Gone Fishing

I'm off to Detroit for the Motown Throwdown. Then after the tournament I get to head up to direct the Ultimate camp at Olympia. That means I'll be gone from cyberspace for the next week. I'll try and get a quick post in Sunday night to reset my odds for the CUC07 open division, but otherwise, I'll be living the good life.

Pictured Above: The Olympia team I coached in 2005.

PJ

Poll Thursday - Canadian Nationals picks - The Finalists

Last weeks polls didn't workout as planned. I'm guessing that having five of them was too much for the poll server. This week I've put them into the sidebar on the right, and I'm using bloggers new built in polls. I couldn't figure out how to get them in the main blog, so we'll have to live with this setup.

Using the very limited results from last week, I've assembled the potential finalists. Pick 2 teams who you think will make the CUC'07 finals.

PJ

Bathurst Odds part VI - And you thought nothing happened this weekend

General Strike made an appearance this weekend at the Minneapolis Ultimate Disc Invitational. It looks like they were put in a low pool, and proceeded to go 3-0 on day 1. Their first game on Sunday was a quarterfinal win over DingWop (who we'll see at Detroit this weekend), and then their run ended with a 13-7 loss to Sub Zero. That's a respectable loss to a UPA finalist.

The big look will be at Detroit Mowtown Throwdown and Log Jam this weekend. Goat, GT, Roy, and Too Bad are spread out over four pools in Detroit, and I expect to see Mephisto at Log Jam.

In the odds, I've moved Winnipeg up for the time being.

1. Furious George - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 2-3
No change

2. Goat - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 4-1
No change

3. Invictus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1
No change

4. Mephisto - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1
No change

5. Phoenix - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 25-1
No change

6. Nads - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 35-1
No change

7. Blackfish - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 40-1
No change

8. Magma - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 45-1
No change

9. Red Circus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1
No change

10. Grand Trunk - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1
No change

11. Winnipeg General Strike - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 55-1
With a reasonable tournament the experience will prepare them for Nationals. The game against Sub Zero will really help them find out what they'll need to work on. I'm still concerned with such a small schedule, but we'll see in a few weeks.

12. Q - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 60-1
No change

13. Too Bad - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 75-1
No change

14. Mangina - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 100-1
No change

15. Sherbrooke Open - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 110-1
No change

16. Firebird - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 130-1
No change

17. Roy - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 150-1
No change

18. SWASS - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 250-1
No change

19. Hootenanni Pussywillows
Bathurst Odds - 1000-1

20. BID - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1001-1

PJ

Cottage Weekend 1 - Lesson 1 - The layout is not impressive

I spent the weekend sitting by a fire or staring out on the lake in Quebec. No ultimate, but I did bring some of the UltiVillage footage of Flowerbowl'07. My family was willing to watch some of the footage because few of them had ever seen me play, and they wanted to see what I spent most of my weekends doing.

As expected the crowd of ten or so dwindled down to about four including myself. These remaining fans were all males who watch different types of sports from English Premier League to golf to hockey (NHL and Junior). As they watched the game, which had lots of drama because of the tight game, they never really became enthralled with the action.

Pictured Above: Firebird and Roy air action (photo courtesy of Jaleel).

I've talked about this before in posts such as this one and I've thought of some ideas on how to make the sport more spectator friendly. What really surprised me the most was how my three viewers reacted to layouts.

The layout, I thought, is our slam dunk. Well, apparently not. I don't know if they were desensitized by the number of layouts there were in this game, but actions that a fellow ultimate player view as spectacular plays were treated as actions that were almost expected. To some degree the fans were right and they expected that a player would always layout for a disc, but that means our slam dunk is really just a common action on the field. Do we need to install trampolines on the field?

In the end, they enjoyed watching the Furious vs. Goat game and catching a view of what I do. They were impressed with the amount of running we did and they really enjoyed the pull - Mike Grant's in particular. Maybe the pull is where it's at and we should have field goal attempts along the lines of Rugby and Australian Rule's Football.

After my first experiment, of those 30% viewers I captured for 20 minutes, I think Ultimate could hold onto one of them for the entire game with a better presentation and commentators.

PJ

221st Post - One Year Anniversary

Hey Folks,

This is non-ultimate related, but I've made it. I've completed one year of blogging on the Cultimate Opinion.

Pictured Above: I'm relaxing at Cleveland No Surf (Photo by Marc Hodges).

I'd like to thank all the suggestions for posts, the photos people have let me use, the teams that I post about, and most importantly, the general Ultimate community who reads the Cultimate Opinion. I enjoy meeting people from all over the continent who come up and say they enjoy reading my blog.

Pictured Above: I'm in my Gender Blender look here with Thai Boxing shorts (underarmour) and a nice golfing hat (photo courtesy of Kevin Brown)

What's in store in the future? Well, I won't lie. My goal was to make it this far and then reevaluate if I would continue. So, I'm not sure. In the interim, I will continue to post, but I can't tell you for how long. I have 30 or 40 posts in draft form, so that will keep me going for a few months. I'm off to run Ultimate Camp up at Olympia a week from now, and I'll use that time to think about the blog.

Pictured Above: This is as Flowerbowl 07 finals. I still don't think I fouled Lugsden on the throw - maybe after (photo courtesy of Jamie Bishop)

Just some stats of interest with the blog:

• 75,852 page views
• Another 8400 rss feed views
• 13,406 unique visitors
• Top 3 visiting countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom
• Top 3 visiting states: California, Massachusetts, New York
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• Revenue: $9.67 (not received since you have to get over $100)
• Average time on site 2:03 minutes
• 2,111 of you have visited more than 201 times...I've only wrote 220 posts?
• 3,594 of you have visited 51-100 times

Pictured Above: Inian Moorthy telling me what many of you probably think about the Cultimate Opinion (photo courtesy of Blue)

Peter

Poll Thursday - Canadian Nationals picks - The Semis

Last week we had a chance to pick who we would expect to see in the quarters. Based on our picks:

• Open
• Furious, Goat, Mephisto, Invictus, Phoenix, Grand Trunk, Nads, Black Fish
• Women
• Capitals, Team Alberta, Storm, Diggers, Scarlett, Crush, Salty, Traffic (number one BC team)
  
• Mixed
• TFP, Bytown Flatball Club, Bronco (Alberta 1), Monster, Snipe, Vancouver Mixed, Gecko, MHUC

This week we'll bring in the five categories and pick our semi-finalists.

Note the poles below are experiencing some difficulties for some users...

In open, pick 4 semifinalists.

In women, pick 4 semifinalists:

In Mixed, pick 4 semifinalists:

In masters, pick 4 semifinalist:

In juniors, pick 4 semifinalists:

PJ

Tournament 8 - Lesson 2 - The big debate with trust and the game plan

In our quarters against Mephisto, we went in with a huck and pin game plan. I'm sure most teams did this under the conditions we were playing at on Sunday at No Borders.

We kept to our plan and were right in the game until we dropped a throw on a downwind situation close to our end zone. Mephisto capitalized and scored one of two upwind points. The second coming from a similar scenario.

Pictured Above: Eric Sheid of Wormtown making a spectacular D against GT at No Borders. This D was off a throw by yours truly to what I thought was an open poach (photo courtesy of Darren Mace).

The question at hand for our team was should the thrower have just hucked to nobody but moved the disc deep, or do you trust your teammate on the obviously open in cut?

This debate really comes down to what the word trust means. We use it in many sports discussions and it's obviously one of the pillars of building a healthy team. Trust means that you believe someone will perform to an expected result. But what if the previous track record proves otherwise or you have no previous record to go on. In this case, you would be using blind trust, where you expect a result based on no previous or poor previous results.

Being the Cultimate Opinion my take on our game situation was that we were in a state of blind trust (based on previous up and down results). I think it was too big a gamble on the in cut, and we should have hucked the disc to nobody.

It should be understood that those two breaks alone were not the only reason we lost, but they were the most significant factor. Each time Mephisto scored upwind they got to pull to our upwind line meaning we didn't have a chance of getting a similar D close to the upwind endzone, which made it even harder. Alas, another hard lesson learned.

PJ

Tournament 8 - Lesson 1 - Solving zone troubles

This weekend at No Borders we were playing our last game against a team that was ready to lose. They, however, came out with a zone and 4 points later were up 4-0 and getting more confident by the point.

I was impressed with our team. No one was panicking yet, but you could sense the tension building. We decided to put a line of handlers out (one guy is normally a cutter but could be a handler). I've used this strategy in heavy up wind situations before, but this was a downwind situation. I feel that handlers are better decision makers for the most part, and with a line of handlers instead of 3 or 4 handlers feeling a huge pressure on their shoulders a line allows you to look around and see that everyone is in the same boat. Very calming, and in this case, very successful.

Pictured Above: More from Blender 2007. Deanna Langer gets off a high release backhand (photo courtesy of Kevin Brown)

We broke the zone and then went on a run for the rest of the game. The funny thing about a line of handlers is the guys who played poppers or cutters fond themselves in a strange position.

On Sunday, the morning wind was pretty strong. Most teams were playing huck and pin style of games. The cup we were facing was determined to not allow anything through it. This meant we had to attack from the sidelines. With four handlers we essentially worked with little resets and somewhat random movement to push the cup to their limit. We never broke the zone, but we did accomplish one thing. We tired out the defense to the point that they stopped playing zone and went to man on a few occasions. Against man our flow was good, but like the zone we approached the end zone, but made key errors when it counted.

Zones are fascinating. You play a certain zone against one team and it can stifle them completely. Against another and it's crushed almost instantly. Of course factors like personnel, team quality, and conditions are all huge factors in that equation. They're still fascinating.

PJ

Bathurst Odds part V - Bording Time

No Borders was a good weekend in Ottawa with sprinkles of rain and a collection of teams from around the area. The ladies division was dominated by the Capitals with Storm coming in second after beating the Diggers in a tight semis.

In the Open division, we saw some of the key match ups I was hoping for.

• Tombstone beats GLUM in a tightly fought game on the Saturday.
• Firebird pulls out a universe point on Roy.
• Mephisto takes the tournament championship with a 14-10 win over Phoenix.

How does that change the odds?

1. Furious George - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 2-3
No change

2. Goat - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 4-1
No change

3. Invictus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1
No change

4. Mephisto - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1
Even with the tournament win Mephisto didn't strike me as dominant. They were missing Shaggy, but their core looked a little shaky in the wind. They, however, got the job done and with one tournament left (Log Jam) they'll be ramping up for Nationals. Eric was quite dominant in all the games I saw him play in.

5. Phoenix - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 25-1
Phoenix made the finals at Borders with a Universe quarters win over Nads and a 4 or 5 point semifinals game against Magma. They ran with Mephisto for a while relying on their veteran O-line that include a strong number 10 (who I sense might be the next star from Ottawa). Now that I've finally watched them play I have a tough time figuring out who they can beat out to make semis at Nationals. I think they match up well against Invictus and historically have had good Nationals.

6. Nads - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 35-1
Nads weren't strictly representative of who they would have at Nationals, but they've got players. I expect they'll have to fight their way into quarters, but if they stay healthy and in the right mind frame they have the talent to make quarters. a bunch of stars will need to align to make semis.

7. Blackfish - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 40-1
Didn't play this weekend, but with the loss of Derek Baxter I think this team will be hard pressed to finish 7th. No results as of late means they're probably practicing hard and getting some time against Furious.

8. Magma - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 45-1
The big mover this weekend. They beat GT in pool play 7-5 in a shortened game, Maddington Bears (a solid Queen's Alumni team) in the quarters, and they loss to Phoenix by only a few in the semis. When you look at them nobody pops out as a superstar, but they play a good team game with lots of breaks and constant pressure. I'm not convinced they'll make quarters, but this season they've been playing well.

9. Red Circus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1
Didn't make the top 8 and didn't come 9th. I didn't see these guys play anybody, and I don't know who came from their roster. They're out of the top 8 to make room for Magma.

11. Grand Trunk - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1
A loss to Magma on day one and a loss in the quarters to the eventual winners on day two, but Borders was the best tournament yet for GT this season. Magma gets to move up the ladder, but I don't expect them to beat GT again. I wouldn't rule out a win against Mephisto either.

10. Q - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 60-1
Not in the top 8 and another loss to GLUM. Q does have their veteran handler back and he told me he had just come back from France. I'm guessing once he gets back into disc shape this team will have the personnel to make a move in the standings and maybe surprise one of the lower teams for an appearance in Quarters.

12. Too Bad - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 75-1
Too Bad picked up a number of coed players for this weekend. I can't talk about chemistry or the validity of any of their wins so no change.

13. Winnipeg General Strike - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 90-1
No change

14. Mangina - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 100-1
No change

15. Sherbrooke Open - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 110-1
No change

16. Firebird - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 130-1
Firebird gets a win against Roy to stay in the top 16. I think they can get higher than this at Nationals, but I'll leave them here for now since 13,14,15 are wildcards. The GT vs. Bird comment made on my last odds post should be laid to some rest after GT wins 15-5 in pool play. That won't be the score next time, but they've still got a gap to close on GT.

17. Roy - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 150-1
Roy keeps on coming. They had a fabulous game against Mephisto in pool play and a tough loss to Firebird. The next tournament in Detroit will give these guys even more time to click and prepare to make a move at Nationals.

18. SWASS - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 250-1
No change

19. Hootenanni Pussywillows
Bathurst Odds - 1000-1

20. BID - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1001-1

PJ

That elusive obtainable energy?

Hey Folks,

I found this fascinating blog on energy drinks. On this blog the guy reviews a range of energy drinks with the intention of getting a buzz or a kick, but not sport. He'll tell you about flavour, colour, ingredients, and rank the drinks in all sorts of different categories.

The energy drink and Ultimate is a fascinating relationship. Note that Gatorade and Poweraide are sports drinks.

Pictured Above: Peyton Leung releasing a throw at Gender Blender 07 (Photo courtesy of Kevin Brown)

The energy drink is like a halfway step to ephedrines without associated high risk of heart problems. These energy drinks usually contain caffeine and taurine, and I see this usage throughout the Ultimate community. They offer the potential of an energy burst (caffeine), improved focus (caffeine) and delaying muscle fatigue (taurine).

My first experience with the energy drink was a disaster. I drank a full can of brand X (can't remember) an hour before the tournament had even started and by the start of the game I was suffering from anxiety and nervousness. That coupled with the pressure on me resulted in a multiple throw aways. At that time I would barely drink anything with caffeine in it. I would call this situation an overdose, and that's obviously not beneficial to performance.

Nowadays I've seen Red Bull promoters come to tournaments and hand out cans of Red Bull. I've used the sugar-free Red Bull (diabetic factors) late in a tournament (sipping it slowly mind you) and suspected that I was staying energized, but I have no proof. I've drank two of the imported Red Bulls from Thailand in the bottle without the carbonation and they've kept me up for an all night tournament without any trouble. So, focus wise and energy wise the energy drink seems to work.

I know a number of players who live by the energy drink at tournaments. The associated buzz brings them into a place where they're ready to play Ultimate. It's just part of their game.

What type of risks are we taking when we use these products. Health Canada's view on the topic is use a drink like Red Bull as the label describes (2 cans per day) as it is classed a health product. With physical activity, make sure that you are hydrating well. Finally, the classic statement - don't mix with alcohol. From what I've read there doesn't seem to be any high risk of heart attack like ephedrine if used properly (of course I don't have all the information).

I think a greater risk is falling into a situation like I did with my first experience on an energy drink. Nervous energy has little place on the field when you need to make sound decisions and proper execution in the heat of a game. Even on defense you need to be moving fast, but eventually you will have the disc in your hands.

I prefer a coffee with my breakfast and a diet coke during the day with lots of water. I guess, like in most situations with your health, proceed with caution. Use as directed, be aware of your body, and ride the placebo and psychological effect when possible.

PJ

Poll Thursday - Canadian Nationals picks - The Quarters

Last week we polled who would make it in the Mixed division to Nationals. Other than a few outliers we picked correctly for Ontario and sent Snipe, Monster, Liquid, Bytown Flatball Club, Mayhem, and Big Hammers to Nationals. Picked well with Quebec. The Albertan Regionals hasn't happened yet.

Since Canadian Nationals is only 4 weeks, we might as well start picking our favourites. This week will be picking your favourite teams to make the quarters.

Open (Pick 8 teams to go to the quarters):

Women (Pick 8 teams to go to the quarters):

Mixed (Pick 8 teams to go to the quarters):

PJ

Bathurst Odds part IV - The Odds Must be Crazy

This weekend is a big one in the East for the Open and Master division. No Borders will be held in Ottawa (on bad fields mind you). You can read some of the banter in Ottawa and less so in Toronto. There are some matchups that could happen that will be exciting to watch.

• Glum vs Tombstone - Ontario's top two Masters teams will go at it. Some of these guys played together on the Canada's world silver medalist team in 2004. Now they meet in battle with both teams shoring up to be the team with the World picking power. Glum brings Peter Knowles and his legendary cutting ability and some good handlers backed by Chris Sullivan to a cast of talented guys. Tombstone counters Peter with their own cutting stars, Geoff Simonett and Andrew Edgell, and a handler core with names like List, Agius, and Smolak. The difference here will be the two young studs on Tombstone - McArton and Stockdale. I don't think this game will happen on Day 1, but we'll see.
  
• Tombstone Wins 13-9 if it's early in the day, 13-7 if it's later in the tournament
• Phoenix vs Red Circus - Circus surprised Grand Trunk at the Boston Invite. Is Phoenix ready for the Circus. A win for either team puts them in the upper echelon of Open teams. A loss could mean a steady roll down the hill of doom.
  
• Phoenix Wins 13-7
• Phoenix vs Mephisto - Phoenix meets a team that I think is just starting to peak. Mephisto will be gunning to win No Borders and be the new other big city in Canada to hold the Borders trophy.
  
• Mephisto Wins 13-10
• Nads vs Anybody - I just want to get a read on who Nads are and what they're bringing to the Canadian Nationals table. There's rumors of key pickups so this won't exactly be the team we'll see in August.
• Firebird vs Roy - This is the one I'm really excited about. It's the two tiered club system of Ottawa versus the three tiered club system in Toronto. Roy's mixed up their team jersey colors and they've put a cast of players together who want to compete and can. Firebird is rumored to have the most grueling fitness preparation of any team in the continent. Unfortunately, you can't run with the disc.
• Firebird Wins 13-11 with an early jump and lots of screaming. Roy can't recover but makes a run that'll prove the difference at Nationals
  
• Firebird/Roy vs Too Bad - Too Bad will be a little stripped down by Nads and Maddington Bears (other team name suggestions: Bragiddy Anne or Killthee-the-Pooh or Furious George ... oh wait). Is this an opening for Firebird/Roy to get that win against Harry's pickup elite?
  

Also, I'll go into the odds this week on Nationals since a few people have convinced me that they should be adjusted. The best argument to changing them was - would you actually back that bet with those odds. I'll also change the format to horse betting odds (see details here).

1. Furious George - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 2-3

2. Goat - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 4-1

3. Invictus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 10-1

4. Mephisto - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 11-1

5. Phoenix - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 20-1

6. Blackfish - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1

7. Nads - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1

8. Red Circus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 30-1

9. Grand Trunk - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 35-1

10. Q - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 40-1

11. Magma - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 50-1

12. Too Bad - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 75-1

13. Winnipeg General Strike - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 90-1

14. Mangina - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 100-1

15. Sherbrooke Open - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 110-1

16. Firebird - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 150-1

17. Roy - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 180-1

18. SWASS - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 250-1

19. Hootenanni Pussywillows
Bathurst Odds - 1000-1

20. BID - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1001-1

I miss the million dollar chance.

PJ

More Adapting - this time for the finals

Yesterday, I talked about getting into tournament shape by going regularly to tournaments. Today, I'll continue along those lines with a concept that I've talked to with a number of people. I can't think of who I talked to about this first so I'll credit all of you with the idea. The concept is whether your team is at top or the bottom you should play every game at a tournament.

The theory of playing all 6, 7, 8, or 9 games at tournament is that even if you're at the bottom, someday you'll be in the finals and your team will need to be ready to play your best in that game. The only way to start preparing for that final game is to always be playing the allocated number of games that simulates how your body will feel in a finals.

Pictured Above: Sideline view of Steve Tam and Kirk Nylen watching the finals at Jazzfest (photo courtesy of Jaleel)

Many tournaments now are forcing you to play every game or you can lose your spot the next year (note: Grand Trunk's forfeit game at Boston Invite is marked wrong. We were waiting to play the final game, but nobody showed up at the satellite field). Every team that travels to a tournament rightly deserves to play all the games they paid and traveled for (even though I think that number is crazy).

If you're a captain, make sure your team is pressing to play every possible game at a tournament both to respect your opponents and to prepare yourself for the final show.

PJ

Adapting to Tournaments

I've had a few people ask me how I can play so many tournaments. This is an interesting question, and I pondered it for a few moments on my weekend off.

I definitely think off-season weight training is key to strengthen your entire body, and taking off a very short period of time after the end of the season before getting into the gym helps. Also, I try to sleep at least 8 hours every night and don't do too much extra strenuous exercise other than practice during the regular season.

Pictured Above: A little miss read and an in air hit on Steve Tam in our finals at Jazzfest (photo courtesy of Jaleel)

My current theory is that like the body can adapt to a variety of environments, it can also adapt to playing ultimate every weekend for extended periods. The anecdotal evidence is how I feel after a tournament. On Monday after my first tournament of the season, I feel horrible. It takes almost the entire week to recover. On the following Monday after the next tournament, I'm tired, but I'll be recovered by Tuesday's practice. After the first tournament this is how I feel.

If I take more than four weeks between tournaments, then I'm back to square one and I'm feeling horrible after the next tournament. It seems like adaption?

This theory is related to my thoughts on the best way to get in shape for tournaments - play tournaments. As much as workouts are important to preparing you for the event, they never get you completely prepared, but they may improve your physical attributes. Unless you are willing to somehow simulate a tournament worth of ultimate on the track (sprint for a few minutes, rest, sprint again, repeat 15 times = 1 game, repeat 4 times with a bye) it's hard to prepare for the duration of the actual event.

Pictured Above: Torontula and Friends with out trophy from Jazzfest.

I still think we're a little crazy in how much we actually play during a tournament, but at the distances some of us travel it will is hard to change the culture and expect less at a tournament. Ultimate is not a 2 or 3 times a week game with playoff series, it's a tournament based sport. To prepare for the big events you need to adapt your body by playing regularly in tournaments. That's my theory.

PJ

Bathurst Odds part III - After all that Jazz

After Jazzfest their are a few movers on the chart (20 teams have been announced for Open Canadian Nationals). Here's how I see the changes, and most of them are down at the bottom. We'll have to wait for No Borders to see any movement in the middle.

Pictured Above: Toronto fans at Jazzfest watching the finals (picture courtesy of Jaleel).

1. Furious George - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 2
No change. Insiders have been asking me to switch the odds to 2:1 or greater. I just believe this team is beatable. Plus, I'm not risking my life backing bookies

2. Goat - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 4
No change.f

3. Invictus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 110
No change.

4. Mephisto - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 110
No change.

5. Phoenix - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 200
No change.

6. Blackfish - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 300
No change.

7. Nads - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 300
No change.

8. Red Circus - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 300
No change.

9. Grand Trunk - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 325
No change.

10. Q - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 375
A loss in the quarters to my team Torontula and losses to Glum and Colt .45. They're looking fine, so I'll keep them where they are. No Jazzfest win this year.

11. Magma - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 550
Losing their crossover into the second tier of Jazzfest means these guys are really going to have to gel to make quarters at Nationals. It's not looking good.

12. Too Bad - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 750
No change

13. Winnipeg General Strike - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 900
No results. Flatland Ultimate and Cups Tournament is happening on the same weekend as Borders. Maybe we'll get some results to get a feel for the prairie teams.

14. Mangina - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1000
No change.

15. Sherbrooke Open - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1650
They beat Roy. Apparently, athletic boys who have okay disc skills. I'll hop this team over the bird and Roy for now.

16. Firebird - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1700
No change.

17. Roy - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1800
Roy crosses over beating a team resembling Red Tide. Regardless, this is a big win for Roy. They also took out both SWASS and some other teams and lost to the Aussie team in the quarters of tier 2. I still think this is the best Roy ever, and they're making cuts for Nationals.

18. SWASS - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 7000
This team has a little more time before Aurora and Brampton meet them in battle. The relegation zone will be interesting.

19. Hootenanni Pussywillows
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1000000
I'm bored of these guys being at the bottom. From what they've shown so far and confidence in their name I'm moving them up to 19th on the list.

20. BID - RRI
Bathurst Odds - 1 in 1000001
It's BID at the bottom. I just don't see these guys putting the effort forward to being an elite team. Change that vowel in their team name and they either go to sleep, become your friend, get angry, or become an acronym meaning all sorts of things.

PJ

Poll Thursday - The road to Canadian Nationals begins

Last week we asked, "Is your team a morning team?" Not surprisingly 84% of you said no. Andrew had a good suggestion to help your team get ready in the morning with mandatory team breakfast to get your team up early and fueled. It sounds like a good idea, but I have a hard time imagining what time Andrew's team is getting up. Andrew's team Liquid is in the polls below, so consider the morning ritual a factor.

This weekend is the first set of regionals for Canadian nationals. We might as well pick the teams you think will go to Nationals. The Ontario listing is in rough seeding. The Quebec and Alberta picks are not seeded and will be tough to guess.

To help, Rob Camp has made some guesses for Ontario (here). Choose 6 of 12 from Ontario (you can pick more on the poll below, but why?):

Choose 6 of 7 from Quebec:

Choose 2 of 3 from Alberta:

PJ

Tournament 7 - Lesson 2 - Rumours are true, A moving disc is harder to cover with moss

Hey Folks, (haven't started with that in a while)

One of the lessons at the tournament was actually brought up by our exchange captain, Shaggy. On the Friday before the tournament I had just put up a post on GT's private team blog about the exact same concept. Great minds think alike? It's such a simple thing - move the disc at low stall counts.

Pictured Above: Mark Gravely of Roy in their new uniforms at Jazzfest (photo courtesy of Jaleel).

Sure there are different styles of offense. Your team might like to huck or prefer to swing and break, but when the disc sits in a handler's hands for 6 stalls as they wait for something to develop it just tends to hurt the offense.

This is especially true when the disc is on the sideline. Personally, I catch the disc on the sideline. Look for the huck. Look for the in cut. Then by stall 2 I'm ready to move the disc back to the middle of the field. Sometimes I won't even look upfield. To be honest, I tend to do this regardless of where I am on the field except when I'm the primary handler walking the disc to the brick mark or letting a play initialize off a pull. I suspect that even in these situations I should move the disc early.

The beauty of a moving disc is not only does the defensive player have to defend you, but now as the disc constantly changes position on the field, the defender has to change their positioning relative to you and the disc. This means the offense has an even greater advantage of angles. And we all know how powerful math can be.

Pictured Above: Fiesty's Shiovean Woods in their hot pink uniforms watches a throw get off at Jazzfest (photo courtesy of Jaleel).

What's the downside of moving the disc fast? Well, one of the GT guys, Malcolm, came up to me last night and stated it exactly. You have to think fast and play relaxed at the same time. Quick decisions and always moving the disc means you need to be aware of lots of information and process it very quickly. This is likely the time where the D can get a poach D because the offense is too focused on the next pass and not doing eye sweeps for defenders. It's tricky to move the disc fast, but good spacing and timing will make it hard for any defense to stop you.

PJ

Tournament 7 - Lesson 1 - Danger in Picking Up Other Leaders

This weekend we had the opportunity to play with a famous player around these parts, Shaggy (Mark Zimmerl). Shaggy has led Mephisto for many years and has played at all levels.

Pictured Above: Glen Oomen of BEAT (in yellow) challenges Greg Carnes of London at Gender Blender 2007 (photo courtesy of Kevin Brown).

The concern is that leaders of other teams will come into your team and shake things up at the top. Of course, the reality is a fellow captain knows what it is like running a team and is probably the easiest type of player to bring into your team fold. They not only understand team dynamics from the top, but an opportunity to play with another team gives the visiting captain insight into other ways of running a team.

If you are a captain and you have a free weekend then think about maybe doing a captain exchange. Play a tournament with a team in another city or geographic area and reciprocate that same opportunity to the other captain.

The only real concern people might have with this is that you are giving away your team's game strategies. The exchange might not be the best option if both teams are likely competing for a specific coveted prize such as a national finals or college finals (or semis). In other cases, if your team will compete during the season then maybe hold back some of your strategies. However, the reality is Ultimate is still in such an early phase of development that most of the game strategies can be counted on your hands and toes and most captains are familiar with the basic strategies. Your team's nuances on performing those strategies will likely not be given away in a tournaments time.

The benefit in this case, I think, outweighs the potential risk.

PJ

Tournament 7 - Pressureless Pressure ... Glorious Glory

This weekend I played with Torontula and Friends (2 Mephisto + 3 GT + 1 Rip) at Montreal Jazzfest. This was one of those weekends where a team has existing pockets of chemistry, potential for glory, and pressure to do well.

The weekend was good. We, in general, would go down early in a game and then try to claw our way back to win. All sorts of interesting challenges happened throughout the tournament, but we persevered to win the tournament in an exciting 17-15 come from behind finals.

Unfortunately, a blog writer match up between our team (myself) and Colt .45 (Match Diesel's blog which is doing well) never happened when they lost in the quarters. I was hyping them up as the team to meet in the finals, while all along we were destined to meet the team that beat us in in our first game in tier 2 pool play (the seedings were all over the place with the 9-16 seeds representing as 3 of the semi finalists).

I'll get into the lessons learned from the tournament later in the week, but until then have a safe Canada Day.

PJ