Think about this. Japanese are all shorter (primarily). So they've got to work these huck blades that slice in where only the receiver can catch them at the last minute, which makes catching and throwing it much more difficult. The US could just air out flat 50 / 50 and catch most of them (they might still have to get a good jump). But on the mark, you have people like Nathaniel White whose armspan is like twice theirs. How hard is that. So Japan just has very fast handler movement and very fast disc movement. Such an awesome game to watch!
This was great to watch. Two teams respecting each other, having fun playing a game. Unlike when Canada played Japan and gooned it up with all the physical tackling and phantom foul calls.
I played this a few times back in London in the 90’s. Great fun. I’m a bit older now and play with my 2 boys in Stroud, Gloucestershire. They love it. My eldest has been invited to trial for the U17 GB team this Autumn. He’s 15 and has a phenomenal side arm! Fast and fit too!
I grew up in nailsworth and have always been interested but never played or knew there was anyone/anywhere to play around here. Never thought I’d see a cotswolds neighbor in the comments of a ultimate frisbee vid haha!
Okay, 38:40 replay - very clearly the Japanese defender fouled, is it Cassidy Rasmussen here. So maybe Japan is getting the best of a bad call. Let's see if the disc doesn't lie.
Looked like a foul, but not a strip, which unless my knowledge is out of date (or potentially a rule has changed since this since it was a few years ago) means that the disc goes back to the thrower.
There's alot of talk here in the comments about travel calls and how USA ruined the game by making so many nit picky calls. Anyone watching film on this Buzz Bullets team would notice two things almost immediately. Their ability to put OI forehands into spaces outside of a defenders reach. Second being how much they travel. They are constantly moving their pivot foot up and down the field, not to mention the subtle rounding of cuts to establish better position. I understand that calling travel over and over stops the flow, but the rules exist for a reason.
Very cool that Kitchikowa played in finals 18 years apart, but Japan lost to Canada in the finals in 1998. Canada beat a Death or Glory/USA squad in pool play and semis.
The U.S. team played a tremendous game and clearly deserved the win - although it's a disgrace how many wrong calls they made concerning travels and picks. This kind of missing spirit is what drags this wonderful sport down
Kinda disagree. Freechild called a bad travel and White called a bad foul (which he took back after the observer said he thought it wasn't a foul), but those were really the only bad calls from the US. All pretty balanced when you consider that Japan had a few bad calls too (contesting an obvious foul in the endzone even when the observer said it looked like a foul and a pretty questionable call to take back the callahan) Pretty spirited game all around if you ask me. Teams are always going to make a few questionable calls. That's just human error.
Wow... First bad Japanese contest to a clear foul by the player 97 right on the cusp of half. There were 2 nonexistent travel calls by team USA that gave them their first break, taking the credit away from a brilliant bid by Freechild unfortunately, but one mistake doesn't justify another
On the 9th point, 4 / 4, with Japan trying to hold to go up 5 / 4. The US makes two calls before Japan turns it over. A travel call, which on review might've been legit. The thrower does lift and reset his pivot foot. But I wanna know were they screaming travel immediately, or after there was a goal scored? And then they call a disc that was scooped right above (posssibly off) the turf down. There's an observer right there. And it seems to me that Nathaniel White is always making these calls (he called the disc down). I've seen him roll his hands for a travel call. And I just think, I'm not sure, but my first impression is that this isn't good spirit of the game. It disrupts Japan's flow. On the travel call, it was actually a goal, otherwise. I haven't (yet) seen Japan get nit picky or make a lot of calls. I just watched an AUDL game where Seattle, I wanna say, made calls against itself. Seattle vs. Wisconsin in the Semi Finals. They obviously wanted to win it decisively and completely unobjectionably. Like there was no doubt we scored and no doubt we didn't travel, or whatever. They didn't make a lot of calls against Wisconsin. And they didn't contest calls WI made. I wish the US would take the higher road. Like make it obvious that they're not using calls to get an advantage or stop Japan's flow. I may be wrong.
Travel call is clearly correct and nobody argues. It's not bad spirit to make a correct call, and there's certainly no pattern of questionable travel calls before this point. Up/Down was extremely close, and White actually retracts his call after other people chime in within 6 seconds. Matsuno's slide carried him out of bounds so there's hardly any flow being disrupted. Mentioning that an observer was on top of the play isn't relevant since it's not an active call, and you would have to stop play in order to solicit his opinion. Overall the spirit in this game was pretty great.
Sonya Feinberg I completely agree, I thought the USA was being all nit picky. I hate that. I just want to play the game or watch it, it drives me insane when they stop every few seconds for little tiny things.
Japan has a history of being pretty petty with calls as well : See 2014 WUCC Buzz Bullets - Ironside final point. It's understandable, they lack size on just about every team they play and may come from a community where a lot less contact is acceptable, but overall I don't think either team in this game overstepped any bounds. Also, basically everyone on Japan travels like BJ Sefton on almost every throw so a travel here and there is probably good to remind them that the rule does, in fact, exist. Plus in terms of fouls the worst treatment of a foul all game was committed by the Japanese at 38:40 when Rasmussen is clearly fouled and the defender staunchly refuses to change his stance. In the end I don't really see where people's annoyance with the calls is coming from. Game was played cleanly but for a few calls, US was clearly the better team and deserved to win, and the calls had no tangible effect on the game... A lot of people seemed to just be annoyed with the US for sweeping in such dominant fashion.
This is WFDF rules so they aren't observers - He's simply indicating what the call was on the field (i.e. the players said it was a goal, so that's what he indicated)
Incorrect. Good call, look at 51:45. The travel was not a drag of the pivot. The travel was that the Japanese player changed direction before setting his pivot after the catch. Was headed in, rounded the corner, threw. Clear travel.
It's not about the number of steps you take -.- its the number of steps you need to stop your momentum as quickly as possible. Also if you're actually paying attention he establishes his pivot on the 4th step. The 5th step with his right foot is around the pivot.
52:38 how is the handler not travelling? i though one foot must be on the ground at all times. are there any experienced players who can explain this to me?
It's a travel, #2 traveled a ton throughout the game but in this scenario they didn't call it I assume because it didn't necessarily have any impact on the play
I like the very next turnover / break on the very next point US 5 / Japan 4. Allen Collick (spelling?) sees the Japanese cutter coming under with no one in front of him and just books to the spot where he would've caught the goal. Allen seems very alert and agile. He looks funny with his hunched shoulders, but I think he's one of my new favorite players - just noticed him on DC in the AUDL recently. Very heads up and totally destructive to a finely tuned Japanese machine. Like dropping a wrench in a spinning engine. it hurts.
