Is Junior Success a Curse?

Nation,

There is a major hangover in Ottawa this week. It's not snow related, or transit strike related. (Those both suck in a major way however... I'm angry)

This past month, Ottawa has been host to the World Junior Hockey Championships. The tournament was a major success in many ways. The home team won in an exciting final. The tournament was memorable and there was plenty of stars discovered. Slovakia and Kazakhstan teams were adopted as local favorites. The economic impact of the tournament is estimated to be about $50 million.

I've personally been hooked on the tournament for years, and for many reasons. The timing during the holidays is great. It's a chance to see future stars. And if you put national jerseys on players, I'm instantly interested. (i.e. North American fans watching FIFA World Cup). One of my favorite parts of the tournaments is looking at the tournament history and seeing which stars of the pasts have made it in the professional leagues, and what happened to those who disappear after junior glory.

What the hell happened to Daniel Tkaczuk, Christian Dube, Mike Craig, and Brent Tully? It might simply be a case that these players lack the physical gifts to move to the next level, but were able to compete at an all star level in juniors because of efforts/intelligence/promotion.

Of course, my thoughts turn to ultimate and its juniors. I think its fantastic that we have world junior competitions, and that Canada is a team that challenges for the championship in both mens and womens. I also think it is a little disturbing that many of the players selected to represent Canada did not move on to the club level, and fail to show the progress and success that such a nod would promise.

I understand that life gets in the way for many junior stars in ultimate. That being said, I wonder our expectations should be with our Juniors:

• What should be the acceptable graduation rate for these players?
• What standards should we set for our coaches and team selection groups?
• Should we be concerned with the recent performance of our juniors, and should we be willing to make changes to keep ourselves competitive as the world seems to catch up?

In hockey, a brief time of failure (1998-2001) lead Hockey Canada to critically analyze and redevelop how players were developed and how players were selected. I was particularily impressed by how thorough Hockey Canada looked for and found the selection camp and eventual team roster (They don't just pick 1st round entry draft picks or leading scorers in juniors anymore) . Is it time for Canada to be more proactive in juniors development?

Happy New Year!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Hope you had a great 2008 and are ready to have an even better 2009.

Please find to the right polls for individual Canadian awards.

Public Service Announcement: UPA Survey

Nation,

Given the recent threat to the College series, the UPA is now trying to assess their product and make changes to their service.

Here is the info the survey link.. if you're involved in college ultimate, here is your chance to have a say. The UPA is listening.

__________________________________________________________________________________
I'm sure you're all aware of the College Restructuring Task Force the UPA has set up. The UPA has created a survey to get feedback on some proposed changes that will take affect for 2009. Please take 5 minutes out of your day and fill out the survey yourself, then take another 30 seconds and send it to your teammates, other team contacts, etc. If you're a TD, RC or SC, send it to your team contacts from last year or this year. The more people who take the survey, the more accurate the results will be in helping the Board make some tough decisions. I believe the survey is open to alumni as well.

Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=eG2NVCVWGx7i_2b8kKz_2f6agA_3d_3d

To read more about the Restructuring Task Force: www.upa.org

Survey should only be open until the end of December, so don't wait. The results could have a great impact on your 2009 season, as well as your team in future years.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Dave Branick

Metro East Open RC

Player Award Nominees- 2008

Nation,

As part of Canadian Ultimate's end of year review, I'm looking for nominees for the following awards

-Best Canadian Open Player in 2008
-Best Canadian Womens Player in 2008
-Best Canadian Coed Player in 2008
-Best Canadian Masters Player in 2008
-Best Canadian Junior Player in 2008

This includes performance in the calender year 2008.

I'll put the most popular nominees from each category in a poll and let the readers decide who would get such awards.

The Economy Hits Ultimate...

Nation,

Yesterday, I asked people to give me the storyline of the year. My focus was on the positive- The great tournaments, the great teams, the great players and the great plays that made the year one to remember.

Now a sad story might be the story of the year.

There are rumblings in the ultimate community about the death of GAIA. It is strongly rumored that their parent company is in receivership. It seems that the economy and the downturn the global market has endured has taken its toll on ultimate business. (Their website is "closed" and they thank the viewer for their patience... perhaps a very poorly worded final communication)

I discussed the state of GAIA previously. My take on their current state at that time was not pleasant. I've always wished them (and other ultimate companies) well, and found the rise and fall of GAIA particularly fascinating.

So, let's discuss what lead GAIA to this place in their history. When did they jump the shark? Will stories of ultimate business be a trend in 2009?

Storyline of the Year?

Nation,

Whether we like it or not, the year is ending. As per tradition, it's time to look back and reflect on the past year. Ultimate had a busy year in Canada, hosting a worlds and national/college championships.

So what was the best storyline of the year in Canadian Ultimate?

Was it the UBC women winning a UPA college championship? The Open worlds championship over the incredible USA squad? The third consecutive mens championship in college ultimate? Maybe that I stopped posting for months and Haig stayed vigilent in his grumpiness? lol

I could make a poll list, but I would prefer to open the floor to stories I might not know about. Tell me about the people and the event that should be considered the best story of the year.

Brian Burke is "Great"- But can he rebuild the Leafs?

Nation,

We have a lot of managers in this world. We have fewer leaders than we need. We have even fewer great leaders that can thrive in many situations. In ultimate, there are several captains and coaches that are known as being great. But would they be able to lead a completely different team?

I had a great chat at the national sport organization's annual pub crawl Wednesday night about Brian Burke. Someone disagreed with my statement about his draft record. Being the stats nerd I am, I had to look up the stats again and put something together to prove/disprove my point.

It's still too early to judge his Anaheim draft work. However, we can look at his 1999-2003 tenure with the Canucks. What I found is attached, and the numbers are very sad for Leaf fans.

Total Stats
Players Drafted 42
NHL Players 11 26%
Players Over 50 Games 6 14%
Players still in the Show 6 14%
Actual Canucks 4 10%

If you take away the number 2 and number 3 overall picks of 1999
(Sedin) the numbers are even worse.

So, hiring Brian Burke to rebuild a team's on ice product through young players and the draft is a very risky business. His track record suggest that even with five years, he can promise you 10-14% of the players he drafts will make the NHL past 50 games. Consider the Sens
had 23 NHL players from the same period, with all but one top 5 picks and many years not getting to draft until after the 20th selection or later.

Sorry Leaf fans... your new leader's fatal flaw is exactly what you need him to be best at.