Showtime

http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=5879

It's sectionals week. Things feel different at practice. People have a sense of urgency that may or may not be a good thing. It's kind of funny how the series is the only important tournament we play in all year. Stanford, SB Invite, Pres Day - those were practice for the big show.

I think we have a really good draw for sectionals. We play 5 games on Saturday. The toughest one will be Long Beach, who we haven't played yet this year. They have some talent but I have no idea what to expect from them. I also don't know how healthy Smeltzer is right now, which will be important to their success.

I'm glad we're in the same pool as USC, because otherwise Smaug wouldn't have gotten a chance to play the 'Birds all year. USC played Smaug last year in pool play, and it was a pretty good beat down, 13-3. It should be something similar this year, although USC was looking surprisingly good last week when I went to their scrimmage. They're the 11 seed, so if they can hold seed they'll be going to regionals for the first time since 2004. That's something that I never got to experience when I was there, so I hope they can pull it out.

If we can hold seed and win our pool, we'll face Squids in Semis. If we can pull that one out, we'll face Tide in the finals. We'll have to play better than we have all season to win those games, but it's definitely possible. They're both formidable teams, but we need to get over the logos on their jerseys and realize that we can ball with anyone.