Colorado Cup Recap

Colorado Cup was overall a good weekend for Strike-Slip, but a little disappointing as well. We played very well most of the time, but we had a few lapses in concentration. Personally, I had a very up and down weekend.

Round 1: Sprawl W 13-8ish

Three times this weekend we took half 7-1, and this was one of those times. We had a combination of forced D's and unforced turnovers we rolled up a big lead. I think they came out pretty flat in the first game of the day, while we were super fired up about our new mandarin-mango colored jerseys. Sprawl was probably one of the better teams that we played this weekend, but at the time it didn't seem like it. They started coming on in the second half and they actually won the half, but our O-line was converting very efficiently and we cruised through for a short game.

Round 2: Blackfish W 13-3

I had heard that Blackfish was a secretly good team, and given the fact that they had flown our from Vancouver, I was ready to believe it. They seemed to be pretty young, and they got their only points from a tall dude that had some sweet skies in the endzone before pulling his hamstring. I think we only turned the disc 3 times during this game. We finished with over an hour before the next round and we took some time to wander around and watch some of the elite games. Dean went and got sandwiches, and I ate most of a Pastrami sandwich during our improvised bye. That was a mistake.

Round 3: Double Black W 14-12

Double Black was a very cagey masters team. We were super sluggish coming out of our break and they were punishing our lazy D with precise throws. We trailed for most of the game, but BOFA called a time out to yell and throw water in our faces to wake us up. There was a lot of egregious call making on their part, and we started to lower ourselves to their level. The arguing and slowing down of the game really played into their hands. They had a couple guys that were surprisingly athletic for older dudes, and they cheated very effectively. At the end of the game, we came up with a huge goal line stand to go up 13-12, and then got a quick break to end the game. It wasn't a feel-good win after all the calls, but a W is a W.

Round 4: 99 Problems L 13-8

By the time this game rolled around, BOFA was in the bathroom super sick with food poisoning and our team was without leadership. 99 problems are a bunch of local guys that aren't playing in the series, so they picked up a few ringers for our game. They had Popes and one or two other ex bravo guys. It was really hot out, and the heat and the elevation really got to me in this game. I had a number of bad huck turnovers, and I definitely hurt our chances to win this one. We should have won this one, but we dropped it and pretty much killed our chance of winning our pool.

One of the best parts about the tournament was that during the showcase game between Fury and Rare Air, they had lots of pizza, ice cream, and beer. The showcase game was a blowout, but it was great to have some incentive for everyone to stick around and hang out.

When we got back to the hotel, we started up a frenzied game of 4 on 4 indoor Pooltimate that was probably more tiring than the entire days worth of games. We shared some beer and after a late night trip to Waffle House (great post tournament food, btw) we passed out pretty early.

Sunday Morning
Round 5: Riverside 1 W 13-8

We came out pretty fired up about our loss the afternoon before, and went up 7-1 to start the game. They were really not very good, except for Spike and an ex Squid dude. Score reporter has the game listed as 13-8, but that sounds much closer than the game actually was, and I don't think that's right. We finished with over an hour before the next round and I got to go watch SD beat Truck Stop in a very close game.

Semis: Prairie Fire L 13-9

Prairie Fire made a splash earlier this season by beating Johnny Bravo twice and is so far undefeated this year. I would like to see them match up against San Diego because I feel like they are similar teams - young, talented guys that have been around for a while but are finally getting their act to together. Half of PF seemed to be about 6'4 or above lanky Kansas boys, so we had a lot of trouble matching up on their height.

They skied us a few times, but I feel like the loss really came from our unforced turns on offense rather than turns they forced. We have entirely too many turns from our dump sets. We really could have used Buhl to keep our offense straightened out, as well as for his solid handling. PF played like an elite team, with fast, devastating handler movement in space and timely hucks to their giants. I think we were down 7-3 at half, and we collectively turned it on to go on a run towards the end of the game, but they pulled away with some big offensive plays.

99 Problems lost their Semis game, and didn't want to play the 3/4 game against us, which we found very disappointing because we only got two games on Sunday. (They also lost to Sprawl in the last round of pool play because their ringers didn't come out.)

Prairie Fire went on to beat Suess in the finals 13-2. I take small consolation in knowing that we were their closest game of the weekend.

Overall, we didn't have a bad weekend as a team, especially considering that it was the first real tournament we've played. We're going to have a hard time beating an "elite" team because of our lack of height and our youth. We're a bit like Smaug was this season, with lots of talent and speed but lacking big play makers that can bail you out in a tight spot.

I'm very disappointed in my own performance this weekend. I had a very good weekend as a receiver, and I came down with everything that was put up to me. I've been working hard in the gym and on the track, and I don't think I've ever ran faster or jumped higher.

On the other hand, I really struggled with bad hucks. I normally think of myself as a hucker, and I don't hesitate to jack it deep, but after a bunch of turns and a lot older guys having talks with me on the sidelines I started thinking really hard about what I was doing wrong and what to I had to do to not screw up. Once I got into my own head like that, it was over. Self 1 took over and I could only fixate on the negative instead of visualizing the positive.

I really wonder what my role on the team should be. Maybe my job will be to catch scores and throw dumps, but I'm not ready to resign to that after one bad weekend. I'll reevaluate myself after Chico, but 70% of ultimate is confidence and I think I need to be stubborn headed for a little bit longer.

I'm very relieved and excited that we got accepted into Chico. YR, SCUM, and Condors will be there and those should be some fun games. I want a chance at redemption for myself and another chance for Strike Slip to get some quality wins before the series.

One last story: On the plane ride home, Bob challenged me to a shotgun race. He hit on the flight attendant with the "polar bear" line (How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice!), who then stuck around to watch our race. She was so amused that she brought us a free round of beers! And I won both times. Great end to the weekend.