Open Nationals Day 1:

The weather to start off the day was pretty typical for Nationals.  It was pretty warm and humid to start off, and the fields were a little damp.  The skies were clear and the fields were a little damp.  The wind was light to start off, but little did everyone know that a storm was brewing nonetheless.  This storm would be known as ‘The A Pool’.

            Sockeye has been a slow-starting team this year.  They lost several first-thing-in-the-morning games at different tournaments.  Their first matchup was with Pike.  The question was-would Pike provide them an easy win to get the wheels rolling?  Sockeye started off hot with an early lead, but the game stayed close the whole time.  Momentum swung back and forth, but neither team could build a lead of more than 3 points all game.  Pike took half 8-6, and 3 drops in the endzone killed Sockeye’s chances, and Pike drew first blood at Nationals this year with a pool-upsetting 15-12 win.  Both teams really wanted this game-the speed of the action was absolutely fantastic.  But in the end, Pike was just a little chillier, and a little more skilled when it counted.

              But this was hardly the end of the action.  Pike had to immediately jump over a field to take on Chain Lightning, who had a relatively easy 15-11 first round win over Electric Pig.  This game was just as intense as Sockeye-Pike, with wild swings of momentum.  More in the newsletter write-up on this one, but at double game point Pike had the disc in prime position, about 15 yards outside the endzone.  Their standard offense is a dump-and-swing, and they executed to perfection, with a wide open look at the front cone.  Only a lunging bid by Jason Simpson on the mark tipped the disc just far enough to keep Pike from finishing the game.  Chain worked it down and scored relatively easily for the 17-16 win, throwing the pool in real disarray.

             Sockeye had beaten E. Pig in the second round 15-10.  If Pig was going to make any noise is would have to come in the last round.  And make noise they did.  Pike is a very good team, and their top players could start for any squad in the country, but right now they are just a bit short in the depth department.  This would tell as their top players got exhausted, and the game with E. Pig went down to the wire.  It ended up at 13-13, next point wins.  With Sockeye beating Chain 15-10 on the next field, it came down to this: if Pike scores the next point, they win the game and the pool.  If E. Pig scores the point, they win the game and Pike takes 4th in the pool, entering Friday play with a loss in their reseeded pool.  To the adoration of the crowd, Jude Travers-Frazier uncorks a 60 yard bladey forehand with the wind underneath it and behind it, but it’s a perfect throw which ends the game.  So the pool ended up

1. Pike (2-1)
2. Sockeye (2-1)
3. Chain Lightning (2-1)
4. Electric Pig (0-3)

The B Pool also started out with some serious excitement.  Doublewide came in seeded 10th after making quarterfinals last year.  They were certainly hoping to prove the seeding committee wrong.  They came out strong against Jam.  Jam started very slowly.  They were not connecting on hucks, and this led to more impatience in their offense rather than more chilliness.  Several tough break-mark throws and leading passes would fall harmlessly to the grass, and Doublewide was taking advantage to keep coming back from down 2, down 3, even I believe down 4 once.  But Doublewide was also not playing clean Ultimate, by any stretch of the imagination, and they missed a big opportunity to take a 14-13 lead and Jam, after taking the lead, kept on serve and won 15-14.  Condors were taking care of business next door, beating Chicago’s Machine 15-8.

Round 2 saw more of the same, as Condors handled a very tired Doublewide team 15-7.  Jam was definitely in the process of shedding some rust as they kept their rotation very open during a 15-10 win over Machine.  This set up the game everyone had been waiting for, Jam vs. Condors.  My magic 8-ball even went so far as to predict that the winner of this game would be playing Sunday morning in finals.  Jam opened strong, taking a 2-1 lead on the strength of (yet another) big flick from Idris Nolan.  One big difference between this game and previous rounds was that Damien Scott was showing his full arsenal.  Damien certainly has the ability to be one of the dominant big men in the game, but with his money throws he usually hangs around the disc and tries to save his energy for D.  But in this round he was going deep, often from the handler spot, with spectacular results.  The Condors would not back down in this game, but it was apparent that they missed James Studarus, who sprained his ankle last Sunday and was not cleated up today, although reports are that he is only saving himself for the later rounds, when it counts.  New players Rhett Nichols and Jaime ‘Idaho’ Arambula played stellar disc for the Condors in this game, and Brian Bogle did extra duty on the O squad with some good results, but it just wasn’t enough.  15-11 Jam final score.  A tired Doublewide team held off Machine 15-13 to hold onto the third spot in the pool.  So this pool finished:

1. Jam (3-0)
2. Condors (2-1)
3. Doublewide (1-2)
4. Machine (0-3)

            In Pool C, the big question was whether or not Ring of Fire and Death or Glory could take care of business.  Although there have been rumblings that DoG is really missing some of their most recent departures, including Nathan Wicks and Josh Ziperstein, the consensus view was that GOAT and BAT should be a bit overmatched, and the Ring/DoG result might come down to who had played less points in the debilitating heat.

            But while Ring held up their end of the bargain, finishing off both BAT and GOAT by efficient 15-9 final scores, DoG’s day would be a little bit different.  Firstly, they found themselves in a tooth-and-nail battle with regional rival GOAT.  DoG relies heavily on a few players to really move the disc, the primary one of whom is Fortunat Mueller.  Fortch was all over the field in this game, including chasing in DoG’s 1-3-3 matchup zone.  And while he clearly is in good shape, all that running did have an effect on his throws, as a few got away from him, giving GOAT enough chances to keep in close.  DoG’s multiple zones and junk D’s are certainly effective, preventing their opponents from running many set plays, but I think they’ve been too disseminated throughout the community to be effective in generating many turns anymore.  GOAT was in this game the whole way, and John Hassell threw a big blade to go up 14-13.    But DoG answered, and then forced a turn, and Fortunat kept firing, this time throwing a floaty one to Alex Ghesquiere, who went up strong over 2 defenders to pull it in and get to game point.  GOAT answered with a big huck, but on the ensuing double-game point, the pull sailed out only 15 yards downfield and didn’t come back in, and DoG easily worked those 15 yards to score and win, 16-15.

              But that was just the start of DoG’s day.  They only had about 15 minutes to rest between the end of the game vs. GOAT and the start of the game vs. BAT.  Although the final score was 15-10, this was a hard-fought game, with lots of turns by both teams and lots of running.  Certainly more than DoG was hoping for, especially as Ring finished efficiently and was catching shade while they were still playing.

            The game almost seemed like a foregone conclusion.  Ring was fresh and still had some spring in their step, while DoG was simply struggling to keep it close.  Chris Hinkle has a broken thumb on his left hand, but the cast came off for this game and he showed few ill effects.  Kris Bass still has plenty of wheels, as he showed in his 80-yard sprint to catch a 70-plus yard flick from John Proctor.  Tuba Benson-Jaja and Mickey Madzinski played very large in this game, making play after play in the air, and the final score was 15-10 Ring.  Pool C finished to seed:

1. Ring of Fire (3-0)
2. Death or Glory (2-1)
3. BAT (1-2)
4. GOAT (0-3)

Pool D was, without a doubt, the closest pool of the day.  Sub-Zero came in hoping to prove that they have improved since last year’s disappointing finish at the Show.  Kaos is a first-timer in Sarasota, much improved through the addition of several Valhalla players following that team’s demise after last year.  Furious was hoping to show that the Worlds hangover had finally been dispelled, and Johnny Bravo was hoping to show that their win over the Condors at Southwest Regionals was no fluke. 

The day started hot, as Sub Zero was on fire against Johnny Bravo, taking half 8-5.  Bravo managed to capitalize on a few second-half misfires and pulled away to win 15-12.  Next door Furious was having fits against Kaos, and this game was tied at 10’s or 11’s before Furious pulled away for the 15-12 win.  The next round saw more of the same, as Furious and Zero went down to the wire, trading haymakers like a couple of tired heavyweights standing in the middle of the ring.  Tim Murray hucks to ‘Q-tip’ on SZ.  Andrew Lugsdin to Mike Grant for Furious.  Cruikshank with another big lefty toss.  SZ’s Paco answering right back.  But when it came down to double game-point, a bad poach led to an easy Mike Grant huck to a wide-open receiver for the score and the win.  Kaos also played very well, as Darryl Nounnan and Evan Pearce helped keep the fires burning.  Maybe my favorite part of the day was watching Shasta Phillips and Will Deaver chase each other around the field-two men, all of 11 feet and maybe 250 pounds between them, but fast as greased lightning to be sure.  Kaos’ offense got a little tight as their legs wearied, and a miscue led to a relatively easy last point for Bravo to win 14-12.

In the last round, Kaos held seed over Sub Zero, who has to be disappointed with losing 3 games by an average of 2 goals.  Furious and Bravo were back-and-forth for the whole game.  Furious always seemed to have a 1-2 goal lead, and made plays when it counted.  Parker Krug for Bravo has some phenomenal throws, but he falls in love with his hucks sometimes-not that I can blame him, if I could throw the disc like that I probably would too.  And he threw a few too many away in this one.  From 11-10 Furious put on a good run of defense, making Bravo complete 20 or more passes to score and pulling out the 15-11 win, so Pool D also finished to seed.

1. Furious George (3-0)
2. Johnny Bravo (2-1)
3. Kaos (1-2)
4. Sub Zero (0-3)

So that sets the following pools for tomorrow:

            I would say Pool F is the definite Pool of Death.  I still like Jam to come out of it unscathed, but their game against Ring should be a hum-dinger.  Pike has to prove to me that they’re deep enough to win two huge games tomorrow against deep, hard-running George and Bravo.  There is still a chance Sockeye could win this pool and recapture their one spot.  Coming out of the bottom bracket, I think Chain vs. Kaos could be the game of the day-two young tough teams who really want to prove that they belong with the big boys.  Likewise, Doublewide and BAT could be quite a game to watch as a little Midwest/South regional rivalry breaks out.  Should be exciting any which way you cut it.

-David Samuels