(Insert Date Here)

Well, it’s been a slow week as far as tournaments and events go for the illini, but our training is going into high gear. We have 2 ½ weeks til terminus. This is the time to rev it up and push your body to the limit. The crossfit, while the epitome of our workout routine, is not the end all, be all of our training. Push yourself in other aspects of practice as well. Sprint through the drills and show some hustle even when you think you can afford to catch your breath. Half the battle of getting through Sunday with all our marks in the win column comes from the mentality of always pushing through even when it seems unnecessary. Develop this mentality in practice.

Final cuts for the A-team took place last week. Looks like I stole a few more readers away from the boomland blog. It’s kinda funny that you three were some of the first to rip phonebooks. I bet you feel silly.

Now, if I can be serious for a moment, we want to build ourselves into a program. A team is bigger than any individual, and a program is bigger than just one team. In order to accomplish this, we need to develop a forward looking mentality. We need to think of ourselves as more than a few star players or a team with just the right “mix”. We use to talk about being a “faceless army”, a team so good that no other team could match up to every one of our players at the same time. This is a start.

Everybody on both teams is involved in every play. You might say it was Pat that caught the disc in the endzone at vegas or it was Joel that got a sick layout d at mardi gras, but that’s not true. If Pat or Joel had no one to practice against or play with, they wouldn’t be good (well Joel might be mediocre, but Pat would definitely suck). Everyone is part of every play. This also includes mistakes. One person isn’t responsible, we all are. Maybe if you had pushed yourself harder in practice or focused a little bit better, your teammates would have worked harder too. Now, this is not to say that everything you do should be confined to a single role of what you do for the team. Make yourself better. The better you get as an individual, the better the team gets as a whole. My point is simple: practice like you’re going to play every point of the next tournament, because that’s exactly what you are doing.

How to Respond to Chatter

After our performance in Vegas, there was a lot of talk on RSD about us. It mainly centered on the question of whether we are a national caliber team or just lucky. Some posts were quite favorable (thank you Jim Haan), but others were rather dismissive. I was quite surprised at how adamantly angry some posters got over the suggestion of us being a good team.

Now, I am all for trash talk, but I believe it should be smart trash talk. Speculating over whether or not a team is gonna make it to a tournament that is months away is not smart trash talk. A lot can happen between now and then. Of course, we’ll be there, and we will dominate.

My advice is this: if you find you must respond to certain users of RSD, just be as hilarious as possible. The people that look stupid are the ones that take themselves too seriously. Ultimate is about fun, not spewing crap all over a google group in order to garner attention.

Video Response to Boomland

Vegas Recap (the games)

The first round started at 8am, and the illini were slated to take on Oregon. We knew this would be a tough match. All of us were ready to go. It helped that our flight got in before 6pm the previous night. The game started off with the illini going down a few breaks. We then battled back to keep it tight, but the ducks took half. The offense tightened up their game in the second half and scored on every point they played. That was all a good defense could ask for. In an eerie, déjà vu fashion, the game came down to double game point. With last year’s loss fresh in our minds, the defense relentlessly battled for that final point. Our sidelines emptied as we caught the disc in our endzone.

Colorado had fooled us twice on universal points in the fall. The illini weren’t about to let that happen again. We came out on fire. We shut down their main offensive weapons (Jolian), and our offense made them look like a high school team without a coach. Crushing the mamabirds 13-7 vaulted us to the top of our pool.

After a long bye, in which the illini snacked on popsicles, cheez-its, granola, and Gatorade, the illini got a chance to avenge their loss to black tide in Austin almost one year ago. A grudge match ensued. Hucks went up, the break-side was worked over worse than Cole’s mom, and both teams gave no quarter. In such fierce competition, only one kid played without a soul. I believe his name was Rory. Even his own teammates conceded that his arguing was unnecessary. It’s a good thing pappy wasn’t their. Blood would have been spilt. UCSB edged out the illini 13-11.

Day one ended with the illini going 2-1, and owning their pool.

Day two began with an early breakfast provided by the boys in room 2204. Scrambled eggs and sausage bring a smile to the start of any day. UCSD was waiting for us on the field, and the illini took them for all they were worth. Number six of the air squids ended up with a bloody nose in the ensuing match. They kept it close, but victory was never in doubt for the illini.

Florida came roaring out against the illini in the next game. Part intimidation, part not being ready after a bye put the illini on their heels early in this one. The offense got broke more often then they scored, and the defense couldn’t keep up. The first half was a pathetic disaster. The second half breathed new life into the illini. The offense only had one turn, and the defense brought the game back within reach. But alas, it was too little too late. We outscored them in the second half, but it takes all 13 points to win a game in Vegas.

After playing through two pools, the brackets were set, and the illini faced Harvard in pre-quarter. They’re a smart team (you have to be in order to get away with cheating on your ACTs) with smart throws. Break side hucks, inverts, and hammers were placed with near perfection. Such accuracy kept the defense on their heels. Their cup gave the offense some trouble, but the scoring stayed even til the end. The hard cap blew at the beginning of the 10-10 point. The defense had to pull another one out. Turn after turn happened, and it looked like the illini would score after miles caught a huck on the end-zone line. The illini were pretty certain that we still had a time-out since the hard-cap technically doesn’t go into effect until after the point is over, but the tournament director had bad news. The illini turned the disc and Harvard won the game on another break-side huck. Some days you’re the bug; somedays you’re the windshield. That one really hurt.

Day three ended and the illini were 3-3 looking to take ninals in Vegas for the second time.

It’s hard to believe that 9 games would only provide us with six opponents at an 80 team tournament, but that’s what happened. Oregon was first. The illini proved that day one wasn’t a fluke. We rolled them 13-9. It’s nice to see us shut the door and keep it closed.

Florida gave the illini a chance for revenge, but the game started out much the same. It was a little less pathetic than last time, but the crispness wasn’t there for the O, and the D lacked intensity. We’re a second half team against the panhandle state, but it takes two halves to win. Florida won once again.

With a flight at 6pm, and our next opponent being a team we’d already played (UCSD), the captains decided to end the tournament tied for 11^th. A good decision.

This weekend disappointed the illini, but it wasn’t a disaster. The teams we played were good, and any of our games could have gone either way (except for Colorado. They didn’t have a prayer). We’re right there boys. We just need to push through that final barrier that’s keeping us from becoming a championship team. We have the talent and the caliber. We just need to pull the trigger. The days will get warmer soon. Let’s work for it.

Vegas Recap (the other games)

The team came to Vegas for two reasons: to win games, and to win money. This post concerns the latter. Since our flight got in before 6pm, we had some time to fool around in the tournament hotel before registration. Yours truly was busy shuttling teammates back and forth, but other team members got a taste of gambling before the night was over. Joel ended up winning big on day one going up $475. Looks like betting on black is a good idea after all. Bettsy also had some good fun, going up around $100. I think Pat took in a humble amount of around $60. If anybody lost that night, they weren’t talking about it.

Clown cars are fun. We packed the van and headed to the strip on Friday night. Yours truly made two trips so it wasn’t as painful as it could have been. We started out at the Bellagio. Cole and Bonges lost $100 and 80$ respectively. Cole never hit black in the 10 rounds or so that he played, a quick end to the night for him. That $80 was the first that Bonges ever gambled, and I’m afraid that it may be his last. The poor kid now harbors a sincere distaste for Vegas. Joel, Pat, and Betts did pretty well. Yours truly didn’t gamble at the Bellagio, but Planet Hollywood opened its doors and its purse. Betting on red, columns, and the mids can bring a man a whole lot of green. Yours truly went up $500. Joel, Pat, and Betts decided to hop on the Ripsky train. Joel brought his total up to $600, Pat: $150, and Bettsy: $270. Lefty was the only loser, which only gave him another reason to hate the world.

Day three did not smile kindly for the Illini boys. We hit up the Palazzo for some action, but the Palazzo hit us back a little harder. Joel went back to even. Pat ended up below $100. Bettsy got knocked back a $100. And yours truly got taken for a c-note as well. However, I rate the weekend as a success. The team, as a whole, ended up in the black. Much of the credit due to the $400 fattening my wallet. Looks like betting on red is the superior strategy.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

And now, for something completely different.

The illini defense had generated one of their many turns against Colorado and decided to call time out. We decided to run beta two in hopes of setting up the score since we were about 2/3 down the field. Yours truly had been guarding Jolian all game, so it was only natural for him to line up against me. He set up pretty close. We’d been playing pretty physical all game (I got barreled over earlier, but I’d been fouling pretty hard on the mark so neither of us called a foul out of mutual respect), so I expected some chemistry to develop between us. Boy, was I in for a treat. His face ended up right next to mine. Feeling the tension, I broke it with a comment, “Well, this is cute.” He returned the favor by kissing me on the cheek.

Vegas Preview

Big tourney, small preview.

We play Oregon and Colorado for sure. The rest of the weekend holds a lot of possibilities. All our opponents are national caliber teams. Get pumped. We owe Oregon and Colorado for the DGP losses they've given us.

Murder, bury, desacrate.

O v D

The Illini have very defined roles for their players. These roles do not necessarily limit a player to only that role, but each player on our team finds a comfortable playing style that serves the team best. This inevitably leads to comradery among the different lines. Now, our team is pretty tight nit. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help a fellow teammate regardless of whether they played on the o-line or d-line. That being said, a little competition never hurt anybody. (full disclosure: I’m a d-line player to the core).

Player type: D-line

You are insane. Perhaps you function normally in non-ultimate settings, but once you smell the field, animal instincts take over and you’re out for blood. Without regard for life or limb, you fly around the field laying out for every disc that flies within five feet of you. Nothing makes you happier than stealing your opponent’s pride along with their right to the disc. You can smell the fear that you strike in your opponents. D-line players are murderers.

Player type: O-line

You are suave as hell. Your ability to keep your cool in high pressure situations differentiates you from your animalistic counterparts. You value smoothness and flow over grinding out a point to the bitter end. You bury the corpses that the D-line leaves at your door.

Depending on your individual preference, you may think one is better than the other. The truth is, you need both to win a game. In fact, you need both traits within the same line. When the d generates a turn, they need to calm down and score. Even fast breaks require a cool head to see the openings develop. When the offense looses the disc, they need to cast away their inhibitions and develop a blood lust in order to get that disc back.

Boomland's first tourney

Team Boomland had a very successful tourney this past weekend at Mardi Gras. Though Boomland finished with a less than flattering 2-4 record, they outscored opponents 62-59. Every game lost was lost by only 3 or less. This is quite impressive since this was the first major tournament of the season. Line calling was structured but loose, to keep 4 veterans on the field at a time while allowing the rookies to get much needed experience, which was the only thing that kept Boomland from being more successful. Everyone stepped up their game, and everyone had a shinning moments, from Kevin Hund gooning people and throwing sweet uplines for scores, to Summerfield getting open on 100% of his cuts, Loski catching 3 hammers (2 on stall 9, and 2 of them were for scores), or Austin seemingly having at least 2 Ds a game.
Boomland started out the weekend against the 1 seed in the pool, Auburn. Whether Auburn came out flat, or Boomland on fire, or a combination of both, Boomland actually took half only to let Auburn steal the W. Next was Tennessee which we had high hopes for, and we kept right with them, but they got away from us in the end. Same thing with Towson. All three of those teams couldn't beat our cup, but when we played man, we became even more unstoppable.
The game against Michigan State gave Boomland a great chance to work on things for the rest of the weekend. They were very much shorthanded, and got frustrated very quickly. The line calling on this game was very open, with mostly rookie lines.
Sunday held high hopes, but we became even more of a team. We started with Mississippi State, and in the first half we went down 2 breaks. In the second half we got one back and ended up losing 13-11. That was one of the most equal talented games of the weekend; however they could not keep up with our speed, and our ability to always force puddle. For some reason they actually wanted to keep their whites white. Kansas B was the next and last opponent and was a great way to end the weekend. The rookies got a lot of PT and Mark had a personal vendetta against them since he is from there. He gave quite a pump up speech at both the beginning and half time.

Other highlights:

- Somerfield hucking for like 10 scores

- Hidaka getting a sweet bid but ending up with only mud in his mouth

- Nascar finishing our tourney with a deep cut for the score

- Keenan having two lay out D's

- Jonnie Wego tackling a Towson guy before the disc even came to him

All in all, everyone picked up the intensity, came together, and had a great time.

Mardi Gras Recap

Texas gave us our first challenge on Saturday. The illini knew what to expect: big swings and long cuts. We started off by trading points. Neither defense could get the best of their opponent. Turns would happen, but the offense always ended up in the endzone. Around point five, the illini defense had driven the disc to the goal line. Rip was in the iota set and the disc was floating from handler to handler. An obvious strike advantage never presented itself. Dave had the disc on the force side of the field. With the stall count mounting and the handlers well covered, Dave threw the disc into break side space having complete faith in Rip’s ability to chase down the disc. Laying out with defenders hacking his back, Rip secured the disc and toed the line to jumpstart the Illini’s run. Game Summary: D handles make downfield throws tough and d longs close the door on that hope, Offense takes care of business.

Kansas gave the Illini a bit of trouble at the start. Their offense hit all their deep shots. Our D-longs adjusted midway through the first half, and Kansas ran out of offensive options. The Illini offense did what it does best, and the Horrorzontals were quickly buried.

After a mid-day bye, the Illini were chomping at the bit to take on White-Water. Nothing short of murdering, burying, and desecrating our northern foe would constitute an acceptable victory. White-Water was more than happy to oblige. Our defense did the murdering, the offense did the burying, and Chuck did some desecrating with a sick sky over Pat and two other White-Water defenders. After such a game, I no longer harbor any hate for this team. In fact, when I think about it, every game against them without Pappy has been pretty friendly and competitive. I guess Pappy just brings out the worst in other teams. Don’t worry. Sunday brought me a new team to bear the brunt of my scorn (more on this later).

After taking down White-Water, the Illini had effectively won the pool, but 4-0 looks better than 3-1. The Illini came out sloppy against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The intensity and crispness of the last three games disappeared. Granted, we didn’t have Joel or Lamp, but the other 18 of us should have been enough. We managed a break here and there, but we also gave up a few ourselves. It wasn’t until the last four points of the game when the Illini hit their groove. This stemmed from an angry D-line deciding that enough was enough. Milwaukee became our bitches, and we cleaned up the mess on defense.

Now, I talk a lot about offense and defense, and my bias towards defense is evident. Regardless, we played for each other, and each line stepped up when the other one faltered. If we continue that, 4-0 Saturdays will happen often.

The Illini rolled into Sunday as the second seed, and we were looking to do some damage. We stared down Truman State in the pre-quarter round. The boys in green were playing with a short squad, and the illini defense felt sorry for them. Most of us played for primal and know what it’s like to play in a tournament with only seven people. We spotted them four points before rolling them 13-5.

In the quarter finals, the douchebag alliance know as the University of North Texas challenged the Illini. In case you haven’t noticed, I now harbor a relentless hatred for UNT. Granted they are a talented team. If they weren’t the scum of the Earth, I’d say that three of their players would make excellent Callahan Candidates. But they’re pricks, and I cannot wait to unleash my wrath on them again. I’ll still play with spirit. I will not contest the foul where I just broke your face. Just don’t call a foul when I desecrate your pride on every in-cut.

The game was a battle. Pavan had his hands full with the tall boys and he effectively forced them to make spectacular plays in order to save possessions. The level of play was high on both sides. Each defense would get breaks that kept the game neck and neck til the very end. The hard cap blew while the game was tied. Each team marched down the field and made lazy turns. Sick d’s with our backs against the goal line made for heart-stopping action. In the end, the Illini fell on a break huck and a sick layout grab.