At the end of the 2008 Labor Day tournament at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, I remember sitting around with the team just reflecting on a tournament where we only won one game. and lost maybe 5 or 6. It was a very difficult tournament in that we had a shortened squad, but there was no excuse as to how we played. We showed very little heart, a lot of nerves, and pretty much let down the Section and the Region that we represented.The team has changed a lot since last year but the veterans from '08 knew that we had to step it up this year and prove to ourselves that we could achieve all we set out to do.
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Round 1 vs. A.I.R.
Not a good start as AIR came out firing on all cylinders and had us down in an early 2-7 hole. Our offensive lines could not find a rhythm and we had some key drops and turns in our own end zone that led to easy scores. One key time-out later and a hungry defensive line finally got on the field and closed the gap from 2-7 to 7-8. Good way to end the half but we were still down, starting on D. We began to develop some "swagger" as Matt Welsh put it, and started dictating the game and closed strong after trading from half till 11's. Game to 13, we take the last 2 points of the game to win 13-11 and complete the comeback victory. AIR was, no pun intended, pretty deflated after that game as it was a very gutsy win for us avoiding another repeat of Chico and coming back to win from being down 4 breaks.
Round 2 vs. Denver Ultimate Club
We had a dreaded BYE the second round and I don't know if it was a factor, but we started flat again going down 0-2 but then begin to set the pace of the game. DUC played well, but we were able to contain their H-stack as well as run our offense efficiently. We threw a lot of counterpunches in transition D-->O and took care of the disc a lot better than we did in the previous game. We take half 8-4 and then storm up to 12-4. We took our foot off the gas near the end and take the game 13-8. Our offense feels a lot more fluid but our defense was still a bit sluggish. Good win after a bad start in the first round.
Round 3 vs. Night Train
I have no idea what happened this game. We currently had a 3-0 lifetime record against Night Train and I felt like we didn't take them seriously at all as they went up on us 2-6 quite easily. Our defense seemed soft and our offense confused and we simply could not establish a rhythm on offense and/or generate D's on defense. It was frustrating to watch them take the game 15-10, but our 20 throwaways told the story. We didn't play well at all and Night Train deserved the victory as they ran a DEEP H-stack that opened the entire under-lane for easy in-cuts that we neglected to respect. As our captain put it... it sucks to lose when we don't play well.
Round 4 vs. CTR
This was a friggin awesome game from the start. Both teams running their respective offenses well. CTR ran a standard vertical stack and relied on two main handlers to facilitate the offense and open up the deep game. We were in it from the start despite giving up an early break. We trade until 9's and then we go on a run to win it 13-11. We played this game with a lot of desire, and Barrs went crazy this game. It was wet, cold, foggy, and the last round, but we showed a lot of resilience against a very good CTR team and showed that despite the elements and a disasterous loss in the previous round, we could recover and bounce back, play our game and win.
3-1 on the day... went to sleep upset about the Night Train loss... in addition to the pain from partially dislocating my shoulder again on a lay-out D against DUC.
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Sunday
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Game 1 vs. Mischief
How do we even start with this one. We got pwned... nuff said. Mischief played a very sound game with minimal throw-aways which made our margin for error even smaller but we managed to give the game away right on the get go. We came out super flat at 8:00am and were never in it. These guys are a solid team... even at 8:00 in the morning. We are a great team... but we need to strive to be a team that's great whenever we take the field.
Game 2 vs. Golden Spike
Golden Spike is a good team. Well rounded with solid cutters, handles, and deep game, they surprised us out of the gate and went up 5-2 with relative ease. It was a very heated game with arguments, disputes, and finger pointing going on from both sides but that aside, it was a very intense and fun ultimate game. We had great offensive flow as did they, but our defense stepped it up and from 10-8, we go on a 5-0 run to take the game 13-10. This game had a lot of heated moments, but it was good to see our team keep our cool and work things out in a way that was both spirited and true to the game. Birthday boy Mark Miller catching the final score for the win through a defender was pretty sweet as well. Our ladies played well and made some pretty grabs. Great play all around. Great team win.
Game 3 vs. White Wedding
We STILL spotted them a 0-2 lead! There was a lot of wind in this game and we found ourselves on the field that had a straight up and down wind so a lot of zone was implemented (atleast from our side). We worked on zones and transitions and also played great offensive transition. This team was very short on numbers but it was very admirable to see them play the way they did against such great competition.
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In all, this tournament was very successful in that it helped us gauge where were and where we need to be for the series. We have one full practice before Sectionals, and then two practices until Regionals. It's the heart of the season right now, and when it all counts. Time to finish healing up injuries (in my case), to hit the track, to eat healthy, and to be in top shape because when you're in the game to go to nationals, you don't have a second shot. Life then goes point by point until a winner is decided. Overall it was a great tournament for us outside our two losses. We showed heart, grit, and passion with every point we played, every deficit we clawed back from, and every game that we won or loss. Sectionals in Long Beach in a week and a half.
Till then,
Hammie #10
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Elite-Mixed Final Standings
1. Mischief (6-0)
2. LA Metro (5-2)
3. A.I.R (5-2)
T-4. CTR (4-3)
T-4. BCBC (4-3)
6. Golden Spike (3-4)
7. Night Train (2-5)
8. White Wedding (1-6)
9. DUC (1-6)
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