Baaack to Semis?
For Greater Ontario And Toronto, 2007 was definitely a Cinderella Season marked by fortuitous power shifts among elite ultimate programs, Sarasota drama and World tournament scheduling. Beginning in June of last year, GOAT was handed the top seed in the Northeast due to a massive rearrangement of Boston talent. With DoG and Twisted Metal fusing, GOAT's established chemistry and history allowed them to dominate while Boston attempted to formulate a game plan. In addition, with the prospect of representing Canada the following summer on the horizon, the Toronto boys were the most focused they have ever been in their program's history. An early season victory at Flowerbowl over Furious gave them the knowledge that representing their country was a possibility and they pushed themselves to their absolute limits. With these things in mind, it is easy to see how GOAT had the focus and the opportunity both in their region and their nation to make some serious noise in 2007.
Fast forward to the Series and you have some very interesting occurrences. First off, without Twisted Metal, the NE Regional Finals was probably going to come down to GOAT and Boston. In recent years Twisted Metal had challenged Boston at this level, but never came within more than three or four scores of taking the Region. With DoG and Metal fusing, GOAT attempted to snatch the NE Region out from under Boston's discombobulated nose. They would come incredibly close with a four break lead in the second half but, Forch would not be denied, and he lead Boston to another NE Regional title in a fantastic universe point finish.
Looking back, the major issue associated with GOAT's loss in this game was their lack of experience. They had never played in a game of this magnitude and much like the Canadian National Finals against Furious, they were not prepared for the mental pressure. They did however manage to eek past PoNY in the 2/3 game in another universe point contest, this time by catching the final goal.
Then came Nationals. Most folks will remember Furious' 0-3 performance in pool play, but the ripple effect that such an event caused is more complex. GOAT went 2-1 by beating the virgin Van Buren Boys and the always erratic Ring of Fire before losing to Jam 15-7. This setup power pool games against Bravo and the Condors. In the first round on Friday, while GOAT was torched by Bravo 15-7, the Condors took Jam to the brink of defeat in a thrilling, but exhausting, 16-14 game. This pitted GOAT against the Condors and Bravo against Jam and not surprisingly, both GOAT and Bravo put the hurt on their respective opponents, 15-10 and 15-9.
Meanwhile in the other power pool, Chain was occupying the F2 slot, which should have been Furious' had they played to their usual potential. Chain squeaked out of power pools going 1-1 and were then slated to face GOAT in Quarters. So now, instead of GOAT having to face a one seed in the Elite Eight, like Boston, Truck Stop and Sub Zero had to, they faced off against 13th seeded Chain Lightning, who may have made Semifinals in '06, but have yet to establish the consistency of teams like Bravo, Jam, Sockeye, Sub Zero or Boston. This game was quite the spectacle, coming down to universe point - but while GOAT was victorious in Quarters, they lost to Bravo once again 15-11 in Semifinals. With all this to consider, it is easy to see that with Boston's shuffling, Sarasota drama including Furious' collapse and the Jam/Condors game, not to mention the prospect of WUGC '08, all the stars were aligned for GOAT last year. They made a charge like very few teams have and considering their 15th place finish in Florida back in 2004, a tie for 3rd four years later is pretty spectacular.
But what of 2008? Can GOAT expect the same success as last year? First off, the focus that WUGC gave them during the summer of '07 has been completely erased and replaced with the exact opposite. As it stands now, over half of GOAT's roster is competing in Vancouver this August with a lucky few suiting up for Furious (Open), and others playing for Team Fisher Price (Mixed) and Tombstone (Masters). This has the effect of drawing players not only from their GOAT commitments, but also away from each other, which can easily chip away at their team focus. It would be one thing if GOAT were competing as a unit outside their UPA title run, as they did last year, but this fractioning may cause significant performance drops later in the year.
Another issue concerning GOAT is the pressure they are receiving from above and below. Unlike 2007, Boston is now focused, poised and ready to make it back to Semifinals or better. Ironside is now committed to a singular game plan and with roughly a year of synergy and chemistry developed between Boston players, they will be a completely different team than last year. Likewise, pressure is increasing from below as well. PoNY is fed up with missing out on Nationals and with a major NE powerhouse like Metal out of the picture, the third or even the second spot out of Devens could be theirs. They have made massive roster contributions such as Aaron Bell and Seth Crockford, and their core talent now has a few years under the black and yellow umbrella. Like GOAT, PoNY is in a pressure sandwich with the Toronto crowd on top and Bodhi underneath making claims at the 3rd spot of the NE Region. This will give the Pride of New York as much drive and motivation as GOAT to win and to top it all off, PoNY has the memory of a universe point loss to GOAT last year, which will make them as determined as ever to play their best in October. GOAT so far has yet to slip to anyone outside Bravo and Boston, but both PoNY and Bodhi are close. In their first contest in '08, PoNY took Toronto to universe at Boston Invite to make Semis and in the Final Four, Bodhi only lost 12-10, when they had lost 15-7 to GOAT at Cazenovia only three weeks prior.
Any good news? What GOAT has and will have more of this Fall is experience. Experience has been GOAT's weakness over the last few years, which isn't surprising considering the fact that '04 was their first trip to Nationals and the team is not even a decade old. However, in the last six years or so, they have played in several big games and have lost most of them. Losing 15-8 to Furious at Canadian Nationals and choking 16-15 to Boston at NE Regionals last year has taught GOAT many things, the first being composure. Executing your game plan in the most hopeless situations is a skill that only the very best can have. A team must try and fail in order to reach new heights and GOAT has definitely done that. Likewise, their roster, despite being scattered across the fields in Vancouver, will gain valuable big game experience at the highest level. Players like John Hassell, Andy Ouchterlony, and Jeff Lindquist will each be challenged by not only the best from North America but the World and any and all weaknesses will be exposed.
In taking all of this into consideration, what can we expect from GOAT in 2008? First off, their team focus should be to simply make it back to Nationals. Taking the region over a newly charged Ironside team is going to be a tall order and GOAT should simply focus on playing well in Devens. They could be in the Finals again and they could just as easily have to sweat it out and wait for PoNY or Bodhi to lose. Their approach should be that of the savy veteran, to work smart not hard. Similar to what we see in college, GOAT at this point should realize that fighting to the wire in a Regional Final is not as good as tanking and assuring yourself a bid to Nationals. They almost learned this lesson the hard way last year and they will use this is experience against PoNY and Bodhi.
If and when GOAT makes Nationals, they cannot expect another Semifinals birth. Teams like Boston, Sub Zero, Chain, and Revolver are all dying to crack into the top four and GOAT will not have the luck they had a year ago. That being said, just like Regionals, Toronto should just focus on playing well in Sarasota. Improving against teams like Bravo, Jam and any other one seed they have struggled against will be the more valuable lesson. They finished well last year but lost to Jam and twice to Bravo, and in each contest were never within four points of victory. A successful run through Florida would include wins, or at least close games, against one or more of these sorts of teams. Much the way Sub Zero and Chain did last year against Furious, a one seed victory will give GOAT the knowledge that they can compete with the very best.
On paper, 2007 was GOAT's year, but they certainly had their fare share of shortcomings. 2008 can and should be a year of improvement, even if it isn't as cut and dry as tournament finishes and win/loss record. They have the talent and now the experience to succeed at the highest level, all they need now is the composure. Their tournament schedule this Summer is top shelf with chances at Chesapeake and Labor Day. Each of these tournaments will give them opportunities to earn a crucial one seed victory, despite the fact that these tournaments are outside the Series. In the long run, come October, going into competition against teams like Sockeye, Bravo, Jam, Furious, Sub Zero, or Ironside with one in the win column will be a confidence boost like none other. If GOAT can utilize their acquired tools and put the pieces together once again, they can remind themselves, and the rest of the ultimate community, that there is new Canadian powerhouse and they are headed baaack to Semis.
.jpg)
