over at the DiscNW.org Message Boards, there’s an interesting thread developing about the future of Youth Ultimate in Seattle.

Mike Mullen, along with Joe Bisignano, both Ultimate coaches at the Northwest School, are proposing a possible split between the Youth Ultimate leagues in Seattle and DiscNW, the organization that has ran and maintained the leagues for years.

After reading through the thread and its long responses, the one thing that became apparent to me is this: DiscNW may be unwisely frittering away the best thing they have.

If there is one thing that DiscNW needs to hold on to as tightly as they possibly can it is Youth Ultimate. It is a shining beacon for the sport, for the Spirit of the Game. There is no greater example of kids who play at the highest levels competition and with so much respect and regard for their teammates and opponents than the kids in Seattle.

The Youth scene in Seattle is a bastion of champions. From MoHo to the Northwest School, from Asa Mercer Middle School to the YCC teams, you couldn’t be prouder of their performances. Not to mention the kids who graduate to the club scene and win National Championships with Sockeye and Riot and Shazam.

Youth though—not Sockeye or Riot—is the crown jewel of Seattle Ultimate and deserves to be the centerpiece of DiscNW’s mission. If not, Mike Mullen might be right; it might be necessary for Youth Ultimate in Seattle to be lead by people who value its importance.

Monday, August 25th, 2008

The Huddle On The iPhone

by Andy Lovseth

Another upgrade to The Huddle we have made recently is to ensure that the site looks and functions well for mobile devices, in particular the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

We’ve removed links to RSS feeds and sections of Flash video, which are rendered functionally obsolete by MobileSafari’s constraints. We will also be fine tuning the size of the site to make sure the site continues to be legible.

If you have any suggestions of how to improve The Huddle on the iPhone, please let us know.