Vegas Hype - Not Too Early

Well, Smith has managed to draw me out of my blogging-hybernation. I feel obligated to prove that some engineers can, in fact, write something grammatically sound.

Trouble in Vegas is approaching quickly, especially for a team that waits so long for the final A/B split. Illinois is somewhat unique in the way that we don't practice anything A team specific until (just before) second semester. While many of the higher level teams are slowly building steam towards their peak performance, we're still deciding on an identity for the year. Vegas is our first chance to flex our muscles as a team, and we can not take the opportunity for granted.

Three day tournaments are a different animal than the regular weekend trip. In one such as Vegas, three days are necessary to organize the giganto-bracket that Cultimate has devised in their ultimate wisdom. Pun and irony intended. Since we were not placed in the main power pool, we have a long way to go to reach pre-pre-quarters. Awesome. If Cultimate sticks to their current format, we have a regular pool of four on Friday which we are favored to win. If we pull off top two in this pool, Saturday brings a "power pool" comprised of the top two from two different Friday pools. In all likelihood, this gives us an early game against Arizona. As many of you would guess, I'm psyched just for the possibility of a little brother beatdown. For the A team vets of Typhoon in Vegas '09, this is also a chance to redeem ourselves for the very soggy loss to Arizona last year. As a rule of thumb, we're allowed one loss out of these five games in order to advance. I'm gunning for none.

What does this mean to you? Well Mister First-Time-A-Teamer, you need to get excited. We are a long way from Regionals - now is the time to show us what you have in raw ability. Most of you will only see the field on defense, matching up against the savvy O-liners of teams from across the country. You have to stand out among players like Kennedy and Pappy, who might actually kill someone for a D. Any older players reading this will agree that rookies (I use the term vaguely) are scary. Who knows what they'll do? If you go out there with half the intensity of Walden, I promise you will see results throughout the season.

Let's use these next couple weeks to put our collective nose to the grindstone so we can enjoy some hot desert sun. It can't rain again, right?

Remember, WWWD
Austin