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Friday, August 1, 2008

No Borders Results

Monday, June 30, 2008

Boston Invite

The Ottawa Open program made its way down down to Devens, MA for the annual Boston Invitational this past weekend. This is a great tournament and features a number of high-level teams. Phoenix came in seeded 10th, won out on day 1 (including an important crossover win agains Chicago's Machine) and finished the tournament tied for 7th.

Firebird had a tough 1st day, losing their pool play games by a total of 4 points, but bounced back for a solid day 2. I'm sure Steve will have something about it on his blog.

As for the Phoenix results...

Day 1

Versus Red Tide (15-10 win)

These guys are very unconventional - crossfield scoobers on stall 9 etc., but they made it work. We saw a lot of stall 9.5 completions and it seemed they were getting the good bounces (as much as you can in ultimate). On one point in particular, I think we stalled them down twice, got 3 D's and generated 3 throwaways ... all of which were contested/called back. To their credit, they had one cutter who was difficult to shut down, and they used him very well.

In anycase, I think we took half at a suprisingly close 8-7 (up one break) and rolled on a few breaks from there.

Versus Wiretap (15-8 win)

Formerly HOV, we had a pretty good sense of what to expect from these guys. Our O was really efficient in this game (or at least that was my sense of it) and our D started taking away discs. Jamie had a huge callaghan midway through the first half, which basically triggered a series of breaks.

Versus Sons of Liberty (14-12 win)

The "A" team of the Gunslinger/Newnoise merger, they're a very good team and came out pretty fast and took half 8-5. We ended up clawing back to a 10-9 lead, game to 12. Most notable of this game: Paul had
the greatest layout D I've ever seen (and I'm sure the same can be said for most of the
guys who saw it). Flat backhand huck comes out with the SoL player a few yards a head of
Paul, who is pursuing from the off/flick-side. The disc comes in with the player ready to make
an easy pancake catch mid-chest. Paul closes the gap, lays out around the guy at about
shoulder height and gets a finger on the discenough to knock it away. The SoL guy who was
about to catch was completely shocked that the disc was no longer there.

Versus Machine (12-10 win)

This was our crossover game and I thought it was pretty dandy. Both teams matched up pretty well in terms of athleticism and speed and Phoenix went up a break early in the game and managed to hold the lead throughout. The O line played really steady and both teams made some pretty sick plays. Big thanks to the 'bird for getting over to our field right after a second heartbreaking-universe-point loss to their crossover opponent.

Day 2

Versus Boston Ultimate (15-8 loss)

I had a lot fun playing against these guys at CUT and just as much fun this time around. Yeah,
it sucks to lose, but sometimes you have to lose to learn. In this case we started off going punch-for-punch at 3-3. Our D managed to generate turns throughout the game, but didn't capitalize like it should have. On the other hand, their D punished our turns.

Versus Mephisto (13-10 loss)

They came out a lot more fired up than at CUT and I expected a close game from the outset (or at least closer than the last time we played). They didn't do anything terribly remarkable, but just played better than us and got the win. It will be great if we can get a rematch against them at no borders.

From around the tournament...

Never give up on a disc. Watching Great Britain on day 1 (can't remember who it was against): huck goes up on a rope to a player who has probably 5-7 yards on the nearest GB defenders. Easy run-on catch right? No - two GB defenders close the yardage and layout past the cutter (who didn't layout) for the D. I'm pretty sure that both defenders got their hand on the disc for the D.
Both semis (which featured Boston/Great Britain and GOAT/PoNY) went to universe point, with Boston and GOAT prevailing. Both games went back and forth with Boston and GOAT both coming back for the victory.
I hope GOAT's Tolya is alright, he was smashed between two Boston Players on a huck, landed awkwardly and was carried off the field.
Speaking of big hits - the PoNY/GOAT semi had its fair share of collisions, mostly at the expense of the GOAT guys. Both John H. and Inian were absolutely smoked on successive points in their semi. In both cases they went up for high discs in which the defender had no chance of a D. That said, both PoNY guys were pretty quick to apologize (and avoid a brawl).
High-level teams will punish turnovers.

Monday, June 23, 2008

In-Season Maintenance

As usual, I don't get to the gym to lift quite as often during the season. I assume this is similar for most ultimate players. In anycase the last workout with Andy I felt a bit weak in terms of lower back strength, so I asked Andy about some in-season core stuff that you can do. Here's what he had to offer in for in-season maintenance:

Before/During/After Practice

1. Dynamic warm-ups (leg swings, scorpions, body twists, air squats, glute bridges) to make sure you are properly ready for practices/games.

2. Take the time to stretch after practice.

Outside of Practice

3. Core (weightless):

1 minute each of Front/Side/Back planks
2 sets of alternate single arm and leg supermans
weightless good mornings (note the link has a guy using weights, just do what he's doing, without weights).

4. Ensure proper posture when sitting at work and get out of the work chair as often as possible.

*note: I would imagine that some abwork would be good to add to the core circuit in most cases, but was not suggested given the lower-back focus I had.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Cazenovia Ultimate Tournament Results

Phoenix travelled down to Cazenovia for the latest installment of CUT. Cazenovia is a great little college town outside of Syracuse. Great little town and the TD, Darren, does a great job year in and year out. Anyways, we went in seeded 12th, which was a little low.

Versus Colt .45 (13-7 win)
I don't think these guys scored 7. Their one guy had a huge grab over 3 other people (huge). That is all.

Versus Upstate New York 13-7 (13-7 win)
Formerly Zebra Muscles, we lost to theme at sectionals last year. We went in with that in mind and wanted to set the tone pretty early. The O played pretty chill and the D generated and punished turnovers. Not sure if this was really "generated", but Paul scored a callaghan by just standing in the endzone. The UNY guy hit him right in the chest.

Versus Medicine Men (13-6 win)
Always like playing these guys, but we got up big early (12-4ish?) and they scored a couple in garbage time.

Versus Burgh (13-10 win)
This was the crossover game to get into the elite pool. We caught the end of their previous game against Mephistoand had a generally good idea of what they do - which is huck. In anycase they were pretty athletic, but down to about 9 or 10guys by the time our game came around.

I've been in a few chippy games, but this got a bit ridiculous when they called our guys out of bounds on about 10 passesin a row. I'd say it was unique to our game, but we also heard them chirping in the Mephisto game... so we had an idea of what to expect.

While the score was close, there was a point where they pulled to us, playing man coverage, with only 6 on the line. They thought we were yelling at themabout something, but really we were just telling them that they were missing a guy. meh.

Versus Boston Ultimate (15-6 loss)
Lost this game pretty handily, but mainly due to unforced errors. Simply put - they punished our turnovers and we didn't take advantage of their turns.We gave them plenty to punish. In anycase, to take a positive, we now have a really good understanding of the intensity level, and speed, at which we needto play in order to compete with the top teams. Right from the start their sideline was into the game and really loud. They also kept that sideline intesity up through most of the game. On the field they just played fast and with confidence.

Versus Mephisto (15-6 win)
Historically, we've rarely played well after a big loss. They just came off to a disappointing loss to PoNY, where they went into half down 1, and lost fairly handily by the end.In anycase, we came into the game fired up and kept that intensity throughout. We gave them a few looks on D and the bodies started flying. We took half 8-1 (after starting 1-1) and kept the pressure on the second half.

Versus Truck Stop (1-1 tie - game called due to rain/lightning)
Looked like it would have been a good battle.

Other Notes
In case you haven't been to Cazenovia, it's a small liberal arts college town in the northeast... kind of thing you see in the movies. Anyways, we're goingthrough downtown and come across this guy getting the shiznit kicked out of him by 4 or 5 guys, right on the side of the main street in downtown Caz. They broke of fairly early after it started, but the guy they assaulted was pretty much dummied and covered in blood. Very strange.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to the Dinoasaur BBQ and grill, but no CUT tourny would be the same without a visit to the Cracker Barrel on the way home.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

so hot right now...

So Phoenix and Firebird travelled down to New Hampshire for the White Mountain Open. Both teams went down a bit shorthanded, Phoenix took 16 or 17, and Firebird a few more.

Trainor has a good post about it on his blog.

Very strange start to this tournament as the fields weren't quite ready and our first field was set up with only a 25 yard width. In anycase, that was all sorted out fairly early and we gotrolling right away.

Day 1 was a pretty nice mix of sun and cloud with a lot of wind.

Versus Colt .45 (13-3 win)

Seedings were a bit skewed for this tourny (I'll pickup on this later) and these guys were ranked #2 going into the tourny. They definitely had a bunch of solid athletic guys, but it looks like they may have lost some veterans from last year.

Versus Death or Glory (14-13 win)

This was a pretty good game against a very experienced team (as one would imagine). We actually didn't lead this game until the very end, when I think we got up 12-11. On universe Phoenix pulled to DoG and the Countfired a huck to Parinella in the endzone. The disc hung a little, but andy went pretty big in the air to D the disc. the game off with a huck for a score.

Versus Run Silent, Run Deep (13-3 win)

RSRD - A great Burt Lancaster film, but I don't remember much of this game, except for the strangest foul call. I'm marking the disc and the handler pivots from backhand to flick, as he pivots his left wrist (off hand) hits my left wrist (which is extended) and he calls foul... at stall 2. In anycase, the guy was super nice, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

Versus Gun Noise (13-6 win)

This was the first half of the new noise/gunslingers split squad and they came out pretty fastin our final game on day 1. They got up 5-2, but we settled in on O and gave them a few different looks on D. We went on an 11-1 run for the rest of the game, but the game seemed a bit closer than that(according to some of the firebird guys). I think we made less mistakes in the wind and punished some bad turnovers.

Speaking to one of their guys on the sideline, it looks like they're going to run an A/B system, which will be interesting to see. Both sides of their split squad had a lot of talent, so that bodes well for the summer.

Day 2 was hot and sunny.

Versus New Slingers (13-4 win)

This is the other half of the new noise/gunslingers split squad. I don't know what our deal is, but we got down early again (this time only 2-1), then woke up and rung off 11 straight. Theypicked up a couple of points in garbage time at the end.

Versu Bodhi (13-8 loss)

So, back to the seedings, these guys were actually ranked outside of the top 8 and played their way into the top pool and into the finals (unfortunately at our expense). I had a pretty good idea that these guys were ranked low as we've been talking to various east coast teams about coming to no borders in July.

Anyways, it was a pretty good game, and we played well, but they just beat us fair and square. It will be interesting to followthese guys over ths summer as well.

Overall, it was a good tournament for both teams to get some kinks worked out. Definitely something to build on, but there's still a lot of work.

oh yeah, we also got our sweet patagonia uniforms.... so hot right now.

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		Phoenix Commentary Friday, August 1, 2008 No Borders Results posted by M-W @ 6:09 PM 0 Comments Monday, June 30, 2008 Boston Invite The Ottawa Open program made its way down down to Devens, MA for the annual Boston Invitational this past weekend. This is a great tournament and features a number of high-level teams. Phoenix came in seeded 10th, won out on day 1 (including an important crossover win agains Chicago's Machine) and finished the tournament tied for 7th. Firebird had a tough 1st day, losing their pool play games by a total of 4 points, but bounced back for a solid day 2. I'm sure Steve will have something about it on his blog. As for the Phoenix results... Day 1 Versus Red Tide (15-10 win) These guys are very unconventional - crossfield scoobers on stall 9 etc., but they made it work. We saw a lot of stall 9.5 completions and it seemed they were getting the good bounces (as much as you can in ultimate). On one point in particular, I think we stalled them down twice, got 3 D's and generated 3 throwaways ... all of which were contested/called back. To their credit, they had one cutter who was difficult to shut down, and they used him very well. In anycase, I think we took half at a suprisingly close 8-7 (up one break) and rolled on a few breaks from there. Versus Wiretap (15-8 win) Formerly HOV, we had a pretty good sense of what to expect from these guys. Our O was really efficient in this game (or at least that was my sense of it) and our D started taking away discs. Jamie had a huge callaghan midway through the first half, which basically triggered a series of breaks. Versus Sons of Liberty (14-12 win) The "A" team of the Gunslinger/Newnoise merger, they're a very good team and came out pretty fast and took half 8-5. We ended up clawing back to a 10-9 lead, game to 12. Most notable of this game: Paul had the greatest layout D I've ever seen (and I'm sure the same can be said for most of the guys who saw it). Flat backhand huck comes out with the SoL player a few yards a head of Paul, who is pursuing from the off/flick-side. The disc comes in with the player ready to make an easy pancake catch mid-chest. Paul closes the gap, lays out around the guy at about shoulder height and gets a finger on the discenough to knock it away. The SoL guy who was about to catch was completely shocked that the disc was no longer there. Versus Machine (12-10 win) This was our crossover game and I thought it was pretty dandy. Both teams matched up pretty well in terms of athleticism and speed and Phoenix went up a break early in the game and managed to hold the lead throughout. The O line played really steady and both teams made some pretty sick plays. Big thanks to the 'bird for getting over to our field right after a second heartbreaking-universe-point loss to their crossover opponent. Day 2 Versus Boston Ultimate (15-8 loss) I had a lot fun playing against these guys at CUT and just as much fun this time around. Yeah, it sucks to lose, but sometimes you have to lose to learn. In this case we started off going punch-for-punch at 3-3. Our D managed to generate turns throughout the game, but didn't capitalize like it should have. On the other hand, their D punished our turns. Versus Mephisto (13-10 loss) They came out a lot more fired up than at CUT and I expected a close game from the outset (or at least closer than the last time we played). They didn't do anything terribly remarkable, but just played better than us and got the win. It will be great if we can get a rematch against them at no borders. From around the tournament... Never give up on a disc. Watching Great Britain on day 1 (can't remember who it was against): huck goes up on a rope to a player who has probably 5-7 yards on the nearest GB defenders. Easy run-on catch right? No - two GB defenders close the yardage and layout past the cutter (who didn't layout) for the D. I'm pretty sure that both defenders got their hand on the disc for the D. Both semis (which featured Boston/Great Britain and GOAT/PoNY) went to universe point, with Boston and GOAT prevailing. Both games went back and forth with Boston and GOAT both coming back for the victory. I hope GOAT's Tolya is alright, he was smashed between two Boston Players on a huck, landed awkwardly and was carried off the field. Speaking of big hits - the PoNY/GOAT semi had its fair share of collisions, mostly at the expense of the GOAT guys. Both John H. and Inian were absolutely smoked on successive points in their semi. In both cases they went up for high discs in which the defender had no chance of a D. That said, both PoNY guys were pretty quick to apologize (and avoid a brawl). High-level teams will punish turnovers. posted by M-W @ 7:05 PM 0 Comments Monday, June 23, 2008 In-Season Maintenance As usual, I don't get to the gym to lift quite as often during the season. I assume this is similar for most ultimate players. In anycase the last workout with Andy I felt a bit weak in terms of lower back strength, so I asked Andy about some in-season core stuff that you can do. Here's what he had to offer in for in-season maintenance: Before/During/After Practice 1. Dynamic warm-ups (leg swings, scorpions, body twists, air squats, glute bridges) to make sure you are properly ready for practices/games. 2. Take the time to stretch after practice. Outside of Practice 3. Core (weightless): 1 minute each of Front/Side/Back planks 2 sets of alternate single arm and leg supermans weightless good mornings (note the link has a guy using weights, just do what he's doing, without weights). 4. Ensure proper posture when sitting at work and get out of the work chair as often as possible. note: I would imagine that some abwork would be good to add to the core circuit in most cases, but was not suggested given the lower-back focus I had. posted by M-W @ 7:26 PM* 0 Comments Friday, June 13, 2008 Cazenovia Ultimate Tournament Results Phoenix travelled down to Cazenovia for the latest installment of CUT. Cazenovia is a great little college town outside of Syracuse. Great little town and the TD, Darren, does a great job year in and year out. Anyways, we went in seeded 12th, which was a little low. Versus Colt .45 (13-7 win) I don't think these guys scored 7. Their one guy had a huge grab over 3 other people (huge). That is all. Versus Upstate New York 13-7 (13-7 win) Formerly Zebra Muscles, we lost to theme at sectionals last year. We went in with that in mind and wanted to set the tone pretty early. The O played pretty chill and the D generated and punished turnovers. Not sure if this was really "generated", but Paul scored a callaghan by just standing in the endzone. The UNY guy hit him right in the chest. Versus Medicine Men (13-6 win) Always like playing these guys, but we got up big early (12-4ish?) and they scored a couple in garbage time. Versus Burgh (13-10 win) This was the crossover game to get into the elite pool. We caught the end of their previous game against Mephistoand had a generally good idea of what they do - which is huck. In anycase they were pretty athletic, but down to about 9 or 10guys by the time our game came around. I've been in a few chippy games, but this got a bit ridiculous when they called our guys out of bounds on about 10 passesin a row. I'd say it was unique to our game, but we also heard them chirping in the Mephisto game... so we had an idea of what to expect. While the score was close, there was a point where they pulled to us, playing man coverage, with only 6 on the line. They thought we were yelling at themabout something, but really we were just telling them that they were missing a guy. meh. Versus Boston Ultimate (15-6 loss) Lost this game pretty handily, but mainly due to unforced errors. Simply put - they punished our turnovers and we didn't take advantage of their turns.We gave them plenty to punish. In anycase, to take a positive, we now have a really good understanding of the intensity level, and speed, at which we needto play in order to compete with the top teams. Right from the start their sideline was into the game and really loud. They also kept that sideline intesity up through most of the game. On the field they just played fast and with confidence. Versus Mephisto (15-6 win) Historically, we've rarely played well after a big loss. They just came off to a disappointing loss to PoNY, where they went into half down 1, and lost fairly handily by the end.In anycase, we came into the game fired up and kept that intensity throughout. We gave them a few looks on D and the bodies started flying. We took half 8-1 (after starting 1-1) and kept the pressure on the second half. Versus Truck Stop (1-1 tie - game called due to rain/lightning) Looked like it would have been a good battle. Other Notes In case you haven't been to Cazenovia, it's a small liberal arts college town in the northeast... kind of thing you see in the movies. Anyways, we're goingthrough downtown and come across this guy getting the shiznit kicked out of him by 4 or 5 guys, right on the side of the main street in downtown Caz. They broke of fairly early after it started, but the guy they assaulted was pretty much dummied and covered in blood. Very strange. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the Dinoasaur BBQ and grill, but no CUT tourny would be the same without a visit to the Cracker Barrel on the way home. posted by M-W @ 6:55 PM 0 Comments Wednesday, May 28, 2008 so hot right now... So Phoenix and Firebird travelled down to New Hampshire for the White Mountain Open. Both teams went down a bit shorthanded, Phoenix took 16 or 17, and Firebird a few more. Trainor has a good post about it on his blog. Very strange start to this tournament as the fields weren't quite ready and our first field was set up with only a 25 yard width. In anycase, that was all sorted out fairly early and we gotrolling right away. Day 1 was a pretty nice mix of sun and cloud with a lot of wind. Versus Colt .45 (13-3 win) Seedings were a bit skewed for this tourny (I'll pickup on this later) and these guys were ranked #2 going into the tourny. They definitely had a bunch of solid athletic guys, but it looks like they may have lost some veterans from last year. Versus Death or Glory (14-13 win) This was a pretty good game against a very experienced team (as one would imagine). We actually didn't lead this game until the very end, when I think we got up 12-11. On universe Phoenix pulled to DoG and the Countfired a huck to Parinella in the endzone. The disc hung a little, but andy went pretty big in the air to D the disc. the game off with a huck for a score. Versus Run Silent, Run Deep (13-3 win) RSRD - A great Burt Lancaster film, but I don't remember much of this game, except for the strangest foul call. I'm marking the disc and the handler pivots from backhand to flick, as he pivots his left wrist (off hand) hits my left wrist (which is extended) and he calls foul... at stall 2. In anycase, the guy was super nice, but I'm still trying to figure it out. Versus Gun Noise (13-6 win) This was the first half of the new noise/gunslingers split squad and they came out pretty fastin our final game on day 1. They got up 5-2, but we settled in on O and gave them a few different looks on D. We went on an 11-1 run for the rest of the game, but the game seemed a bit closer than that(according to some of the firebird guys). I think we made less mistakes in the wind and punished some bad turnovers. Speaking to one of their guys on the sideline, it looks like they're going to run an A/B system, which will be interesting to see. Both sides of their split squad had a lot of talent, so that bodes well for the summer. Day 2 was hot and sunny. Versus New Slingers (13-4 win) This is the other half of the new noise/gunslingers split squad. I don't know what our deal is, but we got down early again (this time only 2-1), then woke up and rung off 11 straight. Theypicked up a couple of points in garbage time at the end. Versu Bodhi (13-8 loss) So, back to the seedings, these guys were actually ranked outside of the top 8 and played their way into the top pool and into the finals (unfortunately at our expense). I had a pretty good idea that these guys were ranked low as we've been talking to various east coast teams about coming to no borders in July. Anyways, it was a pretty good game, and we played well, but they just beat us fair and square. It will be interesting to followthese guys over ths summer as well. Overall, it was a good tournament for both teams to get some kinks worked out. Definitely something to build on, but there's still a lot of work. oh yeah, we also got our sweet patagonia uniforms.... so hot right now. posted by M-W @ 9:30 PM 1 Comments March Archive February Archive January Archive December Archive Commentary Archive ©2008 Phoenix Ultimate, Ottawa, Canada

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