Frisbee

Hey All,Tonight we'll have development running from 5pm. Come down and learn how to play some defense.Also, next week is the AGM, as listed in our calendar. Please make sure you are in attendance, your contribution is vital for the future of our club.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this week's round of games as teams vie for a spot in the Grand Finals. A poll on the Facebook group has hinted that the league thinks Seagulls and Tie Dyenosaurs will be facing off in the Grand Finals. However, if this season is anything to go by, we can never be too sure about predictions as some teams have the ability to toss up a few surprises!Semifinals Game 1 - Seagulls VS Django UnchainedIt's light against dark in this one as the white Seagulls take on the black Django Unchained. Seagulls have shown fantastic form in the second half of the season and have not dropped a game ever since their loss to Fluro Fantasy. The fact that they have beaten most teams by a comfortable margin should also be an indication of the threat they will bring to the field. Seagulls also have a slight advantage in physical prowess with a number of tall players on their team which will certainly prove to be an obstacle to Django Unchained.Although Django Unchained have not been as remarkable as Seagulls during the regular season, they have shown tremendous form in the first round of the play-offs. Not many players on the Django team can say they have Rob Dehollander's height or insanely long arms, but what they lack in physicality they make up for in athleticism. Daniel "Jonesy" Jakob was in good form during play-offs week and if he continues his form he will certainly bring heat to the game.Semifinals Game 2 - Fluro Fantasy VS Tie DyenosaursIn their last meeting, Fluro Fantasy narrowly beat out Tie Dyenosaurs 13-11 and although they still managed to win, it was by no means a walk in the park. Fluro Fantasy missed out on the minor premiership with a surprise loss to Purple Haze in the last round of the regular season but managed to exact revenge in their play-off game with a narrow 7-6 victory over the purple team. Captain Ash has done well to nurture Fluro Fantasy into a team capable of playing Ultimate at the top level but will they be able to handle the pressure of the semifinals and make it a double over the Dyenosaurs?Tie Dyenosaurs are another team that have come together well. In their 13-2 loss to Django Unchained it was painfully obvious that at that time, they were a one-man team (ala Finny) but the Tie Dyenosaurs that played in the playoffs last week showed some incredible synergy and teamwork. The Dyenosaurs will be itching for a win after narrowly losing out to Fluro Fantasy in the regular season and it remains to be seen if they will make it to the Grand-finals.Losers' BracketWhile the top four teams battle it out for a spot in the Grand Finals and ultimately, champions, the bottom six teams are at the other end of the spectrum fighting to NOT win the infamous Wooden Spoon. Rumour has it the captain of the team awarded the Wooden Spoon has to take a paddling to the ass but that rumour remains unproven. Match-ups for the losers' bracket will be announced tonight at the fields so make sure you get there early!!Notice that the games have no predictions and that's because they are too close to be called! This is by far one of the most exciting semifinal rounds the league has had to date. If you feel like you can accurately predict the score, leave a comment or tweet @TsvUltimate on Twitter with your predictions! Let's get keen for some Ultimate and see you guys on the fields!!

Of all the pools, Pool B is the strongest from top to bottom – and British Columbia is the only one of the five teams to have been at the College Championships in 2012. Fourth-seeded Santa Barbara won the College Championships in 2011, and fifth-seeded Northwestern has already beaten third-seeded Georgia and #3 seed overall Iowa State this season. Carleton earned the #2 seed overall by winning the tough North Central region, but they’ve been inconsistent this season, while second-seeded British Columbia finished the regular season ranked second overall in the Skyd Power Rankings. Don’t expect Pool B to go to seed – this should be an exciting battle for first place and to make prequarters. Carleton (#2) Carleton has definitely earned the #2 seed overall this year, coming out on top of the toughest region by avenging three earlier-season losses to #3 seed overall Iowa State and finally defeating them 12-10 in the Regional Finals. Syzygy is a team capable of running with anyone else in the country – they’re full of players with great juniors experience, others with scary athleticism who throw themselves around the field with no regard for personal injury, and still more who tower over defenders at 6′+ and are unstoppable endzone targets. Starting from behind the disc, Carleton is led by All-American Anna Reed as a quick, explosive handler with quick pivots who can break the mark with ease as well as put great hucks up for her receivers. Reed is no stranger to the give-and-go, and if she catches her defender trailing her she’s off to the races, bouncing discs off receivers on her way to the endzone while her mark struggles to catch up. She’s joined by young phenom Kirstie Barton, whose juniors experience has allowed her to slot in as a mainstay on offense for Carleton. Her smooth throws and smart decision-making were on display at Stanford Invite, when food poisoning took down Reed and Julia Snyder and forced Barton to center stage. Julia Snyder is also a big player for Syzygy, and while she may not be as big of a name as Reed, she has a very similar skillset. Reed and Snyder can play together behind the disc and run handler motion to attack the defense, or they can alternate with one starting downfield and the other breaking the mark to her teammate. That setup allows tall, athletic cutters like Flannery McArdle and Marley Hartman-Filson to break free from the stack off of Snyder or Reed’s initiating cut and receive a huck in the endzone. While Carleton is a strong and deep team that forces matchup problems across the board, they have also been prone to falling behind late in games. It took remarkable comebacks against Stanford and Minnesota at Centex to give Carleton the pool victory, and a lack of discipline plagued them in those games and in quarterfinals against Iowa State, a game they lost 7-10 in strong winds. Carleton was prone to missing wide open players on throws that should have been completed, forcing their best players into the dirt again and again. With Reed, Snyder, and McArdle, they have the tools to play small ball or the field position game, but at Centex Syzygy seemed reluctant to let their stars take over and either run a handler dominator or commit to putting it deep to height, while Iowa State relentlessly attacked downwind, forcing Carleton to go 70 yards each time. But Carleton got their revenge in the finals of Regionals, showing that they may have turned a corner at just the right time. British Columbia (#7) The British Columbia Thunderbirds finished the regular season ranked #2 in Skyd’s Power Rankings, but they come into the College Championships in Madison seeded seventh. That’s no surprise, as their inconsistent Stanford Invite and Series results have seen them slip in the seeding discussion, although they are still one of the favorites to win it all, and they’re still the only team to defeat #1 Oregon this year. A large pa

D stands for dogfight, and that is exactly what Pool D promises to be.  Pool D contains three of the nation’s biggest contenders in #4 seed Iowa, #5 seed Tufts, and #9 seed Washington.  All three of these teams have produced impressive results this season, all three possess key standout players, and all three have experienced recent success at Nationals.  Add in Texas Melee, the big upset story from last year who is finally healthy and playing their best ultimate of the season, and Ottawa, a team that will benefit from being relatively unfamiliar to their opponents, and you know that Pool D is going to be a fun one to follow. Iowa Saucy Nancy (#4) Iowa Saucy Nancy is a team that knows how to find success at Nationals.  In the last two years, Saucy Nancy has made two consecutive Quarterfinals appearances, each time losing to Oregon. The memory of last year’s heartbreaker—they lost on universe in a game they should have won—must still leave a bitter taste in the mouths of their many returners, and you can bet that Iowa will come out with fire, ready to redeem themselves. Luckily, they have all the tools to do just that. An experienced team with an experienced coach, Saucy Nancy is characterized by smart play, offensive chemistry, and an arsenal of defensive looks. With a ferocious four-man cup, an effective junk zone, and tight man-to-man coverage, Saucy’s defense is nothing but disruptive.  And on O, Saucy runs their h-stack with precision and efficiency.  The breaks of Chelsea Twohig and Bekah Hickernell permit Saucy to use all parts of the field, while the continue throws of their cutters keep the disc and the defense in constant motion. As for great players, Iowa has many.  Leading the charge are Chelsea Twohig and Liza Minor.  Twohig is a seasoned handler who will run the offense for Saucy.  This girl is fearless.  Look for her to take an appropriate amount of risks, busting out hammers and breaks like it’s her business.  Liza Minor will often be on the receiving end of things.  A quick precision cutter, Liza Minor is most deadly when she is cutting under and then distributing the discs to her teammates.  Also keep an eye on Dana Demmert, Anna Pritchard, and Jen Nowak, athletic cutters that will make their presence known on offense. It’s interesting to note that all of Iowa’s losses except for one (against Colorado at Centex, without Twohig) have come at the hands of Regional rivals.  Against out of region competition, their record is nearly unblemished.  Still, Iowa will have to battle Tufts and Washington for the pool, and it will be fun to see how they fare in these high-profile matchups. Liza Minor scores the final goal in Iowa's 16-15 pool play upset of Washington last year (Christina Schmidt - Ultiphotos) Players to Watch: Chelsea Twohig, Liza Minor What to Watch For: Coach Mikey Lun’s strategic adjustments, Minor’s forehand hucks out of the middle, expert use of space. Tufts Ewo (#5)   For Tufts, nothing short of a finals appearance will be able to top the surprising success they experienced at Nationals 2012, when as the sixteen seed overall they lost a tight semifinal game to eventual champs Washington Element.  (The Tufts-Washington pool play matchup will be interesting precisely because of this recent history).  But Tufts is no longer a surprise story.  In fact, they have been able to train this season with Nationals in mind.  With a strong showing at Centex and an easy stroll through Regionals, Tufts has set themselves up to repeat their performance of a year ago. This year’s Tufts’ team is deep and returning their top guns from last year: Callahan nominee Claudia Tajima and Hailey Alm.  These two players are impossible to stop individually.  Put them together, and it’s pure carnage.  Tajima’s throws are among the best in the women’s game with huge hucks, easy breaks, and a punishing hammer.  Her size and smart movement make it difficult to deny her the disc and impossible to stop her on the mark.  As for A

Miss out on the action in Milwaukee? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Check out full game coverage of the DIII Women’s Championships, courtesy of Ultiworld. Though the spotlight was on Milwaukee this weekend, 2013 USAU High School State Championships were also taking place. Here’s a photo gallery of some of the highlights, from USAU’s Facebook page. Finally, we’ve got some awesome MLU highlights for you. Check out Michael Panna of the Spinners grab a Callahan against the Whitecaps, the Rumble’s Lucas Murphy’s huge layout goal, or Seattle Rainmakers’ Sean Sears get absolutely airborn for a defensive bid (foul called). With all this top-level ultimate all around us–DIII Champs finishing, Madison on the horizon, MLU and AUDL hitting the apex of their seasons–maybe it’s time for a reality check. Here’s a Not Top 10 caliber video of the Push Pass Productions-proclaimed “worst pull ever”:

1. Toronto Rush The Rush have continued their unbeaten streak, with wins over the Empire and Dragons the last two weeks. The Dragons gave them a little more trouble than expected, the Rush only led by one in the fourth before pulling away to win 28-21. The Rush were playing without Mark Lloyd, their leader in D’s and goals, but this was still a game they were expected to win with more authority. They’ve got a bye week then a big game against the Philadelphia Phoenix in Toronto on June 1. Though the Phoenix haven’t exactly dominated since then, they’re still the team that’s come closest to beating Toronto, so it’ll be interesting to see whether they can play with them. 2. Windy City Wildfire Brodie Smith of the Windy City Wildfire releases a backhand huck (Photo by Alex Fraser-Ultiphotos.com) The Wildfire are in great position to finish at the top of the Midwest. They only have one more two game weekend this season, against Detroit then Cincinnati on June 22-23, two teams they should be able to beat even under those circumstances. Especially given that week 5 saw the Wildfire go on the road in Minnesota and Madison, winning both times. Brodie Smith led the team in Assists in the Minnesota game with eight, and though he didn’t play the next day in Madison the Wildfire got a big win, 16-15. Brodie’s knee injury is a big question mark for this team, but there’s also enough talent on the roster to beat any team in the Midwest without Brodie, as evidenced by the win over the Radicals in Madison. We won’t get to see those two teams play against each other until June 29, when hopefully both will be healthy and Madison will be playing with their full roster, Wisconsin Hodags included. 3. Madison Radicals The Radicals have clearly established themselves as one of the top two teams in the Midwest, and top three in the league. The difference between the #3 and #4 team in the AUDL is significant. Madison may have lost to the Wildfire by one point at home, but it wasn’t too long ago that they beat the Wildfire by one point on the road.  The key to watch moving forward for this Madison team is whether they challenge the Wildfire for the top spot, or whether they’re content finishing second in the conference. With only one more game against Windy City it’ll be tough to move up. And unlike the Wildfire, the Radicals have a more challenging road schedule remaining. They travel to Minnesota on June 7, and have two remaining two game weekends this season. The first is against Cincinnati and Indianapolis June 15-16, the second against Chicago and Detroit, June 29-30. So I don’t see the Radicals moving up in the standings, but I also don’t think it matters much. They’ll get their shot against Chicago in the playoffs. That’s what’s important. 4. New York Empire Though the Empire are third in the Eastern Conference, I have them ahead of the Phoenix here. First, two of their losses are against the Rush, the best team in the AUDL. Their other loss was on the road against Rochester, in overtime. Though they still should have won, New York was playing without a depleted roster. Yes, the Empire will have to get used to life without Jack Marsh for a while, but they’re equipped for it. They beat the Breeze 25-11 earlier this season, and the next day the Phoenix only beat the Breeze 23-18. And New York’s 24-16 win over New Jersey is more confidence inspiring than the Phoenix’s 18-17 squeaker over DC. I think that the Empire are more talented and playing better than the Phoenix, which gives them the nod for the #4 spot. 5. Philadelphia Phoenix Will Hoehne makes the two handed grab for the Phoenix (Photo by Brandon Wu-Ultiphotos.com) The Phoenix are coming off a come from behind victory over the DC Breeze, a team that was stomped by both Toronto and New York. At the same time though, this is the team that came so close to defeating the Rush in week 2. So it’s tough to peg just where they’re at, which is only compounded by the fact that they’ve only played four

If you don't fancy the traditional Ultimate Frisbee hat, then there's a DIY-version for your every own Frisbee Hat. [via Davis Van Luven]

Let’s start with some international highlights this week, shall we? Over 200 high-flying, action-packed pics from the Super 8 Tournament in Medellin, Colombia last weekend. Don’t you just love seeing ultimate get legitimate national coverage? Here’s the latest from the May edition Women’s Health magazine featuring a short mention of ultimate fitness guru Melissa Witmer’s company, Ultimate Results. Washington University Contra released their Spring 2013 highlight reel just in time for Nationals. The University of Puget Sound Postmen certainly had an exciting weekend, coming just one double-game-point shy of a D-III championship. Congrats to Middlebury, btw, but the most exciting moment of the weekend still belongs to UPS. The Bowdoin College women just completed the perfect season, going 30-0 on their way to the D-III National Championship. Check out the conclusion to this history-making run against Williams College:

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate What a great weekend in Milwaukee for the D3 Championships. It was a lot of fun interacting with all of the teams, and more importantly watching some great ultimate being played in the wind and sun. Sunday saw some of the best games of the tournament, with teams that had made the championship bracket fighting to bring the title home with them. Be on the lookout for the recap video, and film of the two championship games. Going Postal While there were several games leading up to Middlebury Pranksters vs. Puget Sound Postmen very exciting and very close finals (Claremont vs. Amherst for example), it’s important to note that two of those included the Postmen. Their first game of the day, against Harding, was a back and forth battle between the two teams. As one broke for the lead, the other would respond shortly after with a few breaks of their own – with no team taking a clear advantage, the Postmen had to play their key players a lot more than they had hoped so early on Sunday. Harding did take down the defending champion Carleton College GOP in pre-quarters late on Saturday, and put up a great fight against UPS. But UPS’s unrelenting defense proved to be too much for them, as they fell 14-13. In the very next game, Stevens Tech gave Puget Sound another challenge. The three seed coming into the weekend, Stevens Tech hadn’t looked steady up until this game – playing without energy at times, and simply making mental mistakes that let other teams stick around during their games. This was painfully obvious during their pre-quarters game against North Park where they were up 7-1, but would only go on to win the game 15-11. Two players for the Ducks, Andrew Misthos and Marques Brownlee, led Stevens this round as they came dangerously close to taking down the Postmen. Through the first half, the Postmen looked noticeably tired, and their defense just wasn’t were it was all weekend long. After taking half 8-5 though, Stevens came out making mental mistakes that easily let the Postmen back in the game – hucks not connecting, wrong defensive positioning, etc. – and when the Postmen started clicking again on defense, they would go on to win the game 15-13 to send themselves to the championship game for the second straight year. Prank’d Meanwhile Middlebury was relatively unchallenged until the finals game for most of the weekend. Carleton College GOP played them close in pool play, but that was a long time before Sunday afternoon. I didn’t see much of their first game, quarterfinals against Lehigh (a 15-8 victory), but it seemed like Middlebury was in control on their way to a victory. Next in semifinals, the Pranksters faced a very tired Amherst College team who was coming off of a double game point victory over Claremont Colleges. As such, Amherst started the game poorly, allowing Middlebury to go up 8-3 at half, in route to a 15-10 win. Middlebury didn’t play as strong of a second half as fatigue was starting to show. But I give a bunch of credit to Amherst – they just simply did not quit. Their defensive play picked up in the second half, and on offense they were clicking as much as they had been in route to winning pool B on Saturday. The deficit proved too much though, allowing Middlebury to advance. Seeding D3 Before a recap of the finals, I want to discuss an idea I was tossing around with a few people on Sunday. Seeding is a big issue in the DIII championships, only Pool A went exactly to seed (though it was dangerously close). Not that you want the tournament to go to seed, but you do want teams to play their relative talent, and you don’t want the top teams to knock each other out early. Obviously, the reason this is happening is because very few teams within DIII can play each a large amount of out of region opponents and without that, we don’t get a good picture of not only a team’s talent, but where they stand compared to teams across the country – the USAU rankin

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate Bowdoin Chaos Theory are Division III National Champions – and deservedly so, after capping off a 30-0 season with a 15-5 beatdown of Williams College in the finals.  Bowdoin ran an extremely tight rotation all tournament, with Pheobe Aron, Hannah Young, and Julie Bender playing most (if not all) the points in games, but they never seemed to tire. This is probably from their efficiency on offense, with Aron’s pinpoint hucks often making the receiver’s job easy. No team scored more than 6 points on Chaos Theory all weekend, which makes some consider just how Bowdoin may even fare at DI Nationals. Bowdoin started off Sunday with a 15-3 thrashing of Truman State Tsunami in quarterfinals. In the other quarters, Claremont took care of a surprising Philadelphia team, and #1 seeded Valparaiso ended Swarthmore’s championship hopes. But the best quarterfinal game (and really the only competitive one) was the one between Williams and Carleton College Eclipse.  The story of the game was Williams’ patience against Carleton’s zone, led by handlers and captains Rachel Kessler and Haley Eagon. With the game tied at 9’s, Williams broke twice in a row and never looked back, taking the game 15-12 and eliminating an extremely dangerous Carleton team. In the semis Bowdoin easily handled a good Claremont team. Although Claremont managed to score the most points on Chaos Theory all weekend, Aron, Bender, and Young were just too much. Bowdoin waltzed into finals with 15-6 victory. The other semi between Valparaiso and Williams looked as if it would be a classic early. Valparaiso took a 5-2 lead early, but Williams came roaring back to tie it at fives. This Skyd Reporter was squirming in his seat with anticipation for what would surely remain a competitive game for the duration. Sadly, it would not be so. Williams’ breaks didn’t stop at 5-5, taking half 8-5 on a six point run. The second half was more of the same. Led by 6’3” Senior Claire Baecher, Williams finished off the upset 15-10. The final, a matchup of two New England teams, was all Bowdoin once again. While both teams ran tight rotations, Chaos Theory was clearly just fresher than Williams. Rachel Kessler and Claire Baecher’s fatigue finally caught up to them, and Bowdoin jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead. Williams would throw a zone to try to take advantage of the gusty wind, but Pheobe Aron’s hammers quickly tore it apart. Bowdoin cruised to a 15-5 victory and a first place wooden disc. Hannah Young, with 6 goals scored, earned the Spin Ultimate MVP red jersey of the finals. Although it was an extra large and she is a little less than five feet tall (guessing), she seemed to be ecstatic anyway. Congrats to all the teams this weekend, and especially to Bowdoin on earning their first DIII National Title! Photo by Nick Lindeke – UltiPhotos.com (Full D3 Gallery)