Nationals 2006 - Day 1
Ugh. A tournament that started with such promise has, well, still a lot of promise, but we do make things hard on ourselves. Seeded third with a pool of Vicious Cycle, Machine, and Revolver, we played those teams in order. The Vicious game started uneventfully, with the O connecting on all 4 cylinders and the D getting enough to spring out to an 8-4(?) lead at half. Vicious got their first break to make it 10-8 and cause a little bit of consternation, but we got back on track and closed out the game 15-10. Vicious ran a VERY tight rotation with Tim and Rook playing almost every point, and Dan Depaul not far behind. Meanwhile, on the other field Machine and Revolver played a very close game with Machine up in the second half before Revolver came back for the win.
This brought the next game against Machine, a clear trap game if there ever was one. These guys hucked even more than Vicious, but the game followed mostly the same pattern, with us getting out to a big half-time lead, giving up some points in the second half, and then closing out to a 15-10/11 victory. Meanwhile, over on the other field, Vicious was keeping a late lead against Revolver, with the disc to win. Revolver got it back, they tied it up, and eventually played out to double-game point to 17(?). Vicious received to start, Revolver got it back, and then Cash threw into a poach. Wonder if that will make it into a blog entry. Vicious closed out the game for the upset victory.
Naturally, this means we would crush Revolver, right? Not so fast. We started the game on D upwind. Revolver scored mostly straightforward. They pulled, we threw a few, then Jim turfed a backhand to Zalisk. A few passes later, 2-0. Now we're going upwind. Turnover, 3-0. Finally we score downwind, 3-1. The D gets one back, but the O gives up another one and Revolver takes half 8-5. We start the second half on O, and we are still not clicking on all 4 cylinders. I think we score, but a few ugly turnovers later, and Revolver is sitting on an 11-6 lead. All of a sudden, there is concern about making the power pool if we lose by enough points (and Vicious wins). Now it's our turn. 11-6, 11-9, 12-9, 12-12 with Revolver going upwind. They score, barely, to make it 13-12 and the cap is on, game to 15. We work it most of the way of the field, and then at a high stall count, Zalisk tries to squeeze an inside out forehand to Forch. Turnover, they eventually score. 14-12. We receive going downwind, throw it around for a little, then score. 14-13. The O is finished for the game. The D pulls, and proceeds to get the disc 4(!) times, and we turn it over near their goal line at least 3 of the times. We also score twice only to have it called back, once on a possible drop by Josh McCarthy, and one on a bogus continuation marking foul call for a goal. Naturally each time we fail on the double score. This point had to take maybe 25 minutes, with multiple subs on each team as people went down with cramps.
This game was INCREDIBLY disappointing as the O tried our hardest to give away the game, and eventually we succeeded. What was unusual was that you couldn't really point any fingers. It was just unusual mistakes across the board. Weird drops, weird throws, spread across a bunch of O players. What was even more aggravating was that Machine won the other game against Vicious, and if we had ended up beating Revolver, through point differential they would have gone, with Vicious, to the losers pool with a loss, quite possibly ending their tournament.
Now our schedule tomorrow is Furious to start followed by Rhino, the all NW pool. Hopefully we will make it interesting (have to avoid 4th and eliminate the potential for an all NW semi).
On a personal note, the second game against Machine was probably the nadir of my ultimate career. It began with a first point turf of a forehand that I didn't want to throw. They scored, and of the 15-20 passes I ended up throwing that game, well over 50% of them I felt uncomfortable on, ie., they didn't go where I wanted them to go. My second pass, a swing to Ariel was a little behind and almost layout blocked. I threw a forehand swing to Paul, pushed him upfield and made him stumble and drop the pass. I had a long inside out forehand to Zalisk on a bowling alley cut that he was unable to time his jump for. I had at least 5 other passes that caught on my fingers, that didn't feel right, that had players laying out for (but not getting). Hopefully I got all my bad passes done in the one game. More tomorrow.
This brought the next game against Machine, a clear trap game if there ever was one. These guys hucked even more than Vicious, but the game followed mostly the same pattern, with us getting out to a big half-time lead, giving up some points in the second half, and then closing out to a 15-10/11 victory. Meanwhile, over on the other field, Vicious was keeping a late lead against Revolver, with the disc to win. Revolver got it back, they tied it up, and eventually played out to double-game point to 17(?). Vicious received to start, Revolver got it back, and then Cash threw into a poach. Wonder if that will make it into a blog entry. Vicious closed out the game for the upset victory.
Naturally, this means we would crush Revolver, right? Not so fast. We started the game on D upwind. Revolver scored mostly straightforward. They pulled, we threw a few, then Jim turfed a backhand to Zalisk. A few passes later, 2-0. Now we're going upwind. Turnover, 3-0. Finally we score downwind, 3-1. The D gets one back, but the O gives up another one and Revolver takes half 8-5. We start the second half on O, and we are still not clicking on all 4 cylinders. I think we score, but a few ugly turnovers later, and Revolver is sitting on an 11-6 lead. All of a sudden, there is concern about making the power pool if we lose by enough points (and Vicious wins). Now it's our turn. 11-6, 11-9, 12-9, 12-12 with Revolver going upwind. They score, barely, to make it 13-12 and the cap is on, game to 15. We work it most of the way of the field, and then at a high stall count, Zalisk tries to squeeze an inside out forehand to Forch. Turnover, they eventually score. 14-12. We receive going downwind, throw it around for a little, then score. 14-13. The O is finished for the game. The D pulls, and proceeds to get the disc 4(!) times, and we turn it over near their goal line at least 3 of the times. We also score twice only to have it called back, once on a possible drop by Josh McCarthy, and one on a bogus continuation marking foul call for a goal. Naturally each time we fail on the double score. This point had to take maybe 25 minutes, with multiple subs on each team as people went down with cramps.
This game was INCREDIBLY disappointing as the O tried our hardest to give away the game, and eventually we succeeded. What was unusual was that you couldn't really point any fingers. It was just unusual mistakes across the board. Weird drops, weird throws, spread across a bunch of O players. What was even more aggravating was that Machine won the other game against Vicious, and if we had ended up beating Revolver, through point differential they would have gone, with Vicious, to the losers pool with a loss, quite possibly ending their tournament.
Now our schedule tomorrow is Furious to start followed by Rhino, the all NW pool. Hopefully we will make it interesting (have to avoid 4th and eliminate the potential for an all NW semi).
On a personal note, the second game against Machine was probably the nadir of my ultimate career. It began with a first point turf of a forehand that I didn't want to throw. They scored, and of the 15-20 passes I ended up throwing that game, well over 50% of them I felt uncomfortable on, ie., they didn't go where I wanted them to go. My second pass, a swing to Ariel was a little behind and almost layout blocked. I threw a forehand swing to Paul, pushed him upfield and made him stumble and drop the pass. I had a long inside out forehand to Zalisk on a bowling alley cut that he was unable to time his jump for. I had at least 5 other passes that caught on my fingers, that didn't feel right, that had players laying out for (but not getting). Hopefully I got all my bad passes done in the one game. More tomorrow.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 10:22 PM
2 Comments:
Second game v. Machine was painful. You'll always be #1 (until they take the jersey back!). Good to see you throwing better in later games.
It was the worst that I have ever felt throwing the disc. It still makes me cringe to think how off I felt on almost every throw.
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