April 29, 2020
By Evan Lepler

With the 2020 AUDL season on hold, new television partner Fox Sports has chosen to re-air many of the league’s classic games from years past. Next up is the 2018 championship battle between the Madison Radicals and the Dallas Roughnecks. Here’s what I most remember about the build-up and aftermath from that particular title showdown

I honestly felt nervous while writing the Tuesday Toss following Madison's championship victory in 2018. Knowing the journey that the Radicals and their fans had taken to arrive to that magical moment, there's a sense of pressure and desperation as a writer to try and capture it perfectly. I remember staring at a blank word document, writing and then erasing over and over again, in pursuit of a powerful column that would forever evoke the emotions of the team's unforgettable experience. After all, this was no ordinary championship pursuit.

The Radicals had been a marquee franchise since they entered the AUDL, with unbelievable fans and a breathtaking homefield environment. Furthermore, their core players had endured five previous Final Four experiences from 2013-17 that spanned the gamut from disappointing to devastating, and in winning in 2018 they vanquished so many demons. Celebrating the franchise's first championship in front of their diehard supporters at beautiful Breeze Stevens Field made it even more special. 

So it was all of these factors and more that lingered in my mind as I stared endlessly at the white computer screen, wondering how I could somehow transfer the passion, the drama, and the catharsis into a Tuesday column that would live on as a historic artifact to accurately reflect the feelings and vibes of the time.

Here's what I came up with. I remember feeling proud when I hit send, and you can be the judge, a couple years later, whether it stands the test of time.

But looking back on everything after 20 months of reflection, I think the thing that stands out so much more in retrospect is how the actual players and coaches carried themselves with a belief and confidence that belied their past failures on that stage. They did not look afraid or cautious, and they attacked each moment with an aggressive intelligence that gave them a leg up throughout the competition. In contrast to me feeling the nerves during and afterwards, they had all been through it before and acted accordingly, utilizing the valuable experiences from the past as fuel while disregarding the negative memories that could have mentally derailed them. It was really a sight to see.

Fortunately, you can see it again, completely remastered, on FS2 at 5:30 PM/ET today. Beyond Madison’s triumphant performance, here are a dozen other nuggets to both set the stage and keep an eye on during your rewatch of the 2018 championship.

• Although the Radicals were playing at home, most still considered the Dallas Roughnecks to be the favorites heading into the final. The Roughnecks were 15-1 on the season and 45-5 all-time, seeking their second championship.
• One day earlier, the Roughnecks withstood the talented and surging New York Empire, who scored 30 goals but still fell short as Dallas erupted for 32 in a thrilling semifinal. Of course, the Radicals, who possessed the top defense in the league, would hold the Roughnecks to half that many on Championship Sunday.
  
• While Dallas’ dominance over the rest of the league may have suggested that the franchise just kept on grooving from the previous two years, it’s worth noting that this Roughnecks’ squad certainly felt like more of a home-grown group compared to 2016 and 2017, teams that were anchored around superstars who, for the most part, did not live or grow up in Texas or the surrounding states. By 2018, Jimmy Mickle, Dylan Freechild, Kurt Gibson, Beau Kittredge, Cassidy Rasmussen, and Chris Mazur all were gone. Most franchises could be crippled by the loss of that kind of talent, but the Roughnecks somehow reloaded, maintaining their mojo over the rest of their Division.
• Certainly, several experienced Roughnecks stepped up into larger roles in 2018, but the emergence of a new cadre of playmakers was critical to Dallas’s dominant season. Carson Wilder had shown glimpses of his abilities the previous couple seasons with Austin, but made took significant steps toward stardom after joining the Roughnecks for the 2018 season.
• Wilder, who played his college ultimate at Texas Tech, was one of five noteworthy nominees for the 2017 Callahan Award, college ultimate’s top individual honor, who made critical impacts on the 2018 Roughnecks roster, along with Dillon Larberg (University of Texas), Zach Marbach (Texas A&M), Kai Marshall (University of Oklahoma), and Kaplan Maurer (University of Arkansas). When you also factor in additional young talent like Matthew Armour, Noah Chambers, Henry Furuta, and Connor Olson, you begin to understand how the Roughnecks completely reshaped their roster yet still maintained a championship standard.
• In contrast to Dallas’s extensive roster makeover—only seven players who saw action at Championship Weekend in 2018 were on the team during their undefeated title two years prior—the Madison Radicals had 10 different guys who were on their inaugural 2013 team that saw the field in the 2018 Final Four. It was this roster continuity that made the Radicals’ journey so compelling, but also made many wonder whether the franchise would be able to get over the hump of a final, where they had previously fallen short twice before.
  
• Two and a half months prior to Championship Sunday, the Radicals experienced their most lopsided loss in franchise history, which represented a genuine fork-in-the-road moment for the organization. In the Tuesday Toss following the 24-16 beatdown against the Raleigh Flyers, I wondered whether Madison was capable of matching up with the league’s elite from outside of their own Division. At that moment, the Radicals were 76-7 against the Midwest and 1-7 against other opponents through the franchise’s six years in the league. The Raleigh loss served as a wake-up call, and to Madison’s credit, it triggered change.
• Most notably, the Radicals shifted Peter Graffy, who had evolved into their most talented all-around player, over to the O-line. This critical adjustment unlocked new avenues of potential and enabled Graffy to seize more authority both as a thrower and receiver. And perhaps most importantly, his years of defensive experience and prowess had him well-positioned to make a difference in terms of regaining possession after a turnover, something the rest of Madison’s aging O-line had struggled with at times. Graffy’s +11 over the two Championship Weekend games led the team.
  
• One of the most notable storylines entering the final was the dynamic of former Radical Jay Froude aiming for his first AUDL title, going against his old team. Froude played two seasons with Madison and put up huge numbers as a part-time player—31 assists, 30 goals, 31 blocks in just 12 regular season games—before signing with Dallas and immediately becoming one of the Roughnecks’ most productive athletes. In 2018, in fact, his +96 was #1 in the entire league. But Madison prepared diligently with a defensive game plan to slow down Dallas’s top studs, while Sterling Knoche assumed much of the individual responsibility in trying to slow down the explosive Froude.
• It’s natural to wonder how this title game may have transpired differently if not for injuries that impacted many of Dallas’s key players. Two of the Roughnecks’ tallest and most athletic contributors, Kevin Richardson and Dan Emmons, missed the final after suffering ankle injuries in Saturday’s semi. Furthermore, Abe Coffin, another former Radical, was on the sidelines but inactive throughout the entire season, following a wrist injury. Uncontrollable injuries and bizarre circumstances always impact championships in every sport, but it’s reasonable for Roughnecks fans to wonder what might have been had they been healthier on Championship Sunday.
• Speaking of injuries, I did not even realize Madison’s Thomas Coolidge was dealing with multiple ailments throughout the weekend until chatting with him after the title game. Nobody watching would have imagined he was playing impaired, as Coolidge registered four blocks across the two games and delivered several spectacular highlights, however the Radical vet was dealing with a hamstring pull and a chronic shoulder issue. The hamstring flared up at practice earlier in the week, making him question whether he would even be able to compete. And when he did take the field, his shoulder annoyingly popped out of its socket multiple times across the two games! Yet Coolidge weathered the pain and delivered one of the memorable performances in Championship Weekend history.
• Assessing the history of title game buzzer-beaters—and I’m working on a more extensive breakdown for a future article—these are usually momentum-swinging moments that can determine the ultimate champ. Obviously, the most iconic play of the Radicals-Roughnecks title tussle transpired in the closing seconds of the third quarter, with Kevin Pettit-Scantling coming down with the deflected disc on a desperation deep shot as time expired. The crowd’s eruption, the Radicals’ celebration, and the Roughnecks’ dejection in this moment basically became the most lasting memory from the 2018 Championship experience.

The Radicals-Roughnecks Championship Game premieres on FS2 today (on Wednesday, April 29) at 5:30 PM/ET. In addition, starting at 3:00 PM/ET this afternoon, fans can watch an encore performance of the 2019 AUDL Championship game between the New York Empire and the Dallas Roughnecks. If your DVR malfunctions, an encore showing of the ’18 title game will re-air this Saturday, May 2, at 12;00 PM/ET on FS2.