Note: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the WUL.
We’ve made it to the penultimate edition of West Perspective, so thank God for that.
We’ve been to Paris.
We’ve seen the Pride of the Foothills.
We’ve read all the crappy takes from every single expert besides our all-knowing editor.
We’ve sent these experts to Ibiza and received tasteful raccoon memes in return.
We’ve suffered through sports anxiety diarrhea.
We’ve rubbed a genie.
We’ve watched a bunch of close games.
We’ve witnessed the AI revolution in frisbee.
We’ve truly done it all this year.
Thanks for all the fish.
Question for May 12th, 2023:
Two overtime games (all three should've gone to overtime), San Diego loses, and, as it turns out, Utah is actually good! What a weekend; shoutout to Coach Michael for putting the rest of the world on notice last week. They were this (*pinches fingers*) close to coming out of their PNW trip with two wins, but sadly, the Wild returned to the desert with two losses. What stood out to you about the Wild this weekend? Are they now a shoo-in for championship weekend, and, more importantly, will they go 2-0 this weekend in Colorado? Is the Super Bloom loss concerning? On the other hand, does LA winning mean the wrong teams will be representing the Southwest at Championship Weekend?!?!? Finally, it all comes down to this weekend for the Northwest at the Rocky Mountain Rumble - who ya got?
Wildin out
Lexi: Three things stand out to me about the Wild: (1) clock management, (2) 4th quarter-defensive pressure, (3) and Molly Robbins.
Let's start with 1. Wild's poor clock management (Editor’s note: poor is an understatement) in the 4th quarter nearly cost them a game against the Falcons, and it did cost them the game against Oregon. I am curious how they will correct this pattern on their away weekend if they are up on teams with very little time left on the clock.
Wild had excellent defensive pressure on Tempest in the 4th quarter. Seattle had execution errors when the deep space and middle lanes were clogged with a poach. Wild used the momentum and Seattle's errors to hold Tempest to one score in the 4th quarter and go on a significant run of breaks.
Molly Robbins has built a campaign for defensive player of the year. Her ability to close ground, leap, and get block after block without contact is truly admirable. Test her at your own risk.
I don't think you can call Utah a shoo-in when they go 0-2 on the last weekend. The ability to completely close a game versus making it really close are key differences. Oregon is going to come into this weekend with momentum and a WIN against Wild under their belt.
Michael: If there is a team that has two pure defenders as strong as Molly Robbins and Shae Wallen, then it is San Diego in Kristen Pojunis and Kaela Helton, but if the rarefied air that you're sniffing is with those two names, then you're clearly doing something right. Robbins dominated all over the field for the Wild this weekend and serves as an emotional cornerstone for the team while Wallen went toe-to-toe with Sadie Jerzierski in Seattle in what was the best person-to-person battle I've seen on the WUL field in the last two seasons. If you haven't watched these two play... tune in this weekend and make sure you have your popcorn ready. (Editor’s note: what is it with Utah and all this smoke but no fire?)
Ben: The Wild's biggest strength is that they have the best pair of handlers in the league, in Kercher and Songer. Their weakness is that their O-line is so reliant on those handlers that their offensive efficiency drops dramatically as the game progresses and their starters get tired. When in trouble, they default to Kercher, Songer, Stanislawski, and others to run handler motion, but, as often happened in the second half of the Oregon game, if that doesn't generate yards quickly, the tired legs and tired minds lead to miscommunication errors. (Editor’s note: the legs feed the wolves, or whatever bullshit UNC cheers.) Compare that to San Francisco, who held on every offensive point against Arizona in week 8 despite some of the points going very long.
Nicole: What stood out to me about the Wild this weekend? Pretty simple: Molly Robbins. I wouldn't say UT is a shoo-in for Championship weekend, I think Onyx is going to put up a fight. But I honestly don't see it going any other way. Especially if they head to CO with their top players (Songer, Kercher, Robbins, Wallen, Cogburn, Bigham.) With any one of those pieces missing, I'd say it's anyone's game.
Pawel: There is no pretty way of saying this: Utah should be 5-1 and sitting on top of the Northwest division right now. They are a shoo-in to be the least clutch team in the league. Having lost any remaining confidence, I would not be surprised if the Wild lose both games this weekend and have to sit and ferment on their sorrows for the next eight months: what if!
SAN DIEGO STUMBLES
Lexi: I don't think this loss makes the Super Bloom less concerning. The reality of it is, they win when they need to. They punched their ticket to playoffs, and if they are going to drop a game, this was the game to drop. This hurts me to say as an Astra fan: the right teams are going to Championship Weekend. Super Bloom and the Falcons won when the trip to playoffs was on the line. LA did not, they crumbled in the game against the Sidewinders, which would have knocked out AZ (and given them an in-conference win) and could not win in the must-win situations. It's not enough to be a fan favorite, you have to win when your back is against the wall.
Michael: The Super Bloom loss is definitely *not* concerning. In a windy setting, you had a team that was taking the field together for the last time and a team that had already clinched as good of a playoff spot as possible. That one of those two teams had a little more fight and scrap in a suboptimal conditions game should come as a surprise to no one. That's not to take too much away from LA. I know that if I was the San Diego coach, I would be pushing my team to put its best foot forward in what would be our last live competition reps of the season, but you can push all you want, few things simulate the desire created by a game that you actually *need* to win.
It also definitely does *not* mean that the wrong team will be representing the Southwest at Championship Weekend. The Falcons are as good of a team as any the WUL has to offer (don't rule out a Utah/San Francisco rematch in the finals! I SAID IT!) and, especially considering that LA and SF played the exact same schedule, you can't argue with the results. Astra deserves all the hype, but if it wanted its spot at Championship Weekend, it needed to match or beat the Falcons' record, and, when you boil it down to that, the Falcons deserve the second bid from the SW.
Ben: LA winning doesn't change anything. Super Bloom were without quite a few important players (the drop in O-line efficiency without Jones, Ellis, and Iwamoto in the lineup was yet again very noticeable) and were playing with a small roster (only 15 players played more than one point). It was also a very windy day, which tends to reduce the effects of skill disparities, and LA was playing at home with nothing to lose. Based on each team's full body of work, SD > SF > AZ > LA was clearly the appropriate way for the Southwest standings to shake out, and I'm sure Coach Wells was glad to use this opportunity to give some bottom-of-the-roster players plenty of reps before championship weekend and has just as much confidence in her team as she did before the LA game (Ange back me up here?).
Ange: I’m not concerned. (Editor’s note: okay.)
Nicole: The Super Bloom loss isn't concerning, why would it be? They've already clinched (*cringe*) their spot. They didn't have some of their key players vs. LA (Iwomoto, Wu, Messner), and even though they still had some all-star players, any missing piece can make or break a game. As long as all or most of their top players are rostered for Champs weekend, they'll be fine. LA winning does not mean the wrong teams are being represented in Championship Weekend. I love LA, and I love AZ, but simply put: they didn't earn it.
Pawel: I am very concerned for San Diego. Backing into the postseason by losing to the expert-consensus worst team in the division seems like a bad entry. And yes, this is a huge win for LA. Why? Because they didn’t have to go to double overtime where they surely would have lost.
RUMBLING IN THE ROCKIES
Lexi: Seattle is going to go 2-0. They won last week, but not in an impressive manner, and they know it. I am expecting them to come to CO highly motivated to play like a championship-caliber team. Colorado does have the home-field advantage but does not have the depth of Seattle and Oregon. Wild are good but have struggled to close against Oregon and Seattle. Oregon had a clutch win against them and a dominating win against Oregon. I am calling for Wild to go 1-1 with a win against Oregon, Colorado to go 0-2, and Oregon to go 1-1, but with their win being over Colorado, not Utah. Should be a fun weekend! (Editor’s note: this better be worth missing spoons for.)
Michael: The Wild will go 2-0 this weekend. Due to various factors (not the least of which are our own doings), there is no team more battle-tested than the Wild this season. (Editor’s note: that’s the nice way of saying it.) I know that we have some incredible opposition in our way, and Oregon and the Alpenglow want their Championship Weekend bid just as badly as we do, but I have supreme confidence in our roster's ability to combine experience, desire, and talent this weekend to come into Championship weekend riding a hot streak! This WUL season has proved that no one is a shoo-in for anything, and nothing is given, but a season of work and grind means Utah is ready to earn its spot this weekend. Utah Wild advances from the Rocky Mountain Rumble.
Ben: Provided the weather is good in Colorado, I expect Utah to beat Oregon and take the second spot in the Northwest. Oregon is still not generating many blocks with their defense, and without the rain to help them, I expect Utah to do enough scoring early (and maybe finally learn their lesson regarding time management at the end of games?!?) to pull out a W. Utah locks up the second spot in the conference on Saturday as Colorado puts on a spirited display vs. Seattle but ultimately falls short, and then, much like LA, Colorado gets a home win on Sunday to close out the season, and Seattle beats Utah as Kercher is finally able to take the weight of carrying an entire offense off her back and rest. (Editor’s note: what a weight it’s been.)
Nicole: I don't know if UT will go 2-0, but they won't be winless. Seattle is going to be tough, but they do have a loss on their record, and if anyone other than AZ can beat them, it's definitely UT. And even though UT isn't playing at home, they still have some home-field advantage in playing in a similar climate/terrain, and hopefully, like in Seattle last weekend, they're bringing some of their rowdy fans with them.
For this last weekend of the regular season (sad face), I'm going to go with:
OR v UT - UT by 2
SEA v CO - SEA by 8
SEA v UT - SEA by 1 (in double OT because that would be stressful and exciting)
OR v CO - OR by 4
But you know I've been wrong literally every other time, so what do I know? (Editor’s note: nothing, but you have so many other things to offer!)
Pawel: I’ve never been wrong in my life, and especially not in any of my predictions. Oregon to championship weekend, book it.
BONUS: SCENARIOS
I pulled an all-nighter in the (spread)sheets to come up with ALL the possible Championship Weekend scenarios that could unfold as a result of this upcoming weekend. (Editor’s note: no, I did not, thank you to Jake Johnson of Portland Nitro fame for providing this data.)
The gist of the matter is this: Colorado will for sure advance IF they win both games AND Wild lose theirs. After that, it gets much more complicated.
