Hello, we got back late last nite from a pretty good trip to sota. Probably over 2 or 3 posts. Also, I will try not to play the "we do not get any respect" card but if you have read anything about the tourney, it seems we are not very good.
Anyway, LT, Tweb, and I flew into Sarasota late in the afternoon on Wed. Get in to the hotel at a decent hour and we had some Grandma's meatballs for dinner. After catching up with some teammates, Bait women, and some Riot friends, I went to bed early 10 pm as I was feeling pretty bad. I had a cold all week and was still battling it that nite.
Wake up early, eat some grub, and out to the fields by 8:30. Ah, the fresh dew on the polo fields. Very nice. Unfortunately, the Jam game was not very nice. There is really nothing to go into b/c it was 15-7. We were never really in the game. Down 0-4. 3-8 at half. We did have 5 chances to go 5-8 and maybe get a little mo', but our d did not score all game. We had 6 or 7 wide open drops in the game (2 for goals), one big layout by Safdie after our guy was open by 20-30 yards and just stood there, and a huck to 3 Jam guys and 0 Sub Zero guys. Good times. Does not get much worse. Oh yeah, we lose Winey one of our starting o cutters with possible knee damage. At least it was against the #1 seed in our pool.
Up next Pike. We have rebounded well all year after horrible defeats. And we would do that again. We receive and take half 8-7. Both d's get one break. I forget how we get the d, but near the endzone and me-dikeman for the goal. They answer back. They have another huge opportunity to go up 2 breaks in the first half, but Naz gets a big d on our goalline and we march it right back down the field.
They come out and score the first 2, 8-9. We tie it and then after I d a huck, Pbo makes a huge grab on a huck from me (called play from a to). Huge layout stick. We are up 10-9. Then 11-11 and I think they go up 11-12. I believe this was the point that one of their guys made the absolute worst bid I have ever seen in to TO's back. TO not only gets hit by that guy but also another defender goes down, luckily, with only an arm injury. Ugh. 2 starting O cutters done. And it is Thursday. We do tie it up at 12s. Get the disc on d, high stall to the back, that rolls of Dan's fingertips. But a foul on the throw. A couple throws later, we are up 13-12. They score 13s. We score 14-13. Pull to them, forcing a bad huck deep. We start working up, another layout into one of our guys (advice to defenders, if you have to layout into the back of someone, that is NOT a good bid). I sub in. Shane roaches his man to gain most of our yardage. Eventually, I score the game winner 15-13. We take down the #2 team in our pool and look good for the power pool. It was a hard fought game, that both teams never had a huge advantage. A fun game to be apart, minus the 2 very sketchy bids.
Last game, was the college kids on VC. They play an interesting zone (stops the hammers, but leaves the middle open) and they throw anything. It was close early maybe 8-6 or 7. Everyone is frustrated at halftime, but the important thing is we are on serve and up. We play much better in the 2nd half and convert. The last point of the game is me getting humped on the mark. So I just bomb it (no one open) and my gets mad, I was fouling you the whole time then stopped. I told him he was fouling before, during, and after the throw. Foul-contest obviously. We score and take the game 15-10 or 11. Oh, I forgot to mention PBo's great footblock. I love a good footblock.
At the end of the day, we are 2-1 and #2 in our pool. We move up. We are still somewhat under the radar b/c both Condors and Ring go 0-3. Everyone can't believe that. We have Bravo + Potomac in our power pool. I am bummed about the Jam game, but it was great to run through the next 2 games and not lose a half. Huge for our confidence.
Personally, I did not do much in the Jam game. No one did. In the Pike game, I got a couple d's and felt I did a pretty good on Bailey. Had a goal or 2 and a couple of assists. In the VC game, the same as the Pike game. I was not involved in a turnover all day. That felt very good.
Going into Friday would be tough, when I went to bed Thursday, I thought No Winey and No Todd Owens. So we had 8 mainly o guys, plus 3 of us d guys that played a little O. Now, it was 6 mainly o guys. The adjustment was to play me on O and more Goldstein on O. We takes 2 of our better o guys from the d team, but the O needed it.
Friday, we see Bravo first. TO looks good warming up Friday morning, so we decide to ease him into the game. Make sure he is ok. That is great news, not only for this game, but also for our chances to do well. We play pretty well on O in the first half. Only 1 break. I have my first turn in the first half on a very stupid decision on a throw to Goldstein. Ugh. Both teams get a break, so we are up 8-7. BUT, it is obvious our d's o is hurting. We had at least 10 chances (yes, I said at least 10 chances) to go up more. The 2nd half goes down the tubes. Basically, they win 8-1 in the 2nd half. Our only goal is a huck from me to TO. We have a lot of strange turns, just like the first half of the Jam game. They turned up their pressure for sure and we did not respond. The worst example was they gave us the disc to start the half and we just dropped it on the 2nd throw.
So, now we have Potomac. The winner of this game is #3 and loser plays in the pre-quarters. Yes it is fun to play frisbee, no it is not fun to play in the pre-quarters.
Potomac's strategy is to huck it. And if that is shut down, huck it. And if they have that contained, throw a deep hammer. Seriously, at best they are throwing 50-50 balls. They have a solid team, but not a team that just makes grab after grab.
Close game early, they have a chance to go up a break, but Boardman saves the weakest hammer of my life just before it hits the ground after a tip. I believe the o gets broken once and the d gets at least 1 break, maybe 2. We are up 8-7 or 8-6. One more half and we are in the quarters. Luckily, the o keeps it going. And the d starts adding points. We start to pull away and they just keep hucking it away. I know our d's o was not playing well, but give us enough chances, we will score. Dan makes an unbelieveable catch on a crez blade. Shane, Pbo, and John played some really good d. My favorite goal was to go up 12-9 when Paco threw a break mark high release backhand to the open side (he was being forced forehand). It was an interesting choice, but a beautiful throw. Berkseth catches my mack in the endzone for a goal. And eventually we are up 14-9. They score on o, after we turn it on our endzone, they score 14-10. They score to make it 14-11 as TO tries to stop from throwing a forehand, but it slips. I am not sure who scores the final one, but we win 15-11.
SO after 2 days, we are 3-2 and #3 in our pool. We play Furious in the morning. We were looking forward to that. TO looked completely healthy by the end of the day, so we could switch me back to d. We felt if we had any chance to beat Furious, we needed our original o line to do well even though they were 1 man down and send me back to the d team, so the O would be a little better (if you have never seen me play before, I tend to hog the disc).
On friday, I played ok. I was disappointed in my Bravo performance. I was involved in 2 turns. One to Goldstein and one to Boardman. Both throws where I did not read their cuts correctly. In Potomac, I was pretty good. Luckily, Boardman saved my hammer, but besides that I thought my d was ok and my o was pretty solid. They would send a guy as fast as he could to cover me on the pull every point. This messed up our pull play once or twice, but by the end of the game, he was not doing it. I think he got tired.
We won 3 halfs on Friday and got destroyed in one. I was pretty optimistic that if we played well, we could hang with Furious.
I got to get home early, hang out at the pool and beach, get some pizza, and then hit the sack. I was pumped to be in the quarters with our team. I was getting more excited by the minute.
More later, I need to go and do something productive. I though our quarters game was a good game, but apparently no one cared.
Anyway, LT, Tweb, and I flew into Sarasota late in the afternoon on Wed. Get in to the hotel at a decent hour and we had some Grandma's meatballs for dinner. After catching up with some teammates, Bait women, and some Riot friends, I went to bed early 10 pm as I was feeling pretty bad. I had a cold all week and was still battling it that nite.
Wake up early, eat some grub, and out to the fields by 8:30. Ah, the fresh dew on the polo fields. Very nice. Unfortunately, the Jam game was not very nice. There is really nothing to go into b/c it was 15-7. We were never really in the game. Down 0-4. 3-8 at half. We did have 5 chances to go 5-8 and maybe get a little mo', but our d did not score all game. We had 6 or 7 wide open drops in the game (2 for goals), one big layout by Safdie after our guy was open by 20-30 yards and just stood there, and a huck to 3 Jam guys and 0 Sub Zero guys. Good times. Does not get much worse. Oh yeah, we lose Winey one of our starting o cutters with possible knee damage. At least it was against the #1 seed in our pool.
Up next Pike. We have rebounded well all year after horrible defeats. And we would do that again. We receive and take half 8-7. Both d's get one break. I forget how we get the d, but near the endzone and me-dikeman for the goal. They answer back. They have another huge opportunity to go up 2 breaks in the first half, but Naz gets a big d on our goalline and we march it right back down the field.
They come out and score the first 2, 8-9. We tie it and then after I d a huck, Pbo makes a huge grab on a huck from me (called play from a to). Huge layout stick. We are up 10-9. Then 11-11 and I think they go up 11-12. I believe this was the point that one of their guys made the absolute worst bid I have ever seen in to TO's back. TO not only gets hit by that guy but also another defender goes down, luckily, with only an arm injury. Ugh. 2 starting O cutters done. And it is Thursday. We do tie it up at 12s. Get the disc on d, high stall to the back, that rolls of Dan's fingertips. But a foul on the throw. A couple throws later, we are up 13-12. They score 13s. We score 14-13. Pull to them, forcing a bad huck deep. We start working up, another layout into one of our guys (advice to defenders, if you have to layout into the back of someone, that is NOT a good bid). I sub in. Shane roaches his man to gain most of our yardage. Eventually, I score the game winner 15-13. We take down the #2 team in our pool and look good for the power pool. It was a hard fought game, that both teams never had a huge advantage. A fun game to be apart, minus the 2 very sketchy bids.
Last game, was the college kids on VC. They play an interesting zone (stops the hammers, but leaves the middle open) and they throw anything. It was close early maybe 8-6 or 7. Everyone is frustrated at halftime, but the important thing is we are on serve and up. We play much better in the 2nd half and convert. The last point of the game is me getting humped on the mark. So I just bomb it (no one open) and my gets mad, I was fouling you the whole time then stopped. I told him he was fouling before, during, and after the throw. Foul-contest obviously. We score and take the game 15-10 or 11. Oh, I forgot to mention PBo's great footblock. I love a good footblock.
At the end of the day, we are 2-1 and #2 in our pool. We move up. We are still somewhat under the radar b/c both Condors and Ring go 0-3. Everyone can't believe that. We have Bravo + Potomac in our power pool. I am bummed about the Jam game, but it was great to run through the next 2 games and not lose a half. Huge for our confidence.
Personally, I did not do much in the Jam game. No one did. In the Pike game, I got a couple d's and felt I did a pretty good on Bailey. Had a goal or 2 and a couple of assists. In the VC game, the same as the Pike game. I was not involved in a turnover all day. That felt very good.
Going into Friday would be tough, when I went to bed Thursday, I thought No Winey and No Todd Owens. So we had 8 mainly o guys, plus 3 of us d guys that played a little O. Now, it was 6 mainly o guys. The adjustment was to play me on O and more Goldstein on O. We takes 2 of our better o guys from the d team, but the O needed it.
Friday, we see Bravo first. TO looks good warming up Friday morning, so we decide to ease him into the game. Make sure he is ok. That is great news, not only for this game, but also for our chances to do well. We play pretty well on O in the first half. Only 1 break. I have my first turn in the first half on a very stupid decision on a throw to Goldstein. Ugh. Both teams get a break, so we are up 8-7. BUT, it is obvious our d's o is hurting. We had at least 10 chances (yes, I said at least 10 chances) to go up more. The 2nd half goes down the tubes. Basically, they win 8-1 in the 2nd half. Our only goal is a huck from me to TO. We have a lot of strange turns, just like the first half of the Jam game. They turned up their pressure for sure and we did not respond. The worst example was they gave us the disc to start the half and we just dropped it on the 2nd throw.
So, now we have Potomac. The winner of this game is #3 and loser plays in the pre-quarters. Yes it is fun to play frisbee, no it is not fun to play in the pre-quarters.
Potomac's strategy is to huck it. And if that is shut down, huck it. And if they have that contained, throw a deep hammer. Seriously, at best they are throwing 50-50 balls. They have a solid team, but not a team that just makes grab after grab.
Close game early, they have a chance to go up a break, but Boardman saves the weakest hammer of my life just before it hits the ground after a tip. I believe the o gets broken once and the d gets at least 1 break, maybe 2. We are up 8-7 or 8-6. One more half and we are in the quarters. Luckily, the o keeps it going. And the d starts adding points. We start to pull away and they just keep hucking it away. I know our d's o was not playing well, but give us enough chances, we will score. Dan makes an unbelieveable catch on a crez blade. Shane, Pbo, and John played some really good d. My favorite goal was to go up 12-9 when Paco threw a break mark high release backhand to the open side (he was being forced forehand). It was an interesting choice, but a beautiful throw. Berkseth catches my mack in the endzone for a goal. And eventually we are up 14-9. They score on o, after we turn it on our endzone, they score 14-10. They score to make it 14-11 as TO tries to stop from throwing a forehand, but it slips. I am not sure who scores the final one, but we win 15-11.
SO after 2 days, we are 3-2 and #3 in our pool. We play Furious in the morning. We were looking forward to that. TO looked completely healthy by the end of the day, so we could switch me back to d. We felt if we had any chance to beat Furious, we needed our original o line to do well even though they were 1 man down and send me back to the d team, so the O would be a little better (if you have never seen me play before, I tend to hog the disc).
On friday, I played ok. I was disappointed in my Bravo performance. I was involved in 2 turns. One to Goldstein and one to Boardman. Both throws where I did not read their cuts correctly. In Potomac, I was pretty good. Luckily, Boardman saved my hammer, but besides that I thought my d was ok and my o was pretty solid. They would send a guy as fast as he could to cover me on the pull every point. This messed up our pull play once or twice, but by the end of the game, he was not doing it. I think he got tired.
We won 3 halfs on Friday and got destroyed in one. I was pretty optimistic that if we played well, we could hang with Furious.
I got to get home early, hang out at the pool and beach, get some pizza, and then hit the sack. I was pumped to be in the quarters with our team. I was getting more excited by the minute.
More later, I need to go and do something productive. I though our quarters game was a good game, but apparently no one cared.
posted by sometallskinnykid at 8:19 AM
1 Comments:
Ryan-
First of all, I want to make sure that you and any other reader understands that I do not think you guys are a dirty nor do I think anyone intentionally tried to hurt any of our guys. I love playing against and watching Pike. And one of my very best friends is on there. I just want to make that clear.
Now about the main "sketchy" bid. One thing a defender must know is when he has a chance at the disc and an angle to get the disc v. a chance at the disc through the cutter. In this case, TO had perfect position against his defender (the defender was at such an angle that he was directly behind TO). So when the defender laid out, he tried to go through/over TO. What resulted was contact during the layout with his body as well as his hands around TO. His left hand grabbed TO on the left shoulder and spun TO into Jaeger coming into the play. So instead of catching the disc fully aware of the surroundings. TO is spinning out of control with no idea of anything and someone about to land on top of him, plus another defender charging into the play. He may not have gotten hurt if Jaegs was not present. But he definitely would not have been hurt without the lay out into his back.
I feel really bad b/c 2 good friends were involved (TO getting injured and Jaegs part of the collision). This all could have been avoided if the defender realized there was no shot at the disc without making a dangerous dive into our cutter. There was absolutely no way for the defender to get to the disc w/o taking out our man. Instead he was playing football and trying to force a fumble by tackling the receiver.
So how can you get d? Well, not through a person. That is what makes defense so tough in ultimate is you have to be in perfect position to get one. Look at the pics of Nord or Chase or Lupe or Rook or the co-ed guy. No contact and no chance of contact. If you have to go through the offensive guy to get the disc, not a good bid. It is a tough decision, but I have been playing ultimate for a long time. The good defenders and good bids have always, *always*, avoided contact and gone around the defender.
There are times when contact is unavoidable. Like a disc gets tipped or is behind the cutter. This will cause a sudden change in direction or movement of the cutter causing new position, maybe causing contact. And no one has clear position.
In summary, I stand by my statement, but would probably stand up for my teammate as well. I would not discredit your d too much, it has been solid for awhile now.
And I look forward to more intense games with y'all soon.
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