Beginning with a Bang

Predictions and forecasts are rarely right. Mine are no exception.

Wednesday's matchups, which pitted the red-clad Sacred Cows against Purcell's white-wearing squad, andRook's Irish National Champions against the Colin's savage squad, were played out in a multitude of weather conditions. Throughout the day, the sky was ominous, intermittently drizzling or raining and always on the brink of storm. It seemed that even the weather was preparing for the first games of the regular season.

Purcell v Kinley
Touted as a matchup of equally balanced teams, from the onset there were surprises. The Sacred Cows were missing two top cutters, Will Neff and Tejas Rao, while Purcell's squad were short their captain, but bolstered by a surprise showing of Ollie Honderd, whose attendance had not been expected. Trading a few early, it seemed to be heading towards the predicted dogfight. However, the tides quickly turned as Tyler & co. turned multiple discs over on their and the opponent's endzone line, and all of a sudden the once-confident Sacred Cows were staring an 8-4 deficit at half in the face. This, amidst the slowly increasing downpour, was proving disastrous for the mooing many. Confidence was not lacking on the Purcell-less side, as their top-to-bottom speed and disc-handling skill consistently struck at the Cows' endzone with heartless efficiency. The cows would need to rebound, and big.

The second half began badly as well, seeing the Cows immediately broken, thrice. 11-4. This was the brink for the cows- a 7 point deficit, a margin almost twice their own point total. Receiving, they managed to work the field and punch one in, stopping the bleeding. Trading means quick death for the Cows, but the question remains as to whether they even have the offense to score after getting a turn. The next point, playing solid zone defense, the Cows earned a turn on a miscommunication from their possibly overconfident adversaries, and punched in a quick goal. Following up, the Cows find another early turnover in another strong zone defense, and again find the endzone in hasty transition offense. Switching to man, the Cows have planted the seeds of doubt, and as the Cownfidence builds, Purcell's squad begins to bicker. Another turn, another Cow score. Somehow, the Cows have managed to run off 5 straight, to close the 11-4 gap to 11-9. Finally, white puts one in. The cows respond easily on offense with a string, seeing Kaiser place a perfect huck to Kinley. 12-10. Another trade in points takes the score to 13-11, and the Cows will need a score and a break to tie it up and go on to clinch this comeback-of-comebacks to begin their dream season on their undefeated path to the finals and into the annals of showcase league history and glory......

But it was not to be. A deep shot goes awry, and white takes advantage, 14-11. Another deep attempt, another missed opportunity, white score, white win. A great way to start the season for both teams, with each learning their own strengths and weaknesses, and each proving to themselves and each other that they both can vie for the final title.

Wilken v McIntyre
A similarly paced game, with McIntyre's team playing the role of Kinley's, going down early and storming back with adjustments to the offense and defense. The rain definitely affected the day's play, and these teams were no exception. Wilken's Irish Nat'l Champions began the game by acquiring an early lead. According to Wilken, it felt as if they had complete control, but the scoreboard read otherwise. Wilken and his squad had several wetness-induced miscues (this was the story of the day) and this kept McIntyre's army within striking distance. Wilken took half 8-5, and felt comfortable. However, McIntyre & co. rode the storm back into the game with the game-changing play of Terry Shih cutting and the unusually dominating forehands of Frank the Tank Frankland. McIntyre continued to slice his backhand through any mark, and suddenly both teams found themselves with 11. The game had quietly become huge, and both squads knew it.

Wilken's speed, not a surprise coming from the likes of Fumo and Matt Schlough, was also showing up in the powerful play of Ed Serzo, who made plays on both sides of the disc and mitigated any risky throwing decisions with hard-nosed D to earn the ball back. Gillette also helped to maintain the offensive flow, along with the sneaky Glowacki who was able to find the soft spots behind the defense for goals, and the deeper legs of Wilken's fast squad proved decisive against the savage McIntyre team as they rolled out the final innings to win 15-11.

*****

The first games are played, but from what can we glean in these stormy wins and losses? McIntyre's mini-army was able to hang with Wilken and even rally back from a deficit, as were the Sacred Cows, but both sides proved to have too little too late. Yet, how much of a factor did rain play in these victories? Sure both sides were playing in it, but should one have been overly affected, we could yet see surprises in the coming, less-rain-soaked weeks of the season.

If anything, this first week proved that this year's teams are both well-matched and capable, a good sign of things to come.

Calm Before the Storm

The Regular Season begins Wednesday.

Like that sudden dip in temperature, that eerily ominous pause in the wind that accompanies a shared glance to the darkening sky, now is the calm before the storm. Teams are set, matchups are being identified, cleats are being tightened, and anticipations are mounting. What will this season bring?

Without team names yet set, teams will be identified by captains.

Purcell
On paper, this team looks powerful. The backhand breaks and flick bombs of Ryan Purcell, coupled with the size of cutters Armand Conti, Pat Collins, and Will Mcgrath, the speed of Tom Haynes, Pug, and Zak Kemmer, and the stability of all-around players Juice, Allan Evans, Nate Solon, and the rest of the roster, make this is a multi-faceted, dangerous team. Ollie Honderd is the X-factor, as his attendance is expected to be nil, but who knows. Look for this team to make a clear and direct run at the championship.

McIntyre
This team begins its season handicapped because its captain is nursing a hamstring strain that immediately disadvantages it. However, should he become healthy, he is surrounded by an experienced core of Eric Geile (last year champion), Chris Spittal, Craig Frankland, and other do-it-all-ers whose ability to play multiple roles, from handler to deep cutter to up-deep in a zone, could prove decisive in earning the necessary W's throughout the season. Last year's lowest seeded team ended up learning its own game throughout multiple losses in the season, which culminated in a strong push in the semis (and also the most hotly contested game of the year), and finally in a strong finish, even though it ended early. However, last year's eventual champion was also touted as a semis-at-best finisher, so the only thing for certain is that this team will come to play at 6:30pm on Wednesdays and will punish any team that takes them lightly.

Wilken
The other captains are all under 5'9" tall, so right from the start, Wilken has a height mismatch in drafting. From there, its evident his picks were based on speed, speed, speed. Matt Schlough, arguably (easily?) the fastest man on the fields, Dave Fumo, Mike Burton, Gordon Siegfriedt, Rook himself- these players are simply fast as all get out, and will give any other squad headaches (and sore legs) in matchups. Their throwers will have the option of bombing lasers, and can float a few with Rook, Fumo, Gillett, and Greff out there to get up. This is a team of extremes, and could just as easily blow a team out as blow themselves out of a game, depending on whether their strategy is working or not. Their own consistency will be the key to their long-term ability throughout the season, but its safe to say that more than a few highlights will occur when this team is on the field.

Kinley
This team is about balance. Foldesi, Ricky, Kaiser, Noah B, and Dave Childers provide a solid handler core, allowing Will Neff, Darren Galligan, Tejas Rao, Toby, Tyler and the rest of the team to work the downfield game. Big enough to challenge the big guys, some speed to challenge the quickies, and experience and stability to maintain consistency against the steadfast, this team's main challenge will be to live up to its potential. With a strong roster, things can click as easily as they can go wrong, and sometimes it's the intangibles that win or lose a game for a team. This team will need to find out how to win together, coupling all of its strengths as one, and avoid having too many chiefs, not enough indians. A potential finalist for sure, but at the same time, a potential first-round-and-out if things don't click in unison.

The Matchups- Week 1
Purcell v Kinley
This will be a battle of matchups. Each team has squirrelly throwers, dominant big men, speed demons, and consistent throwers. Two well-balanced powerhouses, toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow to start the season. I can't make a prediction because it's simply too close to call. Bets are even- no spread this game. Take your chances folks, this is a big'un.

Wilken v McIntyre
Wilken's "extremist" frisbee, based on raw speed and power, versus McIntyre's veteran savvy. Will poaches negate the throws to space that the speed game relies on, or will pure athleticism overcome wisdom and experience? A true David versus Goliath story, if David were older, wiser and more experienced than Goliath but actually a bit slower, and they were both really roughly the same size, and Goliath were a brute mostly in respect to his being like an uber-jock and real fast. Wilken v McIntyre. David v Goliath. Be there.

The bar is Conor's. Car bombs and Guinness will flow like wine and players will flock like the salmon of Capistrano. See you there.

The end of one story is the beginning of another...

The Preseason came to a resounding close last night as FHS, again clad in their dominating Reds, overtook Slower, Whiter, and the Seven Dwarves in a nailbighting 17-15 finish. The other field hosted a game that finished a bit earlier, which saw Purcell and Neff's Ricky's Mom team taken out by Colin's Magnificent Four.

First, the Mag Four. Who woulda thunk? An injured leader, a team with attendance issues, an injured Ollie, all coming together to topple the dominators of Purcell and Neff! It's quite the rags to ric..., er, well, it isn't, but it's a pretty good story nonetheless, sort of like Major League meets Bad News Bears meets The Shining. It actually isn't like that at all, and that grouping is ridiculous, but this tangent serves only to reflect the utter surprise that the Magnificent Four's success has shown. However, it shouldn't really be all that shocking, as their core players- Fumo, Kaiser, Solon, Shih, Juice, Mcgrath- are all incredibly competent players, able to consistently get the job done and efficiently put the flatball in the endzone. Congrats to the chumpionship winners. And, it should be pointed out that Mag Four's record is equal to that of FHS, so why are they in the chumpionship at all? Well, Nate-Solon-who-asked-the-question-and-made
-me-have-to-think-about-it, Mag Four's first victory came under auspicious pretenses, having been able to field only four players of their own (hence the name) and necessitating players from their opponent's squad to earn the win. This W comes with an asterix, and that's my reason and I'm sticking to it. Also, it's just preseason.

But onward! to the Championship.

The story of the day was attendance- it was AWESOME. Like everyone ever showed up, okay, and it was like the sweetest thing evar. Seriously though, it was great ot get full or nearly full squads out to play, and if that is any indication of the regular season, well, this will be a good summer.

Back to the game. FHS was prepared, in their reds as always, and had great numbers, bolstered by the addition of one Craig "Tank" Frankland. Slower, Whiter and the Seven Dwarves had come to play as well, and in white, looked like a veritable avalanche of height, with multiple players coming in well above 6'. The game did not start well for the Dwarves though, as FHS rolled of quick three breaks to start the game with a 3-0 lead. Marching back, the Dwarves made their own run, and after a decently played first half, the score had become 8-6. FHS felt good- they were simply able to capitalize on the one more error that the Dwarves were making each point, and with this semi-efficiency, had kept the game in their hands. This was not to continue though. In the second half, FHS saw their lead begin to slip, and soon saw the game tied and the teams trading points. Both deep shots and the break side were being utilized, with the Dwarves reigning in their previously overhucked bombs to favor higher percentage IO flicks and lefty IO backhands (courtesy of one Noah Bindman), thus cutting out the majority of their turnovers and scoring much more easily. This took away the momentum from FHS who could no longer wait for turnovers to just happen, and playing take-away defense against the Dwarves was proving tougher and tougher. Finally, with the game tied at 15s, the pressure mounted. Armand found Tyler for a deep look that Tyler came down with in a crowd, and then hit D-Rock with a blady flick to go up one. 16-15, game point FHS. Playing hard flick D, FHS forces the Dwarves to dump and swing, preventing many deep shots and giving underneath cuts strong pressure. Finally, a poach in the lane pays off, and FHS gets its needed turn, moving the disc quickly to take advantage of the Dwarves discombobulation after the turn, and Dave Childers places a flick into the hands of a sprinting FHS cutter in the endzone to secure the championship win for FHS.

The victory was sweet, but it's only the slightest of tastes, since this, the preseason, doesn't matter at all, and is only the precursor to what is looking to be a great season.

The moral of the story-- attendance is the key to the league. If we all make it, the games will rock. If we don't, game play suffers.

And now, what we're all interested to see, the regular season teams:

Matt Wilken
Gordon Siegfriedt
Jay Meldrum
Paivo Kinnunen
Matt Dagher Margosian
Lucas Price
Mike Burton
Dave Mccreedy
Dave Fumo
Brendan Schramm
Ed Glowacki
Matt Schlough
Ethan Gillette
Matt Greff

Colin McIntyre
Jake Scobey-Thal
Craig Frankland
Thomas Gilchrist
Ryan Slater
Matt merrins
Ed Serzo
Adam Van Staveren
Terry Shih
Ari Kahan
Andrew Ueeck
Chris Spittal
Eric Geile
Andy Dunn

Ryan Purcell
Justin Canniff
Pat Collins
Henry Tyler
Will Mcgrath
Jeff Juice Osowski
Zak Kemmer
Alec Weiner
Allan Evans
Ollie Honderd
Ryan Sekol
Dave Pug Gagnon
Nate Solon
Armand Conti
Tom Haynes

Tyler Kinley
Kaiser Shen
Darren Galligan
Toby hartman
Ethan Eagle
Ricky Eikstadt
Dave Childers
Dan Fishman
Tejas Rao
Tyson Stevens
Noah Bindman
Andy Foldesi
Matt Wojczinski
Will Neff

PreSeason Finale

One last chance to get the kinks out before the season begins. Captains are eyeing the playing fields, getting their last reads on potential draftees, and there is some tension in the air.

Slower, Whiter, and the Seven Dwarves (obviously Rook's team) meets FHS in the championship game. The Dwarves have proven to have a potent mix of youth and experience, consistency and daring, and the flexibility to meet other teams' strengths and weaknesses. FHS has demonstrated its own strength, losing its first game in a veritable battle against itself, and winning its second in a game they ran away with. Their foes simply haven't had an answer to some of their weapons, and the Dwarves will have to once again prove their own flexibility and dynamism to come out ahead again, if they can.

The chumpionship, pitting the two teams with the lesser records against one another, could prove to be as exciting, if not more, than the championship. Ricky's Mom will return its powerful Will Neff, Ryan Purcell, and Ricky Eikstadt, all absent last week, to lead this Wednesday's charge against the injured Colin McIntyre's Magnificent Four. Ricky's Mom had trouble against the poachy defense of the Dwarves in the first week, and last week, with its top 3 absent, were felled by FHS. This week, they should be hungry to avenge these frustrations. The Magnificent Four will certainly have their hands full. However, with the speed of Dave Fumo, the throws of Colin, Nate, Ollie and Kaiser, and the size and cutting of McGrath, Shih, Rao, and Merrins, they've got the potential to inflict some damage.

Post-game festivities take place at La Cantina this week, on the corner of South U and Church, with $1 off purchases of $6 or more. I'll be eating a burrito and a beer for damn sure.

Battles of Attrition

O Brothers, Where Art Thou?

This week's games showcased little talent. Not that the players weren't talented, or were little people, or were little untalented people (shall I keep going?)... but that there simply weren't that many players to go around. Attendance is simply not where it needs to be.

This didn't stop good games, and good ultimate, from taking place though. Ricky's Mom, led this week by Tom Haynes, took on FHS, also depleted and forced to take on Ethan Gillette for its 7th. Trading early, the action began intensely on this upper west field, both teams showing promising and dangerous offensive sets, and spreading the disc out amongst the players. FHS used deep shots to Tyler and Armand to keep the field open, while Ricky's Mom spread the field lengthwise utilizing both inside-out and around break throws, taking advantage of late marks and horizontal dump throws to streaking handlers. Ricky's Mom took the first break, but it would prove to be one of their last, as FHS stormed back with two breaks of its own and took half. The heat was oppressive, and this as most evident in the second half. FHS rolled off two breaks to start the second half, and never looked back. Ricky's Mom simply couldn't stop the deep game, and FHS secured its first win 15-11.

The Upper East field saw drama as well, with the first showing of a relatively complete Magnificent Four squaring off against the battle-tested High Expectations, who come off a sound win last week in a come from behind game that demonstrated High Expectations' ability to adjust and recalibrate based on the other team. Ending in a 13-11 victory for High Expectations, one can only assume that their core continued to lead the current leaderboard leaders to its second straight W, and as the only unbeaten team left in the league, next week's game against FHS will prove decisive as the PreSeason Championship.

Stay tuned...

Preparation

This week marks the second of three preseason games, allowing players to showcase their skills, captains to get a good read on what they're looking for, and for people to demonstrate good (or poor) attendance (a very, very key factor in choosing squads).

That said, this week showcases Purcell's "Ricky's Mom" squad taking on Tyler's "Faster Higher Stronger," and on the flip side Colin's "Magnificent Four" versus Rook's "Ricky's Dad."

Ricky's Mom and FHS both notched up L's last week, with Ricky's Mom dropping its lead and falling to Ricky's Dad late in the game, even with Purcell and Neff leading the charge. They will have to adjust to poaches in the lane and utilize more players to overcome this week's challenger in FHS, the Tyler-led squad whose wares have not been fully tested, having been split up last week by the poor attendance of their foe. Purcell and Kinley should matchup nicely, but the difficulty will be in FHS finding an answer for Neff, a lanky handler who is equally dangerous in the air. Where FHS might have an advantage is its depth of skill, and being able to spread the disc out amongst very competent players and take advantage of a potentially less deep Ricky's Mom (although there are rumors of incredible depth there).

Ricky's Dad and The Magnificent Four will be a demonstration of "winners," in another instance of a winning team matching up against a still-relatively unknown Magnificent Four squad. Mag 4 references the low attendance shown last week, which, if they can turn around this week, could make for an exciting game. Unfrotunately for Mag 4, they are plagued by injuries, immediately sidelining Colin and Ollie, both crucial deep shot threats, and it is already known Kaiser will not be in attendance. In addition, Colin has already had a conflict and cannot be in attendance as team leader, so they chips are already stacked against this Mag 4 squad and in Ricky's Dad's favor. Ricky's Dad utilized a poachy defense and the consistent handling of Geile and players like Paivo Kinnunen, and got some key D blocks in Matt Schlough (recent recipient of the Fastest Man in Gender Blender and GB All-Star, catching a goal between two stackd beers in the game). My money is currently on Ricky's Dad to drive it home, but who knows what Mag 4 could have in store...

This week should see more players beginning to loosen up their legs and throws, and getting into that seasonal groove called summer club season. Rosters are being set, tourneys attended, track workouts ran... and things are beginning to heat up.

Jerseys are currently being ordered and should be shipped within a week. The season is fast approaching, so make those big plays and get noticed!

Wednesday's feature bar is The Arbor Brewing Company, offering $5 pints for $3, $1 off well drinks and wine, and free soft drinks, so work up a thirst and see you all there!

Ah, Preseason

Showcase League begins this season much like a roller coaster, with a gradual ascent upwards towards the real fun. Preseason has begun, and kicked off this summer's SL with a couple of games that pitted Colin's nameless Team 175 against Tyler's red-clad "Faster, Higher, Stronger" squad (a reference to this), and Ryan Purcell-led "Ricky's Mom" against Matt Wilken's (aka Rook's) team.

The first of those two games was actually more of a friendly. It had to be, since Colin's army of three necessitated the loaning of multiple Faster Higher Stronger (FHS) players, making the game an exciting showcase of talent, but not so much a war of factions.

That war was taking place on the opposite field. Rook captains a rich group of players whose style of play relies heavily on successful poaching into the throwing lanes and intelligent, rather than hard-nosed, defense. Matt Schlough provided multiple D's, and their offense was made successful by the sure hands and tight throws of players like Mike Burton, Noah Bindman, and Paivo Kinnunen. But theirs was not an easy task.

On the other end of the field, Ryan Purcell and Will Neff proved a formidable offensive duo, and without losing former SL captain Ricky Eikstadt to an accidental collision, this game could've turned out differently. The pair were able to move the disc anywhere they wanted on the field, but as their team O began to lean on them, Rook's team D took note and began to focus their efforts on the pair, creating tougher reset throws and turns as a result.

After going down multiple breaks, these turns righted the ship, and with Rook and Geile at the helm, they sailed on to a narrow victory, seeing Geile hit the ground for one of the late-game goals. Asked why Neff, who was guarding Geile, didn't bid, he was heard to remark "I didn't think Geile would lay out for it!"

The other field saw a blended, Colin-led Team 175 get off to what ended up an insurmountable lead, as Tyler had to watch his own teammates Andy Foldesi and Lucas Price slice and dice his defense. It seemed to happen in an instant- all of a sudden, FHS was down 4-0, and the physical mistakes were proving costly. Finally switching to a horizontal offense, FHS got their legs underneath them, and things began to happen. Coming out after a dour halftime, FHS punched a quick score to bring the game to 8-4. Then, a Team Colin turn, and a break. Then another, and it was 8-6-- maybe this was a game after all. Then, another turn, and FHS could smell blood, working its way up the field, and finally finding the endzone! But wait, not in? Nate Solon thought so, and before they knew it, FHS was tapping the disc in and tossing a backhand... that wasn't completed. Turnover. Team Colin marches and scores.

This momentum swing proved crucial, and except for a late-game, pressure's-on mini-run to take the game from 14-10 to 14-12 off of a hand-block and a lay-out in-cut D, The Man with The Face Disc and his small troop won the day.

Next week pits Rook's Team 174, with the addition of now-wart-free big man Pat Collins, against Tyler's roster, and this will be a better look at the strength of FHS as a unified group.

This leaves Colin to start getting his players geared up, or at least attending, next week's match-up against the intimidating offensive juggernaut of Purcell's "Ricky's Mom," whose team name is an age-old reference that truly is funny, even if you don't get it.

And the countdown to the regular season draft is still ticking away..... See you all next week!