This weekend marked the start of the Pimpdags' Spring season. 20 of us or so traveled 13.5 hours south to play in Tuscaloosa, AL (http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4449). Surprisingly, the rust seemed to come off pretty quick as we remembered what playing outside and wearing shorts felt like.
Saturday: We came in 6th overall and 2rd in our pool of 4.
Game 1 vs. Homes Community College: This was a great warm-up game. I tried not to get overconfident as I watched them warm-up for the game by throwing BBQ backhands that despite the wind, never seemed to go where they were intended. They did have one guy with throws though, and despite a lack of D's for the amount of swill they put up, we took half 7-2. The second half was better as we became more comfortable running around and our legs loosened up from the long car ride. Final 13-2.
Game 2: Next up was Georgia B, another B team from a nationally competitive program. We don't lose to other B teams though. This was a close game, and like the Pimpdags, they had some throwers and some good athletes, and quite a few points were multi-turn battles. We always seemed to win the long points though, and slowly the D line managed to accumulate a few breaks and we won under the hard cap 12-8.
Game 3: After a bye filled with shouted references to power thirst (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPIRYhdnqs), we had our first chance of the weekend against an A team in playing Ole Miss. I'd like to think we were a deeper and more athletic team (we certainly had a larger roster), but it was obvious Ole Miss' best players had been playing together for a few years as they knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it on offense and very often threw a poachy match up zone D on us. Unprepared for zone O, we spotted them two breaks to start the game. We paused to breathe a little bit and after that we usually shredded their zone in a few throws. Though we were able to accumulate a few Defensive scores the offense wasn't running on high efficiency yet, possibly looking for the deep ball a little too much, and we weren't able to come back from the initial brain fart as we lost 13-10.
Game 4 v. Geogria D: Our last game of the day was a cross over against UGA's 3rd team (long story for why it's not the 'C' team). We started out subbing normally and experimenting with our newly installed 'sponge' D and took a 4-1 lead. It was obvious we would win at this point, and we started messing around and playing way down to them as a few starters chose to sit the rest of the game out. We ended up winning 13-7 in a game that took much longer than it should've. Still, I'll generally take 3-1 for a record on Saturday.
Sunday: Our loss to Ole Miss meant we missed out on a first round bye and had to play a pre-quarters game.
Pre-Quarters: By some weird combo of point differential and cross-over upsets our opponent would again be Georgia B. I think it obvious that UGA-B was more pumped up to play us than visa versa, and as a result we traded breaks and excruciatingly long points during the first half, but we managed to go into half clinging to a 7-6 lead. Then, starting a theme for the day, we realized we could play much better, sacked up, and took it to Georgia B in the second half. The O-line was striking quickly, slowly demoralizing their D in their inability to stop us, and the D-line was making UGA-B fight for every throw, showing no mercy whenever they got the disc. Final score 11-7.
Quarters v. LSU: LSU got a bye and this would be their first game, we were pumped up and in a groove, but they had fresh legs. In the first half fresh legs had the advantage and they opened up their deep game on us and flustered our Offense with smart play. Obviously this team practices outside all year doesn't have another team robbing them of their best players every year. Our heads were down as LSU was up 7-4 at half. But then, without really saying it, every person on our roster decided that this would not be their last game of the day, that they would not lose like this, that they would not be asking themselves "what if I played harder" on the long ride back to Madison. The O line was a model of efficiency, rarely turning the disc over and not getting broken at all in the 2nd half. The D-line was simply rabid, forcing LSU to play long points and jack low percentage hucks. Then we'd get the disc and work it up the field like we were an O-line or something. Huge skys, layout D's, and gorgeous hucks abounded for the pimpdags this game as the D-line carried us to victory and birth in the semifinals, 13-11.
Semi-Finals vs. Auburn: You never want to say it, or admit it to yourself, but after 6 hard fought games 13 hours from home with a near zero conditioning base, we were tired, possibly exhausted, and it showed this game. Auburn had played one less game and it definitely helped them, as they were consistently able to beat us deep. Still, the O-line continued to be money, giving up only a few breaks. Half found us down multiple breaks again, and again we forced ourselves to play harder, making sure we left everything on the field. The D-line got the breaks back, tying the game, but then Auburn's rested D got to our O and our D continued to have problems stopping Auburn's deep game. We had a chance to take this to universe, but an unfortunate turnover (my bad) on our last O point allowed Auburn to punch in the break for the win, 13-11.
All-in-all nothing to be disappointed about, especially for the first tournament of the year. I'm excited for what we can do next weekend at Mardi Gras and in future tournaments. Specific commentary on our play to follow in a later post.
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