Title Town, USA
Before the Patriots won their three rings in four years, before the Boston Three Party led the Celtics to their most recent championship, before the Curse of the Bambino was snapped, Boston was already Title Town. In the Fall of 1994, Boston's Death or Glory (DoG) made the 900 mile trek to Lexington, Kentucky and earned their first of six consecutive championships, taking out San Francisco's Double Happiness. In '95, '96, and '97 the boys from Massachusetts sent Seattle Sockeye home with second place and in '98 and '99, the Santa Barbara Condors were relegated to second position.
However, as with any dynasty, the streak of domination had to end. The fearsome collection of Santa Barbara Black Tide up and comers, coming off of three consecutive college titles, led the Condors to the top in 2000. Steve Dugan, Mike Namkung, Taylor Cascino, Greg Husak, JD Lobue and the rest of the Santa Barbara greats finally toppled the cream of the Northeast in Semifinals on their way to their first National title in almost 20 years.
The Condors would earn their second title in as many years with a repeat performance in 2001, but DoG wasn't dead yet, still making Semifinals. Again Boston would be on the doorstep, making the Final Four the following year when Furious George won their first club title and again in Ō05. However, yet again DoG would miss out on the Finals. In 2006 they drew the eventual Champs, Seattle Sockeye, in the Quarterfinals and unlike 1995-97, it was the Fish that sent DoG home early.
The Leashing of DoG
In 2007, DoG would be no more, the name taken to Masters along with some of its most notable players. After several years of performance discontent, both DoG and their resident challenger, Cambridge's Twisted Metal, decided to fuse. Each had consecutive top 10 finishes at Nationals and rather than compete for Boston Area talent, leadership from each decided that they needed to consolidate resources in order to win a championship. Despite the obvious benefits of a talent merger, two teams into one meant that some folks were on their way out. Long time greats such as Jim Parinella and Alex de Frondeville decided after almost 15 years of playing with DoG that it was time to move on.With so much talent shuffling in and out the door, development of a "team game plan" would prove to be a challenge. DoG was known for their vertical stack and surgical patience, while Metal was known for their athletic horizontal offense and more "huck and hope" oriented strategy. Bringing together these contrasting approaches, as well as a whole new arrangement of personnel, was going to take time.
As a result last year could have been better for Boston Ultimate. They had an early exit at their home tournament (Boston Invite) and flat performances at The Emerald City Classic (ECC) and Colorado Cup left them with the knowledge that there was still another level of teams above them. They came devastatingly close to losing the Northeast region for the first time in 15 years with a Universe point win over GOAT, a game in which they were down as many as 4 breaks. However, despite Forch's spectacular game saving performance to take the Region, their finish in Sarasota would end in disappointment with a 15-10 Quarterfinal loss to Colorado's Johnny Bravo.
Ironside is Born
What will make the difference this year? Well first off, the kaleidoscope of Boston talent has lost most of its heterogeneity and now the team has a much more unified feel. The "former DoG" or "former Metal" labels have faded with a year of team chemistry and everyone now stands under the banner of "Ironside." Second, recruiting has been very good to them and the team has one of the best collections of talent in the nation. As a result, it's not surprising that they hit the ground running with a dominant performance at Cazenovia and reclaimed their rightful place as Boston Invite Champion, with a convincing 15-9 win over last years Champion and Saturday Cinderella, GOAT.But what has actually changed for Boston in the last year or so? Last years rookies, (and former Slow White teammates) Jasper Hoitsma and Teddy Brower-Jarus were two players with a great deal of talent, but lacked Elite Open poise. Jasper, who was known for his flare in the Mixed Division, was forced into a reality check by the aggressive marks in the Open Division. Likewise, Teddy was known for his raw abilities, both with and without the disc, but needed guidance on how to use them. A year with Boston broke him of his carelessness and now his game, as well as Jasper's, is more finely tuned and they are both ready for anything.
In addition, newcomers to the Boston Ultimate scene like Jacob Goldstein (CUT/SubZero) and Kurt Gibson (Florida/Vicious Cycle) needed time to acclimate themselves not only to Boston's game plan, but to each other. Both carry massive skill sets, but unlike College, it is not on these players to do everything, just one or two things. Jacob is known for his masterful handling ability and leadership while Kurt's hands and pure athleticism have made him dominant on both sides of the disc. In 2008 both players need to keep figuring out where to use their talents and focus on what they do best if Boston is going to return to greatness.
Some familiar faces are also back in 2008. Jeff Graham, former UMass standout and founder of Twisted Metal, was relegated to Segway status in 2007 because of an ACL tear and 6'6" Northeast All Region and former National Champion (Brown '05) Colin Mahoney both will be making their return to Ironside. Colin was with DoG from '04-'06 but took a one-year hiatus from Elite Open to play Mixed with Tandem. Both of these players will be fantastic vertical and defensive contributors to Ironside because of their speed, height and jumping ability. With Jeff and Colin, not to mention Kurt Gibson, Danny Clark and Ironside's new recruits, there is no doubt that Boston's recent difficulty with big teams like GOAT, Bravo, and Sockeye is a thing of the past.
Another element to Ironside's potential is their '08 rookies. Will Neff and George Stubbs are two Junior Worlds gold medalists that have decided to suit up for Boston this year. Will brings a composure unheard of for a player his age and his defense and handling ability will allow Boston to break any opponent that is careless enough to give up the disc. His fluid movement and body control at 6'5" make him a physical anomaly, and is ability to clamp down on players like Beau Kittridege will be an obvious asset for Ironside this year. Likewise, George Stubbs is a rising star that carries a Forch/Zip feel with his incredibly polished game and explosive athleticism. His Paideia upbringing and Chain Lightning experience create a lethal combination of youth, talent and potential, which will make Stubbs a valuable Boston contributor for as long as he chooses to play for them. Dan Patisteas, formerly of Slow White, is another big pickup. Players may know him as one of "the twins" but all they'll remember after this year will be his composure and strong disc skills as he racks up fantasy points. Trey Katzenbach (Pike) and Brent Anderson (New Noise/UMass) round out Boston's new personnel and it goes without saying that all of these contributors will add significant depth and skill to a roster already bursting with both.
Skilled Apart, but Together?
Once a team that was known for carrying an older roster, Boston now has a diverse population with Club/World Champion veterans paired up with some of the best young talent around. It would seem that this team has all the components to put together a title run, but as it stands now, they have yet to compete outside their home region. On the radar are teams like Sub Zero, Bravo, Jam, Sockeye and Furious, programs with just as many veterans, just as many college standouts, but with several more years of developed chemistry. These 5 other programs boast not only all-star rosters, but competitors that have been with their respective teams for several runs in Sarasota. Boston has the talent to crack into this group once again, but their one weakness is still inexperience together as a team. This was apparent in their 2007 performance and if they aren't careful, 2008 could be more of the same.However, Ironside is well aware of this concern and the team as a whole is focused on the task at hand. Games like their universe win over GOAT showed that they could come together as a unit in the most challenging of games. Conversely, losses like their 15-10 game to Bravo in Quarters also show that they have a long way to go. With that in mind, each player has been training both individually and with the team in order to develop the team bond they will need to compete with the best. Aside from Fortunat Mueller and Doug Moore, no one on Boston has a Club title and each will be itching to get their first taste. Now with their new team identity, this group can begin to focus on flexing their strengths, instead of just trying to make them work on the same field.
Boston's will begin their title run next month in Maryland at The Chesapeake Open. This tournament will have one of the best 10 team elite divisions all year with 6 of 8 2007 quarterfinal teams attending (Bravo, Chain, Sub Zero, Truck Stop, GOAT and Boston). Ironside could come into this tournament as the top seed, considering their perfect record and 2 tournament wins thus far and there is no doubt that Sub Zero, Chain and Bravo will all be chomping at the bit to give Boston their first loss of the season. They then head off to The Labor Day Ultimate Championship, in Santa Cruz at the end of August and will get their first opportunity to face the West Coast powerhouses. There we will find out if the new Ironside has what it takes to handle the current and previous Champions, not to mention Jam, Revolver, and the rest of the field. Boston has not made the UPA Finals in nearly a decade and this tournament could be the beginning of their return to Sunday glory or the realization that they might still be a year out.
The Series should go smoothly for Boston through Regionals, considering their success against the Northeast so far. Their chances in Florida, however, will depend squarely on their ability to gel as a team and utilize their laundry list of weapons against high-powered programs around the country. Will Ironside fall in to the new Boston trend and win a Championship or will they continue to scratch and claw at the ankles of the true elite? They have all the pieces, and come Halloween we'll know if Ironside is the new DoG or still just a pup.
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