Worlds 98 in our face
So, in 1998 we have won 4 consecutive National Championships, the most recent one at the now-perennial Sarasota Polo Club site, and are knocking on the doorstep of NY's record 5 in a row. We're feeling pretty full of ourselves when we head out to Minnesota for the World Championships to represent the US for the 2nd time. There was some 2nd-tier Boston team that thought they were nipping at our heels, called RoQ or Snapple or Dork House or something, so we decided to bury them by absorbing what appeared to be their best players, and invited them to Worlds to try out.
8. 1998 - WFDF World Championships - Minnesota, USA - Team USA (DoG)
To summarize, we continued our list of firsts, and proceeded to be the first US national team (again, Japan does not count) to NOT win the world championships. In '96 we were the first team to lose a game, and now, in '98, the first to not win.
I would say that this was the coming out party for Canada, and more importantly, Furious George. While Team Canada was a national team, most of their representatives were from Vancouver's Furious George, with a smattering of easterners. I don't think we had ever really had difficulty playing ANY canadian team at ANY tournament prior to this. Well, we met up with them in pool play, and they tore us a new one. We were completely unprepared for their combination of big plays coupled with stifling man-to-man defense. I don't remember the pool play score, but it wasn't very close. We knew this was only pool play and that it was our usual wakeup call and we would get our rematch against Canada in the finals. Little did we know. Canada promptly lost to Sweden (or Japan?) to set up the following semi-final matchups. Sweden:Japan, USA:Canada (and yes, our good friend Anders Jerhamre was still starring with Team Sweden).
So, we get all psyched up to play Team Canada, a little earlier than expected, but with 4 years of dominance under our belt, we know what it takes to win. However, the semis are basically a rehash of the pool play game. Whether it is Canada doing it to us, or us doing it to ourselves, we play a game that is foreign to most of the DoG players. Stupid turnovers, sniping on the sidelines, giving up easy goals. This is probably the most unpleasant loss with respect to sideline psyche that I have been involved with. We have a mini-surge in the second half trying to catch up, but that peters out after a goal or two, and Canada wins going away. In the other semi, Japan pulls off a surprise upset of Sweden, setting up an improbable final, while in the betty bowl, the presumed finalists end up playing out the string for the bronze medal. Both teams are emotionally crushed but end up playing reasonably well given the situation, and we pull out a close victory to grab a medal.
The immediate impact of this game is that the Boston guys from the other team end up NOT playing with us that fall because of the unpleasant experience at Worlds. They go back to play with Dark Horse, and miss an opportunity to pick up their first national championship. They were going to have to wait another year...
Not only that, this sets up the most exciting Northeast Regional Betty Bowl that I have ever seen. That year the Northeast has 3 bids to Nationals, and at regionals Sunday, DoG quickly dispatches whatever New York team has made the finals, leaving us plenty of time to catch the 2nd half of the Betty Bowl pitting Dark Horse against Portland's Red Tide, who have picked up Kenny Dobyns and Benjy Usadi, among other ringers. Dark Horse had already lost in the semis to NY at double game point (I believe they were receiving on that point. I'll leave it to somebody else to point out who the goat was). We gathered a huge crew in the corner of the endzone at the SUNY Purchase field, and proceeded to ride the hell out of Dark Horse. Kenny and Benji were wowing the sidelines with acrobatic play after another, huge cross-field hammers, etc. Poor Dark Horse couldn't stem the 'tide' and ended up losing 15-14. So they were eliminated from Nationals by a total of two points across two games. Obviously, we were parTICularly thrilled because of the personnel on Dark Horse that had iced us post Worlds. Suffice to say, we are still able to use this when necessary to enforce a little humility.
And now, Worlds memorabilia:
* For this worlds, there is nothing that REALLY stands out positively.
*The fields were cherry, having been recently been built as a soccer complex, complete with underground drainage. About the only questionable thing was that they seemed to bounce, which felt weird. Didn't make me jump any higher though.
* The South African team had this one tall blond guy who played us wearing basically a banana hammock. It was this grotesque one-piece woman's bathing suit which was also built a little like an obscene muscle shirt and it was pretty gross. No one wanted to cover him during the game.
* At one point, in the South African, we played an all opposite hand throw point. After a number of complete throws, I believe Bim floated a forehand turnover. Well, naturally, THIS was the point that was filmed by the local news station and played on TV that night!
* Back at the dorms where we were staying, watching tho old guys icing every up night (John Bar, Lenny, Jeff Brown, Bob Lobel, etc.). It was rather comedic after awhile.
* At the same time people were icing, the evening ritual was doing whatever crosswords we could get our hands on.
* My wife coming in at the end of the week and visiting the Mall of America. It really didn't seem as big as people make it out to be.
8. 1998 - WFDF World Championships - Minnesota, USA - Team USA (DoG)
To summarize, we continued our list of firsts, and proceeded to be the first US national team (again, Japan does not count) to NOT win the world championships. In '96 we were the first team to lose a game, and now, in '98, the first to not win.
I would say that this was the coming out party for Canada, and more importantly, Furious George. While Team Canada was a national team, most of their representatives were from Vancouver's Furious George, with a smattering of easterners. I don't think we had ever really had difficulty playing ANY canadian team at ANY tournament prior to this. Well, we met up with them in pool play, and they tore us a new one. We were completely unprepared for their combination of big plays coupled with stifling man-to-man defense. I don't remember the pool play score, but it wasn't very close. We knew this was only pool play and that it was our usual wakeup call and we would get our rematch against Canada in the finals. Little did we know. Canada promptly lost to Sweden (or Japan?) to set up the following semi-final matchups. Sweden:Japan, USA:Canada (and yes, our good friend Anders Jerhamre was still starring with Team Sweden).
So, we get all psyched up to play Team Canada, a little earlier than expected, but with 4 years of dominance under our belt, we know what it takes to win. However, the semis are basically a rehash of the pool play game. Whether it is Canada doing it to us, or us doing it to ourselves, we play a game that is foreign to most of the DoG players. Stupid turnovers, sniping on the sidelines, giving up easy goals. This is probably the most unpleasant loss with respect to sideline psyche that I have been involved with. We have a mini-surge in the second half trying to catch up, but that peters out after a goal or two, and Canada wins going away. In the other semi, Japan pulls off a surprise upset of Sweden, setting up an improbable final, while in the betty bowl, the presumed finalists end up playing out the string for the bronze medal. Both teams are emotionally crushed but end up playing reasonably well given the situation, and we pull out a close victory to grab a medal.
The immediate impact of this game is that the Boston guys from the other team end up NOT playing with us that fall because of the unpleasant experience at Worlds. They go back to play with Dark Horse, and miss an opportunity to pick up their first national championship. They were going to have to wait another year...
Not only that, this sets up the most exciting Northeast Regional Betty Bowl that I have ever seen. That year the Northeast has 3 bids to Nationals, and at regionals Sunday, DoG quickly dispatches whatever New York team has made the finals, leaving us plenty of time to catch the 2nd half of the Betty Bowl pitting Dark Horse against Portland's Red Tide, who have picked up Kenny Dobyns and Benjy Usadi, among other ringers. Dark Horse had already lost in the semis to NY at double game point (I believe they were receiving on that point. I'll leave it to somebody else to point out who the goat was). We gathered a huge crew in the corner of the endzone at the SUNY Purchase field, and proceeded to ride the hell out of Dark Horse. Kenny and Benji were wowing the sidelines with acrobatic play after another, huge cross-field hammers, etc. Poor Dark Horse couldn't stem the 'tide' and ended up losing 15-14. So they were eliminated from Nationals by a total of two points across two games. Obviously, we were parTICularly thrilled because of the personnel on Dark Horse that had iced us post Worlds. Suffice to say, we are still able to use this when necessary to enforce a little humility.
And now, Worlds memorabilia:
* For this worlds, there is nothing that REALLY stands out positively.
*The fields were cherry, having been recently been built as a soccer complex, complete with underground drainage. About the only questionable thing was that they seemed to bounce, which felt weird. Didn't make me jump any higher though.
* The South African team had this one tall blond guy who played us wearing basically a banana hammock. It was this grotesque one-piece woman's bathing suit which was also built a little like an obscene muscle shirt and it was pretty gross. No one wanted to cover him during the game.
* At one point, in the South African, we played an all opposite hand throw point. After a number of complete throws, I believe Bim floated a forehand turnover. Well, naturally, THIS was the point that was filmed by the local news station and played on TV that night!
* Back at the dorms where we were staying, watching tho old guys icing every up night (John Bar, Lenny, Jeff Brown, Bob Lobel, etc.). It was rather comedic after awhile.
* At the same time people were icing, the evening ritual was doing whatever crosswords we could get our hands on.
* My wife coming in at the end of the week and visiting the Mall of America. It really didn't seem as big as people make it out to be.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 8:29 PM
2 Comments:
Not only that, this sets up the most exciting Northeast Regional Betty Bowl that I have ever seen. ... pitting Dark Horse against Portland's Red Tide, who have picked up Kenny Dobyns and Benjy Usadi, among other ringers.
This game ranks as one of the highlights of my career. Best. Game. Ever.
"Plane tickets to Sarasota for sale! Cheap!"
Correction - my throw in the opposite hand point was a lefty backhand to Nathan for a goal. An ugly wobbly floater of a backhand, but caught nonetheless.
Post a Comment
<< Home