This years Sockeye team had many goals going into the tournament in Sarasota, FL this past October. Of course every team wants to win the tournament, but more important to this year's Fish was avenging their early season losses to Boston (ECC), Jam and Bravo (Labor Day). Here is a quick recap of Sockeye's fight for the Trophy:

Thursday:
Overcast skies keep it cooler than usual for Sarasota, and the wind is only slightly breezy (6-7 mph) all day, picking up just a little in the last round.

Sockeye prepared for Thursday morning for weeks by dilligently waking up earlier and earlier to be ready for the East Coast game times, and fortunately the day started with another team from the West Coast that faced the similar problem. The Offense found a groove early on Thursday which lasted (almost) the whole day. The first two rounds saw the O giving up only one break, which allowed the D team to do what they do best - cause havoc. Running a number of different defensive sets, Sockeye's D team was a force to be reckoned with.

The third round of the day saw the matchup that the team had been waiting almost three months for - Boston. They came out zone, and our offense struggled, giving up 2-3 breaks on over-anxious short throws. Sockeye went into half down 6-8, but then the team started giving energy from the sidelines to try and generate blocks. The defense started playing together and with great anticipation for Boston's O. In the middle of a 4-break run, Sockeye's offensive players could be heard on the sideline, exclaiming "I'm not sure we could score against our D right now, no matter how many chances we got". The D was firing on all cylinders, and a Seth Wiggins poach block was almost the last nail. Sockeye rides the strength of the D as the offense starts to come together for a final round win, 15-11. When the chips were down, the team came together mentally and started having fun on the fields.

Friday:
Hotter than Thursday, but not the rainy monsoon that was predicted. At least, not yet. Sockeye starts the day by greeting each Fish to the field with the water balloon launcher.

Power pools are a spot that Sockeye has had issue with in the past, and the team vowed not to allow that to happen this year. Round 1 saw Sub-Zero, a young and physical team out of the Central Region, and Round 2 brought Chain Lightning, a team that will throw anything and everything at you before you know what is going on. As the day goes along, the wind picks up. It is visible in other teams minds that the games are now going to be upwind/downwind, but not for Sockeye. The Fish, behind huge forehands from Jeremy Cram and Ron Kubalanza, unstoppable cutting from Sam CK and Moses Rifkin, and the tenacious defense of Seth Crockford and Roger Crafts, play a focused game with some of their best disc movement of the year.

Sub-Zero and Chain Lightning didn't play their best, but they didn't play badly and they definitely have weapons to use in later rounds. Sockeye played an incredibly focused day, going without a turn in the first 5 offensive points, and making and converting blocks on D. Sensing the tide of events, Chain saves their legs and gets their rookies some time at Nationals. Final tally: Sockeye 15 - Sub-Zero 6, Sockeye 15 - Chain Lightning 3.

Saturday:
More of the same in Sarasota - overcast but still warm (especially coming from Seattle), the wind slowly picking up throughout the day, foreshadowing the weather on Sunday.

Quarterfinals vs. Truck Stop - Sockeye only played Truck Stop once (Labor Day), and just barely managed to nip them in the bud, so we know they are talented. They are precise on offense and have a couple of lefty handlers that move the disc intelligently. On D, they have Brian Stout, a huge deep that they rode hard to get to the quarters.

Our O makes a statement on point 1, running through the Truck D and scoring in 7 throws. They match after a turn each. Fish O again cleanly to the goal. Our D then follows suit, getting a block or forcing a miscue on the next 7 points. We take half 8-1, screaming for more. Nate Castine gets a layout hand block and catches the huck from Idaho. We spread the PT around a little to keep fresh and win steadily, 15-8, just in time to watch our friends on Jam pull it out against Sub-Zero for our next matchup.

Semifinals: vs. San Francisco Jam - Jam has more talent than most 3 teams at Nationals, and every single player is big and athletic. They play in spurts and are dangerous at any score (which we knew but they still proved once again).

The D starts strong and gets a couple of breaks. The Sockeye O has a few turns, but then gets them back, and the Fish are up 3 early. Sam O'Brien and Ray Illian get big blocks on a hammer to the corner and a poached upline dump, respectively. Sockeye looked good, and tried to cruise through firing on all cylinders. At 7-3, this seemed to be working. Then, Jam's defenders started to tighten up their matchups and make a couple of plays, and all of the sudden the game is a dogfight. We take half with Tim Gehret busting deep, 8-6, on a long huck from Jeremy Cram.

Bart Watson is having the tournament of his life for Jam, and has been pretty much untouchable all game. Sockeye's D rotates defenders on him, but he is throwing smart and using his speed effectively. Michael Jaeger gets a big in-cut block. Alex Nord gets a hand block on a handler, but a foul is called. Nord disagrees, so he does it again when the disc comes back in. Chase continues to scare defenders. Will is patiently pushing the defensive O upfield into the wind, which is significantly gustier than it has been. A break or two, and the offensive unit has hit its stride, finding Chase in the end zone again. 14-11, Sockeye.

But nothing is over, and it is definitely not the time to start thinking about the finals. Jam breaks back, several times, to force 14-14 with Sockeye going upwind. Sockeye works it to the red zone, Ben Wiggins can't find Mike Caldwell in the back corner and it's Jam disc on the turned-over backhand. Jam hucks to Damien Scott but Wiggins has poached it correctly. Sockeye score, MC to CK. Another point trade set. The crowd is 4-5 deep around the entire perimeter and it is 16-15, game to 17. The D takes the field, Jam puts up another huck to the athletes, and Roger runs past the pile and lays out for the catch. It is now just 70 yards to the finals, after 6 throws, a couple of dumps, an injury timeout and Ben Wiggins to Seth Wiggins, who makes the catch despite having a Jam defender draped over him, to Chase Sparling-Beckley on a nice coordinated move to take the game, 17-15.

Sunday:
Sockeye wakes up feeling loose, though it's hot out. It is the hottest and windiest day of the tournament so far, although still overcast.

Finals vs. Johnny Bravo (Boulder/Denver, Colorado) - Bravo is an incredibly athletic team, and they also have Beau Kittredge who makes other teams look like they are walking. Parker Krug is the crux of their offense, and he is one of the few throwers in the game that rivals Jeremy Cram for pure power. They have speed at every position, and they use their height very well (with 6 players listed as 6'2" or over). Sockeye starts on O, heading downwind. After a smart punt by Chase that is turned, the Offense's D gets it back soon after, score CK to Chase. The D clamps down early; Seth Wiggins rushes a handler causing a drop near the upwind goal line. Seth Wiggins to Seth Crockford, to Nord who has two players lay out in front of him for the D. But instead of catching the disc, the defender's just knock it away, and it lands on one of their backs as they hit the ground. An alert Nord sees his opportunity, grabs the disc, and finds Blaine Robbins in the endzone for a Sockeye lead, 2-0.

Our O gives the break back after having trouble fielding a huge bladey pull going upwind, which would be a struggle during the first half. Bravo's defenders clamp down on Sockeye, making each throw a highly contested catch. Bravo pounces on their opportunities and Sockeye lets a couple of chances go wanting near the downwind end zone. Bravo takes half 8-6, and they are now 7 points away from the championship.

Coming out of half, the Fish new that the O just needed to settle down, make some throws, stay away from the trap sideline, and get the D onto the field. With that in mind, the O executes the next 4 points in smooth fashion, moving the disc for strong yards each possession and playing gritty D after turns. The D turns it up as well. An unmarked Thomas Sebby launches an upwind forehand to Nord for an break. Sockeye's D brings it to 10-10 before Bravo can score again.

At 11-10, Johnny Bravo with the lead, the D-team goes crazy, scoring their next 3 opportunities to bring it to 14-11, Sockeye up and only one more point to go. Seth Wiggins hit Jeremy Cram for the upwinder, Nord to Jaeger for a downwinder, Will Henry to Ray Illian for an upwinder on quite possibly the best possession of the season - a six-pass, 10 second move that starts on the downwind sideline, ends in the upwind side of the goal, and in which every player gets a touch. Second year player Ryan Winkelmann shows his incredible closing speed to get a big block on a receiver originally open by seven yards, which sets up a Chase hammer to Nord. The D misses their chance to win the game on their own, but just barely. Now Sockeye's O is heading upwind at 14-12, and they know they have a free bullet and try a huck to Nord, which just barely finds the grass instead of his hand. On the other end, Nord plays some help D, only to collide with a Bravo player as they score the point. Unfortunately, this collision shatters Nord's thumb, taking him out of the game, and leaving the score 14-13, Sockeye receiving going downwind.

This is why Sockeye trains so hard - game point in the finals at Nationals. However things don't go quite as planned. As the pull goes up, it catches a gust of wind right before the catch is made, cause it to bounce out of Sam O'Brien's hands. Without a second's hesitation, the O team matches up on D and MC gets an outrageous block on a dump cut at the goal. The disc floats in the air, comes back into the end zone, and is met by all seven Fish flying to the disc to help out. After the turn, the O starts a fastbreak, Ben Wiggins to Tim Gehret to Sam O'Brien to Seth Wiggins to Sam CK to an upline Tim Gehret, a huck to Seth Wiggins, but Beau gets yet another D on the underthrown huck. Sockeye's O digs in on defense again with the wind at our back. A tough mark, a lofted throw to an open cutter and there is a turnover 15 yards out of the endzone! Chase smartly picks up the fastbreak, hits Gehret, who doesn't bat an eye in hitting CK for the winning goal.

15-13, Sockeye over a truly special Bravo team.

It's been a long, tough, glorious, exciting, challenging mysterious year. For now, we rest on our laurels...or at least just rest. If a tournament started right now, maybe half the team would be physically able to play; we all have lingering injuries that we need to shake. It is time to refocus at work for some, play some other sports for others, but recuperate for all.

2008 looks to be a very exciting year for the Fish. We were lucky enough to have been invited by Japan's Club Jr. to attend the Dream Cup (Japan's premier tournament). Club Jr. has generously offered to pay our way to play in Fuji City, Japan, over the weekend of March 15th and 16th. Hopefully, we'll return the favor that the Buzz Bullets gave us; we'll play a weekday showcase game on that following Tuesday at a stadium in Tokyo. This will be the farthest from home Sockeye has ever travelled as a team. We'll start training again formally in January, and practicing in February.

After Japan comes Spring, and Spring means sun, warm grass, and Tryouts! We'll host the Combine, a Seattle-area one-day drill session and hat-tournament for all interested male players. We run this in conjunction with Voodoo, and it is the opening day for tryouts and the season for both teams. Players are divided into teams at the start of the day, run several drills with their team, and then play all afternoon.

Tryouts have traditionally continued for a month of practice after the Comgine. The early season schedule usually calls for a tournament or two, including Solstice in Eugene. Then we break for July (and July means Potlatch, a fantastic Seattle tradition run by DiscNW). This year, though, there might be some changes...

...because of Worlds! August 2-9, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Australia, the UK, and the Buzz Bullets will all be top contenders, along with (of course) our much respected rival from just up the road, Canada's Furious George.

After Worlds has dawned, it is on to the UPA Series. Pre-series tournaments like Labor Day will be crucial to Sockeye's development as a team. The most competitive Ultimate tournament in the world (outside the UPA series) for the last several years has been the Emerald City Classic, a jointly run tournament between Sockeye, Riot and Shazam and co-habitating blissfully with the co-ed Spawnfest. We'll be there.

The Series will run through September/October as we try to navigate through the Washington/BC Sectional tournament, through the dirt road at Northwest Regionals and then, if we play well, a bid to the UPA Championships in Sarasota, FL. We will be bringing our all to every tournament we play.

After the Series we will once again pick up the pieces, walk more or less normally to school or work, and dream about big plays made and big plays to make in the future. Win or lose, Sockeye will be back the next year to start the journey all over again!