Obviously we didn’t have time to preview every team in the field. Our pools and seeds post discussed a little news on each team but we wanted to go ahead and give the briefest of thoughts in a more news-like manner on some of the more notable players, occurrences and oddities of the teams attending. In alphabetical order.
Posted in CCC 2010, previews, previews, Ultimate frisbee
Tagged agent orange, alabama, andrew wilkes, ben slade, burning couch, chris mullinix, clemson, daniel petronio, derek o'kelley, duf, emory, florida state, gamecocks, joint chiefs, juice, kennesaw state, lsu, michael arenson, michael t. banning, michigan state, night train, phil brock, purple haze, sean o'kelley, south carolina, taylor goforth, tennessee, tim brady, virginia
After a killer quarterfinals round for most of the semis teams, we halfway expected to see some dead tired players taking the fields for the Tally Classic’s Final Four. However, the tournament director announced that the championship bracket teams would be taking a full bye before continuing to play. While the announcement frustrated some teams (Virginia and Michigan State had already begun their game), others were thrilled to hear the news, as it meant an hour to rest weary legs before a shot at $1000 was put on the line.
On one side of the bracket was a game between Cinderella story Clemson Joint Chiefs and last year’s Tally Classic champions, Notre Dame Papal Rage. Clemson had already pulled out two magical double game point victories over sectional rival Clemson over the course of the weekend but Papal Rage made sure that it wouldn’t fall into the same trap. Double game point came calling again but it was Notre Dame that answered the call this time, winning 13-12.
The Sunday Morning Bracket started without much of a hitch as all of the first round games went to seed and went there easily. As soon as the team’s that had been able to sleep in rolled up to the fields. Things started to get dicey and fast.
Michigan State was matched up with Wheaton College, Virginia faced off against Florida State meanwhile Notre Dame had a rematch with Georgia Southern and Clemson had a replay of Saturday’s contest with Georgia Tech.
Aside from Burning Couch’s big win over Wheaton, this round was as closely contested as any at the Tally Classic. Clemson topped Georgia Tech on a capped universe point, Notre Dame staved off Georgia Southern after being down a break in the first half and Virginia and Florida State got a late start but Night Train barely prevailed 9-7.
Posted in recaps, recaps, Tally Classic 2010, Ultimate frisbee
Tagged alex edinger, andrew schroeder, ben slade, burning couch, clemson, duf, eagles, florida state, georgia southern, georgia tech, joint chiefs, michigan state, night train, notre dame, papal rage, tally classic, tribe, Ultimate frisbee, virginia, wheaton
If there was one team at the Tally Classic that was surprising people, it was the Clemson Joint Chiefs. The boys from Upstate South Carolina had spent their morning forcing Virginia to double game point, trouncing Miami and beating Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC Bracket. Across pool play and in the crossovers, things were going pretty much to seed but Clemson was threatening that balance.
Meanwhile, Virginia had more or less pranced through all of their games except against Clemson and, as night was settling, most of the spectators were not expecting the Joint Chiefs to be able to compete on the level that they had the first time they squared off against Night Train.
Those spectators were in for a huge surprise though, as Clemson beat Virginia handily, 13-8.
At this point in the day, we moved from the regular pools on the fields to the bracket play of the ACC South Championship. Due to the cancellation of the ACCs in late January, the organizers of the Tally Classic decided to fill what they consider to be a void by taking over as best they can, the role of the ACC championship.
In the first round of ACC Championship bracket play Virginia Night Train faced off against Wake Forest Womb in what turned into a blowout. On the other side of the bracket, Georgia Tech Tribe and the Clemson Joint Chiefs engaged in what turned out to be anything but a blowout on either side. Clemson eventually triumphed by a score of 12-11.
The Joint Chiefs pose after Queen City Tune Up. Photo courtesy of Jesse von Fange. http://www.unitesports.biz
In addition to having one of the best team names in all of college Ultimate, the Clemson Joint Chiefs also have one of the more driven leaders. Graduate student captain Ben Slade has spent three years at Clemson attempting to take the Joint Chiefs from being just another Ultimate program, to a team with a solid farm system and an even more solid product on the field.
Movin' On Up 