Flatlands recap
Just one weekend after MUDI came the big hometown tourney, the Flatland Ultimate and Cups Tournament (FUCT), or simply Flatlands to most. Unlike pretty much every other long-running tournament on the Prairies, Flatlands is Open and Women’s only, so Chaos split by gender, added a few alumni and others to have enough players for each roster, and competed separately. The men’s side had a competitive and rec division (we were on the comp side of course) while the women competed in a single division.
Our pool had us in with Liquid Assets (Minneapolis’s 2nd open team; a significant step down from Sub Zero who we’ll probably never see at Flatlands), Mangina, and Flood. The other pool was made up of Genital Stroke (basically General Strike), DingWop, Paul’s team (a disparate but talented group of players from Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Edmonton), and the Canadian Junior National team, preparing for Worlds in Massachussetts in August.
First Game: Liquid Assets. We looked a bit rough in this game with just way to many mistakes including more drops than I have seen in an elite game for a while. This was a game we could have and should have won, but not with the way we played. Some promising flashes but not a complete game. L, 13-10.
Next up: Mangina. Always a tough matchup, as witnessed in the Regina men’s tourney earlier. First play I struck deep and scored. They answered back. We traded for a while, then our mistakes caught up with us and they opened a lead. They took it to 11-5, then something triggered in us and we stormed back to tie it 11-11. Alas, we couldn’t keep up the momentum till the end and with another inopportune drop they got the turnover and a quick score, then took the next point to win 13-11. The comeback to tie was encouraging, but again we knew we hadn’t played a complete, solid game.
After a break for lunch, we were up against Flood. While a solid master’s team (2nd place at nationals last year), we knew they didn’t have the legs to keep up with us so we should have the win. However, at this point we were down to 10 guys as one of our players had left temporarily… lots of playing time and few breaks. We managed to survive despite being relatively shorthanded and won pretty handily, something like 13-4. I had one of my better games and almost scored a callahan on a layout D. Instead I got spooked as the intended receiver still had a chance at the catch, and I simply swatted away the disc for a turnover at the line. Inexplicably we turned it back over and they worked it up for the score. I resolved to just catch the disc next time.
Final game of Saturday was a crossover for seeding, we were 3rd in our pool and would take on the other 3 seed for 5th and 6th seed in Sunday’s quarters. The other pool had ended in a 3-way tie for 2nd through 4th (Paul’s team was 3-0, others all 1-2), with DingWop ending up 3rd after tiebreakers were sorted out. Both teams were clearly fatigued and I’m not sure DingWop was really motivated to win this game. We played pretty solid and took the win, 13-8ish.
Following the games I really wanted a nap but had volunteered to oversee the cups tourney. It ended up being dominated by DingWoppers and other Americans who lingered around even after the cups championship was won. I packed up, headed home for a shower, and then straight to the party with no nap. I was feeling sleepy within minutes of being there. I managed to perk up long enough to enter the sumo-suit wrestling competition (won in the first round against the self-proclaimed drunkest guy at the party, the lost in the quarterfinal), but bailed early and was home by midnight. Not nearly the same sort of endurance at the party as the previous weekend. Bu at least I was getting well-needed sleep, and besides I needed to redeem myself after pretty much sucking on Sunday at MUDI.
Sunday’s quarterfinal had us up against Genital Stroke, seeded 4th. As a rule, Chaos always beats Strike at Flatlands, and we were determined to continue this tradition. A hard-fought and intense game throughout, we battled hard to make turnovers and played smart with the disc. We took half 7-3 and then held off a late surge in the second half to win, 13-10ish. Probably my best game of the tournament, and much better than either game last Sunday. I was feeling pretty good.
The semis found us up against DingWop again… as 6th seed they had knocked off 3rd seed Mangina, while in the other quarters the juniors (7th) upset Paul’s Team (2nd) and only Liquid Assets managed to avoid the upset by beating Flood. I had the feeling DingWop would play us tougher than on Saturday. They did, but still made plenty of mistakes for us to capitalise on. We played pretty solid except for a bit of a lapse at the end of first half, and took the win by about 13-10.
A break after the semifinal let us take in the women’s final. The Chaos women had been crushing their opponents and were undefeated. They were up against the team from Duluth for the final. Not much of a story here – the women cruised for another decisive victory and took the final by a score of about 13-4. Now, it was our turn.
The final was us against Liquid Assets, who disposed of the juniors pretty easily in their semi. Again, we knew we could beat Assets but they were looking pretty strong. They had easily the largest roster at the tournament and were fresher than any other team. Game got underway with us giving up a break on the first point, then trading points. My first point on (I was on the D-line) I matched up against one of their speedsters. I was caught out of position as the huck went up, and even with a chase and a late bid he caught it for the score. Not a great start. We score the next point on O and I was back, and marking the same player. This time I had better position but was still a bit behind him as he struck deep. I closed the gap and got inside position… only to see the disc rise with a wind gust and sail over my hands into his reach. Dammit! Meanwhile, we were beginning to lose the initiative as out O turned the disc again, and the D gave up another point… not my guy this time at least. Another score for us and I was back on D. Same guy, again. I was trying to back him a bit but got caught running too hard in on an in cut as he turned and burned. I made up most of the gap and was inches from the disc on a late bid, but once again, he caught for the score. I was beyond frustrated by this point and let fly a hat spike that got a bit of a reaction from the fantasy players on the sideline… luckily, no hostile hecklers at this final. A few more points and the half ended with us down 7-4.
At half we did not make too many adjustments (though personally I started putting more attention to my positional play on D), but renewed out commitment to fundamentals like swinging the disc and holding the force. Still, we continued to struggle early in the second half and were down 10-5 by the time we called a timeout. Not sure if I recall what was said but the intensity was certainly ramped up thereafter. Several questionable calls and one really bad one by the other team (drawing boos from the crowd and some harsh words from our captain towards the player at fault) may have had something to do with it… anyway we were now playing with something to prove. Suddenly our D began to produce breaks, and capitalise on them. Our big-game players were making some highlight reel plays (literally – the game was being taped) with a few huge grabs in the endzone. Somewhere in there, even I scored, albeit on a nondescript short pass into the endzone. We narrowed the lead and made a game of it… but the surge was late and we couldn’t completely shut down their offence, and they got what they needed to close out the game. I think the final score was a repeat of our 13-10 loss the previous day. Another 2nd place finsh.
Disappointing result in the final, but again there were signs of promise. Intensity for the tourney was pretty good throughout and great on Sunday. And while the first half of the final was lacklustre, the second half was much improved and we didn’t just roll over and take the loss, which is essentially what happened in Regina. With a month left ‘till nationals, we are starting to look pretty good.
Next up: a well earned weekend off from ultimate, which my banged-up body will appreciate. Then Disc Odyssey in Saskatoon on August Long Weekend, and two weeks later the big show in Halifax. Things are starting to come up fast.
Our pool had us in with Liquid Assets (Minneapolis’s 2nd open team; a significant step down from Sub Zero who we’ll probably never see at Flatlands), Mangina, and Flood. The other pool was made up of Genital Stroke (basically General Strike), DingWop, Paul’s team (a disparate but talented group of players from Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Edmonton), and the Canadian Junior National team, preparing for Worlds in Massachussetts in August.
First Game: Liquid Assets. We looked a bit rough in this game with just way to many mistakes including more drops than I have seen in an elite game for a while. This was a game we could have and should have won, but not with the way we played. Some promising flashes but not a complete game. L, 13-10.
Next up: Mangina. Always a tough matchup, as witnessed in the Regina men’s tourney earlier. First play I struck deep and scored. They answered back. We traded for a while, then our mistakes caught up with us and they opened a lead. They took it to 11-5, then something triggered in us and we stormed back to tie it 11-11. Alas, we couldn’t keep up the momentum till the end and with another inopportune drop they got the turnover and a quick score, then took the next point to win 13-11. The comeback to tie was encouraging, but again we knew we hadn’t played a complete, solid game.
After a break for lunch, we were up against Flood. While a solid master’s team (2nd place at nationals last year), we knew they didn’t have the legs to keep up with us so we should have the win. However, at this point we were down to 10 guys as one of our players had left temporarily… lots of playing time and few breaks. We managed to survive despite being relatively shorthanded and won pretty handily, something like 13-4. I had one of my better games and almost scored a callahan on a layout D. Instead I got spooked as the intended receiver still had a chance at the catch, and I simply swatted away the disc for a turnover at the line. Inexplicably we turned it back over and they worked it up for the score. I resolved to just catch the disc next time.
Final game of Saturday was a crossover for seeding, we were 3rd in our pool and would take on the other 3 seed for 5th and 6th seed in Sunday’s quarters. The other pool had ended in a 3-way tie for 2nd through 4th (Paul’s team was 3-0, others all 1-2), with DingWop ending up 3rd after tiebreakers were sorted out. Both teams were clearly fatigued and I’m not sure DingWop was really motivated to win this game. We played pretty solid and took the win, 13-8ish.
Following the games I really wanted a nap but had volunteered to oversee the cups tourney. It ended up being dominated by DingWoppers and other Americans who lingered around even after the cups championship was won. I packed up, headed home for a shower, and then straight to the party with no nap. I was feeling sleepy within minutes of being there. I managed to perk up long enough to enter the sumo-suit wrestling competition (won in the first round against the self-proclaimed drunkest guy at the party, the lost in the quarterfinal), but bailed early and was home by midnight. Not nearly the same sort of endurance at the party as the previous weekend. Bu at least I was getting well-needed sleep, and besides I needed to redeem myself after pretty much sucking on Sunday at MUDI.
Sunday’s quarterfinal had us up against Genital Stroke, seeded 4th. As a rule, Chaos always beats Strike at Flatlands, and we were determined to continue this tradition. A hard-fought and intense game throughout, we battled hard to make turnovers and played smart with the disc. We took half 7-3 and then held off a late surge in the second half to win, 13-10ish. Probably my best game of the tournament, and much better than either game last Sunday. I was feeling pretty good.
The semis found us up against DingWop again… as 6th seed they had knocked off 3rd seed Mangina, while in the other quarters the juniors (7th) upset Paul’s Team (2nd) and only Liquid Assets managed to avoid the upset by beating Flood. I had the feeling DingWop would play us tougher than on Saturday. They did, but still made plenty of mistakes for us to capitalise on. We played pretty solid except for a bit of a lapse at the end of first half, and took the win by about 13-10.
A break after the semifinal let us take in the women’s final. The Chaos women had been crushing their opponents and were undefeated. They were up against the team from Duluth for the final. Not much of a story here – the women cruised for another decisive victory and took the final by a score of about 13-4. Now, it was our turn.
The final was us against Liquid Assets, who disposed of the juniors pretty easily in their semi. Again, we knew we could beat Assets but they were looking pretty strong. They had easily the largest roster at the tournament and were fresher than any other team. Game got underway with us giving up a break on the first point, then trading points. My first point on (I was on the D-line) I matched up against one of their speedsters. I was caught out of position as the huck went up, and even with a chase and a late bid he caught it for the score. Not a great start. We score the next point on O and I was back, and marking the same player. This time I had better position but was still a bit behind him as he struck deep. I closed the gap and got inside position… only to see the disc rise with a wind gust and sail over my hands into his reach. Dammit! Meanwhile, we were beginning to lose the initiative as out O turned the disc again, and the D gave up another point… not my guy this time at least. Another score for us and I was back on D. Same guy, again. I was trying to back him a bit but got caught running too hard in on an in cut as he turned and burned. I made up most of the gap and was inches from the disc on a late bid, but once again, he caught for the score. I was beyond frustrated by this point and let fly a hat spike that got a bit of a reaction from the fantasy players on the sideline… luckily, no hostile hecklers at this final. A few more points and the half ended with us down 7-4.
At half we did not make too many adjustments (though personally I started putting more attention to my positional play on D), but renewed out commitment to fundamentals like swinging the disc and holding the force. Still, we continued to struggle early in the second half and were down 10-5 by the time we called a timeout. Not sure if I recall what was said but the intensity was certainly ramped up thereafter. Several questionable calls and one really bad one by the other team (drawing boos from the crowd and some harsh words from our captain towards the player at fault) may have had something to do with it… anyway we were now playing with something to prove. Suddenly our D began to produce breaks, and capitalise on them. Our big-game players were making some highlight reel plays (literally – the game was being taped) with a few huge grabs in the endzone. Somewhere in there, even I scored, albeit on a nondescript short pass into the endzone. We narrowed the lead and made a game of it… but the surge was late and we couldn’t completely shut down their offence, and they got what they needed to close out the game. I think the final score was a repeat of our 13-10 loss the previous day. Another 2nd place finsh.
Disappointing result in the final, but again there were signs of promise. Intensity for the tourney was pretty good throughout and great on Sunday. And while the first half of the final was lacklustre, the second half was much improved and we didn’t just roll over and take the loss, which is essentially what happened in Regina. With a month left ‘till nationals, we are starting to look pretty good.
Next up: a well earned weekend off from ultimate, which my banged-up body will appreciate. Then Disc Odyssey in Saskatoon on August Long Weekend, and two weeks later the big show in Halifax. Things are starting to come up fast.
posted by Druski at 6:00 p.m.
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