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.

UPA Finals Update- Day One

Nation,

Just a quick update on the Canadian teams. You can see the complete Results for each division by clicking on the respective link.

Open

Goat has a great day (2-1), taking care of Ring of Fire and The Van Buren Boys. They lose badly to JAM, but ensure a spot in the power pools for Friday. D line player Colin Green reports that he and his GOAT teammates are looking forward to tomorrow's games.

Furious has a surprising 0-3 day, as the last seed in their pool goes 3-0 and takes first in the reseed. I have no idea what happened to our favorite monkeys. Some people are saying on rec.sport.disc that Mike Grant is injured. Others point out to a consistently inconsistent seasons as the foreshadowing of this kind of performance. Scobel Wiggins Photography

Women's

The Capitals of Toronto and Ottawa went 2-1 on day one. They beat Lady Godiva and Box, and lost to Zeitgeist. Good enough to hold seed and move into the power pools right?

Wrong.

Lady Godiva, the same team that offered virtually no competition to the Capitals (losing 15-5 to the Caps) at their own Boston Invite tournament this June, beats the top seed in the pool (Zeitgeist) 16-14 to steal a power pool spot from Capitals. Looks like the storied team from Boston is still a team to be respected.

So, the Capitals must now win at least two games on Friday to get a cross over opportunity. If they win the crossover, they will play the top team from Power Pool E. That means Fury in all likelihood stands between them and semis.

Best of luck to the ladies.