The Boomlanders made the trip down to St. Louis last weekend to participate in Huck Finn, our very first Cultimate Tournament. It was a different setup than we were used to, but I'll include my thoughts on that at the end.
Coming into the tournament I felt we had a chance to go 4-2 out of pool play with a chance to do better if we were able to play well and steal a game or even two. For better or worse, I was correct in my prediction and a short recap of each game will sort of tell the story of what happened, or what hasn't been erased from my memory.
Kansas B: 13-12
If there is one team I refuse to, it's Kansas. After their sideline heckling and all around jerkiness at Mardi Gras we all wanted to prove that the first win wasn't a fluke. They came out in their 4 man cup, per usual, and due to the gusty crosswind we had trouble at times getting something going. The handlers struggled with swings and gave up 1 (2?) callahans. The D-Line came to the rescue and bailed their O-line homies out in order to pull out the win.
Fun Fact: Kansas has never lost on universe point...until now. suckers
Missouri State: 5-13
This was one of the games I was worried about. They had a great record coming in against some solid teams and definitely have some experienced players. We had a 3 man cup thrown our way but the handlers were able to more proficiently swing the disc. We lost intensity on both sides of the disc and drops (at least 6 by myself) in this game were the nail in the coffin to any streak we started putting together.
Fun Fact: Missouri State went on to take 4th place for the tournament
Saint Louis B: 13-7
I don't know what to say about SLU. They're a bunch of fun guys to play against, but it might be because they ran man defense and hte handlers found their hucks. The longs made some sweet cuts that may or may not have broken ankles in order to give the handlers someone to throw to also. The wind started to pick up a bit in this game, but was still ranked roughly a .5 on the Rantoul scale of disasters.
Fun Fact: Cozza skys the crap out of some dude, only to have a foul called on him. For photographic proof, ask one Mike Cozza for the evidence.
Demeat Jesuit: 13-5
The final game of Saturday was against a high school team. They had a couple guys who could play, but their minimal bench size was a major factor in how they played. We were able to cycle extra people throught the lines and give some of the higher time players a rest they would prove to need tomorrow.
Fun Fact: We all had to start playing ultimate at some time, let's just hope these kids don't take their 2+ year advantage to some school we hate, cough kansas, when they go to college
Wisconsin B: 13-7
The one B team that we have ever lost to, Wisconsin had the target on their back from the minute we saw the schedule come out. The early 8:30 game time sunday morning was rough, but it would prove to be some of the nicest weather of the day. Although I had to personal opinion of the pimpdags going into the game, they would raise my ire by the end of the game. The first reason would be their 4 man cheat cup. I understand I say cheat to win all the time, but all the furthest I take it is saying it. This was a double teaming, foulrific cluster that surprised even me in its nastiness. That said, we tore it apart. Swinging the disc exposed holes, and their upwind man defense was one of the strangest decisions I've seen especially after proving all the handlers could still get 40 yard hucks off.
Fun Fact: Yelling matches over cheating are most easily settled by yelling louder than the other guy. Provided that doesn't work, shut down the other guy on defense. That said, I believe that I won that little thing we had Turtle, if that is your name
Western Michigan: 11-13
This was the other game I thought we could have some difficulty with. After hearing our own little spy's scouting report, we knew the type of game we would be in for, a huckfest. Normally, I'm completely against this type of thing, or defense was carrying a ton of momentum into the game after Wisconsin and on the other end I was a gunslinger. Hucks to both Pappy Jr. and Chrysler were viable late looks on nearly every possession if nothing opened up. Our loss of fire in the middle of the game was made up for by the end of the game and the fire until the end, but was not quite enough to get the W.
Fun Fact: We would steal WMU's cheer, but we have already stolen a cheer similar to it. Sorry Darkhorse.
Depaul: 12-13
We know most of the guys on DePaul's team, and I'll admit I would have rather played someone we never had before than DePaultimate again, but this game turned into the most competitive of the weekend. The temperature dropped around 15 degrees right before the game and a wicked crosswind made things a little dicey at times. Easy drops would plague both teams and throws lost the accuracy they had shown earlier in the day. Boomland was down 9-12 when softcap went on. The D-line would get a break to bring it to 10-12. Our valiant leader McKinley stacked the next D-line and they brought another break home to get us to 11-12 as hard cap was called. Further stacking of the next line would have 6 vets of 3+ years with our rookie defensive phenom, Kai. We were able to take the break on a huck from McKinley after getting the D. Double universe would see several turnovers on both sides before a break side huck would be thrown by Depaul for the score and the win.
Fun Fact: At the completion of this game, Boomland would break seed finishing in 20th after the initial seeding of 34th.
Despite what the top tier teams are saying about the format of this tournament, I think that it worked really well for our program. We played a team to universe point for the best game of the weekend. Althought Florida drew Saint Louis (we beat them two weeks ago at Music City) for the final, the theory of matching teams for a valid game at the end makes sense. However, I would have to say a 2 tiered pooling system would work better to prevent a national #1 from playing a mid-level team who was also undefeated. As much as it pains me, Kansas A really should have been in the championship game to determine the champ. Brodie would tool KK all over the field, so it'd be ok.
This was our last tournament before the college series kicks off and has cemented the areas we need to improve in order to compete at a high level at sectionals to achieve our goal of making regionals. Keep everything in mind that we've talked about this year Boomlanders and we've got one hell of a shot at crushing some dreams.
