2011 Club Regionals Preview: Masters Week 2
USA Ultimate
Posted: October 7, 2011 10:12 AM
It is a reasonable assumption that this one is DoG's to lose, since they joined forces with 2010 NE champ GLUM. With the top two teams in the region combining, that pretty much makes this a race for second.
No Country might be well positioned to make some noise, being the non-NY members of last year's Rumble. The NY Rumblers are pretty much all on Dead Rabbits, so they could be competitive, but it is unclear if Adam Zagoria's squad can pull enough upsets to advance.
Well, one thing is known: Ball & Chain will not be in Sarasota this year, as much of that core has moved on to Grand Masters play. Atlanta may still have representation in the form of top seeded Reckon. This Georgia/Tennesse combo team has assembled some talent from around the region in John Hammond, Mark Driver, and Greg Allpow. 2nd seeded Tejas just might be the most complete team in this field, with a lot of Doublewide and Mileage talent.
Beyond that, Florida's Woolly Mammoth looks to be the first home state Masters team to qualify since Anejo did in 2008, and 4th seeded Slow Country Boil hopes to return to Sarasota and improve on their 2010 finish.
With only 1 bid on the line and 4 solid teams, this might end up being one of more wide open Regionals this weekend. Top seeded Beyondors have maintained their hold on many of the Colorado players they had the past two seasons. They will be strong, and motivated. Bravo, John, Esq. will also be a team to watch, with their relative youth and athleticism giving some teams problems. After a Nationals berth in 2010, Le Tigre will be hungry to return to the show. Denver's Hombres sin Nombre can't be overlooked either, judging by their win over Bravo Senior at Rocky Mountain Open Sectionals.