Been busy here recently, and it's not going to get any easier, but I feel writing here is a more constructive study break than getting lost in YouTube (where today, by the way, I discovered a high school friend of mine is featured in a Serj Tankian music video) or something, so this week I've decided to declare is tourney recap week, and each day I'll be recapping an ultimate tourney I've been to.
Frostbite '08: Springfield, MO.
This was a 40 team tournament with an upper division of 20 teams and the Pimpdags came in seeded 14th. This tournament was notable for the first appearance in the spring season of handlers Ian, Davidman, and Rubinyi, which definitely came in very handy as the weather all weekend was very windy. It seemed each successive round was windier than the one before, and by the time the weekend was over, we playing in sustained 25+ mph winds.
Game 1 v. Wash U: We really wanted to beat these guys after nearly dropping a game to them in fall in which we took half 7-1. We played close with them in the first half, I remember catching the first score on a half-field huck and then throwing a forehand huck upwind which nearly took off the heads of people on the sideline before Calkins made a great toe-the-line snag for the score. Unfortunately, their handlers were consistent and our zone was rusty. Wash U was able to get a couple upwinders out of half and we opened our roster and dropped a game to the 1 seed in our pool 11-6.
Game 2 v. Truman State: This game came after a bye during which we worked on our zone and I retrieved my hat from the hotel. It was another revenge game for us, as TSU has beaten us 9-6 in the fall, a game I remember well as I still have a huge grassburn scar on my hip from laying out for a score during the first half. Anyway, this was a weird game. I think we scored more upwind points than downwind points somehow, probably a result of assuming the wind would cause a turn when TSU was working upwind and really valuing the disc when we were going upwind. We had a downwind O point at 8-7, game to 9, but we our universe line turned it over, and then both myself and Friedman managed to get brutally skied on successive throws to let up the TSU upwind score. So we were forced to play universe point upwind. There were a couple turns, one completely my fault (though I got the D back on an easy intercept of a punt), but eventually we worked it up and scored to win 9-8.
Game 3 v. Missouri-Rolla: We were motivated by our universe point win and the last seed in our pool stood no chance. We won this game 10-7 in a game where the rotation opened up a bit and was only notable by the debut of our upwind and downwind lines as opposed to O and D lines.
Game 4. Minnesota-Deluth: Another game we could get pumped for, and another game that showed us what we can do when we're motivated as a team. UMD is a regional rival and many Pimps have friends they play for them, so this was personal. The game started off poorly as I overthrew a handler on a dump on the second throw of the game, giving UMD the easy upwinder, which was followed by their downwinder. 2-0 bad guys. Oops. I resolved to stop sucking and proceeded to collect multiple point blocks as the mark in our zone as UMD would not score upwind again. On their 3rd try, our upwind line figured out UMD's zone with patient swinging and amazing cup-breaking throws from Ian and Alter and never looked back. With the score 4-2 Duluth, we scored 8 points in a row to win the game 10-4. Amazing.
Interlude: Due to other craziness in our pool, our 3-1 record and punishing of Duluth was enough to give us 1st in our pool and avoid a 5th crossover game on Saturday. We went back to the hotel, showered, and attacked a chinese buffet like there was no tomorrow. We got even more satisfaction for that day's performance as during our dinner non-showered, exhausted ultimate teams started filing into the buffet after their 5th game. After some relaxing at the hotel 13 of us crammed into a minivan with myself as the DD to go the tourney party, which was at a bar downtown. Despite arriving at 10:30, there were no ultimate players to be seen and only a few locals in the bar, i.e., the place was dead. So, since most of our team didn't want to pay money for bad beer, 8 of the team piled into a bathroom stall and started passing around beers they had snuck in. This lasted about 10 minutes before they were kicked out, me following behind shaking my head in amusement. Party over. I took most people back to the hotel but I ended up spending 3 hours with my coaches in a little place called Sassy Reds. Seeing how I have purged memory of that place from my mind I can't give details, but suffice to say that was the first strip club I've ever been to, and after that experience, I am never ever going to another one again.
Sunday, Game 1 v. Kansas B: Our pool win on Saturday gave us a favorable draw and we faced a Kansas B team that had the tremendous help of a couple of Kansas A handlers I recognized from playing club. However, the wind was approaching ridiculous levels at this point, so any team could lose to any other if they lucked into an upwind goal. We almost did that to Kansas B, as an errant pull gave them the disc 2 yards from their upwind endzone leading to a goal. Our upwind line was up to the task though, and scored multiple times upwind as the downwind line's zone kept Kansas from making any progress upwind. I think I collected a couple more handblocks as we cruised to a win 10-7.
Game 2 v. Kansas State: We knew nothing about this team, but they were solid. They had one handler with a wicked low release backhand who shredded our cup going upwind early in the game before we could adjust. They got with 10 yards of the endzone, called time out, we came out with man D, but their iso beat our defender openside for the easy upwind score. The wind picked up steadily and our upwind line struggled to make progress, each time seemingly getting closer and closer, once as close as 15 yards, but with 75+ passes probably required to break the zone and score, we could never string enough together to punch it in. It's a shame to lose a game for the sole reason of 3 quick backhands through the cup and a defensive brain fart, but with the wind as it was, that's what happened. K-State never got within the brick mark of their endzone again, but all that mattered was that they did it once and we couldn't do it. K-State advances to the semis with an 8-5 win.
Still though, it was a tourney to be proud of and a tourney that kept my hopes alive of being able to cut come series time as Ian, Davidman, and Rubinyi are all solid handlers.
