Frisbee

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)

This coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate Feature photo of Jonas Cole from University of Puget Sound. Photo by Nick Lindeke – UltiPhotos.com (Full D3 Gallery)

Another ten pro ultimate games were played this past weekend. Compare to last week. NOTES: AUDL games have 12-minute quarters; MLU games have 10-minute quarters.   ^1 AUDL game [Mechanix @ Wind Chill] was stopped at halftime Toronto Rush are still undefeated at 7-0 (AUDL) Boston Whitecaps remain undefeated at 5-0 (MLU) 10 points = largest margin of victory in the MLU Western Conference by

So ultimate fitness guru Tim Morrill has been hard at work...He has compiled all his training structures, ideas and explanations into one ebook.You also get a comprehensive set of videos included in the purchase. There are over 100 videos, to show you the exercises and movements described. One click in the ebook, and you are watching an example on Youtube that you can pause, replay or bookmark.It's great value for anyone looking to elevate their ultimate game by learning how to train their body and become a better athlete.If you have been to a Morrill Performance Clinic, the content and ideas are all captured here. No need to guess what the ideal movement or exercise looks like. It will trigger your memory. If you haven't been to a clinic, this is the next best thing to attending. Living in a different country to Tim is no longer an excuse to miss out!The even better news is that it currently has $20 off the price. Pretty awesome since it is already the best money you can spend on your improving your fitness for ultimate.Check it out.See if you can spot Heads of State being represented!

:Game 1:  0-0, 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 3-3, 8-3, 12-4, 14-5, SLUDGE win 15-9 vs Pignition. Sludge's post-season offense started with efficiency - goals by Rachel & by Chris, plus scores thrown by Nigel & Brian. Jen caught the 8th point to go into half; 8-3. The inclement weather of mist seemed to aid the Sludge zone which forced many throws. Sludge went on a 4-point run with scores from Charlie to

It was a busy and (somewhat) beautiful day in Milwaukee for the D3 Open Championships. For full results check out score reporter, but here is a round by round look at some of the results, along with players who looked good throughout the day, and some thoughts for tomorrow.   Round 1 The Middlebury (C3) upset over Stevens Tech (C1) may be a bit understated in the video recap. Stevens mentioned a few times on the sideline that they usually come out slow on Saturday’s, but it didn’t look as close as the 15-10 score suggests for almost all of the game. The Pranksters were very patient and consistent with the disc on offense, while Stevens was looking for the huck immediately but not connecting. That proved to be the difference in this game. While Georgia College (C4) didn’t quit against Carleton College GOP (C2), they couldn’t do enough to win that game or any other today. They seemed very spirited throughout the day though even with a short roster, and certainly made each team worry after they rattled off a break or two. Brandeis (B3) would not qualify for the crossover games with a loss to North Park (B4), but they would play Amherst (B2) the closest all day long. The Amherst zone was run pretty much the entire day, and would force turns against impatient teams – as Brandeis proved to be. Round 2 Early in the day, it was the one seeds getting upset, and John Brown (D3) did just that to Wake Forest (D1). At the start of the game, WOMB was having problems holding a consistent force. This allowed John Brown to work the middle of the field very easily, and score with their O-line and D-line’s offense. John Brown would also throw a zone for most of the day, even though the wind didn’t pick up until the third round, and that proved troublesome for Wake Forest. The WOMB offense wasn’t stretching the field enough, and instead tried to force passes. This led to easy turns. But with tight lines by the short-staffed John Brown squad, they were noticeably tired. If Wake hadn’t had unforced errors at the end of the game, when they looked a lot more energetic, a win would’ve been entirely possible. Puget Sound (A1) made defensive adjustments early against Lehigh (A3) that helped them win this game. Although they the lead changed a lot in this game until the UPS win at the end, the poachy on handlers and bracket on cutters was working wonders for the Postmen. At times this proved very suffocating for Lehigh’s offense. But when UPS had a few unsuccessful hucks, Lehigh was able to jump back into the game at times – including a 3-0 run. Claremont (D2) had no answer to Wesleyan (D4). Wesleyan was able to switch between cuts underneath and deep cuts throughout the game. The Braineaters would end up losing this game, but towards the end showed more energy. In the Bentley (A2) and Rice (A4) game, it was fairly close for a while. Both teams relied on the huck for a large portion of the game – and while it worked for Icehouse, Cloud 9 gave Bentley a lot of break opportunities. Some solid play from Bentley though allowed them to pull away from Rice, and win the game 13-9. Round 3 The game that I thought going into the round which would be most interesting was Middlebury vs. GOP. I figured with Middlebury beating Stevens, this game could decide the pool. But some first half miscues by GOP, what the Middlebury coach called unlucky, helped give the Pranksters a bit of a cushion going into the second half and made the game a bit less interesting. As the wind picked up, this game especially became an upwind/downwind battle, and that would end up being the difference for Middlebury. GOP was never truly out of the game though, showing their talent and skill to get a break or two back in the second half. A late stall bailout huck finished with a layout grab sealed the game for Middlebury in the end though. Early in the Puget Sound vs. Rice game, it looked like Rice would keep it close. But tired legs, and that UPS defense, would prevail. The difference for Wa