1999 CLUB NATIONALS – DAILY RSD POSTS

Open Day 1
Women Day 1
Open Day 2
Women Day 2
Open Day 3 - Semis
Women Day 3 - Semis
Open Finals
Women Finals

OPEN – DAY ONE

I think a lot of people pegged the Condors/Sub Zero match to be a good one. The history is there, all on Santa Barbara's side. From college nationals championships over Carleton to last year's pool play win that decided semifinals, the Condors and kin have had Minnesota's number. But today things were going to be different. Not that different. It looked like it could be another repeat when Sub Zero started dropping passes and went down 3-1. But no way they were going to lose their head this time.

Sure enough they came back to take the lead 7-6, and even had a chance to take half. But they blew it twice, and the Condors escaped with the half 8-7. Sub Zero came right back, sending an upwind huck to Adam Boardman. 8-8. The teams were certainly evenly matched, going back and forth on points, but the experience factor clearly resided with Santa Barbara, as they seemed to capitalize on all the key plays of the game. Sub Zero played hard, ran hard, but were tentative on defense when they could have shaken the Condors. Instead, the Condors, although tested, were never pushed to the edge. They never lost their cockiness, and finally pushed an 11-10 lead to a 15-12 win.

DoG-BoG. Sure Gewirtz named this team to get Boston's goat. But did they have the horses to go with the farm? Could they sink them with bad credt? Would DoG's day be spoiled? Well, you know what they say, a DoG's day is everday at Nationals. With the ISO offense and hard cuts, confusing D and few mistakes, Boston came out ready to play. There weren't any confrontations on the field between DoG and the old guys from Seattle and Jon's crew of ex-New Yorkers (Bob DeMan, Josh Faust, Babs, Cribber, Dave Balu and Jonny G himself). BoG just did not have enough groove to them, and DoG won 15-9.

So could BoG's crew take down the new New Yorkers, the WSL All-Stars? They already picked up WSL's superstars from last year - Faust and Babs. The game was not a well-played one, and the All-Stars were just too young to counter BoG's expereince. BoG won 15-11, putting a damper on the All-Stars weekend. They ended up playing well against DoG in another loss, 15-12, sending them to the B bracket to fight their way back to quarters.

Maybe the best matchup? Ring of Fire against Jam in the last game of the day. Both teams crushed the others in the pool, Ring 15 - Secret Squirrel 3, and Ring 15, Madison 5. Jam won 15-10 over Madison and 15-2 over Secret Squirrel ('the secret's out' commented one Jam player). So these two teams were ready to really tangle in a rematch of pool play last year. Jam started off on fire (both teams were playing hot) and took an early lead. Ring came back though, and closed to half. It seemed that Ring just missed several chances on throws a bit long, and could not get tied up when it was 10-9 Jam. The near misses gave the disc to Jam and they salted away 3 scores on three straight possessions to seal the game, 15-10.

Ring of Fire will be ready to play tomorrow. They will face DoG and Blaze of Glory tomorrow in pool play. Jam does the same, but is already 1-0 in the pool since they beat Ring.

On the other side, Furious and Houston advanced.. Furious squeaked by Anodyne 15-12 to start the day, they avenged last year's embarrassing loss to Red Tide with a 15-6 win. The last game was against Houston, also 2-0. I am not sure if the teams have actually met in the past two years. Both have an electrifying style, running hard and loose and relying on big plays. But whereas Houston has 5 or 6 big playmakers, Furious has a whole team. And they kept on coming up with crazy one-handed sticks and ridiculuos scoober goals. That team really is like a bunch of crazy monkeys. They won 15-10. Now 3-0 and confident, they have a good shot of qualifying for a comfortable seeding in Quarters. They face Sub Zero tomorrow morning, then follow with the Condors. Should be a great day of disc. Sub Zero is hungry. The Condors are good. But I give props to the monkey....if they find a way to make the Condors turnover the disc.

If Furious finishes second in their pool...they will likely play Ring or Blaze and then meet DoG in semis. Could be fun.

WOMEN – DAY ONE

The contest was decided in round one. Who would give up more goals–Godiva or Women on the Verge? In a tight, down to the wire match, Verge gave up only 13 goals to Godiva's 14. Therefore, Verge will win this year's National Championship. Of course, last year Verge only gave up 9 points and they went on to lose a heartbreaker in finals. Will it happen again? Chances are likely that you will see a re-match.

The truth is, Ultimate, especially in the women's division, is still commanded by ladies from the old school. Lori Van Holmes, of Verge, is in her 17th season and still fit to play. Godiva's Teens won her first National Championship in 1988. And both teams have more veterans than just these examples. No other teams come close.

Ozone, Fury, Nemesis (with some healthy old school of their own) are close, with Schwa and Rare Air behind them. Of these, Ozone is in the best shape to knock off one of the power two. Ozone has a great mix of hot new players from southern colleges plus a trio of elders leading the way. They are completely focused on winning this tournament, not just making semis. They played well against Verge last year in a semis loss and they will get their chance again tomorrow when they matchup in the final pool play game of the day. Ozone first has to get by the other NW team, Schwa, whom they meet 9:30. That is a tough pool, rounded out with Rare Air.

Chris O'Cleary, Ozone's albatross, had this to say about her team's undefeated play, "We made our offense difficult. But our defense was killer. We know what we have to do."

Godiva will face Nemesis tomorrow morning, and if they are not sufficiently prepared, it could be a long game. Fury meets Safari, who with the help of a several resurgent Crush Club women advanced to the A bracket pools with a win over Backhoe. Fury rounds out that pool, having also playes stellar today, beating Nemesis surprisingly easily and Twister and Catchit by a lot.

One of the most anticipated games of the day lived up to its billing. The Philly Peppers (seeded third in thier pool) scrubbed their morning game agaisnt Verge (15-2) and rested up to play Schwa. The teams are not intimate but a few from each side shared some memories, notably Philly's Mel Iwaszko and former North Carolinan Tracey Satterfield. The history goes back 10 years in the MA, but Schwa's amazing run at Worlds this year (finals) went through a team Mel played with, Red Lights, and that game was unamiously regarded as a call-fest of epic proportions. So there was some bad blood in evidence here, but it never got out of hand. The teams, although showing no love for each other, kept it cool on the field for the most part.

The game was pretty hot though. Neither team could put it away, early or late. The defenses were just too good. The wind was also a factor - but early there were several 5 turnover points-for both teams. Schwa managed to convert those and crept ahead on an upwinder, 6–3. They eventually took half 8-5. But Philly would not fold. They kept scoring upwinders, to close at 10-8 and 12-10. At 12-10 the cap was called (most of the games were over at this point). It looked like one big series could get Philly over the top. Instead, Tracey took the pull, swung the disc, rotated, caught it on the sidelines, and uncorked a 40 yard backhand to Jody Dozono, who was well covered, but the put was perfect. Jody bobbled the disc but made the catch and Schwa was up 13-10 with one more point to go. They won 14-11.

So the new format is challenging. There are better games and increasing levels of competition, making each round more important than the last.

WOMEN – DAY TWO

OK, I will admit - I could be in trouble here. I have a 20 dollar bet that Ozone will beat Fury. Originally this looked like a decent bet, and for a game that would not happen until Semis.

But instead, tomorrow morning, these two will tangle in quarters? Here's to hoping that Atlanta can win at least 1 out of 3 with the Northwest, because today they lost to both Verge (close, 15-12) and Schwa (not as close, 15-10). The losses sank Ozone to a 3 seed where they face second seeded Fury.

For a second seed, Fury is a very good team. But why they, nor anyone else, can touch Godiva surprises me. Last year, several teams gave Godiva a run for the money before eventually losing by a couple of points. This year? Not even close. Fury got embarassed, losing 15-4 to Boston. Why? I am not too sure their heads were in the game. And why don't teams front the hell out of Godiva? Sometimes, I just don't get it. Maybe Godiva has cast a spell over the entire women's division. Godiva also beat Nemesis 15-6. They have been near-perfect so far. In quarters they will play Rare Air.

Verge remained unscathed, but were taken for some points by Ozone, who hung with them well. Tomorrow morning they face the Philly Peppers. They are a very sharp team with loads of talent and height. Maybe they at least will be able to do something, anything, against Godiva. But that is still a ways off.

The most exciting team this year is Schwa. They have a rotating cast of characters, mostly younger players, who step up to make plays. They have the focus, zest and no fear of a college team and won some big games here already. They finished second in their pool with the Ozone win and play Nemesis in quarters, which should be a good match. Nemesis fights hard when they have to. A tough team.

But Schwa has that je ne sais quoi. They could be a cinderella team to semis, and, maybe thier willingness to try new things will get put them in a position to score some real points on Godiva. Somebody has to. But first they have to get by those Chicagoans.

Safari and Rare Air finished last in their pool and faced pre-quarters. They faced the Philly Peppers and Backhoe, respectively. SW vs MA. Safari got Philly, which was a tough draw. Rare Air got Backhoe, which although certainly a good team, does not have a lot of Nationals experience. Rare Air came back from being down 10-9 to win 15-11 against the girls in green, while Philly outlasted Safari (a long day for both teams) to earn a 15-12 win and a match with Verge in quarters.

Tune in tomorrow.

OPEN – DAY TWO

Things got all mixed up today in the Open division. But did it really matter? There are much more subtle changes that occur after an upset with the new tournament format. A good example was the Ozone versus Verge game in the women's bracket. A rematch of last year's semifinals, sure. But this time around, win or lose, Verge would finish first and Ozone third, and both teams were in quarters. So it was almost as if the game didn't necessarily mean much in the standings, but that a win for Ozone would be an uplifting experience and a loss for Verge could challenge their psyche. It was the difference in emotional outlook, in confidence and attitude, that mattered most.

Also, I should note, things were happening physically as well. A particular matchup might wear down a team's top players, overplay them and tire them out for the next big game. Or a lengthy game against an evenly-matched opponent might take its toll on a team tomorrow.

The new format produced an element of intensity to this year's event. Teams were not quite aware that the pool plays games of the top eight were of mild consequence due to the equal high level of skills exhibited by all the teams. Losing a game might send you to play Jam the first round instead of Ring.

More on that later. I'm so wiped I crashed out for 3 hours after trying to think about such things. Let's go to the scoreboard instead.

Blaze of Glory has a strong team that can really step it up if that have to. If you don't get them rattled, they will find a way to have a grudge against you and win. Plus they have a whole lot of veteran experience. They took down Ring and Jam today, two games to 15-11 I believe. Jam had it close throughout but could never connect to close down the stretch. Blaze has a solid history (albeit a short one) of beating those guys.

Ring had almost gotten within striking distance of upsetting DoG. At 14-13, DoG, they threw it away on the goalline. Ring picked up the turnover, a possession to tie at 14s, and promptly sailed a forehand too long. DoG scored easily and won. Jam thought that they could beat DoG, but they too could get no closer than 14-13. Weird, huh? DoG had a comfortable (for them) 3-4 point margin the entire time until the end. Of course they never seemed to get nervous, and scored fairly routinely after receiving the pull.

So the mix-up in that re-seeded pool of four left DoG on top 3-0, followed by Blaze at 2-1, Jam 1-2 and Ring 0-3. Tough pool. It meant that Ring would have to play the winner of Florida-Anodyne for the backdoor into quarters in the extra-round match of the day.

Pool B of the re-seed was a little more exciting. The day started Condors and Furious at 1-0 because of yesterdays carry-over games with pool-mates Sub Zero and Houston. But it all went topsy-turvy when Houston came out with smoking guns against Condors. Even though the Houndz were "tired and hungover" they managed to play a brilliant game against Santa Barbara behind Pony, Harriford and Damien Scott. Consistency on offense and scoring the 7-turnover point helped them stay with the Condors and take a late-game lead. Suddenly the Condors looked a little shaken and made some uncharacteristic turnovers. Immediately in transition, either Damien or Harriford would bust long for the huck. The Houndz closed it out with a 15-12 win.

Next door, Sub Zero was staying right with Furious - but they can never quite get over the hump against them. This was the fourth time in 2 years the teams have met and Furious has won every time. This round it was 15-11, although it was at one point 12-11.

So, Sub Zero faced the Houndz and Furious the Condors. A SZ win by 4 and a Furious win of any kind gave SZ the second seed. Remarkable, considering the team would be 1-2. So Sub Zero came out on fire against Houston who had just come off the big emotional win over Santa Barbara. They came up with a 15-11 win, just as they needed. But furious and Condors were locked in a battle. Tied at 10's, the game moved ahead by one point as the offenses ruled. Furious had a chance to go up 15-14, but James got a footblock near their own goalline and scored, giving the Condors serve. At 16's Furious was pulling to Condors who were going downwind, and after 15 passes or so they scored easiy, 17-16 game to them.

Condors 2-1, Furious 2-1, Condors wins head-to-head and takes 1st in pool. Sub Zero 1-2, Houston 1-2, Sub Zero wins head-to-head to get third, while Houston has to play...

New York to make quarters. While last year may have been an ugly game-to-go between these two teams, this year's contest was much different. Personnel changes mostly. Whereas Houston added serious talent, the All-Stars lost their all star players. So although there is a history, there was no fire.

I thought WSL was up a couple early, but not quite. They kept pace, but then Houston turned on the jets and started to run away with the game, playing at a higher level. WSL never got Harriford out of the passing lanes on defense and he made several catch blocks on poaches. Add in a few unforced errors on New York's part and you end up with a 15-8 Houston victory and a congratulary 9am match with DoG in quarters.

Florida defeated Anodyne in a late-playing game and they advanced to the play-in with Ring. I think Ring got up by a lot early and closed them out. But damn those Florida boys hang tough.

WOMEN DAY 3 – QUARTERS and SEMIS

Wow. What an amazing day. I hardly know where to begin. Maybe the best way to sum it up is "why fucking not!!!", the cheer used by Schwa in their epic semifinal battle with Lady Godiva. Why not indeed? Schwa never gave up against the four-time defending champions. Schwa went up 4-1. Then Godiva took back the lead and stretched. By two late in the game, by three points, but Schwa never gave up and never died. They kept staying close, kept scoring key upwind goals to stay within two. But they could not fully stop Godiva. Finally it was 14-11 in Godiva's favor and the cap was on, hard cap, game to 15. Game over.

Schwa had no chance. They received and worked it up against a zone, patiently, and scored after 40 passes on a beautfiul Tracey forehand put. Everyone figured it was their last hurrah. Godiva got the pull, worked it upwind, and then Molly dropped a pass near the goalline. Schwa took the disc and scored downfield. 14-13. Godiva received the pull going down wind. A bowling alley got the disc to midfield. Then a younger player faked a dump and then threw it into the turf. Again, patiently, Schwa worked upwind and scored to tie the game. At 14-14, Godiva was receiving. Hard cap game to 15. Schwa came in zone. Someone threw the disc it went up, up, and Schwa's Jen Faya knocked it down. Schwa scored easily and won in the biggest upset since Schwa took out Verge in 1997. Biggest upset ever maybe? I don't know. Schwa finished third in the Northwest, are comprised of college players and recent college graduates. They were seeded 7th overall. Godiva hasn't lost a game at Nationals (I think) since 1994.

That may have been the biggest upset of the day, but there were plenty more. It all started with Ozone and Fury. Fury seeded second, Ozone third. But Fury has never been to semifinals Ozone has been to finals twice and semis last year. They led throughout. But they could never close the door. And Fury was fast and loose, and comfortable. Ozone led by three late. Fury crept back in. Ozone led 13-12, finally, in a game hard capped to 14, and were receiving the pull going downwind. Then Chris O'Cleary sent a huck-punt deep. No one was there. Ozone came with hard, intense defense but could not come up with plastic. Fury scored upwind to tie 14-14. Suddenly, in a game led comfortably throughout by Ozone turned into do-or-die. Fury came out in zone. Ozone put in their handle squad. 10 passes. 20 passes. 30 passes. 40-50-60-70....an amazing run. Forward 10 yards, back 5, forward 5, back 10, forward 20, back 5. No turnover. Fury would not give up an easy goal. Ozone would not risk a throwaway. Handle handle handle. 80 passes. The crowd was awed. Ozone finally got to within 5 yards of the game and....made a mistake. They called timeout. I related this fact to some masters after the game and un unison they went "awwwwww!'. It could have been a bad move to stop the offensive flow. How many times have you seen a turnover right after a timeout? I counted maybe 5-6 today alone.

Fury came out in man-t0-man defense and JD read a swing pass the whole way. She launched through the disc and suddenly the game was Fury's to win. In a heartbeat, after the slow zone crawl of Ozone that lasted maybe 10 minutes, Fury was in position to score and finish an amazing comeback. But they could not convert. But Ozone could not keep possession as a swing sailed too long in their own endzone. The majic was gone. Fury scored when JD threw a long lead pass on a high stall count. Game over, to Fury, 14-13.

How about another upset? Fury versus Women on the Verge in semis. Fury kept it loose, kept it relaxing, joked on the sideline and in the game. Verge was tense. Fury's even-handed temperance, like Schwa's, won them the day. Verge made uncharacteristic drops. Fury ran hard and played tight. And for Verge, it was a tragic day. Nicole Shephard collided with another player and an ambulance was called in. I have no report on her condition right now, but we will try to get back on that.

After the delay, Fury regained the momentum while Verge wilted. Fury won in another capped game, 16-12 i believe. It was yet another seemingly impossible loss for Verge, a team that had beaten Fury several times this year.

So in the finals are two cinderella teams. Fury, a first time Nationals team, and Schwa, a team that did not qualify last year and had lost 9 players in the offseason. What a great day for the sport. There were amazing games of Ultimate played today.

To recap quarters, Fury d Ozone 14-13, Schwa went on a 4 goal run against Nemesis, the Nemesis went on a 6 goal run to take a late lead, then Schwa strung together 7 in a row (!) to win 14-10. Godiva defeated Rare Air by 7 or so, and Verge beat Philly by a similar margin.

OPEN DAY 3 - QUARTERS AND SEMIS

Before I wander into wanton analytical territory again, let me proceed with the facts. DoG will be playing in tomorrow's final for the 6th year in a row. I am sure many people suspected that to be the case.

DoG will, in fact, be playing a rematch of last year when they face the Condors. The Condors, to be sure, are thrilled to face Boston again. "I've been thinking about this game since Mooney caught that final goal against us last year" said Steve Dugan, captain of the Condors.

That game will be a good one, have no fear. But can it live up to the games of the past two days? And today especially, for one team in particular, was an thrill-a-minute rollercoaster of Ultimate to the delight of fans and spectators.

Furious George, those crazed Canadians, lived up to their billing as the most exciting team in Ultimate today. It all started 9am with another tangle between Furious and Jam. The last time they played was a little less than a month ago at Regionals, and Furious watched as their 16-12 lead, game to 17, turned into a 21-20 squeaker. Jam wanted revenge today and they almost, almost got it.

First half: all Jam. They outsmarted Furious by playing zone and by stopping the huck, and then baiting the huck with Big Jim Schoettler back deep to swat 'em away . Jam took half 8-4. Jam scored the first point after half. Jam was all jelly groove smooth. And then they became....satisfied. They lost their hunger at 12-8. A comfortable late game lead for a team playing well. A solid, pro team like Jam could score 3 before Furious scored 7. Or so they thought. Let it be a lesson: never let your guard down.

Furious made adjustments by stepping it up physically. They became more vocal, more hard-nosed, more intense. Cruikshank led the charge. Shelty caught a deep pass and stood 10 yards from a score to increase Jam's lead to 13-10. But Cruikshank hung on him like an alleycat in a backyard fight. He bodied Shelty, pushed him, pushed him back, bodied him some more, stopped his throws. Many fouls were called and it looked tense for a minute. Twice Shelty got off a forehand that was defended and brought back on a foul call from Cruikshank's mark. The third time, no foul, but someone on Furious got the block in the endzone. They scored on a big pinpoint put to the sweeping Mike Grant and the game was on.

Furious had the momentum and Jam felt the pressure. The pressure to win, the pressure to beat those pesky Canadians, the pressure of years of San Francisco futility when they thought they had the best team. Furious just started to play better and every turnover made by Jam fueled the monkey's anger.

Tied at 13's. Momentum arrrow pointing north, to Vancouver. But Jam's offense only had to score the next two times they touched the disc. They couldn't. Furious came with a zone and Jam let one slip up high and it carried up and away to Mike Grant. On a high count, Cruikshank threw a stall nine ill-advised hooking forehand crossfield for the score. Big point for them. 14-13 Furious, but Jam would be receiving and going downwind.

Meanwhile, on the adjacent field, Sub Zero had scored downwind to take a 13-12 lead, cap at 14. They were pulling to BoG. A mirrir image of this game, happening at the exact same moment. Weird, huh? More than a few confused spectators were trying to watch both....but then Jam threw the disc into the ground. The last turnover they would make this weekend. As if they were prepared for this unfortunate event, Jam immediately sprung into zone formation. Furious had 25 yards to the endzone. They swung the disc, moved slowly, and then Cruikshank again, I think, hung another looper to the endzone...caught by Mitch 'Space' Scott for the goal and the game.

I picked Sub Zero to beat BoG. I had a feeling that BoG wouldn't be able to muster enough emotion to take down a team they had little knowledge of. BoG was the type to play their best against the old guard teams like Jam and New York. They eventually found their fire against Sub Zero, but they just could not quite find the right level of groove. Receiving the disc with the chance to tie, Sub Zero put on a tough mark, Mark 'Paco' Enright saw where the thrower wanted to put the disc, he charged, although shielded from the disc by another player, and layed it out for the catch-block five yards from the goalline. Timeout, timein, a few swings, and turnover. BoG gets it, looks underneath, turfs it- but Greg Shiring got his fingers under the rim before it hit - or did he? Was it up or down? Observer rules down. Big call. SZ picks up disc and scores, Grady to Turtle. Semis for them.

Condors versus Ring? Could've been more of a amatch. Condors went up early, Ring rallied to close at 7-6, condors took half 8-6. Condors took game 15-8. Ring never got it going. They did not have a good season this year and Nationals for them was not what they had hoped.

DoG versus Houston could have been a macth. But the teams do not match up well. DoG is too smart to fall for Harriford's poach defenses and they have players that can guard Damien and Pony. Houston knew it wasn't going to be asy. But it got even harder when Harriford went down with an ankle injury. He a little hobbled all weekend, in fact. He hits the ground almost 10 times a game, and that can add up at the end of a tournament. He never got a chance to rest. He was pretty banged up by the time he headed for the sidelines. DoG was in charge, and won easily.

So for semis it was DoG versus Furious and Condors facing Sub Zero. For many of the Sub Zero players it was the thousandth time they've faced those guys without a win. What could they do today to make things differently? Not enough, it turns out. The game was tight throughout and finally knotted at 10's. But the Condors just had better offensive percentage, they scored too consistently.

Sub Zero, for the 5th time in as many games, was right there at the end of the game. In fact, I think their most lopsided loss at Nationals (and they had 3 losses) was by 4, and each time they gave up the final 2-3 points. They still have not learned how to value the disc at the end of games. It happened again here, as a 15-14 Condor lead was increased on a turnover connection huck to Jason Seidler. 16-14. Then with Sub Zero working upwind in an effort to tie, Hollywood got a foot block in the cup. They scored easily and Sub Zero's hopes for a Finals appearance were dashed.

The game of the tournament in the Open division was the much anticipated DoG-Furious match. Furious, we know is 4-0 against DoG in the past two years, outside of Nationals competition. They are 0-1 at Nationals. They can beat DoG, but can they beat them with all the pressure and Finals at stake? Could they overcome DoGs mastery of pacing, timing, and emotions?

For all the world, Furious did not seem to care. They ran and dove and hucked and scoobered and yelled and celebrated and did as they always do - win. The first half at least belonged to them after two ugly DoG turnovers, 9-7. Furious was upbeat, but cautious. DoG looked worried, shaken. Is that possible? I wondered myself. But sure enough, guru Mooney set the tone for DoG in the second half. With his calming, hypnotic voice or reason, he told them this could be the last game they played this season and that they better as hell get it together and win this game to play another. He also said a whole bunch more cool stuff but I am too tired to look it up in my notebook.

So second half, Furious receiving, but DoG scores. Or I don't know, let's just skip ahead to, wait, this quote is kinda funny when I asked Mooney what he said in the halftime huddle, "well, I guess it's over," he says drily, "that was a good run while it lasted.". That just shows what a grasp this team has on the nature of Ultimate. Levity at the right time.

So DoG creeps back in. 10-9, 11-10, then they tie at 11s and here we go. Furious up 12-11, then 13-12. Then Forch cacthes one, 13-13. Teams playing intense now and solid. Boston slips ahead on a turnover, 15-14. Then huge pointfor DoG Brian to Seeger. 16-14. DoG possession of the disc. Furious marches against the zone, now game point for DoG, and they turn it over when John Bar blocks a scoober. But DoG drops the disc and Furious scores to make it 16-15. DoG receives, drives downwind and they get it to their bread and butter, Forch. But he's not in the endzone, so maybe that's why he bobbled and dropped the disc like a bad first date. Furious took the disc and moved up with a chance to score. Cruikshank sent one up the line for Mike Ennis and it looked like they would tie the game but the disc was just out of his diving reach. It would be a miracle for Forch, because three passes later, Alex de Frondeillve sent the disc up and away to a guarded Forch in the endzone. Forch is a speedy little guy and he ran it down with a layout grab and the game was DoG's and blessed Forch's. 17-15. A truly great game and a well-earned victory for Death or Glory, who are, in fact, very much alive.

But will they look past the Condors tomorrow? Santa Barbara has been waiting one full year for revenge. DoG is looking towards destiny as the greatest team in the history of the sport - will the stars get in their eyes?

Makes ya think, huh? Well anyway, it's all true what you've read here. Really.

WOMEN - FINALS

What a couple of fun teams with a lot of game. Fury, from San Francisco, is a third-year team with a lot of relatively new club-level talent. Schwa is a team that lost 9 women in the offseason and filled the roster with young Oregon players. These two teams are the antithesis of the old guard. They do not have the talent of Verge or the roster of Godiva (but they have a lot of talent to be sure).

What they have is a lot of guts, a lot of good spirit, and young, fast impressionable players. Fury had an extra advantage. Gloria Lust-Phillips, or Glo, has been playing for a long time and has won er share of National Championships. Kimber Zabora, Jennifer Donnelly and Maya Conrad (and others I am sure I have forgotten) have all won before, and that experience (add a coach in there too) took them over the top.

It wasn't a good first half for Schwa. They were not playing bad, but they were consistently throwing the disc away in key situations. They did not have their groove. Fury started racking up points in a hurry. Capitalizing on turnovers, but playing without making them themselves, Fury Stretched a 4-3 lead to a 9-3 half. When they scored starting the half to make it a seven-point game, it looked all over for Schwa.

But Schwa stepped it up. They got on the board finally (after Fury's six-goal run) and scored, then started to get some defensive stops, and some throwaways out of Fury finally. Recaling the six-goal stretch Nemesis scored on them, which followed with a six-goal run of their own.

Indeed, things started to happen. 10-3 turned to 11-9 and the game was on. But still, something was missing in Schwa's run. As remarkable as it was, it could have been better. They were still missing opportunities. Fury, for their part, stayed tough. They didn't get worried because they knew how Schwa can play and they trusted themselves to stay with their offense.

So while Schwa got hot, Fury stayed cool. The seven-goal cushion certainly helped. Schwa could never quite make it up. They kept making mistakes, unlike the perfect final three points they played to beat Godiva yesterday. It came down to 14-12, Fury, in a game hard-capped at 15. Again Schwa had the disc to score and close within one, but they just could not make it happen. Fury won 15-12.

So for the first time in 5 years (or 4?) we have a new champion in the women's divisiosn, a young champion, a team that didn't win a single tournament all year except for Nationals. Sometimes it's just better that way.

tony L

OPEN – FINALS

You already know that DoG has accomplished what they set out to do. With no slight to the Condors, DoG pegged their intense game with Furious George as the real match for them. Today's game was another near-perfect match for them. They did not beat their own record of three turnovers, set against Sockeye in 96 (in a 21-point game) but they came within one, giving only 4 discs to the opposition, only one in the second half.

The Condors played a great game. Huge skies from Chris Gavigan, beautiful handling and hucks from Studarus, solid play from everyone. But they could not get what DoG regarded as rightfully theirs - the National Championship.

It is no secret that many on Death or Glory were looking towards the day when they would best NYNY's record of five Championships in a row, and six total. Now they can say that they are the best team ever in the young history of our sport with six straight under their belt.

But that is not what this year's team was all about. Guru Mooney had this beefed-up DoG squad (25 players) focused on being the first year for a new team. Indeed, it may be true, for the 6 young players that played with them this year contrubited greatly to the tournament, and none of them more than Fortunat Mueller, the 5'8'' dynamo who made his presence felt in finals.

The Condors knew all about Forch ("he must've scored 15 goals against us at Worlds" said one) but they couldn't stop him. Like he has done every game, Forch rose up to the occasion with several crowd-grasping skies for goals. No one could stop him.

But it was DoG's intensity and focus that won this game. There was NO downtime, no relaxing, not a second that DoG was not in the game. Their huge sideline patrolled the lines when they were not in the game, instructing their defenders where to look for the Condors. They whistled, yelled, celebrated every point. They wanted this game and all their hard training through the season was for this game.

It started off in the Condors favor. Santa Barbara went up 2-1, then traded to 3-2. They were psyched, pumped-up, and ready to play, ready to become the next Champions. But they did not have as much experience and perfection on their side and every turnover cost them. The game progressed to 6-6, with DoG having won a break. Then at 7-6 DoG, the Condors made a mistake when Studarus sent one deep but the man broke off the cut. DoG capitalized and gained an edge 8-6. Condors scored to 8-7, but then for the half, the Condors sailed the pull out near the 10 yard line and it never came in. DoG scored easily for half, 9-7.

And scored after half too after the Condors were rusty and gave up two discs. DoG scored the break, up 10-7. The Condors do not give up and never let up. They don't change their game, they are not affected by head game, they play their best Ultimate when it counts and they did that today. The game crept to 12-10 with DoG's disc. Then one of those incredible Forch catches, as Stefan, not normally a thrower ("if you think about it, it doesn't work" he said later) sent a big looping forehand to a covered Forch. Somehow, in the sun, he rose up early (because his defender did) and hung in the air longer than anyone could have guessed and landed with the disc. The grab was so amazing that it might have unnerved the Condors ever-so-slightly. They got stuck moving the disc up the sideline on the next possession and threw a high floater, which Paul Greff skied easily. DoG scored, 14-10.

From there it was a matter of closing out the game to 17. It wasn't too difficult because, as I mentioned above, they never stopped focusing on every pass, every cut, every minute. DoG won 17-12.

6 National Championships. Greff is having a cheesesteak after the game. Mooney is with his kids tonite. Forch has a test Monday morning 11am that he will skip. Billy Rodriguez now has 11 straight championships. The numbers are all there. 1999 was DoG's year and no one was going to stop them.

These were written nightly and posted to Rec.Sport.Disc.

ARCHIVE HOME

1996–1998 • 1999–2000 • 2001–2003 • 2004–2005

OTHER LINKS