Skyd Fund 2014: 20 Days – Fugue On Top

As part of our 2014 Skyd Fundraiser celebrating 3 years of Skyd, we wanted to turn the page back to look at all of the great ultimate work our awesome contributors have put together. The Skyd Staff and contributors will be counting down the days of our fund with their favorite pieces.

Skyd Fund 2014 is presented by Huckrs.com!

You can be a part of the fund and wear the official Skyd Fund 2014 design by Jeremiah Boncha of Huckrs.com! Get the logo on a hat from VC Ultimate at the $50 level and a jersey from SAVAGE Ultimate at the $60 level.

Celebrate Skyd with Skyd Fund 2014

Day 20 – Fugue On Top

As part of the 2013 College Tour (presented by Spin Ultimate), Skyd Magazine’s Women’s Coverage Team produced some of the best tournament and season coverage we’ve ever seen in the sport – in any division. Maya Ziv, Robyn Wiseman (née Fennig), Kami Groom, Gil McIntyre, Adam Lerman, and I traveled to San Diego, Charlotte, Stanford, St. Louis, Austin, and Madison to cover the most important tournaments of the 2013 College Women’s season. Along the way we produced previews, live tweets, live analysis, audio streams, video recaps, written recaps, rankings, wildcard projections, Callahan interviews, and more. But the pride and joy of our 2013 coverage was definitely what we produced at the College Championships in Madison, where we had the luxury of four correspondents, a dedicated camera man (Gil is the best), and a seat in the official stadium press box.

In Madison we were able to watch every single pool play and elimination women’s game, provide round-by-round and daily recaps, live tweets, daily video recaps, interviews with big playmakers, captains, and coaches immediately after games, live semifinal and final analysis blogs, several feature stories, and even present the Callahan award. With 20 days to go in Skyd’s 2014 fundraising campaign, I want to call special attention to our finals coverage. We had Kami’s live tweets, a live analysis blog from me and Adam, and two great articles published several hours after the finals and the next morning.

First, my finals recap and immediate analysis, including interviews with both teams after the game:

Desperate for a spark, down two breaks to Carleton in the finals of the 2013 College Championships, Oregon’s Ashley Young stepped up in a big way. With Carleton on the doorstep for a crucial second upwind break, Syzygy’s star cutter Marley Hartman-Filson broke for the opposite side of the endzone and the forehand appeared out in the space in front of her. But Young fought to make up ground and exploded into the air past Hartman-Filson for an electrifying layout catch block that resuscitated Oregon’s lifeless defense and elicited a huge roar from the crowd.

Read the original article.

And second, Robyn Wiseman’s excellent feature story about Oregon’s defense and her personal relationship with the defensive line:

As a young basketball player, I attended my very first basketball camp taught by the Pius XI High School basketball great, coach Joel Claassen.  For those of you unfamiliar with Wisconsin high school sports history, Claassen coached the Lady Popes to 14 state basketball championships and 16 conference championships, among other countless successes as a coach and player.  On that humid summer day in the crowded, un-airconditioned gym, it was only minutes until I was first taught the age-old phrase, “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”  The women’s division final of the 2013 Division-1 College Championships proved that this phrase rings true in Ultimate.  If anyone wants to argue otherwise, let’s revisit Oregon’s Memorial Day victory.

Read the original article.

And stay tuned to Skyd Magazine for an announcement regarding our 2014 college coverage … in all four divisions. Don’t forget to donate to Skyd Fund ’14!