USA Ultimate's D-I College Championships were played over May 26-29. A total of 40 college ultimate teams competed at the end-of-season tournament in Ohio. The championship games were decided on Monday and broadcast live on ESPNU.
Women's Division
Dartmouth Women's Ultimate Team: Princess Layout (#2) won 15-9 [8-5 half] over Texas Melee (#4).
"Our mission is to provide our players with high-level, competetive Ultimate skills, while fostering a positive, fun, team culture and friendships that go beyond the field."
Men's Division
Carleton College CUT (#6) won 15-11 [8-6 half] over UNCW Seamen (#11). Carelton CUT's previous titles were in 2001, 2009 and 2011.
On this day in 1959, Wham-O Manufacturing Company's request to trademark "Frisbee" was officially registered by U.S. Patent Office. Frisbee (trademark #679186) was described as "toy flying saucers for toss games". The plastic flying saucer toy was originally sold to Wham-O in January 1957.
Taking a page out of Bent's gender equity book, it does not go unnoticed that the cable listing for the 2017 USA Ultimate college ultimate championship games is qualified for the women's game, but not the men's game.
Below are how Monday's live broadcasts are listed in the cable guide on ESPNU:
USA College Championship
USA "Women's" College Championship
Qualifying one championship game as "women's" without qualifying the other as "men's" indubitably assigns greater importance to the men's.
UPDATE: Bent club ultimate from New York started a letter writing campaign to ESPN on behalf of this issue:
Where: Same location as 2016 at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland.
Bid: Hosting Men, Women & Mixed teams and accepting bids on a rolling basis. The entry fee is $725 and bids are due June 11.
Amenities: Lined soccer fields with player and gear lines, a tent for each team on the sideline, refilled water stations on each sideline, good competition, gear and food for sale on site, multiple athletic trainers, a venue using a ratio of one grass ultimate field per soccer field and an experienced tournament staff to make sure the event runs smoothly.
On Wednesday, USA Ultimate and ESPN announced a multi-year agreement for ESPN to continue broadcasting USAU's premier events, including the College Ultimate Championships and the Triple Crown Tour.
From the USAU press release:
USA Ultimate Chief Executive Officer Tom Crawford: "Their production and programming teams have been a pleasure to work with as we continually work together to improve the product we put out to our ever-expanding audience. They've been fabulous in working with us to enhance the entertainment value of our sport’s special blend of grit and grace. Enhancing our coverage is very exciting, and I can’t wait to see the end product."
USAU started their broadcast relationship with ESPN in 2013.
The D.C. Breeze scored the game's first 3 points and maintained their lead until the final whistle. DC's largest lead was 6 points just after half @ 15-9. The Breeze held the Royal to just one goal in the 1st quarter - the lowest number of scores allowed by DC in a quarter this season.
Game Leaders for the Breeze [via UltiAnalytics]:
Minutes = Chuck Cantone (30)
Defensive Blocks = Rowan McDonnell (6)
Completions = Lloyd Blake (38)
Catches = Lloyd Blake (33)
Assists = Lloyd Blake (5)
Goals = Joe Richards, Max Cassell (4 each)
AUDL East Standings:
DC Breeze are (4-2) on the season and are first place in the AUDL East.
USA Ultimate's D-III College Championships were played over May 20-21. A total of 32 college ultimate teams competed at the end-of-season tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. Both #3 seeds and #8 seeds advanced to their championships. And, both #3 seeds won their division's championship.
Women's D-III Division
Carleton College Eclipse (#3) won 13-10 over Wesleyan (#8). This is Carleton's 2nd consecutive ultimate championship.
Men's D-III Division
Richmond Spidermonkeys (#3) won 15-12 over Davidson (#8). This is the first ultimate championship for the UR Spidermonkeys.
Jonathan Nethercutt of Raleigh Flyers already has a Greatest to his name this AUDL season. In Week 8 against the Jacksonville Cannons, "Nutt" adds a "Fakest" to his resume.
It happened early in the 4th quarter, the Flyers were in red zone and Noah Saul threw a floater which Nethercutt (#7 in white) snagged the disc with one hand as the Jax defender James Koerner made a diving bid at the disc. Nutt established a pivot foot, looked back a the fallen Jax players and threw a no-look backhand for a score to a wide open Justin Allen.
The D.C. Breeze traveled to Toronto on their first road trip against an AUDL East Division opponent. D.C. had an early lead but were down in the first quarter and never staged a comeback. Road weariness and lack of a full warm-up were cited as issues for the traveling team. This was the first game that DC was losing at halftime. In the end, the Breeze were held to their lowest point total this season (20 goals). Moreover, the Rush's 26 is the most goals given up by DC this season.
Game Leaders for the Breeze [via UltiAnalytics]:
Minutes = Tyler Monroe (50)
Defensive Blocks = Jeff Wodatch, Jonathan Neeley, Austin Bartenstein, Lloyd Blake, Marcus Thaw (1 each)
Completions = Lloyd Blake (34)
Catches = Alan Kolick (31)
Assists = Tyler Monroe (5)
Goals = Alan Kolick, Jeff Wodatch (4 each)
AUDL East Standings:
DC Breeze are (3-2) on the season and fall to 2nd place in the AUDL East.
Sixty-nine beach ultimate teams are scheduled to compete at this weekend's Beach Ultimate Championships hosted by USA Ultimate. The event is being held in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The majority of teams are based east of the Mississippi River. Team location was based on their profile's city/state. North Carolina and Virginia are both sending 7 teams. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts each have 6 teams competing at this beach ultimate event. A total of 23 U.S. states (including Washington, D.C.) and 2 Canadian provinces are represented.
[Data via USAU; compiled using team pages, official schedule and charted by SLUDGE]
The Japanese Mixed Team travels to Australia for two International Test Matches - the first ever World Flying Disc Federation approved International Test Matches. Games are tune-ups for July's The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.
The first Test Match in Sydney will take place on Friday, May 19 [@ 5:30 AM EDT]. The second Test Match in Melbourne will be on Sunday, May 21 [Sat, 20 May 2017 at 10:00 PM EDT]. The livestream pre-game telecasts will start half an hour before the throw-off time listed.
The D.C. Breeze to wear this one-piece shirt-shorts RompHim - the male version of a Romper - for its Memorial Day weekend game against the New York Empire.
The Breeze button-up "bro-romper" features a convenient front pocket on the chest and deep pockets in the bottom portion of the striped one-piece. This uniform update by the D.C. AUDL franchise is more than fashion statement, it screams "start of summer" in the most fashionably sensible way.
Online public sales for the Breeze RoperHim have not been disclosed.
Portland is A total of 32 Division III college ultimate teams have qualified for USA Ultimate College Championships. Below are the D-III men's and women's college ultimate teams that qualified for Nationals by region.
Portland is the only DIII program where both their men's and women's ultimate teams qualified. Of note, Carleton qualified with their D-III women's team and men's D-I ultimate team qualified. USAU College Championships happen on May 20-21 in Lexington, Kentucky.
After 23 consecutive wins in the American Ultimate Disc League, the Dallas Roughnecks, the 2016 AUDL champion lost 2 in a row in week 7. Dallas lost first at Jacksonville 24-22, and lost again at Raleigh 32-25.
With the Roughnecks rough road trip resulting in two consecutive L's, here an updated daLLas logo:
The Jacksonville Cannons hosted Dallas Roughnecks for a Friday night AUDL game. This was the first meeting between the Cannons and Roughnecks this season. Jacksonville (4-1) was an underdog in the AUDL South Division match up to the visiting Dallas team who was (6-0) on the AUDL 2017 season and had never lost an AUDL game.
The game was tied through the 1st and 2nd quarters; 12's at halftime. The 3rd quarter belonged to the Cannons and maintained their lead until through the 4th. Jacksonville won 24-22.
This is the first lost in 23 AUDL games for Dallas Roughnecks. They won all 14 of their regular season game in 2016 (their first AUDL season) plus 3 postseason games to win the AUDL 2016 title. The Roughnecks were (6-0) until Friday's loss. Dallas Roughnecks' perfect record held for a total of 405 days - 1 year, 1 month, 10 days - which started on April 2, 2016. Toronto Rush had the longest AUDL winning streak at 30 games.
The D.C. Breeze and New York Empire played in yet another 1-point game. DC pushed their lead to 3 goals at 15-12, 16-13 and 19-16. New York never led in the game, but tied it at 20's late in the 4th quarter - one of 11 ties in this close match. Saturday's victory is the Breeze's 4th consecutive 1-point win over New York in the regular season.
Game Leaders for the Breeze [via UltiAnalytics]:
Minutes = Alan Kolick (30)
Defensive Blocks = Alan Kolick, Matthew McDonnell (3 each)
Completions = Alan Kolick (34)
Catches = Alan Kolick (29)
Assists = Chuck Cantone (3)
Goals = Chuck Cantone, Delrico Johnson (3 each)
AUDL East Standings:
DC Breeze are (3-1) on the season and are in 1st place in the AUDL East.
Full Game:
Game
Highlights:
Next Game:
DC is on the road against Toronto Rush on Saturday May 13. DC has never won in Toronto.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum in in New York City. MoMA is home to familiar artwork by Marc Chagall, Salvador DalÃ, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and, now Frisbees!
The MoMA Store is selling different styles of silkscreened flying discs ($14.95 each) from the Tokyo Artist Frisbee Collection, a project that envisions the city of Tokyo as one big Frisbee park:
Blue Ballerina Frisbee® by KIZM. WHAM-O is a manufacturer represented in MoMA's collection. Made in the USA.
A total of 40 Division I college ultimate teams have qualified for USA Ultimate College Championships. The D-I USAU College Championships take place on May 26-29. Below are the D-I men's and women's college ultimate teams that qualified for Nationals by region.
There are 9 college programs whose ultimate teams - both mens' and women's - qualified for Nationals. British Columbia, Carleton, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pittsburgh, and Stanford.
The documentary, Flatball - A History of Ultimate Frisbee, is now available via iTunes. The film which was crowdfunded in 2014 had its world premiere in the fall of 2016.
Info: In 1989 Sports Illustrated magazine ran an article about ultimate frisbee - about a team with no name hailing from New York (NYNY) that would change the game forever. The New Yorkers brought not only sophistication and athleticism to the game, but also a high level of intensity - some thought too much intensity. Often vilified for their physical play, they nonetheless shepherded in a new era for the sport. Five million people now play Ultimate around the world, and recent recognition by the International Olympic Committee indicate the sport's growing legitimacy. In 2012, the first ever professional ultimate league was launched in the United States - with referees replacing ultimate's throwback 'Spirit of the Game' rule; as the conflict between ultimate's deeply-spirited roots and its ambitions for a broader audience continues. Directed by six-time world Ultimate champion Dennis Warsen and narrated by Alec Baldwin Price: $12.99
CSCR is the new home field for Montreal Royal for the 2017 AUDL season and the sports complex was site of the friendly between Iris and Brute Squad in the fall of 2016. CSCR reportedly is a grass field with a seating capacity of 6,000.
The Royal moved away from Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, a ~25000 capacity venue with a turf field, where the Montreal Alouettes (Canadian Football League) play their home games.
DC's most recent 1-point victory is the Breeze's 4th consecutive 1-point regular season win over New York. And, it's the 5th out the last 6 regular season games that have been decided by 1 point between DC and New York.
Games with slim margin of victory are not uncommon between these two AUDL teams. In AUDL seasons 2014-2017, there have been six 1-point games between the Breeze and Empire; DC has won 5 of those 1-point games.
History of 1-Point Games: DC Breeze vs New York Empire
After many months, the top college ultimate teams have earned a bid for USA Ultimate's 2017 Division-I College Ultimate Championships on May 26-29 in Mason and Franklin, Ohio - just outside of Cincinnati. As for the logo of the D1 college ultimate tournament? This is fine.
The D.C. Breeze scored the first two pints of the game and led the rest of the 48-minute game for a 5-goal victory. The Breeze's 10-goal 1st quarter was their highest goal total in a quarter this season. Read Tyler Bynum's game recap.
Game Leaders for the Breeze [via UltiAnalytics]:
Minutes = Lloyd Blake (35)
Defensive Blocks = Delrico Johnson (3)
Completions = Alan Kolick (39)
Catches = Alan Kolick (39)
Assists = Tyler Monroe (5)
Goals = Tyler Monroe (7)
AUDL East Standings:
DC Breeze are (2-1) on the season and are in a 3-way tie for first place in the AUDL East.
Full Game: not available
Game Highlights:
Next Game:
DC's next game is a home game against New York Empire on Saturday May 6. DC went (3-0) versus New York in 2016.
In the first half of the Saturday's AUDL game between Philadelphia Phoenix and New York Empire, Mike Arcata caught the disc at the end zone cone and dropped spiked the disc. One problem: he was not in the end zone. Just like last week, the play resulted in a turnover!
"You hate to see that."
Mike Arcata (Philadelphia) catches & drop spikes a disc near but not in the end zone. Turnover! #AUDL
[via Fantom] pic.twitter.com/Y4yLc7MeY1
This Lego Minifigures image of 3 stormtroopers tossing the Frisbee that always makes the rounds around this time of year (May the Fourth), is actually a copyrighted image by Ken Gillies. The image is titled "Frisbee" with a description of: "Steve and the guys decide to have a game of frisbee, in memory of Fred Morrision."
MLU was lost in December 2016, now here's an ode to MLU Stats (to the tune of 'American Pie')
A long long time ago
I can still remember how MLU Stats data made me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That Luke* could make those stats dance
And maybe the fans be happy for a while
....
Bye, bye M.L.U-L-T-I
Surfed my PC to the webpage but the webpage was dry
And them good ole 0s and 1s were nice to quantify
Singin' this'll be the day MLU Stats die
This'll be the day MLU Stats die
*et al (Tim Brubaker & all the MLU staff/volunteers who tracked game stats)
Is Toronto Rush and Montreal Royal the best rivalry in the AUDL East?
In the 9 games between Toronto and Montreal, the Rush have won 5 times and the Royal have won 4 times. Toronto won the first three matchups while the Royal have won the 4 of 6 from the Rush. In the Royal's 4 wins, their average margin of victory = 2.25; the Rush's average margin of victory = 8.6 (5 games). Of note, Montreal's first win against Toronto stopped the Rush's incredible 30-game consecutive win streak.
What makes this series so fascinating is how unbeatable the Rush are against all other AUDL East teams since 2013 when Toronto went undefeated. Ottawa Outlaws have never beaten Toronto. Philadelphia Phoenix, never. New York Empire, never. Montreal, who joined the AUDL in 2014, now has 4 wins versus Toronto.
Toronto has an absurdly impressive (55-6) regular season record in the AUDL East since 2013. The D.C. Breeze (2 wins) are the only other AUDL East team besides Montreal Royal (4 wins) to claim a victory against the 4-time AUDL East Division Champion Toronto Rush.
The Rush-Royal series, which is dubbed the "Rumble Cup," has a trophy at stake which looks like:
