Ah, where to start..

    Big changes in the pecking order by Sunday afternoon of the
tournament. A couple of the usual big dogs were put to the test by
teams that either have never been to regionals at all or those who
haven't been in some years.

    The most successful program this weekend was once again University
of Maryland who kept the Colonial Cup for yet another year. There have
been consecutive Open and Women sweeps in the section before, but
Maryland took it one further by sweeping the Open and Women's bracket
as well as the Chumpionship bracket on the open side with Maryland B
winning out 13th place bracket.

    March Madness may be your cup of tea, but mine takes place
throughout the land on green and other color fields in April/May. Yes,
the elements of weather add yet another piece of the excitement
missing in your other various indoor venues. More variables equals
more interesting.

    It all started Saturday in pool play when the cracks in the tower
of precedence began to show signs of erosion. The seeding didn't
change coming out of any of the pools, but Towson stood up well
against long time dominator Delaware losing by 2 in what showed Towson
their potential in upcoming games on Sunday. Maryland B didn't change
seed coming out of the pools, but they did play their hearts out to
beat Johns Hopkins on universe point. Point differential in a three
way tie kept them from changing seed coming out of pool play.
MD B (Tenacious B) - 17 players lead by #6 came to sectionals hungry
to play. They are a determined bunch. Very good defense, some good
cutting also. Another year on the disc and many of these guys will be
welcome additions to the Space Bastards.

    The weather was challenging for most players on Saturday, not the
temperature and not any rain, just a stiff breeze that challenged some
of the as yet developed throwers. 15 to 20 knots I would estimate with
occasional gusts and some lulls as well. The disc hanging over a crowd
was not an uncommon sight to see with errant discs catching the swells
and the highest level readers catching the disc. No complaints were
heard however because the sun was beaming big time like it hasn't in
weeks around these parts.

    The previous two years of sectionals found us in Salisbury where
Ryan "Jake" Bell was the main TD last year and Jason "Jaymo" Mokar the
year before that. It looked to be held in Salisbury yet again this
year until a new voice was heard from St. Mary's College in southern
Maryland. And by new I mean new as in young. Brooke Austin is but a
sophomore on the college progress ruler but beyond her years in many
other ways. She stepped up to Jakes side and together they jacked a
home run by all accounts. Co-TD's from different schools was the
formula this year. Brooke and the SMUT (St. Mary's Ultimate Team) crew
(Susan Beadoin, Adam Wolinski, etc.) did all prelim work getting the
fields, trainer, food, photographers, etc. and then Jake put together
the schedule along with new Colonial Women's Coordinator, the awesome,
Ryan Freas. Jake and Ryan kept up with the scores allowing Brooke to
play in the tournament. They both did a fantastic job with this. Any
questions called in from the field sites were handled with speed and
accuracy.

    The campus is beautiful. Student population, I'll take a guess of
around 7000. A small campus on the water with no traffic or even two
lane roads nearby. buildings designed to look like the originals from
St. Mary's city in say 1690 or so. This place has some serious
history. Oldest city in some way or another. A real get away. A great
weekend. A likely location of Colonial sectionals 2010.

    One element that has worked very well the last few years in
organizing this event is the rolling captains meeting for a few hours
on Friday night. Saturday morning is much smoother when all teams have
maps, times, schedules, cap rules and generally know what's up the
night before they play. With 5 different field sites this is
especially true. No wandering around the campus looking for the
captains meeting then searching for your field, then finding out that
now you only have 15 minutes to get ready for your game and then games
starting late. Friday night captains meeting = smooth Saturday.

    Brooke had a top trainer, Maribeth Ganzell. (her husband Sandy
coaches the St. Mary's Women's team) at the fields to tape players
before the games and she looked after players all weekend as well. A
trainer for the varsity players at the school, she was a former
Ultimate player in Houston and Cali. She really knew her stuff.

    Brooke also lined up photographers (one each day) who will be
putting the pictures they shot on the tournament website (hopefully in
the next few days) for your viewing enjoyment. After that Matthew
Bourland at UPA central assured me they can be archived at the UPA for
long time access.

    Brooke and crew organized a nice BBQ dinner at one field location
after the last round Saturday which allowed all players from the
different sites to congregate for a couple of hours after the last
round Saturday. As customary, some of the players who have been
hosting tournaments in the section over the last year were honored
with engraved Sheffield pewter glass bottomed tankards for their
giving of Ultimate playing opportunities. Adam Wolinski for St. Mary's
Cupid's Revenge tournament; Ashley Snyder for heading up Delaware's
Pigglyfest tournament; Dave Branick for his unending determination in
running Huck of the Irish; Katie "Charlie" Mercer for stepping in and
salvaging a part of Huck of the Irish (which was rained out) by
hosting Muck of the Irish; and to Ryan "Jake" Bell for hosting
Colonial Sectionals 2008. Thank you all for those huge efforts in
running some great events.

    Sectionals is almost like two different tournaments. Saturday
games for the high seeds are generally a warm up. For the middle teams
a first test of how things might go on the weekend and for the lower
seeds a steep learning curve. And for everyone a chance to be away
from the grind and get acclimated into the weekend.

    Sunday is a whole other animal. The acclimatization and party are
over and now it's time to see what's what.

    The wind has let up considerably from Saturday, still an
occasional stiff swirl or two but not the factor it was the day
before. The nine am rounds came and went with no major upsets or
surprises in the brackets. Then came round 2. American shows they came
to play by taking apart Salisbury in a lopsided win. This might the
first time American has ever won this matchup and the day is far from
over.

    At another site, Catholic and George Mason are in an epic struggle
where Catholic barely gets by George Mason 16-15 at the cap. Nearby,
UMBC (MD-Baltimore County) is taking on cross-town opponent Johns
Hopkins for yet another barn burner where Meech and UMBC fight to
overcome Hopkins 15-14!

    The intensity level going into the third round in the games to go
is now defcon 3 threatening to move to 2 at any time. Four great games
are about to all start.

    Semi's; Georgetown vs. George Washington on field 2 while Maryland
takes on Delaware on field 1.

    The sound of Maryland vs. Delaware has a familiar ring to it
because this is always a game of the teams at the top of the section
fighting for the highest seed possible heading into regionals. A few
points seen here involve Sean Keagan of Delaware putting up long
strikes that are so accurate and on time that the Maryland players
seem to have just factored those points into the game as inevitable. #
5 and # 8 on Maryland are moving the disc  quickly and with seeming
ease on offense. The game is moving along at a strong pace both teams
finding the endzone.

    George Washington on the next field over has also been a perennial
competitor at the top of the section for the last many years. Their
opponent, Georgetown, on the other hand has never made it out of the
section. This year was to be a high water mark for Georgetown. They
came out fired up from the first point and fought hard at every turn.
Interestingly George Washington who normally enjoys legions of fans on
the sidelines to help break down their opponents was now dwarfed
compared to the sizable and loud Georgetown fans on hand.
This game intensity and the level of play are high level. Georgetown's
# 6 is moving the disc well in a handler spot. #21 solid O all around,
#17 great layout D and big ups D as well. In general, Georgetown is a
taller team than GW. GW is using a lot of zone. One of George
Washington's captains, Garrett, with a lot of touches is hitting some
big strike scores, GW player in the yellow hat, a main handler, very
consistent with the disc.

    Time to move on over to the American vs. Salisbury , Towson vs.
St. Mary's games side by side a few fields away.  American is now up
on Salisbury by 6 points nearing half time. American has caught some
teams by surprise this year after years of relative obscurity in the
middle of the pack. They made a big jump this year and now look to be
a team legitimately in the hunt to play at regionals. This game vs.
Salisbury was giving them some real confidence for what would lie
ahead. Salisbury captain and air beast AJ Jacoski was injured during
this game in a collision that dealt the Buzz a serious wound. The disc
was thrown wide to the sideline. AJ in front moving to the disc. His
opponent from behind attempts to make an adjustment to AJ's quick
footwork and loses control heading fast into AJs from behind. He tries
to cushion his uncontrolled momentum, putting up his hands in an
attempt to lesson the inevitable collision. Both players crash to the
ground and AJ comes up with what looks to be an injured shoulder.