1999 COLLEGE NATIONALS:
RSD POSTS FROM THE FIELD SITE

FRIDAY

It's a new Nationals this year but the results in the first round have been fairly predictable. Play hasn't been unexceptional nor the matchups weak, rather almost all of the seedings held. But the action has been splendid, thanks to the Experimental Rules which quicken games, and the talent pool at this year's tournament. It's widely regarded that five Open teams have a shot at the title, and three Women's.

The biggest game of the day was touted as Carleton vs Colorado (4 Vs 5 seed) in the Open division. The Denver Post came to cover the game and the CU campus newspaper quoted Colorado with "we're going to crush them like a supermodel." But it was really the Carleton women who brought out the best game of the day in their 1:30 showdown with no.2 seed British Columbia.

UBC is stacked. Six players moonlight with talented 'Touring Team' Goo. They have impressive height, impressive throws, and a lot of energy. Those factors were too much for Syzygy who rely on mental toughness, grit, and tough defense. UBC lead 14-12 in a game to 15. They were playing comfortably and sharp. But suddenly the Carleton Men surrounded the sidelines as roars of support for the Minnesotans blanketed the field. Carleton scored and then capitalized on the surge of adrenaline to convert a UBC giveaway and tie the game at 14s.

Carleton put in one more before UBC got on track and tied at 15s. Syzygy responded, pushing ahead on UBC miscues to go ahead 16-15. But UBC's Kami Guerrier stroked a 40 yard crossfield backhand for a score and it was tied at 16s, next point wins.

On the next point, UBC failed at several chances to work the disc upfield after Carleton turnovers. The UBC offense tightened under the pressure of the game. Carleton finally worked it up and in to Mizu Kinney for the final score as the Carleton faithful stormed the field.

It was a splendid, well-played game. Both teams made huge grabs and pretty throws.

Carleton Coach Lou Burruss, "I feel that this is a three-team tournament and we just made the other two teams play each other"

It was a big win for Syzygy. In all likelihood, the UBC loss sends them though powerhouse Stanford to make finals while Carleton will play either San Diego, Georgia, or Swarthmore.

Back to Colorado Vs Carleton in the Open division. Carleton put the disc up, up in the air the entire game. Big backhands and forehands to their core of talented big men who know how to get up and stay up. That they did, reeling in 75% of CUTs points and demoralizing a pumped home team. Carleton never stopped hucking and never stopped scoring and they won 15–10.

Three-time defending champs UCSB crushed all comers as usual, playing bad boys and enjoying the comfort of an all grad-student and senior lineup. They flustered UCSC 15 - 5 and earned a few team misconduct penalties in the process.

"It's too easy!" castigated UCSB's James Studarus after a big score. They have the attitude and the confidence. Who will put them in their place?

Brown had to play some long matches, giving up 8 points to Rice and 10 to Michigan. Still they won their pool and will avoid matching up with UCSB in semis, instead going through UCSC and then NC State or Colorado. There's a rumor that star Justin Safdie is injured and may not be able to play to his best abilities. If it's true, Brown will have a difficult time getting to the finals.

NC State kept their cool, playing as expected to seed. They stayed ahead of Stanford by two all game to win 15 - 13 and take the pool. But they also gave up 12 points to a resilient Oberlin team. They start off tomorrow at 1:30 with a likely match against hometown Colorado. The teams match up well. It will be a great game.

On the women's side, Brown enacted revenge on rival Ivy Leaguer Yale, winning 15 - 10 in the first game of the day. The young Brown team remains in the hunt but face a brutal Saturday, starting with Carleton at 8:30 and following with UBC at 11:30. An upset there will muck up the pool pretty good.

Yale's Ramona lost the opening game last year and stormed back to qualify for semis. They could do it again, catching UBC off-guard in the opening round or nabbing Carleton in the last round.

Stanford cruised, crushing an exhausted and understaffed Georgia team. They had little difficulty today, but face number 5 seed UCSD tomorrow morning. UCSD also looked impressive. In all likelihood they will be able to defeat a tired Georgia team in Saturday's last game, but must get by upstarts Swarthmore in the afternoon.

Swarthmore almost continued their 10 game unbeaten streak. They led most of the way against Georgia in the opening round, but gave away the disc too many times, allowing Georgia's big forehands to connect for scores. The Nationals' experience of the 'Dawgs allowed them to pull out the tough, to-the-wire match 15-13.

It's going to be a long day for all teams, as the three-game schedule will test who can keep themselves psyched up to push through pool play towards a 1-2 finish. This kind of scheduling has proven unexciting and ineffective in light of the new format for the Open division.

In the 16-team Open schedule format, 1 Vs 2 matchups in pool play occur in the last game of Friday play. The top team from each of four pools gets a bye for tomorrow, while second and third play crossover qualifying matches for the right to advance to the Quarters. In this way each game builds towards a sudden-death playoffs where it's win and advance or drop down to a consolation bracket. Each game is bigger than the last.

The sun shined all day and the wind was not a factor. The afternoon squalls, common to Boulder, failed to arrive and the fans and games benefited. Everything was run fairly smoothly for the tournament and the Observers did just that – Observed. There were few incidents and Spirit was higher than ever.

Notable sightings included RSD fireheads Mike G and The Rev sharing a post-tournament table, chatting with mover and shaker Charles Kerr. Turns out The Rev is actually just as annoying and entertaining a heckler as Mike G.

Also - the discs and shirts look swell, the water supplies were nice, and Jockey banners decked the tents. What is going on with Ultimate? Are we too legit too quit? Well, shucks, it's all about the kids, right?

SATURDAY

It's High Noon in Boulder. Clouds creeped over the Rockies and started flinging a few bolts around, causing the tournament to be delayed. However, the rain is sparse and the clouds look like they have finished dicking around like teenagers and are moving on to the Plains for some more fun, maybe even whip up a few tornadoes.

Anyway, it looks like it'll be a 20 minute delay for the passing clouds to settle down.

Still, I have a vicious Teva burn and my neck looks like a tamale. I applied three times yesterday. Tomorrow I dress as Lawrence of Arabia.

The news of the day so far is Yale Ramona pulling off the upset over British Columbia in the women's division. They opened the game with an 8 -1 run and withstood the BC surge to win 15 - 12. The tight-knit play of Yale's senior core helped them win.

So, the loss means that Brown has a an excellent chance of making semis. They are playing UBC right now, after losing to Carleton 15–11 in the first game. But savvy Brown coach Lori Parham knew that the game that mattered was the one playing now, so she subbed frequently against Carleton and kept her players fresh and focused on UBC.

The grid comes out like this: UBC must win by 4 points or more and they are in. Brown wins, or loses by 3 and they make semis. Yale once again may have unwittingly helped their fellow Northeasterners. They must beat Carleton in the final round of the day to advance.

It had initially looked like Yale might be in bad shape for their final pool game with Carleton. But the rain delay may help them rejuvenate. Carleton's fans will be at fever pitch for that game, no doubt. It should be a good match.

The men haven't really tangled up much. Quarters starts in an hour or so, featuring UCSB versus UNC, Carleton Vs Stanford, NC State versus Colorado (should be a nice game!) and Brown versus UCSC.

UNC–Chapel Hill used a little North Carolina attitude to propel them past a tough Michigan team. Ray Parrish scored often for the Darkside, rising up into the air for big grabs and a few choice comments for the defenders. He led the team to a come-from-behind victory, as the scored 6 of the last 7 points in the game to win 15–12. Apparently UNC learned some aggressiveness and attitude from ECU at Regionals.

Cornell, despite missing several seniors to graduation weekend, played the rest of their well-integrated team to great effect, taking UCSC to 15–12. Yale did the same, keeping within 2 or 3 goals of Stanford all game before losing by the same score.

Cornell is griping about not being able to watch Semis if they win their consolation game against Salisbury Steak. It could be the only drawback in the new tournament format.

All the games are being held at the Pleasantview Soccer Complex in Boulder. Jon and Mark Driver are organizing the shindig and things are running fairly smooth. No streaking yet.

Final Round Scores (grid to came later)

–Tony L.

Women
Stanford 15 UCSD 7
Georgia 15 Illinois 6
UBC 12 Yale 15
Carleton 15 Brown 11
Swarthmore 15 Kansas 6
Princeton W Minnesota L

Open
Umich 11 UNC-CH 15
Stanford 15 Yale 12
Colorado 15 Iowa 10?
UCSC 15 Cornell 12

SUNDAY

It's almost 11:00 on Saturday and the finals are all set, about t start in 30 minutes for the Men.

Quickly, here's the story.

Yesterday was quite a trip in the women's division. UBC and Brown tangled before and after the rain delay. UBC had to win by 4 or more to earn a birth to semis, or hope that Yale could knock off Carleton.

Brown stuck it out however, and the game was even at 7's. UBC slowly pulled ahead. Game point actually came at 13-10 in a very tense moment. The game was capped, UBC had to score to win 14 – 10. If Brown scored to make it 13-11, then the margin of victory for UBC could at most be 3 points - not enough. Several turnovers by both teams contributed to the atmosphere. But Brown worked very patiently on offense while UBC seemed a step or two behind. Finally, they put the disc in.

UBC was shattered. They knew they would not be playing on Sunday. Still, the game wasn't over. Brown rode the momentum to tie at 13s before UBC stuck together and won 14-13.

Brown was going to advance. UBC wore their hearts on their sleeves and were visibly upset. They played a great game.

Yale gave Carleton a game, but the slim numbers and exhaustion factor in the third game of the day meant Yale could not keep Carleton from scoring. They fought hard however, before bowing out by 5 or 6.

In the other pool, he excitement continued. UCSD handled Swarthmore easily, setting up a final pool game with 4 seed Georgia for the rights to Semis. The teams have played each other several times this season and were copacetic. The game was point-for-point throughout. Finally, capped at 13, and tied at 12's, Georgia fired in the point on one f their patented forehands and they were going to Sunday.

So the semis were Stanford versus upstart Brown and Carleton versus Georgia.

Today, Stanford crushed Brown 15 - 2. Right now, Carleton has a 13 – 6 edge on Georgia and it looks like a rematch of last year is in the making.

ON the men's side, a fired-up NC State squad was the team of the day yesterday. They jumped out of the gates in quarters against Colorado, taking a 3-1 lead that they never relinquished. Their intensity only fed more intensity as players came down with long discs and a N.C. faithful sideline burst into cheers. Colorado, on their part, played badly. Several dropped discs, throwaways and the like prevented them from mounting a serious comeback. They may have been a little pressured and tight playing for the hometown. NC State won 15 - 10.

And came out again on fire. Semis, versus Brown, whom they had lost to twice this year, the last one a 15-8 pasting in the finals of College Easterns. But this game was all NC State. "Rev up the buzzsaw" is their motto and that they did. Brown looked hang-dog all game, hoping to "play their game" and not be affected by the higher level of play exhibited by NC State.

Little big men Patrick Hard and Brian Lang really rose to the occasion for the Jinx, as did Chris Hinkle and Kevin Kusy. Big score followed big score for NC. They crushed Brown who never seemed to get out of second gear and made several uncharacteristic turnovers. The final was 15-8. NC State going to the finals!

UCSB cruised by UNC in quarters, while UCSC took Brown to a test before losing 15-12. The other quarter was Carleton versus Stanford. A great game - the wind had picked up and was swirling, preventing CUT from throwing to their big men like they did against Colorado. Stanford had several chance to tie at 13, but could not. Carleton eked out the win 15-13.

Carleton Vs UCSB in the other semi. UCSB out-muscled and zoned Carleton to death. It looked exactly like last year's matchup or even a Condor–Sub Zero game. UCSB was confident, cocky, and dominant and Carleton resorted to a lame offense that looked more like a drill. They were clobbered.... in the first half.

It was 8 – 3 at half time. But the second half - well, it really was a different Carleton team this year. They got on track and starting putting discs in the air. At 12-8, a three goal run put them right in the game and gave them momentum. But UCSB, as they do so well, scored on a couple of big upwind hucks to stem the CUT swell. Still the game was tight at 13 - 11 and 14 - 12, before UCSB finally ended it 15 - 13. Carleton was just in too deep a hole to pull out the win against a non-choking Pro team like UCSB.

So finals, about to happen now are UCSB versus NC State. In two hours the women start with Stanford and Carleton.

Earlier today, Michigan faced off against Iowa in the B pool finals for 9th place. The teams were tight throughout with no one getting ahead by more than 3. Michigan finally pulled out the gritty win in OT, 16-14. The team chanted "we're number 9" and touted the fact that they were undefeated in Sunday play at Nationals.

I got pulled over yesterday for making an illegal U-turn and had to walk the line. I showed those cops who was who however and used my Ultimate experience to walk the line, dance, and jaw with the cops. No ticket for me. Hah.

Another post from finals if we are lucky.

These were written and posted directly to Rec.Sport.Disc from the fields, usually a little bit after play had ended. I had brought my laptop to Boulder and was able to plug in at a mini-HQ area and upload the dailies. Under my suggestion, the UPA contracts at the time stipulated that I post to RSD daily.

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