NE Results + Coverage

[Rivative]

props to Jude. He scooped me. I want my 2 bucks back.

Big winner this year turned out to be Red Tide, this years small-town Wild Card
bid. Like years past of Cornell Men and Women winning that coveted spot, it was
Portland, Maine that rose to the occasion in 1998. Women's team Undertoe also
played in the game to go, but lost to the New York power squad Ambush.

The skinny:

A contingent of NE collegiate stars has been playing top-level Ultimate for a
few years now. Originally cobbled together in 1996 in and around Conecticut,
Providence and Boston, the team calling themselves Snapple lived up to their
namesake by beating a tough NYC team to make Nationals that year. Last year
they called themselves RoQ and again got the third bid, this time without too
much difficulty. They have performed admirably in Nationals, Worlds and Tune-Up
appearances. This year they added even more talent and managed to keep 4 young
stars from being wooed away by DoG.

They changed their name again to Dark Horse, and not only did they have a good
chance of qualifying for Nationals, they had a good chance of winning
Regionals.

Unfortunately their youth (although not inexpereinced youth, to be sure) could
not contain Red Tide's tenacious veterans. NYC ringers Ken Dobyns and Eric
Olson kept Tide fired-up to play their most important game ever.

Red Tide chose to apply a strategy of "going for their throats." I.e. the green
light was on for big hucks and sky-high toppers. More than half of Tide's
scores were hucks to EO, Benji or Wadi (sp?). On defense they played a lot of
clam, hoping for poach blocks (but not getting many due to Horse's patient O).

But it was the O that set the tone for the game. The hucks were connecting for
Tide almost every time. They went up a pointbreak early in the first half to
stretch a two-goal lead into a 8-7 halftime advantage. Horse came right back
with a huge Tommy Stoughton huck off the pull to Forch, but that was it for
their fireworks. And they never found a way to defend Tide in the endzone.

A few late-game mistakes by Horse kept Tide confident. They scored and
converted on a bad Horse throwaway to go uo 10-8. Points traded to 11-9 before
Horse scored then broke Tide's O to score 11-11. Then to 12s.

One thing Red Tide had that Dark Horse did not was the big play. They made lots
of them. From pulling down big hucks in crowded endzones to forcing bad throws,
Tide was winning the battle. At 12s, a huge uplifting point block by the guy
singled out to be Dobyn's whipping boy allowed Tide to score 13-12. On the next
possession, a recent collegiate grad Horse player lofted an easy forehand out
of bounds on their own 10 yard line. Tide scored quickly to advance to game
point 14-12.

But the Horse would not Die (insert your favorite saying or cliche about glue).
They scored the next point and were gifted by first Dobyns and then EO, both
who may have somewhere deep in their hearts felt it unfair to beat the
good-spirited youngsters. A huge sky by Forch tied it 14-14, hard cap 17. Horse
was jubiliant.

But seldom-used Tide player Patrick Hennessey stroked a picture-perfect 50 yard
forehand placement pass to Benji for the next score, 15-14. The pressure was on
Horse now.

It was all thumbs on the ensuing point. EO couldn't catch a big hooking blade
after a silly Horse throwaway (one of many late in the game) Horse could not
convert, another Tide turnover (i think) and a huge Horse push to the goalline.
Tide players were diving on every throw like hungry fish after fly lures. But
there it was on the line to score, Horse seemingly cloggy as usual, when a bad
decision was made on a shorthand forehand attempt. It was either hand blovked
by that guy again or just throw away, I couldn;t tell.

Tide took the turnover, marched downfield, called a timeour, and scored on an
easy hammer to Dobyns.

Dark Horse narrowly missed a golden opprtunity on Saturday, losing a
point-for-point match with the current New York team, the WSL All-Stars. That
game was quite evenly matched and ended with a New York offensive possesion
resulting in a score, 15-14. If I recall, only 2-3 defensive points were scored
all game.

If that wasn't enough to prove the parity of this year's NE, DoG capped win in
the Finals against WSL, 18-16 (game tied at 16-16) and Red Tide's gritty
victory over Dark Horse 16-14 sure did. Dark Horse lost two games to go by a
total of 3 points, and in neither game were they ever down by more than TWO
points. Hard to believe? It's true.

Somehow their offense, although never fluid, found ways to score without
crucial turnovers. Until the final 3 points against Red Tide. It was a tough,
tough loss for the talented team. There was speculation that this was a team
that could have caused some damage at Nationals, possibly even having a shot at
Semis (which they missed on point differential in 1996 with a 4-2 record). They
will never find out now.

I am sure the team will stick together for 1999. If they are smart, and with
all those Ivy Leaguers how could they not be, they should try to recruit some
tough Boston veterans to lead them to the promised land. They need a few
outspoken veteran leaders who will take no guff from hotheaded opponets (like
Tide's Wano (sp?) and Dobyns).

Boston? What about Death or Glory? Which will it be this year? Their average
age is 33. They lost big games at Worlds ( a "wake-up call" and "slap in the
face" according to Lenny) and Tune-Up (with a small squad). The All-Stars feel
they should have beat them in the Finals and they make a good case.

But they are still intense, still talented, and still focused on getting that
5th straight Nationals Championship. They should still be the favorites to win
it all, but they are beatable. Its going to be a VERY good Nationals this year
in the Men's division.

On the Women's side, the Summer Leagues of Boston proved once again to be
dominant. 4 Boston teams made the trip down I-95 and all four were in the final
6 (of 12). Godiva cruised without much trouble. They are tall, talented and
tough. No slowing down yet for their dynasty.

In a rematch of last year's final "game to go" Boston's Twister took it to New
York's Ambush, winning 15-7. Ambush's offense and dfense got mixed up in
Twister's play-calling and they simply could not find a groove. That loss sent
Ambush into the loser's bracket to face a long battle to get the coveted third
bid

In the third game of the day (yes, third) they matched up against another
talented Boston team, considered one tier below Twister. Formerly the Throwing
Muses, now named Nomar, the Bostonians again played NY tough before bowing out
14-10 (or 14-9? or 13-9?).

On the other side of the back-door bracket, Portland's Undertoe barely escaped
another determined team from Boston, Tallulah, with an 11-9 victory. For a time
Tallulah held a two-goal advantage and Nomar was even with Ambush. It could
have been an all-Boston final four.

But enough of Boston. The Yankees are still in the playoffs, dontcha know,
while the Sox are scouting players.

Ambush faced Undertoe in the final (and fourth) game of the entire day. The
sheer strength, talent, and bench depth of New York (at times they seemed to
have 30 players, most of them capable of playing on A-level teams in any city)
kept them safely ahead and they closed out the long day 15-8 (?) to claim a bid
to Nationals (or so we here in the NE have been led to believe, that the wild
card was locked in)

Some may wonder where Canadian Champions Ottawa Wax and last yera's Nationals
qualifiers Ottawa Stella were. Stella did not make the trip this year, while
both Canadian teams Ottawa and Montreal brought less than stellar squads,
reportedly playing at about half-strength. Ottawa was upset by the 13 seed in
the first round and fell to Montreal in the losers bracket, while Montreal fell
to Red Tide later on.

The weather conditions were perfect for Ultimtate. Cool, cloudy but with spans
of sunshine, and not much wind. Both days felt just about right for Regionals.

Also, the surprise New York squad The A-Team won every game and will advance to
the Non-Practicing Ultimate Team Nationals in Springfield, Missouri.

Go Dark Prophecy!!!!!

- Tony

[Kenneth44]

as always, mr tony leonardo has provided internet readers with a compelling
account of an ultimate event, but there are a few things missing.

>More than half of Tide's
>scores were hucks to EO, Benji or Wadi (sp?).

how could you leave out keebler? mike friedland, suny albany alum and
all-around good guy, ruled it. he caught our first two goals on hucks (i know
'cause i threw 'em) and played an outstanding game on both sides of the disc.

> At 12s, a huge uplifting point block by the guy
>singled out to be Dobyn's whipping boy allowed Tide to score 13-12.

first of all, the guy in question is matt bates, and he totally rules it. his d
was awesome all weekend. and you're right about how huge that point block was.
but "whipping boy"? as moe green said to michael corleone in the godfather in
defense of his slapping around of fredo, "sometimes i gotta kick a little ass."
when a guys survives one of my tirades any opponent seems like a walk in the
park. besides, we kissed and made up afterwards.

>after a silly Horse throwaway (one of many late in the game)

actually, that was a partial handblock i got on a guy who had waggled me
earlier in the game. because i like him i won't name him.

>
>Tide took the turnover, marched downfield, called a timeour, and scored on an
>easy hammer to Dobyns.

here you go dissing keeby again. with all due respect to your reporting
prowess, you try throwing a touch hammer to a guy cutting away in the corner of
the end zone at 15-14 in the game to go on a field ringed with cheering
spectators all of whom have their eyes on you. easy hammer NOT. but keebs has
the skills to pay the bills, and he's mighty handy with power tools too, or so
i hear.

> Red Tide's gritty
>victory over Dark Horse 16-14

you bet it was, and they're probably in gritty's having a pint of pale ale
right now. these guys could easily have wilted under the pressure. no one
really gave us much of a chance, and who could blame them. dark horse was
deeper, more athletic, and had much nicer jerseys. but this bunch of guys has
been tested by maine winters for years, and they don't shy away from a battle.
to suggest that this was a game won by ringers is a total fallacy. keebler,
matt bates, tom brady, joel, steinman, kevin, and the rest of the tide crew all
deserve mention because they all contributed in huge ways. i've had the
privilege of tasting many sweet victories over the years, but none sweeter than
this.

>Dark Horse lost two games to go by a
>total of 3 points, and in neither game were they ever down by more than TWO
>points

as tony did, i want to give props to dark horse. these guys play hard and clean
without any of the extra-curricular bullshit that often comes with it. they're
young and will be around for awhile and we can all be thankful for that. but on
this day when either team could have won it was the guys from portland, maine
who made the plays.

red tide is goin' to the show. now that's good stuff.

-kd

[Rivative]

I didn't get that feller Mike Friedland's name. thats my fault. my first
thoughts riding back on the subway were to start off the name game for Red Tide
by saying "the guy in the blue shirt and shorts". He was very quick and very
key to Red Tide's victory, no doubt. And apologoies to Matt Bates for not
getting his name. Now I'll be sure to focus on them for Nationals...

As for ken's other assertions....there's no doubt that sometimes he's gonna
"kick a little ass." Such is the style of Mr Dobyns, and such is the style of
many leaders in sports. Thats a plain and simple fact. And I know where Ken
comes from, using friendly fire to prepare an individual for the ire of the
foe. That is a well-documented management/coaching technique and one that I am
not prepared to comment on here.

Regarding the assertion that ringers propelled Tide to victory...there is no
doubt that Ken and EO provided a spark for Red Tide, adding experience, depth,
and trademark New York tenacity. And Wano and Wadi (sp), I thought they had
been playing with Tide for a few years now (though I am unsure). The core of
the team is Portland Maine. Thats a fact.

Would Tide have won without Ken and EO? No. Were they guaranteed victory with
them? Certainly not.

One last counter to Ken..

"here you go dissing keeby again. with all due respect to your reporting
prowess, you try throwing a touch hammer to a guy cutting away in the corner of
the end zone at 15-14 in the game to go on a field ringed with cheering
spectators all of whom have their eyes on you. easy hammer NOT."

It, was, in fact an easy hammer. One I was shocked that Horse did not defend
better. But then again, considering he floated two hammer earlier, perhaps it
was a little more tricky than that...(no diss intended)

Tony

[RichFranck]

BTW,

Congrats on going to the show. Definitely shows some balls going to a new team
and bringing them up to National level play.

[SeekU2]

A few thoughts in response to a fairly accurate but mistake riddled commentary
on the Betty Bowl:

>Regarding the assertion that ringers propelled Tide to victory...there is no
>doubt that Ken and EO provided a spark for Red Tide, adding experience,
>depth, and trademark New York tenacity.

I agree and thank you Kenny and EO! Kenny and EO were huge for us...as they
have been for every team they have ever played on. Their playing on the field
and contribution off the field were crucial and essential to the win. I'll
even readily admit that we don't wim without them. That said, Red Tide has
been steadily rising over the last few years and the core over that period
(Kevin Massey, Tom Watson, Bengi, Mike Freidland, Matt Bates, Tom Brady, Rob
Rowse, Joel Thompson and me), with a couple of key missing pieces (Scott Lever,
George Abbott and Matt Dana) that with the exception of George (who will be
missed) will be in Sarasota, all played big and were significant contributors
to the win as well. Kenny and EO would not win without the rest of us...at
least not on Tide.

For obvious geographic and populationally challenged reasons Red Tide has been
an open team for outsiders for some time. That is for the right people who fit
the Red Tide mold. EO (who has played on and off for Tide over the last two
years), Kenny (who has played with us or our counterpart Beyond Therapy at
Ottawa in the past and is always invited) and Pat Hennessey (who is a Red Tide
from way back) very much fit the Tide mold. Moreover, all three have an open
invitation to play with us at any tournament, anywhere and any year!

While I have deep respect for Dark Horse as a team and as individuals, I have
never heard people point out the fact the team is comprised of "ringers" who
live in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and oh yeah there are three
who live in Portland Maine!!!

And Wano and Wadi (sp), I thought they had
>been playing with Tide for a few years now (though I am unsure).

I don't know of any Wano on Tide. Tom Watson on the other hand has played and
been a leader on Red Tide for 5 years. I'm not sure which game you were
watching Tony...But I feel quite certain that Watty nor anyone named Wano
caught a bunch of hucks for scores. Watty played great, but as far as doing a
lot of scoring, I don't think so.

Lastly, Red Tide appreciated all the crowd suppport and we very much look
forward to making some noise on a national stage.

Yeah Red Tide!

Adam