George is Furious
We all remember it. October 25th, 2007. An overcast Thursday in Sarasota, Florida was a day that will live in infamy. Furious George, UPA Champions in 2002, 2003, 2005, and World Champions in 2004, came in as a 1 seed (4th overall), set to shred through their pool as they had every year this millennium. However, Truck Stop, a virgin Sarasota team from DC had other plans. By 11:30am, Furious had their first pool play loss in almost a decade and things would only get worse. 13th seeded Chain Lightning was up next and they struck hard, knocking Furious out of Power Pool contention. SubZero, the 2 seed in pool D and 5th overall, was Furious' last chance at redemption and like they had all day, they got out hustled and limped back to their beach house with an 0-3 record.
The how's and why's associated with this pool play performance have been speculated on since the moment SubZero sealed the deal. Captain Andrew Lugsdin was as humbled as he was frustrated and felt that "we didn't play with enough passion or intensity". Furious has always been a team notorious for being calm, cool, and calculating but it seems that their intensity didn't get on the plane in Vancouver.
Another major issues associated with this performance was Furious' lackluster record throughout the summer. They fell to GOAT in the Finals at Flowerbowl, and despite taking their pool 5-0 at Emerald City Classic, Jam handed them a quarters exit. Sectionals would be all Sockeye and despite taking out the Fish on Saturday at Regionals, they could not surpass Jam to take the region and then were annihilated by the Fish in the 2/3 game on Sunday.
In looking at the Monkey's record year in and year out, these sorts of showings have not been uncommon. Furious has routinely been bested by Sockeye in the summer but has always managed to rally at Regionals and Nationals. Morgan Hibbert felt that "no matter how poorly we played throughout the season, things always clicked on Thursday at Nationals", but 2007 would not go down this way. The Vancouver squad may have gone 4-0 on Friday and Saturday but a 4-3 record was only good enough for 9th place. On Sunday, rather than play against their usual Seattle rivals as they had the previous 2 years, they were stuck watching.
But the saving grace of all of this 2007 madness, the silver lining so to speak, was a 15-8 victory over GOAT at Canadian Nationals in Toronto. Fighting against a hostile hometown crowd and a driving rain, the Monkey secured their right to be Team Canada again in that final last August. So despite missing bracket play in Sarasota, Furious will have the chance to defend their 2004 World Champions title.
So what can we expect in 2008? What sort of team will take the field on August 2nd? Will it be the Furious of old? The Furious of 2007? Or some hybrid we have yet to see? If you take a look at their tournament results thus far, it seems that Furious is back with a vengeance. They may have slipped in Semis at Cal States, but they avenged their 2007 Flowerbowl woes with a Finals victory over Tonka Truck 15-8. This would be the first of 2 tournament victories, with Furious back in rare form in Eugene with a 17-13 Finals win over a Revolver at Summer Solstice, a tournament they haven't even made the finals in the last few years.
But are they really back? They have yet to play Sockeye at full strength and lost 12-13 and 11-15 to half of the Seattle Roster in Santa Cruz. Jeff Cruikshank is also done. The South Paw handler's handler will not be suiting up for Furious or Team Canada in 2008 and it is without question that his veteran leadership and devastating offensive contributions will be missed. However, could #19's exit be like Jeremy Shockey's leg injury in 2007 or Drew Mahowald's knee issues in 2008? It is without question that Shank has been a vastly instrumental component to Furious' offense over the last decade but could it be in Furious' favor to remove a major defensive target? Much like Kobe Bryant or even Kurt Gibson, having a predictable offensive threat for a defense to isolate makes it harder for a team to put up scores. Regardless of an athlete's play making ability, an intelligent and well-executed defensive strategy can frustrate even the best players. This was never more apparent than in 2006 when Sockeye took out Furious in the Club Finals, a game in which Shank was involved with four out of eight of the team's total turnovers.
With these factors in mind, it will all come down to Furious' depth. Players like Mike Grant, Andrew Lugsdin, Kirk Savage, Oscar Pottinger, and Al Nichols have "provided a consistent foundation for the team" according to Andrew Lugsdin. This foundation manifests itself as a "constant source of strength and desire that everyone else on the team feeds off of" and Morgan adds "these players have a work ethic that it is infectious". When considering this, the majority of Furious' veteran contribution needs to begin and end with preparation. The veteran squad that Vancouver has boasted for so long can no longer be their biggest strength on the field. Several of FG's most talented players are over 30 and with age comes "more distractions from the rest of life that can get in the way of doing what's necessary to win" (Lugsdin). With the multitude of fast/talented young athletes playing for Sockeye, Jam, Revolver, SubZero, Chain Lightning, Boston and the rest of the club elite, their veteran performance on the field should be eclipsed by the example they set in practice and at the track. It is on their shoulders to breed a new generation of like-minded competitors that will have the mental toughness to compete against the best teams from North America and the rest of the World.
As for World's in Vancouver, Team Canada's roster will be slightly modified. It is a requirement that Furious take at least 5 out of province players and in 2008 the Monkey's will take 10, two of which are GOAT standouts John Hassell and Andrew Ouchterlony. These two veterans are incredibly talented and bring international experience, having already played for Furious/Team Canada at 2004 World's in Finland. However, when considering that close to a third of Team Canada's roster is new blood, a major challenge will be "to get our systems downÉwith game time reps to get in sync with each other" (Lugsdin). The last remaining chance this team will have to incur these "game time reps" will be Seattle Invite in two weeks and along with Sockeye, Revolver, PoNY, Condors, and Rhino, a lot of questions concerning the status of elite ultimate in 2008 will be answered in 2 weeks.
Roster additions aside, Team Canada/Furious also has to deal with the fact that they are the home team. Depending on who you talk to, being a host team can be a huge advantage or a huge distraction. Both Andrew and Morgan feel a great sense of pride and honor in playing in front of family, friends, and countrymen, but they both understand the reality that this honor can also be a major diversion. In addition, sleeping in one's own bed presents mixed responses. While Morgan seems to think it is one of "the greatest advantages", Andrew feels that the loss of "cohesion that develops over the week when everyone is staying together at the same place" is something that will be missed. Regardless of these possible agitations, Furious has the luxury of experience and despite the fact that Sockeye has 3 UPA titles, this is their first chance at representing the US.
In the end Furious' commitment across the board will be their main weapon. Considering a lack of major college talent influx outside UBC, Furious has invested massive amounts of energy into the development of local Juniors talent in Vancouver. Several of FG's players have come up through the Juniors -> UBC -> Furious George pipeline including Oscar Pottinger and Morgan Hibbert. Ultimately it will be this pipeline, and the example the FG veterans set, that will be the determining factor in their ability to compete. Currently, 7 roster spots have been given to recent UBC alums and it is up to them and those like them, to carry the torch for Furious. With the memory of a humiliating season to keep their fires lit, every player in Red and White will be motivated to win this summer and fall, but will it be enough? Will Furious' legacy be that of NYNY, DoG, and the Condors: dynasties characterized by a hyper talented core able to dominate in its prime, but failing to build for the future? Or will they have the ability to put the necessary pieces in place to stave off oblivion? Only time will tell.
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