UPA Finals Recap...

Nation,

Just like the Canadian Nationals, the West was best at UPA finals this past weekend. In both country's national tournaments, only the masters division saw an Eastern champion.

OPEN

Seattle's Sockeye won their second straight title, and 3rd in 4 years. They defeated Boulder's best (Johnny Bravo) 15-13 in the final.

GOAT from Toronto/Ottawa reached new heights and answered many critics with a fabulous tournament. They tied for 3rd with JAM. Both of these teams gave great challenges to their semi final opponents, but came up a little short this year.

Furious went undefeated on both Friday and Saturday, finishing 9th. It really says a lot of Furious and their leadership that they could rebound and refocus from an 0-3 day one to win out and finish as high as they possibly could. They should be commended for that, and there is no reason to think that they will be ready for Worlds 2008 and UPA glory next year.

Women's

Fury won the women's title again in convincing fashion, 15-5 over Riot of Seattle. The team's plus/minus in the goals for/goals against was +83. As the years go by, we will probably look back to this tournament as an example of a team that was truly dominant in their division.

Capitals from Ottawa/Toronto finished 5th. They lost in the quarters to runner up Riot by a score of 15-5, but then kept the intensity to finish strong. They beat Zeitgeist for the first time all season, taking their match 12-10. They then beat Backhoe 11-10 to claim the five spot.

Much like our Canadian men, our women should be proud of their results. Had they not had the misfortune of being kicked out of Friday power pools despite a 2-1 day one record, they most likely would have had a better quarterfinal spot and a chance to go higher than 5th.

Mixed

Shazam Returns capped off a nearly perfect season with a UPA crown. Suffering only two losses all season (One to Rival in this tourney), they won 15-8 over Boston's Slow White in the finals.

Of note, the number 1, 3, 4, and 5 pre tourney seeds made the semi finals. Every division director hopes for that kind of consistency!

Masters

Death or Glory. It's not just about the brand name and the sweet logo.

Death or Glory added another national crown to their trophy case, this time in the masters division with a win over Surly (Minnesota, pre ranked #7) in the finals.

Looking at the scores, DoG survived many tough games, winning many games by two points or less. I think it may be time to get a debrief from Jimmy P.