Mixed Final
Mischef vs. Slow White
Story by Bil Elsinger

Early Sunday morning finds a few stragglers at the field and two first time finalists. Mischief should be here (seeded No.2 overall originally), and many prognosticators had penciled Slow White into the finals (although they came in seeded No.5). Slow White represents the lone 2006 Club Championship non-Northwest finalists; they are the rest of the nation's last hope to prove that there is worthwhile Ultimate happening somewhere else in the country. Just kidding about that. There are a lot of wonderful players and teams from all of the regions. Those folks will trickle in as fans, and as the day progresses will probably hit their maximum numbers by the beginning of the Open final.

Slow White and Mischief should be a great match-up. Both teams love to run to the disc in hopes of getting the quick, long bomb off on conversions. Both teams have been accused of under-using their women. Both teams have some big throwers and big receivers. As Kevin Smith of Mischief indicates, "Our styles of play are pretty similar. It'll be a shoot-out."
The weather is fine. Not too warm, and as is normal in the early morning, the wind isn't as heavy. Kyle Smith of Mischief: "There's less wind today which gives everyone more of an opportunity to showcase their athleticism and skill." It is still fairly upwind-downwind, and gusts a bit.

This is the second meeting of the two teams this tournament, as Mischief beat Slow White in Pool Play. Jasper Hoitsma, "In order for us to win, it will be about composure and our offense being consistent. Our offense was broken three times against Mischief [in our last game]. That's the first time all season that they've been broken that many times." Slow White's offense has done a great job all tournament, but their defensive line's offense is deadly, often getting one strike shots for conversions. "We are a momentum team. We're very emotional," comments Jasper. The energy that comes off of the Slow White sidelines definitely reflects this. They are clearly very excited to be here and show a lot of emotion when they're doing well. Mischief, on the other hand, is a bit quieter. They seem to be fairly up-beat, but not aggressively so. Of course, they've won every game, so maybe each win isn't a big surprise to them. In their last game, Slow White was up 8-6, but as Jasper noted, lost several in a row and then went on to lose 15-13.

As the game starts, Mischief stands on the upwind side, facing the crow's nest. Slow White's Mike Miller pulls. Mischief starts off with a deep throw to Tyler Grant (who in previous games seemed to be involved in every other big play, although he is definitely quieter today, in the sense of being involved in only one third of the plays) and there's a little contact and the disc goes back. A couple of throws later, and Mischief uses their women as Mark Smith throws the goal to Jess Fortin with a fairly efficient and careful offense. 1-0.

Kevin Smith pulls upwind for Mischief. Slow White goes into their spread offense. One guy to another (Teddy Browar-Jarus) to the third guy (Dan Patisteas). It's their regular offense as two women immediately drop to the outside of the field, the three handlers are flat, and everyone waits for a single up field male cutter to get open deep. 1-1.

Miller pulls again (OB) and both teams playing person. A couple quick throws and Jess Fortin looks up the line for Tyler Grant sprinting into the end zone. The disc never comes back in, and White's Miller walks it up to the 15. A dump near the end zone results in a wasted upwind opportunity, but Mischief turns back on a cross field attempt. Slow White throws directly to Mischief defender Beth Liebert. Tyler Grant takes a soft hammer to David Pickett.

Wade Hellner pulls for Mischief. Jasper Hoitsma drops a swing five-yards from Slow White's own end zone and Mischief takes a time out in hopes of getting the first break. Hellner has the disc on right side of the field, and off of called play throws too low. Slow White goes up BIG over Mischief's defenders as Teddy Brower-Jarus grabs the turn, puts the full field and Dan Patisteas elevates. Mischief loves this play off the conversion, so it is interesting to see it used against them. 2-2.

Mischief goes four women downwind (just like they did much of yesterday), and one of them, Crystal Cook hucks it deep to another, but to no avail. Two Slow White women touch the disc in a row on the upwind, but it comes back to the first on a call. Slow then turns three-yards out, unforced break mark and on a break mark and Mischief takes the quick forehand from Mark Smith to David Pickett. 3-2.

Mischief is forcing forehand, and Hoitsma drops again on a swing at the 20. Mark Smith hits a leaping Kyle Smith who overthrows to Will Goodyear and Mischief has an upwind break. 4-2.
Slow White again turns in the middle of the field off of an execution error, but Mischief gives it right back. They're still fairly close to Slow White's goal. There's some extra clogging in the middle as the Slow White O looks to move the disc up with shorter cuts and throw (going upwind), and eventually there's another execution error. A Mischief hammer off of a stopped disc turns over on the line. Mischief's Wade Hellner lays out in the middle of the field to get a hand on a disc mid flight, but Mischief fails to value the disc. Hellner then gets the handblock on Hoitsma, and Tyler Grant connects with Adam Brown and we're at 5-2. Slow White has definitely commented a couple times about needing to be up to be successful. They aren't in that position now, and things look dire. Mischief is taking advantage of some good field position and definitely is playing a better possession game then in previous days.

Jasper Hoitsma, who is a large part of Slow White's offense and has been struggling so far, gets back on his horse and throws an early huck to Dan Patisteas. 5-3.

Mischief is playing a flat stack too, using their woman as the middle reset, and Mark Smith puts the disc out in front of Tyler Grant who runs it down for 6-3.

Slow White changes their offense up a bit and take several short throws and work it down the field to Steve Sullivan who takes a short throw to Teddy Jasper-Browus for 6-4. Mischief is forcing forehand, which this point is mostly up the line.

Mischief throws a blading huck that turns. Interestingly, Mischief has the bladiest hucks of any finalist teams that I've ever seen. They are able to back up those throws with some stiff defense. Teddy Brower-Jarus threw a long lefty up field, but to no avail. Mischief takes several throws on the line against a forehand force, and then ends with two breaks as Beth Liebert to Lori Eich as Mischief threatens to take half, 7-4.

Slow White drops an easy mid length pass, and Mischief has a look for half, but then Hellner looks off an open women, then tries to force a backhand break and throws it into the ground. The gods of mixed smile sardonically. Jasper Hoitsma gets a piece of the disc as Mischief tries to break with a huck from their own end zone, and it comes back to that line. Slow White's Brower-Jarus takes a high backhand break to Steve Sullivan after a couple dumps. 7-5.

Mischief works it up the field, all forehands up the line as Slow White doesn't stop the strong side march. Tyler Grant to Mark Smith as Mischief takes the half, 8-5, and Mischief is really valuing the disc.

Slow White has had some unforced turnovers this half, and Mischief has been surprisingly conservative in their looks. They're run fairly efficiently against what has previously been a fairly tough Slow White defense. Slow White is not used to coming back. Mischief, on the other hand, has had a couple tough games and has shown that they can grit it out.

Mischief pulls out of halftime, and Slow White goes to the long game, Mischief's Adam Brown gets the deep D off of an under thrown huck. Mischief's Mark Smith falls forward after a forehand that the receiver saves, and when he gets it back a few passes later, he jacks it over both the receiver and the defender. Slow White's Matt Greytak tries a greatest off of a long throw and saves field position as the huck down the line doesn't, on its own, come back in. Kevin Smith gets his mid length throw poached on by Rosia Ano. Jasper Hoitsma eventually gets it to Dan Patisteas. 8-6.

Slow White poaches a woman in the lane, Mischief drops, and from the 5 yard line, Mike Miller throws to Evan Patisteas with a short pass to move to within one. 8-7.

Mischief answers very quickly upwind as Kevin Smith hits Tyler Grant with a mid-length forehand over the stack. They get their break back, 9-7.

Chelsea Pollock gets a nice backhand for forty yards to Teddy Brower-Jarus running away and he finishes to Steve Sullivan. 9-8, as the wind doesn't seem to matter, as both teams are running efficiently.

Slow White completely poaches the off side woman, and puts a person in the lane. It looks like it is a match-up zone, but Mischief just goes over the top cross field to Tyler with a hammer, but then Kevin Smith doesn't go to a disc and there's a turn. Chris Farina gets the big go-to layout D for Slow White. Mike Miller takes a one-count huck but under throws and the Mischief defenders are there. Mischief is harder to huck over on the transition than the other teams that Slow White has seen. The disc comes back on a call, Slow White tries to get take a cross-field to a woman, but leaves it up in the air and a Smith Bro. comes in and gets it. Slow is definitely zoning, but they are leaving the far side of the field really open, and Mischief has the throws to take it all the way across. Kevin Smith's backhand hits Lori Eich over the zone. 10-8. At times it doesn't look like a pure zone, but it seems that it is a 2-3-2.

Slow White gets a little sloppy on a short upwind to a lady (drop), and Mischief brings it back down the field, Kyle Smith to co-captain Brynn Speizer for 11-8.

Slow White shows a lot of patience on offense, and eventually Steve Sullivan finds Dan Patistea in cross field break. 11-9.

Slow White is zoning downwind, and it works out as a Kyle Smith backhand is far too short. Slow White works it looking for their big. Mike Miller gets that look and takes it over the top to Evan Patisteas, a few folks gathering around the receiver, but Evan coming down with it. Slow White's confidence in their receivers remains, and they are still in it. 11-10.

Slow White's zone is far too loose for it to be effective as a zone, although Kevin Smith puts it up deep, Evan Patisteas gets a hand on the D, but only macks it, and Lori Eich, following, gladly takes the slop for 12-10. Mischief.

Chelsea Pawlek tries the inside out to another lady, but it turns, and Mischief luckily has an extra woman on the far side to pick up a floater that goes over the intended receiver, but they turn as an observer calls a swing OB and Slow White works it back up. Rosie Ano and Brynne Speizer (Mischief) both go to a disc in the middle of the field, a foul is called, the observer overrules. A few throws later, Dan Patiesteas gets up in the end zone for a D, and Slow has to work back up the field. They start with flat handlers and a vertical stack that quickly goes horizontal. They then run a lot of cuts to the forehand side, Brower-Jarus tries a throw to Patisteas, but it gets D-ed by Mischief in the end zone and Mischief takes a time on their own end zone line. It's a slightly more interesting point, if by "interesting" you mean "lots of turns". Mischief gets the huck that they want, but one of the Patisteas twins (Dan) gets the high D. Slow White's Teddy Brower-Jarus gets a nice lefty break, but then there's a turn and Mischief puts one out in front of Adam Brown who runs down the throw. 13-10.

Slow's Brower-Jarus has to lay out backwards to try to save a blading huck. Mischief blades back on basically the same throw. A desperation throw from Chelsea Pawlek is saved by Dan Patisteas, but there's a pick. Then, Chelsea attempts a strong side pass to another woman, but throws too far in front. Mischief does the same thing back (woman to woman, easy throw). Teddy B-J takes a high backhand to Dan Patiestie for the break and the easy score. 13-11.
Slow White's person-D isn't working, so they go to a conventional zone, but there's a lot of space on the field. Success, however, as Mischief turns, unforced, and David Pickett is forced to get the great layout D but has to go off the field for an injury sub. Kat Neal gets a layout D from the zone and Slow White is 15 yards out. A forced break mark attempt, there's an extra defender in that lane, and the Mischief throw scoots along the ground. Mischief is not handling the zone so well. Slow White's huck is misread by all players and it's a long point. Slow White is trapping the sideline, and Mischief seems happy to oblige that trap, and eventually Mischief ‘s Kevin Smith takes a long throw over the Slow White male deep to Lori Eich. 14-11.

Rosie Ano gets a big hand block against Jasper Hoitsma. Kevin Smith puts up a high throw from the 20 over the top of the stack and Paul Youn brings in the game winner. Mischief wins. Mischief wins.

It's an all Northwest sweep, even though only two of the finals have been played. Mischief definitely stepped up today with great focus on maintaining control of the disc. They've gotten better all tournament and it seems that they peaked at the right time.
posted on 10/29/2006 08:31:00 PM

Mixed Day 2
Story by Bil Elsinger
Images by Jason Mechler

Power Pool E. Brass Monkey (1-0), Tandem (1-0), Horse$how (0-1), and Deliverance (0-1).

Power Pool E brings together the two top finishers from Pools A and C. All teams inherit their records against the team coming with them from their pool. The games today are added to that record, and the teams are re-ranked in their power pool at the end of the second round. The three teams with the best records (somewhat simplified explanation) are automatically placed into the bracket play that will begin on Saturday (also known as quarterfinals). The last place team in this power pool will have to play the first place team from one of the lower power pools. In this case, lower power pool H. That game is known as pre-quarters. It's the last chance to lose or gain a place in the brackets.
Brass Monkey and Tandem have a leg up per their 1-0 records against Deliverance and Horse$how, respectively. They need win only one more game to gain a bracket spot, and they could even lose both games and still automatically qualify depending upon the records of the other teams. Deliverance and Horse$how, meanwhile, have an uphill battle to fight. They both want to avoid the pre-quarters game, as well as the seeding that they would get going into Saturday, assuming they win the cross-over.
We'll look at both rounds of the power pools together, as this makes things easier to keep track of. The first round of power pool play sees Brass Monkey taking on one of their regional rivals, Horse$how, in a rematch of last year's finals. Brass Monkey has won all of the meetings between these two teams over the last few years, so there's not a lot of expectation from anyone involved that Horse$how is going to come out of this game the winner. They start off trading fairly easy offensive scores. As they play, the wind picks up, sometimes gusting to 10-15 mph (upwind/downwind, not cross-field). In any case, Horse$how and Brass Monkey trade until threes, at which point Brass Monkey goes on a few point run. As Jeff Flynn notes, "They are playing like champions, they've played perfect offense," which would seem to indicate that Horse$how hasn't. That difference lasts most of the game, with a final score of 15-11.
Tandem and Deliverance are fairly similar teams. Both rely on their men for most of their throws and scoring. Both come from open and women's. They have some big receivers, and they are, barring yesterday's play, fairly unknown. Also, they have broken seed to get here, coming from 14 and 16 respectively. Out of the Deliverance huddle comes the comment, "Are we going to work or wait for someone else to do the job for us?" And to work they go. Although Tandem gets the first break. They go back and forth until 4-4, and Deliverance gets a few breaks in a row, including a Leslie Yen forehand huck to male receiver, and their run continues as they take it to half. Jake Altemus explains the run, "Tandem wants the IO break. We changed our mark from flat to backhand…" Deliverance holds the lead through the end of the game. 15-9, Deliverance.
In the second round of Pool E, Brass Monkey plays Tandem, and Deliverance and Horse$how determine the fate of the pool. Brass Monkey starts off with a break, but then Tandem takes two (imagine that, it takes two) in a row, and the next few points are all downwinds. Tandem is zoning using a fairly standard cup (two women, one man), while Brass Monkey's zone focuses on the line traps, especially of vulnerable throwers. Patrick Hard breaks the Tandem zone with a nice deep throw to Brian Bogle to go up 4-3. Tandem breaks the Monkey zone back with some funky blades up the line, but they don't manage to get all the way to the endzone, and Monkey converts for a two-point lead. A few points later, Monkey drops a pull (on the downwind side, which means that Tandem had just gotten an upwinder), and Tandem scores it, 6-5 Monkey. Tandem switches up their zone a little (it looks like a 1-3-3), but the point differential stays the same. Brass Monkey manages another break, and Tandem never ties as they eventually lose 15-11.
The Horse$how – Deliverance game promises to be a good one. The results will determine the seedings for the three lower seeds in this power pool. If Horse$how wins, Tandem drops down to pre-quarters. If Horse$how loses, they drop down. Horse$how comes out zoning, while Deliverance starts out playing person on. As always, Horse$how relies heavily on their women, who it might be said, like the Gendor women, have sticky sticky hands. Deliverance doesn't play favorites with the wind, as they too zone both directions. "We need to send that #%$" notes a Horse$how player after they turn near their own EZ. Those words seem prophetic when Deliverance scores the upwind several throws, a few calls, and a time out later, 5-3, Deliverance. Deliverance runs a vertical stack, and like several other teams, really works hard to get their many tall men deep looks from male throwers. Horese$how gets a break to get within one after a long long point, 12-11, then put in the downwind gimme. The teams trade downwinds until double game point. Somehow, miraculously, Horse$how manages the final upwind point, giving them the win.

Power Pool F. Mischief (1-0), Slow White (1-0), Gendors (0-1), and Amp(0-1).

Mischief draws the Gendors in their first game. Both teams had some long games yesterday, but the Gendors definitely looked a bit pressed late on Thursday. They take the first point, however. Mischief runs a strictly vertical stack off of many dead discs, and are quick to take the swings across the field. They've been using their women as resets, although the ladies seem to mainly cut in for short gains, and stay out of the deep male receiver's lanes. The Gendors women, meanwhile, get a greater % of their team's yardage. They also are throw more upfield, and seem to have greater responsibility overall. This doesn't mean that the Gendor men don't look for the big boy cuts first, but there's fairly even distribution. Despite the distribution, Mischief goes up 3-1. Deg Shector streaks deep and catches a disc just short of the end zone, quickly throwing the goal to get to 2-3. The next point has the Gendors playing zone with three women in or near the cup. It might be a 1-3-3, although it looks more cuppy than that. The Gendors have been sucked into taking overly risky throws, however, and are out of the lead by as much as five in the first half. Late in the second half, they go on a run as their wind savvy starts to work in their favor, getting to within one, 13-12, before eventually losing 15-12. The wind really picks up in the last part of this game with lots of discs either pushed over into blades, or up, and into floaty swill.
Slow White and Amp both came into the tournament with expectations of higher placement than last year. For Slow White, that expectation has been borne out through Thursday's play. Amp, however, had some trouble yesterday with two one point games. Amp starts up the break, but Slow matches the play to 3-3. Amp is running a flat stack, which in windless conditions gets good deep looks and nice isolations. Neither Slow White's D, nor Amp's O seems to be able to string together enough throws to score, although worrisome indeed is the fact that some of Amp's turns are on their own half of the field. Amp, meanwhile, is dropping one of their female defenders into the lane whenever Slow White has a woman back. This does allow some easy resets, but the poached women don't seem to be contributing much either way. Neither team is being forced into making turns. Slow White's offense, meanwhile, has several powerful vertical cuts from their men and big yardage gains. When it is running smoothly, the speed of the cuts mean that defenders are trailing by a few steps, which in turn makes for fairly safe throws and catches. Amp's O is more about dinking throws back and forth to the dumps until the big throw manifests. In any case, Amp isn't able to find its big throw, and turns near their own endzone, allowing Slow to get a second break, 7-5. Slow White's D gets another break from their flat stack at 12-8. Amp is not able to make up the difference, and the game ends 15-10.
In the second round, Slow White comes into their confrontation with overall No.2 seed confidant and on a roll having had no close games. Mischief is also undefeated, but has had trouble in their games. Slow White seems like an unstoppable force. Mischief seems like a force that could only be stopped by itself. Mischief's risky play has worked out so far, however. Mischief starts out with a zone and Slow White scores downwind without any problem. Slow White also zones, and Mischief has all male handlers, but an overthrow to a deep woman gives Slow the disc back, and their flat stack also turns, and Mischief converts. Mischief sticks with the vertical, although they seem to be having trouble upwind as they're not necessarily the best at cutting under to the disc, and the wind is stopping their hucks. Slow White gets an upwind break to go up 4-2, and build on their lead by taking advantage of a Mischief error with the downwind goal, 5-2. Slow White's Jasper Hoitsma leads their O with some big breaks as Slow are scoring downwind easily, while Mischief seems to be having trouble. Mischief has an interesting upwind strategy. Whenever a turn happens, one of their men sprints to the disc and jacks it. In most cases, the throw blades, floats, and almost always falls short of its mark. In the first half, this works against Mischief. In the second half, however, the chips start to fall into Mischief's knapsack, as errant throws get macked, blades get caught, and Mischief's men start to make the plays. Tyler Grant, in a fairly typical upwind point, lays out for the D, then takes off upfield. Whichever Smith brother is closest runs to the disc, grabs it, and lets off an upwinder that often, Grant has to lay out for. That point gives Mischief their first lead. As the end of the game nears, Mischief runs into trouble with scoring downwind, but Slow White drops even things out, and Mischief goes up by two. They hold on to win, 15-13.
The Gendors and Amp both need the win to avoid the much dreaded pre-quarters game. Amp comes out hucking, to no avail, and the Gendors go up 1-0. The Gendors zone, get the turn, and go up 2-0. They care not for wind direction, as they zone both directions. The Gendors maintain this lead, add another before half, and are up 11-7 when Amp scores an upwind break. Then another, and suddenly we're at 11-11. The crafty Gendors wile their way into another upwinder, and breaks come in pairs thanks to the following downwind, 13-11. The Gendors zone again, but Amp's Marc Stachowski sends the perfect deep throw to a streaking receiver to break the Z in one throw. Pretty. The Gendors finish out the game, 14-12. Amp faces a third game.

Pool G. Mr. Briefcase, Hooray, Bad Larry, Flaming Moe

Coming into today, Mr. Briefcase and Hooray have the best chances of earning the number one spot in this pool, and therefore a chance to play in pre-quarters against Amp. Both inherit their wins against Flaming Moe, and Bad Larry respectively. Bad Larry, meanwhile, is in a tailspin, and Moe requires multiple Briefcase losses, or a three way tie for them to get back into the thick of it. Briefcase adds to Bad Larry's misery with a 15-9 win, and Moe comes out fiery against Hooray. Unfortunately for Moe, the day to be fiery was yesterday, and although they manage convincing wins against both Hooray and Bad Larry, there's no way they can move up unless Mr. Briefcase loses twice. Briefcase wins against Hooray, and takes the pool with a 3-0 record. Moe, undefeated today, goes to the loser brackets.

Pool H. Puppet Regime, Flycoons, Rival, Salsa Police

Puppet smokes Rival 15-8. Flycoons, who win in the least needed observer request of the day category, beats Salsa Police 15-7. Salsa avoids going O-fer by winning its first game of the tournament against Rival. In the final game of this round, Puppet Regime and Flycoons battle for the final pre-quarters spot, and the opportunity to play Tandem. The Flycoons – Puppet Regime game is almost all downwind points. Zone is played extensively by both teams, with Puppet zoning Flycoons both directions in an effort to stop the Marky-Mark – Skyla Sisco connection. The Flycoons' zone transition force Puppet turns, and the many vets on Flycoons eat up the Puppet zone. Flycoons advance.

Pre-Quarters. Four teams, Two advance.

Chicago's Briefcase and Philadelphia's Amp should be playing pre-quarters per their original seeds (#8, #7), but not each other. Amp is coming off of a tough game and two losses, while Briefcase has had things go its way today with two wins. Amp, still running the flat stack, has trouble with its O, and after some back and forth, Briefcase's D scores to get a break, 1-0. Despite Amp's O having troubles getting the right upfield looks, Amp gets its first score after several turns. Briefcases' offense seem to focus on the strong side under cuts, and eventually manages to score, although not always prettily. Amp answers, then gets an upwind, 4-2. In at least one set, Briefcases' O has three male handlers, one male cutter, and the three women are off to the side, with the look to the one man deep. Their offense is effective as they bring it back to 4-3. On defense, Briefcases' Candice Tse lays out into the lane in attempts to poach men coming under. Briefcase is dropping one of the female handlers, sometimes almost entirely to get that extra body in the lane. They have a chance to get an upwind, but throws beyond the pale of risk go awry, and Amp scores a couple in a row, 8-4. Briefcase finally gets an upwind break as Steve Phillips hits Rob Berg, and Briefcase gets the downwind matching set to get to 9-7, still Amp. At this point, Amp, perhaps a bit too worried about their two point lead, takes their last time out. It works for them as they take the game, 15-10.
The Flycoons come out in a zone, which they pretty much play all game (along with four women on O). It's fairly straightforward and is only as effective as Tandem lets it be. When they are patient, take the swings, and then take the holes in the zone, they score. But they are far from perfect at this, as the Flycoons have many chances to score upwind. The zone does prevent Tandem's preferred offense, the Jon Jay huck to guys going away from a flat stack. The Flycoons, meanwhile, rely on the Aagenes huck looking for Skyla Sisco deep. This works a remarkable number of times. At least once, Aagenes even picks the disc up in the endzone after a turn and jacks it despite everyone else standing still on the field as they wait for him to walk it to the front line. Skyla runs it down for the goal. The two teams trade upwind scores in the first half, then just trade downwinds for most of the rest of the game, although despite the results usually being the same, more than one turnover happens almost every point. Eventually, Sarah Megyesi gets mobbed by other Flycoons as she pulls in a go-ahead upwind point, 11-10, Flycoons. Off of a floater, and a superior read, Tandem gets their lead back, and the team trade downwinds again with Tandem up the break. On the final point, Tandem finally throws to its women, who remarkably find other open women, and Tandem wins, 15-13.

Tomorrow's Games.

Quarters.

Brass Monkey and Amp: Brass Monkey should win this. Amp has enough hitches to fall behind a break in the first half. Brass Monkey gets another couple in the second half.
Slow White and Horse$how. If there is no wind, Slow White runs away with this one. If there is a lot of wind, Horse$how stays in it. Slow White wins eventually either way.
Mischief and Tandem. Mischief is the team that Tandem would be if they could. Their guy to guy styles match up, but for the worse. Mischief wins this by a few.
Deliverance and the Gendors: Again, it depends upon the wind. If it is windy, the Gendors do a lot better than if it isn't. Deliverance has a lot of young legs. The Gendors have great women and savvy handlers.

Semis.

Many folks picked Slow White and Brass Monkey as their finalist. This is simply not to be. It should be a good game though, and will be a fine test of whether Slow White is playing at the level that they think they are playing at. Which they may well be doing, by the way. It's hard not to go with the Monkey, especially since they show no signs of slipping.
Mischief and the winner of Gendors – Deliverance. In a windless day, the Mischief Deliverance game is a good one. Whether Mischief can go three straight days relying on a short rotation and a few people to come up with the same big plays is a good question. In a windy day, Mischief might go to the well (of luck) one time too many. The Gendors have been tough all tournament, and the last time I was a reporter, Steve Dugan threw some beautiful throws in a very windy finals. In Open. Ask me after quarterfinals.
posted on 10/28/2006 02:55:00 AM

Mixed Day 1

posted on 10/27/2006 02:14:00 AM

Mixed Division Preview
by Bil Elsinger
Pool A: Brass Monkey (1), Mr. Briefcase (2), Flaming Moe (3), Delivrance (16) Well, what can you say about the 1.8.9.16 pool? There's no reason that Brass Monkey shouldn't take this pool. The Bay Area returning champions have been strong every year of their existence. They've replaced Steve Finn with a couple Jam guys (Josh Greenough and Chris Coco) and Brian Bogle, but regionals saw them lose one of their biggest playmakers with Jen Mader going down with a knee injury, adding to a roster already somewhat afflicted with other injuries. A few losses this season to Mischief and a loss to Gendors at Labor Day might indicate other teams are stepping up to their level, but both the Monkey as a whole, and Patrick Hard in particular, looked good at NW regionals. The consensus seems to put Brass Monkey back in the final. Brass Monkey is a pleasure to watch, and while they don't seem to have as much fun as multiple-year champions Donner Party, they do have the same class.
The big question for this pool then is, "Who comes in second?" Usually, regional rematches are avoided when pools are made, but this year, we've got two Central teams fighting it out for second in the pool. RSD wisdom says everyone has a chance at the UPA Club Championships, but some seedings make things more difficult, and this one doesn't help the Central. So who is better? Mr. Briefcase or Flaming Moe. Well, it's hard to say. Mr. Briefcase, previously best known as the team that Idris couldn't get to the Club Championships, comes out of Chicago, and plays well in sand. Their men are said to be stronger than their women, they play hard aggressive D, and they are a team of contributors without any particular standouts. They had a good showing at CHC, with a close game against Slow White, and a win over CLX. Let's take a step back here. CLX? Where is CLX, who in the last two years, have lost only to eventual winners in bracket play (finals, semis)? Well, they won their region, which is better than last year, where they messed up the seeding entirely by coming in third. Their three year existence (at the elite level) indicated no drop off this year. An athletic, lay it all out on the line team, CLX is a danger in whatever pool it might play in, but this year, they DECIDED NOT TO COME. Those good spirited ne'er-do-wells are on their way to Australia and worlds. This decision significantly changes the landscape because if they choose not to abdicate, they are seeded third overall probably, and have a good shot at semifinals.
Flaming Moe is a young team (not unusual this year). Rooted in the University of Minnesota and other Minnesota small colleges, most of these kids (29 is the oldest) are at their first Club Championships (in their first Club Series) and they are hungry. Captain Dave Klink has been feeding that hunger through a season of hard practices (young team). They finished in the middle of the A pool at Potlatch. They won against Briefcase at regionals. They lost to Briefcase at regionals. They also played a close game against Slow White. They had one close game with CLX, but lost every time, an indication that they aren't playing at the semis level, but heck, they aren't CLX. They don't care about Worlds, but they do care about the UPA Club Championships and if they make it to Saturday they could be dangerous as a spoiler although, given their lack of experience, I would be surprised to see them in the brackets.
Regional match-ups are unpredictable, and this one is too close to call, so let's say that Briefcase pulls this out thanks to its veterans.
Who stands to benefit from what could be a hard fought regional rematch? Deliverance, of course. This is the first trip for a team from Nashville to the UPA Club Championships. Deliverance reformulated after a last year's JOTS just missed going to the show. A variety of young out-of region players added to men formerly playing open with Tanasi and local women makes for a fast team that runs hard. But can a small team (21 players) get very far while playing tough team after tough team? The South regional finals score is not indicative of their real level of play, as that scores belies a team thinking about guaranteeing themselves a well-rested back door game. Other than regionals, no results are available against other Club Championship qualifiers, and their scores earlier in the season against Rival do not indicate that they are playing at that level. It seems unlikely, therefore, that Deliverance will manage their way to an upset in this pool, although as noted previously, Flaming Moe could be vulnerable in that last round of the day, especially if Deliverance saves it all for that game. Wiley Deliverance's captain, Garret Westlake, anchors their offense, while Jake Altemus gets mention for his D.
Pool B Mischief (2), Amp (7), Puppet Regime (10), Salsa (15)
Much like Pool A, the two middle teams in this pool are most likely to have the closest game, especially given Salsa Police's probable lack of depth. Mischief should take the pool, maybe with a little more trouble than they would like, but this is a fairly good draw for them. There's also a good chance that this pool will come out according to seed, although Puppet might be happy to see that the former Donkey Bomb (Amp) picked up some extra seeds, perhaps based as much on a name improvement as anything. On the other hand, reports have Amp as one of the breakout teams this year.
Until NW regionals, Mischief, last year's 13th place team, had Brass Monkey's number. A loss to the Gendors at Labor Day, which followed right after a close semifinal game against Brass Monkey, and not winning regionals are the only strikes against them this season. But perhaps this is all part of their four-year plan, for Mischief has been building up to this year's form. From all accounts, and given results so far, they look to have taken a step up to the next level. They run hard, and are fast and athletic. What that means in the parlance of the game, however, is that maybe they take a few extra risks relying upon their athleticism for resulting rewards. They are not free from injury with notable Becky Mia out for the Club Championships, and several of their other players facing a medley of maladies. They have added a few Chaos guys which went a ways towards filling out their roster. Also, everyone on Mischief is related… Ok, just the Smith brothers (all three of them) and maybe Tyler Grant (through Ulysses S Grant and the Smith's grand uncle's grand uncle, or something like that). In any case, it is clear that they've improved, but both Amp and Puppet Regime also look better this year. Is Mischief really a finalist waiting to happen? Have they really joined the elite teams in this division? There's a good chance that there are three (pre-) quarterfinalists in this pool, and given the possibility of tough games all around, some shake-up could occur here.
The most pertinent question in the 1-2 game in this pool is, "Can Mischief's D cause Amp's offense to misstep?" A team with a decent amount of Club Championship experience (individually), they've only grown stronger since last year's 14th place finish. They've been together as Donkey Bomb since 2000, although only two players remain from that year's UPA Club Championship team (one captain Jeff Snader). The core of players that brought them back to the Club Championship scene has been supplemented by a dozen additions. You can tell because this team is big (29 on roster, 27 uninjured, all ages, and from all walks of life). Last year, offense was their strength. They've improved this year, and as can be seen by a 2-1 record against Slow White this season, and a roll to first place through Mid-Atlantic regionals, the defense must have gotten better. The difference between last year's finish and this year's seeding, though not great, should give us some pause. It is indeed true that the MA sounded stronger (what with a Dobyn's run Black Molly), a qualifier and quarterfinalist (Olio) from last year not making it, and reports of increased strength of qualifiers across the board, but at the same time, the MA's best placement has fairly consistently been in quarters. Although history would also say that Mischief shouldn't get to quarters, much less win there. Hmmmm. Player to watch: Eugene Yum. Marc Stachowski.
The third seed in this pool, Puppet Regime, missed the Club Championships last year after appearing in 2004 (10th overall that year – hey, it's the same seed!). The NE, however, can safely be said to be past the pre-2004 slump that usually saw them out of contention at the Club Championships fairly early on. The team that led them out of that slump, and missing from the NE this year - 6 Trained Monkeys. Two years in a row of getting beaten by Brass Monkey in bracket play has perhaps led them to seek other venues (Worlds?), but the general consensus seems to be that Slow White has risen to the challenge of becoming the NE's main contender and now weighs in many minds as likely for the semifinals. The next question is: has Puppet risen to take Slow White's finish (6th overall) from last year? Given Amp's promotion, Puppet should have a good shot at fighting their way into the power pool. Puppet, based out of the New York City tri-state area, has the benefit of attracting players with a wide variety of backgrounds, college programs, and experience. Lots of open/women's experience on this club, but young folks too. Harper Alexander, a new arrival, is one of their big offensive handlers and their women have won props for gaining yards. Puppet's defense gets some nods from heads in the know, but most expectations seem to place them around quarters, maybe pre-quarters.
Ah Carleton. Every year, they somehow make it. Every year, they use a different name. Every year they import Carleton alums from all walks of life and all corners of the nation for the Series (for two tournaments, although nine players managed to make three by showing up to sectionals). Whether Phoberomys Pattersoni, Universe, Woodchuck, or Salsa Police, they've never been deep enough to finish anywhere. But that doesn't mean that they aren't a threat, especially to their pool's number one seed, and especially in transition, as all those years of playing Carleton style pay off. This year, their men are older (gone are the Hahn brothers, Sebby, Luc – hey, this looks more like CUT of the 90s), their women are younger (always more Syzygy players to choose from), and, crazily enough, they added a non-Carleton alum. Also, they wouldn't even be here if CLX shown up. If they cared about doing well, they'd probably see what happens early on against Amp, throw their game against Mischief, then throw down on Puppet. But that's just crazy talk. So their game against Mischief will probably be closer than you might think. Then at the end of the day, they lose by more than they should against Puppet. And eventually end up playing for 15th. Or if this is a good year, 13th.
Pool C: Bad Larry (3) HorseShow (6) Hooray (11) Tandem (14)
The last game of the day for all teams in this pool should be good ones. Both Bad Larry and Horse$how managed to break seed last year, and both have benefited by arguably being over-seeded this year. That benefit continues as their road to the power pools is somewhat free from major obstacles. Is Horse$how but a pale reflection of the self that they were last year? Has Bad Larry taken a step up to the semis level after appearing in along unbroken string of UPA Club Championships in Mixed? Which of Hooray and Tandem will position themselves best for lower power pool play on Friday?
Bad Larry returns. Well, rather, they've never left. There's been fairly constant improvement from them over the last couple years with a place in semis last year being a reward for consistency. There's been a few roster moves, but given the consistency of the Denver community, Bad Larry doesn't see that much turnover year to year. Captain James Beeby provides a good base for the team. They know each other pretty well, and their women keep them in games. But this is a Worlds year, and it's possible that this tourney isn't the one that they look to be peaking for. That's what you sometimes get when the UPA Club Championship appearances become second nature. A shift of focus. Maintaining a high seed here requires consistency of focus, but as noted above, that's what Bad Larry seems to be about. There's a good chance that, barring the D pool, the 1-2 game against Horse$how will be among the best of Thursday's final round. Portland's Horse$how, a team by any other name still sounding so sweet, is also going to Worlds, but the vibe seems be that they are keeping a healthy focus on this tournament. Notably gone for Horse$how this year are Val Hamm and Aaron Bell (perhaps lost somewhere contemplating the contingencies of existence). It remains to be seen whether a couple players lured back from Rhino and Costa Rica and the addition of Britta Halverson and others can make up for the loss, as both Bell and Hamm were instrumental in Horse$how's second place finish last year. Add an injury to Michelle Chabot Mehr, and suddenly, Horse$how is seeded sixth. The team might, however, have greater depth this year as a whole, and they've certainly got their share of veterans (only a handful of players younger than 30). I'd say that they were lucky to draw this seed and will benefit from their power pool. A quarters appearance seems likely, but I've been handing out quarters appearances like there are a dozen of them. Are there a dozen? Let's ask Adam Tarr.
Both Horse$how and Bad Larry have experienced players. Both should be pretty comfortable playing with their teams. Both also seem to be vulnerable. Should be a good match-up. This game is difficult to call, although a win by either doesn't necessarily provide insight into their actual strengths.
Sporting a positively laudatory name, Hooray for Coed has been around for four years, losing the game to go in their first year, but only finally qualifying this fall. Always Penn State based, the team has finally grown to the full mixed Club Championship size (22) as additions from colleges in the region have provided the extra quality and depth. Non-practicing, the team will probably have more trouble clicking on offense, and relying on the long bomb can be fun (Hooray!) but risky, although having half a dozen 6'2-plus receivers around doesn't hurt. Tom Pribicko captains and leads the offense on the field. Also look for Stacy Janz and Matt Occhuizzo to make some big plays. There's good reason to think that both Bad Larry and Horsheshow, both with fairly strong lineups and well experienced at playing high level mixed, should be able to hold off Hooray, although if there's no wind, it could be all hucks all the time, and the order of finish might be challenged.
Jen Kim and Jon Jay (tying Randy Ricks for the all-alliterative name team) captain the newly formed Somerville, Massachusetts team Tandem. Brown alumni aplenty, and youth to spare, Tandem may have thought, "Hey our region has three bids. We can follow the Carleton model" (i.e. we all come from the same system, so no practices, only tournaments, but we'll still have some chemistry). Look for Rebecca Simon and Calvin Oung to be involved in some big plays. Look for some trouble as the genders learn to work in tandem. Look for pink, if you must. Remember, pink is the new, uh, yellow. And remember, Tandem's women have some throws. But I don't see this team breaking seed (see their results against Club Championship caliber teams so far this season). Although careful planning at their Regionals won them the back door, so watch out teams playing for placement. Like all the other No.4 seeds, they'll have their best shot if they save their energy for their final Thursday game. Most likely playing for record going into the lower power pools, this could be one of the more interesting 3-4 games, what with so many similarities between Tandem and Hooray. Although, on the other hand, if Slow White had taken this advice last year where would they be now?
As noted, there seems to be some disparity between the top two teams and the bottom two, with less separating the two groups. The first couple games in this pool may not be so interesting, although if that's true, that means energy reserves for all teams in their respective power pools come Friday.
Pool D: Gendors (4), Slow White (5), Rival (12), Flycoons (13) This pool arguably is the most top-heavy of the four. Both Slow White and Gendors could easily be in the finals, and the relatively unknown Rival could end up anywhere. Meanwhile, the Flycoons, though not likely to make semis, could show up in pre-quarters. Well, that is if they can either beat Rival, or trick Rival into losing to another team, as only three teams from this pool can advance to bracket play.
The Mental Toss Flycoons may be the oldest continually existing team in the Mixed Division. Begun in the 80's (yes, the 80's), no founding members remain, although with an average age of more than 30, the team has both experience, and that specific kind of experience so necessary to doing well at the Club Championships (i.e. Trigger Hippy champions). Michael Faris and Daphe Evans lead the team, but you'll see a lot of Marky Mark and new player on the scene, Skyla Sisco (all-alliterative team), although John O'Connor took the year off to play Open. This year's version of the team definitely looks deeper than last year's. Although the NW was weaker as a region than normal, the Flycoons definitely separated themselves from the rest of the non-qualifying teams. At the same time, the order of finish of all four NW teams looked about right. Thanks to the draw, look for the Flycoons to fight their way up in the placement rounds.
31. 31 means less than 1 point out of every 4. That's the average playing time that Atlanta's Rival players have to face, according to their online roster. 31 is ten more players than two other teams. When there are 31 people, there's going to be variety. A little Gridlock, a good bit of Ozone, more than a taste of Chain, some Holes, some Poles, and all of sudden you reach that magic number. 31. On Ricky McClellen, a featured Rival player, "he is as relentless as a mongoose on a copper head." On their women. Strong. "Watch out for them in back alleys." A few commentators have noted that Rival could be trouble. The question is, are they the Hot and Sweaty kind of trouble (finished 11th last year) or the Hang Time kind of trouble (7th last year, but a finalist a couple times in the last five years). No results against any other teams of consequence leave the answer to that question unclear. If I were Slow White or the Gendors, I'd be a little worried.
Slow White, a product of Boston University, was last year's Cinderella. Not Ror$hack. Slow White. They beat both the previous year's winners, and the eventual winner. Undefeated going into bracket play, they then lose in quarters to a perennial middle finisher, and lose by a lot. What happened? Maybe inexperience on the big stage (and inexperience overall, with the oldest player clocking in at 26, that's less than the number of players on Rival). Those extra couple days of play aren't something that all teams are prepared for. You can lose a game earlier in the tournament, and can still win (see winners from last three years). Well, now they have that experience to build upon. Most of their roster is still in place. Add in a couple young faces, feed the hunger with a what could have been last year, peak at the right time, and you've got a team that's got a good shot at semis, if not better. Teddy Browar-Jarus and Jasper Hoitsma lead the team, but it's both deep and well roundedness, with contributions coming from both genders.
The 1-2 in this pool is another toss-up. Either of these teams could, arguably, have been seeded higher (assuming that we had thrown out the Gendor loss to Bad Larry at regionals). Throw in Rival and things are confusing. Add Flycoons, waiting for their chance for an upset, and anything could happen.
The Santa Barbara Gendors, captained by veteran ex-Condor Steve Dugan and ex-Lady Condor Jill Van Wie, is mostly a combination of Condors and Lady Condors, and includes players of all ages and experience. They surprisingly did not make the Club Championships last year, but have been fairly dominant this, what with a spotless record at Labor Day, although historically the winner of Labor Day has not been the winner at the Club Championships. A one-point win there over Brass Monkey, and strong play against all other comers has only been tarnished by a Bad Larry loss at regionals. Asa Wilson and Andrea Keeley do a lot of work, but everyone on the team contributes. It's a deep team, but also one that has gone through a lot this season. The tragic loss of Doug Baker and Will Wiersma is something that no team should have to face.
posted on 10/26/2006 12:33:00 AM