2002 Condors Tournaments
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SEEDING:
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RESULTS:
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| 1. Condors (Santa Barbara) | 1. Furious George (Vancouver) |
| 2. DoG (Boston) | 2. Ring of Fire (NC) |
| 3. Furious George (Vancouver) | 3/4. DoG (Boston) |
| 4. Sub Zero (Minneapolis) | 3/4. Sockeye (Seattle) |
| 5. Sockeye (Seattle) | 5. Condors (Santa Barbara) |
| 6. Electric Pig (Mid-Atlantic) | 6. Johnny Bravo (Boulder) |
| 7. Johnny Bravo (Boulder) | 7. Chain Lightning (Atlanta) |
| 8. Ring of Fire (NC) | 8. Sub Zero (Minneapolis) |
| 9. Vicious Cycle (Gainesville, GA) | 9. Boss Hogg (Boston) |
| 10. PBR Streetgang (San Diego) | 10. Pike (NJ) |
| 11. Boss Hogg (Boston) | 11. Vicious Cycle (Gainesville, GA) |
| 12. NY Ultimate (Metro NY) | 12. Machine (Chicago) |
| 13. Chain Lightning (Atlanta) | 13. NY Ultimate (Metro NY) |
| 14. Machine (Chicago) | 14. PBR Streetgang (San Diego) |
| 15. Pike (NJ) | 15. Electric Pig (Mid-Atlantic) |
| 16. Madison (WI) | 16. Madison (WI) |
Game Recaps
by Joe Seidler and Bill Burfeind
Thursday - Game 1:
The Condors beat Vicious Cycle from Gainesville, GA 15 - 5. The entire game took just less than 1 hour, ending at 10:30 AM, which will give the guys a good rest before their next game schedule for 12:15 PM. Continued good offense throughout the second half. Joe mentioned strong play by Brandon Steets, Steve Dugan and Ryan Nation. One great play by JD Lobue who was not actually part of the play, but made a great saving catch, in the end zone, after the disc was initially tipped by a defender and JD dove in to make the save just above the ground.
Thursday - Game 2:
The first half just ended with the Condors ahead of Madison, Wisconsin by 8 - 4. Joe says this team is young with not much experience, but a lot of spirit and speed. They are making it a much tougher game than the first game; even though Madison is the 16th seed. However, the Condors skill and experience are giving them the edge. One highlight from the first half was two long hammers from Tommy Burfeind, both for scores. Condors win over Madison 15 - 11. The second half was quite a battle. Going from 8 - 4 to 15 - 11 means the second half was actually a 7 - 7 tie. The Condors stayed even with good solid play on both Defense and Offense; however, Madison played a very strong half with virtually no mistakes. Highlights in the second half was an early big D by Blake Garnand, after which the team was calling him the kid, even though he is the oldest Condor. On offense was a great catch by Taro for the 14th point taken high over two defenders at a time when a turnover could have allowed Madison to close the small gap in the score and gain some motivation. After that, they traded goals taking it to the 15-11 final.
The weather is holding but it is now hot, humid and sunny. High 80's and not much shade to be found. The team will now get some lunch and rest up for the 3:00 PM game against Ring of Fire, the number 8 seed.
Thursday - Game 3:
Condors 8 and Ring of Fire (out of North Carolina) 3 at the half. This has been the Condors best game of the day. Looks like they took the Madison wake-up call to heart and are giving this game their best efforts. In the first half, two great D's by Ted Savage. Brandon Steets has caught two long throws in the end zone for scores. Adam Glimme is playing with super intensity on both D and O; he is tired but running hard and smart on both ends of the field. Tommy, who is 6' 5" has been up against and old foe out of Colorado who is 6' 9", but came up taller catching one over his opponent for a score. Condors beat Ring of Fire 15 - 10. (Joe had told me it was 8 - 3 at the half and the score-o-matic web site had it at 8 - 5). In the second half there were no real big outstanding plays except for Brandon Steets skying in the end zone the catch the final point. There was a lot of very solid play on both O and D by many players. Joe especially mentioned: Ryan Yarbrough; Mike Namkung and Mario Viani as playing hard and always being in the right place at the right time. With the score close, near the end of the game, Ring of Fire made a throw from midfield to the corner of their end zone. Taylor Cascino was in the end zone guarding another man, broke to the corner, leaped and laid out almost 6 feet off the ground to reach over Ring's player to get the block. From there the Condors took it back down the field for a score and to go on for the win.
Joe said that even though is has stayed very hot all day, the rains never coming to cool anything off, the Condors stayed strong and sharp through the entire 3rd game and finished well. Everyone is still in good shape and now they can get some rest to come back for two games tomorrow.
Friday - Game 4:
It is Friday morning and the start of the second round of pool play. The Condors are up 8 to 5 at the half against Sub Zero from Minneapolis. It is another hot and sunny day in Sarasota with still chances of Thunderstorms to roll through during the day. First half highlights from Joe: On our first possession, JD Lobue Jr. broke long immediately and took a field long huck for the first point and set the tone for the game. Sub Zero worked back to 6 to 5. Condors scored to make it 7 to 5. Then on the pull, Andy Crews made it down the field extremely quickly and blocked Sub Zero's very first pass while still in their end zone. Condors took the disc quickly just outside the goal line and fired a pass back to Andy for the score and the half. Diane Steets, Brandon's Mom, and also Brandon's Grandmother, another Diane, have arrived to add to the cheering section. Condors 15 - Sub Zero 7. As you can see from the final score, the Condors had a very good second half, going 7 to 2 from the first half break. Joe reported that everyone played extremely well on both offense and defense to bring in this victory, but he would have to give the player of the game award to Taylor Cascino. Taylor got going in the second half just as he did vs. Ring of Fire yesterday. Early in this second half, Taylor had to make a long run to the end zone to keep up with and catch the man he was defending, finally got there to get the turn over. Then the Condors worked it back down the field for the score, which was caught by Taylor. He also had another good "D", getting the disc back to the Condors so they could take it to 14 - 7.
Friday - Game 5:
This has been the toughest game so far. The Condors are down 6 to 8 against Sockeye. This team from Seattle has had many battles with the Condors in recent years and this one will probably go down to the wire again. Joe said the team is still in good spirits and getting fired up for the second half. They did make a couple of errors early in the first half, Sockeye capitalized to take an early lead. The Condors fought back to within 2, but could not close the gap any further before the half. After being down 8 - 6 at the half, the Condors battled back to a tie at 12 - 12. Sockeye got the point on their possession and another on a D to take it to 14 - 12. The Condors got the point on their next possession and one on a turnover to tie it again at 14 - 14. Both teams scored for a 15 - 15 tie and set the cap at 17. Unfortunately, Sockeye scored on their possession and then got the turnover and a score to win 17 - 15. Joe said it was a hard played second half, lots of great play and energy by both teams. Sockeye was just pumped up a bit to beat the Condors, after losing to them twice at Worlds. This will establish the Condors as the #2 team from the "E" pool and put them against the #3 team from the "F" pool tomorrow morning in the Quarterfinals.
Saturday - Game 6:
Just like at Worlds, the Condors had a slow start against DoG. They were down 2 - 6 early but have brought it back to 6 - 8 at the half. Joe says the team was sluggish at the start of the game, but seem to have found their tempo now. Jason Seidler had his foot stepped on in the last game yesterday and this morning it was determined he has a broken toe. Nothing serious, but he will not be able to play any more during the tournament. Not good news. The Condors could not catch DoG in the second half. They lost 12 to 15. They will now move into the consolation bracket and play for 5th place. Their first opponent will be Sub Zero, who lost to Furious George in their Quarterfinal match. Of note, even though Jason Seidler had the broken toe, he taped it up and played in two points in the second half to give others a short break. He even got the score in one of those points.
Saturday - Game 7:
The Condors beat Sub Zero by a score of 15 - 9. While the Condors were coming off a disappointing defeat and continuing to play in high heat and humidity, they showed a lot of class and spirit to come back with a solid win. Highlights from Joe are: Some very good defense by Andy Crews getting turnovers in both the 1st and 2nd halfs. Tommy Burfeind getting another of his high catches for the score in the 1st half to solidify the lead. Two great lay out catches by Brandon Steets in the second half.
Saturday - Game 8:
Condors 15 - Johnny Bravo 11. Another good game for the Condors. Especially as they are very tired, as was Johnny Bravo, each playing their third game of the day. Bravo really wanted to upset the Condors. They had the one good game yesterday when they beat Furious George (making for lots of changes in the seeding) and they were looking for one more good game after their morning loss to Ring of Fire. Also, Bravo being from Colorado are in the same Region as the Condors and they always seem to come up 2nd at Regionals. They were looking for a bit of pay back. The Condors would not allow that to happen. They played a good solid game, staying motivated until the end. Good defense and offense throughout. The team can head home knowing they gave it their best and never gave up until the final point was played.
However, tonight they don't need to plan for a Sunday game, so they can relax and do a bit of partying. Tomorrow can maybe be a vacation/fun day for them all before they head home Sunday night or Monday morning.
Congratulations to each and every team member for a great tournament, certainly a great World Championship year, and for always keeping the spirit of the game and dedication to teamwork foremost in all their efforts.
Special acknowledgement to Blake Garnand as he retires from Ultimate
- the oldest, wisest, greatest guy on the team -