Open Division Coverage - Day One

By Bil Elsinger

Last year, the first thing I did when coming into Florida was to change from jeans to shorts because it was hot hot hot. No need to do that this year. Gone may be the oppressive heat, but Florida does not forgive as the wind was back. While never achieving gale force, the effects were seen everywhere.

Open saw NO upsets in the first round as all seeds held as the evens battled the evens (two and four seeds) and the odds (one and three seeds) battled the odds. One game made it to cap as Madison's G-Unit used its wind savvy to tie to bring it in close near the end of the game as Doublewides' zone offense wasn't moving the disc quickly enough to avoid turns. The wind picked up with the score Doublewide 11, Madison 10. Doublewide worked it half way down the field vs. the zone, but just after Madison switches to man defense, Doublewide hucks it and turns in the EZ. Madison hucks it back (Andrew Brown to Matt Bruss) and scores. At 11s, both teams embark on a long quest for point 12. After perhaps 10-15 minutes of turns both ways, Madison is playing zone, Doublewide gets some short breaks to the middle of the zone, then gets a huck off just over the deep Madison defender. Doublewide by 12. Madison drops the disc near their line, but Doublewide has a disc go through a pair of hands. Madison moves it up and scores. Double answers without any defensive challenges to regain the lead at13-12. A couple of turns later (including some sideline swill) and Madison catches up. The horn blows in the middle of this point and Doublewide again works it up the field without any turns. At 14-13, Madison goes after a pull in the endzone. And that's when it happens. A dropped pull. Madison plays some good endzone defense, however, and Doublewide's Calvin Lin dumps but it floats in the air with five guys going after it and Madison comes down with it. Number 31 of Madison, who had earlier dropped the pull, throws the disc into the ground just outside of the endzone. Doublewide calls a time out. Success, as they work it short for a 15-13 win.

Meanwhile, drops and hanging slop were the big stories of round one. Lots of trailing discs, groups of half a dozen (usually) downfield players gathered around an errant or tipped throw, and discs pancaked but missed were seen in almost all games. For example, in an early point, maybe three something, Furious drops an easy catch in the endzone. BAT hucks it back, but the receiver who may or may not have been in, isn't able to hold on. Furious goes on to roll 15-6.

The drop in the endzone would usually be one of a couple that would be seen in any normal tournament day, but the frequency of drops can't be underestimated as almost all teams doinked at least a few throughout the day.

Early in his game against DoG, Phil Bowen of SubZero notes that they are playing "Not so Hot." While this game is one of the longer games of the round, DoG goes from 6-4 to 11-7 to 15-9, gaining a point in their lead every few points. Phil Bowen came up with some big Ds versus hucks in the endzone, but DoG was able to work it up the line as Sub Zero seemed to e concentrating on taking away other things. Up the line worked as the final score shows, although neither team played particularly well.

The first part of the Chain Sockeye contest was close, as Sockeye scores the first break, but then Chain comes back and takes a couple to go up 4-2. In the early part of the game, Chain plays mostly person and Sockeye has some not so smart turnovers. The next time I check in, it's tied at 7s. Chain is hucking to Jay Hammond, and Sockeye is nickel and diming it up the field for their scores in a good spirited game. Sockeye shakes off its first game jitters as it gets the point break for half as an endzone dump meant for Jay goes awry and Sockeye scores off the throw from the line. Sockeye receives after half, scores and goes up 9-7. Chain comes back on a nice bladey forehand throw into a crowded endzone at 9-8, but the two points that surround half-time give Sockeye the momentum as they move to 12-8 off of a Lou Burruss hand block and some Chain turnovers on the endzone line. 8 is the last point for Chain.

The Ring Boss game are also close in the first half with Ring over Boss 4-2 early and Ring taking half 8-5. That's all she wrote for Boss Hogg as Ring starts on O after half, but with the exception of one late point (?) only go in on defense for the rest of the game. 15-6. As noted earlier, the wind picked up at about half-time.

Jam takes half at 8-1 over Vicious with few, if any turnovers. Vicious scores more points in the second half, but Jam cruises on its early lead to 15-6.

Condors are up early 7-4 as Pike is playing mostly zone. The Condors pick up an early three point lead, widen it to 5 at 13-8, and win the game 15-9. The difference here is a run early in the game (first few points) and another run in the middle of the second half.

Bravo takes half at 8-4 with two hand blocks turning into breaks in a game that sees a decent amount of zone and zone to man. The huck games aren't working for either team, as Pig is behind 3 at 10-7 and goes down by a final of 15-10.

Again, no upsets this round with only a couple close games.

Round two sees both Furious and DoG taking early half very early and Jam and Ring close behind as the number one seeds take on the fours. Furious goes on to crush Madison 15-3. Ring holds Chain to one point in the second half (15-6).

The Condors take half 8-4 on Vicious. Vicious starts up 2-1, but the Condors goes on some runs and take the game 15-9. DoG goes up several points on Electric Pig. Pig doesn't give up, brings a late game run, but they let game get too far out of hand early and lose 15-10.

Jam stands out amongst the second seeds with a 15-3 win over Pike; no problems to report here for Jam. I haven't watched much of Jam, the Condors, or Furious what with their close games, but unless Jam and the Condors are the exception, almost all teams are playing like the JV version of themselves. Furious has cleaned up their act, as their unforced errors came mostly in the first round. Both of the California teams have mostly rolled so far, so it's possible that the drops and swill aren't having as much of an impact on them.

The rest of the 2s versus the 3s are closer. Johnny Bravo is up a point break at 6-6 on Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero started with a nice run, at 4-1, but Bravo comes back at 6-4. Sub-Zero drops some passes, and the tipped discs in the endzones go all Bravo's way. In the middle of the game at least, Sub-Zero is playing good underneath defense, with Bravo being forced to huck upwind. Unfortunately for Sub-Zero, a couple lapses by deep defenders meant wide open receivers. As the end game approaches, Bravo's hucks start to improve. Bravo scores deep over poaching defender, 10-7. Sub-Zero turns, but Bravo gets stuck in their endzone. A turnover becomes a quick score for Sub-Zero (10-8). Bravo turns on a huck. Sub-Zero hangs a huck that gets D'ed. Bravo scores working short. Bravo scores again and suddenly it's 12-8. Bravo takes this momentum to win 15-9.

Sockeye got two breaks to start their game against Boss Hogg. Goals are traded but Hogg's hucks aren't working, and Sockeye takes half 8-4. Sockeye seems to be stronger and deeper in this game, although they're throwing to risky away cuts. Boss Hogg has a little run to bring it back to 9-7 (Sockeye). An offensive foul negates a goal for Sockeye, but they promptly put the disc back into the end zone after the call. Neither team values the disc, but despite the turns, points are traded with Sockeye pulling in a few extra at the very end to finish 15-10, although their game did last past the first horn.

The wind seems to be separating the teams a bit, as those that get by on one element of their game (hucking) aren't doing as well as the more well rounded squads. The top tier teams don't have a lot of difficulty with their games against lower seeds.

The final game of the round is a bit closer, however, as Doublewide takes on BAT. The game is close at 4-4 but BAT goes on a two point run to 6-4. Doublewide comes back a bit as they tie it up at 7s. BAT takes half 8-7. BAT is up with alternating 1 and 2 point leads, and both teams leave some swill in the air for turnovers. Doublewide ties it at 11s off of a BAT turnover near the endzone. On their next point, BAT throws into the ground. Doublewide's Sean McCall hangs it to Scott Berens on the cross field endzone throw to get Doublewide's first lead. Doublewide has intensified its defense, and BAT has been making some mistakes. Not on the next point, however, as BAT hucks to Mark Sandberg for the score. Not to be outdone, Doublewide patiently works it down the field to tie at 12s. BAT responds with a huck on their next point only to be D'ed (I think) by Marcus Gavin. The horn blows so soft cap will come on after this point, game to 15. Doublewide hucks off a timeout into the endzone. Turnover. This time Max Cook comes up with the D for Doublewide, but no upfield cuts results in a turn off a dump. BAT has it near the endzone, but throws a forehand out of bounds. Mechanical error. Another huck into the endzone with four folks vying for the disc. The result: another turn. BAT returns the favor by hucking back and Gavin gets another D. There's an injury, however, so new players go in for both teams (BAT guy promises "I'll play the best D of my life" to get the call). Double turns again, BAT makes a bad decision and it's back in Double's hands. The wily Sean McCall takes a time-out. The time-out works, as Doublewide converts with a short throw. The scored-on-defender? You've guessed it. Sometimes our best just isn't good enough. The score stands at 14-12. The turnover count almost as high (for this point). On the next point, BAT throws a short pass way too hard off the chest of their dump. Doublewide responds with an ugly hammer and a foul is called off the drop around the line. This is contested and comes back to the thrower. BAT then gets a handblock, but another foul is called. Both close calls help Double, although karma comes back as a break throw into the endzone is behind the receiver. BAT catches a big huck, but toes the outside endzone line for a turn. Doublewide gives it back as an _uncovered_ David Salisbury uncharacteristically (again, I can't understate how many different people dropped discs on easy catches) dropped on his in-cut. BAT scores for 14-13, but Doublewide brings it back down the field smoothly for the 15-13 win.

So, to recap round two. No surprises. Most folks predicted that the bottom three seeds in Pool A (Furious top seed) would fairly close and would fight it out for the second spot. That's exactly the case so far. This should, however, make for an exciting third round as in all but pool A, the top two seeds and the bottom two seeds are best matched. Madison's G-Men stand to benefit from the tough Doublewide BAT game.

That's exactly what happens, as the fourth seeded G-men take a couple point lead early and pull away after half. With fresh legs (after a long rest post-Furious) the G-Men put on a zone that BAT doesn't want to work through. Instead, BAT puts up hucks as they underestimate Madison's deeps and may not have the best decision making as the previous round's length takes its toll. This is a Central regional re-match (BAT took first out of the Central while Madison took third), but in different conditions and Madison pulls away to a 15-8 victory. Doublewide, meanwhile, goes down to the so-far dominant Furious 15-8. Furious has played short games all day.

The two most widely anticipated games of the day are Pool C and Pool D's matchups of 1 and 2 seeds. Last year saw Ring of Fire and Sockeye splitting games, and Jam and the Condors have been close this year. Both games use observers (two per, as this round sees a lot of requests). The observers were used in the part of the Sockeye-Ring of Fire game that I watched. Calls are both upheld and overturned with both teams benefiting. At 2-2, this game to take pool C stalls, both because of turns, and because of calls. Andrew Fleming gets a foul called on him in the endzone as he goes up for the score. The observer upholds the call when asked so no score. Later this point, a sockeye player calls a foul prior to throwing the disc, continues with the throw, and two throws later Sockeye scores. But doesn't score, as the disc comes back to the foul call after a long discussion between both teams and the observer. Sockeye turns it over on the dump, but later gets the disc back as Ring calls a foul on a throw near the endzone that results in a turn. The observer is called on again and out goes the foul call. Sockeye uses this opportunity to score, as Jeremy Cram hits Roger Crafts in the endzone. Quite a few turns later, Ring is back up 4-3. Later in the half, Sockeye gets a couple breaks and Ring is making poor choices. Sockeye takes half 8-5. Ring scores two after half, but Sockeye rewidens the lead to 10-7 as the game gets a bit more physical. Ring isn't doing a great job of holding the mark, although they score the next one for 10-8. Sockeye is cool the rest of the way, as they widen to 15-11, although this game goes fairly long.

Jam Condors is nick and tuck most of the ay. Jam starts up 2-1. Condors bring it back and go up 3-2. Jam retakes the lead at 4-3 on several short throws to Damien Scott. He touches the disc every other time this point. Not that much later, Jam drops on their own endzone line and the Condors stick it in for a quick score to tie it at 5s. Jam later ties it up at 6s with a catch off of a mack in the endzone. A pretty huck from Condor Steve Dugan to an in-stride receiver makes it 7-6, but Idris Nolan makes a tough catch off of a huck just short of the endzone line and follows it up with a short throw for the score to tie it at 7s. This game may be one of the best of the day, as few unforced turns occur, and both teams are playing fairly crisp. Justin Safdie is having a good game, as Jam goes on a little run to 11-8. The Condors have been working it pretty well, but a couple errors have allowed Jam to add to their lead as they are doing a fairly good job of not turning the disc over. That lead turns into a win at as Jam takes pool D 15-11.

Boss Hogg maintains its seed as it beats Chain 15-11 after being tied at 5s. Pike comes back from down early to tie it at 8-8, but Vicious goes on another run in the second half to upset Pike (per original seeding) 15-12.

Sub-Zero and Electric Pig go down to the wire in their 3-4 game. For the day, Sub-Zero, like everyone else, had a lot of droops early. Their defense stepped up, although once they got down (in rounds one and two), they couldn't get back into the game. They held their game against the Pig close throughout (Pig had the lead late), and took the last two points for the win. Seth Grossinger is on the receiving side of Sub-Zeros final point.

In the Pool B final game, DoG is up by a couple for most of the game. DoG hasn't played their best today, although they seem to be doing better each round. They had come into the tournament hoping for wind, as their experience and zone offense are some of their stronger suits. This game against Johnny Bravo didn't seem to be too exciting, as DoG still had a three point lead at 10-7. DoG didn't close the door on Johnny Bravo, however, and a shift in Bravo's defense nets a run of three in a row to 12-11. A couple points are traded to 13-12 (DoG). On offense, DoG's dump calls a foul away from the disc. The thrower does not acknowledge the call immediately, however, and lets one go downfield. The throw is not caught. A discussion ensues, and an observer is consulted (a DoG player agrees with the ruling prior to the observer's inclusion) before the turnover is upheld. Bravo scores to tie it at 13s. The horn blows soon after. DoG hucks after working the disc up the field, but there's a contested foul in the endzone that the observer calls off. Turnover. Bravo throws a short pass to a defensive player, and Fortunate Mueller sees Moses Rifkin with a short arcing forehand for DoG's fourteenth score of the game. On the next point, Bravo turns over near their own endzone on a dump. DoG calls a timeout. The timeout works as DoG throws to the open side cut for the score. DoG holds seed.

So, for the day, Pool B is the only one to hold seed as DoG goes 3-0. Pool A has its four seed (G-Unit) beating its three (BAT). As predicted by many, Pool C sees Sockeye pulling out win with a 3-0 record and Ring coming in second at 2-1. The Condors Jam game was thought to be a toss-up, so Pool D has the most changes with Jam getting the one seed upset win (fifth overall versus fourth), and Vicious doing the same (ninth overall versus eighth).

The Northwest did well today, with all three entrants taking their pools. The Mid-Atlantic lost a seeds, with most of the other regions coming in fairly even.

The two games that Furious has to play in rejiggered pool E tomorrow should be a much better test of their strength, as both Jam and the Condors are playing well. Doublewide will be challenged to bring down those two teams, although they will be playing the Condors after a tough Furious match.

Pool F should all be tough games as DoG's maturity goes up against Sockeye's youth. Johnny Bravo should have good games against both teams, and we'll finally be able to see what would have been last year's 2-3 game, as DoG takes on a Ring team looking for respect. The fourth place finisher in this pool looks good against the first place Pool G team, although tough games all around can change the way any of these teams look.