Turns out i will be going to Fredericksburg, Virginia this weekend to cover club regionals for the Mid-Atlantic region. expect some very extensive coverage. So what games do you want to hear about? The pools havent been announced yet, but heres what the tournament looks like - Ring of Fire, Pike, Potomac, Philly Street, LCN, Medicine Men, Truck Stop Glory Hole, HOV, baNC, Burgh, Warriors, El Camino / Floodwall, Los, Punch, William and Mary, and James Madison, seeded in that order 1-16.
predictions below the fold...
heres my predictions, based on nothing but knowing very very little about club ultimate, and seeing a few sporadic games. Pike will take first, then Ring of Fire second. Third place will be the battle, (the mid atlantic region has three bids this year to nationals) - a dogfight between Potomac, Street, and Truck Stop Glory Hole. Thats right i said it.
but i guess ill see how much i know come sunday when the dust clears. post comments with what games specifically you want me to cover, if any. i may even take notes - [crowd ooohs] - so come on back to the site on sunday for some good coverage.
until then - play ultimate.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Club Mid-Atlantic Regionals
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
High School Hype from Philly...
From the tid bits ive heard so far, from PHUEL - Lower Merion High School is making a stir, ending their season last year shutting out DVFS, limiting Souderton to 1 point, and opening their season this year by beating St. Joe's Prep 15-10.
Definitely a team to watch, from what ive seen of them they bring alot of height and athleticism to the table, and only teams who have strongly developed fundamentals of cutting, simple offenses, etc, or who have athletes of equal caliber are going to be able to stand up to them.
Other rumors - it seems that Pensbury, a perpetual contender in PHUEL may be having some internal problems, and may have split their squad into two seperate teams, not based on A/B skill level but rather because of a social divide of sorts. Whole story is still coming out really.
CB East opened their season this fall with a 15-4 win over Neshaminy, CB East is another team with alot of potential for the spring given that its marquee players are rising seniors this year, namely Eddie Peters, a deep threat, roughly 6', who also has throws. Under the coaching ability of Rob Olson he will surely continue to develop his talent and maintain his status as a threat throughout the league.
Do you have a scoop for some high school ultimate? Contact me and we will talk, we are still looking for reporters from all over the country, just drop me a line.
slow things in the ultimate world...
as expected everything ive heard from different sectionals is that pretty much everyone kept seed, no real surprises. except perhaps in the northwest where there was a little bit of oh la hooplah.
in the finals kaos beat jam 13-11, but in reality this doesnt affect things much because both will advance to regionals, and both will be strong contenders for the bids to nationals.
other than that everybody is just warming up for the medium size show that is regionals. i may be attending the mid atlantic regionals, but that is yet to be decided. ill update you as things become availiable.
high school and college fall seasons are getting warmed up around the country. if you have a scoop on a particular area or leage contact me in some way and we'll talk about this.
a post will come a little later on the buzz ive been hearing so far...
Thursday, September 15, 2005
I almost have to scratch that last post...
While the OSU tournament is going to be some amazing competition, i was looking at the classic city classic field of competitors - Cal, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Texas, Tennessee, Texas, UNC-Wilmington, and Virginia.
holy crap. hell im excited and it isnt until November 19th. Anyone know the strength of these teams compared to last year, who lost players, etc. I know Colorado lost Ackley and a few others, and i heard rumors of Beau not playing? can anyone confirm or deny? Aside from that, the only team that i know lost literal no one from the previous year was Pittsburgh. Im almost positive that everyone else lost at least a few. Can anyone comment to help me out here - whats the buzz...
College Coverage this Year...
While i said that we would have postings and updates on the High School ultimate scene, we will in no way neglect the college action as well.
Biggest tournament of the fall season for colleges? Not necessarily size wise, but competition, location, strength etc. My money is going towards the Ohio State University Fall championship.
We look at the competition after the fold...
the lineup this far (copied and pasted from here - http://www1.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=18&id=1828)...
2361 2461 2290 1860 2364 2184 2481 2468 1938 1921 2000 2323 2042 2061 2106 2121 1994 2344 2209 2000 2081 2062 1725 2392 2313 2613 2000
From my perspective the big players at the tourney are going to be at follows - Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio, Ohio State, Indiana, Pittsburgh and possibly Towson.
All of the above teams participated in (their respective) regionals last year, with Michigan, Michigan State, and Pittsburgh all moving on to Nationals.
Personally i think this is going to be a very exciting tournament to watch, how many other fall tournaments do you get to watch this number of quality teams going at it? its gonna be sweet.
more in depth analysis to come when i know more things... anyone else have a viewpoint on this tourney, other fall tourneys? post a comment.
ps - still looking for a few writers...
Sunday, September 11, 2005
The Legend Grows...
And thus the legend of the Play Ultimate blog grows. We have acquired the notable talents of Pittsburgh player and Ultimate journalist Nick Kaczmarek, who will be posting from here on in. Focusing mainly on the Pittsburgh high school forum, Nick is gonna let you guys know whats up with PHUL. Feel free to comment welcoming him etc.
We are still looking for writers from a few key areas in the USA, so if you think you can help out click on the keep reading link...
We still need someone to report in the following areas...
So come on people, space is limited, so let me know what you can do, send me a sample and lets get this blog rolling.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Recruiting Pseudo-Journalists
Hello all, thanks to those of you who have been reading thus far. Its been alot of fun for me to spew my thoughts on the game, as well as publicize a few links in the process etc. But now that the seasons are starting to get underway. Im looking to expand a little.
You're thinking, season - he means club season right? Nope, this blog is gonna focus a bit more on the future of ultimate. The college and high school level of the game. So heres the deal : im operating on zero budget, as in literal none. But i want to expand to a decent level of coverage right? right. So im obviously going to need some help. So if any of you have any contact with the major high school leagues in the country id like to see some of your writing and possibly start talking to you about covering a few high school games and/or tournaments.
The main leagues we want to cover extensively - Massachussettes area - Amherst et al, Pittsburgh league (PHUL), the Philadelphia league (PHUEL), the Seattle league, and the Georgia league. Really if you can commit to covering any area i would love to have you on board. But those are the main areas with thriving leagues that i have had contact with, and who have yielded some amazing college and club players. Keep reading for more details...
So if you are at all interested, or think you are possibly interested, post a comment with some sort of contact information, and then just send me one sample of writing - preferably a season outlook as of right now for the league you are covering, or a team profile and if its good, ill post it and consider you an author for the site. And then you will be given permissions so you can post yourself.
Hopefully ill get some sort of response to this. Even if you dont want to write for the site, maybe just subscribe to the rss feed, and pass this message on to someone you think might be interested.
Thanks to all,
-superman
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Club Sectionals
I dont know enough things to comment on club. So would someone else out there help me. Comments are welcome. Luke's blog has a good rundown of the ordeal. Anyone else know any other good pre tourney outlooks? post a link. gracias.
play ultimate.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Just ordered...
so i just ordered Ultimate Techniques and Tactics, should be a good time. I think i bought another book with it as well, kinda an impulse buy. Just got finished watching I Bleed Black for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
