Okay okay, so maybe I had more lofty goals than "don't tank," but given historical precedent, it's not like I hadn't considered the possibility that the 2006 Moe train might jerk it into the bridge. Still, I'd gone into the weekend fairly confident no team would score 10 on us. And after an undefeated Saturday, during which our highest scoring opponent WASN'T Briefcase, my confidence was reinforced. Perhaps the most unexpected moment of the day was after scoring the game winner in our game-to-go, not only did Moe rush the field, but so did CLX. It's interesting that in the past, Moe's biggest rival (Hot Action), was also its mortal enemy. Times they have a changed. It appears that our biggest rival is now our biggest fan. Perhaps the biggest twist is that apparently a large contingent on CLX (and, as previously noted, the Mixed world) has historically hated Moe. Why the change? Someone suggested guilt, but I don't see it.
a) It's in their best interest to see us do well, seeing as they won't be at Nationals
b) I've never felt guilty beating a team that I hate
My personal play on Saturday left a lackluster taste in my mouth, a flavor not unlike that of Sour Skittles -- bitter, tough to chew, and tougher to swallow. I threw just 1 goal and received just 1 goal. I had 3 turns. One, a huck that caught 1 yard too much of the wind. Two, a long bending flick that was about 6 inches too wide. Three, on game point of the game-to-go, I had no mark and a chance to make the throw to make Moe history and I managed to find the precise 4 foot window between our 2 best D line female receivers waiting anxiously in the endzone that made the pass uncatchable for either. On D, I knocked down exactly 0 discs. That said, I had numerous shutdowns on the dump that resulted in turnovers, I forced several bad throws that failed to make it to their intended receiver, and not one man I was covering threw or received a goal all day.
Sunday, what can I say, we played well, but our opponents played better. Barely better, but still better. Moss wisely elected to sit out the games to avoid further injury and ensure plentiful PT at Nationals. I'd like to think we're the same offensive team without him, but that became painfully obviously untrue in the championship game against the usual suspect, CLX, as his replacement was visibly fatigued by late in the first half. Consequently, our offense struggled. It's just too bad that our offensive shortcomings aren't in the vein of being outplayed, but instead, in the vein of unforced error. The result? Another 3 point loss to our biggest fans.
For "third," in the seemingly always ill-fated "backdoor" game in which a team on a winning streak faces a team coming off an emotional loss, we had a rematch against Briefcase. Briefcase will never play another game so well again. Our D line had just 2 breaks in the game, probably the lowest number all season, and not for lack of effort. Briefcase just came to play. First point, all cylinders were firing and they scored in just a few throws. As the half progressed, our defensive prowess flourished and we earned 2 breaks for a 7-5 lead. Briefcase then took 3 straight, getting their 2 breaks back to take half. The second half featured exactly 1 break, theirs, and it was to win the game 15-13. The O line defense was just superb. Though they had their turnovers, they fought like, in the words of a certain redheaded curly haired handler, wild rabid dogs that have been tazered. I was downright inspired by it. I just wish our D line could have played at 50% of that intensity, but because we didn't, there would be no repeating of the beating.
My Sunday play was solid. Defensively, again, nothing big. I did intercept one pass. Offensively, I felt great. Just one turn on the day, early in the Briefcase game. I overestimated Giner's cut and overthrew her by about a foot. I played 6 points in the CLX game, and we broke them 5 of those times, 3 of which were goals I received. The sixth point was the only point all weekend where my player threw a goal. In the game, I think we had one other break. I played 7 points in the Briefcase game, only 1 of which was a break, but I threw the goal. So, in total, we had 8 breaks (6 vs CLX, 2 vs Case) and I was on the field for 6 of them and involved in the scoring on 4 of them. I'm very pleased with those numbers.
Apart from the obvious moment where we qualified for Nationals, my unforgettable moments were . . .
- Baker being yelled at to swing to the open handlers on more than one occasion when instead he just threw to an open person in the endzone.
- The look of jubilation and disappointment in Gloede face after being told that we had, indeed, qualified for Nationals. Jubilations because, yes, we had qualified. Disappointment because she missed the initial excitement and emotion, having not known that we were in a game-to-go until someone explained it to her several minutes after the original rush.
- My embarrassingly failed attempt at the "the meaning of this half of this game is over" speech. I still don't see what's so confusing about it. No one was confused when I heard that speech the first time. It seems somewhat microcosmic of the greater experience I've had on the team this year.
Overall, I think it was a great Regionals. As Davey put it on Saturday night, "we did not come here to get beat by CLX," but alas, having to play at less than full strength yet again really hurt us. I think the loss-loss ending is going to have a good effect on the team, though, now knowing that we've got to prove something at Nationals. Being the underdog is kind of our specialty. Just ask Puppet Regime, the team that was up 5 breaks on us at CHC. Or Briefcase when they were seeded above us.
Up next, Nationals breakdown.
