The City that Rhymes with Fun - Part 2 of 2
Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and barely made it to the fields by the generous 11 am start time. Weather to start the day was even worse than the Saturday. Field food had dwindled from the generous spread on Saturday, and was now limited to buns with Nutella and the rather odd choice of ‘blue whales’ candies. We grabbed what we could stomach and huddled by the clubhouse for warmth. Every other team looked to be in the same condition. Eventually everyone sucked it up and headed to the fields a half hour late. If this is the weather we’re gonna get, so be it. I zipped up my fleece and walked to the field muttering the traditional May Long refrain… “Stupid Regina!”
Our last game of round robin play was against Flood, the local Masters team. They were clearly older and slower than the rest of the teams, but had evidently surprised each of their opponents on Saturday, losing four close games. We were determined to take them seriously.
Given the wind conditions were different than the previous day – strong upwind/downwind rather than a strong crosswind – we made a tactical decision to mix up our line calling strategy. Whereas on Saturday we played a strict O/D line set – offence plays when we receive, defence when we pull – we played out offence on all upwind points, to give them the best chance to score upwind, and defence downwind to play punt-and-zone. The strategy worked very successfully as the offence got several breaks and the defence (where I played) was successful at stopping them going upwind and then converting to score. Final was a convincing 13-3. Flood finished without a win; as the semifinals were only the top four teams, Flood and EMU (1-4) were left to make the early drive home.
The semifinal match pitted us against Regina All-Stars. We played the same line calling strategy which worked reasonably well until our D-line began to falter and let in a few upwind points. With the outcome now in question, we switched from the zone D we had been running to a man-to-man defence. The D worked a lot better but we were still having trouble converting to offence. At 8-8 on a very long point, one of the young’uns on the team fired a laser down the sideline that I caught for a score. The game was capped at 10 and we just needed one more to win. The offence delivered upwind and we took the game 10-8. On to the final.
The matchup for the final could have likely been predicted at the start of the tourney – us versus Mangina. No other opponents had given too much of a challenge to either team, but Mangina beat us pretty decisively on the first day. We knew we could play better than that, though, so we made a point to warm up early and go in focused and ready to play from the outset.
The game started out in our favour – a point for the D line and then the offence converted a turnover for a score. 2-0 Winnipeg. Next point Mangina scored a downwind point – no worries, they’re going to get those ones usually, and we held serve. Our D line just had to keep converting downwind ourselves – and we were receiving the pull, no problem… until the unthinkable happened. One of our vets dropped an easy pull and turned it over on the goal line. Mangina rushed up to the disc and scored on one pass. 2-2. Another downwind point for them and we were trailing. We tied it up but then gave up another… down 4-3. As we were still somewhat reeling from the dropped pull and a quickly evaporated lead, one of the cooler heads on our team called a timeout. Two things were decided – first, we’d switch O and D lines back to regular roles – O receives, D pulls. And secondly, we could do this – just buckle down for the rest of the game. They’re as tired as we are, if not more. Coming out of the timeout we looked confident and refreshed. A score on offence to tie the game. A massive layout block and conversion by the D line to take the lead. Another D line point, then another… suddenly we were at half, leading 7-4. Looking good.
At half we were a bit self-congratulatory for rebounding so well, but tried to remind ourselves to keep up working hard, if not harder than before. No doubt Mangina would be upping their intensity to mount a comeback. First point after half was Mangina’s, and the next. 7-6. The game would be contested until the end. We traded a few points (including one spectacular layout grab at the back of the endzone by a Mangina player), then gave up a break and found ourselves tied 9-9. The tourney organisers gave the two-whistle signal for time cap. After next point, two points added to the leading score and game would be to that. Effectively, game to twelve. The next pint was hard-fought with a few turnovers each side, but eventually we scored to make it 10-9. O line was sent out again to try to take the next point upwind; they got a turnover and then a huge sky on a huck to take a 11-9 lead. D line was sent in for game point. Turnover, huck, score… game over! Our nameless squad of Winnipeg men had avenged the losses to Mangina on Saturday and in previous years, and in so doing won their home tournament. Our reward was a few cases of beer and newfound respect from our opponents, from the decidedly pro-Mangina sideline spectators, and from each other. Ah, sweet victory.
On a personal note, this was my second career tourney win (and second of my last three), the last one being in Hallowinona last fall. Both small tourneys but always good to come away with a win. I didn’t keep stats for myself diligently, but overall I think I was in line with my personal goals in terms of points played, points scored, d’s and turnovers. Moreover I felt like I contributed even though I was not around the disc much. The season continues to look promising.
With that in mind, it’s getting to be a bit of an early season busy point for tourneys… Beat the Skeeters at home this weekend and back to ‘the Vag’ for Regina Riot the weekend after. Naturally, I’ll keep you posted how those turn out.
Our last game of round robin play was against Flood, the local Masters team. They were clearly older and slower than the rest of the teams, but had evidently surprised each of their opponents on Saturday, losing four close games. We were determined to take them seriously.
Given the wind conditions were different than the previous day – strong upwind/downwind rather than a strong crosswind – we made a tactical decision to mix up our line calling strategy. Whereas on Saturday we played a strict O/D line set – offence plays when we receive, defence when we pull – we played out offence on all upwind points, to give them the best chance to score upwind, and defence downwind to play punt-and-zone. The strategy worked very successfully as the offence got several breaks and the defence (where I played) was successful at stopping them going upwind and then converting to score. Final was a convincing 13-3. Flood finished without a win; as the semifinals were only the top four teams, Flood and EMU (1-4) were left to make the early drive home.
The semifinal match pitted us against Regina All-Stars. We played the same line calling strategy which worked reasonably well until our D-line began to falter and let in a few upwind points. With the outcome now in question, we switched from the zone D we had been running to a man-to-man defence. The D worked a lot better but we were still having trouble converting to offence. At 8-8 on a very long point, one of the young’uns on the team fired a laser down the sideline that I caught for a score. The game was capped at 10 and we just needed one more to win. The offence delivered upwind and we took the game 10-8. On to the final.
The matchup for the final could have likely been predicted at the start of the tourney – us versus Mangina. No other opponents had given too much of a challenge to either team, but Mangina beat us pretty decisively on the first day. We knew we could play better than that, though, so we made a point to warm up early and go in focused and ready to play from the outset.
The game started out in our favour – a point for the D line and then the offence converted a turnover for a score. 2-0 Winnipeg. Next point Mangina scored a downwind point – no worries, they’re going to get those ones usually, and we held serve. Our D line just had to keep converting downwind ourselves – and we were receiving the pull, no problem… until the unthinkable happened. One of our vets dropped an easy pull and turned it over on the goal line. Mangina rushed up to the disc and scored on one pass. 2-2. Another downwind point for them and we were trailing. We tied it up but then gave up another… down 4-3. As we were still somewhat reeling from the dropped pull and a quickly evaporated lead, one of the cooler heads on our team called a timeout. Two things were decided – first, we’d switch O and D lines back to regular roles – O receives, D pulls. And secondly, we could do this – just buckle down for the rest of the game. They’re as tired as we are, if not more. Coming out of the timeout we looked confident and refreshed. A score on offence to tie the game. A massive layout block and conversion by the D line to take the lead. Another D line point, then another… suddenly we were at half, leading 7-4. Looking good.
At half we were a bit self-congratulatory for rebounding so well, but tried to remind ourselves to keep up working hard, if not harder than before. No doubt Mangina would be upping their intensity to mount a comeback. First point after half was Mangina’s, and the next. 7-6. The game would be contested until the end. We traded a few points (including one spectacular layout grab at the back of the endzone by a Mangina player), then gave up a break and found ourselves tied 9-9. The tourney organisers gave the two-whistle signal for time cap. After next point, two points added to the leading score and game would be to that. Effectively, game to twelve. The next pint was hard-fought with a few turnovers each side, but eventually we scored to make it 10-9. O line was sent out again to try to take the next point upwind; they got a turnover and then a huge sky on a huck to take a 11-9 lead. D line was sent in for game point. Turnover, huck, score… game over! Our nameless squad of Winnipeg men had avenged the losses to Mangina on Saturday and in previous years, and in so doing won their home tournament. Our reward was a few cases of beer and newfound respect from our opponents, from the decidedly pro-Mangina sideline spectators, and from each other. Ah, sweet victory.
On a personal note, this was my second career tourney win (and second of my last three), the last one being in Hallowinona last fall. Both small tourneys but always good to come away with a win. I didn’t keep stats for myself diligently, but overall I think I was in line with my personal goals in terms of points played, points scored, d’s and turnovers. Moreover I felt like I contributed even though I was not around the disc much. The season continues to look promising.
With that in mind, it’s getting to be a bit of an early season busy point for tourneys… Beat the Skeeters at home this weekend and back to ‘the Vag’ for Regina Riot the weekend after. Naturally, I’ll keep you posted how those turn out.
posted by Druski at 10:42 p.m.
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