Today, March 5, 2009, is a day that will live in infamy--well at least it may be remembered by someone. This blog has decided to take on other writers and will be handing out Male and Female, PLAYER OF THE YEAR awards.
Just a few minutes ago, coaches and players that are apart of Yahoo group: Bay Area ultimate, were told, through email, that there will be new writers added to the blog and they were going to be the new writers. I will be screening the writers, but I have a feeling no one will be turned down unless the positions become filled or writers don't do there job.
Also, This year will mark the first year that the Bay Area will have Player of the Year honors bestowed upon two individuals. Unless this happened in the past that I don't know of. The process will be:
15-25 nominated players, male and female, will be looked at and then that group will be widdled down to five boys and five girls.
The factors that will be looked at will be playing ability, importance to the team, spirit, and anything else that makes them the Player of the Year.
The winner will be picked by his and her peers and a group of coaches and Tournament Directors.
They will be announced at the Cal State tournament. And the will receive there awards there also.
I hope this brings some type of change to the bay area scene. And only if this is for the betterment of the kids and the competition.
Keep on huckin,
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Slopfest Review
One of the best youth tournaments in Northern California, Slopfest, was held this weekend. It's a two day tournament usually played by mixed teams, but it was a little different this year. The TD's, after receiving interest from teams that only had men, decided to make the tournament Open and Mixed. Great Idea. Slopfest did not live up to it's name...until Sunday. We all knew it was destined to happen but the infamous Slopfest lived up to it's name on Sunday, but first Saturday.
Sabado!
Open:
On Saturday, only three rounds were allowed. Foothill (Pleasanton) and High Tech High (San Diego) came out with the surprising 2-0 records. Alameda decided to play a lot of B/middle schooler's on day one, but still came out with a 1-2 record. Also a major surprise was the fact
that Berkeley went 0-3 on saturday. It was found out later that Berkeley was playing mostly freshman, and Alameda played shifts putting there good players, not on the same line, but on with there newer players. Granada went 0-2 with close games against GB Kirby and High Tech High.
The boys from Livermore, California definitely turned heads keeping all games close including early leads on High Tech High and two point lead on GB Kirby through the middle of the game.
Mixed:
No surprise that Castro Valley went 3-0. Besides the fact that it's a home tournament they are absolutely lighting up bay area ultimate this year. They are run by a really good senior, Patrick Lahey, and most of the team are seniors. Redwood also played really well but had a surprising loss to Terra Nova, which loss to Acalanes. Should we call Terra Nova a surprise? Definitely not, they have a tradition of good ultimate players coming out of their area, so why not have a good team?
* * * * *
The weather was high sixties with no rain, which is surprising if you have ever been to a Slopfest tournament. Oh but it did live up to its name the next day...
Domingo!
Open play started at 8am and Mixed at 2pm. There was a scare in the beginning of the tournament that it would be canceled if it rained, since Saturday went without a drop, Sunday looked promising and I wonder if anyone knows the last time Slopfest went without a
drop of rain? The rain started to fall at 6 that morning and never stopped. Open teams still showed up and there was no word of cancellation or postponement so all things looked well.
Open: Pool play continued. Saturday teams only played 2 or 3 games and there was only pool play, so everyone had to make up the rest of pool games. Alameda continued to play middle of the road ultimate, but still showed times of excellence. It's scary how good they are going to be when Cal States comes around.
Foothill was definitely the surprise of the weekend. They put most of there players on the mixed teams except for there best four men including JT, former ACLC Dark Meat player, and a few other handlers. Then they stocked there Open team with football and soccer players. They came out scary strong. JT could not be stopped and his hucks flew like a seasoned club veteran and it's kind of sc
ary that he's an underclassman. Their newly found receivers, which have only been playing for one week, ran down discs with ease. And found themselves in the championship against the San Diego team High Tech High.
High Tech High, from San Diego, brought 8 players, which is all the players that they have. There receivers can cut and throw and there main handler and captain has the ability to put the disc anywhere on the field. A constant heckle "College Players!" from the Granada coach Geoff "The Banana Suit" Rexroth, made some wonder if they were really all high school players, but it is believed that they all were. They had great spirit, except for the occasional odd high school call: offsides, you don't even see that in college. Besides that the team was very spirited and played really hard.
This seemed that it would be a game to remember.
The Final: Foothill vs. High Tech High.
Foothill and High Tech High traded points through the game until High Tech got one break. And that was all that was needed. Foothill's theory of huck first and ask questions later finally did not work when a team could play good defense against the athletic Foothill receivers. Final score: 8-6. The story of the game, was not the game itself. It was the fact that the tournament was moved from Castro Valley to Dublin in the middle of the game.
In the middle of the last round and finals game. The fields were shut down by the city of Castro Valley. So the last round was canceled and the finals game was shortened (due to HTH's drive back to SD). Slopfest is known for it's bad weather and it was held in the same spot it always is, so why would it be any different this year? What ever the case may be the game was intense and the Open pool was a great idea. All the teams battled and there were no teams that didn't have a chance of winning; which makes for a fun tournament.
Best Play of the Tournament: (Open Division) And the award goes to Vince Carpenter of Granada High. Trust me this is not biased at all, ask anyone that was there and they would all agree. Granada and Foothill are battling and Granada has the disc trapped five feet from Foothill's goal. Vince is marking the foothill player (the boy in the pink hat). The stall is getting higher so the Foothill handler decides to huck the disc. You can see in his eyes, besides the fact that that was there strategy all weekend.
He winds up, the look in his eyes of pure panic, and begins the throw. His arm starts it's progression, his arm in motion of starting a chain saw. "NO HUCK!" screams the Granada sideline. Trying to throw IO (Inside-Out), the player turns the disc down and continues. Vince slides over to stop the huck...
and...
hits Vince right in the Jewels. Now you may wonder how this is the Best Play of the Tournament? The reason is: he catches the disc. That's right the disc slams into his (COUGH*COUGH*) and he traps the disc with his legs and also one hand. The crowd is painfully quiet, and then laughter. Everyone knew that felt below average, but it was hard to stop from laughing. It looked like the most painful thing anyone has ever seen. Foothill's coach Allen Thoe later stated that he had never seen anyone ever get hit like that and actually catch it, with, of course, a smirk on his face. Vince then, holding the disc in his hand, walks off the sideline and hands the GHS coach the disc, sits down on a fold out tripod chair and tries to find his sanity. Asked about it later, he could not remember catching the disc and handing it over to his coach. Granada did score off of Vince's D.
Mixed:
Since the tournament changed spots and some teams decided they did not want to play (GHS, ACLC, Miramonte) the rest of the teams continued on the new fields at Emerald Glenn park. The mixed division found CV Redhand vs Redwood and Terra Nova vs Foothill in the semifinals. The CV vs Redwood match was what I thought would have come in the final, but Terra Nova's win over them on Saturday put the boys and girls from Marin (Redwood) on the same side of the bracket as Redhand. In the first half both teams swapped points, but a high wind separated the two teams, and produced which was obviously the better team Castro Valley Redhand: 13-8. In the second game of the semifinals, Terra Nova led the Foothill Falcons all the way until cap winning 9-6.
The final would yet again separate the best from mediocre. With hard rain and gusting winds Redhand outran and out threw the ladies and gentlemen from the peninsula (Terra Nova). As much heart as Nova showed, the abilities of Redhands senior squad was too much for the black and gold. CV wins 13-8.
Champions Recap:
Open-High Tech High
Mixed-Castro Valley
Spirit Awards:
Open -Granada High
Mixed-Redwood (Marin)
Keep on Huckin,
G-off
Sabado!
Open:
On Saturday, only three rounds were allowed. Foothill (Pleasanton) and High Tech High (San Diego) came out with the surprising 2-0 records. Alameda decided to play a lot of B/middle schooler's on day one, but still came out with a 1-2 record. Also a major surprise was the fact
that Berkeley went 0-3 on saturday. It was found out later that Berkeley was playing mostly freshman, and Alameda played shifts putting there good players, not on the same line, but on with there newer players. Granada went 0-2 with close games against GB Kirby and High Tech High.The boys from Livermore, California definitely turned heads keeping all games close including early leads on High Tech High and two point lead on GB Kirby through the middle of the game.
Mixed:
No surprise that Castro Valley went 3-0. Besides the fact that it's a home tournament they are absolutely lighting up bay area ultimate this year. They are run by a really good senior, Patrick Lahey, and most of the team are seniors. Redwood also played really well but had a surprising loss to Terra Nova, which loss to Acalanes. Should we call Terra Nova a surprise? Definitely not, they have a tradition of good ultimate players coming out of their area, so why not have a good team?
* * * * *
The weather was high sixties with no rain, which is surprising if you have ever been to a Slopfest tournament. Oh but it did live up to its name the next day...
Domingo!
Open play started at 8am and Mixed at 2pm. There was a scare in the beginning of the tournament that it would be canceled if it rained, since Saturday went without a drop, Sunday looked promising and I wonder if anyone knows the last time Slopfest went without a
drop of rain? The rain started to fall at 6 that morning and never stopped. Open teams still showed up and there was no word of cancellation or postponement so all things looked well. Open: Pool play continued. Saturday teams only played 2 or 3 games and there was only pool play, so everyone had to make up the rest of pool games. Alameda continued to play middle of the road ultimate, but still showed times of excellence. It's scary how good they are going to be when Cal States comes around.
Foothill was definitely the surprise of the weekend. They put most of there players on the mixed teams except for there best four men including JT, former ACLC Dark Meat player, and a few other handlers. Then they stocked there Open team with football and soccer players. They came out scary strong. JT could not be stopped and his hucks flew like a seasoned club veteran and it's kind of sc
ary that he's an underclassman. Their newly found receivers, which have only been playing for one week, ran down discs with ease. And found themselves in the championship against the San Diego team High Tech High.High Tech High, from San Diego, brought 8 players, which is all the players that they have. There receivers can cut and throw and there main handler and captain has the ability to put the disc anywhere on the field. A constant heckle "College Players!" from the Granada coach Geoff "The Banana Suit" Rexroth, made some wonder if they were really all high school players, but it is believed that they all were. They had great spirit, except for the occasional odd high school call: offsides, you don't even see that in college. Besides that the team was very spirited and played really hard.
This seemed that it would be a game to remember.
The Final: Foothill vs. High Tech High.
Foothill and High Tech High traded points through the game until High Tech got one break. And that was all that was needed. Foothill's theory of huck first and ask questions later finally did not work when a team could play good defense against the athletic Foothill receivers. Final score: 8-6. The story of the game, was not the game itself. It was the fact that the tournament was moved from Castro Valley to Dublin in the middle of the game.
In the middle of the last round and finals game. The fields were shut down by the city of Castro Valley. So the last round was canceled and the finals game was shortened (due to HTH's drive back to SD). Slopfest is known for it's bad weather and it was held in the same spot it always is, so why would it be any different this year? What ever the case may be the game was intense and the Open pool was a great idea. All the teams battled and there were no teams that didn't have a chance of winning; which makes for a fun tournament.
Best Play of the Tournament: (Open Division) And the award goes to Vince Carpenter of Granada High. Trust me this is not biased at all, ask anyone that was there and they would all agree. Granada and Foothill are battling and Granada has the disc trapped five feet from Foothill's goal. Vince is marking the foothill player (the boy in the pink hat). The stall is getting higher so the Foothill handler decides to huck the disc. You can see in his eyes, besides the fact that that was there strategy all weekend.
He winds up, the look in his eyes of pure panic, and begins the throw. His arm starts it's progression, his arm in motion of starting a chain saw. "NO HUCK!" screams the Granada sideline. Trying to throw IO (Inside-Out), the player turns the disc down and continues. Vince slides over to stop the huck...
and...
hits Vince right in the Jewels. Now you may wonder how this is the Best Play of the Tournament? The reason is: he catches the disc. That's right the disc slams into his (COUGH*COUGH*) and he traps the disc with his legs and also one hand. The crowd is painfully quiet, and then laughter. Everyone knew that felt below average, but it was hard to stop from laughing. It looked like the most painful thing anyone has ever seen. Foothill's coach Allen Thoe later stated that he had never seen anyone ever get hit like that and actually catch it, with, of course, a smirk on his face. Vince then, holding the disc in his hand, walks off the sideline and hands the GHS coach the disc, sits down on a fold out tripod chair and tries to find his sanity. Asked about it later, he could not remember catching the disc and handing it over to his coach. Granada did score off of Vince's D.
Mixed:
Since the tournament changed spots and some teams decided they did not want to play (GHS, ACLC, Miramonte) the rest of the teams continued on the new fields at Emerald Glenn park. The mixed division found CV Redhand vs Redwood and Terra Nova vs Foothill in the semifinals. The CV vs Redwood match was what I thought would have come in the final, but Terra Nova's win over them on Saturday put the boys and girls from Marin (Redwood) on the same side of the bracket as Redhand. In the first half both teams swapped points, but a high wind separated the two teams, and produced which was obviously the better team Castro Valley Redhand: 13-8. In the second game of the semifinals, Terra Nova led the Foothill Falcons all the way until cap winning 9-6.
The final would yet again separate the best from mediocre. With hard rain and gusting winds Redhand outran and out threw the ladies and gentlemen from the peninsula (Terra Nova). As much heart as Nova showed, the abilities of Redhands senior squad was too much for the black and gold. CV wins 13-8.
Champions Recap:
Open-High Tech High
Mixed-Castro Valley
Spirit Awards:
Open -Granada High
Mixed-Redwood (Marin)
Keep on Huckin,
G-off
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