UPA Club Championships 2008
Doublewide entered nationals as a seed breaker. The team improved its seeding with an upset victory over Atlanta's Chain Lightning at South Regionals, denying Chain a likely top pool spot. With the tenth overall seed, Dub was looking to play the spoiler in Pool A.
The first game of the day was a tough draw: returning champions and overall one-seed Seattle Sockeye. After Doublewide took Sockeye to double game point in Santa Cruz earlier in the year, both teams had something to prove – Sockeye, that it could continue its dominant run; Doublewide, that the previous result was no fluke.
Doublewide came out firing with the first break of the game, and it was several points before Seattle could return the favor. Behind an offense playing keep-away from Sockeye's athletic defense, Dub's own D squad was able to capitalize on some miscues by Seattle's veteran offense. Doublewide carried a significant lead past half before Sockeye began to narrow the gap late in the game. On a contested, physical point, Doublewide's Chase Hudson floated a short break throw to Kiran Thomas, who grabbed the game-winner inches in front of a huge Sockeye defensive layout. The upset was in the books.
The second game of the day pitted Doublewide against Toronto's GOAT, a semifinalist the previous year. GOAT operates an aggressive deep-shot offense that relies on their incredible number of tall players. Dub started the game in stark contrast to our inspired play against Sockeye. The offense, gassed from the upset effort, made uncharacteristic mistakes. Drops and throwaways gave GOAT's defense short fields and fast-break chances. GOAT jumped out to an 8-4 lead. GOAT's offense held for a 15-9 win despite some efficient play late from Doublwide.
The last game of the day was against a nationals newcomer, the South region's third team and overall sixteen seed. El Diablo is a team made up of college players, with plenty of athleticism but not much experience. Diablo had put up respectable scores in their previous pool games, and this game was no different. They refused to fold. Doublewide took a two break lead into half, but was never able to open up the gap to blowout levels. Doublewide ended the day with a 15-11 win to finish 2-1.
One field over, Sockeye was putting the finishing touches on a close win over GOAT. Dub players could only watch as Sockeye sealed up a three-way tie for first in the pool. The point differential-based tiebreaker went against Doublwide, dropping them to a third-place pool finish and out of the power pools the next day.
In spite of the disappointing pool finish, Doublewide was able to take care of business against two younger teams on Friday. First up were the Santa Barbara Condors, one of the oldest and most storied team in the country. The Condors mixed a few vets from their peak years with an athletic college group. Both teams struggled in the wind, and the Condors found some success with a shifting zone defense. Doublewide left the door open late in the game, allowing Santa Barbara to steal a late break and bring the game to Ultimate point. A loss here had the potential to eliminate Doublewide from competition. After one heart-stopping turnover, Dub offense got clutch and punched in the game winner.
Young teams on the rise was a theme of the tournament. Bohdi, from the Boston area, is trying to carve out an identity for themselves in the shadow of powerhouse Ironside. They brought some preternaturally experienced junior worlds players to the party, but didn't have enough firepower to challenge. The Condors' zone ended up being a good warm-up for Boston's well-executed four-man cup. Doublewide's offense was able to hit its stride a little bit in the brisk wind, but the same couldn't be said of the defense. Despite stellar defensive play, the D line struggled to convert breaks. In the end, they were able to sneak in enough for a 15-12 win.
Doublewide's pool sweep kept them in the championship hunt, but also set the stage for a surprisingly tough prequarters draw. Boulder's Jonny Bravo was a finalist the previous year, and the tournament's number two overall seed. A couple of very close losses dropped them into a game ordinarily played between lower seeded teams. One of the most athletic teams in the country, Bravo relies on tenacious man defense and a veteran, quick-moving offense.
This game demonstrated the value of quick wins in the bottom pools. Doublewide's closer-than-necessary games earlier in the day haunted us in the prequarters. Every player looked a half-step slow in the first half – except defender Matt Campbell, whose flying layout D on the second point may have been one of the top highlights of the entire tournament. Dub once again found itself on the wrong end of a big first-half lead. There wasn't any quit, though. Doublewide rallied late, running off five unanswered points that had Bravo's offense second-guessing itself. However, the margin of error was small, and Bravo impossible to keep out of the endzone forever. The Boulder team scored to end Doublewide's bracket run 15-10.
A disappointed Dub had to find a way to rebound the next morning. Out of contention, they faced a determined Chicago Machine team on Saturday. Open rotations and some sloppy play kept the game close, and some big plays by Machine got them the overtime win, 16-14. Doublewide dropped to face Bohdi for the second time in the weekend. Dub won easily, if a bit halfheartedly. The 13-10 win ended the tournament and locked up the 11th place finish.
Regionals
The following re-cap was written for the The Huddle
The weather for our Semifinals game against Ronin saw winds of 10-15 mph creating a slight upwind/downwind situation. Initially, Ronin ran a man defense but it became apparent that our cutters were having their way downfield. Midway into the first half Ronin started to run a 4 man cup to slow Doublewide’s offense. This generated a few turns for Ronin but their transition offense had no luck in putting the disc in the upwind end zone.
In the second half, their zone was eventually neutralized by the play of Doublewide’s handlers who were able to go through and over the cup. Essentially this game came down to Doublewide’s ability to generate and convert turnovers and Ronin’s inability to score upwind. Final score 15-10 Doublewide, to setup yet another Regional Final with Chain Lightning.
Sunday’s weather could be best described as a gusty cross-wind. The game started out great for Doublewide as our defense continued increasing our conversion efficiency by capitalizing on a Chain miscue to take a 1-0 lead. After Chain put in their first score, the first offensive point for Doublewide was a grinder for our cutters, as it seemed like nickel and dime in-cuts were all that was available. Chain’s defense clamped down in the end zone and generated a turn on a dump getting a break back to make the score 2-1 Chain.
The two teams continued to trade, showcasing different styles of offensive play. Chain’s athletic and tall defensive deeps and sagging handler marks forced Doublewide’s offense out of our horizontal stack to a vertical stack. This allowed our offense to swing the disc and hit open under cutters for big gains. Those big in cuts opened up the deep space for 20-25 yard scores. On the flip side, Chain’s offense seemed to somehow always run the disc up the sideline eventually putting up beautiful 50 yard hucks to answer back. Both offenses traded points until right before half when Chain had an errant first throw. Doublewide’s defense was again able to capitalize on Chain’s mistake to take half 8-7 with our offense receiving.
In the second half, after some efficient offense by both teams, Chain was able to close the 2 point deficit and go on a 3 point run because of their defense’s ability to generate blocks off of great bids. One of these great bids was a nasty Callahan on an in-cut to take the lead 11-10. Doublewide’s offense was somewhat rattled but settled down to start trading points again with Chain’s offense. Doublewide’s defense began to apply more pressure on Chain’s offense by consistently pinning them deep in their end zone with well placed pulls and zone crumbles. Although Chain was able to work their way out of the end zone multiple times, it seemed as if they were a throw away from giving Doublewide the lead back.
Eventually, Doublewide got the turn they were looking for based on this end zone pressure and capitalized with a cross field hammer to take the lead 15-14. With the cap on, both teams traded points for the rest of the game. DW’s offense punched in the double-game-point score with what got them there in the first place: swinging the disc and great cutting.
Sectionals
After Labor Day, Doublewide’s first mission was to refocus with some hard practice and new strategy. Our first chance to demonstrate this was in Dallas, TX for Sectionals, the first stop in the Championship Series. As the 2007 Sectional Champ, Doublewide was out to defend their title and hungry for big wins. Game after game, DW crushed the competition… no team was able to even slow us down. Doublewide defeated Dallas’ Grit in the finals to become the Sectional Champions and earn a bid to Regionals in October. Doublewide will face stiffer competition at Regionals as we vie for our spot at 2008 Nationals.
Labor Day
Doublewide’s next stop the annual Labor Day Invite in Santa Cruz. DW was one of only 15 teams in the country selected to participate in this highly competitive elite tournament. We came out of the gate cold on Saturday morning and had some early losses while trying to find our rhythm. We closed out the day with an incredible game against Seattle's Sockeye, the defending National Champions. Although DW kept Sockeye on their heels most of the game, a late-game push by Sockeye tied it up at double-game-point and eventually claimed the win over Doublewide. It was a rough weekend for the team and Doublewide was forced to face their first shutout in several seasons.
Colorado Cup
Set under the scenic vistas of the Rocky Mountains, 8 of the nation’s finest teams, including Doublewide, were invited to participate in Colorado Cup’s “Elite Division”. For the first time this season, Doublewide got to face many of the teams we hope to see at Nationals later this year. the whole DW squad rose to the challenge and played two days of great ultimate. Due to three heartbreaking double-gamepoint losses, DW did not advance to the final rounds. However, we turned some heads and forced top teams to change their strategies and fight all the way to the finish. After CO Cup, no team in the nation will be looking forward to their next game against Doublewide!
Heatout
Doublewide traveled to Baton Rouge on July 26th and 27th for a chance to open the season against some regional competition. Teams from all over the South were in attendance, including regional contenders Chain Lightning of Atlanta and newly formed darkhorse Ronin, a Florida-based combo team.
For DW, the weekend was a chance to shake off the rust from a month of rest, and start to build chemistry with new teammates. Out of the gate, Doublewide looked a step slow, trading points with Mobile. After the Alabamans connected on a few well-placed deep strikes, the captains brought the team in to regain focus. DW answered the call, closing out the game with an emphatic 12-2 run.
Once focused, Doublewide didn't look back. Dw took control early against hometown Turbodog, rolling to a solid win. The nest round was the test of the day: Doublewide versus the overall three-seed Ronin. DW's D-line came out on fire, collecting an early break, and breaking again just before half. DW's offense played almost flawlessly. They gave up only one break to Florida's athletic and physical defenders. Two more breaks late in the game closed it out and put another win in DW's column. Two more victories against young teams Seuss and LA Tech ended the day.
Sunday opened with a quick quarterfinal win against Mississippi. DW drew Ironmen -- a Birmingham team on the rise -- in the semis. Ironmen's althetic roster wasn't experienced enough hold off DW's attack, and DW finished in time to watch the end of the Chain-Ronin semifinal. Despite some ugly stretches, Chain won big, setting up the classic Heatout finals rematch.
A miscommunication on the goalline gave Chain the first break of the game, giving them momentum and propelling them to a 4-0 lead. With the defense itching for a chance to make of the gap, DW's offense found its equilibrium and began a long streak of turnover-free points. Doublewide's D brought the house, clawing out two breaks against Chain and narrowly missing a few other chances. The story of the game was Chain's height versus Doublewide's speed, as Chain's tall receivers came down with jump ball after jump ball. Ultimately, DW's early miscues proved too much to overcome, and Chain closed out the game 15-10.
Doublewide Hiatus
Following a fantastic series of tryouts and final roster decisions, Doublewide went on hiatus for the month of July. This didn't stop Doublewide players from participating in disc-related activities in the Austin community and around the country.
- Doublewide players acted as counselors for the University of Texas RecSports Ultimate Summer Camp
- A coed team with several Doublewide players went deep in the A bracket of Potlatch, one of the largest tournaments in the world
- Many Doublewide players captained teams and taught new players during Austin Summer League
Doublewide plans to resume practice at the end of July, prior to the regional Heatout tournament in Baton Rouge.
Doublewide 2008 Roster Set
Doublewide has made the final round of cuts after an intense tryout process, locking in our 2008 roster. Doublewide is 24 strong this year, and excited about the addition of five athletic rookies that are looking to make their mark. Check out the team's updated roster.
Doublewide Hosts the 2008 LiveLogic Texas Shootout
On May 3-4, 2008, Doublewide welcomed elite open and women's teams from around the country to the 4th LiveLogic Texas Shootout. Doublewide fielded two teams composed of a mix of veteran Dubs and 2008 tryout hopefuls. Battling a field that included a 2007 UPA Club Championship finalist and and a semifinalist, both Doublewide teams played their way into semifinals. However, a repeat of 2007's LiveLogic Shootout title was not to be, as both teams lost hotly-contested games to Toronto's GOAT and Boulder's Jonny Bravo. Jonny Bravo would go on to clench the open division with a big win over GOAT. For a full writeup, see the 2008 LiveLogic Texas Shootout website.
