West Perspective: Championship Weekend Power Rankings

- Ben Sadis

Editor-in-chief’s note: So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night. The final edition of the 2023 West Perspective, the unanimous “Best Frisbee Blog of 2023,” is below. We didn’t want to screw the pooch on this one, so we gave the reigns to the chief statistician of the league, Ben Sadis. If you’re into numbers, logical reasoning, and expert analysis, this one’s for you! If you’re like me: Boring! WHERE’S THE HEAT??? (getting swept by the Nuggets probably, go Denver!)

On a more contemplative and unsarcastic note, thank you for reading - it’s been a pleasure writing and editorializing weekly bits for all you moms and dads out there.

TOP END TALENT

Rankings:

1. San Diego

2. Utah

3. Seattle

4. San Francisco

Summary:

A common take your casual WUL-watching friend who likes to regurgitate things they hear West Perspective Editor-in-chief Pawel Janas talking heads say is that Seattle wins with depth while San Diego wins with star power. Well, pat your friend on the back for choosing a good take to regurgitate – it’s true. San Diego has the most top-end talent in the league. They had five unique finalists for the WUL end-of-season awards; no other team had more than three. Yes, Seattle players’ opportunity to win individual accolades will always be hampered as long as they go with their even playing time, rotating line strategy. Seattle has some great players. Do they have two players as good as Kaela Helton and Dena Elimelech? No.

DEPTH

Rankings:

1. Seattle

2. San Francisco

3. San Diego

4. Utah

Summary:

On the flip side, Seattle has the best depth: 27 Seattle players have scored a goal this season, and 29 have thrown assists. The other teams: San Francisco - 26 and 26, San Diego - 23 and 21, Utah - 21 and 20.

Handler Cores

Rankings:

1. Utah

2. Seattle

3. San Diego

4. San Francisco

Summary:

If America runs on Dunkin’, Utah runs on Paige Kercher and Kat Songer. Kercher had over 1000 yards receiving this year – while leading the league in throwing yards by 400. For her part, Songer contributed over 2500 total yards, finishing 8th in the league, and Brooke Stanislawski finished 7th in her hybrid role. The other three teams could go in any order. Avery Jones, Rebeca Ellis, and Penny Wu have each missed three games this season, and having them all on the roster for championship weekend will be a huge pick-me-up to a San Diego handler core that struggled in their last game against Astra. Eliza Pugh and Meeri Chang have flown under the radar this season for San Francisco, but they have the ability to drive their team down the field like Kercher and Songer do. If everyone is available, however, the combination of Sadie Jezierski, Hana Kawai, and Stephanie Lim puts Seattle over the top for me.

Initiating Cutters

Rankings:

1. San Diego

2. San Francisco

3. Seattle

4. Utah

Summary:

Another situation of a clear favorite and the other three being neck-and-neck. Kaela Helton is the best cutter (and player) in the league. Dena Elimelech is in the conversation. Alex Diaz is as well. For San Francisco, Gina Schumacher has done a phenomenal job of gaining yards on big initiating under-cuts and then shooting downfield. Malina Wiebe only played three games but is on Diaz’s level as a goal-scoring threat. Seattle, again, has tremendous depth, and Utah has good players of their own in Cori Bigham, Jen Cogburn, and others.

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE

Rankings:

1. Seattle

2. San Francisco

3. San Diego

4. Utah

Summary:

Seattle led the league in averaging 13.8 blocks per game this year. They also led the league in stalls, but that could just mean they count the fastest 🤔. San Diego and San Francisco were close behind them in overall defensive efficiency, even though San Francisco benefited from the least unforced opponent errors of the four teams. Utah had been lagging behind in defensive metrics, but big performances from Molly Robbins and Shae Wallen have them feeling hot coming into championship weekend.

HUCKING

Rankings:

1. San Diego

2. Utah

3. Seattle

4. San Francisco

Summary:

A huge storyline coming into the weekend is the discrepancy in huck rates. Seattle and San Diego huck the most in the league. Utah and San Francisco huck the least. Will that continue this weekend, and if so, which strategy will win out? Seattle tends to huck with reckless abandon, and they don’t seem to mind turning it over – trusting their defense to get the disc back close to the endzone (or if you’re Drea Baroma, in the endzone). San Diego has a more refined taste in their huck opportunities – leading the four teams with a 53% huck completion rate. Utah also completes over half their hucks, although they are even more selective.

REDZONE OFFENSE

Rankings:

1. San Diego

2. Utah

3. San Francisco

4. Seattle

Summary:

San Diego has the highest redzone efficiency in the league – and it isn’t close. The understanding they have of their systems is a testament to the fantastic job the Super Bloom coaching staff has done building this program over the years, and the chemistry they have with each other is special. Despite their penchant for scoring off of upline cuts, Seattle comes into the weekend with the lowest redzone efficiency in the league – an area in which they have noticeably taken a step back from last year. They have often looked rushed in their endzone set, leading to unforced turnovers. Their ability to tighten that up could be a huge factor in who comes out victorious this weekend.

D-LINE OFFENSE

Rankings:

1. San Diego

2. Seattle

3. Utah

4. San Francisco

Summary:

San Diego, Seattle, and Utah top the league table in D-line offensive efficiency. Having players like Kaela Helton and Kristen Pojunis play over half of their points on D-line has certainly helped Super Bloom. Seattle’s D-line offensive efficiency is almost as high as their O-line offensive efficiency, which makes sense, considering all of their players are playing across both lines. Utah rode a hot D-line offense to big leads in week 10 – they’ll need to do the same this week if they want a shot at making the championship game.

BONUS: VIBES

Rankings:

1. Utah

2. San Francisco

3. Seattle

4. San Diego

Finally, rankings that matter. Let me get the obvious one out of the way: the vibes are off with this Super Bloom team. I didn't like San Diego before the season started; after carefully examining how they conduct themselves week-in and week-out throughout the 2023 season, I am now certain that I will not be sending them Christmas cards this year. At the top, it starts with the I'm-too-good-for-you attitude of their head coach (rude!). In the trenches, it's the arrogant way the Super Bloomers strut on the field (you've noticed it, too?) - as if they have never lost before! Super Bloom Rude! To top it off, they then have the nerve to bring out-of-town ringers (are you scared?) - extremely rude! On the posi side, I get great vibes from Utah. Led by an ego-less, albeit misguided, coach, this group of team-first players goes out there, GRINDS, and (barely) wins with LOCAL, Utah-grown, 100% organic talent. On the field and on social media, you find Wild players HYPING EACH OTHER UP, spreading positive juju, and trying desperately to get chain restaurant sponsorship deals. With the best jerseys, the best fans, and the best home-field advantage in the country, how can you not like their vibes? Now look, as the resident Seattle hater, I cannot, in good faith, put Tempest in the 2 spot. But I will spare you the commentary because I was told, "don't be too mean." By the process of elimination and due to the fact that they're extremely well coached (good vibes!), San Franciso is 2nd.

Adieu!

(Editor’s note: Ben did not write this bonus. It was…. umm…. an anonymous submission.)

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This Week’s Contributors:.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

West Perspective: It All Comes Down to This

- Pawel Janas

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.

Happy watching!

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This Week’s Contributors:.

• Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Lexi Garrity (she/her) had a great time contributing to this week's coverage. Lexi plays for Seattle Tempest and Seattle Mixtape. You can find her on Twitter @lexigarrity10.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: The Frisbee AI Revolution

- Pawel Janas

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 cooked up a special treat for y’all.

On today’s show: the first-ever artificially-intelligent recap of a real frisbee game. We fed the transcribed commentary of the Arizona vs. San Francisco game from last weekend into ChatGPT and asked it to summarize the game (in chunks). What came out was not necessarily totally stupid, but you can be the judge. We end the show with our spicy takes on the Utah road trip.

This is the beginning of the AI frisbee media revolution. Be grateful you’re part of it.

(Editor’s note: this is the unedited version - names are misspelled. Give ChatGPT a break, they worked hard.)

-- START --

The game starts with San Francisco putting the frisbee into play and Arizona picking it up. Both teams make some great catches and blocks, and after a few turnovers, San Francisco gets an immediate break chance and scores. Arizona then gets another chance on offense but also turns the frisbee over, giving San Francisco a second break chance, which they eventually score on. The game remains competitive, with both teams having chances to score, but Arizona eventually scores the first point of the game. The longer opening point was good for San Francisco's defense as it made Arizona work hard to score, and they may be able to capitalize on the pressure. The game continues, and the frisbee changes possession several times, with both teams making good plays.

The game is tied up 1-1, and Amanda Maru is playing exceptionally well, dictating and imposing her will on the field. San Francisco has put all their top players on the field for this important game. The Arizona offense makes a clean hold, and they take the lead 2-1. Both offenses are feeling comfortable, but it remains to be seen if the defenses can slow them down. San Francisco misses an opportunity to score, and the side winder's get their first break chance. However, they are not able to convert, and San Francisco's Falcon score, bringing the score to an unknown number.

The commentator talks about a player on the Falcons roster being one of the fastest players and returning after missing the bulk of the middle part of the season. There was an assist by Applegate and a break chance for both teams early in the game. Neither offense seems comfortable, and the wind may be a factor for the players. There are a couple of injury substitutions on both teams, and the offense is still not quite clicking. The game is still tied, and the players are struggling to make connections with their teammates.

The Falcons take the lead in the first quarter, breaking twice and scoring four goals to Sidewinders' two. San Francisco's offense is running smoothly, while Arizona's offense is stagnant. The end-of-quarter rules are explained, and the commentators speculate on what the coaches might be telling their teams during the break. The broadcast then goes to a commercial break.

The transcript then discusses the benefits of joining the Castorro wine club, which includes receiving their best wines and detailed information from their owners and staff. The club also offers member-only events and encourages members to live life to the fullest. The conversation then shifts to a sports game between the San Francisco Falcons and the visiting Arizona Side Winders. The Winders have a break chance, but there is a drop from Anderson. The Falcons score a goal, bringing the score to 5-2. 

San Francisco has had some mistakes but has managed to hold onto the lead. The wind is playing a factor in the game, causing turnovers and making it difficult for players to make catches. San Francisco is on a roll with three breaks in the game, and Arizona seems to be struggling to find answers. Arizona is a strong team and expect them to improve as the game continues. The section ends with a description of a deep throw that results in a blown coverage.

The speaker talks about San Francisco getting a point back and the Falcons' defense needing to hold. They also mention a possible miscommunication on the Falcons' defense, leading to a break for San Francisco. The game moves quickly, and the Falcons manage to score again, holding a five-point lead over Arizona. The speaker comments on the athleticism of the Falcons and their amazing catch. Arizona tries to make progress downfield but faces defensive pressure from the Falcons, causing them to go backward. There is a simultaneous catch and a ruling by the observers that the point will be contested, causing the point to go back to a 50-50.

The game continues with Arizona trying to catch up to San Francisco's lead. Arizona has had some chances to break, but San Francisco manages to hold onto their advantage. The game is almost at the end of the first half, and the Falcons are holding the break advantage. Gina Shoe Marker scores a goal for the Falcons, and they are missing some key players but still showing great depth. The sun continues to play a factor, causing some handling errors, but the Falcons take advantage of it and call a time-out.

The observer signals a stall, and Coach Dariani attempts to call a timeout. It is unclear whether the timeout was communicated fully and there is a conversation happening between the coaches and the observers about the ruling. The stall call is eventually ruled as a turnover, and Arizona gets possession of the disc for the final possession of the first half. Chip Chang calls a timeout to set up the Arizona offense. The half ends on a highlight block by Jacqueline Win.

In the second half of the game, the San Francisco Winders and Arizona Falcons are battling to decide the fate of the rest of the season for both teams. The Winders get things moving with Chang making a great pull. The Winders are trying to get something going on the offensive end, but the Falcons are content to allow the reset to go backwards side to side. Landry is unguarded and scores a point for the Winders. However, Harris gets her third block of the game, denying the Winders another point. The Falcons take advantage of the opportunity and score a break to start the second half, increasing their lead to 5 goals. The Winders respond with a score by Lipka, reducing the lead to 4 goals. The Falcons are still playing with a comfortable lead, but the Winders are not giving up yet.

The Falcons break back into the start of the game and have the advantage with their downwind offense. The Side Winders are content to work through the fatigue zone, but the Falcons are making great catches and scores. The Side Winders need to make some breaks to catch up. The sun and wind are affecting the game, but the Falcons are maintaining their advantage with confident plays from genus shoe marker. The Side Winders have some close chances on defense but have not been able to make any breaks. The Falcons are demonstrating their adeptness at making difficult catches look easy.

San Francisco is currently leading with a six-point lead of 11-5, and Arizona is struggling to keep up. San Francisco is able to get the disk back in motion and score, while Arizona is struggling to find a way to hold onto the disk and make final plays. The game is in the closing stages of the third quarter, and San Francisco is well on their way towards championship weekend. The commentator advises Arizona to shoot and do a lockdown defense in their red zone, and San Francisco to move the disk and just creep down the field.

In the third quarter, the defensive strategy of the Falcons worked well as they were able to get another break and turn the disc over quickly. The sun was also mentioned as a factor, as it could be used by defenders to distract receivers. Despite the Winders knocking at the door, the Falcons maintained their lead and the time-out was taken with just over 30 seconds left in the quarter. If the Falcons win this game, it will be a great accomplishment for the franchise, as they only had 11 returners from the previous season. The third quarter ended with the Falcons leading by seven goals, and the Winders needing to bring their best effort in the last quarter.

There is a need for the Arizona Side Winders to score and throw the frisbee into the end zone in order to increase their chances of scoring. They also mention the benefits of being a member of the Castorro wine club and invite listeners to join. The game between the San Francisco Falcons and Arizona Side Winders is ongoing, with San Francisco holding a 13-5 lead over Arizona. The commentators discuss the point differential scenarios and the need for Arizona to make a big comeback in order to make it to the championship weekend. Arizona scores a goal, bringing the score to 13-6 in favor of San Francisco.

The Arizona Winders cannot trade back and forth and must get breaks to win the game. Despite generating break opportunities, Arizona has not been able to score a single break yet. Arizona should start subbing in different players to mix things up and prepare for the eventual championship weekend. The San Francisco Falcons are leading the game with a score of 14 to 6, and the Arizona Winders are struggling to work through the Falcons' defense. Chip Chang attempts an over-the-top throw but throws it behind, and San Francisco takes their time to put the disc back into play. The Falcons have a pep in their step, but a low throw from one of their players results in a turnover. The stall count is called on Stellar, and the disc is sent back in on five. Apple Gate attempts an inside throw, but it is low and off the hands of a couple of Sirens players.

The clock is running out, and Arizona's chances of winning are dwindling. San Francisco is ahead 14 to 7 and is happy to trade goals to run out the clock and book their ticket to championship weekend. The commentator compliments the Falcons' smooth offense, and despite their losing position, the Side Winders continue to fight.  Arizona has generally struggled away from home in the regular season and that their lack of success on the road is not a surprise.

San Francisco has a commanding 15-8 lead with under 3 minutes left to play. The Falcons will advance to their first championship weekend and their potential matchup is uncertain, as the Northwest Conference is still to be decided. The Falcons are a force to be reckoned with and generally composed on offense, but they need to catch the disk and go forward to win. The Side Winders had a chance to take advantage of San Francisco's early mistakes, but San Francisco has looked more polished overall. The game is winding down with Arizona calling a timeout for one final break chance.

The commentators discuss the remaining time in the game and the Falcons' strategy for the playoffs. They also mention Coach Dariani's use of a timeout to work on an end-zone set, which resulted in a successful play. They analyze potential matchups in the playoffs, with the hope that Seattle does not take the top seat in the Northwest Conference. The commentators also highlight the importance of red zone touches and maximizing them, especially when playing top teams. The Falcons make a foot block, but it does not lead to a goal. The game ends with San Francisco Falcons winning 16-8.

In the final moments of the game, San Francisco Falcons get another break score after a time-out, making it a celebratory finish for them. The Falcons then have possession and could choose to end the game, but they decide to play it out. They eventually score a point in the red zone, winning the game 16-8 against the Arizona Sidewinders. The game ends with some confusion about a possible foul, but the result remains unchanged.

-- FIN --

So, who played well or not so well, according to ChatGPT?

Coward.

UTAH ROAD TRIP

Ange:  I’m not sold on Utah yet. They are athletic as hell and have some solid players, but I haven’t seen a complete game from them yet. I have seen some amazing highlights and moments, for sure, as well as a bit of luck and momentum. I read or heard that Utah’s coach thinks they have the seven best players in the league (was that you, Pawel?! I can’t keep my frisbee fanatics straight). (Editor’s note: Absolutely not, LA has the best players.)  Love that belief in their team, but I have some arguments that the Better Box Score metrics support other players who are dominating the league right now (and they aren’t on Utah). I’d also be happy to introduce some Super Bloom players to Utah in Seattle…if they qualify for playoffs. [note: Kaela Helton is Ultiworld’s mid-season player of the year, and Kristen Pojunis is mid-season defensive line player of the year]

Ben: I'm super excited for Utah - Oregon. Neither team has been generating many blocks this season, and with the quality of the players on the O lines, we could be in for a shootout. Onyx needs to win both of these games to make champ weekend, and I'm predicting they win a close one 18-16 on Saturday, setting up a crucial return matchup in Colorado.

As for the Seattle game, the Wild infamously dropped last season's fixture on the final possession, but they were only in that position due to bad weather and uncharacteristically poor Tempest red zone offense. I think we see a much cleaner showing from Seattle this weekend - Tempest wins 22-17.

This isn't really so much of a hot take as it is a PSA: I'm not sure if people are really comprehending what Paige Kercher has been doing in Utah. Here are her yardage totals from the eight games she played last season and so far this season: 632, 483, 568, 592, 523, 708, 554, 598. That's seven 500-yard games out of eight. The rest of the league has produced 13 500-yard games total. The top six single-game yardage outputs over the past two years are: 1. Paige Kercher, 2. Paige Kercher, 3. Brooke Stanislawski, T4. Paige Kercher and Kaitlyn Weaver, 6. Paige Kercher. She had over 150 more yards per game last year than anyone else and over 180 more this year than everyone besides her partner-in-crime, Kat Songer. I don't know how many more ways I can put this.

Michael: Utah will not go winless.

In 2022 Seattle finished the season with a +36 goal differential over the course of the regular season. That amounted to an average of +6 per game. In the final weekend of the season Utah squared off against Seattle in Salt Lake City, and the Tempest pulled out a 16-15 victory. The Wild took half 9-8 and held Seattle 4 goals below their regular season scoring average. None of this is to say that slowing down Seattle's goal-scoring is an easy task, and we have acknowledged numerous times that home-field advantage is a very real thing in the WUL, but I think pretending like Utah doesn't belong on the same field (as much or more than anyone in the WUL) as the Tempest is a recipe for a lot of folks to be surprised. ALSO, let's not forget to ask the question of "how will the PNW teams stop the Utah Wild?" So far this season, only one team in the WUL has scored 16 or more goals in all of its games. Any guesses? It's Utah. Tune in this weekend for fireworks.

Pawel: Utah will go winless.

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This Week’s Contributors:.

• Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

• ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022.

West Perspective: a Very Boring Weekend

- Pawel Janas

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.

Meh.

I hope everyone enjoyed the raccoons last week because we are back in full talking-head mode today. We have a few things to talk about! Our sunkissed “experts” have returned from their skinny-dipping trip to Ibiza, and they seem eager to dispense their newly acquired Iberian spice. (No, I don’t mean the big C, though I hear Ibiza is craaaaaazy this time of year.)

Aproveite o tempero, meus amigos!

Question for April 28th, 2023:

There is so much to talk about this week. There was so much drama. Every single game was competitive until the very end. (Yes, including the CO/LA game that was way tighter than the final score indicates.) There have never been even two 1-point games in a weekend in the history of the WUL, and we got three in Utah. Feel free to be more open-ended this week (there are so many hot directions you can go in), but some questions to get the brain liquids flowing: is Utah the most clutch team in the league? Is home-field advantage a real thing? More tragic: CO unable to force OT v. Falcons or LA starting on O and losing in 2OT? UT with the home-and-home series with SEA/OR - how many games will the Wild win? AZ vs. SF next week to decide the second and final seed in the Southwest - who you got?

CLUTCH

Lexi: I said this a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll say it again: when Wild has Songer on the field, they are a significantly better team. The trio of Songer, Kercher, and Stanislawski in the backfield is a menace. Each of these handlers breaks the mark with ease, and Kercher’s forehand hucks were nasty this weekend. I don’t know if I can call Utah “clutch” when they seemingly put themselves in peril (emphasis added by the Editor) by losing a 4 goal lead in the 4th quarter, but I love the ability to dig deep and pull it out. There has been so much chatter about home-field advantage. We get it, consistent exposure to the wind, rain, elevation, etc all add up. Plus, who doesn’t love playing for the fans?

Michael: There's a discussion to be had about whether or not relinquishing commanding leads only to gut the game out in the most dramatic fashion imaginable is "clutch" or not, but one thing that the Wild proved is that they are not a rollover group. There are, certainly, changes to be made in order for Utah to reach its full potential, but anyone who is looking at the Wild as an "easy out" should be reevaluating after this weekend. (Editor’s note: literally no one is saying this)

I acknowledged this in our last West Perspective regarding Colorado's rowdy home crowd, and I'd be remiss not to acknowledge the same for the folks who made it to Salt Lake City this weekend. While the Wild is still working on building out the numbers that Colorado showed, as Utah's coach, I have no doubt that the guts displayed in the two games this weekend for Utah are reflective, in no small part, of the will of a collective even greater than those players just on the roster. The Wild are excited to test their mettle on the road for the remainder of the season and fight against those home-field advantages.

Ange: Utah turned it over with 2 seconds left in regulation time, gave up their one-point lead, and let LA score to tie the game and force overtime. LA has more losses than anyone in the league, and they were playing without their best player...so, kudos to Utah for pulling out a double overtime win, but you won't catch me using the word "clutch" to describe it.

Home-field advantage is definitely real, and Utah will be feeling it when they lose to Seattle and Oregon (emphasis added by the Editor) on May 5 and 6. For the record, I'd love to see Utah beat Oregon and think they are capable of it, I just don't trust them to maintain possession of the disc...it's too soon for me.

Nicole: As heartbroken as I am about LA's loss in 2OT (like, come on, they had five breaks in a row and only allowed UT to score once in the 4th quarter), Pawel said this was the time to be more open-ended, so I'll keep this short so we can move on to what really matters. To answer the prompts: No. Yes. 

Pawel: I want to take this opportunity to spend some time talking about the CO/LA game, and to showcase my skills as a master mathematician. The 19-12 score is stupidly misleading. The graph below is a simple goal line plot for LA and CO, with the red lines denoting all LA squandered break opportunities. I don’t know whether to be impressed with CO’s O-line defense or to be frustrated with LA’s conversion. Either way, this felt like and should have been, by all accounts, the 4th 1-point game of the weekend..

TRAGEDY

Lexi: Both of these final points had multiple turns with different chances for either team to make that critical score. Colorado feels the most tragic to me because of the amount of time spent on the final point. The fighting-valiantly-over-a-multi-minute span to lose is heartbreaking. Meeri Chang is wrecking people in the backfield with her crafty lefty throws and is more than comfortable breaking the mark or throwing a dime high-release. The loose handler switching as a last-ditch effort by Colorado in front of the endzone was the final nail in the coffin once Chang had the disc.

Michael: Being on the sideline for the 2OT game has me leaning in that direction (since I can imagine how I would feel had the Wild managed to drop that game), but these two have to be tied since they both made the road to championship weekend either impossible or *very* difficult for both teams. No matter what the process, seeing your season's hopes dwindle is about as tragic as it gets.

Ange: There have been three double overtime games in the history of the WUL. LA has lost every one of them...and that's tragic (emphasis added by the Editor). There are so many wonderful humans and good players on that team, and one day they'll be a force to be reckoned with. Just maybe not this season. *knocks on wood as Super Bloom approaches a trap game against LA on May 6*

Nicole: The second one.

Pawel: It’s a tragedy whenever LA loses. But starting on O in double OT and promptly hucking it away is tragic.

WILD IN THE PNW

Lexi: Wild will beat Oregon because they are fired up and confident off of the weekend with a humming O-line and tenacious defense. This game is exciting because it is a must-win game for Oregon. Oregon is a talented team, but just can’t seem to put it together against harder opponents. The back against the wall, do or die, might be the push they need to figure it out. I think the Wild will get an in-conference loss from Seattle to go 1-1 on their road trip. Seattle will be able to throw fresh defense on the Wild O line handler trio at every offensive point. By the 3rd quarter, this will start to wear on Wild’s O-line and create a few breaks for Seattle.

Michael: The Wild will go 4-0.

Nicole: Maybe 1.

Pawel: The Wild will go 1-3. Coach Michael will soon eat some humble pie when his team loses to Seattle by a combined 16 points across two games. If they’re lucky, I can see Utah squeaking out a home victory against Onyx. God speed.

AZ VS SF

Lexi: I can’t wait for this game. It’s a win-or-go-home for the last remaining playoff spot in the Southwest Conference, and both teams seem to be approaching it with upward-swinging momentum. SF will be playing at home, and the Bay will show up to cheer. Can this momentum and atmosphere push SF into the playoffs, or will the Snakes stay alive? Chip Chang has been racking up the stats and leading a strong snake squad to on-the-road wins. Meeri Chang, Broome, and Schumacher have all been impressive, along with other well-known names from the Bay Area. My money is on the Sidewinders to pull it out with some wild plays and acrobatics.  I also wouldn't be surprised if SF won. (Wishy-washiness emphasized by the Editor.) This game has an all-caps spot on my weekend calendar and feels like a win-win for the viewers. 

Michael: This is a very difficult question. San Francisco may be the stingiest offense with the disc in the league, and I imagine they will be at full strength next weekend. Meanwhile, Arizona may be the most athletic and the team most ready to ride a wave of momentum. It's hard to call this anything but a toss-up and I can see the route for both teams to take the win. However, Pawel will chastise me if I don't make a choice (Editor’s note: this is true), so, for two reasons, I'm going with San Francisco: 1. Home field advantage! and 2. Seeing the Falcons battle out a one-point win the day after losing by one, with both games on the road and without its full complement of players, gives me a lot of confidence in the team's mental toughness and overall approach. I've got all the respect in the world for the Snakes, but not having seen them in person this season may be biasing me toward the Bay Area's favorites going on to Championship Weekend.

Ange: Oof, this is a tough one, but I think Arizona pulls out a nail-biter of a win over SF. The Sidewinders are playing better now than when the Falcons beat them in San Diego, and they have nothing to lose (and everything to gain). The Falcons are hanging on by a thread to that second SW playoff spot, and that's a dangerous position to be in. Slap and her crew won't make it easy for AZ, but I have the snakes by 2. 

Nicole: AZ. 

Pawel: I’ve said this once, but I will say it again. I hope both teams lose.

PARITY, FLOWERS, SHORT PULLS

Michael: For the second year in a row, the teams playing in Championship Weekend will most likely come down to the very last weekend of the season for multiple teams. UT will have to go 2-0 on its PNW road trip (which we will) in order for the NW bid to not still be up in the air come the last weekend of Northwest play while AZ and SF are playing for a championship bid next weekend in a head to head matchup of loser-goes-home-for-good. The parity between and within the divisions of the WUL puts essentially every other ultimate competition league to shame (emphasis added by the Editor). If you aren't watching the WUL, you're missing the best run and most exciting league in ultimate right now.

Call it clutch, call it grit, call it mental toughness, but if you didn't catch the internal battle that UT's Maddy Hunter went through to finish the 2OT game against Astra, then you need to go back and watch it. After Utah's defense got the block needed to protect a one-goal lead at the end of regulation, Hunter had an unfortunate mental lapse and threw an unnecessary turnover that allowed LA a final possession with 0:01 left that Astra capitalized on to force overtime. Utah's offense promptly gave up a break to start overtime, and Hunter was called on to help tie the game with less than 2:00 left. After trading turns, Hunter touched the disc two times on Utah's final overtime possession (for ~20 receiving yards) and threw for another 40, including launching a 45-yard flick to a streaking Carly Atwell deep into the Wild's endzone to score the game-tying goal with 0:23 left. Hunter deserves all the flowers for staying in the game and being an essential impact player. These are the moments within the larger moment that make sports amazing.

Nicole: Let's talk about the short pull play that SD tried a few weeks ago vs. AZ, and now we've seen it again by UT in UT vs. SF. This tactic wasn't talked about a ton when SD tried it against AZ, but it made the Reddit pages of r/ultimate this time around. If you're not familiar with what I'm referring to, UT intentionally rolled the pull out of bounds near their endzone. In this case, the pull rolled very far out of bounds, and the observer started the 20-second pre-stall as soon as the pull went up. The SF players had to run down all 80 yards of field and get a pass off well into their normal 7-second stall, which resulted in SF immediately throwing a hammer and resulting in a turn at the end of the 3rd quarter (and a UT break/score.)

This is well within the WUL rulebook, but many feel it is highly unspirited. In AZ's case, it seemed like the roller pull went up well before AZ was ready for it, and in both cases, there was a ton of confusion between the teams, players, coaches, observers, and even the commentators. On one hand, I love to see teams testing the limits of the rulebook. On the other hand, it's very boring to watch rule discussions on the field for 5+ minutes. I'm sure AZ and SF wish the observers had granted some sort of time extension on the pre-stall or an extra game disc nearby, and I'm sure SD and UT are happy with the outcome, no matter how sneaky they had to be to score. 

Will this result in a rule change for seasons to come? (I'm sure it will if Manisha Daryani and Helen Eifert have anything to say about it.) Will "Spirit of the Game" be left behind in pro settings? (I sure hope so.) As a fan watching from home or the stands, this is the kind of thing I love to watch teams get away with, and clearly, if r/ultimate has taught us anything (it hasn't), people love talking about it. I'd love to see more teams testing the limits of the rulebook without it feeling like they're taking advantage of each other. But ultimately, I'm sure there will be some minor adjustments to the rules, but only time will tell.

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This Week’s Contributors:.

• Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Lexi Garrity (she/her) had a great time contributing to this week's coverage. Lexi plays for Seattle Tempest and Seattle Mixtape. You can find her on Twitter @lexigarrity10.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: Letters to the Editor

- Pawel Janas

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.

The talking heads are off partying in Ibitha this week, so today is an excellent opportunity to answer some spicy letters to the editor. Thank you, everyone, for sending in your questions and concerns - you can always reach the West Perspective editorial desk at pawel.janas8@gmail.com.

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DEAR PAUL: I must inquire about the Utah Wild of the Western Ultimate League, for I have recently heard of this team's prowess on the field of sport. As a gentleman of the highest order, I am most intrigued by the notion of athletic competition, particularly of the Ultimate variety. Couldst thou provide me with any information regarding the Utah Wild, such as their players, tactics, or record of success? I am most eager to learn more, and to perhaps witness a match firsthand. — WILDIN IN SALT LAKE

DEAR WILDIN IN SALT LAKE: I’ve always wanted to communicate, albeit virtually, with a 17th-century Brit, so thanks for the opportunity. I am delighted to hear of your interest in the Utah Wild.

The timing of your letter could not have been better. Week 7 (tomorrow and Sunday) is the Wild Wild Weekend, with LA/Colorado/Utah/SF competing across four games at the Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City. With SD already qualifying for Championship Weekend, it’s coming down to that second spot in the Southwest.  For all intents and purposes, LA needs to win both games (against CO and UT) to have a shot - their minus-20 point differential is not looking too hot; otherwise, the winner of AZ vs. SF is in the driver’s seat. There is still a lot we don’t know about the Wild (played only two games), or the Northwest race for the 2nd spot after Seattle, so this weekend is pivotal. Keep your eye out on #58 Kercher and #48 Songer. According to head coach Michael Aguilar, the best seven players in the league are on the Wild - we’ll see about that.

If you are able to witness a game firsthand, I encourage you to do so. You can find all the info here. I'm sure you will find it to be a most enjoyable experience. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

For this letter, I gift you the following:

-Pawel

Editor-in-chief

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DEAR PAVEL: My teenager is obsessed with the WUL, and I have to admit that I'm getting tired of hearing about it. But now they're talking about these "top players" in the league, and I have no idea who they are or why they're so important. Can you give me some insight into who these players are and what makes them stand out? I'm hoping to find some common ground with my teen and maybe even learn to appreciate this sport a little more. – JADED PARENT

DEAR JADED PARENT: I can understand your frustration with your teenager's obsession with the WUL, but I commend you for wanting to learn more about the sport and its top players. Ultimate is a fast-paced, exciting game that requires skill, athleticism, and strategy, and the top players in the league are some of the best in the world.

I encourage you to check out our blog from last week where we lay out the case for All-WUL ballots after the first half of the season. There is a lot of talent in the league on both sides of the ball, and you can watch every game live and playbook on our YouTube channel. Like and subscribe!

By learning more about the sport and its top players, you may find a newfound appreciation for Ultimate and the passion it inspires in your teenager. Who knows, you may even find yourself cheering alongside them at the next game!

For this letter, I gift you the following:

Best of luck,

Pawel

Editor-in-chief

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DEAR PAWAL: Okay, so I was at the game the other day, and like, it was soooooo boring! The same teams keep winning over and over again, and it's just not fair! Like, where's the parity, you know? It's like, why even bother playing if you already know who's gonna win? How can we get more teams to be competitive and make things more interesting? I'm so over watching the same teams dominate every time– DRUNK AND DISILLUSIONED

DEAR DRUNK AND DISILLUSIONED: I can understand your frustration with the lack of parity in the league. It’s an issue (for some, not me) that we talk about every week here at West Perspective. It's no fun to watch the same teams (Seattle, San Diego) win all the time (again, for some - I love it), and it can make the games seem predictable and unexciting. However, it's important to remember that building competitive teams takes time, effort, and resources. Many of the top teams in the league have invested heavily in their players, coaching, and infrastructure to achieve the level of success they enjoy.

At the same time, you have to remember that some of the best players in the West/Mountain West are not currently in the league. How good would Colorado be with Molly Brown players? How about Fury on the Falcons? The prospect of watching club semis-type games on a weekly basis in 2024 and beyond is tantalizing, to say the least. 

Ultimately, as we discussed in our inaugural column,  it's up to the league and its stakeholders to determine the best path forward. 

For this letter, I gift you the following:

Grab a Suja juice and sober up,

Pawel

Editor-in-chief

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DEAR POWELL: I recently visited the San Diego Super Bloom and was blown away by the incredible beauty of the flowers. However, I couldn't help but feel guilty about the impact that so many visitors might be having on the delicate ecosystem. I'm worried that too many people are trampling the flowers and disrupting the habitat. Should I be concerned about the impact of so many visitors, or is the Super Bloom robust enough to handle the crowds? What can I do to minimize my own impact and still enjoy this natural wonder? - FLOWER FOLLOWER

DEAR FLOWER FOLLOWER: While this is not my area of expertise, it's great that you're aware of the impact that visitors can have on delicate ecosystems like the San Diego Super Bloom. While it's true that large crowds can cause damage to the flowers and habitat, there are ways to minimize your impact while still enjoying the beauty of the area.

First, stay on designated trails and avoid stepping on any flowers or plants. It's also a good idea to avoid picking any flowers or disturbing any wildlife you may encounter. Additionally, be sure to properly dispose of any trash you may have, as litter can harm the environment and wildlife.

Finally, consider visiting during off-peak hours or less popular days to help reduce crowding. And if you're interested in doing more to support the environment, consider volunteering with local conservation organizations or donating to conservation efforts in the area.

For this letter, I gift you the following:

Best of luck,

Pawel

Editor-in-chief

This Week’s Contributors:.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

West Perspective: Chaos and Mid-Season Clout

- Pawel Janas

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.

This edition is long enough without an unhinged soliloquy from yours truly, so I will keep this short: some people in this world are cowards.

I am specifically referring to my fellow talking heads (Editor’s note: who I appreciate very very much despite their shortcomings.). This week, we dish out clout and simulate trades, and no one (besides Ben) chose to upgrade their hypothetical roster with a trade. Oh, you don’t want to offend your friends? Econ 101 pal, nothing in this world is free - if you want to trade for Paige Applegate, you gotta give something up.

But Pawel, my roster is perfect, I don’t need anyone else!

Oh really? You are the GM of the team that has the 20+ best players in the league? Are you undefeated? Get a grip and throw someone (or something) under the bus and upgrade your roster, you cowards. 

Question for April 13th, 2023:

Week 5 is in the books, and we are officially halfway done with the season. Besides Utah, every team has played at least four games. No team is undefeated. No team is winless. There is complete chaos in the standings. Besides San Diego, every team is still fighting for a spot at Championship Weekend. Let's start with this weekend's games: which win impressed you more, Colorado (home-field advantage?) or LA (villains getting payback for Week 1)? Is it time to panic in Arizona? Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, which individuals have stood out? Who is on your mid-season All-WUL first-team ballot? Finally, imagine you are the GM of your favorite team - who are you trading for (and what/who are you giving up) to make a push in the second half?

Impressive!

Ange:  Colorado's roller-coaster win impressed me a ton. They put together runs in each half to come from behind and take the lead - that's really hard to do and requires a lot of focus and resilience. They also had a packed home-field stadium, which was both inspiring and impressive. Good job, Alpenglow players, coaches, and fans!

Lexi: My favorite game this weekend was from LA Astra. This team struggled last year and has come out firing this season. Their energy is high, and you can see the chip on their shoulder. I am here for the villain era of Maggie O’Connor. I want to be a villain after seeing that last game. 7 assists and 4 goals create a monster stat line. Weaver and Childress have been exciting to watch.  Astra is full of players viewers might not know, but fans of the league will look up their number afterward.

 I am going to offend Colorado. (I would be offended, but let’s have some spice.) Their win was partly due to home-field advantage and the timely absence of Dr. Kat Songer from Utah Wild’s backfield. Songer had 4 assists and threw for 378 yards in their last match-up. She is a game-changer in an up-and-down game and eventual loss by 3, especially since Colorado seemed to be at full strength.

That being said, Rory Veldman was a d line anchor for Colorado (as was Molly Robbins for Utah) and was all over the field. The deep shots for Colorado were connecting, especially the acrobatic grab by Jess Larson! Seeing Colorado win their first-ever home/game in front of a large crowd is why this league is important. Women-matching players are worth watching and are making plays! (Please go watch the statement-making endzone layout ds and grabs by McLaughlin, Dietrich, and Staller.) Give us the field and turn the cameras on.

Ben: LA really impressed me. Their offense looked so much smoother than it did in the first game against San Francisco, even in the windy conditions. There was a clear plan in place with how they initiated offense off the pull and off turnovers, and it really allowed their stars to shine. Additionally, they looked hungry. Just like San Francisco and Arizona did in their opening weekend wins, Astra was flying around the field on defense - I think I counted seven layout blocks over the course of the game? If each team keeps this energy, the fight for second place in the Southwest is going to be a joy to watch coming down the stretch.

Michael:  Perhaps not everyone would know this but, with all due respect to LA, Colorado should be the easy answer to this question. Homefield advantage is a very real thing across professional ultimate, and Colorado had, by far, the best home crowd of any WUL game I've been to or watched. In addition to that crowd, no one should underestimate the difficulty of turning around less than one week after getting shellacked by Seattle and Oregon and facing off against another in-division opponent with, seemingly, the season on the line, and putting together your best performance of the season. Shout out to Colorado's coaches and players for staying mentally tough and to the home crowd for willing the Alpenglow on. If I had games yet to play in Denver, I would not be looking forward to playing a team that is hitting its stride in what may be becoming the toughest place to play in the league.

Nicole: Colorado winning at home was cool, and I'm happy for them, and all, but LA's win against SF was more impressive. Not necessarily because of the point differential or because it was on SF's home turf, but because did you see how they played? There were some huge highlight reel plays (shoutout to Audrey Brown) and some impressive stats. What I find most impressive is the increase in chemistry and defensive intensity from Week 1. They've improved as a team and used their losses to fuel their villain era, and they've got Champs weekend in their sights.

Pawel: You could see the LA win coming from a mile away. Fueled by their Week 1 embarrassment, a homecoming of sorts for the villain herself, and a generally positive trend over the last few weeks made LA an easy pick this week. Colorado winning, on the other hand, was actually impressive, especially after getting blown out on their Northwest trip. That’s some resilience right there.

Panic!

Ange:  I'm very against panicking of any kind (too much stress is objectively not helpful to winning games - check out the Optimal Arousal Theory by Yerkes & Dorson). Arizona needs to continue to work on using their athleticism and mildly chaotic style of play to their advantage - when they find that perfect balance of organized chaos, they'll be a force to be reckoned with. I expect them to come out to San Diego this week with everything they've got to give us a tighter game.

Lexi: Looking to Arizona, that win against Seattle in Week 1 is well in the rearview mirror and perhaps was an overconfidence boost (again, spice.) The Week 3 losses (13-14 to LA and 9-11 against SF) make sense when you factor in the absence of Paige Applegate. The duo of Chang and Applegate has been impressive to watch. However, for Arizona to lose both games in Week 3 and get beat down by San Diego in Week 5 puts Arizona in a back-against-the-wall position. If I am Arizona, I feel the pressure, and I revel in it. My predictions for Week 6 are for Arizona to go 1-1. I think SD will win with ease. The real question for me is, if Arizona goes down early, will coaches rest star players for a must-win game the next day against the Astra? Will O’Connor lead Astra to the murder of Arizona's dreams? Will Arizona dig deep and pull out the fangs to survive? 

Michael: Arizona, much like any team that goes on a three-game skid, should be quite concerned. With San Diego locking up a Championship Weekend spot, that means that Arizona is fighting for the last spot in the Southwest. With LA streaking and San Francisco showing plenty of signs of life, Arizona does not have room for error going forward. That being said, Arizona got underestimated in the offseason, and anyone who underestimates them going forward risks looking very foolish.

Nicole: There's no reason for Arizona to panic. I think they just need a reset. They came out strong on their home field in Week 1, and they know as well as I do, that they're more than capable of being that team again. They will have to work for it, and I'm sure they will. But I have no doubt we'll see some more big plays from players like Kez Gesell and Nora Landri. If AZ is great at anything, it's surprising everyone when it seems like they're down. 

Pawel: It’s time to panic and burn it down to the ground. Find the big red button and press it before the season unravels this week versus Astra.

Clout!

Ange:  My mid-season All-WUL first-team ballot includes Chip Chang and Paige Applegate from Arizona (have you seen their creativity and upside down throws?! *chef's kiss*); Jasmine Childress & Maggie O'Connor from LA (has Jasmine EVER missed a throw from Maggie?!); Rory Veldman from Colorado (I'm a sucker for great pulls and D line players who score break points); Jaycee Jones (four foot high layouts on offense and defense? sign me up); and Jamie Eriksson from Seattle (an absolute nightmare to guard). You'll notice I did not include any Super Bloom players...can't be playing favorites with my own players, you know?

This one is a little awkward - because I am effectively the GM of my favorite team. Also, I'm very pleased with the team we have here in San Diego this season, so I'm rolling with all of them to Championship Weekend. Trade window is closed. Thanks, though! 

Lexi: My All WUL ballots for each conference are below. My metrics: 1 person from each team, no more than 2 from the same team, and using the weekly data as best as an English major can. I need to be honest; this is a more O-line-focused recognition list; my apologies to the d line folks out there. Like the middle child, you are getting overlooked, and I feel bad!

Northwest Conference:

• Sadie Jezierski (SEA)

• Kat Songer (UT)

• Julia Sherwood (OR)

• Frances Gellert (SEA)

• Jade McLaughlin (CO),

• Akane Kleinkopf (CO)

• Tina Snieder (OR)

Southwest Conference:

• Chip Chang (AZ)

• Kaela Helton (SD)

• Blair Messner (SD)

• Maggie O’Connor (LA)

• Gina Schumacher (SF)

• Malina Wiebe (SF)

• Kez Gesell (AZ)

If I were the GM of Tempest, I am not trading for anyone. See you on the field.

Ben: All-WUL midseason first team:

• Avery Jones (SD):  After playing a hybrid role on the Super Bloom offense last year, Jones has moved into a main handler role for this season and has taken to it with aplomb. She's hit on hucks at a good rate, moved the disc in that patented San Diego handler motion, and got open whenever her teammates needed an option. Perhaps most importantly, if I were a coach, there's no player in the league I'd trust more with the disc in their hands. There's a reason San Diego's worst offensive outputs of the season came without Jones in the lineup.

• Maggie O’Connor (LA): Similar to Jones, O'Connor has also moved into the backfield after spending the 2022 season downfield and has done a tremendous job. She's putting up numbers that would make any center handler proud (3.5 assists and 300 throwing yards per game) while keeping turnovers to a minimum (1.5 per game). The big reason for that? She's hit on 12 of her 15 hucks - an 80% completion rate!

• Paige Kercher (UT): Another game, another Paige Kercher 500-yard day. Kercher has picked up right where she left off as the league's yardage leader last year, setting a new single-game record with 708 total yards against Colorado this past weekend. In her six career WUL games, she has failed to total over 500 yards just once - a 483-yard effort against Oregon last year. You can't argue with production.

• Gina Schumacher (SF): While San Francisco has, by and large, gotten their results by committee this year, Schumacher has played a pivotal role as an initiating cutter who can push the disc downfield. This has resulted in her leading the team in assists by 5 and in receiving yards by almost 300. Additionally, she's the only Falcons player to be top five on the team in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

• Jade McLaughlin (CO): McLaughlin does everything for Colorado, and is a major reason they aren't staring down the barrel of a winless season right now. She's first (or tied for first) on the team in goals, assists, blocks, and receiving yards. No other player in the league leads their team in more than two of the five major categories (the four listed and throwing yards).

• Kaela Helton (SD): If you're building the perfect athlete, it doesn't get much better than Helton. She's the best player every time she steps on the field, and she doesn't take a point off. She's near the top of team and league leaderboards in nearly every major category. Not much more to say.

• Frances Gellert (SEA): With Seattle's strategy of rotating players through three lines each game, it's hard for any of them to stand out on the stats leaderboards. But Gellert's consistently great play has resulted in her leading the team in goals and total yards while contributing over an assist and block per game as well. Overall she's been the best player on one of the best teams in the league.

There are so many players I want to talk about, so here's a second team: Hana Kawai (SEA), Avalon Igawa (LA), Abby Thorpe (CO), Malina Wiebe (SF), Dena Elimelech (SD), Kristen Pojunis (SD), Kody Lippincott (AZ)

I’m gonna take the helm of LA here (fight me for it, Pawel) because there is a fun, mutually beneficial trade I want to make with them, and totally not because I bought an LA Megafan jersey this year. I already discussed why I’ve been so impressed with how Maggie O’Connor has stepped into the center handler role, but ideally, I don’t want to have to sacrifice her goal-scoring ability. 

Last year LA used Kaitlyn Weaver in that role, but I really like how she’s played as an initiating cutter this year as well. So, I’m trading for the handler with the biggest throws in the game - Sadie Jezierski. It took Jezierski just two games to set the WUL single-game assist record, and I’m drooling at the thought of her hucking to O’Connor, Weaver, and Jasmine Childress (speaking of, this move would also allow me to play Childress on defense more, and add some aerial prowess to a defense that generates most of their pressure in the under space). Now, obviously, a player like Jezierski is gonna demand a hefty fee, so in return, I’m giving Seattle Ava Hanna (a budding star who will thrive in that system), Naomi Guzman (a versatile handler who can be played with any line), and free practice facility usage whenever they get tired of waking up to dreary, grey skies.

- LA gets: Sadie Jezierski

- Seattle gets: Ava Hanna, Naomi Guzman, good weather

Michael: My midseason All-WUL Ballot (the Wild has only played two games, so I'm going with first-team non-Wild players... after Wild Wild Weekend, I expect this list to be seven Utah players:

• Jade Mclaughlin (CO)

• Sadie Jezierski (SEA)

• Malina Wiebe (SF)

• Dena Elimelech (SD)

• Helen Eifert (AZ)

• Julia Sherwood (OR)

• Kristen Pojunis (SD)

If I were a GM for the Wild, I would make exactly zero trades. There's an urge to count the Wild out and count a lot of other teams in. One thing I'm confident in is that there is no other team in the WUL that is from a broader geographic range that cares so passionately about representing the places they come from as a collective. We have no holes in our roster and have only scratched the surface of the product this team can put together, and we don't need any folks from other rosters to reach our potential. 

Nicole: I might have a little too much fun with this question. I've already mentioned Gesell and Landri from AZ, and I stand by those as some players that have stood out. Gesell is doubly impressive because, as many people have mentioned, she's still fairly new to the sport (I was there for her first-ever Ultimate League, shoutout Tucson Ultimate!) But she's certainly not new to being an athlete. She's passionate, hungry to win, and her defensive intensity has set her apart. There are good players, and there are dynamic players. Gesell is dynamic. She is the kind of player that makes the sport so much fun to watch. 

Speaking of dynamic players, did you see Rory Veldman this weekend? Holy cow, why didn't I know about Rory before? LA Astra is full of players who are absolute game-changers. Maggie O'Connor and Avalon Igawa are my top picks. Their stats speak for themselves. Chip Yen, Blair Messner, Julia Salvacion, Kaitlynne Roling, Shaela Wallen. There are just too many to name. 

If I'm the GM of my favorite team (Astra, duh), I'm trading for Rory Veldman and Lexi Garrity to have more deep looks available, and I'm also looking to add Sadie Jezierski and Paige Applegate to have more deep throwers (you know, for when Maggie can't be at a game.) I am going to politely decline trading anyone from this team. Thank you.  

Pawel: If I’m the GM of LA, I am picking up a third job and signing Avalon Igawa to a 7-year deal. Center handlers are overvalued, and block-getters are undervalued.

LA gets - a long-term contract for Igawa

Pawel sacrifices - the last remnants of a personal life (it’s sad anyway) and sanity.

---

This Week’s Contributors:.

• Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Lexi Garrity (she/her) had a great time contributing to this week's coverage. Lexi plays for Seattle Tempest and Seattle Mixtape. You can find her on Twitter @lexigarrity10.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: Men Lie, Women Lie, Spoons Don't

- Pawel Janas

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.

This week, we welcome Seattle superstar Lexi Garrity to the show. Thank goodness, because I am in no mood to sing Seattle’s praises. And someone has to after they didn't get broken once and put up historic numbers last Saturday. Je refuse. Adele lyrics are all you’re getting from me today.

Lexi Garrity (she/her) had a great time contributing to this week's coverage. Lexi plays for Seattle Tempest and Seattle Mixtape. You can find her on Twitter @lexigarrity10.

(Editor’s note: If there is anyone on Colorado who would like to contribute in the future, my DMs are open)

Question for April 7th, 2023:

Well, it wasn't the weekend Colorado was hoping for. After going down early in the Seattle game on Saturday, Alpenglow could not seem to bring the game any closer against the cohesive and experienced juggernaut. In your view, was the 28-16 blowout a testament to how good Seattle actually is (they did break a bunch of records), or is it more about Colorado still figuring things out? The next day, Onyx picked up their first win of the season in a commanding fashion. After three 1-2 point losses to start the season, do you think this win will give Oregon the confidence to steal a victory from Seattle in Week 6? Finally, what are the odds that Colorado will upset Utah in their home opener this weekend?

Is Seattle even good?

Ange:  The start of every season is hard. Maybe not for Arizona, but that seemed temporary. (Editor’s note: ka-boom!) The shift from preseason practice to in-season games is tough for players and coaches, and Colorado is at a massive disadvantage because it's their first time ever experiencing that. It didn't help that Seattle wanted to prove they don't have any weaknesses (despite the fact that Arizona found some in Week 1) and that Oregon had to win to right the ship (and not slip further from a playoff berth). Colorado will figure it out.

Lexi: Biased perspective as one of the captains of Tempest, but as a wise man once said, "Men lie, women lie, buckets don't." (Editor’s note: spoons don’t lie, either.) Tempest came out firing in our home opener against the newcomers to the league. Numerous game-day records were broken, which gives us confidence that this was an earned result versus a lucky fluke. The mindset for Tempest after a loss to Arizona (a loss in which Tempest had 34 turnovers, including numerous unforced errors) was to be aggressive on offense and to back it up on defense. 

The depth of Seattle is our true weapon, and this is where we separated from Colorado. Colorado has star players in McLaughlin, Dietrich, Kleinkopf, Pesch, and Reed (among others). However,  Seattle was able to counter with fresh legs every point (1 point on and 2 points off for each line) and go hassle Colorado's players with a variety of defensive looks.  It will be interesting to see how Seattle responds next month to altitude when we face Alpenglow on their home turf.

Ben: Colorado is still figuring things out, but Seattle’s dominant win on Saturday proved to me that we’re going to look back on their loss to Arizona as merely an early-season stumble rather than a portent of future struggles. Their offense was back to what we’ve come to expect from the Tempest - shooting deep with abandon and winning up-lines in the red zone - and adding Sadie Jezierski, Abby Hecko, and others has made it all the more lethal.

Colorado is absolutely still figuring things out, though, particularly on defense. They got their first break of the weekend late in the game against Oregon on Sunday (Editor’s note: yikes) and needed to cross Jade McLaughlin and Abby Thorpe over to the D line to do it. For the season, they’ve gotten breaks on 10% of D line points - no other team is below 20%. It’s easy to take McLaughlin, Thorpe, Kristen Reed, and others and throw them on O line and say: “score goals.” Players of that caliber will make it work. But no team can play perfect offense for four full quarters, and they need to figure out the right player combinations and schemes to string some breaks together soon if they want a shot at championship weekend in their inaugural season.

Helen:  It’s me, hi, talking about home-field advantage again. Seattle is a talented team, and I think getting their first game home after three on the road gave them the opportunity to tie everything together nicely to put on a truly dominant performance. I think the most impressive stat is that they weren’t broken once. This is particularly noteworthy because Seattle doesn’t really have set O and D lines and usually rotates amongst 3 lines evenly. So this isn’t just one really solid O-line not getting broken, it’s the entire Seattle roster not getting broken. Granted, many weren’t clean holds often because Tempest would get a bit impatient to score. There are cracks in the Seattle armor. Give Alpenglow some time to keep ironing out their systems, and they’ll give them a fight in Colorado at the end of the season.

Pawel: Helen is totally right. Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet. To go over everything. They say that time’s supposed to heal ya, but I ain’t done much healing. Hello, can you hear me?

Is Onyx back on track?

Ange: While Onyx played a lot better this weekend, I'm not sure they have what it takes to beat Tempest in Seattle on April 15. Maybe if they continue to limit their turnovers and consider tightening up on Seattle's very dynamic throwers, they'll be able to hang. I'll keep my other coaching tips to myself and my squad, though. (Insert nail painting emoji here.)

Lexi: Oregon had a solid win over Colorado at home, featuring a monstrous and somehow yet routine grab by Jaycee Jones. This could be the start of a mid-season push for them. The talent of their roster, with both veterans and young up-and-comers, can't be underestimated. One of the great perks of pro is the joining of players from different eras of ultimate. Oregon is bolstered by savvy vets such as Julia Sherwood, Chelsea Putnam, and Murl Hammond (welcome back!), and young talents such as Greta Eisenbrey, Trout Weybrigh, and more. Those loud costumed Onyx fans might even make the trek to Seattle to cheer on their squad. (Editor’s note: we love costumes.)

Tempest beat Oregon in the last two head-to-head match-ups but lost some momentum in the second half of their most recent game. In the second half,  Tempest was up 12-7 but only won 15-13.  A drop on a centering pass gave Oregon a chance to bring the score to 14-15.  Seattle was able to generate a high-risk throw and run out the clock to win 15-13. This performance added fuel to the fire for Tempest, and it might remind Oregon of how close this matchup is when they play their best. The plethora of talent on Oregon Onyx will make this rematch exciting. Will Seattle be able to stifle the deep throws of Julia Sherwood and Greta Eisenbury and limit the goals of speedy cutters such as Jones, Coles, Snieder, and Zajonc, or whoever else streaks deep?

Ben: Oregon certainly played the best game of their season against Colorado, but I have a hard time seeing them playing similarly against a Tempest squad that was firing on all cylinders this past weekend. Onyx went a perfect 6/6 on hucks against Alpenglow, but in the game against Seattle earlier this season, they went 5/14. Unless Aly Steinfield shows up out of nowhere, I can't see them replicating Sunday's success against Jamie Eriksson, Kaitlynne Roling, and company. (Editor’s note: only if we put Aly on all the graphics that week.)

Helen: No.

Pawel: Why are we hating on Onyx? They should be 4-0 now. Onyx over Seattle by 2, book it. Never mind, I’ll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don’t forget me, I beg, I remember you said. Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead. Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead. 

Colorado home-field advantage?

Ange: Every time I play frisbee in Colorado, it sucks. (Editor’s note: okay, bye) I can't breathe, the disc goes way farther than I expect, and the weather is wild. As a temperate sea level gal, it's a nightmare. Maybe Utah doesn't care as much as I do about playing at altitude, but I expect Colorado to have a lot of advantages on their home turf and in front of their home crowd for the first time ever. It's hard to bounce back from a pretty demoralizing weekend - but I think they can do it. 

Lexi: The Colorado vs Utah game is a do-or-die game for Colorado. I hope Colorado's mindset is reminiscent of Han Solo with a "never tell me the odds" swagger. Expect Colorado to come out aggressive on offense. (Editor’s note: it’s the defense I’m more worried about.) I am expecting their cutters to be attacking the deep space and their big throwers to be shooting for the endzone. The Tempest vs. Alpenglow game saw some gorgeous deep throws from Itoh, Thorpe, and Kleinkopf. On defense, it will be imperative for Colorado to slow down the dynamic O-line handler duo comprised of Kat Songer and Paige Kercher. If the Wild home opener was an indication, those two are must-shut-down matchups for opposing teams.

Utah started the season off with a comfortable win at home. Albeit the first point was a little sloppy with multiple turns for both teams but morale in Utah seems high. Wild's offense looks good and significantly stronger than last year, with additions such as Brooke Stanislawski, Kat Songer, Ellie Sjordal to name a few. Cass Williams has been popping off downfield, and Cori Bigham still has a nose for the endzone. Shae Wallen is back from Europe to anchor their D- line with long-term stalwarts Molly Robbins and Kendra Miller. This game is a must-watch for WUL. fans. I am expecting fireworks.

Ben: I picked Colorado in the first matchup against Utah, and the Wild taught me a lesson, one I don't need to learn twice. Kat Songer has fit so well into the Wild O-line, and alongside Paige Kercher gives them one of the best handler duos in the league. In addition to the defensive struggles Colorado has faced, I just don't see their handlers able to keep up with Songer and Kercher's conversion rate. I'm predicting that Colorado prevents an early Utah lead from getting out of hand and rides the energy of a raucous home crowd to tie the game by the end of the third quarter, but Utah is a little cleaner over the last few points and pulls out a close one. (Self-edit: looks like Songer isn’t playing this weekend, so give me an Abby Thorpe layout on an away shot from McLaughlin to win on the last possession.)

Helen: You know what I’m going to say. There’s this thing that I think might give Colorado the boost they need to finally take care of business.

Pawel: There's a fire starting in my heart, reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark. The scars of your love remind me of us, they keep me thinking that we almost had it all, the scars of your love they leave me breathless, I can't help feeling, we could've had it all (you're gonna wish you) (Never had met me) Rolling in the deep (tears are gonna fall) (rolling in the deep)

---

This Week’s Contributors:

•  Helen Eifert (she/her) is a player and captain of the Arizona Sidewinders. She is a perpetual travel player in the USAU club division and has played for many teams across this country and internationally since 2016. Find her on Instagram (@heleneifert) and Twitter (@HelenEifert46).

• Lexi Garrity (she/her) had a great time contributing to this week's coverage. Lexi plays for Seattle Tempest and Seattle Mixtape. You can find her on Twitter @lexigarrity10.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: Southwest Soirée

- Pawel Janas

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.

Besides close games, nothing upsets me more than fair-weather fans.

You can see them coming from a mile away. But it’s the smell of comfort and privilege that hits you first, followed by a whiff of wishy-washy fandom that you wish you could vacuum seal and store by the nosebleed section. Away with you! You know those glass cubicle smoke lounges in European airports? Oui, something like that, but for people who only support teams when it’s CONVENIENT for them.

I’m saying this because the San Diego fanbase stank this past weekend. To be sure, they packed Mira Mesa for the Super Bloom games. They were loud and a little too respectful for my taste - a special shout-out to what looked like a UC Santa Barbara/UC San Diego contingent for getting rowdayyyy in a crowd of innocent parents. The stands had a club semifinal feel to them, and the Super Bloom reciprocated by playing well.

But for the other games? Poop. You could hear my beer drop. And then you could hear the second and third ones drop. And then the fourth…never mind. What I’m trying to say is that there was complete silence as the fair-weather fans decided to go to brunch instead. Let’s just hope the Utah supporters can show the rest of the league what REAL fans look like at the Wild Wild Weekend in three weeks.

Until then, I urge you to sniff yourself and ask: what kind of fan am I?

(Editor’s note: I promise that we will be discussing the Northwest conference next week as Colorado takes on Oregon and Seattle. For now, please enjoy this Southwest-only content.)

Recap

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to inform you that it’s over. It’s all over. Cancel games, refund tickets, and rebook travel plans - San Diego is running away with the Southwest, and nobody can stop them. No need to waste time and resources on future lopsided games. When a team goes +18 in one weekend, it’s time to call it quits, especially during the year of the p-word. (Editor’s note: I’m talking about parity, you perverts.) Sidewinders had their moment, the Falcons have consistently overperformed, and Astra got their one win - everyone has something to be happy about as we head into the 2024 off-season. Right?

Question for March 30th, 2023:

Alright, let's break down the Beach Bowl. As expected, parity in the Southwest conference died this weekend, as San Diego took care of business handily - are you surprised by their +18-point differential? Is the Super Bloom coasting from here on out? On the other hand, Arizona was on the wrong end of two heart-breaking losses. Their next two games are against San Diego. Is now the time to hop off the Arizona bandwagon, or will they rebound? And finally, what impressed you more: Astra grinding out their first victory of the season or the Falcons quietly showing that they are a legitimate contender for Championship Weekend?

San Diego blooms

Ange: Obviously, I am not surprised by Super Bloom dominating the Beach Bowl on our home turf. What I am pleased about is using the entire depth of our incredibly talented season roster to do it...and that we are getting better every single game. That should scare the rest of y'all. (Editor’s note: I am shaking in my boots.) We know there is a (bigger?) target on our back now, and that the Sidewinders have something to prove when we return to Arizona in less than two weeks. They are amazing athletes who leave everything on the field - that is a recipe that can beat anyone on any given day. Fortunately, Super Bloom is already cooking, and we're not planning to drop another game this season.

Ben: Honestly, I was more surprised that it took this long for San Diego’s offense to kick into high gear. They played great this weekend, and I expect them to continue rolling. In addition to the star power, the biggest reason for their offensive success is the trust they have in their offensive systems. They are all comfortable slowing the game down, running the reset system, and hitting break throws, and it's hard for defenses to force a team like that into many mistakes. Compare their huck rate and huck completion % from opening weekend to their past three games:

- Huck rate: 6.7% over the first two games, 3.9% over the past three games

- Huck completion %: 40.5% over the first two games, 73.5% over the past three games

They're playing within their system and taking shots when it's smart - that's a recipe for success.

(Editor’s note: finally, a smart comment in this blog.)

Helen: First, I’d like to challenge that parity died this weekend because the games between both San Francisco and Los Angeles against Arizona were within 1-2. Am I surprised that San Diego took care of business this weekend? No. I am the firmest of believers that home-field advantage is massive in this league. Super Bloom clearly hit their stride this weekend, cleaning up a lot of early-season mistakes and dialing in the chemistry of key connections. I think a lot of that could happen this weekend, given the familiar conditions, lack of travel, and full team behind them. (Editor’s note: excuses, excuses.)

Nicole: Okay, listen, I am surprised by San Diego's +18-point differential. They're a strong team, for sure, I just still don't really understand what happened. (Editor’s note: rizz) I was rooting for an LA win. I don't know if I've just repressed it, but I can't really remember feeling like SD was playing all that much better than LA. It sort of just... escalated very quickly after halftime. So, no, I don't think SD is coasting from here. I think they're a strong team that will continue to win games, but those games will continue to be close ones. Believe it or not, parity is still alive and well in the WUL (I hope.)

Kenny: Super Bloom is already more than halfway through the season, sitting atop the league with a massive point differential. They can't quite coast yet, as they may need another couple of wins before locking that top spot, but it's looking to be a three-way race for second in the Southwest.

Pawel: I would love nothing more than San Diego losing all their games in April, but, sadly, I don’t see that happening.

Arizona bandwagon

Ben: Arizona seems to be full steam ahead on the CHAOS train, and I’m here for it. They’ll give the disc to you but then take it right back – I’m excited to see their intense person defense try to slow down the Super Bloom offense. Let’s be realistic, however: the Southwest is a battle for second place at this point. If Arizona has cleaned up their offense by the time they play Los Angeles in week six, they’ll take that second bid to championship weekend. If not… they’ll at least be entertaining to watch until the very end!

Helen: Speaking of home-field advantage, don’t count Arizona out yet. Enter bias. Arizona struggles on the road, but it’s not like our performance this weekend was a dumpster fire. The Sidewinder’s defense continues to stifle other teams’ offenses. Key players like San Francisco’s Schumacher and Los Angeles’s Childress were less of an impact against Arizona than in their other games on the weekend. Teams are lucky to put up a few clean holds against the Sidewinders. Some specifics: Oregon with 7, Seattle with 4, LA with 3, and San Francisco with 1. If Arizona can clean up a few things on offense, they are a championship-contending team (see all of our break chances :/). We see our hardest matchups at home, and you can expect the Sidewinders to bring everything to our next game against Super Bloom, including snakes from our favorite partner, the Phoenix Herpetological Society. (Editor’s note: you may have a shot if you release the snakes in the SD locker room.) Our schedule gets harder from here on out, but expect the Sidewinders to rise to the challenge.

Nicole: Here's the thing about AZ. None of their fans are bandwagon fans. AZ has done an amazing job of building a fan base as far as New York, not only because they're cool as hell and have an amazing brand, but because they make sick plays, they are entertaining to watch on the field, and they just simply play great ultimate. Many of their fans loved them before they beat Seattle in Week 1, and many of their fans will continue to love them even if they lose for the rest of their season. My opinion on their upcoming games is that their recent losses will only make them stronger. They'll prepare however they need to, and if they don't win at least one game against SD (they will), those will be two very close games.

Pawel: Hop off everyone, the next four stops are at the L station for this bandwagon.

Impressed with the rest

Ange: There were too many total turnovers (more than 60 by each team) and too few total points (25 or fewer for each team) for me to be impressed by Astra or the Falcons this weekend. Yes, it was kind of windy in San Diego. Yes, there were some super impressive plays. And yes, we will continue to accept turnovers and convert them into break points to grow Super Bloom's point differential this season.

Ben: LA and San Francisco both discovered the secret formula to beating Arizona - weather the storm, play within your systems, take smart timeouts in the middle of long points, and remind yourself you’re in an ultimate game, not a track meet. I was impressed by both of them, but if I had to give a nod, I’d give it to the Falcons. Coach Daryani has taken a roster with huge turnover and had them playing patient, team offense, and smart but intense defense in their very first game against Astra, and that hasn’t changed since. They're generating blocks at a high clip and are middle of the pack in most efficiency stats despite playing two games against San Diego. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them at championship weekend by the end of the season.

Helen: I’m more impressed by Astra grinding out their first season victory. Speaking from very personal experience, LA showed up on Saturday and played a hell of a game. I have to highlight two of our Sidewinders alumni, Cam Helm (#15) and Merideth Byl (#30). Helm scored the first break of the game with an impressive bid in the endzone, and Byl can only be described as a nuisance to our offense, racking up so many blocks throughout the game. It’s hard not to be proud of our snakes, even if they’re the opponents now. Astra’s only mistake was not trying to score on their last possession. That point differential could be the difference again this season. San Francisco learned and eked out one more point against the Sidewinders on Sunday in the same scenario.

Nicole: I'm impressed by both Astra and Falcons. But the Falcons are continuing to prove that they're in this for the long haul, and Champs weekend may look very different than it did last year. A lot of people were wondering why they're so silent on social media. They didn't make a huge deal out of their roster announcements, and they were simply unbothered that we all slept on them. And now we know why. They've been too busy to care. Busy grinding, working hard, and making sure they show out at each game they play. I'm impressed. Falcons are killing it.

Kenny: It's hard to make sense of LA edging out a win over a swelling Arizona team only to fall apart against San Diego. But at this point, anything can happen in the South. The Falcons are living their best life, LA is hit or miss, and Arizona isn't about to hand other teams any wins easily. I'm not surprised LA got a win--it's about time, in my opinion--but the Falcons proved my pre-season view of them wrong on week one, and they just keep doing well, so I'll award them with my ribbon for "Most Impressive" so far. 

Pawel: LA until I die. Astra is perfect, don’t tell me otherwise.

---

This Week’s Contributors:

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

•  Helen Eifert (she/her) is a player and captain of the Arizona Sidewinders. She is a perpetual travel player in the USAU club division and has played for many teams across this country and internationally since 2016. Find her on Instagram (@heleneifert) and Twitter (@HelenEifert46).

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: Balance, Basics, Beach Bowl

- Pawel Janas

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.

Ciao amici e benvenuti a un'altra edizione di…*record scratch* *freeze frame* 

*Commissioner’s booming voice from above: Noooooo

I don’t know about you, but I seriously do not enjoy watching sporting events between two evenly-matched teams. This is why,  after two weeks and eight games of the 2023 WUL season, I am sending an SOS to all the players and coaches reading this: please stop competing.

My issue is not so much ideological - local growth, the spread of talent, blah blah blah - as it is physiological. You see, the stress of not knowing the outcome one hour before the final buzzer does a number on my delicate tummy. All I want to do is get up and leave when I see a tied score at halftime (did I even bring my pepto? where is it?). By the 4th, if the score is within 2 or 3, I start questioning why I came to the game in the first place. Twenty bucks for this gastrointestinal inflammation? Never again.

Needless to say, this commentator is not enjoying watching WUL games this year nearly as much as he enjoyed watching them last year. The soothing 26-18 and 27-14 Tempest beatdowns were some of the best games of 2022. The Sidewinders’ 16-11 and 18-12 victories were a bit close to the bellyache territory, but still thoroughly enjoyable. This year? Pretty much every game has been too close for comfort, which, in my humble opinion, makes the product way less digestible. If the league wants to flourish in the entertainment industry, it has to put an end to the competitive discomfort that I - and many others - have to suffer through.

So please, let’s bring back the reassuring certainty of sports. Do it for the fans. And their toilets.

Recap

Did you know that the WUL has the best frisbee data infrastructure on the planet right now? And yes, putting the satire on hold, I am serious (Editor’s note: for once!).

All you have to do is go to https://westernultimateleague.com/, hover over “Schedule”, and click “WUL Stats Hub.” There, you can access detailed data on players and teams for both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Special shout out to Ben Sadis - the in-house data wizard- and Ryan Kindell and Remy Schor for collecting this awesome data every week.

Scrolling to last weekend’s games, you would notice that Malina Wiebe (SF) had 6 goals against San Diego, which ties Blair Messner for second most in a single game. She’s already had 10 goals through the first two games, which is the most in anyone's first two games of their WUL career.  As a homework exercise, please look up the production of Avery Jones, Paige Kercher, and Kat Songer. Juicy numbers y’all.

Question for March 23rd, 2023:

It is clear that parity is the name of the game so far this season. There were no blowouts this past weekend, and teams were within 3 or 4 points of each other in most games. Of the teams that lost this past weekend (CO/SF/OR), which one - if any - should feel good about keeping the score close? Next, imagine you are the coach for all WUL teams at once. What adjustment would you work on at next week's practice (*cough* endzone *cough*)? And finally, who you got winning at the Super Bloom Beach Bowl?

Balance

Ange: After one quarter, the SD @ SF game had blowout vibes, so good for the Falcons for tying it up in the 3rd and staying close throughout the rest of the game. Since there are no longer moral victories for Oregon (who now sits at 0-3), I’ve gotta crown Colorado this week’s moral victor for their debut WUL match. But like my 96-year-old grandad says, “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”…and I guess point diff, but that’s not as catchy.

Bryce:  I'm feeling good about my team's performance if I'm San Francisco Falcons. Their O-line Defense especially played really well throughout the game and kept it a one-score game all the way into the fourth quarter. They lost a losable game (if making championship weekend is the goal) but will need to go at least 1-1 this upcoming weekend, with a win on day 2 against the Sidewinders, to keep the season on track.

Nicole: We love parity! Close games are so exciting (Editor’s note: *nausea incoming*) . Of the 3 teams that lost this weekend, San Francisco should feel pretty good about keeping the score close. San Diego came into the 2023 season being a favorite, and SF, by comparison, had to prove themselves. And they have. Especially because they were down by a bit at the start, generated a ton of turns, and converted against a really tough team.

Kenny: What I love about an eight-game regular season is that it's never too early to speculate about the playoffs. And it's very possible we see point differential decide which team or teams go to Championship Weekend this year. Of these three teams, San Francisco is probably going to care most about point differential right now. They took a game from LA on Week One with a six-point margin. That differential got cut a little bit with their loss to San Diego, but if they can pull off another divisional win or two, and take care of business against one of their other cross-divisional matchups later, keeping the games they lose close might be their way to punch a ticket to the big show in Seattle come June.

Pawel: Colorado has to get all the pity points this week, right? I mean, the first game in franchise history against a very good Utah team, on the road, and one 3rd quarter meltdown away from winning? Alas, I digress.

Basics

Ange: The only thing that keeps me up at night about the league is how often teams allow open-side, front-cone scores. Can someone - ANYONE - please stop the up-line score to the front corner so I can get my 10 hours of beauty sleep each night?! You have to know where your player is trying to score by this point in the season. So, Shut. It. Down. (Editor’s note: yaaaas.)

Bryce: Stepping back a bit and viewing the season from 30,000 ft, club ultimate players have been playing June-October for a long time (insert your personal favorite reference to Daiquiri Decks and Sarasota Winds and games to 21 or whatever makes you feel good about how old you are). Further, we're used to regular seasons that have a near-zero bearing on post-season play because everyone qualifies for the first round of the post-season in club ultimate, so it doesn't matter if you start the season slow. I LOVE the WUL (and all semi-pro games) because each time you're taking the field, the result of the game matters. So given the context and the fact that we're all collectively learning this transition, it makes sense that teams have been less-than-crisp in the details in these March games. But game 1 in the WUL matters; a slow start, no matter how great you look after the last regular season game, can relegate you to a fan in the stands for championship weekend. I hope coaches are preaching a sense of urgency for the finer details of the game. Red zone efficiency and break chance efficiency are the two that stick out to me. Get those numbers working for you instead of against you this weekend.

Nicole: If I'm the coach for all the WUL teams (thankfully I'm not, ya'll are doing a great job though), I don't know that I would coach more endzone. No need to set up an endzone, just throw more hucks and score. I'll leave that to Pawel. (Editor’s note: *finger snaps*) The only adjustment I'm making is "throw more hammers." PLEASE. I know the throwers on these teams have this in their back pocket. While we're at it, let's see some scoobers, push passes, and thumbers. I don't even care if they aren't completed throws, just give the people what they want! (Like I said, thank goodness for these teams that I'm not a Coach, I'd be terrible at it.) 

Kenny: If I have one message to give teams from a coaching soapbox, it has to be Defensive Line Offensive Efficiency. If you've got it, you will win. Defenses are doing a great job at disrupting the offense so far this season. We have turnovers aplenty. In Week One, teams averaged more than 30 per game. That's a lot of opportunities for a decisive D-Line to take control, and in fact, we saw it happen when San Francisco surprised Los Angeles. Their DLOE was around 30% that game, and the scoreboard showed it. Seattle's DLOE was 30% when they knocked off San Diego in Week One as well. It might mean moving a couple of key handles across lines or even just hammering disc possession into defenses. But at this point, we can expect the defense to get opportunities to score even against the teams sitting at the top of their divisions. If we see more great upsets this season, my bet is that it will come from good defenders making great offensive plays. 

Pawel: Respectfully, I am running a 3-hour practice with only end-zone reps, for both the O- and D-lines. Red-zone conversion in the 30-40% range is poop, and that’s where all the teams are at right now. Don’t blame the wind or first-game jitters. Utterly horrendous.

Boom Goes the Bloom Beach Bowl

Ange: I have no plans to drop a game at home this weekend, so Super Bloom is going 2-0 at the Beach Bowl. Write it down. Put that money in the bank. (Editor’s note: yeah, in Silicon Valley Bank, oh snap!)

Bryce: After Arizona and San Diego both go 2-0 this weekend at Super Bloom Beach Bowl, we'll get to see those two square off on April 8th; so that’s when we'll know who won the SBBB?

Nicole: This weekend will be super exciting for those of us that live in the Southwest, I finally get to see the AZ Sidewinders play live (yes, even as a practice player during their 2021 season, I still have not been to one of their games). As an LA transplant, betting on the LA v AZ game is tough... I can't pick a winner. I just want all my friends to have fun and make sick plays.

The other games, I will call easily: 

SF v SD - we're looking at another close game, but I'm betting on SD by 3.

SF v AZ - AZ looks strong, and I have to root for my hometown heroes. AZ by 5

LA v SD - I know Maggie O'Connor is in her villain era, and the team is looking to prove something. LA by 2.

Pawel: Everyone in LA is pissed. It’s been raining all winter. It’s cold. What the hell, man? And for that reason, Astra is going 2-0 this weekend.

---

This Week’s Contributors:

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Bryce Merrill (he/him) is a youth ultimate organizer in Utah, Head Coach of the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred, and the inaugural coach of the Utah Wild for the 2021 Winter Cup.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: Manger le Corbeau à la Crotalus Cerastes

- Pawel Janas

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.

If you’re not careful, you will get lost in the City of Love.

Bonsoir mes petits haineux. We are coming to you live from the IVe arrondissement, where 17℃ feels sarcastically warmer than our usual whereabouts in Southern California. Our expert roundtable is leisurely making its way from underneath Notre-Dame’s arcboutants (don’t touch that, Nicole!) and onto the Pont d'Arcole. On our left, a couple, conjoined at the hip, whispering sweet nothings in the universal language of l’amour. She giggles, he smiles, the embrace tightens. On our right, the non-atmospheric river that engulfed the muse of Impressionnisme: la Seine.

We are only a 5-minute vėlo ride to the Louvre, but that is not our destination. We are headed to le Marais, the heart of medieval Paris, because we are très faim. We pass on the Michelin star Benoit - the escargot is a tad damp - and continue due north on Rue Saint-Martin. We find a nondescript door at the intersection with Rue de la Verriere and swing it open, praying that it’s not, in fact, an unsuspecting Parisian family’s home. To our relief, the stench is overwhelming - we made it. Readers, our experts have traversed the globe to dine at the only place that still serves the traditional meal of the Gauls.

Tonight, we are eating crow.

Recap

The only expert who did not join our escapade to Paris is Helen. That is because Helen killed it with her predictions. The only thing she got wrong was that SF won by 6, not by 8. She is not worthy of the crow.

Everyone else, shame on you. Kenny digs in first (starts with the face) with an incredible 0-3 prediction record. Ange and Nicole are next (may I suggest the wing?),  with one correct prediction between them. Me? I love crow. I’m ordering the beak dessert.

This week, we have an exciting new expert who can tell us a little about Utah: Michael Aguilar.

Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

Question for March 16th,  2023:

Who should be the most worried about losing: Astra, Onyx, Tempest, or Super Bloom? That is, for which team was this weekend just a bump in the road in an otherwise successful season, and for which was it an accurate precursor of more losing down the road? Is Arizona for real, or did they get lucky? Finally, who you got: Colorado or Utah?

Who Should Be Worried?

Nicole: I'd say Onyx and Super Bloom have nothing to worry about. They had close games, not on their home field, and played well despite missing some significant pieces of their roster. Astra, on the other hand, as much as I hate to say it, should worry. They got beat by their own lack of chemistry, despite some amazing plays by a lot of their players. Do I have hope their chemistry will build throughout the season? Absolutely. This is going to take some really hard work on Astra's part, though. But I believe in this team, and I know how hard they work and how much they want to win. And if anything, this loss just lit a fire under their bellies. Go Astra! I believe in you.

Bobby: I'm not truly worried about any one team's outlook, yet. The first weekend is such a huge shock of workload, nerves, playtesting strategies, player groupings, and finding your "stall 7" feet. I'll answer the question with my own team, Oregon Onyx, since we have the most losses in the league now. An 0-2 weekend on the road in week one, both really close games, and both filled with very fixable errors, does not have me deeply concerned. That said, there is definitely a heavier weight that we will have to shoulder in the rest of our games, since the season isn't too long.

Michael: Onyx has to be the most concerned about its losses this weekend. Not because they are indicative of some larger problem talent or skill-wise (we know that Oregon has plenty of both) but because it's TWO losses. The fact of the matter is that Oregon is 1/4 through its season and has no wins to show for it. With the WUL showing some solid parity across the league, Oregon is now in a position where it cannot afford many more missteps (if any!). I have no doubt that it's an organization that can play with its back against a wall, and with two losses in week one, it now has to.

Bryce: Who should be worried the most? Anyone who spent any time wringing their hands about “sustained growth” and “competitive balance” just a few weeks ago (Editor’s note: thank you.). Which team should be worried the most? Onyx. Dropping two on the road, especially two games by a total of three points, could prove to be the difference in a tight playoff race later this season.

Ange: No one should be worried. It has been TEN months since anyone played a WUL game. Everyone has new players, sets, and systems. No. One. Panic.

Kenny: Astra has got some problems. The blowout scoreline doesn't even tell the whole story. This game was 10-4 for San Francisco early in the second half. I hope that LA's team just got a case of the drops, but suddenly it's at the bottom of the Southwest division behind a star-studded San Diego. The Falcons' win is a warning that these four divisional teams will be at each other's throats all season long. The last thing LA wants is to be considered the easiest win in the Southwest, but it's landed itself right in that discussion.

Ben: Astra should be the most worried, simply because of standings math. Losing a home conference game means they are now likely going to need to beat either Arizona or San Diego twice, win the rematch at San Francisco, and do better than the Falcons in their out-of-conference games to make the playoffs. That seems like a tall order.

Pawel:  Honte à Los Angeles. Une très mauvaise performance dans des conditions très favorables. C'était pire que Les Bleus au Mondial 2002.

Is Arizona for real?

Nicole: Arizona, is, in fact, for real. (It's a real place, I've been there.) They didn't just get lucky, they played extremely well and made big plays. Even though I don't think they'll win as easily at away games, I do think they'll continue to give other teams hell. My initial prediction was wrong, thank you for making me eat my words. 

Bobby: I have no reason to think that anything I saw from Arizona was a fluke this weekend. All of their success came from repeatable actions, and every team had some low points that are fixable moving forward. Their roster is balanced, they clearly have playmakers, and they have good energy. They'll have to find that success on the road now, but again, I think it's all repeatable. I am stoked about how this league's season has started overall, and can't wait to see how everyone responds after this opening weekend.

Michael: Last season Arizona showed that if you combine high-level athleticism with a cohesive team system, then you can play elite ultimate. For some reason, in the offseason, a lot of folks seemed to forget that simple formula. The Sidewinders did not. Arizona made solid adjustments throughout both of its games and handled pressure in late-game situations extremely well. I expect this weekend is more of a display of Arizona's baseline level of play than an aberration. 

Bryce: Is AZ for real? Why are we even asking? Yes, their red zone conversion rate will need to improve quickly. And Onyx zone introduced some concerns for their O-line. But they were the best team on the field, on both sides of the disc, through large stretches of the weekend. A team with that many explosive playmakers (my goodness, Kez Gesell) is going places. They consistently won individual matchups in the backfield and on the openside unders. It's not much, but it's honest work. They've got a lot of season left, but what a start for the Sidewinders. Is it too early to start hoping for a Tempest-Sidewinders rematch during championship weekend semis?

Kenny: The Sidewinders' first point against Seattle says it all. They pull the disc to the reigning champs, then spend the next seven minutes of game time grinding on defense before breaking for the first point of the game.  They came out like a firecracker. They're hungry. I apologize for my prediction that they'd go 0 for 2 because they earned these wins. If they had dropped either of their games, it'd be easier to question the quality of their roster. But they came out over two days and knocked off first reigning runner-up San Diego, then gave Seattle their first-ever WUL loss (Editor’s note: Seattle lost games at the Winter Cup). With only six remaining games in the regular season, I see a lot of scenarios that enable Arizona to stay at the top of the Southwest.

Ben:  Arizona is for real. Specifically, the pressure they apply on defense is as real as it gets. Adding athletes like Kez Gesell and Paige Applegate has been huge, but another key ingredient was Megan Maxfield, who has absolutely leveled up this season. There was a point in the Seattle game that was a great snapshot of the Sidewinder’s relentless defense: with the score tied 3 to 3, they played straight-up force flick person defense the whole way down the field and forced the Tempest to throw 23 passes, none of which gained more than 15 yards, before forcing a turnover in the endzone. Maxfield was tasked with guarding Sam Rodenberg, one of the league's best cutters, and let her touch the disc once - this coming one day after dominating the Onyx to the tune of four blocks in one quarter. The offense was shaky at times, and replacing the production of Jade McLaughlin, LP Aragon, and others for a full season will not be easy, but a deep, athletic defense can take you a long way in ultimate, and the Sidewinders have one.

Ange:  Arizona did not get lucky. What they did get is a significantly better offensive system that works for their VERY fast receivers and savvy throwers. But if they don't think Super Bloom's D line is coming to capitalize on their offensive turnovers, they've got another thing coming.

Pawel: L'avantage du terrain est réel. C'était le meilleur week-end de l'Arizona, mais je ne m'attends pas à ce qu'il dure. Je suis toujours sceptique.

Utah or Colorado?

Michael: Utah

Bryce: Big Sky, Big Love. Sko Wild.  

Nicole: On the one hand, you got all the ex-Sidewinders that made their season so successful last year: Aubree Dietrich, Jade McLaughlin, and Marilyn Reich. But on the other hand: Jen Cogburn, Paige Kercher, Cori (Cori Bigham), Kayak (Kyra Khoroujnikova). Okay, but Colorado doesn't have many Molly Brown players? But they do have a lot of young talent.  But then again, this is a Utah home game, and we all know home games tend to favor the home team. I honestly have no idea who's going to win. I would love to see Colorado win their first game ever, but I can't root against Cori and Kayak. I think these teams are super evenly matched, and I hope for my sake (and all of ours) that it's a very close game that leaves us on the edge of our seats.  I just want everyone on both teams to have fun.

(Editor’s note: she wanted everyone to eat her words last week. How the turn tables.)

Kenny: Colorado will meet their match against Utah. The Wild is reloaded for 2022 with some significant improvements both in terms of roster adds and player development. Everyone who has been following the Utah player community for the past five years is excited about a few things. First,  some college-level talent has finally matured enough for the big stage. Second, the team now boasts several returning national club champs. And finally, the Wild has a secret weapon no one outside of Utah is talking about. (Editor’s note: ?????)

Ben: Utah is better than their record showed last year, and there’s no way to tell how a brand-new team will play together. But,  a line with McLaughlin, Dietrich, and Reed is gonna put up numbers. Give me the Alpenglow.

Ange: My money is on Colorado this weekend, mainly because I'm a big fan (and former teammate) of Coach Stephanie "Shaq" Schlosser. I think they'll hit the ground running...fast! Also, their kits are NICE. Look good, feel good, play-er - good? 

Pawel: Je vous salue, Marie pleine de grâce; le Seigneur est avec vous. Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pauvres bisons, maintenant et à l’heure de notre mort.

---

This Week’s Contributors:

• Michael Aguilar (he/him) is a co-head coach of the Utah Wild. He owes all his success in life to his wife Kendall. You can find him on Twitter @aguilar_eua and Instagram @justfathering.

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Bobby Gough has been coaching in the USAU women’s club division since 2016 with Oregon Schwa. He spent the 2022 WUL season in the broadcast booth for Oregon Onyx, and in 2023 he joined the team as an assistant coach. You can find him on Twitter at @BobbyGough.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Bryce Merrill (he/him) is a youth ultimate organizer in Utah, Head Coach of the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred, and the inaugural coach of the Utah Wild for the 2021 Winter Cup.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

West Perspective: a Visit From a Crotchety Genie

- Pawel Janas

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.

The moral of the story this week: don’t rub anything unless you are absolutely certain it’s not a crotchety genie’s home.

After 300 days of offseason malaise, villain arcs, and players jumping ship, the WUL is back, baby! Finally, we've made it to Week 1 of the regular season. Four teams (Tempest, Super Bloom, Onyx, Sidewinders) are competing across four games in the Sidewinders Showdown, and the Falcons are taking on Astra in the beautiful “Pride of the Foothills,” Glendora, CA.

Since none of the experts know anything about Arizona (sorry, Nicole), we’ve brought in someone who does: Helen Eifert.

Helen Eifert (she/her) is a player and captain of the Arizona Sidewinders. She is a perpetual travel player in the USAU club division and has played for many teams across this country and internationally since 2016. Find her on Instagram (@heleneifert) and Twitter (@HelenEifert46).

I am really proud of the experts this week: all of the credible ones (sorry, Kenny) predicted a Seattle loss. As the resident Seattle hater, my heart is whole. Also, shout out to Helen for providing maximum spice and predicting flat tires and logistics nightmares. This is why we do what we do, folks.

Question for March 9th,  2023:

While walking across Death Valley to Sidewinders Showdown, you stumble across a lamp. Naturally, you rub it, and a crotchety old genie pops out: "I have been stuck in this sterile and cold piece of copper for two millennia. If you give me some spicy heat about Week 1, I shall grant you one wish. If you correctly predict an upset, I shall grant you another one. If you give an unhinged take about how the Falcons will beat Astra, I shall grant you a third." How many wishes are you getting?

ONE WISH

Kenny: My spicy take is that Arizona goes 0-2 on the weekend. Sadly, I have to give Arizona one of the worst off-season grades in the league. Losing Jade McLaughlin, Aubree Dietrich, and Liz Murphy to Colorado really hurts their chances. Oregon Onyx looks like a solid Championship Weekend potential team again this year, and there's no reason to think Seattle has become anything but better since last year. Sorry, Sidewinders. I hope you surprise me.

Ange: I'm getting two wishes out of this frisbee genie: one for a hot take and one for an upset. My hot take is this: obviously, I'm biased, but it's not fair that Super Bloom has cross-conference games with Seattle and Oregon (the top two teams in the Northwest Conference based on 2022 results). Super Bloom - the top team in the Southwest Conference based on 2022 results - should cross with the bottom two teams in the NW. Don't @ me. I don't care how exciting it is to have a finals rematch game to kick off the 2023 season (stomps feet).

Helen: Obviously, I’m going to be biased toward talking about the Sidewinders Showdown. This is the second time the Sidewinders have had the privilege of kicking off the WUL season with a big home weekend while the weather is still tolerable here in Arizona. This year it’s even spicier because it's a rematch of all the games at the 2022 Championship Weekend in reverse, starting with the championship matchup of San Diego vs. Seattle. It’s a bold start to the 2023 season, with an early chance to see how new rosters will influence last year’s results. With Seattle taking the 2022 trophy after an undefeated season, they’re coming in as the favorite for 2023. Seattle’s 2023 roster is sporting some serious turnover, albeit the new additions are names we know that aren’t unfamiliar to the Seattle ultimate scene. While Tempest is the most poised to build chemistry due to a fully Seattle-based roster and weekly practices, I think the integration of prominent new handlers, Cherry & Jezierski, provides an early season opening to upset this PNW powerhouse.

Pawel: Look, it’s not looking pretty. With gusts up to 20 mph predicted for Saturday afternoon/early evening in Mesa, I think games will come down to one or two upwind breaks. The winner in each game will score 15 or fewer points. There will be multiple 10-turnover points. At least one point with three total timeouts. I hope that warms you up, genie.

Nicole: (Editor’s note: she hands me her beer)

TWO WISH

(Editor’s note: I take her beer.)

Nicole: Alright, I'm going to keep this pretty simple: I think all the games are going to be upsets. Rather than calling it a "re-do of Championship Weekend," I'm calling the Sidewinders Showdown "the Revenge Tour." I would literally bet real money that Super Bloom and Onyx both take dubs over the teams that beat them at Champs weekend last May. I feel confident about both wins for many reasons, but mainly because nothing motivates a team more than losing. If you follow any of the Super Bloom or Onyx players on Twitter, you'd know they're in their villain era, and they're ready to blow things up.

But also, have you seen these rosters? Not only did Super Bloom add Dena Elimelech and Penny Wu to their already very long list of ballers (Kelli Iwamoto, Kaela Helton, Kristen Pojunis, the list is endless), but Seattle Tempest lost Qxhna Titcomb, who single-handedly dictated 90% of their offense last season. (Editor’s note: that's not a real stat, don't quote her.) I'm not saying Seattle won't still be a force, but... let's face it, these other teams know what they're up against this season, and they're not only prepared, they're hungry.

My final game predictions for all 5 games are as follows: 

Tempest v Super Bloom: Super Bloom by 2

Onyx v Sidewinders: Onyx by 4

Falcons v Astra: Astra by 5

Tempest v Sidewinders: Tempest by 7

Onyx v Super Bloom: Super Bloom by 1 in double overtime (I have no basis for this prediction other than it would be a super exciting way to end the first weekend of the WUL season.) 

If you're reading this and you're upset that I have your team losing, don't be mad. Just prove me wrong.

Kenny: Upset alert. I think the Onyx is coming for San Diego. It'll be a close game, and I can't wait to see Zajonc, Tajima, and Roberts face off against Pojunis, Elimelech, Jones, Salvacion, Helton--geez, maybe Onyx won't pull it off.

Ange: My upset prediction is that San Diego will beat Seattle in Game 1 of these NOT FAIR cross-conference games in Arizona. In the modified words of Nelly, here comes the Blooooom...

Helen:  My upset prediction is that Seattle won’t leave the Showdown undefeated. Either the upgraded Super Bloom roster will catch them off guard fresh off the plane on Saturday, or the Sidewinders will take advantage of a tired Tempest on day two in what only Arizona will consider a mild heat.

Pawel: You know what I’m about to say. Tempest boards the plane on Sunday with two losses and zero wins. Professor Utonium, I am not. Sugar, spice, and everything not nice.

Three wish

Kenny:  I wrote out arguments describing how the Falcons could take down  Astra and ended up deleting them. I'll have to be content with two wishes. I think LA has this locked down. Not only do you have Goal leader Maggie O'Connor (editor’s note: see villain arc) coming back, but Jasmine Childress is a Round 1 draft pick if I've ever seen one. But even if Childress is on the bench for some weird reason, what makes me most confident in the Astra is the chemistry their new crop of players will have with one another from college and club going into game one of the season. Meanwhile, the Falcons are a brand new team this year - they had more roster movement in the offseason than a city league handler trying to get open for a dump. (A lot. I'm trying to say it was a lot of movement.) I don't think San Francisco has yet found the stars that will rally and unify their roster, and while they have potential this season, a game this early against such a cohesive Los Angeles has this Northern California/Southern California rivalry decided.

Helen: This game was THE GAME that famously determined the final team attending championship weekend last season, and it wasn’t either of the teams playing. For those who don’t remember obsessively refreshing Twitter on April 30, 2022, since it wasn’t a streamed game, the Falcons, Astra, and Sidewinders were poised for a 3-way tie at the end of the regular season with losing 2-4 records. Home-field advantage played a large role in the few wins each team took. As long as San Francisco won this last game at home, it would come down to point differential between the three teams’ results against each other. If the Falcons took the game by 8 points or more, they would go to the ’ship, 4 points or less and it was Astra’s, but anywhere between 5-7 and the Sidewinders, whose regular season ended a week prior, would swipe it. The final score was 13-7, Falcons. A point differential of 6 sent Arizona to championship weekend after they were sure their season was done. In a way, it’s sort of poetic that these two teams also play during this first weekend rematch of the 2022 championship games since they both missed qualifying last year by 2 points. This rematch takes place on Astra turf, which gives LA the home-field advantage this year. I think I would still predict the Falcons to win regardless, but if I had to come up with an unhinged way, it would happen like this: Astra’s stadium is double booked, and they have to relocate last minute, putting LA on their heels. Wilson & Weaver get flat tires and don’t make it until the second half. Falcons win by 8 on a Callahan.

Nicole: And while it's not a Champs weekend re-do, Astra is most definitely seeking revenge on the team that kept both their teams from Champs weekend. While there was a lot of turnover in the Falcons roster from last season, Astra is seeking to maintain a lot of the chemistry that was built while adding players like Jasmine Childress to the mix. Call me biased, but this one seems like a no-brainer to me.

Pawel: Yo, this genie is insane. Astra by a million, book it.

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This Week’s Contributors:

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community.

•  Helen Eifert (she/her) is a player and captain of the Arizona Sidewinders. She is a perpetual travel player in the USAU club division and has played for many teams across this country and internationally since 2016. Find her on Instagram (@heleneifert) and Twitter (@HelenEifert46).

West Perspective: Free Throws, Shot Clocks, and Handball

- Pawel Janas

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.

Let me save you some time: if you are a 60-year-old hippie whose daughter plays for the WUL, but you secretly loathe that Ultimate is played in cleats nowadays, close the tab now. This week is not a safe space for traditionalists: we’ve got 100-point Callahans, shot clocks, and the Metaverse on tap. 

But first, let me introduce our newest and most distinguished expert yet: Megan “Meagles” Tormey:

Megan Tormey (she/her) has served as a color analyst for USAU, WFDF, and the AUDL. She has played many years of ultimate for Nemesis and Public Enemy in the USAU’s women’s and mixed divisions, respectively. Twitter and Instagram: @Meagles000

On today’s show, we play the popular children’s schoolyard game “puck, carry, bill” with the WUL rulebook, except that all rules are fair game (I say: puck them all!). I don’t know what happened between Week 1 and Week 2, but the experts went full-on cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs on me. All except for Meagles - she turned out to be the serious and professional commentator babysitting the rest of us, the sand-eating and rule-hating kids.

Question for March 1st,  2023:

Imagine you become the Tsar of the WUL Rules Committee and have the power to completely remove one rule (e.g., no clock), slightly rewrite another (e.g., 8, instead of 7, players on the field), and create a third from scratch (e.g., all games shall be played at Surf Cup Sports Park). What do you do?

Group 1: Rules we would eliminate (bill)

Ben:  No contested fouls. I don’t want to watch players talking to each other for sixty seconds just to replay what already happened. If there’s a contested foul, the observer immediately makes a ruling, and the game proceeds.

Ange: Spirit of the Game. Ok, I know I'm coming in hot here, but I can't drink the spirit Kool-Aid served on every ultimate frisbee field. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a game in which athletes feel supported, celebrated, and safe. I just think there is a spectrum of sports-person-ship and games-person-ship, and there is no way the thousands of us who play this sport are on the same spot on that spectrum. A clear set of rules, and appropriate repercussions for violating those rules, hold us all to the same standard...instead of relying on a bunch of different interpretations of intentionality, respect, and moral codes. It would certainly be harder for observers (who I'd prefer to be referees) to manage games, but it's something I hope we continue to explore - especially as the professional and semi-professional arms of our sport continue to grow and have access to more resources.

Bryce:  I hate to be the tsar that brings a problem without a proposed solution, but too many possessions resulted in contested stalls. With player-counted stalls to the S of seven, a lot of possessions (especially catches where players left their feet, ran out of bounds post catch, etc) seemed unfairly rushed. Do you turn over stall counting to active observerees? Do referservers automatically weigh in on contested stall outs? I dunno. But the frequency of contested stalls ought to encourage some experimenting with other solutions.

Nicole: The field size rules. I'd just get rid of all lines, like Goalty. There are no out-of-bounds. The end zones are just random boxes placed on opposite sides of each other. Make the stadium seats playable. The world field is your oyster.

Megan: If I *had* to eliminate one rule, I’d eliminate the coin flip. Let’s get back to basics and decide who picks O or D to start with a double-disc flip. 

Pawel: Eliminate the outdoors. Move the game online to the Metaverse. Physical sports are OUT, e-sports are IN. Have you seen the money rolling into League of Legends?

Group 2: Rules we would modify (carry)

Ben: The biggest hinderance to watchable ultimate is the wind. It just sucks. And without weather-controlled stadiums available, there’s nothing to do about it, except for a very simple edit to the rules that definitely won’t completely change the entire structure of how the game is played: use a ball. Also, we will need a more appropriate name for a sport in which you pass and catch a ball but can’t move when you have the ball. Maybe… handball? Introducing the WUBHWIWL - the Western Ultimate (But Handball When It’s Windy) League!

Angela (Ange): Double teams. Right now, the WUL rulebook precludes double-teaming. I'd change this rule to allow double teams on the thrower in the last two minutes of each quarter. Throwers across the league are getting better and better - and I, for one, would love to see them be more challenged as the stakes get high during the end of quarters and games.

Bryce:  Five timeouts per half. 30 seconds. Keep the full subs and the resetting of the stall. I think we'd see some great redzone packages and teams rostering some really role-specific players with these additional timeouts. 

Nicole: I would add an addendum to the stalling rule: if a player calls a stall that the observer determines is not a stall, the player with the disc gets a free unmarked throw, and the defender is not allowed to poach off and defend another player. They just have to lay back until the throw goes off. 

Megan: If I *had* to slightly alter a rule, I would add a floater timeout. Having the ability to substitute players during a timeout can give your team such a unique advantage that I’d love to add the wrinkle of another timeout, but you have to be judicious about when in the game you play that card.  

Pawel: Modify nothing - keep a rule intact or burn it to the ground. Bad question posed by the noobie editor.

Group 3: Rules we would birth (puck)

Ben: When a team is up by a few scores as the game winds down, they generally play a loose zone defense and force the other team to throw a hundred throws to score while killing the rest of the clock. That’s boring to watch and stifles comeback opportunities. If I’m in charge, no zone defense is allowed in the fourth quarter. If you want to win, earn it by matching up person to person.

Ange:   Two points for a first-possession break score. I'll come clean before expanding on this one: defensive line players who can effectively convert a breakpoint are my favorite kinds of frisbee players. That shift from super intense, gritty defense to smooth, clean, and calm offense is beautiful to witness. It's also demoralizing for your opponent. I'd create a new WUL rule to award two points to a defensive line that converts a breakpoint in one "d'offensive" possession. I think it would incentivize better play on both sides of the disc...the original D-line players would be more methodical in their first attempt to score a break, and the original O-line would be desperate to stop a two-point break conversion after turning it over. 

Bryce: Mandatory statisticians/athlete trackers. Give the coaches the tools to level up. Give the talking heads all the data points we could ever handle. I need yards per game. I need # of sprints per quarter. Help us quantify the greatness we're seeing on the field beyond the box score. 

Nicole:  Catching a Callahan (a defensive score) adds 100 points to the team that scores the Callahan. Similar to the golden snitch rule in Quidditch, except it doesn't end the game completely, just makes it very hard for the other team to catch up. Last season, there were no Callahan scores between all 7 WUL teams. This rule would incentivize teams and players to play tough defense and encourage Callahan attempts to pad teams with high point differentials. Also, it'd just make Callahans 10x more exciting than they already are. 

Megan: If I *had* to create a rule from scratch, I’d add a shot clock (an idea I’m shamelessly stealing from Bryan Jones, PoNY coach in the club men’s division). Having to fire into the endzone within a specific amount of time would encourage faster offensive flow and likely lead to a lot of thrilling shots. 

Pawel: Nicole did not go far enough with her free throw idea, so I will: every pick, foul, bad stall call is awarded a free throw. It would go something like this: a foul is called, everyone stops, the thrower gets to chuck it to anyone without pivoting, the defense cannot bat it down, the offense cannot move. If an offender is already in the endzone, the thrower can chuck it for a goal (hey, maybe next time, don’t foul close to the endzone?). If it’s complete, play on. If the thrower turfs it, turnover. On the other hand, every travel is a 10-year penalty and a mandatory “Shame! Shame! Shame!” from the crowd.

Bonus: Kenny’s rant

Kenny went on a rant this week about Observers. Didn’t really answer the question, but this is better anyway. I imagine he got wronged at some point. Don’t get me started.

Kenny rant:

I like empowering Observers in the pro leagues. In this case, I would want to empower them to get involved more on foul calls. A lot of time goes into making the sport a viable entertainment option for fans and viewers. We put a greater emphasis on things like venue and broadcast setup with the appropriate view that a pro league is meant to serve fans. The hope is, of course, that those fans will bankroll the costs of running a league. 

So here's my hot take that might go against what some consider the spirit of the game: Private conversations between players on the field that stop the flow of a game have no place in a professional broadcast.

We've all been there. We finally convince a family member or friend to sit and give Ultimate a chance. There's a pro league, now! Tune in to watch from the comfort of your home. I'm having some people over. We've got guac. You explain the rules. The game is exciting. They're finally seeing what you see, starting to understand why you've traveled on your own dime so many weekends for tournaments, slept on so many strangers' floors, played for ten hours fueled only by half a banana and the two bottles of Gatorade you paid too much for at the closest gas station... 

Then comes a foul call. They ask you what happened. You explain that they're going to talk it out. You sit. Everyone twiddles their thumbs. The broadcast announcers speculate over the arguments the players may or may not be making. If we're lucky we get a close-up, silent view of the discussion (if that's in the wheelhouse of the broadcast crew), and we watch a static wide shot of two players saying discussing the contact they felt or thought they felt and how that contact violates their understanding of the rules and was that rule standard USAU and in the WUL changes and they pause and ask the observers for the rule clarification so they can continue discussing and then get back to their point and--

Have you tuned out yet? (editor voice from above: yes, Kenny, I have. Get to your point, man.)

So has everyone else. They're on their phones now. Or they're grabbing a snack. Or rethinking why they're so invested in this game, anyway.

I know it's harsh. I know there are a lot of ways to address this problem. Other pro sports have media packages that they use to fill in gaps like this. They have commercial breaks all lined up and ready to go. They have contingency plans. They know every second of the show counts. When I was cutting film for broadcast, I'd get segments rejected if they were off by a frame or two. A single frame or two. I'm just not sure most people in this community appreciate how much harder a pitch to a broadcast station or any media network is if you have to let them know that there might be up to two minutes of random, dead time in the middle of a broadcast. In the industry, commercials are sold in fifteen, thirty, forty-five, and sixty-second slots. We have to start thinking in that language. A sixty-second discussion about a foul is a big deal. In other sports, some companies pay thousands of dollars for sixty seconds in the middle of a game. 

There are other ways to make discussions over player calls exciting. Notice that above I said "private" conversations between players have no place in a broadcast. But until we have the technical capabilities to do that either by bringing viewers into the drama of that on-field conversation, having effective comms between on-field reporters or Observers and the commentators in the broadcast booth, or using the opportunity to showcase other media packages, commercials, etc, the best way to deal with this is simply to empower Observers to step in quickly, make a decision, then let the players use the integrity override if they think the Observer got it wrong. Observers are already involved in pretty much every other call of the game, why have we shut them out of foul calls? For some, it may be a big shift to think that Observers keep the game exciting by providing quick rulings, but to me, that's half the job. In that regard, we're capping their effectiveness by keeping them out of stall counts and foul calls.

---

This Week’s Contributors:

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Bryce Merrill (he/him) is a youth ultimate organizer in Utah, Head Coach of the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred, and the inaugural coach of the Utah Wild for the 2021 Winter Cup.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Megan Tormey (she/her) has served as a color analyst for USAU, WFDF, and the AUDL. She has played many years of ultimate for Nemesis and Public Enemy in the USAU’s women’s and mixed divisions, respectively. Twitter and Instagram: @Meagles000

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community. 

Introducing the West Perspective

- Pawel Janas

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.

Welcome to the first edition of West Perspective, a blog on the current events of the WUL, or, as I like to call it, a weekly mixtape of spicy 🔥 takes from a distinguished group of players, coaches, and commentators (and me). Each week, our expert roundtable will share their solicited opinions on all things WUL, from big-picture perspectives (where is the league heading?) to strategic minutia (which teams would benefit from the German Offense?). So strap in and put your egos aside because you may not like what these unfiltered talking-heads have to say. 

Before diving into this week’s topic, let’s meet our Week 1 contributors (listed alphabetically):

• Kenny Baldwin (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL and a broadcast commentator for the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred. Catch him on Twitter at @FlatballKenny. 

• Michael Ferguson (he/him) is a contributing writer for the WUL.  He coaches Oregon Onyx in the WUL and Schwa in the USAU Women's Club Division. You can see his IG birding pictures at @cardinalsandallies.

• Nicole Garnes (she/her) has played Ultimate frisbee since 2016, playing Club in both the Women's and Mixed Divisions in Arizona, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow Nicole on Twitter @bring_snaaacks.

• Bobby Gough has been coaching in the USAU women’s club division since 2016 with Oregon Schwa. He spent the 2022 WUL season in the broadcast booth for Oregon Onyx, and in 2023 he joined the team as an assistant coach. You can find him on Twitter at @BobbyGough.

• Pawel Janas (he/him) is the curator of West Perspective, so send your complaints his way. He plays for the Los Angeles Aviators in the AUDL and Chicago Machine in the USAU Men's Club Division. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @secondarypotato.

• Bryce Merrill (he/him) is a youth ultimate organizer in Utah, Head Coach of the AUDL's Salt Lake Shred, and the inaugural coach of the Utah Wild for the 2021 Winter Cup.

• Ben Sadis (he/him) is a data collector and statistician for the WUL. He plays for Washington DC Rally in the USAU Mixed Club Division. He can be reached on Twitter at @ben_sadis.

• Aly Steinfeld (she/her) is an at-large member of the WUL Board of Directors and a former player for the Oregon Onyx. She has played ultimate since 2003 and also coached high school and club ultimate. Follow her on Twitter @AlyNotAllie and Instagram @AlyStein83.

• Angela Wells (she/her) is the head coach of San Diego Super Bloom and San Diego Wildfire. For nearly two decades, she has coached and played for women's teams in San Diego. She is unapologetically loud and bossy, and endlessly supportive of providing opportunities for female, trans, and non-binary athletes of all ages to play sports together in her community. 

---

Let’s get into it. For this first week, I asked the group about Seattle. Why? Because you either hate Seattle or you live in Seattle. You can’t run, you can’t hide, and ambivalence is not an option. In other words, a perfect first topic to get the people going.

Question for February 22, 2023:

In 2022, there was a big gap between Seattle (+6 point differential per game in the regular season) and everyone else. How important is competitive balance to the sustained growth of semi-professional women's ultimate, if at all?

Group 1: Seattle Haters and Parity Lovers

Aly: I want to challenge the premise a little bit here. Seattle Tempest had a great season in 2022, no doubt. We shouldn't forget, though, that Seattle has had a professional women's team longer than any other city in the WUL. Despite this huge head start, in 2022, they trailed Oregon, then the newest WUL team, for most of the second half in a regular season match-up. Any league will have winners and losers, and the WUL is still in its infancy. It may be that Seattle ends up winning big NOW, but that is going to change sooner or later. I expect that the big roster moves from Oregon, San Diego, the addition of Colorado, and the previous underperformance of San Francisco will bring more parity to the league in 2023. Until that shift happens, though, just as NFL fans rallied to make a common enemy out of the Patriots in the Belichick-Brady decades, we may see a similar pattern in the WUL with league fans rallying against Seattle.

Kenny: A studio executive once told me that if he had it his way, every NBA game would be decided by one or two points. Every game. Sports are built on competition, but there is a different type of relationship between a sport and its participants compared to a sport and its viewership. If the WUL's goal is to expand viewership, it must have a significant interest in making every game important to those viewers, and that means paying them back for the time they've invested watching. One way of making good on that investment is by providing exciting games to watch. Even people who know almost nothing about the sport can appreciate a neck-and-neck scoreline. 

The WUL isn't the NBA. So far, its growth has come largely from within the ultimate community. If the league's goal is to capture a greater portion of the community's attention, then the league should be positioning itself as the top rung on the competitive ladder for its athletes. It's hard to frame yourself that way if you have one team blowing everyone out so dramatically. I think the best success for the WUL comes in three steps: 1. Make the championship title the coveted accolade for women and non-binary athletes.  2. Make it possible for any team in the league to achieve it. 3. Make that journey a can't-miss spectacle for the fans of every franchise.

Nicole: Even though there was a gap in point differential for Seattle in the 2022 season, there was still a good amount of competitive balance. That differential started early in the season with a whopping 28-16 win over AZ Sidewinders and only grew from there. But not every game of their season was a blowout. In fact, UT Wild, who came in last in overall rankings, nearly took Tempest to Universe, and Super Bloom gave us many tight games vs. Seattle. Ultimately, as a fan, it's not entertaining to watch one team dominate every other team week after week. What is important for the growth of semi-professional women's ultimate are tight close games that give the underdog hope and leave fans on the edge of their seats. Even with a large gap in point differential, fans just want to hope their team can slay the dragon and win it all. Competitive balance is important to keep fans watching, hoping, and wanting more.

Mike: Seattle was the clear dominant team during the regular season in 2022.  But the +6 point differential doesn't tell the whole story to me.  Half of Seattle's games were "blowouts" (+8, +9, and +13), but the other half were close (+3, +2, +1).  In addition to these 3 Seattle games, there were 5 other games won by 5 or more points, and 2 more won by 4.  Out of 21 regular season games, nearly half were not "close" as the clock ticked down to the final moments.  A quick look at the pre-quarters and quarters results at 2022 Club Nationals tells a similar story: 5 of the 8 games were won by 6 or more points.

Bryce: Not to take away from the dominant 2022 performance of the Seattle Tempest, a wire-to-wire undefeated championship effort, but the +6 point differential doesn't tell the story of the season. Kristen Pojunis's layout with 2 minutes left in the championship game on the Hana Kawai's IO might've led to an entirely different season narrative had it not bounced into the waiting hands of Jennifer Ricaurte. Tight wins over Wild, Onyx, and Super Bloom in the 2022 regular season speak to a highly entertaining competitive balance that left fans pining for more. Yes, they had a couple of big wins where the fourth quarter felt little more than a formality, but the WUL's 2022 teams had more than enough talent and competitive balance to keep the entire season, and especially the championship weekend, a thrilling fan experience. 

For 2023, The Northwest Conference looks to be stacked with exciting matchups--I can't help but see a squad ready to challenge the Tempest in their regular season meetings when I see the Onyx Roster. As for the Alpenglow, there might not be a more exciting ultimate scene than Colorado after their 2022 seasons across college and club, and I'm thrilled to see them take the field this WUL season. Utah has retooled its roster and added some critical depth in Songer, Caldwell, Sjordal, and Stanislawski that will help them match up with these three strong teams. The Rocky Mountain Rumble in week 10 should have massive playoff implications for all 4 teams and will be must-watch ultimate.  I have more questions than answers for the Southwest Conference, and they're likely questions that won't be answered until after the Week 3 Super Bloom Beach Bowl. But the battle for the second invitation, alongside the presumed-to-return San Diego Super Bloom, to the championship tournament could be a great, season-long story.

The WUL has done a great job of finding ways to have these matchups, the weekend-long events, the two conferences, and the narratives build a sustainable league model; If the recent Megafan jerseys were any indication, Felicia Yang and her team at the league offices have struck a vein in connecting the fans and communities with the league that tells me the sustained growth is here to stay and only going to get better in 2023. 

Group 2: Hedgers and Analysts

Bobby: I’m sure that competitive balance is, and will be, a factor in the growth of this league. I’m just not sure how large that factor will be. New leagues like the Western Ultimate League depend on the time, effort, and equity of a lot of individual actors, all of whom I believe have good intentions and are putting in the best work that they can. It’s tough, in a vacuum, to simply operate in this space. Success in operating would be not only a cherry on top of the simply existing cake, but it can also be the flavor of the cake. And the problem with flavor is that people like different ones. Some individual actors in the league — or supporting sponsors, donators, etc. — won’t mind if their team isn’t winning or at the top of the competition. But many will. Without balance, and without that version of success, an individual, or a supporter, or a team, could falter. And the league is nothing if not a collection of teams and their supporters.

I believe there is more balance than the goal differential might suggest, and I’m not worried about any team doing demonstratively better than Seattle did last season, and most teams have a roster full of experienced players now. I believe this season will be competitive and balanced, and I believe, in a vacuum, this league will remain competitive and balanced well into the future.

Ben: While Seattle may have gone undefeated en route to winning the inaugural WUL championship, they were presented with plenty of challenges along the way. The championship game against San Diego was a back-and-forth affair, with Seattle leading by one at halftime and Super Bloom keeping the margin within three throughout the fourth quarter. And in the final regular season game against winless Utah, they squeaked out a one-point victory. Competitive balance exists in the WUL, but there's an expectation surrounding the Tempest that they are the team to beat. That's a best-of-both-worlds scenario and puts the WUL in an ideal situation coming into the 2023 season. One of the most compelling storylines in professional sports is that of the potential upset. College basketball's March Madness draws so much interest because the top teams lose just enough to make those upsets relevant but infrequently enough to make the moment special. The NFL, the most-watched sports league in the United States by a wide margin, is able to tout the phrase "any given Sunday" as its calling card for a reason. As teams establish themselves at the top of the league by winning a championship, they are supplanted within a few years by a new challenger to the throne. It remains to be seen if the challengers will be victorious in the WUL this season, but with returning teams like San Diego adding even more talent and the brand-new Colorado Alpenglow stockpiling an impressive amount of it in just their first year, it's clear they are coming. In 2022, WUL teams proved that Tempest can be beaten. In 2023, the question is: will they?

Group 3: Pro Seattle

Ange: Throughout my 20-year ultimate career, Seattle has been a model of exactly what investment in our sport and our players should look like. A handful of long-established USAU club teams from Seattle (across all divisions) consistently perform well in the regular and postseason. UW and Western Washington field nationals-caliber teams year after year. Seattle youth programs are wildly inclusive, accessible, and successful…not just at creating young athletes who have bigger flick hucks than I’ll ever have, but athletes who have long-term investments in our sport and in the greater Seattle community. 

None of this is by accident. Long before the rest of us started doing it, players, coaches, and frisbee fanatics in Seattle created sustainable programs that offered opportunities for folks of all ages and skill levels…and they did it in much worse weather conditions than here in San Diego. Players like Shannon O'Malley, Khalif El-Salaam, and seemingly every member of the Titcomb family have developed in this incredible community. Youth teams, college teams, club teams, and even USA teams are better because the Seattle frisbee scene is strong. So it’s not shocking to me that the WUL is also dominated by a team from Seattle. If the rest of us want to compete with them, the winning recipe isn't a secret - it's just going to take a lot of work. 

However, I will point out that Super Bloom beat Tempest in the WUL’s 2021 Winter Cup; lost to them by just three points in the 2022 WUL Championship game; and is coming for them this season…stay tuned. 

Pawel: Look, the question is about competitive balance and what is best for the league. I am not Pro-Seattle, but I am also not Pro-Parity. My fellow pundits gave nuanced takes, though faulty, and I applaud them for that. As a no-nuance kind of guy, let me unequivocally state that I want to see more super teams in the WUL. I want to see Seattle win by an average of 8 points this year. And in 2024, I want all of Fury to play for the Falcons and win by an average of 12 points. Why? Because every good story needs a villain. Good stories lead to good marketing, and good marketing leads to cash money. Who doesn’t want that?