UPA Club Championships - Open, Day 2By Derek Gottlieb 10/25/02 Round one: Condors crush Subzero 15-7 and continue their dominance over the Midwest's best. The Condors were confident and precise, taking risks and converting them, while Sub Zero looked shaky and hesitant, throwing into poaches and playing lackluster defense. DoG destroyed Machine 15-5. In a good indicator of how over matched Machine found themselves, Boston's defense scored on all but two times they were on the field. Boston's D looks great and improving round by round. Sockeye killed Ring 15-8. Seattle's offense was flawless and their defense forced turnovers throughout the game. They only began to convert, however, in the second half. After tightening the marks a little more, Ring began to give the Fish "donations," and it was downhill from there. Johnny Bravo found themselves in another game-of-the-day, this time against Furious George. After trading breaks in the first half, Bravo went up a break to start the second. A few points in, they gave it back on a poor huck. Furious is just not as deep this year as they usually are, and by the end of the game their horses were exhausted. Bravo was charitable, however, and gave Furious every chance to win. At 14-13, Bravo began to unravel mentally and turned the disc over ten yards from a victory on what should have been an easy dump. Furious scored and the game went to overtime. They trade a point, and then, looking a little flustered, Bravo puts up a bad huck to the end zone, giving Mike Grant ample time to get underneath it. But Grant double-jumps and falls, and Bravo comes away with a lucky score. On the next point, a Furious huck is just out of reach and Bravo starts back down the field. With the sidelines predicting a double-turn point, Bravo plays confidently, getting the disc into Will Deaver's hands. Deaver winds up and jacks one to a wide open Dave Remucal and the game is over. This is one of Bravo's first wins in a tight late-game situation against a really good team. It could do wonders for their confidence, and maybe if they see DoG later on, maybe Bravo wins that one. In the lower brackets, Pig continued their slide, losing to PBR Streetgang 15-9. Pig looks like a team that doesn't want to play anymore. Boss Hogg beat Pike 15-11, which virtually ends Pike's chances of making the prequaters. Florida beat an exhausted New York team by the score of 15-11, and looked strong doing it. Round Two was loaded with big showdowns. In the lower brackets, Madison and Pig both finished on low notes. Pig lost the nationals rematch of the regional final, falling to Pike 15-8, while Madison lost to New York 15-11. Boss Hogg beat PBR in the game that would determine the prequarters qualifier in a tight 15-13 finish. And in the lower bracket game of the day, the regional finals rematch of the "dirty south," as a Florida player put it, Chain beats the favored Florida in a heated (to say the least) game 15-13 thus earning a shot at making it back to the top. The upper brackets were not without showdowns of their own as DoG squared off against Furious George and Sockeye tried to match their explosiveness with the Condors' confidence and consistency, not to mention athleticism. Both games began tight, with Sockeye and Santa Barbara trading breaks early while Furious and DoG followed suit. Both games were relatively even at half, though Sockeye was up a break on the Condors. After the half, the eventual winners made themselves felt. As Jim Parinella said later on, "We suffered a lull right after the half, gave them three or four and never got it back. We're not as deep as we have been." Furious looked like a different team, playing inspired D and precision offense and running away with the game 15-11. Mike Grant said afterward, "We needed that." It should do wonders for them heading into tomorrow. In the other game, Sockeye's defense came out even harder than it had to this point forcing and converting turns. But being the champions that they are, the Condors, finding themselves down 11-9, battled back and tied the game at 13. The teams traded a couple in a war of grit, and then, at 16-15, Sockeye got a big block and Roger Crafts floated a beautiful forehand into the back of the end zone. Game over. 17-15 Sockeye. Coming off a huge win against Furious George, Johnny Bravo looked to roll through Machine. And Machine, for its part, should have been substantially demoralized after its 15-5 drubbing at the hands of DoG. A comment from the sideline prior to the game: "Well, if Bravo's gonna lose, this is the round. They always let down after a big win." Sure enough, Bravo came out, got a big hand block, and instantly let down. The over matched Machine played smart defense and solid offense, taking advantage of Bravo's complacency in route to a 13-11 lead. But then Bravo woke up and took the game away. A 5-1 run put them back on top with considerable nail-biting drama, 17-15. "We did it," said Bravo's Josh Greenough after the game in a terse statement. By point differential, then, Furious won the pool with Bravo in second place and DoG in third. Machine would have to play Chain for the privilege of making quarters tomorrow. In the other pool, there was still a game going on. Sub Zero, having already lost to Sockeye yesterday and to the Condors earlier today, only needed to beat Ring of Fire in order to pave the road to quarters. The teams were relatively evenly matched in terms of aggregate talent, though Sub Zero was substantially deeper. Sub Zero also had the reputation of being the more consistent, less emotional team in this matchup. But consistency has not been one of Zero's strengths in this tourney, and this lack would let them down again. Ring kept the game within a point or two with athletic plays and tight marks all the way to the wire, and Zero contributed several unforced errors to help them out. With the game tied at 14 and Zero receiving, Ring turned it up. Sprinting down on the pull, they got a huge first-throw block and loosed a three-foot pass to Ray Parrish to forge ahead and take the lead. On the next point, a Zero player dropped the first throw right on the goal line and Ring converted to take the game 16-14, sending Sub Zero down to play Boss Hogg in the game to make quarters. In the prequarters, Sub Zero looked as mediocre as they have all tournament, but they simply overwhelmed Boss Hogg. Sub Zero makes quarters 15-11. The other side matched Chain, who surged today, against a Chicago team that has to be disappointed with the finish of their Bravo game. In a tight game, but one in which the lead never changed, Chain went up early and closed effectively, winning 15-12. The heat on both of these days has been the proverbial eighth man. Teams are cramping all over the field, heat exhaustion is a term being tossed around loosely, and the teams that are best managing their nutrition and hydration seem to be pulling out tight games. The wind has been negligible, rewarding athletic teams like Sockeye. The heat is only supposed to get worse over the next two days, which makes even watching the games a chore. But not as much as running around, let me tell you.