As you may or may not be aware, two of the biggest summer tournaments were held this weekend: Emerald City Classic, and of course WUDI 09 draft league finals.
Got to the field early to wait out the first round bye and scope out the competition. Whoo carpooling! The sky was blue and the sun was bright. Our first round opponent turned out to be moss, in my opinion the toughest possible team we could have faced in quarters (and easily a semis team, had they not faced us...). Both teams came out strong and play was quick and brutal. I don't remember who took half but it was 8 - 7. Second half we managed to pull ahead and win the hotly contested matchup. Must have been nice for Billy to knock out Drew's team.
Our second round was against black, a team we had not seen since we trounced them soundly the first game of the summer. I did not know what to expect. They went up on us early and we had to struggle to score two points to their five. They were fired up and using the tried and true "game to three" mental method. At 6 - 4 things were getting out of hand, and then they took half 8 - 5. They scored right out of half to make it 9 - 5, and that's when things got interesting.
We got fired up like crazy and juiced them to tie it at nines. We traded to make it elevens, but the game had changed in that we were dictating the flow of play. We made it 10 -9, they answered, we made it 11 - 10, and they answered. Then the cap went on. In my opinion they had been slowrolling pulls and stoppages in the early game once they were up in hopes of a big cap win. Whether this was a concious strategy or not, they were taking it slooow and once the cap went on they were suddenly rushing everything. Hilarious. Well at that point we were too fired up to lose to such scallywags, and we won 13 - 11 in the grittiest game I can think of. After being down the whole game, gritting it out to win was amazing. Finals baby!
Finals was not suprisingly against white team, who gritted it out to win 14 - 12 against Power Blue despite my predictions to the contrary. Anyway, white scored quickly before we could answer for a 2 - 1 early lead. Eventually white had us at 7 - 4, until we decided that that sucks and scored three in a row for the sevens tie. White took half and and the pressure was on.
Second we got fired up the way we do and evened the score at elevens, then 13 - 11 in our favor. At that point, the game was ours. Or was it? White took our lead personally and decided to tie it at thirteens after some atrocious foul calls (yeah I said it) on Orange d's. White scored again for 14 - 13, and then got a point block and jacked it deep for the 15 - 13 win that left Juice players on the sidelines flabbergasted that the game was over.
Anyway, second place. Not bad. We played hard all day and had arguably the tougher road to finals. That's not an excuse just an opinion. We finish the draft league with a respectable 15 - 5 record, the best of any team despite our finals loss. We jockeyed for first place with white all summer and facing any other team in the finals would have been slightly disapointing. They came out on top, fair enough.
Part II coming soon!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Rec Finals
Rec Finals baby!
Arrived at the fields an hour before the game. By quarter after nine, Blue had a full squad with maybe even subs while most teams had barely mustered enough to throw around. We were ready.
First game against Red. They score some points, we score more, bingo bango, we win. They could not hang with us on defense, and we stopped them a lot.
Second game against Gold. We trade for the first six points, then they pull ahead to take half 8 - 6. We got fired up at halftime and resolve to run harder with the idea of making finals. They score just out of half to make it 9 - 6 on a crazy marathon point that lasted for probably close to ten minutes, and on a hot day playing zone that's saying something. After that point we brought in fresh legs, boom, score, boom break, boom break, boom boom suddenly we're up 11 to 9. Gold managed to tie it at 12 - 12, and then we scored three straight for the crazy win. Everyone played really hard and we really showcased our speed and grit.
Apparently we used it all up though, because we came out flat against Moss in the finals and eventually lost something like 15 - 5. Brutal. Second place ain't so bad though. Moss played a very low error game and we did not run hard. Simple math.
All things considered, we had a great season, with only two losses and a lot of fun had.
I learned a lot playing rec this year and am very glad I signed up. Firstly, playing with my bro is awesome. I'm very proud of him for stepping up and his game has improved a lot this summer.
I learned a lot about being able to switch from a handler mindset to a cutter mindset and back again as many times as neccesary during a game. That transition was something I often mentally had a problem with but now I feel a lot more confident in both positions. Kyle told me after finals I need to high point and box people out even more. That and jumping higher would go a long way, I'll work on it.
The trick for both positions is to never sit idle, really. Cut.
Another thing I learned from Kyle is that you can be quiet and be a good captain, you can be spirited without loud cheering. His captaining style is so different from mine and it was very interesting to watch him work. He is a great captain and worked as hard to teach everyone as much as possible and make sure everyone had fun.
Go Blue Fruit Chew!
Arrived at the fields an hour before the game. By quarter after nine, Blue had a full squad with maybe even subs while most teams had barely mustered enough to throw around. We were ready.
First game against Red. They score some points, we score more, bingo bango, we win. They could not hang with us on defense, and we stopped them a lot.
Second game against Gold. We trade for the first six points, then they pull ahead to take half 8 - 6. We got fired up at halftime and resolve to run harder with the idea of making finals. They score just out of half to make it 9 - 6 on a crazy marathon point that lasted for probably close to ten minutes, and on a hot day playing zone that's saying something. After that point we brought in fresh legs, boom, score, boom break, boom break, boom boom suddenly we're up 11 to 9. Gold managed to tie it at 12 - 12, and then we scored three straight for the crazy win. Everyone played really hard and we really showcased our speed and grit.
Apparently we used it all up though, because we came out flat against Moss in the finals and eventually lost something like 15 - 5. Brutal. Second place ain't so bad though. Moss played a very low error game and we did not run hard. Simple math.
All things considered, we had a great season, with only two losses and a lot of fun had.
I learned a lot playing rec this year and am very glad I signed up. Firstly, playing with my bro is awesome. I'm very proud of him for stepping up and his game has improved a lot this summer.
I learned a lot about being able to switch from a handler mindset to a cutter mindset and back again as many times as neccesary during a game. That transition was something I often mentally had a problem with but now I feel a lot more confident in both positions. Kyle told me after finals I need to high point and box people out even more. That and jumping higher would go a long way, I'll work on it.
The trick for both positions is to never sit idle, really. Cut.
Another thing I learned from Kyle is that you can be quiet and be a good captain, you can be spirited without loud cheering. His captaining style is so different from mine and it was very interesting to watch him work. He is a great captain and worked as hard to teach everyone as much as possible and make sure everyone had fun.
Go Blue Fruit Chew!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Like it's a marriage proposal.
So today we faced purple, our foil from a few weeks back, the first team to beat us all season. The first time we played them we started out quickly down to their swift cuts and concise throws. This time however we recieved the disc and quickly scored. Three d points later it was 4 - 0 in our favor. By 7 - 0, we were feeling pretty good about things but it got real crazy when Manny caught a callahan to take half 8 - 0.
So I have a story for you about the second half. Picture if you will the following situation: Purple has scored some points to bring the game within five or something. They are throwing a tight zone with some kind of four person cup configuration. A tall reciever catches a hammer on the sideline after some shake and bake moves to lose the right wing. Since he is unmarked, he looks straight for the endzone. Lo and behold, there is indeed an open cutter there.
Let's say this guy considers himself a big thrower and has been tossing huge backhand pulls all day. To make things more interesting, let's say the reciever is his girlfriend and that she has torched her defender for a thirty yard cushion in the endzone (the deep defender somewhere off to the side with his pants around his ankles reading a newspaper). The throw goes up but with a slight downward angle and lasers straight to the ground just inches away from the reciever's valiant bid. Bazonkers! That sucks!
Let's say he's giving himself a hard time about it.
Other than that things were good, caught some goals, threw some nice short passes, launched some nice in bounds pulls. Everyone played hard.
Suffice to say we won despite being outscored 9 - 6 in the second half for a final score of 14 - 9 after cap. In the end it was the 8 - 0 in the first half that mattered, but we did get slightly complacent...
Anyway, Billy talked about keeping your knees bent on the mark and your feet about shoulder width apart (too wide and it is hard to switch directions). I think that is good advice for throwing as well. So bend those knees.
So I have a story for you about the second half. Picture if you will the following situation: Purple has scored some points to bring the game within five or something. They are throwing a tight zone with some kind of four person cup configuration. A tall reciever catches a hammer on the sideline after some shake and bake moves to lose the right wing. Since he is unmarked, he looks straight for the endzone. Lo and behold, there is indeed an open cutter there.
Let's say this guy considers himself a big thrower and has been tossing huge backhand pulls all day. To make things more interesting, let's say the reciever is his girlfriend and that she has torched her defender for a thirty yard cushion in the endzone (the deep defender somewhere off to the side with his pants around his ankles reading a newspaper). The throw goes up but with a slight downward angle and lasers straight to the ground just inches away from the reciever's valiant bid. Bazonkers! That sucks!
Let's say he's giving himself a hard time about it.
Other than that things were good, caught some goals, threw some nice short passes, launched some nice in bounds pulls. Everyone played hard.
Suffice to say we won despite being outscored 9 - 6 in the second half for a final score of 14 - 9 after cap. In the end it was the 8 - 0 in the first half that mattered, but we did get slightly complacent...
Anyway, Billy talked about keeping your knees bent on the mark and your feet about shoulder width apart (too wide and it is hard to switch directions). I think that is good advice for throwing as well. So bend those knees.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Just kidding
Hingham 2009, Flaming Kangaroo style.
We came. We conquered the party. We left with the spirit award.
Day 1:
First game was against some team. They were pretty good and had some fast bros and some bros who could throw deep and beat us pretty easily. Our offense took a while to click. It was basically a warmup game for us. Their captain thinks he is real cool cause he has dreadlocks. That's alright I guess.
2nd game was against SUC, which I am assuming stands for Syracuse ultimate club because a few of them were from Syracuse. That might not be right. Maybe they were from Cape Cod. Details hazy. We kept it close but they pulled away at the end to win something like 13 - 9 although that might be totally the wrong score. They were cool. We had a lot of energy and our offense clicked and some cool stuff happened.
We sang Father Abraham for both of the aforementioned teams.
Third game was against some team composed of mostly old people from Boston. We had no energy. Our offense clicked a littled but it was a halfhearted game and a few bad calls left a lot of people unhappy. We did not have much fun.
Before the fourth game I gave a speech (big suprise!) about how the fact that we were not having fun was practically criminal. Some people's eyes lit up and a few smiles were cracked and we got pumped up. We played Wey hi, one of the host teams. They were mostly old dudes from the local towns of Hingham and Wey-something. Weymoth? They were real cool and we goofed around with them a bit. They won something like 13 - 7 in a very tired game between both teams. It was a lot of fun like it should be. Can't remember if we sang Father Abraham to them or not. Everyone was tired.
Did you know that Chili's has two kinds of mashed potatoes you can get as a side order and that most dinners come with two side orders? You can get both. Double mashed baby. Amazing.
We dominated the party even more than last year. Loud songs were sung.
Games were played with Muff and anyone else brave enough to hang with us.
I slept in a folding chair for a while and eventually made it back to the tent.
Day two....
Woke up ready to go. We played the Muff Divers, our bestest friends, while the Wallabies played SUC. Muff prevailed in an entertaining game, good times were had by all and great plays made by both sides.
The Wallabies scored one point against SUC and immediately rushed the cooler for some refreshing beverages. Hilarious.
For our final game both teams had lost players to injuries and heat and thus combined to form the KangaWallabies. We came out strong with a two point huck on the first point. Two more two point hucks and a lot of strong defense later, C Luch threw a blading forehand to me for the second grade KangaWallabie connection and our first and only win of the tournament. Having ended thus on a high note, we collected our spirit award (a bottle of cheap champagne which someone sprayed everywhere), hung out with Muff some more, and departed.
One of the best parts of the weekend was when the TD presented the spirit award to the Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Muff. He said "you guys are my three favorite teams at the tournament, and I play on three others". That goes to show the kind of ruckus that we bring all day and all night.
On KangaWallaMuff.
We came. We conquered the party. We left with the spirit award.
Day 1:
First game was against some team. They were pretty good and had some fast bros and some bros who could throw deep and beat us pretty easily. Our offense took a while to click. It was basically a warmup game for us. Their captain thinks he is real cool cause he has dreadlocks. That's alright I guess.
2nd game was against SUC, which I am assuming stands for Syracuse ultimate club because a few of them were from Syracuse. That might not be right. Maybe they were from Cape Cod. Details hazy. We kept it close but they pulled away at the end to win something like 13 - 9 although that might be totally the wrong score. They were cool. We had a lot of energy and our offense clicked and some cool stuff happened.
We sang Father Abraham for both of the aforementioned teams.
Third game was against some team composed of mostly old people from Boston. We had no energy. Our offense clicked a littled but it was a halfhearted game and a few bad calls left a lot of people unhappy. We did not have much fun.
Before the fourth game I gave a speech (big suprise!) about how the fact that we were not having fun was practically criminal. Some people's eyes lit up and a few smiles were cracked and we got pumped up. We played Wey hi, one of the host teams. They were mostly old dudes from the local towns of Hingham and Wey-something. Weymoth? They were real cool and we goofed around with them a bit. They won something like 13 - 7 in a very tired game between both teams. It was a lot of fun like it should be. Can't remember if we sang Father Abraham to them or not. Everyone was tired.
Did you know that Chili's has two kinds of mashed potatoes you can get as a side order and that most dinners come with two side orders? You can get both. Double mashed baby. Amazing.
We dominated the party even more than last year. Loud songs were sung.
Games were played with Muff and anyone else brave enough to hang with us.
I slept in a folding chair for a while and eventually made it back to the tent.
Day two....
Woke up ready to go. We played the Muff Divers, our bestest friends, while the Wallabies played SUC. Muff prevailed in an entertaining game, good times were had by all and great plays made by both sides.
The Wallabies scored one point against SUC and immediately rushed the cooler for some refreshing beverages. Hilarious.
For our final game both teams had lost players to injuries and heat and thus combined to form the KangaWallabies. We came out strong with a two point huck on the first point. Two more two point hucks and a lot of strong defense later, C Luch threw a blading forehand to me for the second grade KangaWallabie connection and our first and only win of the tournament. Having ended thus on a high note, we collected our spirit award (a bottle of cheap champagne which someone sprayed everywhere), hung out with Muff some more, and departed.
One of the best parts of the weekend was when the TD presented the spirit award to the Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Muff. He said "you guys are my three favorite teams at the tournament, and I play on three others". That goes to show the kind of ruckus that we bring all day and all night.
On KangaWallaMuff.
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