Slopfest VII: The quiet before the storm

Four days till Slopfest and things have changed a little this year. In the past Slopfest has been played with many fields (eight last year) and they have only four this year. On top of that the tournament has been split up into Mixed and Open. There are teams coming from southern California this year and this should be interesting. Will this be a preview of what is to come at Cal States? Maybe. Maybe, this is what Cal States should do; split into two different divisions: Mixed and Open--But that is a different topic all together.

Looking at the pools right now if they are not to change than there are clear favorites in both divisions.

For the Open division there is Alameda. Dark meat owns the bay area so I don't see any reason for them not to destroy the competition. Another reason is that some of the teams that would usually battle them for the championship are not playing in the open divison. Redwood is playing in the mixed division and so is Castro Valley. If anyone were to frighten the children of ACLC Darkmeat it would be both those teams but they have elected to play in Mixed so Darkmeat should roll through there competition. Now why is darkmeat playing open? There women's team is playing in the Standford Qualifier. Will Alameda ever be beaten? Probably not. Why should anyone bet against them when there girls play in college tournaments and there boys also play in college tournaments. In the Santa Barbara Qualifier both CV and ACLC both went 2-2 against some college A teams. Now granted they weren't very good college A teams but they were college all the same. It's scary to think that one team is in Open and one is in Mixed. Guess who the favorite is in the mixed division?

The obvious choice is CV Redhand in the Mixed division. Word has come out that one team would like to change divisions. I hope it's Redhand wanting to change into Open because they aren't known for there big numbers when it comes to ladies. But there males will be able to dominate any teams males enough to dominate through Pool play. Taylor Lahey's (i don't think i spelled his last name right), of YR, UC Davis Dog, and former Jr. Worlds Champion, brother Patrick Lahey is the captain of redhand and the word on the field is that this kid may become better than his brother. Supposedly he has the potential to be faster and a better thrower than Taylor. The though of that makes me quiver. I just hope he doesn't make the mistake and go to UC Davis, like his brother.

With the teams coming from southern california who knows how well they are going to be but from watching enough HS ultimate I can tell that there are some sleeper teams. Watch out for Granada in the Open division. Yes I understand that I am a little bias. But there key players will all be on the field now, now that they are playing open. They have some amazing handlers and a few great cutters. BJ cutting under is a threat from anywhere on the field. I'd like to see anyone keep up with him. Nick and David are a duo that can move the disc really well and if Davis gets the guts to actually put it. His gorgeous deep throws will make opponents cry. Do I expect them to win...No, but they will turn some heads. Another team on the path of greatness is Miramonte (mixed). You can't ever blink when the rich kids from orinda/moraga are on the field. They are patient with the disc and run for days. Sadly, they might get low numbers which means that they are going to die in the later games and on sunday. If they are with low numbers watch for them to be on the upset alert on sunday. They may be caught off guard and with dead legs.

Finals games prediciton:

In the open division it has to be Alameda vs Berkeley. Berkeley and Alameda have strong handling skills but I think they don't have the deep threat that Alameda has. The kid in pink shorts will run all over you and sadly that will probably happen. Score: 13-8.

For the most important Mixed division we have Redhand (CV) against the lovely spirited team of Redwood (marin). Redhand's men will handle Redwood to death. The only chance that Redwood has is if Redwood's women's play never lets there own men touch the disc. Yes they have really good men but I think that the women on Redwood are the best part of the team. Score: 13-9. That's right this score maybe closer than expected.

This should be a great weekend for HS ultimate and an update and results piece will be coming soon.

Keep on huckin,

G-off