Talking With Trainor- Andrew Lugsdin

Nation,

Few players have dominated the country's Open division like Andrew Lugsdin:

• 3 UPA titles as a captain on Furious George
• World Championship Gold and represented Canada on many occasions
  
• National Championships with Furious George, WaX, and Nomads

This is just a few of the things he's done. For two decades, he's been a elite player on the elite team in the nation. He's a lock for the Ottawa Ultimate hall of Fame for his early career exploits in Ottawa. He's also seen as one of the best captains and leaders in the game.

By popular demand, here's an interview with Andrew. Many questions, many good answers.

How was the name Furious George created? Who is to be given credit?
This was before my time here so I don't really know the details. The team was formed in '95 when Vertigogh (the old guys) and Evil Genius (the young guys) combined. I heard that they had a team vote on the final two names and the other name won. However, Khai Foo was the one responsible for getting the team jerseys made and he vetoed the group and had them made as Furious George. Khai is the one who created the logo. He's a great artist here in Vancouver.

Who/What brought you into the sport?

A buddy of mine, Dan Nichols, formed a team in the Ottawa City league without telling any of us. None of us had heard of the sport before but he registered the team and so we were commited to playing. That was the very beginning but I probably got more interested in the game at McGill University where Steve and Eileen Wright were very welcoming to new players and they exposed us to a higher level of play.

What's your strongest asset as a player?

I think my strongest asset is my competitive nature. I like to compete and to win. Team sports have lots of different dynamics going on and players who focus on the outcome and not how they look while doing it tend to be more successful from my perspective.

What's your strongest asset as a leader? Do you feel comfortable being dubbed as a great leader?

I don't really think of myself as a great, or a not-great, leader so it's not something that creates any discomfort. It's just not something that crosses my mind. I think of myself as fulfilling a role on the team and it happens to a leadership role, no more or less important, than any other role on the team. If the team thinks that it will do better with someone else in the leadership role then I would happily change to another role. A team having good leadership is about having both a good leader(s) and good followers. If you don't have people that will support the direction that the leadership is pointing the team in, the team won't be successful. On Furious, we've been lucky that we've had an excellent crew of guys that think of what is best for the team ahead of themselves. In terms of how I lead, I focus on putting the team first and leading by example. After that, I just let my passion for the game and our team guide me.

Many of today's players might not know you were leading Ottawa teams to national titles before you days with the Monkey? What are some of your favorite moments as an Ottawa player? Who are some of your favorite teammates?

Yeah, the Ottawa days are a little while ago now. I remember my Ottawa days very fondly. I think everyone remembers the early days as something special and it's the same for me. I didn't really know anything about the game then but we loved to play. We had a bunch of young guys come up at the same time who were hungry to get better and every practice was so intense. The veteran guys - Phil Rodger, Jamie Wildgen, Cliff Youdale, Dave Pelletier, Rob Bohnen - were a hilarious group of guys so there were lots of good times and banter between the old and and the new. We actually got together two summers ago at the Ottawa No Borders tournament. We had guys come from coast to coast in Canada, from Austrailia and from San Diego. About five minutes into the tournament, it felt like old times (other than our play), same old jokes going round.

Pictured: WaX @ the 2006 No Borders Tournament (Photo: Mike Reade)

Which national title meant the most to you?

The first Canadian national title that we won as Ottawa waX in '93 against Vancouver is definitely the most special to me. It was a close game and we had come so far in two years to beat teams that had spanked us in the past. Winning the first of anything is always great validation of a belief that you have and will always remain special.

Which UPA title meant the most to you?

Again, the first time we won UPA's in 2002 was an incredible feeling. It was a dream that a few of us especially had been building towards for a number of years. We had lost so many players from the year before, over half of our 14 starters were gone, that it was a rebuilding year in many senses. To have so many guys step into bigger roles than they ever had before and to win against the best teams in world was great. The semis that we played in against Boston that year, where we made only 2 turnovers all game, also made winning that year pretty incredible.

Who are the best players that you have played against/with? Can you identify one player over the years that deserves to be called the best?

I have played with some incredible players over the years, true champions in my opinion, guys like Albob Nichols, Jeff Cruickshank, Evan Wood, Kirk Savage, young studs like Oscar Pottinger and Derek Alexander, amongst many others. I have been teammates with guys who play in less visible roles but who are so dedicated; these "grinders" form the foundation of successful teams. I've played with Biff (John Frame) since '92 (other than a couple of years where he played with the Boulder guys) and I have so much respect for what he contributes to the team. I've also had the opportunity to play against some great players. The ones that come to mind for me are the ones that I play against most often.

Recently, that's been guys like Nord and Chase because we've played so many big games against Sockeye over the last 5 years and I end up matched up against them so often. Those two guys play the game hard and are so good that it makes me push myself to try to best them and really that's what sport is about. That's why such respect develops between players because while we're competing to crush each other, without each other to compete against, ultimate is kinda meaningless at the top level. I think it's really difficult to identify a single best player because there are so many great players in the game who contribute so much to their teams and there are so many critical aspects of the sport (great throwers vs. great receivers vs. great defenders) that it is very difficult to weigh the value of one person's strengths vs another's strengths.

However, if I get one player that if I had to build a team around it would be Mike Grant (pictured). Perhaps, I'm biased because I see him at practice all of the time but he's worked so damn hard to make himself the player that he is, and continues to work so hard, and he puts the team first at all times. These are things that I have great respect for and with the great talent that he has, it makes him a great player.

What are your thoughts on the 2007 UPA finals?

First, that it's always better to play in them than to watch them. I remember thinking when I got to the fields and noticed that the wind had picked up, I felt that the conditions would favour Sockeye as their offense has lots of quick, short passes as opposed to Bravo's offense which looks for the big huck more often. However, for the first 2/3 of the game, Bravo seemed to have no problem with the wind. The second half turned on a few big points, as it almost always does, that Sockeye swung in their favour. I thought Bravo played a very good game and had a great tournament and I think Sockeye is a very deserving champion, definitely the strongest team in the game right now.

Do you think Furious's absence from numerous national championships in recent years has been good or bad for Canadian ultimate?

It's probably not been a great effect but I don't really see it as that damaging either. The unfortunate reality is that for a number of years, there was a real discrepenacy between Furious and the rest of the country. This has left most of the players on Furious not very interested in atttending Canadian nationals when it means travel dollars and vacation time at the expense of some other tournament. I remember when it really become an issue for players. At '97 Canadian nationals, Furious played the 3rd Vancouver team in the semis and the 2nd Vancouver team in the finals. After that, it was impossible for the players to value the tournament very much. Fortunately, that is changing now, particularly with GOAT becoming a much stronger team over the last few years.

Who will lead Furious in 5 years? Can you see the young players being able to perform at the same level?

I think there is some good leadership potential amongst the young guys. Oscar (Pottinger, Pictured), in particular, I think will be one of the key leaders on the team. He already has the respect of all of his teammates and is everything that you want in a great leader. Will the young guys perform at the same level as what we've achieved in the past is an open question in my opinion. Certainly, I hope so. However, we just had our worst season in over a decade and a big part of that is because we are gradually losing part of the core group that has made us successful in the past and the remaining part of the core is getting older. If Furious is to rebound next year, there will have to be a number of young guys who step up and want to be the guys to get the job done when the game is on the line.

Comment on the state of Open ultimate in Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, and other parts of Canada. Which programs do you see as emerging rivals, if any?

I think Canadian Open ultimate continues to get better. Of course it has to if it wants to compete internationally because everyone else is getting better. The US teams get better, the Japanese, the Australians, etc. For me, it's been exciting to see GOAT have such a successful year. They've been building over the last few years and this year is a result of all of that work. They're a young team that should continue to get better over the next few years. The other two cities that caught my attention at nationals this year were Winnipeg and Montreal. Winnipeg has a bunch of young players that play so well fundamentally. Rarely do you see a young team that is so clearly pointed in the right direction, usually there's a lot more chaos going on. Their challenge will be to continue to develop more talent to grow with the existing base that they have.

The top two Montreal teams surprised me with the number of talented individuals that they both have. If they could get on the same page and get behind some strong leadership then I think you would see a team that could become really good over the next two years.

What does Furious do for off season training?

We don't really do anything as a team for off season training, everyone kind of does their own thing and I think that shows in how we start our season. We have an older team now that struggles to balance ultimate against other life priorities and every year we seem a little less prepared physically to challenge to be the best team in the world. About the only thing we do as a group (other than poker and beer) in the offseason is some of us play goaltimate on the weekends. Maybe we should start something more formal this year.

Leadership- Poll Results

Nation,

Well, the voters have spoken with regards to the Canadian Open Leadership question. A resounding number of you think that GOAT and Furious have the best leadership in Canada. Mephisto comes a DISTANT 3rd.

My thoughts on this result

• I can understand how the leaders on GOAT and Furious are looked on so favorably.

However

• I wonder if people mistake team talent and performance with leadership. Being at the helm of a great team and exacting victory over teams you should beat IS NOT leadership. That is management. Please see the Cito Gaston picture. There is a reason why he won two titles but never found work after. I do give the man credit for turning an "interim job" into a ten year gig.
  

• I wonder if the smaller teams/cities in this country should have gotten a bit more support in the poll. There has to be some leadership in the Mangina ranks, and General Strike is getting some great performances out of their team. Red Circus is another team that had leadership and played beyond what others thought at Nationals
  
• How did EMU get a vote?

I think the next few years in Canadian ultimate is going to be interesting to watch. Due to the large differences in talent pools in cities throughout Canada, I think it is possible that the second teams from Vancouver (already there) Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa will soon be beating the A teams from Regina, Winnipeg, Halifax and so on. Before I get flamed royally Luker A-Lurker Z, let me say why

-Way larger talent pool
-Youth Programs
-Training regimens and access to facilities
-People move to big cities, and away from small ones
-Sooner of later the leadership in the big cities will get it right for long enough to develop programs. It's already happening.
-We see the same pattern in most "serious" sports.

Foolish Dreams

You have probably heard about Petro Canada's
contest that is rewarding one of four "fringe sports the chance to pitch their sport to the Canadian Olympic Committee for "Olympic consideration".

https://www.iwilldreambig.ca/

My take?

I think it's silly. Don't bother voting.

Here are my reasons
-The COC has as much pull in Olympic sports as I do.
-Petro Canada is a corporation. This is a marketing strategy. They are capitalizing on the desires of fringe sport athlete.

Our game has a lot of issues to deal with before we can be considered for a sport. World wide exposure, on field issues (Refs, rules, etc) and off field issues (governing bodies) need to be addressed. That's the gist of the take I got when discussing the matter with former IOC vice president Richard 'Dick" Pound. If his son had not been an Ultimate stalwart on the Canadian scene for more than a decade, he might have been as dismissive as the other IOC/Olympic officials I have spoken to.

Sports are big business. The Olympics are a political amazon with billions of dollars at stake. We need to come a long way before we can start talking seriously about the possibility.


I love the game. The game is good. It's not just about the game though... and we must remember that.

Which team has the best leadership in Canada?

Nation,

We are in somewhat of an off season for competitive ultimate (there is really no off season for players that dedicate themselves seriously to this game). That means there is much more time to talk about the game, in between people working at their real jobs and doing off season training.

Leadership is defined as:
'the lifting of people’s vision to a higher sight, the raising of their performance to a higher standard, the building of their personality beyond its normal limitations’ (Drucker, 1985).

What's the difference between being a leader and being a manager? In layman terms, it's this- A manager relies on power/status or coercion to accomplish tasks/goals, and a leader does not. These two terms are not mutually exclusive, but they definitely do not mean the same thing. You don't run through walls for a manager. You don't reach levels you couldn't fathom without true leadership.

Leadership is in short supply everywhere in the world. Lots of posers, few legitimate people that can stand the test of time and excel at all the major areas of being a leader (Credibility, Vision, Communication, Passion, and Charisma) . Canadian ultimate is not exempt from a leadership void, and needs leaders in the CUPA office, and in all of the major cities.

However, I have seen some examples of leadership with playing the last few years. The very fact that captains of our national level teams can get 20 plus guys to practice/travel so much and wreck their bodies for a game with no money and limited "glory" is incredible. Some players, like Andrew Lugsdin, lead by example and give excellent speeches to motivate their troops in key games.

So.... my poll question is

Which team/city has the best leadership in Canada? Who are the leaders? What do they do well? Does a team have to be a winner to validate great leadership (I find it definitely helps the untrained eye to label someone as a leader)?

Goosebowl 2007 Recap

Nation,

As requested here's a recap of the Goosebowl tournament in Kingston this past weekend.

The Weather

• Crap on day one. Wet with A LOT of wind
• Much better on day two. Sun, a little wind, typical fall day for this region.

The Teams

• A much smaller tournament this year, down to 16 teams from the regular 42-50 teams.
  
• It was really weird to play Goosebowl and see open fields.
  
• Costumes on the field were much less apparent then in past years.
• The quality of ultimate depended on the teams and the games. There were wind alerts for the region on The Weather Network, so as one can imagine handler heavy teams had an advantage on Saturday.

The Party

• Surprisingly awesome.
• Many great costumes
• John Haig and his brother rocking a Don Cherry/Ron Maclean look
• Many Richie Tenenbaum costumes, including yours truly
• J-Lo in a full on Cheerleader outfit... J Lo rocked the dance floor, enjoying his outfit far too much. :)
• Pope Benedict made an appearance
• Your usual plethora of guys dressing as girls, and women going in either the glamour or hooch avenues.
• Dance Floor Idol of the night was the Exotic Estonian, Ms Vail. Moves upon moves.. just give the woman space and watch out.

The Results

• Above the Law of Ottawa/Etc won the tournament with a 15-7 finals win, easily disposing of Bucketfish (Peterborough) and Slick Mittz (Barrie) in the quarters and semis respectively.
• Les Bouettes lost in the final. The won both their quarterfinal and semi final on universe point. This Montreal team was surprisingly intense and focused on the ultimate and not the party. The 80's all stars are mumbling somewhere.
• 3rd place was to be fought between Martha's Downstairs Kitchen (Toronto) and Slick Mittz of Barrie. Mittz were a summer junior team that made it to semis, showing some impressive skills from both their women and men. Curtis Kile and Pam Chadbourn should be commended for their work in Barrie with the juniors program.

• Other top 8 teams included MUPH, Tabasco, and Bucketfish
  
• MUPH had to be disappointed with their Sunday, after looking so impressive in their Saturday games and coming in as the #2 seed. This team, made mostly of former/current Guelph University players, were tripped up in the quarters. Those are the breaks.

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.

UPA Finals Update- Day 2 Recap

Nation,

Quick update before a little shut eye. Making the trip to Kingston for Goosebowl early tomorrow.

Bets of luck on day 3!

OPEN

Reason to celebrate and reason to be disappointed if your a Canadian ultimate fan today.

GOAT, whose great season has been largely discounted on many UPA finals hype threads, had another solid day Friday. They lose 15-7 to Johnny Bravo (of Boulder , Colorado), but then take care of the legendary Condors of Santa Barbara 15-10. With this win, Goat moves on to Quarters against Chain Lightning of Atlanta. Thus, the Toronto/Ottawa squad has a realistic shot of making semis, and going further in this tournament than they have every done.

3 time UPA and defending World Champion Furious George looked to rebound from a dismal 0-3 day one. They needed to win both of their games and hope for a bit of luck/fate to get a crossover opportunity for quarters. They did their part, beating Rhino 15-1o and Pike 15-11. Unfortunately, the carry over loss from day one left them in a three way 2-1 tie from Rhino and Truck Stop, and Truck Stop advanced on a tie breaker. Furious is now out of the running for the title and will compete for 9th.

Here is how the Open Quarters shape up

• Johnny Bravo versus Boston Ultimate
• Chain Lightning versus GOAT
• Sockeye versus Truck Stop
• JAM versus Sub Zero

Women's

Bounced out of the power pools, the Capitals of Ottawa/Toronto looked to bounce back and get into the quarters in back door fashion.

Starting the day 1-0, Capitals defeated MOJO 15-8 and then shot the Loose Cannon team 15-4 to finish 3-0 and have a shot at making quarters. Down early to San Diego's Safari, the Capitals came back to win 14-12.

Coming back from weak pool relegation, the Capitals find themselves in the quarter-finals against Riot. This will be a daunting task.

The quarters look like this:

• Fury versus Backhoe
• Lady Godiva versus Ozone
• Riot versus Ozone
• Brute Squad versus Zeitgeist

Given the scores, Fury and Riot look like the absolute class of the division, and anything less than a matchup between these two teams would be a surprise.