Oh, let's just get on with it. WHAT HAPPENED?
Got to TSC, mucked around a bit waiting to figure out what fields we were on, and my stubborn no-games-in-the-dark efforts were rewarded with a BIG, BRIGHTLY LIT soccer field on which to have finals. The vast majority of the spectators made the trip over, and the grill and food and all that stuff did as well. YEAH! We warmed up with an endzone drill and then got back on the line, ready to receive the pull to restart the game at 2-2.
It is hard to remember a strict play by play, but I can give you the score line up to half: 4-2, 4-3, 6-3, 6-4, 8-4. Oh my goodness goo, we were running them into the ground. Justin, Paul and Pat teamed up to match up with Vince, Damon, and Eric, while I occasionally ended up on Damon as well. Genevieve and Teri took on Pauline on the other side. SO those were the "big matchups," but what quickly became apparent in this game was that not only were we winning those matchups, but our other ones - Teri, Brenda on whomever, Josiah, Wade, Alex, Drew, etc. on whomever, we were just open at will and on the other side, forcing tough throws and throwaways all the time. It's not an exaggeration: The Royal WEfnuk peaked at the perfect time. Fourth game of the day, game to fifteen, and we FLEW around the field all game long. AS things progressed, the other side just kept getting slower and slower and slower.
Do you know how this ends? 11-4, 11-5, 12-5, 12-6, 15 FREAKING 6. We killed them. Killed. Destroyed. Embarrassed. Justin shut down Vince, no one could hang with Pat*, G shut down __________, Paul played huge, Alex played huge, Teri, Alexxx, EVERYONE... It's silly to go on and on citing names; suffice it that everyone contributed in a major way. TEAM effort, perfect gelling, just euphoric Ultimate.
* - brief aside - WOW, did Pat have a bad day of Ultimate. I mean, for Pat, Pat had a bad day. just a ton of drops and throwaways. No matter; bad Pat is still quite good ordinary mortal. But I would be a terrible reporter if I did not mention this. No bag on pat; sometimes you just have bad days. But I will say that as athletic as he is, if he could just do a couple of little things - bend his legs when he throws, for example - he would be unstoppable. Actually unstoppable, not hyperbolically unstoppable. Like I said, don't think this is ragging on the dude, he made a number of clutch grabs and busted deep for my hucks very much more than once. Just felt bad for some of those oh-noes! moments.
G commented that while everyone contributed, it had some Justin and Nyet show moments. No contest. J is just, man, fantastic. It bears repeating: he shut down Vince. Vince was pretty much a non factor. I played solid D (with a highlight reel layout in the endzone for a D, AND a sky of Damon to D a hammer, boo-yeah), but really just played offensively out of my head. Going up for discs, perfect hucks backhand and forehand, scoobers, give and gos, you name it. My pulls were high and floaty and to the back of the endzone the vast majority of the time. One of my top ever games. I even "skyed" Vince at one point - granted, it helps when the disc never gets above 10 feet off the ground in a skying contest with Mr. Noe, but we both went up and i came down with it. I don't mean to be a narcissistic doif (yes, that is my new word), but this is my diary blog, and I came up big in the clutchety clutch against guys who are on paper much more athletic than I. A nice personal moment; an even better team one.
People were keeping fantasy points, and Justin and I tied for first with 7 (though I never trust those accounts; seems to me we were both higher than that). Game ended on a weird note - I had done some serious mental picture exercises of catching layout for the final goal, and it came to be, though it was more of a sliding catch on a flick from Justin than an actual layout. I was so gaga excited - haven't been this amped for a win since the Tufts days - I just punted the disc, football style. In light of the aforementioned drama, this was probably not the best move; Volo was apparently walking up to shake hands at the time and took it pretty personally. We apologized and made up after the game, so no worries; it was all pretty silly though. As Wade said, "From the reaction, I thought you had spit on a baby or something." Nope, just an exuberant celebratory spike, and per usual, no one appreciates that sort of thing. My bad.
And then, BIG HUDDLE at midfield, with a whole lot of "You realize we just won league??!?" sentiment from the fnukers. Just a great circle of THE LOVE right there. Teri and Alexxx gave Genevieve and I Yo-Yos as captaining presents; Justin had performed his usual "give me your favorite beer"* line at the grocery store and got Miller Lite. Teri and Alexxx busted out a bottle of champagne. I mean, cloud of clouds. Just an awesome feeling. Dancing to the tunes from the beatbox. I believe MAKE IT FNUKY was playing.
* - Justin routinely smooth talks waitresses by asking them to give him their favorite beer. This is unfailingly awesome. Note that Justin is a blond Wisconsin sweetheart and probably falls somewhere between "Hey There Deliliah" and "More than Words" in the panty-dropping effect department. Just a smooth, smooth operator, but with a touch of Midwestern aw-shucks that completes it. He's taken, ladies, so um, please to pull them back up. Anyways, this super great line apparently backfires at Fry's.
I really need to get up to school now, but I'll try to post some tourney highlights as I remember them later. Sorry the finals game didn't get the full treatment, but really it was just a lot of super chilly play, taking care of the disc, beautiful hucks deep, intense D, you name it. High power disc. And we completely took it to a team that had been way cocky all season long, showing up to games drunk and the like, thinking that maybe they could just coast their way through. They are all nice folks, but I did find some of those antics a little disrespectful. Regardless, they ran into an absolute juggernaut that night. I loved that game not in a schaudenfreude way, but in a "here's what a good draft, discipline, a balanced team and devotion to one another can accomplish in the face of supposedly superior athleticism" way. If that's not a t-shirt slogan, then what is, really?
More later. Gotta get some work done. Props to one of my favorite teams ever, The Royal WEfnuk. Uncut fnuk. The bomb. The hardest working team in Ultimate business. I will think of you ever time I hear Parliament or JB from here on out. Many thanks.
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