Labor Day Mixed Preview

First off, my apologies for not keeping up with the blog as of late. We are in the thick of the season, but my duties as the Southwest Mixed Regionals Coordinator has had be crazy busy so I have been unable to blog about Ultimate. But there's a break in the action, so here's a quick preview for this upcoming weekend. Props to Andy Bandit for the reminder =)

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Pool A
1. Polar Bears(1)
2. Golden Spike (8)
3. Death Star (9)
4. Dirty Birds (16)

This pool features three new teams to the mixed scene with top-seeded Polar Bears, Golden Spike from Utah, Death Star from Davis, CA, and the Dirty Birds from... notsureville. This pool looks very straightforward with the best game most likely coming from the 8-9 matchup between Golden Spike and Death Star. Polar Bears have proven to be very strong this season and are deserving of the top seed overall with a recent semis-finish at ECC. I'm eying the upset by Death Star over Golden Spike in a tight game.

Pool B
1. Mischief (2)
2. 7 Figures (7)
3. Operation Kapow (10)
4. American BBQ (15)

No upsets here. Mischief has been the blueprint for solid mixed-ultimate for the past 6 or so years and they will battle it out with upstarts 7-Figures, 2nd-year team Operation Kapow, and American BBQ. I just don't see any upsets happening here but look for 7-Figures to put up a very tough game for the #2 seed overall. 7-Figures has proven that blending open and women's players into a mixed team can work and their spot-on throws from their men to their female cutters is a very dangerous weapon that they like to utilize. This is Operation Kapow's first trip to Labor Day and should be looking to improve on their team game before the USAU Series.

Pool C
1. Barrio (3)
2. A.I.R. (6)
3. CTR (11)
4. Brown Chicken Brown Cow (14)

I am going to call this the "Pool of Death." You've got Nationals contender Barrio from Tuscon, AZ battling it out against BCBC, who placed 13th at Nationals last year, in addition to solid Bay Area teams in AIR and CTR. This is going to be one exciting pool to watch. AIR and CTR had a less than stellar showing at ECC but are at home in the Bay Area, looking to redeem themselves and put up a solid showing. BCBC are the dark horses at the 14th seed. No one really knows who's going to show up for their team but time and time again, they seem to always pull it together and cause some disruption in the pools. They are solid with women but a big question mark still remains in whether their unfamiliarity with each other will take precedence over their abundance of talent. Barrio takes the top seed going 3-0, with the other three teams just beating each other up. This pool is up for grabs. Should be fun to watch.

Pool D
1. Dogfight (4)
2. LA Metro (5)
3. FunK (12)
4. Operation Killjoy (13)

Pretty interesting to see the 4-5 match up and also the 12-13 matchup in one pool. Last time we played Dogfight, from Portland, OR, We were shut out in the first-half but closed to make it a somewhat "respectable" 8-14 loss. Dogfight is solid with a lot of athleticism and are a worthy top seed in Pool D. FunK and Killjoy are the two teams I am least familiar with. We lost to FunK on universe point at Calstates, but granted it was early in the season with tryouts, and we were resting the majority of our players for that final game on Sunday. Killjoy had a decent showing at GRUB but who knows how much better they've become since then. No upsets here, this pool finishes as is.


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The biggest concern for me this tournament has to be the playing surface. Turf has never been a favorite of mine and although there are no potholes or sprinkler heads to bust ankles on, the trade-off is the fact that the turf is not very forgiving on knees, hips, and shoulders. A big layout D last year dislocated my arm and has caused me to take more steps in mentally preparing to play again on the turf. It's no excuse though and shouldn't alter overall play... but I know the thought of getting hurt is always tucked away somewhere. (MRI on my shoulder coming soon). That said, this tournament is something I am really looking forward to. I'm playing back home in Northern California, the weather is going to be great, and above all, we're just out there having fun playing Ultimate. This is the last tournament before the club series and by now, most teams are hitting their stride and flexing their muscle.

Best of luck to all teams participating this weekend, and good luck to the Irvine club players (Allen, Evan, Iris, Annie, Melissa, Enway), who are participating in the Labor Day Championships this year. I will be in Northern California until Tuesday evening seeing family, so expect a tournament wrap Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Cheers! Safe Travels

Samuel Chen
LA Metro #10

follow metro at www.twitter.com/metroultimate