A good week for championships

After taking a cup at Wildwood on Sunday, my weekly rec league team took our 4 or 5 seed and turned it into a Cinderella story.  The details are already a little fuzzy, but the longer the evening wore on, the better we got at frisbee. By the time all the brats were gone, we were amazing. 

In the semis, we jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Despite a few throwaways, our offense was comparatively clean and moving the disc. The defense was awake and pressuring the other team. We weren't getting D's, but we were taking away the first few cuts and forcing Ochos to consider other options. Not wanting the lead to grow too large, we dropped a couple discs and the Ochos got it into the endzone. They started getting smarter about taking advantage of match-ups, but we kept playing our game which actually was (finally!) dump swing on this fine summer evening and we traded points and took half at 8-4. I'm not sure how others felt, but after half it felt like time was standing still... We kept doing us (in the good way!)  and the Ochos got anxious and took a few deep shots, fortunately Beeby was there to crush their hopes and dreams. Tim was breaking marks, Patti was getting open and we kept nursing our 4 point lead. It was either the end of semis or start of finals, but we just kept moving the disc and waiting for openings. Patient offense made a huge difference.  Everybody was contributing and nothing was too flashy. Maybe we gave one back, but I think the score ended up something like 11-8.  

The other semi had been a one-point game, but when the finals started, we picked up where we left off. They tried to hurt Beeby after we were up 1-0. He landed hard on the ground and had to come out. Not to be deterred, we pressured on D and moved the disc on O and we were up 4-0 when Shiny called a time out. We threw a zone at them and saw immediate results. We punched in 4 more as their desperation grew and took half 8-0. Shiny was getting pretty upset and pick calls were rampant, but our reinforcements arrived (Yay Carley!) and we came out of half and kept rolling. Big Nate got a lay out D and then grabbed the score. We were up 10-0 before Shiny got on the board. They went nuts with the score 10-1. They had a couple nice breaks after that to get a few more. Gravy/Plantaris/Kate hauled in a deep shot near the front of the end zone, called a time out and set up the iso for Mel. With a little over the top break high-release, we kept marching toward our destiny. I think we closed out 15-6 (maybe?) and then the championship grilling was on!

Good times. Thanks Stink!

Wildwood #11- Dressed for the occasion

There's no recap from last year's 3:1 division, Boardwalk Treats road to the cup, but there are a lot of pictures. This year I'm short on pictures, but I thought I'd try to jot down a few memories.

Broaddus, Johnson & Associates were named after a long-ago joke stemming from nickname confusion. Despite comical beginnings, our play was no joke. We took our portion of the 2:2 division with force. We were barely challenged during the weekend, but we had a blast. There's less flying around than their used to be. I'd like to credit improved throws and improved throwers, but I should probably also credit the passage of time. I did have one layout bid, but the disc glanced off my hand.

The drive up from DC was full of traffic as usual, but being with friends made it just perfect. We once again landed at the Caribbean Hotel where we introduced a new wrinkle and grilled out dinner by the pool. It was delicious and took about as long as waiting for a table with a group of 11 (or 14).

Rain and wind were forecasted for Saturday. The wind showed up, but we seemed relatively protected by the pier. One team did comment that we seemed to defy physics and I think that was a testament to the previously mentioned throwers. It's hard to judge talent after going 7-0, but our DC elite women played like elite women (read: freakin' awesome) and the rest of us can hold our own, or at least we could this weekend. The rain circled and sprinkled, but thankfully never arrived. The closest a team came to us on Saturday was something like 15-8. I made it my goal to get on the field with everyone and I met that goal. My mind could have used more playing time, but my body was probably good.

We grilled again Saturday night and enjoyed being together. Many of us even skipped the beer garden, something that's become a strong tradition in the last few years. Times are changing? Somebody suggested we skip Wildwood and just vacation together. It has some appeal, but probably not the same draw. The Ultimate is still important and holds a special place in my heart. I skipped the party at the Bolero and was lamenting the fact that I hadn't run in to any old friends based on those evening choices. Sunday morning, down the steps came two friends who'd moved away from Colorado 3 years ago. We chatted a bit and realized that a finals match-up was possible (imminent?).

We rolled through quarters like we were living in a laundromat. I loved playing with everyone, but Jessie was amazing. She was just this calming force and as soon as I got the disc, I wanted to give it back to her. We had a bit of competition in semis, only winning by 4 and then faced off against my friends and former teammates in the finals. They had small numbers and talented women, but we had large numbers and more talented women. We turned on some focus and crushed that team from Charleston 15-4. It almost ended on a 2 point thumber from AJ, but when that came up just short, I got another chance to play. I took a pass from Sam, turned up field and fired a shot to the streaking workhorse Stills who laid out for the win.   The cup was ours (or our fearless leader's). Jessie and Stills were named MVP and I apparently picked up the nickname of Old Man Sprinter.

That's cup #3 for me in Wildwood #11. I totally dig that place, at least on the last weekend in July. I totally dig these people... probably any weekend they'd let me.