Tuesday, April 05, 2011

HS Eastern's and Western's

So I have been pretty focused on PA Youth Ultimate, something I know I need to change, but, given that I see that everyday, it is hard not to be.  Sorry for that, I will try to do a little more coverage of other areas, but, I will definitely be guessing.  Unless someone helps by directing me to highlights or some kind of coverage of other areas.




Let's take a look at USA Ultimate Eastern's and Western's.  First off, let's not get overly excited as to what these tournaments are, invitational tournaments of teams that were in the previous year.  In order words, teams that have yet to prove themselves in the current season.  


Teams are invited in based on a paper application and how they finished last year at the State Championship tournament.  It is rare that young teams win State Championships, so, in essence, graduating seniors win the right for the younger players to play at a tournament that confuses most other sports.  Ever hear of a HS Baseball team bragging about winning a regional tournament?  No?  Me either.  I hear tons of boasting about State Championships, but these regional tournaments really don't mean anything more than great tournaments like Amherst Invitational, Paideia Cup, Hopkins Hustle, or Madison Mudbath.


I am not saying they are a bad thing.  I am just really looking forward to the day, in about 3 years, when USA Ultimate exits the regional tournament model and fully embraces the State Championship as the end of the line for HS teams.  Then, those other tournaments, like Amherst, Paideia, Hopkins, and MudBath, become even more sought after, and followed HS tournaments.



With that said, I think I should give my (way-too-early) predictions of the final standings for HS Eastern's and Western's.  To save me some grief, I am only predicting top 4 finishers.

HS Eastern's Girls:
Ok, this one, I think I have the best chance of predicting, because I have already seen a bunch of these teams.  YHB is very good, they split their squad at their own Invite and still won, beating Columbia (after CHS beat the other half of YHB Girls) at universe despite an injury to one of their better players.  Allerdice simply kicked everyone's butt last weekend at Keystone Classic, in some windy, and very uphill, conditions.  But, Amherst Girls are coming, and as Larry Bird famously said "So, who's coming in second?"  (Paideia has graduation this weekend, and wil end their season at the O'Hara Invite)
1. Amherst
2. YHB
3. Allerdice
4. Watchung Hills

*Check out O'Hara Invite at the end of April to see Paideia match up with Amherst, Watchung Hills, YHB, and probably Allerdice, and really see how good those teams are.

HS Eastern's Open:
So, keep complaining, but Pennsbury is out.  USA Ultimate allowed them to put a bid in, but ultimately, they decided to keep them out.  Paideia is not in for the same reason the Girls are out, graduation is that same weekend.  There is still some decent competition.  YHB has been whipping everyone, USN has lost only 4 games (2 to Paideia) and I have yet to see Columbia or Amherst play a game (against HS teams...)  Radnor has put up some impressive wins, but I mean, really, who have they played?
1. Columbia
2. Amherst
3. YHB
4. USN

*Born2Dive and Paideia Cup are on the weekend, April 16, tune in to both to see some fantastic Ultimate.

HS Western's Girls
Now I really have to guess.  8 teams playing, 7 from DiscNW.  I can't seem to find anything about Summit, though I have no doubt they are a worthy team.  Looking at the standings for the Girls League in DiscNW, The Northwest School is simply pulverizing everyone, only giving up an average of 3 goals a game.
1. Northwest School
2. Seattle Academy
3. Nathan Hale
4. Summit (because, hey, why not?)

HS Westerns' Open
I read a lot of Western teams complaining that noone writes about them.  Do you want to know why?  Take a look at the teams that are going to Westerns' and try to find out something, anything about them.  I have been searching for a while now, and I have very little.  Also, Louisiana and Minnesota, I feel bad for you guys, long journey to Oregon, Philly would have been so much cooler.  At least Catholic should come out with some medals, in what I am betting will be the best game of the weekend.
1. Catholic
2. Northwest School
3. Franklin
4. Summit (host team, gotta show some love)

Ok, make me look stupid, give me your predictions.



Posted by Tom Cook at 4:31 PM

Comments (24)

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+2 Vote up Vote down
jake's avatar

jake · 730 weeks ago

is usn any good?
+3 Vote up Vote down
breeze strout's avatar

breeze strout · 730 weeks ago

SOUTH EUGENE BABYYYY! have you actually done research? south is the reigning champs and are only driving 45 minutes for a repeat. they return 9 players plus a gold medalist at junior worlds. lets be real here.
+3 Vote up Vote down
marcel schaffer's avatar

marcel schaffer · 730 weeks ago

just look at the past years finishers...nathan hale, south, nws, hopkins, cathedral...one of them will win it. summit? please.
+7 Vote up Vote down
Isaac Saul's avatar

Isaac Saul · 730 weeks ago

Hey Tom,

I'm glad to see that you've hit an all time low.

"So, keep complaining, but Pennsbury is out. USA Ultimate allowed them to put a bid in, but ultimately, they decided to keep them out."

Really? Is that what happened? Look at you, as a PHUEL director and board member, provoking high school kids on a public forum. What is your beef Tom? Is this really it? Is this how you want PHUEL to be represented? You know why people are complaining? BECAUSE PENNSBURY IS GOOD! Wow, imagine that?! They just got done beating the best competition in Pittsburgh after beating Haveford and Radnor (the two teams that got accepted to Easterns) in the fall. Did it ever occur to you that people are going to Easterns to play the best competition? When Columbia and Amherst come and ROCK the entire competition without seeing a real game, you'll see why people complain. Pennsbury should be in. They deserve it. They worked for it, they paid their dues for their misconduct, and they are absolutely one of the top 4 teams in the Eastern part of the country. Was it not enough for you to single handedly keep them out of States and then TRY stop them from even being allowed to apply for Easterns this year?

Why don't we talk about how you want to divorce PHUEL from USAU because you don't think "your money" is being used for anything? Why don't we talk about how you asked Radnor to forfeit their bid to Easterns because you were sooooooo upset that Pennsbury was allowed to even SEND a bid? Really? Asking a team to forfeit their bid that they worked for because you have some personal vendetta against USAU? THOSE are the issues. A PHUEL board voting to keep Pennsbury out of competition, when the board IS MADE UP OF THEIR COMPETITION!?! What a paradox.

I'm ashamed to say I ever played in a league that functioned under your discretion. I only hope this post can equal the immaturity of your own. I hope you're really enjoying it over there, ruining the goals and dreams of a group of high school kids. It's sad that no one at PHUEL will stand up to you and that god forbid any Pennsbury player/captain/coach did stand up to you, you would damn near lose your mind and go through any measure possible to have them barred from ever playing ultimate again. After you spend the summer thinking about these KIDS who you have bullied for years, maybe you should consider stepping down and letting someone step into the PHUEL board who has the players best interests in mind.

Keep up the good work Tom,
Sincerely,
Isaac Saul #19
Pennsbury High School '09
University of Pittsburgh '13
+2 Vote up Vote down
confused's avatar

confused · 730 weeks ago

did pennsbury go to states last year? were they allowed to go to states? i understand frustration and perceived snubbing, but if pennsbury did indeed have the opportunity to compete at states and chose not to, why should they be allowed to go to easterns? usau seemed to state pretty clearly that if you want to go to easterns the following year, you need to compete at states. some information might be missing, but how is this anyone's fault but pennsbury's?
+2 Vote up Vote down
poopstain 's avatar

poopstain · 730 weeks ago

I heard that pennsbury is the worst team ever............
0 Vote up Vote down
yomomma's avatar

yomomma · 730 weeks ago

isaac saul, im glad you took time out of your busy schedule of flipping through your various strange porn sites to comment on a blog. Wow either in Pittsburgh theres nothing better to do or your just a shut in freak show that's one step above being a schizophrenic outcast. You say that cook should move one from his personal "vendetta" yet your spending your college years holding a grudge that now spans around a year now, i guess you must have been commenting on more blogs when you could have been filling out your paperwork to get into states last year.
+2 Vote up Vote down
David's avatar

David · 730 weeks ago

Palin '12
+2 Vote up Vote down
ThisGuy's avatar

ThisGuy · 730 weeks ago

Dear Isaac,
Congrats. You're just an amazing person. I wish we all could be as wonderful as you. Like "yomomma" said, it's obvious that You are the one holding the vendetta here. Maybe if you had taught Pennsbury anything about Spirit of the Game while you were there, Tom wouldn't have anything against you. As it is, you ruined it for your team. You truly did. It's not his fault you didn't turn in your paperwork. IT"S YOURS. I'm going to let you in on a secret... NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK. You're at college now, GROW UP. I will personally build you a bridge when you decide you're going to get over it. Pennsbury was given ample time to send in their paperwork, they failed. It's their own fault.
+2 Vote up Vote down
youth ultimate's avatar

youth ultimate · 729 weeks ago

no response? an explanation of why pennsbury feels they are getting screwed might help to clear things up. don't act like you guys aren't reading these posts. were you given a fair chance to send in paperwork and compete at states? just trying to get some facts here.
+2 Vote up Vote down
David's avatar

David · 729 weeks ago

Kids are Kids and they will make mistakes. No need to have excessively large punishments for a growing sport that really needs competition for it to expand. In addition I am pretty sure that they made an attempt to register for DII states but were hoaxed.
+2 Vote up Vote down
Isaac Saul's avatar

Isaac Saul · 729 weeks ago

Hey guys,

Didn't run fro anything, just continued some dialogue with Tom via email and forgot about this blog. First of all, a few things that (somehow) you all seem to wrongfully agree with:

1) Last time I played for Pennsbury was in 2009, and the only reason I came onto this blog for the first time in 2 years was because somone told me PHS didn't get a bid to easterns and I couldn't believe it.

2) I had nothing to do with PHS missing their paperwork. BUT, you should all know that they simply WERENT ACCEPTED - it had nothing to do with them not having any paperwork. It was either because of their behavior or their play. Because it obviously wasn't because of their play (they've had an easterns worthy year) that leaves behavior. Yet, Pennsbury hasn't had any problems with USAU and has been on good behavior this year, so who knows.

3) Being at college doesn't mean I can't worry or show concern or frustration for a program I helped built. The Pennsbury players on this years team have enough sense and respect not to get involved in the blogs. I thought I'd give them a voice for what I believe are injustices.

4) And as Dave said, Pennsbury hosted a div 2 states in order to be eligible for this years Easterns. They paid their dues for their mistakes and have dominated competition. hey are a group of 20 kids whose only dream was to win Easterns before they graduated, and now they are being held out of the best tourney of the year for a reputation.

Try to stay informed.

Isaac
+2 Vote up Vote down
states or no states?'s avatar

states or no states? · 729 weeks ago

as per #2, are you saying they had their easterns paperwork in on time? that wouldn't matter because they couldn't get in to easterns because they didn't play at states last year.

this still doesn't answer why pennsbury didn't play at states last year. hoaxed out of what? did they try to host this years states and were hoping that would count? or they tried to host div 2 states last year? something is missing here. also, pennsbury, you have earned your poor reputation through you poor behavior and if this is a consequence of your behavior (past or present) hopefully it's a lesson you will learn
+2 Vote up Vote down
guest's avatar

guest · 729 weeks ago

Take off Franklin and switch with Eugene. Franklin will be missing their best player because he attends a different high school
+2 Vote up Vote down
Jake's avatar

Jake · 729 weeks ago

Franklin, summit, and catholic? I have been playing at Westerns for 5 years and have never heard of them. South Eugene, Hale, Northwest you got right, Alameda, Hopkins, Lakeside...come one. give us someone more relevant than some nobodies
+2 Vote up Vote down
guest's avatar

guest · 729 weeks ago

Lakeside is bad. Hale is bad. Northwest is pretty top heavy. Franklin has a lot of young talent but as the previous person said will be missing their best player.
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Fantusta's avatar

Fantusta · 729 weeks ago

Here's how I understand what happened:
PHUEL has a rule, that has existed for a very long time, that requires PHUEL teams to play 3 games against other PHUEL teams, to be eligible in the final standings, and to submit a bid for states. I believe Pennsbury DID NOT REACH that mark last year, therefore, they were not submitted from PHUEL to the PA State director (which is the chain of comamnd of how teams move on). This rule was very clearly laid out long before the season started, but Pennsbury decided they'd rather play better competition in NJ or Amherst or Pittsburgh. Whether that's right or not, I have no comment, just what I understand happened.
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states or no states?'s avatar

states or no states? · 729 weeks ago

that seems like a pretty logical and believable answer. anyone else care to sort out discrepancies? this accurate? did pennsbury just not feel like playing league games and because of this couldn't play at states? if this happened, pennsbury got exactly what they should have for calling phuel's bluff.
+2 Vote up Vote down
collin smith's avatar

collin smith · 729 weeks ago

the south eugene aaron honns will be repeating
+2 Vote up Vote down
Nick's avatar

Nick · 727 weeks ago

Is that really what you think the final four teams will be at easterns chs lost against hfc at paideia let's just say chs isn't going to win
+2 Vote up Vote down
cole the troll's avatar

cole the troll · 727 weeks ago

CHS also beat HFC when it really mattered, in pool play. I doubt they were too concerned about the third place game considering they were probably looking to make finals. This happened last year at the cup as well.

For what it's worth HFC also had a player who won't be playing at Easterns who's huge for them. Rest of the team is super solid too.
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Nick's avatar

Nick · 727 weeks ago

I'm not saying hfc will win but chs isn't that good and,I heard hfc was missing a key player and anther was injured the first day I think chs is a great team and will do great at easterns but I dont know about them winning it.Don't forget about Amherst they're still really good
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Just wrong's avatar

Just wrong · 724 weeks ago

Paideia isn't attending easterns for the same reason Pennsbury isnt. Paideia isn't attending due graduation weekend. Bad facts, man. Get'em right.
+1 Vote up Vote down
math games's avatar - Go to profile

math games · 298 weeks ago

Thank you

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