As a reward for winning our pool on Saturday, we were treated to a first round (prequarters) matchup against Colorado. Lucky us. In reality, playing Colorado is never a bad thing in my book, especially after a game against Florida. They're competitive and fiery, but rarely to a fault. We always learn a lot playing them, even if we haven't recorded a W in the last couple years. The crosswind in this game came out strong but steady. It didn't do much except scare us away from attempting breaks upwind. Colorado was similarly intimidated. All through the game they threw wide, floaty, around breaks that receivers could run on to. As much as we talked about it, our marks really never adjusted. Colorado capitalized, winning 9-6 in soft cap.
This unlucky draw dropped us immediately to the 9th place bracket, where Western Washington was waiting. After a good-natured game with Colorado, Nate Castine and crew caught us off guard. Every stoppage of play initiated some sort of one-sided yelling match by any of the key players on Dirt. One particular argument involved a rule which I believed was relatively well-known. I decided to bring up the particular infraction to their captain, which sparked an immediate and furious response. Apparently I've never played ultimate before, and I should go talk to an observer about how stupid I am. Anyway, here's the rule that I believed any self-respecting ultimate player (especially one on Sockeye) would know:
XIV.B.2 Double-team: If a defensive player other than the marker is within three meters of any pivot of the thrower without also being within three meters of and guarding (II.G) another offensive player, it is a double team.
II.G Guarding: A defender is guarding an offensive player when they are within three meters of that offensive player and are reacting to that offensive player.
II.G Guarding: A defender is guarding an offensive player when they are within three meters of that offensive player and are reacting to that offensive player.
Not all was lost when I stopped trying to argue this point - they stopped trying to crush the thrower whenever we crashed the cup. The story of this game was their throwers. They were clearly ready for the conditions, and really showed us that our marks were relying too much on the wind. Their cup was also one of the best we saw that weekend. Final score: Western Washington over Illinois 11-7.
We had been unsure of the possibility of consolation games extending past our loss to Colorado in the morning, so we met with the NC State captains and agreed on a game to 9. The field that this was played on happened to be mostly shielded from the wind by a large building. This proved to make the game a lot more fun, and probably skew the odds in our favor. NC State played some zone and some man - neither of which having much effect. Our longs finally got the chance to stretch their legs in this game. Everyone looked pretty fresh, and we were able to open up the lines after a couple breaks in the first half. NC State seemed to be stuck in the "punt it down the field" mentality necessary on some of the other fields. Our O-line was much more content with hitting longs on in cuts and tossing the disc over their cup. Final score: Illinois over NC State 9-7.
Hoping for another short game, Walden played diplomat to the CUT crew lined up for our next game. They weren't buying, and insisted on playing a full game to 13. With Phelan and several of our longs down for the count, lines were opened up in this game for a different reason. We were tired, and had mentally checked out before the game even started. I'm sure some people were already itching to jump in the car for PCB. We were out-matched and out-enthused. Carleton rolls Illinois 13-3 to end the weekend.
We had been unsure of the possibility of consolation games extending past our loss to Colorado in the morning, so we met with the NC State captains and agreed on a game to 9. The field that this was played on happened to be mostly shielded from the wind by a large building. This proved to make the game a lot more fun, and probably skew the odds in our favor. NC State played some zone and some man - neither of which having much effect. Our longs finally got the chance to stretch their legs in this game. Everyone looked pretty fresh, and we were able to open up the lines after a couple breaks in the first half. NC State seemed to be stuck in the "punt it down the field" mentality necessary on some of the other fields. Our O-line was much more content with hitting longs on in cuts and tossing the disc over their cup. Final score: Illinois over NC State 9-7.
Hoping for another short game, Walden played diplomat to the CUT crew lined up for our next game. They weren't buying, and insisted on playing a full game to 13. With Phelan and several of our longs down for the count, lines were opened up in this game for a different reason. We were tired, and had mentally checked out before the game even started. I'm sure some people were already itching to jump in the car for PCB. We were out-matched and out-enthused. Carleton rolls Illinois 13-3 to end the weekend.
Lucky for me, I made plans which did not involve driving back to Champaign. Kurt, Mark, and Bruns dropped me off at my nice cozy hotel in Dallas where I slept like a baby until my flight the next morning. Like a very sore, slightly sunburnt baby with a bad knee. If you were curious, flying back from Centex is the only way to go.
Austin
