Unfamiliar Faces
At this weekend's Northeast Open Regionals tournament, 16 teams will be fighting for four bids to the 2008 UPA Club Championships, more bids than any other region this year. In addition to the two standard bids awarded to each region, the Northeast earned a strength wildcard for the performance of regional contenders GOAT and Boston at last year's championship event, as well as a size wildcard for the 70 teams competing in the UPA Series, five more than the next closest region.teams.
Full Story »
For Greater Ontario And Toronto, 2007 was definitely a Cinderella Season marked by fortuitous power shifts among elite ultimate programs, Sarasota drama and World tournament scheduling. Will they be back in the dance in 2008?
At the WFDF World Juniors Ultimate Championships in 2006, Team USA steamrolled the competition in both the Open and Women's Divisions through the Semifinals, winning their games by an average of more than 13 points in games to 17. In the finals, the Open team won gold in similar fashion, dismantling Canada to the tune of a 17-9 victory. The Women won a squeaker over a surprisingly resilient Canadian team on double-game point, 14-13. But that was in Devens, Massachusetts, at a juniors-only tournament on the United States' home turf. In Vancouver next week, the atmosphere will be vastly different, as Team Canada will have home-field and home-crowd advantage, and there will be hundreds of games over the course of the week for the 75 teams in attendance - a far cry from the 12 teams that played at WJUC 2006.
Before the Patriots won their three rings in four years, before the Boston Three Party led the Celtics to their most recent championship, before the Curse of the Bambino was snapped, Boston was already Title Town.
If you heard about a team that took their region three times in the last four years, made Nationals every year since 2002 and while there, made Quarters three times in the last six years, and the Final Four in 2006 - you'd likely say they were a contender for that elusive Sarasota Gold. So why are people asking if Atlanta's Chain Lightning is truly an elite team?
So who's next? Who has been a dominant force in the college scene the last few years? Do they have a local club team ready to make a performance leap? The list is short, and the candidates few who meet the criteria. Doublewide's relationship with perpetual quarterfinalist Texas TUFF ('03, '05, '06, '07) could be a force in a few years, but the killing instinct is notably lacking in both teams. Recent upstart Revolver's farm system is the successful Stanford program, but the dilution of talent in the Bay between that team and JAM might be enough to keep both out of the winner's circle for the foreseeable future. The true beneficiary of collegiate talent, the club team with the most promise for 2008 and beyond, is Minnesota's Sub Zero.
Simmering, simmering, simmering, Johnny Bravo is ready to boil over in 2008. Last year's Finals berth was another step in the process for the Boulder crew, whose recent nationals record has included four Quarterfinal appearances (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005), and a Semi's barnburner with eventual champ Seattle Sockeye in 2006. Never satisfied with anything less than the Title, what would look from the outside to be a string of successes for JB has been a series of almosts for this talented team. But if history has anything to say about it, all that could change this October.
They've shown dominance on three continents - first by winning the 2006 World games in Perth, then by barnstorming America's elite with a finals run at ECC 2007, and topping it all of with a home court victory over celebrated rivals (and current UPA champions) Seattle Sockeye. Yet despite these successes Japan's Buzz Bullets are virtually unknown among most ultimate circles. Worlds 2008 might change all that.
We all remember it. October 25th, 2007. A rainy/overcast Thursday in Sarasota, Florida was a day that will live in infamy. Furious George, UPA Champions in 2002, 2003, 2005, and World Champions in 2004, came in as a 1 seed (4th overall), set to shred through their pool as they had every year this millennium.
Roaring through Boulder and cementing their legacy as the top program in the sport, Wisconsin polished off the only thorn in its side in the last three seasons, and claimed the first back-to-back National Championships since the only program with more titles ruled all the land.
A lot of things have changed in the College Ultimate scene in the past ten years, increasing both the level of play and the legitimacy of the game. Now, there are more teams, more athletes, more games with observers, more enforcement of eligibility rules, and more experienced coaches. The number of coaches in Women's Ultimate is truly amazing and is one of the biggest factors increasing the skill seen on the field today.
.jpg)
