https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBcAA2NYRe4
Chicago Machine qualified for Nationals this past weekend at the Great Lakes Regional tournament in Westchester, OH, but had some bumpy moments along the way.
The Men's division of the Great Lakes Region had two bids to Nationals on the line, as 16 teams fought to secure their spot at the top. The tournament was played in a bracket format, with Machine coming in as the overall number 2 seed behind Michigan's High Five.
Machine's made quick work of their first opponent, Spin-Itch, with a 15-1 rout. The quick game allowed plenty of rest prior to playing another Chicago based team, Haymaker, in quarterfinals. Haymaker was able to break early to make things interesting, but after going back and forth until the score was 3-3, Machine locked down and increased their pressure en route to a 15-3 run away victory.
The final round on Saturday pitted Machine in a semifinal match-up with Cleveland's Smokestack. Machine struggled early and throughout the game to create flow on offense, and Smokestack took advantage by taking confident shots on offense, often finding receivers in stride. As the wind picked up, both teams gave the disc away with unforced errors, but Machine would separate down the stretch to cap the day with a 15-11 victory.
On Sunday, both Machine and High Five got to sleep in, with the Finals game commencing at 1:00pm in the afternoon. The two teams would trade early, despite some long points for the Machine offense. Still, the Chicago O was able punch in scores, and the D would get on the books first with an early break. The momentum would be short lived, as the latter part of the first half would see High Five break twice to take half. After scoring on O to start the second half, High Five would rattle off another break, as Machine looked out of sync on offense, and struggled to make ground against the stout High Five defense. This would play out on repeat with High Five running away with a 15-8 drubbing.
Machine was able to bounce back in the backdoor game, playing another familiar foe in Chicago's Black Market. Machine got out to an early lead, and kept Black Market an arms length away for the whole first half. Black Market turned up the D in the second half, breaking two consecutive times to make things interesting, before Machine righted the ship and converted down the stretch to punch their ticket to Nationals with a 15-8 victory.
Disappointed with their struggles on the weekend, there was not much celebrating in the Machine post-tourney huddle. The team knows it must correct its course in the final 3 weeks leading into Nationals in Frisco, Texas, but the promise of a fresh slate has everyone looking forward with confident anticipation.
Machine is happy to be joined in Frisco by the Chicago Women's team, Nemesis, who won their divisions single bid, as well as The UPA, a Chicago based Mixed team that took the single bid in the Mixed division. 'The UPA' is a team in its first year, featuring several former players from Machine and Nemesis.
Men's USAU Score Reporter Bracket
Photos/ Video Courtesy of Vince Fergus
Getting a little rowdy round here
Posted by Vince Fergus on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
http://ultiworld.com/2015/09/09/a-tale-of-two-teams-2015-great-lakes-mens-regionals-preview/
Highlights from our scrimmage against Japan's Buzz Bullet are now up! It was great having them in Chicago, as they travelled to Madison for the Bro-Flight Finale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ4P9pxFo-E
In case you weren't getting enough Machine highlights, here is some bonus video from the Pro-Elite Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WsO6qayxBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RxWbUxl7k
Machine made the most of their bye from Sectionals last weekend, traveling to Whitewater, WI for a double practice and team retreat at the Kolinek Family Lake House.
The annual event known as "Sports Day" continues to evolve year by year, and features crew vs crew challenges in a variety of sports and mental tests. Starting with a 4 hour practice on Saturday morning, Machine's early focus was all business, as it would be the team's final practice weekend prior to Regionals on September 12th/13th. After the testy, back and forth, practice where the O-line and D-line regularly butted heads, the team came together as one to shift their attention to the Sports Day activities.
All aspects of Sports Day (the schedule, awarding of points, and ruling over all disputes) is handled by the Sports Day Tsar, a position held by Craig Poeppelman for the past 4 years. Sports Day planning is a large undertaking, and in exchange for his prep work, the team hands over all power and authority to the Tsar for the duration of the weekend.
Physical Challenges
Disc Golf (Ryder Cup format, each crew selected certain players to play in one of three singles heats, and two players to play in one paired heat, with one member of each pairing having to throw with their non-dominant hand)
Beach Volleyball (It took less than two minutes for this to look like a scene straight out of Top Gun)
Kayak Relay Race (Crews had to complete a 5 lap relay course, with different challenges assigned to each lap. e.g. getting out of the kayak and onto a floating dock to catch a disc from a teammate on shore, riding two people in one kayak, etc...)
Mental Challenges
Password (a variation on the classic TV game show)
Family Feud (an exact replica of the show itself, this pitted crews against each other in a bracket hosted by Beam Harvey. Responses were gathered from a questionnaire which was sent to several of the top men's and women's ultimate teams from across the country).
Trivia (This featured combined categories for Music/ Sports, History/Movies, and Math/Food - Followed by a point stealing variation of the classic "Prisoner's Dilemma" psychological experiment).
Celebrity (A three round game similar to charades/ catch phrase).
Final Standings (and Accompanying Prizes/ Punishments):
- 1st - School Crew
- Cullen Geppert/ Ron Kubalanza*/ Jack Shey/ Brett Matzuka/ Nick Zeman
- One member of their crew must attend Northwestern Gung Ho Practice for a week this fall
- Cullen Geppert/ Ron Kubalanza*/ Jack Shey/ Brett Matzuka/ Nick Zeman
- 2nd - 6D's
- Craig Poeppelman/ Andy Neilsen*/ Noah Backer/ Stephan Mance/ Brett Kolinek/ Mike Schwenk*/ Slam Johnson*
- Chose the mystery bag, and received a signed Ron Harper Bulls jersey)
- Craig Poeppelman/ Andy Neilsen*/ Noah Backer/ Stephan Mance/ Brett Kolinek/ Mike Schwenk*/ Slam Johnson*
- 3rd - MeanMachine part Crew
- Kevin Kelly/ Andrew Sheehan/ Ben Spielman/ AJ Nelson/ Bob Liu*
- Has to pick up cones after every practice and bring the shade tent to tournaments the rest of the season)
- Kevin Kelly/ Andrew Sheehan/ Ben Spielman/ AJ Nelson/ Bob Liu*
- 4th - U32
- Goose Helton/ George Hughes*/ Dan Williams/ Travis Carpenter/ Tim Fergus
- Had to clean the lake house and make breakfast for everyone the following day
- Goose Helton/ George Hughes*/ Dan Williams/ Travis Carpenter/ Tim Fergus
- N/A - Petty Crew
- Walden Nelson/ Neal Phelps/ Greg Slover*/ Yiding Hou*/ Adrian King/ Von Alanguilan*
- Split amongst other crews to keep teams even
- Walden Nelson/ Neal Phelps/ Greg Slover*/ Yiding Hou*/ Adrian King/ Von Alanguilan*
* = not in attendance
The rowdy boys from the Windy City traveled to Minneapolis this past weekend to attend the final regular season event of the USAU Triple Crown Tour, the Pro-Flight Finale.
Machine came into the weekend with little to lose, as the Great Lakes Region had a firm grasp on two National bids, but were still looking to put together a complete performance, and test some new strategies going into the series.
However, many of those strategies would not be utilized due to the extreme winds that blasted Blaine, MN through the entirety of the weekend. Consistent winds of 20+ mph set Saturday as an up-wind/ down-wind affair, prior to Sunday's winds shifting to a cross-wind.
Machine's first game on Saturday came against Portland's Rhino (northwest rowdy boys in their own right). Machine started out on O, with the wind at their backs, and quickly moved the disc with short chip shots and an early score. On Machine's first D point, they would pressure Rhino into several turns, but could not string together enough passes to make it to the end zone against the strong winds. After the first point, Rhino's offense would find their groove, hitting players in space, and leaving the Machine D searching for answers as they were unable to generate turnovers through the rest of the first half. Machine's offense continued to look smooth, but an early second half execution error was capitalized on, as Rhino used the width of the field to cut across the wind, eventually converting a huge upwind score. Rhino would follow the upwinder with a subsequent down wind break. The teams would then trade until Rhino closed the door with a game winning upwind break to end it at 13-10.
Cullen Geppert layout D vs Rhino
Machine O scores a downwind goal vs Rhino
In game two, Machine took on a depleted GOAT team, missing several key players on the heels of their Canadian National Championship the weekend prior. Strategy adjustments helped Machine generate more down-wind turns, and on the turn, increased handler activity helped lead to manageable mid-range shots against the wind. Breaks continued to come in pairs, with up-winders followed by down-winders, and Machine ran away with 13-4 victory.
Coming out of a 3rd round bye, Machine faced off with Raleigh's Ring of Fire, in a game that was live streamed by Ultiworld. Machine was excited for a chance at redemption against the team that knocked them out of the Nationals bracket in 2014. Unfortunately, this game would be all Ring of Fire. Machine started on O going downwind, but a hand block on a scoober for the first throw of the game gave Ring the disc at mid-field. Ring would then find an unguarded receiver who was lost in transition for a big upwind huck, leading to an immediate break. Ring would follow up with the down-wind break, before the two teams then traded. Ring's down-wind strategy involved plenty of punt and zone, giving the Machine D Line chances with the disc, but the wind continued to pick-up, the D line struggled to move the disc, and a few opportunities just outside of the upwind endzone were squandered. Unable to convert breaks, the Machine O-line had to endure multiple long points, eventually ceding another up-wind break. It was not until the tail end of the second half that Machine was able to break back after a grueling up-wind point, which was followed by a down-wind break, but it was too little too late, as Ring won 12-8 on hard cap.
The final game of the day against San Francisco Revolver was rescheduled to Sunday morning due to inclement weather, with lightning storms rolling through the area, and a tornado watch being issued.
Saturday night featured a team dinner, ice cream party, and swimming pool games. Grown adult stuff.
On Sunday, winds shifted across the field, with a slight up-wind / down-wind tail. Going into the game, Revolver had locked up first in the pool, and Machine's chances to advance to bracket play had closed. Despite this, both teams came out running full lines, and Revolver jumped out to an early lead. A shift in Machine strategy put more Offensive players on the up-wind line, and would prove to pay off, as Machine would break back during the latter parts of the first half. Machine continued their momentum out of half-time, breaking again and eventually taking a 12-10 lead. An unforced drop near the upwind endzone gave revolver a big score, leading to a down-wind break to set-up a 12-12 universe point. Receiving the disc with the wind at their backs, Machine quickly moved down the field and hit a streaking receiver for the win. 13-12 Machine.
Machine and Ring of Fire would both finish 2-2 in their pool, but Ring took the tie breaker with their head to head win. Having finished fourth behind Revolver, Rhino, and Ring, Machine would move to the 7th place consolation bracket, with a game against Chain Lightning from Atlanta.
Machine started out hot versus the Chain team who had yet to win a game on the weekend. An early 4 point lead slowly evaporated, as heavier winds rolled through, and a series of miscues got Chain back into contention, tying the game at 8's. Again with the disc and the wind at their backs, Machine would punch in the game winning point, 8-9 with the hard cap.
The final game of the tournament would again feature Machine and GOAT squaring off. Much like the first game, Machine would find success working handler movement through the gale force winds, converting breaks early and often. Final score 13-6 Machine.
Ultiworld's Full Tourney Recap
Ultiphoto's Pro-Flight Finale Gallery
Machine is now tuning up for the series, with Regionals taking place in the Cincinnati, OH area the weekend of September 12th/13th. Because of Machine's "Elite Flight" status, they will not be attending Sectionals.
This upcoming weekend the team will head to Whitewater, WI for a team retreat featuring practice, competitions in alternate sports, crew vs crew mental challenges, and plenty of opportunities to build camaraderie.
*Thank you to Luke Johnson for Rhino footage. (Full tournament highlight video to come)
http://ultiworld.com/2015/08/27/bro-flight-finale-2015-tournament-recap/
Chicago Machine scrimmaged Japan's elite men's ultimate team, the Bunka Shutter Buzz Bullets on Wednesday night in Chicago. The Bullets were staying in downtown Chicago on the first leg of their trip to Madison for the Bro-Flight Finale taking place this weekend. Helping coordinate the logistics were an English speaking representative of the Bullets, and Machine's Walden Nelson, a native Japanese speaker himself.
Spectators came out in support, and lined the entirety of both sidelines as the Buzz Bullets loud and boisterous warm-ups built a sense of excitement for the home town fans.
Buzz Bullets warming up
Machine had a capable squad, but were missing 9 players due to the unusual timing of the scrimmage. Despite arriving earlier that morning from a 14+ hour flight, the Buzz Bullets did not take long getting up to speed and started off the game with a break. Strong and gusty winds aided the Bullet's clammy zone, featuring active downfield switching, and often leaving throwers unmarked. Machine took advantage of the unmarked throwing opportunities early, hitting accurate shots to tie the game at 3's.
The Buzz Bullets then began to find their groove, connecting on several mid-range away blade hucks that hit receivers in stride. The slightest bit of downfield separation was rewarded with pin-point strikes through the wind, and quick throw and go motion made it difficult to stay behind receivers. This was coupled with a series of uncharacteristic Machine drops and throw-aways, which were quickly capitalized on, as the Bullets ran away to a 7-3 lead.
In the second half, Machine's defensive pressure increased, forcing several high stall situations that led to errant throws from the Bullets and some uncharacteristic drops of their own. Machine slowly chipped away at the lead, moving from 9-5, to 11-8, then 11-11. Trading points moved the score to 12-12, setting up universe point with Machine pulling. Machine's Craig Poeppelman exploded for a lay out under D, but a miss-communication near mid-field on a handler upline gave the disc right back, and the Buzz Bullets would patiently work their endzone set until finding a short break throw for the score.
Final Score: Buzz Bullets 13 - Machine 12
After the game, both teams joined for a spirit circle to show their appreciation for the other, and then thanked the fans in attendance.
Post-game spirit circle
After the teams left the fields, a handful of the Bullets joined Machine for socializing and drinks on an apartment rooftop overlooking the city. The Bullet's came bringing gifts (and costumes?) for their hosts, shared stories, laughed a lot, and played several games before departing back to their hotels to rest up for the following day's scrimmage against the Madison Radicals. Prior to leaving they provided shots of sake for the hosts, and were in return provided shots of Chicago's finest drink: Malort. "BAD TASTE!!! BAD TASTE!!!!" (Before, during, and after photos below).
The Buzz-Bullets and Machine playing a game to help learn each other's names.
Machine's highlight video for the 2015 Elite-Select Challenge has been posted:
Teams Featured:
vs Sprawl - W 11-8
vs Madison Club - W 13-10
vs Garuda - W 13-8
(quarters) vs Prairie Fire - W 10-8 - Not Filmed
(semis) vs Doublewide - W 10-9 - Not Filmed
(finals) vs High Five - L 13-7
Music:
Santigold - Radio
Galantis - Runaway (U & I)
Machine travels north this weekend, heading to Blaine, MN for the Pro-Flight Finale.
- USA Ultimate Tournament Page: http://play.usaultimate.org/events/TCT-Pro-Flight-Finale/
The Pro-Flight Finale features 10 of the top teams in the country (the top 8 finishers from last season's National Championship tournament, and two qualifiers from this season's Elite-Select Challenge). Each team will play four pool play games on Saturday, with pool winners getting a bye to semifinals on Sunday. Second/ Third place finishers in each pool will advance to a pre-semi's bracket on Sunday. Fourth/ Fifth place pool finishers will move straight into a consolation bracket.
Update 8/19: Machine's 3rd game on Saturday at 3:00pm CST (against Ring of Fire) will be live streamed via Ultiworld. For more information on Ultiworld's video coverage of the tournament, and for video subscription information/ costs: http://ultiworld.com/2015/08/19/pro-flight-finale-2015-livestreaming-schedule/
Machine is seeded 4th overall at the tournament, and currently sits at 4th overall in the USAU National Rankings. Machine's pool features San Francisco Revolver, Portland Rhino, Toronto GOAT, and Raleigh Ring of Fire.
Full Schedule: http://play.usaultimate.org/events/TCT-Pro-Flight-Finale/schedule/Mens/Club-Men/
Handlers Bob Liu and Tim Fergus return after missing the previous tournament in Colorado, but the defense will take a hit with cutters Craig Poeppelman, Stephan Mance, and rookie Ben Spielman all missing due to non-injury related reasons. Update 8/20: Offensive handler and captain, Ron Kubalanza, will also not be in attendance this weekend.
To follow along during the course of the action on Saturday and Sunday, please follow Machine at: www.twitter.com/machineultimate
As a reminder, Machine will be preparing for the tournament with a scrimmage in Chicago against the elite Men's Japanese team, the Buzz Bullets, on Wednesday evening at 6:00pm at Schiller Park. Full Details on the Scrimmage vs the Buzz Bullets
The Buzz Bullets are in town on their way to attend the Bro-Flight Finale, a tournament being held in Madison, WI, which was jointly created by Machine and Madison Club. Machine's qualification to the Pro-Flight Finale has prevented their attendance, but they will actively be monitoring the events in Madison over the course of the weekend. Full details on the Bro-Flight Finale