Fantasy Friday Results

Wow, what a day yesterday was. I watched games all day, took extensive notes, was ready to post, but then I headed by the beer tent at the fields and Universe needed a fill-in on their boat race team. After of a couple of races, the teams disbanded and I just raced Stoner over and over again as we reflected on our college ultimate days. He kept asking me if I wanted to ding it up, but I had no idea what he was saying.

So, my report due last night is just showing up this morning.

Let's take care of some business first, before we get to the exciting games.

Pool X: Hot Action 2003 (1-0), Phoberomys 2003 (1-0), CLX 2003 (0-1), Briefcase 2005 (0-1)

In the first round, CLX 2003 gets a chance to play Phoberomys for the first time. Watching them warm up while they scrimmaged themselves CLX player Seth Bartel was overheard saying "These guys play just like we do, and nobody beats us at our own game. Right guys?" Then he turned, found himself alone except for a attentive score reporter and quickly ran off to join an endzone drill. Seth was right, though, both teams tried long downfield passes and relied on tough defense to get them the disc back. In the end, CLX had too many targets and used their women well, especially Sheldahl sisters in the endzone and a one Von Schrader in the middle of the field. #99 Van Maanen was able to neutralize the deep threats and CLX 2003 wins by 3. The next field over, Hot Action 2003 plays an ugly game against Briefcase 2005. Many turnovers, sloppy throws, hospital passes, but Briefcase can bring them down. Hot Action's Rouda play some good long D to keep them in the game, but he can only stop one guy. Briefcase's Idris Nolan just keeps hucking.

In the second round, things are very interesting. All teams are 1-1 and any of them can win the pool at this point. CLX 2003 starts off strong against Mr. Briefcase 2005. Some rules arguments come into play and Briefcase's Nolan is heard yelling "Is there anybody here that actually knows the rules? Just one time, one time!, can somebody have read through the rulebook?" CLX 2003 cruises to victory after gaining a lead and wins 15-10. On stage two, Hot Action 2003 plays Phoberomys 2003. Rouda, after a great defensive effort against CLX 2003 is spent and dealing with back pain, leaving little resistance to Phoberomys's deep game. They don't complete all of them, but more than enough to win. Hot Action looks very disappointed after this game. They wanted to prove they could beat this team, but will now never get another chance.

CLX 2003 and Phoberomys 2003 finish with 2-1 records, but with the head-to-head victory, CLX 2003 plays its way into the play-in game. The rest of the teams will battle it out for ninth, or thirteenth.

Pool Y: Moe 2005 (1-0), Hot Action 2004 (1-0), Universe (0-1), Woodchuck....CHOMP (0-1)

The first round is nothing to write home about, and I wasn't watching too closely, with the matchups in pool A, B, and X too exciting to miss. Final scores had both Moe 2005 and Hot Action 2004 winning by eight and five, respectively.

The next round, Woodchuck....CHOMP took a bite out of Universe's play and was able to avoid becoming the only winless team at the tournament. Moe 2005 played Hot Action 2004 in a play-in game to the play-in game. Hot Action 2004 took an early lead off some Schiebel throws to Gardner and Truesdale. Moe answers bigtime when Guy throws a full-field backhand to Moravec. The teams battle to a 8-7 Hot Action halftime. Hot Action opens with a lefty huck (they call him B-Jar?) to Kane, but Moe takes the next three points to take a 10-9 lead. Action makes it 10s, off a Doyle huck to Gardner. Moe 2005 answers with some inspired play, though, winning the new game to 5, and taking a 15-13 victory into the play-in game.

The power pools are an odd thing in this tournament. The games are some of the best of the entire tournament, but at the same time, somewhat meaningless. All a team wants to do is avoid finishing last, because then they must compete in the play-in game. Otherwise, if you finish in the top-three in each pool, you make quarters. It can be important to win these game, but a team that spends too much energy today will be fatigued tomorrow when it really counts.

Pool A: CLX 2004 (1-0), Moe 2004 (1-0), Moe 2006 (0-1), Meth 2005 (0-1)

In the first round the game to watch is CLX 2004 v. Meth 2005. It's a battle between Meth's offense and CLX's defense. Meth comes out patient and deadly, with a Kampfe strike to Eastland. CLX 2004 has a rash of turns and poor decisions (normal decisions?) and isn't coming up with the disc. Meth works the middle of the field well and advances the disc through Henryson and Edwards. They take a 4-0 lead. Meth resident nice guy Kevin Kampfe is overheard saying "Gee whiz, they have a good team, but it's just not working for them now, eh?" Not one to back down, CLX starts a comeback. Hucks to Voytas and Seiler put them on the board, but Meth's Francis connects with Oppold on two consecutive points and the teams trade points to halftime. Meth takes an 8-4 lead. CLX 2004 switches to a more conservative offense, but in turn, their defense plays too conservative and opens up the middle too much for Meth 2005. They are smart enough to exploit it, and although CLX 2004 "wins" the second half, Meth 2005 takes the game 15-13. In a team circle after the game CLX 2004 captain explains to the team "Look, this team loses games, that's for certain, but we win them when they count. Let's forget about this game and focus on those upcoming." On the opposite sideline, Moe 2004 is playing Moe 2006. Moe 2004 is just too much for the 2006 squad and a Moe 2006 player is overheard saying, "It's like we're playing a team of ourselves, except on the other team, they're all two years younger." Moe 2004 takes the game 15-9.

The second round features CLX 2004 storming back from a loss and playing Moe 2004 very tough. They take a quick lead, but Moe answers. Both offenses are in top form, but the CLX 2004 defense is able to make some stops. CLX 2004 takes a 8-6 halftime lead. The second half is more of the same, as CLX 2004 slightly extends the lead, and the two teams play nearly flawless ultimate, with CLX 2004 taking advantage in a game they surely want to win. CLX ends up winning 15-13. Meth 2005 is fairly confident they'll win against Moe 2006 and doesn't put out their best effort. As the game stays close, intra-team conflicts arise. While they are able to win the game 15-12, they don't know at the time how important the score differential was.

CLX 2004, Moe 2004, and Meth 2005 all finish 2-1. Head-to-Head does not produce a tie-breaker. Point differential does not produce a tie-breaker, either, as each team won their games by a 15-13 score. All teams broke even on point differential, each with a two-point victory and a two-point loss. The tie-breaker involves point differential against the fourth team in the pool, Moe 2006. Moe 2004 was +6 and takes the pool, CLX 2004 was +5 and takes second, while Meth 2005 was +3 and takes third in the pool. Meanwhile, Moe 2006 must pick themselves up for another game at the end of the day.

Pool B: CLX 2005 (1-0), Blah 2003 (1-0), Kaze 2003 (0-1), CLX 2006 (0-1)

Round one has Blah 2003 battling Kaze 2003. Kaze 2003 rarely beats Blah 2003, so they are eager to win on such a big fantasy stage. The game features incredible layout attempts, big hucks, great skies and grabs, and has the overall feel of a bigtime game. The twin brothers on Kaze are scoring goals with their height, but Blah's deep receivers are just too fast and creating separation. Kaze puts up an incredible effort, lead by the all around play of the Blanchett-Ruth (sp?) brothers, but Blah is too much for them and has beaten them too many times before to lose now. Kaze 2003 loses a disappointing game. In the other game, CLX 2005 is playing CLX 2006. CLX 2005 is sure enough of themselves to keep a constant lead, but CLX 2006 is pushing themselves on as much as they can. They stay in the game with some sweet D's by Wirkus 2006 on Wirkus 2005. CLX's Lun, Staron, and Solarz show they are every bit the handlers of the previous year's Cram, Ryba-White, and Savage and Lun's hucks to Brisbois and Seiler keep them in the game. The game is tied at 10s when Gibbs makes a grab in a group of players, all apparently thrown off by Brisbois's misread. CLX 2005 does not panick, though, and takes three points in a row, and later the game 15-13. CLX 2005 is left feeling the game was too close, while CLX 2006 thinks they let one get away.

In the next round, the CLX 2006-Kaze 2003 game is interesting. Kaze 2003 could very well have won this game, but CLX 2006 took an early 2-0 and 4-1 lead. Kaze 2003 calls timeout, decides to bag the game, and plays very little defense the rest of the game. They decide they don't want to risk a loss in this round and have to play in the play-in game while exhausted. They try to score on offense and do a couple times, but lose 15-5. Will their strategy work? In the real game of this round, CLX 2005 takes on Blah 2003. Blah 2003 is riding high from their victory over Kaze and CLX 2005 is questioning themselves a little, thinking they should have had an easier time. Blah 2003 plays intense to start the game, while CLX 2005 is a little sluggish and although they play their best, it just seems void of matching intensity. Blah 2003 takes advantage and never looks back, winning the game 15-11.

Blah 2003 ends up taking the pool and the top seed on their side of Saturday's bracket. CLX 2005 finishes second and CLX 2006 finishes third. Both have free passes into tomorrow's quarters. Kaze, meanwhile, will still have another game today, one in which they should be welll rested.

Play-in games:

Upsets do happen in this round, as the top team in each matchup has to play another game after a day of losses, whereas the team advancing from the lower pools has the psychological advantage of having usually won their games of the day.

Game 1: Moe 2005 v. Kaze 2003

Kaze 2003 looks a little sluggish after having a 3.5 hour break from their last true competition and Moe 2005 capitalizes. It doesn't take long, though, for it to turn into a game and Kaze 2003 takes a 8-7 halftime lead. The second half features great plays by Kaze, which takes the wind out of Moe 2005's sails. This team just doesn't seem eager to accept the challenge presented. Kaze 2003 wins the game and heads into quarters the next day.

Game 2: CLX 2003 v. Moe 2006

Moe 2006 had a rough two days, having to play a schedule including CLX 2003, CLX 2004, Moe 2004, and Meth 2005. No wonder they haven't been too successful, yet, but they've played competitely. It would be a tragedy to see them bow out now. But CLX 2003 is eager to do such a thing. The game starts out with casual point trading until 5-5. Neither team seems to eager to take control of the game and both teams seem to be biding their time until the opponent makes a move. CLX 2003 doesn't connect on a huck that sails out of bounds and Moe takes their first lead 6-5. Then 7-5. Then they take halftime 8-5. While CLX 2003 has some great individual women, Moe 2006 seems to be able to take advantage of their own. They even play some 3/4 offense, which is somewhat scarce in the coed game. CLX 2003 tries too hard in the second half to score and seems to lack the discipline to win a big game. It just feels like this team is a year away from greatness. Moe 2006 takes advantage of the multiple turnover points and takes the game in the second half to move into quarters on Saturday. Apparently, there will be no upsets today, as those teams in the power pools were able to defeat the challengers.

That's it for today. Tomorrow promises to be a great day of ultimate.

Quarters match-ups:

A1 Flaming Moe 2004 v. B4 Kaze 2003
B2 The Chad Larson Experience 2005 v. A3 Meth 2005

B1 Blah 2003 v. A4 Flaming Moe 2006
A2 The Chad Larson Experience 2004 v. B3 The Chad Larson Experience 2006

Fantasy Pool Play Results

Dropping some pool play knowledge on you. When I first thought through this, I mostly went with my gut reaction as to which team would win the game. Once in awhile I would overturn a situation if I thought better of it, but hey, it's my fantasy. Some closer games required some thought. I decided to write this in the manner of a nationals write-up reporter.

Pool A: CLX 2004, CLX 2003, Moe 2006, Hot Action 2003

This pool is going to be an exciting one. It has the highly dangerous CLX 2004, an underseeded Moe 2006, and a grudge match between CLX 2003 and Hot Action 2003. This is possibly the deepest pool, something the A pool rarely is.

In the first round, CLX 2004 beats Hot Action 2003 in a routine victory for them. The action was hotter on the next field over, as CLX 2003 edged out Moe 2006 15-13. Neither team had a lead greater than one point until the end of the game when CLX 2003 got a d from their speedy redheaded kid and the subsequent bomb from #2 Karsten to #99 Van Maanen.

The second round featured the grudge match between CLX 2003 and Hot Action 2003. Hot Action 2003 is in CLXs head and use it to their advantage, running out to a 5-1 lead, rarely turning the disc over, while CLX has troubles on offense. Halftime score 7-3. In the second half, CLX 2003 makes a comeback on big hucks from their burly huckers to Voytas and Sheldahl. It isn't enough as Hot Action runs their patient German style offense to a 15-12 victory. In the next game, CLX 2004 beats Moe 2006 in another five point victory.

The third round now has some importance. Three teams are still vying for second, and CLX 2004 has not yet wrapped up first place. In an anachronistic game CLX 2004 plays CLX 2003. CLX 2004 has too many new weapons for CLX 2003 to deal with. #12 Sheldahl plays her heart out to keep CLX 2003 in the game, but 2004 completes too many hucks to #23 Gangel and #1 Seiler, who scored and showed the disc to an enraged #1 Seiler. The other game had Moe 2006 edging out Hot Action 2003 by a score of 15-12. Moe was just too quick for the tired Hot Action team.

CLX 2004 wins the pool with a 3-0 record and head to Friday's power pools.
Moe 2006 takes second with the best point differential in the three way tie and head to the power pools with an 0-1 record.
Hot Action takes third in the pool, but a 1-0 record into the lower pools on Friday.
CLX 2003 finishes last in the pool, and 0-1 heading into the next day. Somewhat of a disappointing finish for them.

Pool B: CLX 2005, Kaze 2003, Universe 2004, Moe 2005

This pool does not have the excitement that Pools A and D do. CLX 2005 cruises to victories over every team, as their offense was running very efficiently with Cram, Ryba-White, Batt, and Doriani leading the handling charge. Kaze 2003 has a tight game with Moe 2005, but Kaze eventually wins by four late in the game. Universe has a disappointing day, scoring few points, and never having a lead past the second point of any game.

CLX 2005 takes the pool on an easy day and head to the power pools.
Kaze 2003 heads into the power pools with a 0-1 record.
Moe 2005 is 1-0 going into Friday, but in the lower pools.
Universe 2004 needs to get something going or it will be a long tournament. How long until the beer gardens open?

Pool C: Blah 2003, CLX 2006, Hot Action 2004, Woodchuck....CHOMP 2005

In the first round Blah handles Woodchuck easily with huge hucks and intense yada, yada, yada. CLX 2006 has an interesting game against Hot Action 2004, taking a 7-1 lead, before giving most of those points back until the game was tied at 11s. Matt Gardner is getting plenty of touches, but CLXs Brisbois gets some huge Ds at the end of the game and #24 Lun throws some scores to various long cutters to win the game 15-12.

The second round goes to seed without much interest. Blah and CLX 2006 win.

The third round features power pool games, as each team already knows where it will be on Friday and now must focus on their new pool. Blah 2003 has too many weapons for CLX 2006 to handle. CLX 2006 is hucking like mad, but Blah has the athletes to stop them. Blah 2003 is hucking like mad, too, but while CLX 2006 has the athletes to stop them, they just have too many runners (like some 30 cutters?) and CLX 2006 is worn down. Hot Action defeats Woodchuck one field over.

Blah 2003 takes a 1-0 record into the next days play.
CLX 2006 makes the power pools, but now must win on Friday to avoid the extra game.
Hot Action 2004 finishes third, but will be 1-0 to start the power pools.
Woodchuck....CHOMP 2005 will be 0-1 on Friday and is reportedly just happy to be here. Are in the process locating a keg for the night.

Pool D: Meth 2005, Phoberomys 2003, Moe 2004, Briefcase 2006

Round one goes off without much excitement. Moe 2004 is able to upset Phoberomys, but the game isn't close. Still, it was closer than Meth and Briefcase's game. Nothing interesting to see here, people.

The second round features an incredible Moe-Meth battle, that goes to the cap with Moe winning 17-15. Both teams play similar offenses, but Moe keeps filtering new cutters into the game with Klink and a guy they call Moss scoring a lot of goals on hucks from Norgaard. Solarz has some solid handling for them. Meth, on the other hand, relies too heavily on Edwards to get open and for their incredibly fast lady to get open. Moe was able to shut them down and Abramowski picked up some poach defenses on their goal scoring lady. In the second matchup, Phoberomys handled Briefcase, who dropped a score that would have won them the game. Phoberomys is good at winning tight games and this is no different.

Meth defeats Phoberomys, because this one wasn't close. Meth plays inspired ultimate, not wanting to fall into the lower pools. Moe 2004 is able to handle Briefcase without a challenge.

Moe 2004 takes the pool at 3-0.
Meth 2005 loses the battle to Moe and is 0-1, but in the power pools.
Phoberomys heads to the lower pools with an 0-1 record.
Briefcase hasn't done much, but they could wake up on Friday. Is it too late?

Friday's Pools:

Power Pool A:
CLX 2004 (1-0, 3-0)
Moe 2004 (1-0, 3-0)
Moe 2006 (0-1, 1-2)
Meth 2005 (0-1, 2-1)

Power Pool B:
CLX 2005 (1-0, 3-0)
Blah 2003 (1-0, 3-0)
Kaze 2003 (0-1, 2-1)
CLX 2006 (0-1, 2-1)

Lower Pool X:
Hot Action 2003 (1-0, 1-2)
Phoberomys 2003 (1-0, 1-2)
CLX 2003 (0-1, 1-2)
Briefcase 2005 (0-1, 0-3)

Lower Pool Y:
Moe 2005 (1-0, 1-2)
Hot Action 2004 (1-0, 1-2)
Universe (0-1, 0-3)
Woodchuck....CHOMP (0-1, 0-3)

Friday has some great games in line in the power pools, while the lower pools will feature some good dogfights as teams are vying to win their way into the play-up games.

See you tomorrow.

Fantasy Ultimate

It seems like almost everybody I know is in or has been in a fantasy football league. I thought, why don't I just create my own little fantasy ultimate tournament and invite some fantasy teams? Then I did it.

What will follow is either one of the lamest, pathetic things you have ever seen, or possibly, one of the more interesting blogs I've had.

My fantasy ultimate tournament is going to have 16 teams playing a nationals-style format to crown a champion. The teams will be the better central coed teams of the past four years. When I thought this up, I tried to think about each game as impartially as possibly. You can judge for yourself if I was.

The teams:

From 2003: CLX, Blah, Kaze, Hot Action, Phoberomys
From 2004: CLX, Flaming Moe, Universe, Hot Action
From 2005: CLX, Flaming Moe, Woodchuck....CHOMP, Meth, Mr. Briefcase
From 2006: CLX, Flaming Moe

Seedings:

1. CLX(2004)--The Chad Larson Experience 2004 team won central regionals, various other tournaments, and finished as runner-up at club nationals, highest ever for a central region team. This team plays three sheets to the wind, producing turnovers on defense and creating new ways to turn it over on offense. CLX 2004 plays with cavalier intensity and wants to earn a berth to nationals after a disappointing 2003 finish.

2. CLX(2005)--The Chad Larson Experience 2005 team qualified for nationals by divine intervention, but were able to win various tournaments during the year and make semis at club nationals, for the second highest finish by a central region coed team. A much more controlled CLX offense, but a falloff from 2004's go-for-broke style of defense and general intensity. This team expected to go to nationals, instead of feeling they had to earn it.

3. Blah (2003)--Blah qualified for 2003 club nationals through the back door, but were able to finish 6th, the first time a central region team finished in the top 8. Blah 2003 had numerous run-ins with CLX during the regular season, but were able to win when it counted at regionals. A team full of tremendous athletes (Mike D, Mike Shiel, Nick or Jeebus), great throwers (Jon's dad) and solid women. Roster too big, though?

4. Meth (2005)--Maybe overseeded, but this team did will central regionals in what some consider to be the deepest year ever. Beat CLX 2005 at sectionals and regionals, but lost to them at Cooler, the sectional championship, and when it counted at nationals. Finished 10th at nationals, what is unfortunately, a very respectable central region finish.

5. Phoberomys Pattersoni (2003)--Tough to tell too much about this team because I never played them. They were able to win 2003 central regionals and place 9th, I believe at nationals after suffering some first day losses. We'll see how they do.

6. CLX (2006)--Too high? This CLX team was on track to be the best before their dream season was upended at CHCs by a single point. If they win central regionals 2006, they certainly have an argument to being the best CLX team ever. This team is somewhat of a mixture of 2004 and 2005. The defense isn't as daring as it was in 2004, but decent. The offense isn't as punishing as in 2005, but has found ways to score.

7. Kaze (2003)--A tough team to beat, but this team doesn't even make finals of a single tournament all year. Lots of semis losses and central regionals is no different. They are able to take the 2nd bid, though. The most ethnically diverse team I've ever played against. They were athletic enough to play some epic games against Blah this year, but couldn't win big games. I loved their black jersies. I wonder if any of those are still floating around?

8. CLX (2003)--A team that stormed through the regular season, losing only twice until regionals, when they managed to lose three games in a row. Their fold at regionals drops them here. Who knows what this team could have done at nationals?

9. Moe (2004)--Very similar to CLX 2003, eerily similar. Moe finished exactly the same at Cooler (1st), Tune-Ups (2nd), sectionals (1st), and regionals (5th after being the one seed) as CLX 2003 did the year before. They are seeded lower, though, because we did it first! This is a very scary team with great hucks, excellent cutters, and great defense. It's a shame they didn't qualify for nationals because they certainly could have made quarters that year.

10. Hot Action (2004)--Maybe seeded too high. Only made finals of Cooler...didn't win. Many losses to Moe, many losses to CLX. Make finals of central regionals without having to play Moe or CLX, then tank the finals. They play some close games on Thursday of natties, but lose and end up either 14th or 15th.

11. Universe (2004)--3rd place qualifier out of central regionals. No real data from the regular season. Go to nationals with few women and lose many games, finishing either 14th or 15th. This team is probably seeded too high, but they did make nationals.

12. Flaming Moe (2006)--Maybe seeded too low, but they only have one tournament victory. Regionals yet to be determined, but they should be able to make nationals if they play like they want to earn it. Past history is against them, but history doesn't matter when the disc is in the air. Very solid ladies on this team, some of their players still around from 2004 have lost some steps, but who hasn't? They are still dangerous. Do they overanalyze the game? Look, you're a good team, bordering on great, so just win, okay?

13. Hot Action (2003)--4th place finish at regionals, losing three backdoor games. No other real good tournament finishes to speak of. I don't think they made finals of any tournaments. They did own CLX 2003, though, that is sure.

14. Flaming Moe (2005)--What happened? A team that was so scary in 2004 went from junkyard dog to lap dog. Whereas you couldn't quiet down the 2004 dog, you just had to pet the 2005 team hard enough and they'd settle down. Did win CHCs, but in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde way, twice coming back from seven or eight point deficits. In 2004, it seemed like they wanted to challenge CLX, in 2005, they seemed to be accepting defeat before the game started. It was sad to see such a great team fall so far.

15. Woodchuck...CHOMP (2005)--Yes, they made nationals, yes, a second place finish at central regionals, but this team was not very good. Last place finisher at nationals. The only decent game they played all year was taking Brass Monkey to double game point.

16. Mr. Briefcase (2005)--This was really just a filler team, I didn't know who else to add. They don't make any finals of any tournaments and finish 5th at 2005 regionals, blowing a 12-9 lead against CLX. See the divine intervention comment above.

I did a reverse snake formation for the seedings, I'm not sure which one on the UPA formats sheet, but it gave these pools:

Pool A:
1. The Chad Larson Experience 2004
8. The Chad Larson Experience 2003
12. Flaming Moe 2006
13. Hot Action 2003

Pool B:
2. The Chad Larson Experience 2005
7. Kaze 2003
11. Universe 2004
14. Flaming Moe 2005

Pool C:
3. Blah 2003
6. The Chad Larson Experience 2006
10. Hot Action 2004
15. Woodchuck...CHOMP 2005

Pool D:
4. Meth 2005
5. Phoberomys Pattersoni 2003
9. Flaming Moe 2004
16. Mr. Briefcase 2005

Pool play results coming soon!

If you've read this far, you must have been somewhat interested. It is a very nerdy endeavor, especially sitting here and typing all this out, but I can't stop now!

Seedings arguments?

Regionals Seedings

I've been called out. The people (or person) want regionals seedings. I was going to ignore posting seedings, although I did certainly think about it. I'd rather post predictions once the real seedings are out. Here's how I'd do it though:

1. The Chad Larson Experience--Wins at Madison and Cooler. Finals at Aquatennial. 6th at Tune-Ups with a quarterfinals loss. Won their section. Losses to Moe (in July), Briefcase (8-7, the game didn't even get to halftime), and Meth (in a consolation game). This seed may be arguable, but the only other team that could potentially be here is Briefcase. I don't think Moe could argue into first, and Briefcase hasn't won a tournmant besides sectionals...ever. In fact, finals at CHCs this year may have been their first finals experience in two years.

2. Flaming Moe--Win at Aquatennial. Finals at Madison and Cooler. Semis of Tune-Ups. Won their section. I think this is another sure bet. Briefcase could be here, but Moe makes finals and Briefcase doesn't. Moe did lose to Briefcase, but by one point. Moe has clearly had the better season.

3. Mr. Briefcase--If these people deserved the second seed, well they can prove it when Moe and Briefcase potentially play in semifinals. Put together a good Sunday at CHCs, but that is all they've ever done.

4. Ice--Not an impressive season so far, but at least they've played a season. Carleton hasn't.

5. Carleton--2nd in their section, also played CHCs but did what? Doesn't matter, they've been to nationals 3 years in a row.

6. Seiche

7. Meddling Kids

I don't mean to be rude from here on out, but I'm not going to complete the seedings. First, I have to be at practice in five minutes, I'm late. Second, none of the rest of the teams have a very good shot at making nationals. Neither do Seiche or Meddling Kids, but I threw them in there anyway. I don't mean to say that these teams shouldn't be at regionals, nor do I want to marginalize them so quickly, but from here on out, seedings are not too important. Nor or they that important up above, just win your games.

Call and Response

Have you noticed how any time a certain call is made in ultimate, that about 80% of the time, it's followed by a matching response, almost with some sort of stimulus-response relationship? I'll give you an example.

Defense: "Pick!"
Offense, something to the effect of: "You have to be within ten feet, man."

The pick call is one of my least favorite in ultimate, along with the travel call. Intentional, basketball-style picks should not be legal, but these are not a problem in ultimate. I think the current pick call rewards mediocre defense. Say I'm chasing an offensive player who is ahead of me. He passes through a certain point on the field, the next second, another ambling player passes through that point, obstructing my path to the player I'm guarding. Now, because I was playing mediocre defense, I now have the opportunity to call pick and catch up with the player I was guarding. Now you say, "but you can't call pick unless you were within ten feet" or "you can only catch up the distance you lost by the pick". Now I say, yes, that's what the rules may say but how often is it played out like that?

Here's some more.

Offensive player makes a catch on the line: "I was in!"
Defensive player: "I think you were out"
Offensive player: "I know I was in"
Defensive player 50 yards away: "I had best perspective, you were out"
Offensive sideline player: "It's his call!"
Defensive player 50 yards away: "It's not his call, it's best perspective"
Defensive player: "Yeah, and keep it on the field!"
And so on.

Have you ever noticed that there's only one or two people on a given team that actually makes calls against their own team? Any time a close play is made, immediately each team polarizes to the decision that will benefit their team and totally ignores the evidence to make an unbiased call. The ones that aren't assertive enough to flat out say that the play was in their team's favor offer repeated statements like, "I think he was in", "yeah, I'm pretty sure he was in", never flat out saying the rigid, "I know he was in", as if in some way that might be unspirited.

Speaking of spirit, what is that anyway? What a poorly defined, often abused and misinterpreted word in the ultimate vernacular. Spirit can mean anything to anybody. When it comes down to it, is it just a hippy sounding word for sportsmanship? I should probably look in the ultimate rules at this point, but I'm not going to. Now, does spirit pertain to treating your opponent with respect? Here's situation, it is more "spirited" to beat an opponent by a lot of points and treat them as a worthy opponent the whole game, or to take it easy and let them score some so they don't feel bad? Most of the ultimate community may consider it unspirited to just kick the crap out of an opponent. Does spirit involve being friendly with your competitors? Does it involve having an unbiased attitude towards callmaking? Does it mean you cheer after the game and share beer? And why is it always one of the last place teams that always gets the "spirit award"? Is it because they transcended ordinary human competitiveness and pettiness to "just have fun"? Do spirit award winners make ultimate more enjoyable? I'll have to create an entire post about this later.

Back on track:

Defense: "Stall!"
Offense: "No, I got the throw off in time."
Defense: "It's at the "t" in ten." (Someone always has to say this "t" in ten thing.)
Offense: "Contest"

Defense: "What's the score?"
Offense: "11-7"
Defense: "No, it has to be odd because we started down there"
Offense: "No, it's even because you started up here at halftime"
Defense: "No, it was 10-5 when we were there, so now it has to be odd"

Now I have to admit that I rarely know the score myself and frequently have to ask teammates what the score is, but is there any other sport where the score comes into question so often? And please, could people quit using this even/odd stuff to explain the score? Usually, the first person to speak is wrong and screws everybody else up for a bit before the score is figured out.

Well, time to wrap this up. After you have read this, I want to stress that I'm not a rules guru. I have read throught the rules about once per year, but do not know the 10th edition inside and out, nor do I care to. I prefer to play games with the fewest number of calls as possible, and in my opinion, the best games and personal opponents are the ones that have an implicit agreement that some contact or unintentional fouls, travels, and picks may occur and since it goes back and forth, it is better to avoid calling them than to have to call each one. The purpose of the post was supposed to be a little comical in nature and to point out how some calls in ultimate almost always have the same responses. In the end, it might sound more like me griping about certain aspects of ultimate. Oh well, take it as you may. Later.

Captain's Log: 91706

Captain's Log: 91706

West Plains Coed Sectionals were this weekend held in Jefferson City, Missouri, by way of Columbia, Missouri. The fields we nice, the weather was a little on the rough side. Brutal sun on Saturday, then wind and some rain on Sunday. I think the wind and rain were picking up as our game ended, though.

The tournament festivites started Friday night as Xtina and Stu hosted us for dinner. Plenty of Mexican food to go around. The night continued at The Hot Spot, a local bar in Kirksville, Missouri. There were two people inside when we showed up and the bartender/locals gave us some "are you folks lost?" looks. By the time we had been there for about an hour, the lady bartender started giving us all sorts of cheap and free drinks. Yet, at her most generous, we left...sorry lady. We headed two blocks across the way to a bar that I can't remember the name of. It was the "college" bar in Kirksville with loud current music, pool tables, a much cleaner, trendier atmosphere, and a shuffleboard table. I like bar shuffleboard a lot, but didn't end up playing. After the bars shut down at 1:30, we went back to X's abode. There was more drinking, eating of stale cheese dip, hula-hooping, boat races, disc-throwing, and right before bed, Jaeger bombs. There was some confusion as to who actually won the party.

Saturday morning had us driving two hours to Jefferson City to play games against St. Louis, Soy Nuts, Columbia, and Truman State.

I think we played St. Louis first and beat them 11-3. Then Truman State 11-3. Then Columbia 11-5. Then Soy Nuts 11-8. The Soy Nuts game was closer than it looked. Whereas most of our games were 6-0 or 6-1 at half, the Soy Nuts game was 6-5 us. Then tied at 7-7 and 8-8, I think, before we won 11-8. Their whole team played well and Kirk had some great upwind forehand hucks for them.

Overall, the day was hot and I didn't pay attention through most of our games. The most exciting parts were the milk games. Oh, and seeing Shawn on the toilet in the bathroom, for the toilets had no stalls doors. There I was looking for the toilets and I come across one with Shawn on it. At first I was embarassed at having come across the toilets when I wasn't expecting them, then having somebody be there, then having that someone be my good buddy Shawn Walding. Our rounds were two hours long for games to 11, so we did a lot of sitting around and destroyed a couple of discs playing milk. Jake slept in the shade most of the day, nursing a strong hangover.

Sunday morning we were to play Ice for first place. The team Ice had was not similar to the one we saw last week in Chicago. They didn't have the same women as previously, nor were many of their guys the same. They had potential, but would be rough around the edges. We were pretty sure we were going to win, but didn't want to take anything for granted, so we were there early warming up and came out strong. They set up their isolation offense, which we either shut down well, or they were just too timid, because they looked to dump a lot and three or four turns in a row were dump turnovers, giving us short fields and easy scores. We go up 7-1 in a hurry. Take half 8-2. Go out to a 13-3 lead. Give up five points. Then take the next two to win 15-8.

Just one more tournament for CLX in the series. We won't be going to nationals, so regionals will have to serve as our nationals. Not sure where we'll be seeded, but one would be appropriate and I can't imagine anything lower than two. I think only Briefcase could be seeded ahead of us, and that only off the strength of one tournament. I'll probably write out not only a seedings post but a predictions post as well. I suppose I'll have to wait for northwoods sectionals before posting the former and until final seedings are posted for the latter.

Good night.

Captain's Log: 91206

Captain's Log: 91206

The Chad Larson Experience travelled over to the Windy City for The Chicago Heavyweight Championships, which possibly has the worst name of all the tournaments we play in. Or maybe I'm just too used to it being named Tune-Ups. It is the "heavyweight" tournament that has the best competition we see before regionals and nationals, though, so it is great to get four or five good games in a tournament instead of the usual one or two.

The format was different than last year and had us playing a shorter, or more regular tournament schedule. Four games on Saturday and three on Sunday. The competition was possibly the best the tournament has ever had and there was a mini-nationals feel to the whole weekend. There were many double-game point finishes, upsets, playbacks, and no team left the tournament undefeated.

Saturday play had us matching up against Hot Dish, Third Coast, Six Trained Monkeys, and the winner of the C-pool, if we managed to win our pool.

CLX v. Hot Dish--This game was 8-0 at half I believe, and finished 15-4 or 5 or 6. Not much to say here except that we started the tournament off right. A couple of ugly marathon points in the second half, but nothing to worry about.

CLX v. Third Coast--We went down 0-2 to start the game, then I think we took it to 6-2 and cruised to another relatively easy victory, certainly a much better opponent than Hot Dish, though. Jake told me this team has some old Machine players on it and stressed in their tryouts that players needed the "competitive fire" or something. Their sideline demeanor was very laid back and joking, but on field they made multiple erroneous or bad calls. The game was not very fun to play in because they couldn't really challenge us and the stopped the game so often. I'm not sure what it is about Chicago coed teams this year, but they all have a style of play that leaves me feeling either disgusted, bored, disappointed, or just plain weary. I don't dislike Third Coast as a team or hold a grudge against them, but they could definitely benefit from more practice on things like throwing and catching the disc than making an abundance of calls.

CLX v. Six Trained Monkeys--We go up 7-2 to start and are cruising to victory when they go on a short run to make it 8-6 before half. I think the game is tied at 8s and 9s before we break the cup to make it 10-9. We make them turn on the next possession and are able to score, plus the cap had already gone off. It was 11-9 in a game to 12. We score the next one to win. I was a little annoyed after the Third Coast game and maybe I brought some of that feeling into this game, but I felt these guys made some bogus calls, too. Not a lot, but some that just really annoyed me. Well, we win the pool and now face Ice in the crossover game.

CLX v. Ice--A big rival from the year before and were playing for the number one seed in bracket play. Ice is missing some guys and only has three women, though. Their women play tough, as do their men, but it is evident that they don't have enough energy left to put up a fight against us. The game stays close until 2s or 3s, but then we pull away and the more our lead grows, it seemed the less inclined they were to try to battle back. I thought we won 15-5, but the score reporter said 13-5. Either way, a victory and the top seed heading in Sunday.

Sunday play:

CLX v. Mr. Briefcase--We were not very good about getting to the fields on time and I knew this would be a problem when everybody wanted to stop for breakfast. I HATE stopping for breakfast on tournament mornings. The result was that five minutes before the game started we had 10 people on our sideline, only about six of which who had thrown, and fewer that had done any sort of cardio warmup. In contrast, Briefcase had many players throwing and getting a feel for the wind that was blowing straight across the fields. I could tell by who was present that this was not the Briefcase team we had played in the past and it was a team that would give us a very hard challenge. We run a drill with most players jumping in cold and the drill looks bad with many throwaways, air bounced discs, drops, etc. I'm worried.

We start the game on defense and zone and they clearly seem ready for it. Probably because we always have to talk about it for so long that the opponent should know its coming. They do turn and we eventually score. They score the next point to tie it at 1-1. I think the next point is one of the ugliest, as we try multiple downfield hucks that just get caught up in the air and defended. At this point, we are already playing very frantic like the game is almost over and we have to score. I think we fall behind 3-1. A disturbing trend makes itself known. The Briefcase men, not all of them, but a fair majority, are deciding to foul on the marks right away to prevent quick swings or hucks. Tony, a leader on their team, says "just call the foul if you think you're fouled". Well, it's not as easy as that. First, I strongly feel some Briefcase players are fouling on purpose, clearly against the rules of ultimate. Were not playing basketball here, we don't have referees or foul limits. You are on your own to make sure your own play is within the rules of the game. Unfortunately, with no third-party authorities on the field, there is absolutely nothing you can do in the game of ultimate to stop something like this from happening. This kind of stuff has eroded the men's game to an unwatchable mess of intentional fouls and calls. Second, calling fouls on that kind of stuff actually hurts our team. Each foul call gives a fresh stall count (if uncontested, and I don't believe these guys would even have done that), but it also stops each players cut on the field and it takes away the advantages that the offensive players have created through cutting.

Well, I end up saying some things to their sideline that I regret, some that made me look really stupid, and others that were just plain true. I won't sort them out for you here. We end up tying the game at 5s, I think, then 6s I know for sure. Cap goes on and it's a game to 8. They score and go up 7-6. We respond on offense to make it 7-7. Two passes later, they are hucking it to my guy and he scores to win. It was a great catch, unfortunately, I didn't see it. I was busy missing the defense, I guess. I feel very disappointed that I didn't get it. I thought I had it read correctly, had my line of attack planned, I jumped at the right time, and then just must have missed it or not jumped high enough. I just remember slightly touching the disc, landing knowing I didn't knock it away like I thought, having Tony land on top of me and somehow knowing he had the disc without seeing it, and then seeing their sideline storming over towards us. I was able to congratule Tony before he was mobbed. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, but there were some things at this tournament that I did not like, and there will be no respect for his team if they choose to play the way they did here.

I've come to the realization that maybe it was just me making a big deal about this game, but I'm not sure. I know I take offense to this kind of stuff a lot more than others and that I certainly respond to it much quicker and in a much different way than others do. Not always the right way either. To Briefcase's credit, the last five or six points of the game featured far fewer calls, but I was still bumped around as a thrower, I guess I just accepted the fact that it was going to happen and there was nothing to do about it.

All right, enough. Time to move on.

CLX v. Puppet Regime--Puppet had the three seed coming into the tournament and had only lost two games, both at double game point. They seemed less than thrilled to be playing for fifth place, though, and we handled them fairly easy. Our zone offense played well and the defense got us the disc back plenty of times. I think we win 12-8 in a game that was never really contested.

CLX v. Ice--They didn't want to play. We did. We agreed to go 5/2, but then at the request of the ladies, moved to 4/3 on offense for the rest of the game. Their ladies didn't appreciate it and I felt bad about doing it after saying we'd play 5/2, but it was what the ladies wanted. Well, we go down 1-4 and never recover. Maybe tied it up once, but I think we lose by three points, finishing in sixth place for the tournament.

Notes:

-CLX was on it's way to its most dominating season ever, with a roster that looked nothing like previous years. In a way, we've never looked better. If we don't lose to Briefcase, I'm fairly confident that we win the tournament, or at least make it to finals to play Slow White. If we win regionals, I'd still say this is the best year put together by CLX, but we'd have to do that, otherwise 2004 may still be our best year.

-Three pickups this tournament: Karl, Joy, and John McNaughton. All played well. It was fun to have Karl on the sidelines again. John is a 19-year old phenom who played on the Junior Worlds Australia team and will play with a coed team at 2006 Club Worlds in Perth. He has slick lefty throws, a good sense of field positioning and cutting, and better defense than most players his age. I can't imagine how good he could be at say 22 or 23 if he is able to keep improving and learning.

-Our offense had troubles in the wind on Sunday. We didn't realize that cuts had to be modified when the conditions change and that our stack couldn't start so far downfield. We also continued to line up without dumps even in windy conditions and that caused some first throw turnovers. We frequently allowed the disc to get trapped on a sideline and that forced some turnovers, too. Mostly, our offense should have modified into a side-to-side, dump-swing, conservative style in the wind, which it did when we had enough handlers out there. When we only had a handler or two, though, the rest of the players seemed to be trying to make vertical cuts that were easily handled by the defense and the handlers just played catch for awhile before the disc was turned over. Losing Solarz to an injury early in the game was a big loss, too. We obviously had enough throws and plays to win the game, but it could have gone a lot better and we could have made it a lot easier on ourselves.

-As for individual players, JohnnyMac played great for us, Mike and Jon played their parts as well as always, Sheldahl had some good defenses in the cup, Xtina, Gibbs, and Lana all made some incredible grabs on offense, Stu jumped into handling positions well, Tai played her heart out on defense, Joe and BJ were laying out like mad, and the whole team played well. I know we finished in sixth place, but our performance was not disappointing, in fact, over the span of the entire tournament, I believe it was the best of the year, we just happened to lose one shortened game (which didn't each reach halftime) by one point.

-Sectionals are already this weekend down in Columbia. CLX should win, but Ice will be there. They will be shorthanded, but now they know they can win shorthanded. Still, CLX should be victrious and can then begin arguing for the #1 seed at regionals.

CLX Trivia Answers

THE ANSWERS:

1. How many different people named Sara or Sarah have played for CLX? Name them.

There have been four: Sarah Von Schrader (2003), Sara Hill (2004), Sarah Savage (2004-2006), and Sarah Solarz (2006). Interestingly enough, the first three all wore the number 7.

2. Who got the D, who threw the score, and who caught the score to beat Six Trained Monkeys in Club Nationals semis of 2004?

Rachel Derscheid got the layout D. Luke Voytas threw the score to me (Kevin Seiler).

3. What tournament was the first to be attended by a team named The Chad Larson Experience?

Nobody got this one right and it was obscure. It was Fayetteville Savage Seven tournament in the spring of 2003.

4. Who is the only rostered CLX member to never have played a point for CLX?

Brad Caruth, a former Iowa Stater, was on the 2003 roster, but never played a point or even showed up on the sidelines after he moved to Madison.

5. How many all-region players has CLX rostered and who are they?

There are nine! Highest answer was seven, while everybody else put six. They are Julian Ryba-White (2002), Ellen Scheiber (2002), Ross Cram (2003, 2004, 2005), Austin Gangel (2005), Christina Wirkus (2006), Rachel Derscheid (2004, 2005), Rachel Sheldahl (2005), Taiwo Anjonrin-Ohu (2006), and Sarah Solarz (2005).

6. Which team beat CLX at 2004 club regionals? Give me the team name.

Universe. Remember that call Ben Hahn made on Wes? Worst call ever.

7. How many double-game point matches has CLX played at club nationals?

Just three. Most people guessed too high. Our first pool play game in 2004 against B+ went to 16-17. Then, the next game CLX beat Bad Larry 17-16. In 2005, CLX lost to Drive Through Liquor 17-16.

8. What tournament did CLX make its first finals at?

St. Louis Summer Soaker in July of 2003.

9. What is the highest combined team total for points in a CLX game (add both CLX's score plus the other team score)?

34, in the 18-16 loss to Shazam in the 2004 coed national final.

10. From 00 to 99, what is the highest number never to be worn on a CLX jersey?

I messed up this question. It was supposed to be "what is the lowest number never worn" or "starting from 00 and counting upwards, what is the first number to never have been worn". Something like that. Well, the answer was supposed to be 17. We've had a 00, a 0, and every number from 1-16. So, I can't even remember who wore 98, if any, so I through this question out. It didn't change any results.

11. What tournament does CLX have the most championship victories at?

Cooler Classic, winning in 2003, 2005, and 2006. The only tournament we've won three times.

12. Which CLX team members have won multiple Des Moines Summer League championships?

Kevin Seiler (3 times), Lana Meyer (2 times), Dave Karsten (2 times). A lot of CLXers have won one championship.

13. In how many games did CLX face worlds-bid ending elimination in 2005, while attempting to qualify for 2006 Worlds?

Six. Against Mr. Briefcase and Flaming Moe at regionals. Then against Mischief, Donkey Bomb, Meth, and Shazam. The game against Hang Time sealed bid, but we wouldn't have been eliminated from a bid, as we could have still played for fifth place.

14. Which CLX member had a team-low one offensive touch at 2004 nationals, but made the most of it by catching a score?

Mike Lun.

15. Of the teams CLX has played more than once, which is the only one to remain undefeated against CLX?

Brass Monkey is 2-0 against us, winning games at 2004 and 2005 nationals.

16. How many married couples have played for CLX?

Four. Rachel Sheldahl was the only one to get this right. They are: Seth and Amy, Luke and Camille, Kirk and Miriam, and Ross and Lorien.

17. What men's team did the bulk of the CLX 2003 men spurn to play coed?

Ethanol, the Iowa City based men's team.

18. How many CLX members have won the Freshman of the Year award in college?

Two. Kathleen Costello and Melissa Gibbs.

19. What former CLXer now resides in Belarus?

Dan Hilmers, 2003 rostered player.

20. What did the fledgling CLX crew play as at Poultry Days 2003?

The team name was Birds of a Feather.

21. How many players had played in a national championship before playing for CLX and who is it/are they?

Camille Yu (with Stanford and Fury) and Sarah Savage (with many teams).

22. How many sibling combos has CLX rostered?

Four. Lana and Natalie Meyer. Wes and Darren Van Maanen. Rachel and Amy Sheldahl. Becky Benson and Miriam Timmer-Hackert.

23. The Chad Larson Eggs-perience has played Poultry Days three years in a row now. What is CLX's combined Saturday record? Also, what is CLX's combined Sunday record?

This one was too easy, everybody got it. 12-0 and 0-3.

24. Of 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, or 4-year veterans, which does CLX have the least of?

CLX has the least number of players who have played three years. In fact, there have only been five 3-year vets (D Van Maanen, D Karsten, M Lun, L Meyer, and S Savage). We have 11 4-year players, 10 2-year players, and over 20 single year players.

25. Though CLX and Flaming Moe have battled repeatedly over the past 3 years, they only met once in 2003. At what tournament and when in the tournament was it?

Cooler Classic semifinals.

THE WINNERS:

CLX division: Shawn Walding will get free tournament entry fee at CHCs with 14 correct responses. Rachel Sheldahl barely missed out, while Wes gave it a good effort.

Non-CLX division: David "Becky" Bequette will take home the santa shorts with seven correct responses. Tom Walker was edged out by just one correct response.

Thanks for playing!