CHC

Should-a, would-a, could-a. It was just one of those weekends. I hate losing. I had a long, pointlessly negative spiel after this that I wrote Tuesday and erased today; I gotta admit, I was in a bit of a bummer after the weekend, wondering if our offense would ever pull it together. I sent feedback e-mails & realized how easy it is to come up with something positive about EVERYONE'S play. Everyone. Yeah, we didn't have as many sick layouts as I expected. Yep, we still came out slow on Saturday. But I never wanted to pull anyone off the field at any time. That's a tough thing to say for a team that has roughly equal playing time for everyone. That's right, Rackages is that deep. What we need to know, believe, and make happen is that 7 of our best are playing all the time. Step up, girl, you are on the A-1 team!

How many times have I started this post? At least three; the above is from last week (with a few temporal changes), the following from today. I’m very glad I didn’t post on Monday or Tuesday afterward; my view of CHC then was very negative, I think inappropriately so. Since then, I’ve had people broaden my view of happenings & been able to be a little more optimistic.

Saturday
Game 1 vs. Mojo 9-13
Despite many e-mails about the importance of being ready to play hard, fired up, and smart, our offense looks scared, forced, and unflowing. Our defense is okay, but there are fewer big plays than expected, hardly any layout Ds, and a few too many breaks. Mojo looks good, solid. They have Kali? (the really nice blond that played w/Notre Dame) that made some really good defensive plays- I am pretty sure she did not play in Detroit. Personally, I had 2 layout Ds & turnovers typical of me- too many, a combination of overthrows & trying to throw to where I think the cutter SHOULD be. I got pretty frustrated with my offensive cutting, too.

The rest of Saturday
We clean up our offense, remember how to cut, stack, and throw. Our defense is doing better at shutting things down, especially underneath. On the deep side, I think we are getting taken too many times- possibly due to an overly individual defense as opposed to a communicative, interactive team defense. There are few big plays or exceptional players. Standouts: Sam; just doing what she does- getting open, making good defensive plays, few turnovers. Possibly me on defense. Oh, we had some good cup action, both 3-2-2 & 3-3-1. I was usually a part of the really successful ones, but can’t remember who else was in it. I think a key point we are picking up on/improving is the recovery of a break past the cup- the middle(s) of the cup & the wings are doing a good job of containment. New weak spot of 3-2-2: Sideline deep. The last game of the day against PPF we looked TIRED; it didn’t help to have all those sickies have to sit out. I felt a step behind most of this game.

Sunday:
Last pool play: cleaner, more fired up than our first game on Saturday. Roll to victory.

Semis: vs. Wicked
We beat Wicked in pool play, but they came out strong and really fired up. They played a lot of zone, which we tended to tear apart. Actually, it was more of a slow rip- handlers working it well, poppers coming up big, playing really calm. In the second half, this started to fall apart, usually when a popper would try to move it upfield- lots of turfs or rushed throws. We took half 8-6. I think we scored the next one then they had FIVE in a row. I think I should have called a time out earlier, but really, I didn’t know what to say- quit dropping & turfing? Our D needed to be making more plays. I think Gibbs had a big one & I had one layout D. They had a couple deeps that seemed to be able to take us most of the time. So anyway, the score is 9-11, and we are really struggling to close the gap. I think at 11-13 we finally score 2 in a row (and actually, I think it was 10-13, so 3 in a row, 2 on D). Cap is on, so we are pulling for Universe. Our defense and sidelines FINALLY look totally fired up. The first 2 or 3 throws the D is tight, tight, tight. My girl fakes a bunch, I am with her every step then bite too hard on an in-cut & she cuts down the line. The thrower makes a beautiful upwind flick down the line. I am trying to recover & get the mark on- it may have been the hardest I’ve ever worked to turn so slowly. They’re about 10 yards out of the endzone & I am trying not to give too much away on either side. She breaks BH around, with my hand meeting hers on the follow-through. I think another BH goes off for the win. On the upside: we thought we would win. On the downside: if we played like we WANTED to win the entire game, we would have. Stupid, stupid throwing errors & drops show a lack of mental focus. Unfired-up D on a team that we ARE faster than…..sheesh, we were faster than EVERY team. Self lesson: trust your sidelines to call the strike, don’t give up a break trying to prevent the score. In this game, I had drop, but fewer throwing turnovers. I had a couple that I think should have been caught, but for the most part, handled well against the zone. I am almost always smiling during Zone O & we have yet to face a zone this year we can’t break. I love to handler with Holarz on zone O. Jill & Lana did an especially good job popping.

Anyway, we play out the 3rd place game against Nemesis after about a 30 minute break- they had been misinformed that there would be no game. For having trouble rounding up their players, they came out strong & hard. They had some really sweet plays on offense to keep the disc alive at all costs. Unfortunately for them, the fury of our loss blossomed into hyper-aware tenacious defense & a cleaner, cooler-headed offense. We dominated, 13-3.

It was really disappointing not to play Mojo again. I am so looking forward to our game(s) at regionals; they really challenge our offense to think & they have a couple-three stellar defenders (the Kali/Cally girls & one Asian handler stick out) & a great team defense.

Weekend standouts: Christina with her amazing cheers. She has this cheering philosophy that you don’t re-use cheers. I like to reuse the ones I really like, such as “Huck it Hard”(Tenacious D remix) & “Because of you”. Sam- as stated previously, she is just awesome. I played zone O downwind b/c of my trust in her defense. Jill was awesome to have on Sunday; she is one of the Bait “thinkers”- she has a knack for seeing the field and how the TEAM can play better through minor changes.


Motivation: Feeling a step too slow for Saturday's game 4.
Motivation: Throwing a step too far to...everyone.
Motivation: Knowing we COULD have been in the finals....