The long, windy, sometimes rainy road
We were the only team in Burlington to play in all 8 rounds. And I feel that today. But we went 6-2 and we survived and advanced. Maybe not the prettiest route, but still effective.
I will start on Wed. We bought our tix for Tampa, rented a town home and car for a week. Now, that sounds pretty cocky and confident we were going to make nationals. But we decided that no matter what we would go and see friends. And it is an easier/cheaper flight for our parents to come and hang out with us in FLA then say middle of nowhere Montana. We start to pack for our trip to Seattle and then proceed to stay up basically the whole nite b/c our youngest decides not to sleep. Ugh.
Thursday, I worked, got home a bit early, finished packing, loaded up the car, and we got going by 7:00 or so. We had decided to stop in Spokane roughly half way to the Western part of Washington from here. ON the way, we realized we forgot our cell phone (making this a round trip from like 2000, crazy. I can't remember the last time I made a road trip without a cell phone and I used to do it all the time) and T's best/warmest coat. Which also had her favorite frisbee playing gloves in it. So that meant a REI stop sometime before Sat. morning.
Friday, we got a little more sleep that nite woke up, hit the road and made pretty good time to Seattle. Getting onto I5 ~2:30, when we decide to look for a REI just North of the city. After getting lost in probably 1 square mile a couple of times, we finally find it, get the gloves, our kids finally take a nap, but then we get back onto the highway, traffic jam. Ugh. Not fun. Finally did get to the hotel room and they did put us into a handicap room. So much more room in there. If you can ever swing that (especially if you are piling 15 people into room, I recommend it). We swim a bit, order take out from Olive Garden and we are all asleep by 8:30, probably before most of our team was in the hotel.
Oh, I should mention that Friday was an absolute gorgeous day to play frisbee in Burlington. Probably in the high 50s/low 60s, a little win, partly cloudy. No rain.
On Saturday we woke early, got some breakfast in the hotel where Brass Monkey was staying as well. This would be the only time I saw Brass Monkey the whole weekend unfortunately. First game was at 9 and we role in ~8:15ish. Get everything set up, slowly warmup as our sitter was not going to be there until 9.
The weather was not too bad. In the 50s, windy, but not ohmygod it is super windy. Windy enough to make you really focus on your throws, but I felt you would should be able to score in either direction. Not much rain, some occasional light rain, but nothing heavy. Which was good, because with our kids there, it would have been awful with the rain and I am not sure what we would have done.
The only other pre-games comment is our fields were of a different orientation. Meaning they were perpendicular to the other fields, I was a bit worried about this at the start of the day. But the wind was not a huge of a factor, so it was less bothersome then I thought it would be.
We had a pretty sweet set-up on the fields thanks to our teammates. One tent that was almost completely covered and with a propane heater in it. That was great, plus they made some chicken noodle soup after round 2 in there. And they had also put a tarp over a soccer goal. Not as warm, but keep the wind and rain away. Not too bad for a bunch of frisbee players.
Anyway onto the games, first round against Boise a Big Sky opponent, but I have never even seen these guys play, so that means nothing to me. We got up early and I felt we were in control the whole game. I think 8-4 at half, but they broke us twice to start the 2nd half, to 8-6, I think. Anyway, it finishes like 15-8 or so-ish. I played ~6 or 7 points maybe more in this game. I know the first 5 points I was in, we scored. I was trying to make that my goal, score every point I am in, but on the 6th they scored. I had one turn, a deep backhand. Another throw that could have been a turn, but Ken made a great diving grab in the endzone. Threw one or 2 other goals, We played a lot of zone and would continue to do that most of the weekend. It worked pretty fell, although this team had a bit of success working up against our z.
Round 2, we play a team from Portland I think. Um, we won this game. 15-?. I am not sure about anything else. I threw an invert away, that is about all I remember. We played more zone and it worked well. They probably scored around 6 or 7.
Round 3 was against CTR, they had beaten us in Portland, so we were pretty psyched to play them. And they were not ready to play against our zone. I was playing deep-deep for the first couple of points and they looked out of sorts against the zone. We went up at least 3-0, maybe 4-0. And they did not even attempt to throw a pass more than 10 yards upfield until after point 3, when Shasta from Humboldt threw a pretty sweet hammer that surprised the hell out of me. And then I realized who it was. We scored a bunch, they did not. We played a lot of zone and it worked. And we scored a lot too. I think this was my only non-turnover game of the weekend. But that will be discussed later. Anyway, good game to get ready for Shazam, it gave a little bit of momentum. And allowed us to watch a bit of Golden Spike taking down Mischief. I really never knew what the score was, but I saw 4 straights Spike goals, so I took that as they were in charge.
2 Notes about this game, I started feeling low energy. I took a lot of Gu and downed some of the soup, and some cliff bar. Rebounded nicely during the middle of it. 2nd, they were not happy with our cup and complained to me personally about it. I was not in the cup much, so did not notice anything, but we discussed this as a team and it seemed we were conscious of it the rest of the tourney. Although it became an issue a couple times later. Many of the accused though, thought they were not within 10 ft. or were just in there b/c of a crash. So yeah, not sure if we are quite to "Florida Club" type zone yet.
Round 4, the semis v. Shazam. We went over to their fields and got ready to play. And we come out pretty strong. We recieve to open the game and march down for the goal. The game goes to 4-3 with very few turns by either team, maybe 1 or 2 by each team. Michael Faris was big early for us scoring and throwing a goal. At 4-3, we have 2 great opportunities to score. After a d, I missed Fast deep in the end zone. I waited a bit too long to throw (kind of like a bad three point shooter holding the ball and lining up the shot). We work up to their endzone a 2nd time, but turn it over. They score 4-4. We score again to make it 5-4. Now, we get a turn, work up to midfield and Will hits me deep in the endzone 6-4. They score 6-5, we answer, 7-5, and then break again 8-5. I don't remember how we got that break, but it was really nice... Anyway, we take half and we are feeling pretty good. Get a quick drink and get ready to pull for the 2nd half.
We obviously played well in the first half, but there was a drop in the endzone. And another turn right on the goalline. So we left some points on the field. So I think we were still pretty confident going into the 2nd half.
They score fairly quick to start the 2nd half. 8-6. And then the wheels fall off. They apply more pressure on d and instead of responding with more movement near the disc and looking to our cutters. We respond with less movement from the handling position. ANd th stack approaching the sideline that we are being forced. So no real room to cut to the open side. No real chance to move it to the break force side. Which lead to 2 options. A risky dump that was tightly covered. Or a deep look. There were several turns on our first o point. One reciever almost toed the line on a deep throw at the back, but he lost possession. Another deep shot to me went out the back. Probably 2 more turns by us on that possession. They eventually score. 8-7. 8-8. Timeout us, try to readjust. 8-9. And then 9-9. Ok, maybe we have stopped the floodgates. We do get a d at this point, but we turn it back over in like 2 throws, quick goal for them 9-10. The rest of the game was just as ugly for us, maybe score to make it 10-13. I was able to get a d long on Finn, but 2 throws later we give it right back to them on the endzone. We had nothing left, they flew right past us 10-15. Ugly.
Again, I felt like we left some points out there in the 2nd half, but I must credit the pressure of Shazam in the 2nd half. We froze like one of the deer on Highway 93 between Missoula and Hamilton. It is never good to respond to pressure d by creeping closer to the thrower and not starting your cuts earlier. But I think it was a lesson learned.
Besides the obvious, we can no longer finish 1st thing. We now had to play at 8 am against Mischief. now that is a great deal. Thank you Tarr.
We get the kids back to the hotel (incidentally, our kids are pretty amazing and I do not understand how they still like us). Get some Thai food. Bathtime. And then bedtime. Pretty early again.
Going to sleep, I realized I have never been apart of the back door this early on Sunday since my Michigan club days. I tried to forget them, but alas I still recall it.
Anyway, we get out of the hotel as early as we can on Sunday and get to the fields by like 7:20. The temp is maybe a little nicer today, but the wind is horrible. An extreme downwind/upwind game. And that is how we start it out. Oh yeah, keeping track of turns is no longer an option. I had 3 on Saturday, but was fully ready for 40 + turns today, no reason to play around with the disc going downwind, take your shot and run. GOing upwind, more focus and caution, but hard as hell to throw it.
We had lost the flip, so we receive going upwind to start the game. Get it to Markie deep to James, got it, and then a goal. 1-0 we get the first upwind break. We may have converted the first down winder, but they answer back on us upwind soon after. Luckily, it was all my fault. They worked it up a bit, turn it. I proceed to bomb it. OUT OF BOUNDS. Now, not a "never came in bomb". But a "it went out way up here bomb". CRAP! This was the first and only time I would do this all weekend, but it was crucial (winner of this game gets a bye and then most likely Salt Lake. Loser has to play again, and again, and then again to get to nationals. Again, thank you Tarr).
Anyway, an up the line forehand to Tyler that I can't get to. I thought he was on the line, but his team was adamant about his first foot (which I did not see) being down. No one on my team to really help my cause, goal. Tyler was nice about, some of his teammates were not as nice. But oh well, I gave the disc about 15 yards from the endzone and then could not get to the throw before the receiver in their endzone. We lost the break.
I think we both broke one more time that half. Them first against our zone a forehand goes up to Tyler, I was totally baiting it. And then I slipped. (Now, I am not positive I would have gotten it, but I am >90% sure I would have gotten it). A couple of people looked at me and said what happened. That was great. Plus, I wrenched my back on that play. It was a great feeling. Both of their upwind goals were within my reach.
Halftime, 8-7 them. We pull downwind to them, even up the game. At 8-9, soft cap goes on (just to let you know I am leaving out a lot of turns). And we trade until they win 10-11. We had the disc once or twice on the final possession, but failed to convert.
This game we had completely given up on our offense going upwind. We were looking to put it whenever we could and we never tried to really work it. We approached this game more like an o/d line game rather than an upwind/downwind game. This is what happens when you don't play together much and you don't really understand how your personnel plays together. Mischief was definitely the more comfortable team in the extreme weather and had a much better plan. We had our chances, but they had more and obviously took advantage of that. We did not have the best strategery in the game, but we were still in it, so as long as we learned we would be ok.
The one issue I did have with them in this game was they seemed to be triple teaming on purpose right after a turn. Now, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that there was some miscommunication about who was on the mark, but I can count at least 5 times when we got the disc and as the thrower got to the endzone line there was a wall of 2 or 3 people within 4 feet of him. At first it seemed accidental, but later it was still there. I mentioned it to one of the players doing it, but it did not seem to matter. To continue the story, they were unhappy with our seemingly double teams (as was CTR from earlier), but our double teams were at least close to legal (and we moved out when asked and I think adjusted well after CTR complained). I will give the benefit of the doubt if the person breaking the rule is at like 7/8 feet. 10 feet is farther than people think. But when there are 2 extra people within 4 feet of the disc, that is a bit sketchy.
Twice this past weekend, people counted out steps to get to the double teamer in the cup. Both times, their steps were at the tippy toes (in the first case) or just before (in the case where I was accused) of the double teamer. I have never seen the walk off before and then I saw it twice in the same weekend. Funny. And I really don't think I was double teaming, in fact, when called for it, I responded with "No I'm not". So yeah, that lead to a discussion.
With all that said, that is not why we lost. If anything, they were telling us to work it more and not take so many dumb chances. They were actually helping us and we did not take it. Whoops.
Round 5 (quarterfinals of the shitbox, single elim). We play Family Style from the Bay area. Now, we have no more losses, we have to win in order to keep playing for a spot in FLA. As it has been stated many times, the team who survives the shitbox, is the team that embraces it and loves it the most. And it look like we rebounded nicely. We get the first upwind break early. But we never convert after that, including me turning it over on our own goalline on a break mark backhand that only had to go 4 yards. It went 2.
They then broke back. And took advantage of the flip (they won the flip, so took the wind) and so if we traded the rest of the game we were done. We still had not changed our strategy, we were too aggressive going upwind with the disc. Including times when we were working well against them. And we had not really figured out the subbing situation yet (it appears as though I am throwing the sub callers unders the bus. But it was new for them, and I think they had to figure out the correct strategy. and eventually they did and eventually it worked. Unfortunately, at this point in the game, it did not look so pretty).
So after they take half 8-7, we talk about upwinde a bit more. Work it more, move the disc and take only good chances. Along with that, put a line of better, more experienced throwers in going upwind b/c there was a good chance that no matter what d they played, they were going to turn it over.
Anyway, we tie it up at 9s, and then things go well. The upwind strategy of not-bombing-it-early-and-often worked. I forget how, but we scored it. 10-9 us. I was basically all on the downwind points from 8-7 on, so we went in. Family Style does work it and then have a 15 yarder up the line to a wide open woman for the score (We were in zone). The throw floats though, Ryan d's it, but it it still there, Kerr comes running in to d. I jack it back to the other endzone and eventually we secure the downwinder. Up 11-9 (soft cap on). We score again upwind. 12-9. Callahan for the game by Ryan. 13-9. We survived.
Round 7 v. Portland. With our better strategery in place, we come out and are in control. Our momentum is back and a little bit of our confidence too. By this game, I was in almost all downwind points. And an occasional upwinder. It was still windy as hell and not rainy. We were up 8-4 at half. And take the game 14-8, I think, Not giving up an upwinder at any point in ths game. I don't remember much here, because it felt like it went pretty smoothly. Our zone was working well. The O was working upwind and downwind. The downwind O was still on their half of the field, throw it and hope for the best (aka keep it in bounds). Once we got the turn over half field, relax and play normal O. I had my best catch of the weekend, keeping my toe down for a goal near the back from James. And also my worst, whiffing on a quick dishy from Ken. (that is called a drop).
Sidebar - I have heard 2 sarcastic comments secondhand about this blog. First, on the previously mentioned grab "Just because he blogs about how much he runs, does not mean he was in" and another "I bet well read about how great a decision that turnover was later" Please keep the constructive criticism coming.
Anyway, Round 8, finals of the shitbox. Us v. our friends from Salt Lake, Golden Spike. Just at the end of the portland game, the rain started to come. And then it really came. It was a horrible downpour (note, not as bad as 98 regionals in AA, but approaching there). Luckily, the kids had just been put in the stroller and were napping under the shelter. And luckily, Stu's in law brought scallops wrapped in bacon just before this game. And luckily, Golden Spike did not seem ready (and they were a bit injured) to play this game. We win the flip and we trade 2-2. Same strategy of bombing it downwind and trying to work it upwind. We score to make 3-2 after I had dropped one in the endzone from James, the beginning of the end for me in this game. I stay in for the upwind, they play z after their turn, and we work it very well for a while. Get close to the endzone, I get a swing, hit fast in the back corner of the endzone, upwind break #1. 4-2. Then 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2.
We take half, I am getting cold and very wet. More of the same, it turns out to be 15-3. I play a couple more downwinders, but stop at 12-2 or 13-3 b/c Shrum asks me if I am shivering. So I try to huddle underneath coats as long as possible. Luckily, it went quickly.
Anyway, we got to Florida and that is the main point of regionals. Did not pull off an upset of a higher seeded team, but did not lose to anyone else, more importantly. We will have a chance to do the upset thing in FLA and that is all I can ask for. I think we learned a lot about our team, especially strategic decisions in the face of horrendous weather. Hello, sarasota wind. Good times.
More importantly, we eventually made it back to Hamilton. Our kids, a bit tired, are fine and will be forced to do this again, hopefully in warmer conditions, and with grandparents to help. Thank God!
Quick summary of my play - ok on Saturday, wish for something more dynamic in the Shazam game, maybe handle or switch up the lines a bit more then (And they cheated, ok that is not true, they played a great 2nd half).
Day 2, I would put my turnovers ~50. Many downwind bombs that failed, although I connected with about 4 or 5 in each game. And about 10-12 that failed. Dropped 2 discs that was bad. GOt beat twice in the upwind endzone against mischief, that was bad. But the rest of the time, played ok deep d or I was in the cup doing a lot of marking, that was fun too.
Soreness level today, a bit high. My back is pretty stiff, yeah long car ride/no run yesterday. Hopefully, a run today will loosen it up.
I will start on Wed. We bought our tix for Tampa, rented a town home and car for a week. Now, that sounds pretty cocky and confident we were going to make nationals. But we decided that no matter what we would go and see friends. And it is an easier/cheaper flight for our parents to come and hang out with us in FLA then say middle of nowhere Montana. We start to pack for our trip to Seattle and then proceed to stay up basically the whole nite b/c our youngest decides not to sleep. Ugh.
Thursday, I worked, got home a bit early, finished packing, loaded up the car, and we got going by 7:00 or so. We had decided to stop in Spokane roughly half way to the Western part of Washington from here. ON the way, we realized we forgot our cell phone (making this a round trip from like 2000, crazy. I can't remember the last time I made a road trip without a cell phone and I used to do it all the time) and T's best/warmest coat. Which also had her favorite frisbee playing gloves in it. So that meant a REI stop sometime before Sat. morning.
Friday, we got a little more sleep that nite woke up, hit the road and made pretty good time to Seattle. Getting onto I5 ~2:30, when we decide to look for a REI just North of the city. After getting lost in probably 1 square mile a couple of times, we finally find it, get the gloves, our kids finally take a nap, but then we get back onto the highway, traffic jam. Ugh. Not fun. Finally did get to the hotel room and they did put us into a handicap room. So much more room in there. If you can ever swing that (especially if you are piling 15 people into room, I recommend it). We swim a bit, order take out from Olive Garden and we are all asleep by 8:30, probably before most of our team was in the hotel.
Oh, I should mention that Friday was an absolute gorgeous day to play frisbee in Burlington. Probably in the high 50s/low 60s, a little win, partly cloudy. No rain.
On Saturday we woke early, got some breakfast in the hotel where Brass Monkey was staying as well. This would be the only time I saw Brass Monkey the whole weekend unfortunately. First game was at 9 and we role in ~8:15ish. Get everything set up, slowly warmup as our sitter was not going to be there until 9.
The weather was not too bad. In the 50s, windy, but not ohmygod it is super windy. Windy enough to make you really focus on your throws, but I felt you would should be able to score in either direction. Not much rain, some occasional light rain, but nothing heavy. Which was good, because with our kids there, it would have been awful with the rain and I am not sure what we would have done.
The only other pre-games comment is our fields were of a different orientation. Meaning they were perpendicular to the other fields, I was a bit worried about this at the start of the day. But the wind was not a huge of a factor, so it was less bothersome then I thought it would be.
We had a pretty sweet set-up on the fields thanks to our teammates. One tent that was almost completely covered and with a propane heater in it. That was great, plus they made some chicken noodle soup after round 2 in there. And they had also put a tarp over a soccer goal. Not as warm, but keep the wind and rain away. Not too bad for a bunch of frisbee players.
Anyway onto the games, first round against Boise a Big Sky opponent, but I have never even seen these guys play, so that means nothing to me. We got up early and I felt we were in control the whole game. I think 8-4 at half, but they broke us twice to start the 2nd half, to 8-6, I think. Anyway, it finishes like 15-8 or so-ish. I played ~6 or 7 points maybe more in this game. I know the first 5 points I was in, we scored. I was trying to make that my goal, score every point I am in, but on the 6th they scored. I had one turn, a deep backhand. Another throw that could have been a turn, but Ken made a great diving grab in the endzone. Threw one or 2 other goals, We played a lot of zone and would continue to do that most of the weekend. It worked pretty fell, although this team had a bit of success working up against our z.
Round 2, we play a team from Portland I think. Um, we won this game. 15-?. I am not sure about anything else. I threw an invert away, that is about all I remember. We played more zone and it worked well. They probably scored around 6 or 7.
Round 3 was against CTR, they had beaten us in Portland, so we were pretty psyched to play them. And they were not ready to play against our zone. I was playing deep-deep for the first couple of points and they looked out of sorts against the zone. We went up at least 3-0, maybe 4-0. And they did not even attempt to throw a pass more than 10 yards upfield until after point 3, when Shasta from Humboldt threw a pretty sweet hammer that surprised the hell out of me. And then I realized who it was. We scored a bunch, they did not. We played a lot of zone and it worked. And we scored a lot too. I think this was my only non-turnover game of the weekend. But that will be discussed later. Anyway, good game to get ready for Shazam, it gave a little bit of momentum. And allowed us to watch a bit of Golden Spike taking down Mischief. I really never knew what the score was, but I saw 4 straights Spike goals, so I took that as they were in charge.
2 Notes about this game, I started feeling low energy. I took a lot of Gu and downed some of the soup, and some cliff bar. Rebounded nicely during the middle of it. 2nd, they were not happy with our cup and complained to me personally about it. I was not in the cup much, so did not notice anything, but we discussed this as a team and it seemed we were conscious of it the rest of the tourney. Although it became an issue a couple times later. Many of the accused though, thought they were not within 10 ft. or were just in there b/c of a crash. So yeah, not sure if we are quite to "Florida Club" type zone yet.
Round 4, the semis v. Shazam. We went over to their fields and got ready to play. And we come out pretty strong. We recieve to open the game and march down for the goal. The game goes to 4-3 with very few turns by either team, maybe 1 or 2 by each team. Michael Faris was big early for us scoring and throwing a goal. At 4-3, we have 2 great opportunities to score. After a d, I missed Fast deep in the end zone. I waited a bit too long to throw (kind of like a bad three point shooter holding the ball and lining up the shot). We work up to their endzone a 2nd time, but turn it over. They score 4-4. We score again to make it 5-4. Now, we get a turn, work up to midfield and Will hits me deep in the endzone 6-4. They score 6-5, we answer, 7-5, and then break again 8-5. I don't remember how we got that break, but it was really nice... Anyway, we take half and we are feeling pretty good. Get a quick drink and get ready to pull for the 2nd half.
We obviously played well in the first half, but there was a drop in the endzone. And another turn right on the goalline. So we left some points on the field. So I think we were still pretty confident going into the 2nd half.
They score fairly quick to start the 2nd half. 8-6. And then the wheels fall off. They apply more pressure on d and instead of responding with more movement near the disc and looking to our cutters. We respond with less movement from the handling position. ANd th stack approaching the sideline that we are being forced. So no real room to cut to the open side. No real chance to move it to the break force side. Which lead to 2 options. A risky dump that was tightly covered. Or a deep look. There were several turns on our first o point. One reciever almost toed the line on a deep throw at the back, but he lost possession. Another deep shot to me went out the back. Probably 2 more turns by us on that possession. They eventually score. 8-7. 8-8. Timeout us, try to readjust. 8-9. And then 9-9. Ok, maybe we have stopped the floodgates. We do get a d at this point, but we turn it back over in like 2 throws, quick goal for them 9-10. The rest of the game was just as ugly for us, maybe score to make it 10-13. I was able to get a d long on Finn, but 2 throws later we give it right back to them on the endzone. We had nothing left, they flew right past us 10-15. Ugly.
Again, I felt like we left some points out there in the 2nd half, but I must credit the pressure of Shazam in the 2nd half. We froze like one of the deer on Highway 93 between Missoula and Hamilton. It is never good to respond to pressure d by creeping closer to the thrower and not starting your cuts earlier. But I think it was a lesson learned.
Besides the obvious, we can no longer finish 1st thing. We now had to play at 8 am against Mischief. now that is a great deal. Thank you Tarr.
We get the kids back to the hotel (incidentally, our kids are pretty amazing and I do not understand how they still like us). Get some Thai food. Bathtime. And then bedtime. Pretty early again.
Going to sleep, I realized I have never been apart of the back door this early on Sunday since my Michigan club days. I tried to forget them, but alas I still recall it.
Anyway, we get out of the hotel as early as we can on Sunday and get to the fields by like 7:20. The temp is maybe a little nicer today, but the wind is horrible. An extreme downwind/upwind game. And that is how we start it out. Oh yeah, keeping track of turns is no longer an option. I had 3 on Saturday, but was fully ready for 40 + turns today, no reason to play around with the disc going downwind, take your shot and run. GOing upwind, more focus and caution, but hard as hell to throw it.
We had lost the flip, so we receive going upwind to start the game. Get it to Markie deep to James, got it, and then a goal. 1-0 we get the first upwind break. We may have converted the first down winder, but they answer back on us upwind soon after. Luckily, it was all my fault. They worked it up a bit, turn it. I proceed to bomb it. OUT OF BOUNDS. Now, not a "never came in bomb". But a "it went out way up here bomb". CRAP! This was the first and only time I would do this all weekend, but it was crucial (winner of this game gets a bye and then most likely Salt Lake. Loser has to play again, and again, and then again to get to nationals. Again, thank you Tarr).
Anyway, an up the line forehand to Tyler that I can't get to. I thought he was on the line, but his team was adamant about his first foot (which I did not see) being down. No one on my team to really help my cause, goal. Tyler was nice about, some of his teammates were not as nice. But oh well, I gave the disc about 15 yards from the endzone and then could not get to the throw before the receiver in their endzone. We lost the break.
I think we both broke one more time that half. Them first against our zone a forehand goes up to Tyler, I was totally baiting it. And then I slipped. (Now, I am not positive I would have gotten it, but I am >90% sure I would have gotten it). A couple of people looked at me and said what happened. That was great. Plus, I wrenched my back on that play. It was a great feeling. Both of their upwind goals were within my reach.
Halftime, 8-7 them. We pull downwind to them, even up the game. At 8-9, soft cap goes on (just to let you know I am leaving out a lot of turns). And we trade until they win 10-11. We had the disc once or twice on the final possession, but failed to convert.
This game we had completely given up on our offense going upwind. We were looking to put it whenever we could and we never tried to really work it. We approached this game more like an o/d line game rather than an upwind/downwind game. This is what happens when you don't play together much and you don't really understand how your personnel plays together. Mischief was definitely the more comfortable team in the extreme weather and had a much better plan. We had our chances, but they had more and obviously took advantage of that. We did not have the best strategery in the game, but we were still in it, so as long as we learned we would be ok.
The one issue I did have with them in this game was they seemed to be triple teaming on purpose right after a turn. Now, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that there was some miscommunication about who was on the mark, but I can count at least 5 times when we got the disc and as the thrower got to the endzone line there was a wall of 2 or 3 people within 4 feet of him. At first it seemed accidental, but later it was still there. I mentioned it to one of the players doing it, but it did not seem to matter. To continue the story, they were unhappy with our seemingly double teams (as was CTR from earlier), but our double teams were at least close to legal (and we moved out when asked and I think adjusted well after CTR complained). I will give the benefit of the doubt if the person breaking the rule is at like 7/8 feet. 10 feet is farther than people think. But when there are 2 extra people within 4 feet of the disc, that is a bit sketchy.
Twice this past weekend, people counted out steps to get to the double teamer in the cup. Both times, their steps were at the tippy toes (in the first case) or just before (in the case where I was accused) of the double teamer. I have never seen the walk off before and then I saw it twice in the same weekend. Funny. And I really don't think I was double teaming, in fact, when called for it, I responded with "No I'm not". So yeah, that lead to a discussion.
With all that said, that is not why we lost. If anything, they were telling us to work it more and not take so many dumb chances. They were actually helping us and we did not take it. Whoops.
Round 5 (quarterfinals of the shitbox, single elim). We play Family Style from the Bay area. Now, we have no more losses, we have to win in order to keep playing for a spot in FLA. As it has been stated many times, the team who survives the shitbox, is the team that embraces it and loves it the most. And it look like we rebounded nicely. We get the first upwind break early. But we never convert after that, including me turning it over on our own goalline on a break mark backhand that only had to go 4 yards. It went 2.
They then broke back. And took advantage of the flip (they won the flip, so took the wind) and so if we traded the rest of the game we were done. We still had not changed our strategy, we were too aggressive going upwind with the disc. Including times when we were working well against them. And we had not really figured out the subbing situation yet (it appears as though I am throwing the sub callers unders the bus. But it was new for them, and I think they had to figure out the correct strategy. and eventually they did and eventually it worked. Unfortunately, at this point in the game, it did not look so pretty).
So after they take half 8-7, we talk about upwinde a bit more. Work it more, move the disc and take only good chances. Along with that, put a line of better, more experienced throwers in going upwind b/c there was a good chance that no matter what d they played, they were going to turn it over.
Anyway, we tie it up at 9s, and then things go well. The upwind strategy of not-bombing-it-early-and-often worked. I forget how, but we scored it. 10-9 us. I was basically all on the downwind points from 8-7 on, so we went in. Family Style does work it and then have a 15 yarder up the line to a wide open woman for the score (We were in zone). The throw floats though, Ryan d's it, but it it still there, Kerr comes running in to d. I jack it back to the other endzone and eventually we secure the downwinder. Up 11-9 (soft cap on). We score again upwind. 12-9. Callahan for the game by Ryan. 13-9. We survived.
Round 7 v. Portland. With our better strategery in place, we come out and are in control. Our momentum is back and a little bit of our confidence too. By this game, I was in almost all downwind points. And an occasional upwinder. It was still windy as hell and not rainy. We were up 8-4 at half. And take the game 14-8, I think, Not giving up an upwinder at any point in ths game. I don't remember much here, because it felt like it went pretty smoothly. Our zone was working well. The O was working upwind and downwind. The downwind O was still on their half of the field, throw it and hope for the best (aka keep it in bounds). Once we got the turn over half field, relax and play normal O. I had my best catch of the weekend, keeping my toe down for a goal near the back from James. And also my worst, whiffing on a quick dishy from Ken. (that is called a drop).
Sidebar - I have heard 2 sarcastic comments secondhand about this blog. First, on the previously mentioned grab "Just because he blogs about how much he runs, does not mean he was in" and another "I bet well read about how great a decision that turnover was later" Please keep the constructive criticism coming.
Anyway, Round 8, finals of the shitbox. Us v. our friends from Salt Lake, Golden Spike. Just at the end of the portland game, the rain started to come. And then it really came. It was a horrible downpour (note, not as bad as 98 regionals in AA, but approaching there). Luckily, the kids had just been put in the stroller and were napping under the shelter. And luckily, Stu's in law brought scallops wrapped in bacon just before this game. And luckily, Golden Spike did not seem ready (and they were a bit injured) to play this game. We win the flip and we trade 2-2. Same strategy of bombing it downwind and trying to work it upwind. We score to make 3-2 after I had dropped one in the endzone from James, the beginning of the end for me in this game. I stay in for the upwind, they play z after their turn, and we work it very well for a while. Get close to the endzone, I get a swing, hit fast in the back corner of the endzone, upwind break #1. 4-2. Then 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2.
We take half, I am getting cold and very wet. More of the same, it turns out to be 15-3. I play a couple more downwinders, but stop at 12-2 or 13-3 b/c Shrum asks me if I am shivering. So I try to huddle underneath coats as long as possible. Luckily, it went quickly.
Anyway, we got to Florida and that is the main point of regionals. Did not pull off an upset of a higher seeded team, but did not lose to anyone else, more importantly. We will have a chance to do the upset thing in FLA and that is all I can ask for. I think we learned a lot about our team, especially strategic decisions in the face of horrendous weather. Hello, sarasota wind. Good times.
More importantly, we eventually made it back to Hamilton. Our kids, a bit tired, are fine and will be forced to do this again, hopefully in warmer conditions, and with grandparents to help. Thank God!
Quick summary of my play - ok on Saturday, wish for something more dynamic in the Shazam game, maybe handle or switch up the lines a bit more then (And they cheated, ok that is not true, they played a great 2nd half).
Day 2, I would put my turnovers ~50. Many downwind bombs that failed, although I connected with about 4 or 5 in each game. And about 10-12 that failed. Dropped 2 discs that was bad. GOt beat twice in the upwind endzone against mischief, that was bad. But the rest of the time, played ok deep d or I was in the cup doing a lot of marking, that was fun too.
Soreness level today, a bit high. My back is pretty stiff, yeah long car ride/no run yesterday. Hopefully, a run today will loosen it up.
posted by sometallskinnykid at 7:39 AM
8 Comments:
Timmy,
Just a couple quick observations about the Mischief game.
The double team called on you was definitely the wrong call. However, on a couple of the other situations for both teams I think it was more of a timing issue. Someone would call double team, the marker would forget to drop the count and by the time violation was called and play stopped the person in the cup had moved far enough away to no longer be double teaming. Your team seemed to be very responsive to that and I thank you. We tend to be a little jumpy on the double teams this year after a team at Nationals last year put 3 people within about 6/7 feet of our throwers in a couple games.
As far as the triple teaming the thrower after the turn, I can't speak for my teammates, but it wasn't intentional on my part. I was not aware it was a concern during the game otherwise I would have addressed it. I know for me, I would see a turn and if I was in position I would try a prevent the open huck. Unfortunately, most of my other teammates were probably thinking the same thing.
Anyway, really glad you made Nationals as your team is a lot of fun to compete against!
Good luck and see you in Sarasota,
Wade
Mischief #7
Tim,
Nice recap. I don't know that the wind could be adequately captured in blog form. Once we got into the first game on Sunday, we were only counting upwind scores. (O team gets called to go upwind, D team plays downwind.) We beat Bozos 2-1 and CRT 3-2 before failing to score upwind against you guys. *sadface* I remember being impressed with your zone at Spawnfest, but the Burlington wind more than offset our offensive improvements since then. The '07 Flycoons look stronger to me than the '06 version that barely missed quarters, so I would place my $$$ on 4 NW teams in quarters (unless seeding and whatnot forces head-to-head matchups that knocks one out.)
Anyway, good luck and keep up the quality blogging. I can't write much about games without sounding like my teammates are all superhero saints and everyone else is either involved in slapstick pratfalls and/or rampant cheating, so I appreciate the more objective recap you present.
out,
shiv
The Horde
#5
Wade- yeah, i really hope nothing comes across as sour grapes, you guys earned the win. And actually we showed we could not jack it upwind.
We kept talking about being called for double teams and trying to remind the marker to go down 2. Being tired and trying to subtract not always a strong suit on the frisbee field.
Congrats on coming back from the upset and winning the rest of your games. I thought the game was fun although the outcome not the desired one...
See you in fla
Also, congrats on beating UCLA. Big win.
Tim
Tim also failed to mention that he got a "prize" from Finn after the Shazam game. Finn came over with a bottle of tequila and a couple of little boxes that had "nerd" written all over them. Not literally, though. Finn asks me who the dorkiest person on the team is. No hesitation there...yeah, he's right there, I said, pointing to Tim. Finn hands him this game thing and says "You'll have to play this and email me how you like it!" It was some sort of D&D game or something. Tim looked genuinely impressed.
In another side note, Tim played great for the Flycoons all weekend. Our downwind hucking strategy worked well for the most part on Sunday, so about 90% of Tim's turnovers were on purpose. Think of him as a punter...a really skinny punter. Also, the Trigger handler set won that game against Family Style (which has some old Donner Party people on it). Michael Faris, whose age is somewhere between dinosaur and dirt, was the difference. No doubt about it. He, Will, and Markie pulled our bacon from the fire when we needed it the most.
Anyway, Tim had a great tournament and we're all glad he blogged about it.
Nate
Wait, so winning is really beneficial in this format? Between this and the current rsd chatter, I can't win, I tell you...
The 8AM start was because they wanted people to be able to make flights, I think.
Tarr, just being sarcastic. I saw you getting a lot of complaints, so I thought I would pile on.
There is no real great way to do 4 teams advance without having round after round after round. I was justbeing bitter about losing in the semis.
And remember who cares want the master's division thinks.
The formats are not the problem
trigger handler set???? that's funny stuff. is that what you call it? i still call it the missoula swirl...and nobody runs it better than will, mark, and mikey.
good luck missoula. looking forward to hearing your heckles soon.
-Pat
Yeah, no problem. I was 99% sure you were just joking, and I saw the opportunity to make a joke in return.
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