Hopefully I start to remember more of the weekend while I write this, but who knows.
Unfortunately for us, 5 Ultimate was not able to get our jerseys to us in time for the tournament so that kind of sucked. But we have them now, so no worries.
We started off the day against Get That Fly, a group of older guys from LA. We win 13-6.
Our second game of the day was against the Long Beach team Little Giants. We played a scrimmage against them the weekend before where we won 11-6. It was a fun game. Ed got a few big Ds on Reggie that kind of surprised me. We won 13-2 going away.
Up to this point I think I had played a total of 4 points. I was sick or hungover or both. (It was Iris's birthday the night before.) Anyways.
Third and last game of the day was against SD Streetgang. I know I said before that we didn't really have a legitimate shot at this game, but boy was I wrong. We came out firing on all cylinders trading to 5s I think. Our D line was getting at least a block a point, we just couldn't punch in the break. We finally get a break before half to go up 6-5 (I think?) It is a bit fuzzy. We get the disc again to take half. Tommy bombs a backhand huck to KG super open streaking deep (I was the closest guy to him) but it gets called back on a travel call. We turn it. They break twice to take half 7-6. After half they started throwing zone a lot to mix us up a little. I think they got maybe 1 D on us the entire game, the rest of our turns were mental mistakes (throwing while not set, drops, etc.) Gordy, Tommy, and Bishop in the backfield were shredding through their zone. Anyways. They went up a few breaks in the second half. up 9-11 game to 13. We trade downwind with two hucks to Jake who skies Dollar without jumping. Cash in an upwind break (also to Jake.) I think they broke back. We pull on game point 10-12 and they win with a huck to a wide open Kory. GG Streetgang. We put up a solid showing though. This game reminded me a lot of the Strike-Slip game we had at Chico. Partly because we came out so strong and really played to our potential (almost) and partly because I'm pretty sure they thought we were just going to roll over. Hopefully we get another shot at them at Regionals. Would love to play spoiler.
So we played 3 games then we were done for the day. Pretty nice schedule for us. I spent the rest of the day watching mixed. Heckled the Metro-BCBC pool play game with most of SS. Watched Metro almost throw it away (won on universe.) There are a lot of turns in the mixed game. But it was nice to watch Metro pull it out.
So. Day 2.
Our entire pool got a first round bye, but I showed up a bit early to watch SS play a bit. Seduction was up first on Sunday. They were definitely underseeded (10th overall) and I didn't want anyone to take them too lightly. They are a mix of UCSD and SDSU kids that got cut from Streetgang (analogous to the Monster/SS relationship, but we picked up a lot of extra talent.) They had a few too many throwaways, and Matt had some sick grabs. We won 13-5.
Last pool play game was against ACR. Mix of SLO, Redlands, and APU kids. The score says 13-7, but I don't remember it being that close at all. They came up with some lucky second chance grabs in the endzone I guess.
So, a 4-1 record in pool play set us up against the Condors. They have had a serious drop off in talent from last year. They lost all the LA people to Strike-Slip, Welsh to Metro, Paymaster to Johnny Bravo, Dugan to the Beyondors, Hester to JAM, and Whit and KVB to Revolver. So yea, they lost a LOT of talent, but they bolstered their numbers with a lot of UCSB kiddies fresh off a Nationals run (plus The Arbiter from UCLA.) I think we were tired by this point, and we didn't come out with the fire we did against Streetgang. We traded the first few points, but it just didnt feel the same. We lost 9-15. I double scored twice (both from Tommy), one point Tommy actually quadruple scored (got called back each time.)
Last game of the tournament we played Seduction again in the 4/5 game. We lost Ed at the beginning of the game because he had to go to some family function. Also lost Tommy halfway through because his ride was bailing. They had a lot less drops/throwaways. And we were very tired after a big loss to the Condors. We traded most of the game. I think they went up a break late in the game. We tied it at 14s, win by two, hard at 17. Matt ended up scoring the last two points on some pretty sick plays. We win 16-14 and take 4th place out of So Cal Sectionals.
We have a huge team this year. 26 guys on our roster. I think we had 23 playing this weekend, and EVERYONE made big plays all weekend. Regionals is this coming weekend and I can't wait to have our full roster (hopefully Louis can actually make it this time, that'll be a huge pickup.) I am so excited to make some noise in Arizona. Should be an awesome weekend. And even if we don't do so well, which I doubt, it will still be a ton of fun playing with this group of guys.
Congrats to Strike-Slip for winning the open division over Streetgang. We were playing on the field next to them, and they were playing balls out all game. Linux's grab to end it was spectacular. Hopefully they'll be able to pull it off again next weekend. You know I'll be rooting for you guys.
Also congrats to Metro on winning the mixed division over BCBC on universe after blowing a lead. Better increase that margin next weekend. I want to see domination.
Pre-Regionals post once the schedule is up. I'm predicting 11 teams go and we should be the somewhere around the 6/7 seed (but I doubt we'll end the tournament there.)
28 September 2009
24 September 2009
17 September 2009
So Cal Sectionals
Southern California Open (and Mixed) sectionals is (are) this weekend and the schedule was finally put up (sort of, no times, no brackets yet.)
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=6208
Pool A:
A1: Streetgang (1)
A2: Monster (4)
A3: Get That Fly (6)
A4: ACR (7)
A5: Seduction (10)
A6: Little Giants (11)
So we have a pool of 6 and a pool of 7. Not much of a surprise here as there is only one approved format given 13 teams with 8 advancing. The seeding is a bit different from what the UPA calls for, but who really cares. Anything after the top 4 seeds is a wash, so seeding them is rather arbitrary anyways.
Streetgang is the 1 seed overall, and the favorite to take the second seed to The Show behind Johnny Bravo. We play them in the 5th round (should be the last round on Saturday.) As much as I want to say that we have a shot, I really don't think we do. They are the only team in the section to play at the elite level all year (Colorado Cup and Labor Day.) Although they had some solid late wins at CC they got rolled at Labor Day. Oh well. Hopefully they can find a good game in the finals against SS or the Condors.
I don't know anything about Get That Fly other than Score Reporter says they are from LA.
Monster played ACR last year at sectionals. From what I remember they had some APU guys and some Cal Poly SLO guys. Athletic, but young. I'm pretty sure we'll play them first round on Sunday, so we'll need to come out strong to secure the 2 seed in the pool.
Seduction is the second team out of San Diego. Outside of the top 4 seeds, they are the only team to have actually gone to any tournaments over the summer. According to Score Reporter they had a rough Discos Calientes, but they did put up a fight against Condors. They are seeded 10th overall, which I think is pretty low, especially since they actually have results. Oh well.
Little Giants is made up of mostly CSULB guys with a few community players tacked on. We scrimmed them last Saturday and came away with an 11-6 win. They have a few ballers, but are still really young. Its good to see that they ended up putting a team together though. Should be a fun game.
Our team has the potential to play really well (a la Strike-Slip at Discos) or choke (a la the Army of Darkness game). We have a solid group of guys that have been working hard all summer and now is when it is going to pay off (I hope.)
On a related note:
This will likely be the first time in over a decade that the Condors do not win sectionals. Pretty impressive feat, but it had to end sometime.
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=6208
Pool A:
A1: Streetgang (1)
A2: Monster (4)
A3: Get That Fly (6)
A4: ACR (7)
A5: Seduction (10)
A6: Little Giants (11)
So we have a pool of 6 and a pool of 7. Not much of a surprise here as there is only one approved format given 13 teams with 8 advancing. The seeding is a bit different from what the UPA calls for, but who really cares. Anything after the top 4 seeds is a wash, so seeding them is rather arbitrary anyways.
Streetgang is the 1 seed overall, and the favorite to take the second seed to The Show behind Johnny Bravo. We play them in the 5th round (should be the last round on Saturday.) As much as I want to say that we have a shot, I really don't think we do. They are the only team in the section to play at the elite level all year (Colorado Cup and Labor Day.) Although they had some solid late wins at CC they got rolled at Labor Day. Oh well. Hopefully they can find a good game in the finals against SS or the Condors.
I don't know anything about Get That Fly other than Score Reporter says they are from LA.
Monster played ACR last year at sectionals. From what I remember they had some APU guys and some Cal Poly SLO guys. Athletic, but young. I'm pretty sure we'll play them first round on Sunday, so we'll need to come out strong to secure the 2 seed in the pool.
Seduction is the second team out of San Diego. Outside of the top 4 seeds, they are the only team to have actually gone to any tournaments over the summer. According to Score Reporter they had a rough Discos Calientes, but they did put up a fight against Condors. They are seeded 10th overall, which I think is pretty low, especially since they actually have results. Oh well.
Little Giants is made up of mostly CSULB guys with a few community players tacked on. We scrimmed them last Saturday and came away with an 11-6 win. They have a few ballers, but are still really young. Its good to see that they ended up putting a team together though. Should be a fun game.
Our team has the potential to play really well (a la Strike-Slip at Discos) or choke (a la the Army of Darkness game). We have a solid group of guys that have been working hard all summer and now is when it is going to pay off (I hope.)
On a related note:
This will likely be the first time in over a decade that the Condors do not win sectionals. Pretty impressive feat, but it had to end sometime.
05 September 2009
Bad Practice
I had a bad practice today. Felt really sluggish, wasn't cutting decisively, wasn't dictating on D. I did have one D and a score. But it didn't make up for the rest. Overall a bad personal performance.
Sectionals in two weeks. Need to step it up.
Post Chico
Drove up with Ringer, Fawkes, and Evan Friday afternoon. Stayed at OJ's brother's place.
Our first game against SCUC was our worst performance of the weekend (6-13 loss). Their team was made up of mostly UCSC and Stanford kiddies (plus Joaq and Shy from Claremont.) Lots of speed on that team.
Next we had some chump team from Sacramento (?). I don't remember much of anything from this game other than we won by a lot (13-5)
Our 3rd game of the day pitted us against Strike-Slip (the 'other' LA team.) They had just dropped a shocker to Santa Cruz (9-13) so I went in to this game thinking that they were going to make a statement in our game. We also wanted to make a statement of our own in this game. Ed told us at the beginning of the game to not worry about who was on the other side of the field, but rather to play within ourselves. If we played our own best game we would have a chance to take down SS. We went up a break early after Bogo got a layout poach D off of Dot's in cut (I was marking Dot.) I then busted for the uncontested score. That got us fired up really fast. Stig and Jake both played really well this game (I think Jake had 5 scores, while Stig had 2.) Stig also got a huge layout D on Jer-Bear that Jerry called an iffy foul on (both teams called BS.) Anyways. We had the disc on the goal line at 10-8 (SS up.) Ed threw the quick forehand to Jake to hit 10-9, but it got called back because one of our own guys called foul as Ed was releasing (because it was called as Ed was in the act of throwing, it should have remained with Jake as a score, but oh well.) So it went back and we ended up punching it in JUST after the hard cap sounded. So we lost 10-9. I don't think anyone on either team could have predicted such a close game, and I'm itching for another chance to play them. Strike-Slip definitely has a stronger team on paper, but we proved in that game that its still possible to beat them. Something I noticed about SS was how disciplined their offense was. They don't really have any superstar players that can single-handedly take over a game (maybe BOFA), so a complete buy in to a solid offensive plan is the only way they have a chance to make the big show. I have a lot of friends on that team and I'd love to see them make it.
So. Really close loss against a good team.
Our last game of the day was a (pointless) crossover. Pointless in the outcome of the tournament, but that early in the season every game helps give experience.
Ed gave us a big speech right before this game saying how we need to stay serious and play as well as we did in the SS game. Then first point he goes and drops the pull. Good going. We won 13-2. They didn't have much of anything going for them. I only really remember Ed dropping the pull and then another play where Ed yelled that he didn't have a mark so I busted and sat on some guy's shoulder for the score. Was pretty impressive from what I heard. It's about time I started actually jumping. I also blew out my cleats in this game in a way that I've never seen before. The outer seam tore 5". Came out of nowhere. I ended up taping it up for the rest of that game, but that wouldn't work permanently. (I ended up borrowing Allen's gold soccer cleats for Sunday.)
Ed gave us a big speech right before this game saying how we need to stay serious and play as well as we did in the SS game. Then first point he goes and drops the pull. Good going. We won 13-2. They didn't have much of anything going for them. I only really remember Ed dropping the pull and then another play where Ed yelled that he didn't have a mark so I busted and sat on some guy's shoulder for the score. Was pretty impressive from what I heard. It's about time I started actually jumping. I also blew out my cleats in this game in a way that I've never seen before. The outer seam tore 5". Came out of nowhere. I ended up taping it up for the rest of that game, but that wouldn't work permanently. (I ended up borrowing Allen's gold soccer cleats for Sunday.)
After our games were done for the day a few of us decided to stick around to watch LAMEtro play. We watched the beginning of their game against Classy, and then promptly left after they had multiple one throw turnovers. Disappointing. We watched a little of the BCBC-BAG game then went to get some lunch/beer. Came back to heckle Metro and watched them lose a nail biter to the Brass Monkey revival team. Keegan called a timeout on the goal line on universe (?) when they didn't have any timeouts (sad).
That night we didn't do much of anything. I opted not to go to the party. Ended up crashing pretty early. We got to the fields early the next morning expecting to play the 2nd SD team (Seduction) when instead the TDs inform us they are cancelling the last pool play game because a few people they talked to were playing Open and Mixed. Kind of sucks for those of us only playing Open, but oh well. We took the 3 seed out of our pool and played the Buddies (Davis team) in the B bracket semis. They only had 10 guys I think, but the people they had were solid. Taylor is a beast. And Pumba's little (6'5"?) brother is damn solid for being as young as he is. We ended up winning on universe after a tiring game.
Our last game was against Army of Darkness from Oregon/Humboldt. They had an ex-Voodoo guy that was just dominating, but the rest of their team wasnt all that solid. We were up 10-7 when soft cap went on. They ended up winning on universe after Keegan turfed the first throw after the pull. But that was hardly our problem. We gave them that game. People were tired. Oh well.
We had all varieties of games over the weekend from blowout losses (SCUC) to blowout wins (Sacramento and Pirate Bay) to a universe point win and loss. Plus a solid performance against Strike Slip.
All in all a pretty good weekend.
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