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.