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.