Readers,
My Masters and Juniors analysis will be posted Monday. I am currently in Prince Edward Island right now. The dial-up speed and the awesome alternatives and weather have slowed down my vacation posting.
It's hard to beleive CUC 2007 is behind us and UPA fall series is right around the corner.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
CUC 2007 Analysis- Open Division
Congratulations to Furious George- Open Champions 2007.
Let me state the obvious- It's a crying shame that the most anticipated game in the last 4 years in this great nation was met with a downpour.
I saw a post on the Vancouver forum before Nationals. A poster (people are not required to use real names on the site) boldly stated:
Open: The question is ‘Will Open be a 1 or 2 team race’. GOAT comes to FB and beats Furious George twice. But FG was at the start of their season, they are un-interested due to the rain, injured and don’t care. Still GOAT is not the typical ‘other’ Canadian OPEN team of the last 7 years, and even if FG does win, will it be 15-2 or 15-13?
This, in the face of two GOAT victories over Furious at Flowerbowl and
a tourney victory at the tough Boston Invite, was a shocking statement. Based on no statistical fact, and clearly a case of a sport fans who makes a bold prediction (or $hit talks), remembering only those that are right, and never getting more right than wrong to be pure chance.The poster predicted the final winner correctly. However, it was not as easy a road to the finals as "My Two Cents" simplified it to be.
After disposing of Nads (North Bay) quite easily (Furious stopped the Beast Scott Stinson, who had an amazing tourney up until that point), The Monkey escaped a semi final matchup with Invictus by a score of 15-10. Andrew Lugsdin speech was a great one, and it showed that no one took the tough Calgary team for granted. Furious was now ready for their toughest Canadian matchup.
GOAT had a great tourney. They, like the Monkey, rolled teams throughout the tournament. They even had a bench clearing brawl and fistfight with Invictus during Friday play to keep things lively. After beating Mangina, GOAT beat last year's silver medalists Mephisto 15-6 to advance to the finals. With so many great players, height, speed, and tournament success againsts FG and US teams this year, GOAT was sure this year would be different.
It wasn't.
16-8 final, Furious George.
Like many fans, I could only stand the downpour until half. I saw GOAT take the 3-2 lead, lead by the strong play of Jon Hassell. I saw both teams make errors that were uncharacteristic. I saw some players step up, while others performed below expectations. 9-4 at the half, and the home town crowd had a very sombre mood for their GOAT at that point.
Can't wait to see the entire game, and provide my thoughts. I would also love to see the stats of both teams, it would be great to analyze the data.
GOAT has taken huge strides this season, and this was not their best effort. A great opportunity has been lost, but the focus shifts to competing at UPAs and developing even further.
Furious has survived another challenge and should be saluted as great champions. They should be studied and duplicated where possible.
What makes Furious so good?
Is it team depth?
Is it the same old efficient stalwarts?
Is it conditioning or athletic ability?
Is it climate?
Is it something else?
CUC 2007- Women's Analysis
Congratulations to Traffic!
As I said before, I will post the final seedings once they are officially posted on the tournament site. They should already be on there.
The women's division at CUC 2007 was a little anti climatic. It was expected that, outside of Team Alberta, no one would be able to challenge Traffic and Capitals. Thus, no surprises to see Vancouver and Ottawa/Toronto's best at University Stadium Sunday.
As mentioned in the women's preview, the Capitals have had a banner year. Boston Invite and No Borders champs, losing only to Riot and Fury all year, and building on several years of UPA success. Lead by a myriad of great players, this was going to be different from 2003. Going into the Finals, they flat out PUMPED their opponents, giving up 5 points or less in every one of their games. They won their quater final 15-0 and their semi 15-4.
2003 was the first Nationals that I ever watched. Drove to Montreal with the Polish Prince, the Pride of Praha and my Sister From Anotha Motha. I remember seeing the women's final and being impressed with the style of play, the level of strategy and even the warm ups being done by both female teams (In four years, the game has taken great steps in preparation outside of the top clubs). That game saw Vancouver (Prime) come back from a large deficit to take the title. They used their height to their advantage.
Reports in Upper Canada (Ontario) were that Vancouver had lost some great players this year and that might hurt them in their quest for another Worlds nod. Also undefeated heading into the final, Traffic had a much closer semi final, edging out Team Alberta 13-8.
The final score was 13-11 for Traffic, time capped. While both of these teams are remarkably skilled, the game was not as error free as either team had hoped. Points were traded until Traffic took half at 8-6. They never gave up the lead, and finals MVP (pictured) was a huge player whose height and ability could not be neutralized by the Capitals.
The feeling is that the Capitals let a great opportunity slip away. They were a truly great team that wasn't able to perform at a very important time. I am sure people will discuss specific player performances and key moments (The offside call, a key handler getting injured in the 1st half, the lack of Dee Roderique, the numerous pulls out of bounds and short, etc).
What do you think?
As I said before, I will post the final seedings once they are officially posted on the tournament site. They should already be on there.
The women's division at CUC 2007 was a little anti climatic. It was expected that, outside of Team Alberta, no one would be able to challenge Traffic and Capitals. Thus, no surprises to see Vancouver and Ottawa/Toronto's best at University Stadium Sunday.
As mentioned in the women's preview, the Capitals have had a banner year. Boston Invite and No Borders champs, losing only to Riot and Fury all year, and building on several years of UPA success. Lead by a myriad of great players, this was going to be different from 2003. Going into the Finals, they flat out PUMPED their opponents, giving up 5 points or less in every one of their games. They won their quater final 15-0 and their semi 15-4.
2003 was the first Nationals that I ever watched. Drove to Montreal with the Polish Prince, the Pride of Praha and my Sister From Anotha Motha. I remember seeing the women's final and being impressed with the style of play, the level of strategy and even the warm ups being done by both female teams (In four years, the game has taken great steps in preparation outside of the top clubs). That game saw Vancouver (Prime) come back from a large deficit to take the title. They used their height to their advantage.
Reports in Upper Canada (Ontario) were that Vancouver had lost some great players this year and that might hurt them in their quest for another Worlds nod. Also undefeated heading into the final, Traffic had a much closer semi final, edging out Team Alberta 13-8.
The final score was 13-11 for Traffic, time capped. While both of these teams are remarkably skilled, the game was not as error free as either team had hoped. Points were traded until Traffic took half at 8-6. They never gave up the lead, and finals MVP (pictured) was a huge player whose height and ability could not be neutralized by the Capitals.
The feeling is that the Capitals let a great opportunity slip away. They were a truly great team that wasn't able to perform at a very important time. I am sure people will discuss specific player performances and key moments (The offside call, a key handler getting injured in the 1st half, the lack of Dee Roderique, the numerous pulls out of bounds and short, etc).
What do you think?
CUC 2007- Co-Ed Analysis
Congratulations to Team Fisher Price- Co-Ed Champs
I will post the final seedings once they are officially posted on the tournament site. They should already be on there. Transfer of Knowledge PEOPLE!!! It's the buzz word for every other national sport organization in this country.
Looking at the UPA reporter tool, both teams seemed to have an easy road to the finals. Bytown Flatball Club beat rival Snipe in the quarters and cruised to a 15-3 semi- final win over Gecko. Watching this game's first 6-7 points, I was surprised by the final score. Gecko was super fast and was tied 3-3, but weaknesses in their game was exposed after that point.
Team Fisher Price disposed of Monster in quarters before beating Bostrich 15-5 in semi final action. Much like BFC (who finished 4th at regionals and lost to teams such as Snipe, Liquid, and Monster), TFC had a disappointing regionals, yet managed to soundly beat a team in semis that came into the tournament ranked higher.
Despite being the first game on Sunday morning (9:30 AM), there was a huge crowd
on hand to watch a much anticipated final. BFC featured well known open players like Dave Milks, Ken Alexander, and Paul Chambers. Their secret weapon all year had been a roster of girls that were young, fast, and caught everything. Shannon Becker, Jaime Boss, Kathryn Pohran, Sonia Komendia, Christine Binne, etc. TFP had a great roster as well, featuring great handlers such as Tiffany Lin and Scotty Hislop ( as PTI announcers say "my boy"!!), and blinding speed from players like Andrea Cheng. Their team talent and youth is quite scary really, given that they have already captured a world clubs championship.
The final score was 17-10 TFP. Many explanations were bandied about. I leave it to you to discuss why the game enfolded as it did.
I will post the final seedings once they are officially posted on the tournament site. They should already be on there. Transfer of Knowledge PEOPLE!!! It's the buzz word for every other national sport organization in this country.
Looking at the UPA reporter tool, both teams seemed to have an easy road to the finals. Bytown Flatball Club beat rival Snipe in the quarters and cruised to a 15-3 semi- final win over Gecko. Watching this game's first 6-7 points, I was surprised by the final score. Gecko was super fast and was tied 3-3, but weaknesses in their game was exposed after that point.
Team Fisher Price disposed of Monster in quarters before beating Bostrich 15-5 in semi final action. Much like BFC (who finished 4th at regionals and lost to teams such as Snipe, Liquid, and Monster), TFC had a disappointing regionals, yet managed to soundly beat a team in semis that came into the tournament ranked higher.
Despite being the first game on Sunday morning (9:30 AM), there was a huge crowd
on hand to watch a much anticipated final. BFC featured well known open players like Dave Milks, Ken Alexander, and Paul Chambers. Their secret weapon all year had been a roster of girls that were young, fast, and caught everything. Shannon Becker, Jaime Boss, Kathryn Pohran, Sonia Komendia, Christine Binne, etc. TFP had a great roster as well, featuring great handlers such as Tiffany Lin and Scotty Hislop ( as PTI announcers say "my boy"!!), and blinding speed from players like Andrea Cheng. Their team talent and youth is quite scary really, given that they have already captured a world clubs championship.The final score was 17-10 TFP. Many explanations were bandied about. I leave it to you to discuss why the game enfolded as it did.
West is Best!
Hey everyone,
Some big posts coming up tonight before my trip to Prince Edward Island. First, I'd like to congratulate the CUC 2007 champs in their respective divisions
Furious George: Open: Vancouver BC
Traffic: Womens: Vancouver BC
Team Fisher Price: Co-Ed: Vancouver BC
Backbone: Juniors: Vancouver BC
Tombstone: Masters: Toronto ON
Right now, my post CUC topics are leaning towards
-Discussion of the finals
-Discussion of West dominance at CUC (Not just BC teams)
-Athleticism versus "Being good at frisbee"
If you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to post them of write me personally.
Some big posts coming up tonight before my trip to Prince Edward Island. First, I'd like to congratulate the CUC 2007 champs in their respective divisions
Furious George: Open: Vancouver BC
Traffic: Womens: Vancouver BC
Team Fisher Price: Co-Ed: Vancouver BC
Backbone: Juniors: Vancouver BC
Tombstone: Masters: Toronto ON
Right now, my post CUC topics are leaning towards
-Discussion of the finals
-Discussion of West dominance at CUC (Not just BC teams)
-Athleticism versus "Being good at frisbee"
If you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to post them of write me personally.
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