Canadian Ultimate Championships 2008

Here's the recap I posted in the forums
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I'm so sore and mentally exhausted at work right now but I thought I'd write this out before I start forgetting some of the details of the past weekend.

Not going to put the scores from each game because they are already out there.

Please add any comments or hilites I may have missed.

Thursday

Roy vs Phoenix - Loss
Phx came out strong and we were able to match them with intensity for the most part. I felt a lot of our mistakes were due to first game jitters and chemistry. We forced some turns but couldn't finish. Playing in the high altitude was a bit of an adjustment.. burning lungs were frequent. Not a good final score but I felt it prepared us for the type of effort we needed for the rest of the tournament.

Roy vs General Strike - Loss
Strike was another one of the many tall athletic teams we played. Our game against Phx pumped us up for this one and we forced a lot of turnovers and long points against these guys. They were only up by 2 or 3 at half before they started pulling away. Chemistry was getting better at this point but we still had some stuff to work out with cutting and handler movement

Roy vs EMU - Win
We had to win this one to stay in the power pools on Fri and our hunger and determination showed. EMU was in an unfortunate situation where they had a lot of their top guys playing w the edmonton mixed team. They also had chemistry problems as half of them were pickups from Calgary. We were also still working on our chemistry but grinded it out. The highlight of the game was Wes' poach D faceblock on a huge backhand huck!

Thursday Thoughts
Good first day. We did what we had to do. Slowly worked on our chemistry and adjusted our strategy to not having our usual tall strikers like Hodges or Dre.


Friday

Roy vs Too Bad - Loss
Big game of the day. Lots of history between these two teams. Too Bad had a short roster like us and we were hoping our youth and energy could pull us through. They threw zone as expected and it took us four points to adjust. Our D started picking it up and we started earning breaks to bring us back to 8-6 at half. Unfortunately they came out with a run at the start of the second and we didn't have enough time to catch up again losing by 2.


Roy vs Nomads - Loss
Just reading Nomads roster out loud could probably make most teams pee their pants in fear. Big names like Pottinger, Enns, Menzes from Furious and legends like Al Bob could probably take on B or C teams by themselves. However, Roy took up the challenge and played against some world class players and were able to earn their respect. This game was extremely physical from the getgo and it took one or two points for us to adjust to the west coast style of play. Every mark was tight and all discs in the air were bid on. Once we turned up the dial we started forcing them into mistakes. Even though they had a big lead they weren't playing their 'C' lines so it felt good that we could hang with the big boys. At the end of the game we got into a big spirit circle and their captain made a speech about how they appreciated that our game was so physical and yet highly spirited.. awesome stuff coming from those guys.

Roy vs Mangina- Loss
Mangina had just come off a grueling game so we took advantage of that and forced lots of turnovers. Our conversion was pretty good but they were able to hang in there with some lucky throws/grabs. This was another physical game and in the second half our energy level dropped. They started picking it up and made less mistakes. In the end, they finished us off with a 3 or 4 point run.

Friday Thoughts
I thought this was probably the second best tournament day for Roy this season (the first being the 4-0 sat at Borders). Even though we lost all the games, we played good ultimate in all of them. The west coast teams really do play such a physical style and they are smart at how they use it.

Big props to our cutters on Friday. You guys were huge. Jordan and Sval were scoring machines. The Mikes were lethal incutters. Walsh, Rogers and Merrick had some big grabs. Wes even scored a goal against the Nomads Wink


Saturday

Roy vs SirLoin - Loss
Another west coast team that was physical (surprise surprise). Roy started of real slow kicked off by a backhand turf pass from yours truly. It seemed like we couldn't catch or make a good throw to save our lives this game. There was wind and their defence was zone but we just couldn't break through. The second half was a bit better but it was too late.

Roy vs EMU - Win
Roy lay the Smacketh Downeth... much of the same from Thurs.
Highlight was 'I used to work in Chicago..' sung by EMU during a timeout.
Yay not last!

Roy vs Demon - Loss
Both teams were tired at this point. The game was chippy. Lots of travel and foul calls. Snide comments from sidelines also didn't add to the fun factor. We were leading for most of the game but ran out of gas just as soft cap sounded tied at 10s. We lost momentum and the game.

Saturday Thoughts
Not the best way to end the tournament but I was really proud how we fought to the end. We didn't let the SirLoin game get into our heads for the last 2 games.


Overall Thoughts
Awesome tournament. I had so much fun playing with you gents.
We were blessed with some quality subs and I saw growth with everyone as each day progressed.

Brad - Thanks for being a great captain. Leadership A+. Will play for you again. I would worship you as a god if you would just dance at a tournament party :p

Oomen - Legendary D in the air. Ever the guardian of Oomen country. Your stretches and magic stick saved me on Saturday.

Rahil - Ultimate Frisbee Coach. Thanks for making it to Nats. The stall 9 ten yard push pass foul call for a score was awesome.

Derry - Couldn't miss a tourney without depositing some money in the bank. The Biggie to my Puff Daddy (except when I get the pull and throw it into the ground). Your gas is lethal.

Eli - Versitile cutting/handling was key when lines were called. Snake style grab always wins.

Norm - Pop pass/quiz master. How many zones did you shred at Nats with that?

Merrick - Lots of potential. Showed us you got big hops. One piece of advice.. wearing jeans after a game in 30+ degree weather and no shade is not good.

Wes - Mr Faceblock. Your handling is improving and as long as you don't hang deep you are fantastic :p

Rogers - Keep working hard man. Your D is getting better and better. Just don't tell anymore pen1s stories.

Tom - Master of the awkward grabs. Was it the gloves?

Sval - Sval scores again! Got the speed and the looks. Ladies love him. Now all he needs is a pop pass.

Jordan - Dude you are a baller. I think you were involved in at least 80% of our offense this weekend.. oh did I mention he started on D a lot and double shifted too? Love the fire and enthusiasm you bring.

Gardiner - Unstoppable deep guy against Demon. We started losing to them after you got hurt. For a guy that's never toured you played pretty dam well. Shows there's hope for league players :p

Tien - Speedster extrordinaire. You took the challenge and matched up with the opponents' best cutters (who were usually taller) and shut em down.

Colantonio - I admit I was doubtful when I heard you were picking up with us. He served me burgers at No Borders! But you were a perfect fit. Nice grabs and layout Ds.


Hope to see some of you this fall and winter.

Roy at Jazzfest 2008

Royboys in Montreal







Photos by Philippe McLean

Practice Aug 5

It's too late to cancel Practice, so we'll have to show up and see how it is.

Reminder, we're at Rosedale Heights. Across Castlefrank Station, behind the school, down the steps.

No Borders video

sweet sweet jerseys


Roy at No Borders 2008 from jaleel p on Vimeo.

Roy at No Borders 2008

Check out the sweet new jerseys!




More Roy action

Ottawa No Borders info

No Borders website (schedule, field layout etc)
http://www.nobordersultimate.com/2008/

Map to Les Suites hotel in Ottawa
130 Besserer Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9M9
Tel. (613) 232-2000


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Hotel to fields
1295 Manotick Station Rd
Ottawa, ON

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Post Scrimmage BBQ

BBQ and party at Derry's place anytime after our Saturday games,

"Ill provide some dogs and Burgers,

Bring other food if you want,

BYOB"

Montreal Jazzfest Info

As posted on the forums

Toronto to Days Inn Hotel
1005 Rue Guy, MONTREAL, QC, CA H3H2K4
Phone: 1-514-9384611

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Hotel to Hospital Douglas fields
6875, boul Lasalle, Verdun QC

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Nate Discs for sale!

Since we have to raise funds for Nate's extensive Detal work. I thought we could sell discs...

No Surf - a D line perspective.

Saturday

Game 1: vs. Flying Pig.

First half was rough. Handlers were not comfortable with each other. Cutters seemed to be cutting off each other, with some confusion in some of the plays. We ran Sailboat a couple of times early, and that seemed to work, but there were no continuation cuts. Second half was much better as we helped pull us back into the game with a couple of breaks. We as a team and on the D line became more aggressive both on the mark and in the lanes, stopped poaching on the dumps which lead to the other team throwing stuff away. We tried switching forces and running a 3-3-1 without much success, and finally settled on the flick force with a no under policy and a hard mark. Endzone O we ran the T when we needed to, and I personally thought it looked good. We could do with more handler movement. First Instance of a bad Vertical Stack was in this game.

Game 2: vs. Nemo Pickup Team

We went down early as they decided to play the hucking game. We managed to fight back after adjusting the defense slightly, and getting some huge plays on D. ‘Pike’ Defense was introduced, and after a couple of early adjustments, we made it work a number of times. I’ll post a full summery of the Defense soon. On O, Handlers after practicing the Magnum in the break, seemed to be getting on the same page, and were hitting the cutters, who while bunched some of the time, were making space deep/on the break side (symptom of the creep), allowing for some deep shots and breaks. Endzone looked pretty good as we moved the disc from one side of the field to the other.

Game 3 vs. Bear Proof

We came out strong, getting a quick D and score. However, injuries and tiredness caught up with us. They put on a zone which I grossly mistreated and did not adjust to, and we had difficulty breaking. We got through a couple of times when we moved the disc all the way across the field and to our cutters. On D, we tried out the 1-3-2-1 Wall Zone (aka, what Too Bad will run against us) with varying success, as long as we weren’t broken to the home side of the field, we forced them to turn the disc.

Sunday

Game 1 vs. Steamboat

D comes out strong in the first point, gets 2 D’s but can’t capitalize. We really need to work on the Vertical Stack. After that, the wheels fall off a bit as we can’t get the disc moved past half/get the D. I got frustrated, and apologized. Second half we seemed to step up the intensity on D, again turning to something new, adjusting to use Brackets in the stack leading to a couple of huge D’s (one by Oliver, one by Mark K). A huck later to Harlow, and we were on the board. They started zoning us after a while, and after an adjustment with the handlers, and some really quick movement, we started to view that zone like Swiss cheese. Full of holes. After Glen had a chat with the cutters, it really seemed like the whole line came together with some good flow to score those points.

Game 2 vs. Midnight Meat Train

We were 0 for 2, but came away with 5 chances to score. I am confident that we would have blown this team out of the water given another chance. Good D by Oli, Sham and Harlow (all making the highlight reel).

‘7 on the line’ points we can learn from the weekend :

1) We adjusted to different Offenses well, which is very important. Setting up Pike, Brackets and the 1-3 Zone, helped.

2) We need to work on Zone to Man transition and Zone’s in general.

3) Our O needs work. Cutters need to be more aware on the field and Handlers need to move, and take control of the game. We had our most success when we were throwing and going.

4) Bombs looked good when we took them.

5) Zone Handlers need to be dynamic, D line runs a different O when compared to O line, and it showed this weekend.

6) We need to work on Vertical stacks.

7) In a T endzone, the back three need to move to keep active.

Practice Locations

Roy practices twice a week at the following locations:


Tuesdays

• Midland CI

Glen's post :

So I just did a quick check of the GO train schedule since that area seems unusually well served (three stations within about three blocks). Sure enough, you can take the Northbound (Stouffville train) 6:00pm from Union and it gets into Kennedy station Eglington just west of Midland at 6:20.

Return's a
bit trickier and may require a bit of a post-practise cool down run a block
south. 9:22 at Scarborough Station (on Scarborough line) about 800m south of the
park. Anyway, for those coming from Downtown, that might be a good option. Since I'm coming from Hamilton...I'm seriously considering it.

Thursdays

• Monarch Park CI

Defense and other things

From Rahil's post on the Roy forums

http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/Webpages/Advanced/advancecut.html

Lots of good pages with this link.

Jay's video from the weekend...Eddy being the greatest videographer in the world.

Roy at No Surf 2008 from jaleel p on Vimeo.

Roy Ultimate Frisbee Blog

Find all relevant info on Roy Ultimate here!