Beth Coltman Memorial, Day 1

The day opened with a first round bye...

Which lead our team to drive down on Saturday morning, avoiding speed traps and crowded Wawa parking lots on the way. This, while a little taxing, is definitely my favorite way to get to this tournament. The night before is always a horrible drive anyway. Of course, the luxury to drive down in the morning was something that BAT didn't have. For the life of us, we couldn't figure out what they were doing in Delaware, but we were happy to see them as whenever you can add another nationals-level team to a tournament, you should.

Our team, as a whole, was on time for once. I actually can't think of anyone who was late this morning. Completely shocking. There's a pretty good chance that even B-Lo was cleated up and ready to go at 10am. As we started going through our warmup drills and started sweating a bit, I was struck with a bit of happiness as I then knew that another season had begun in earnest.

The first game was against GoodFellas, which looked pretty much like OldSag. If memory serves, we started on a 2 point D run to start the game and never really looked back. our teams are pretty familiar with each other due to the PADA and Rage connection. As one of our vets commented, "These guys were my captains during my first year of club ultimate." Always good to show your teacher what you've learned. The 15-5 final score was about as expected. In this game, I played my first non-practice D-points since 2003. More on this later.

The second game was against Medicine Men (from either DC or Baltimore... I can never remember which). We see this team everywhere. They were the original Danny Clark Showcase. Their team identity now, from an outsider's perspective is: "Damn. They'll throw anything at any time, won't they?" Specifically, one of their handlers, Mike Stephen, has no conscience at all. That isn't a judgment, it's just a fact. If memory serves, we were down 4-3 and then went on a run to take half 8-4. As the second half started, there were vocal exhortations to "Finish the Door" but the physical manifestation of that came up lacking. They made their own runs (even getting to the point where I'm pretty sure I played an O point) before we eked out a 15-13 victory.

The third and final game was against our old pals Truck Stop. That bastard team that sent us home from regionals last year in the game-to-go. You might even say that without them, this waste of webspace wouldn't exist. As the game opened with Pike on O, the two teams played what was most likely the ugliest point all weekend. Throwaways, turfs, drops, throwing at the other team and more. as I commented on the sideline, there is a chance that everyone on both teams deserved o be cut as a result of that debacle. I seem to remember sticking an early first-half break to them and riding that out to an 8-6 halftime lead. None of that was particularly relevant as the first half established that the matchup to watch was J Dono covering Big George. There were a number of dual layouts on in-cuts with (I think) George catching two and Dono getting one ridiculous catch block. The general consensus on the sideline was that we might actually pay to watch that matchup. That's a big conceptual step for ultimate. Not that we would pay a lot, but that we would pay anything at all.

We came out of half and immediately relinquished our lead. Way to keep it close, Pike! As the points passed, TS was up at some point and then (I think) we regained the lead. The end result was that we were tied 10-10, hard to 11. We received and scored. Sweet first day, I suppose. Always nice to gain some team-level confidence early in the season, no matter who was missing from both teams.

I hear there was a party, but to no one's surprise, I didn't attend. Unlike some people, this doesn't make me feel old, but rather it is completely normal, going back to college ultimate. There were NBA playoffs on! There was Guinness in the room! I heard some nasty rumor about a bucket of tickets to get beer and one JDub without a shirt on. Someone else described it as a "MetroEast reunion party." With that description, I'm happy I didn't go. I've got no need to be reminded that NYU sucked while I was there.

Thoughts from the first day:

• Shoulder felt good, but pulling was not quite right.
• Ankle felt good, but not perfect.
• Playing Defense is frustrating. Not because of playing Defense, but because of playing offense with the D-team.
• The tryouts looked strong. I'm forgiving all team-level strategic errors because, well, we haven't gone over any of that shit anyway.
• Some returners will be filling new roles and I think that will help our team immensely.
• Threw some goals, caught some goals. Defended myself from a low-flying missile-disc in the TS game to get my only D on the day.
• No one knows the new rules. Everyone thinks the new pick rule is REALLY DUMB and is sure that it will lead to arguments and injuries.
• The new marking rules were never brought up in a game, but there was a ton of discussion on the sidelines. I was specifically trying to mark effectively without encroaching on the ridiculous new disc space rule. It is easier than I expected, but not by much. I think 07 will be the year of constantly broken marks. There is a good chance that every single time I tried to react to an inside-out break that I was in violation of the disc space rule.

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Workout Total:
3 Games of Ultimate
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Historical Note:
This is post #100! I fully expect to be feted by both friends and family. Someone plan a party for me to skip!