Regionals 2009 Report Card, plus CHC and Sectionals overview.
Posted by MattSpillum on October 12, 2009
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Has it really come to a close? It seems like just… oh, who am I kidding…it seems like it was several months ago (several warm, non-snowy months) that we began gathering in groups of 15-45 to run around and decide who would be wearing the green and white this season. Eric said something wise in the car on the way back from South Bend last night: Ultimate season it awesome when it’s just getting started, and it’s awesome when it’s over. For most of us, we have a nice, maybe even restful, off-season to recuperate and muse on what is to come. During that time, I want each and every one of you to look back on 2009 and be proud of our accomplishments, take stock of the lessons that lie in each of our setbacks, and remember a season where you stood shoulder to shoulder with people that any ultimate player would be happy to have alongside of them. It was another great year, and I love you all.
Enough back-patting.
So…it’s been a while on the updates. I missed a couple there: the first for reasons I will go into in a bit, the second because I had a lot of other things taking priority. That’s just how it goes. For CHC and Sectionals, I will provide an overall grade and a dash of commentary. Then we’ll get into Regionals. Here we go:
CHC 2009. I’m going to be honest, because honesty is a virtue. I hate this tournament. I hate the fields, I hate the fact that the tournament hotel doesn’t have continental breakfast and easy to find coffee and I hate the eyesore that is Naperville’s extended sprawly architectural nightmare. Ugh. Oh Boy! 2009 went down to CHC and played hard against some very good competition, not so hard against some mediocre competition. A good learning curve weekend. Not a good results weekend. Overall Grade: C-, and that only because we played our guts out against CLX.
Sectionals 2009. Maple Plain tries hard to have fields as rock-hard and uneven as Chicago. But I get to sleep in my own bed, so Maple Plain is still way better than Naperville. Oh Boy! remained somewhat unsettled going into the weekend, and it showed in some uneven efforts against teams we should really just beat up on. Still, we showed decent progress, and began to play together better overall. It ended on a sour, and, I’ll say it, nervous note, but in between, we acquitted ourselves decently. Overall Grade: C+
Regionals 2009. As in seasons past, Oh Boy! 2009 showed an uneven level of readiness on tournament Saturdays this year. Fortunately, we seemed to have gotten over that in time for Regionals. Unfortunately, we needed to sacrifice our usual Sunday flow to do it. Oh Boy! journeyed to South Bend bearing the ninth-seed befitting an up-and-down season. We had our chances to improve on that; we failed to move the needle. No problem, though; sometimes a gut-check is in order. The weather was certainly, um, gut-check inducing. Cold, wet, occasionally windy: who doesn’t love the Central? I know I do, since every team’s D-Line has an eighth player here. Plus, moving sucks. On to the games.
Oh Boy! faced the mercenaries and franchise players of Dragon Thrust first thing in the morning (after the one hour delay for the fields to dry out). Sure, they have all the talent they want. Sure, they may have already booked flights to Florida (yeah, I went there…). Still, we played this game with integrity and strong running. In the end, they made their run, we wisely kept gas in the tank for our next game, and I think we should be perfectly fine with this outcome. Oh Boy! 7, Dragon Thrust 13. Final Grade: B+
Abusement Park had dogged us earlier this season. The Clown had improved from a year ago, and looked very solid in beating us twice previously. Obviously, considering the history of some of our squad, we wanted this game in no uncertain terms. But would we be able to take it? All game long, Oh Boy! dedicated itself to taking away the long looks that essentially define the Clowns’ game. All game long, we forced them to play short, grind it out ultimate. They don’t want to play that way, and we seem to know no other way to play. In the end, we were able to pull off the upset and throw Park off our backs in fitting fashion. A signature win for us to grow on. Oh Boy! 12, Abusement Park 11. Final Grade: A
Our last pool game was a welcome novelty: a team we hadn’t faced before. Skyway won the E-mail race for a vacated 16th spot, and had nothing to lose. Early in the game, they played like it. As we struggled to overcome our post-victory glow, Skyway seemed determined to make us earn it. And I am glad they did. Finally kicking into gear, Oh Boy! finished the game strong, and shook up the pool seedings by taking second. Oh Boy! 13, Skyway 7. Final Grade: B+
Crossover games and power-pool formats were the rule this season, and certainly made life interesting for us at most tournaments. Having taken second in the pool would mean nothing if we turned around and blew it in the crossover. In the game to progress in the back-door bracket, Oh Boy! faced another team that seemed much-improved from last season in Prion. Or maybe we were very tired. Whatever the case, as the winds began to be more of a factor, Oh Boy! struggled to put away our opponent. In the end, we were able to outlast them, and win a tough game. Oh Boy! 15, Prion 12. Final Score: B (close to a plus here, good grit shown by our folks when it counted)
Sunday at Regionals… games that matter, aches to ignore, everything game a do-or-die situation. There are few feelings as wonderfully intense.
Oh Boy! faced the last of the parade of teams that seemed much improved in 2009 in Gambit. The Chicago area squad had been having brushes with greatness all season, and it would take all that Oh Boy! 2009 could muster on that chill, icy morning to break past them. Opening the game, we dug ourselves a little hole, only to come roaring back to get back on serve. Still, the little execution errors that have been a 2009 hallmark continued to hold us back. When they inevitably made their adjustments, we were trying to iron out those kinks. If you are looking for something to improve on this off-season, might I suggest dedication to the basics? We get in our own way far too often to win consistently. Win with your legs out there and play knowing that you’ve already thought it out. If we make that adjustment, we go from being a scrappy mid-table side that can surprise and disappoint in equal measure to being a steady force that teams don’t want any part of. Oh Boy! 7, Gambit 15. Final Grade:C-
I don’t know who Commitment Issues is. I don’t care, either. Nor will I dwell on their leadership’s honor-the-letter-and-not-the-spirit-of-the-game strategy (if the one or two guys I’m talking about are reading this, you know I’m right, and you should be ashamed by how you dishonor your sport). Nope. I just wish that we had internalized another lesson earlier in the season. Have courage in the strength of your convictions. All season long, we have allowed ourselves to be talked out of legit calls, flustered by spurious calls made on us and generally intimidated. That can’t happen. Spirit of the Game isn’t letting the jerk win the argument, it’s calmly weathering the jerk’s tirade and being honest and firm in your position. We can be good, clean, spirited ultimate players who win games the right way. That said, I’m still proud of our effort here in a meaningless game that we could easily mailed in. That would also have dishonored the sport. Oh Boy! 11, Commitment Issues 14. Final Grade: C+
Oh Boy! 2009 was, once again, a great experience for me. I am proud to have shared my 20th season of Ultimate with such a talented and spirited group of players. No matter what paths you each may take in seasons to come, I hope you look back on 2009 and remember the fun we shared as a team. Good luck, God bless and we’ll see you on the fields!
–matty
Cooler 2009…what would ninja do?
Posted by MattSpillum on August 23, 2009
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Yeah, I know… it’s a week later. Sorry for the delay. Proper perspective, and all that. First off, thanks again, everyone, for yet another fun and engaging weekend of ultimate. Our three-headed monster was down two heads (though we managed to pick up some replacements in the heavily-used-but-functional bin), but we descended on Nagawaukee Park ready to do our best camping and dancing and drinking and eating… and play ultimate. We also brought Ninja to the masses… hard!
Our history is littered with a litany of first game Saturday slow starts. 2009 Cooler was to be no exception. While Steamboat is much improved from last year, I think that Oh Boy! 2009 needs to put this game’s result squarely on its own shoulders. Up 11-8 late in the match, we, for lack of a more diplomatic phrasing, choked. WWND? They would play loose and fast, trusting themselves and each other to make the plays. We…mailed it in. This one is one to study in the calm light of day, and to take many lessons from. Steamboat 12, Oh Boy! 11… Final Grade: C-
Oh Boy! scattered itself about the grounds over intervening bye, each of us preparing to bring our collective game up a few (dozen) notches. Ahead, our match up with Hybrid. Fresh off of our vexing performance against them at the Rock (and, I don’t doubt, their equally vexed feelings about the second game there), Oh Boy! wanted to establish some momentum that we could build on. At the start of this game… that proved difficult. Lingering after effects of the first game or bye-induced lethargy, either way, we once again came out a bit flat. Fortunately, this was the same team that let us back into the game in South Bend, and once more, Hybrid obligingly allowed our side to run away at the end. Ninjas always slip in doors that are left open! Oh Boy! 12, Hybrid 8… Grade: B+
Finally playing ultimate, Oh Boy! settled into a game against the massive legions of Dragon Money Laundering and Flat-Screen TV Rental. Or whatever they are called. While they sent waves and waves of tryouts out to meet us, Oh Boy!’s depleted roster ran fast and furious in response. Perhaps the result wasn’t what you’d want to see, but we hung in there and looked far better than we had all day. It’s early in the season, still, so moral victories are still to be had. Ninjas put that concept away along with their whites after Labor Day, though, so consider yourselves reminded. DT 13, Oh Boy! 6… Grade: B-
After our finish, we trotted over to the sidelines of Steamboat’s match with Hybrid to see if we might slip into second place in the pool and be done for the day. Unfortunately, Hybrid wasn’t able to pull it out, and so Oh Boy! found themselves lining up for the crossover game against Prion. This game wasn’t our best effort, but we were efficient and solid, and, like any ninja that had been out in the hot sun all day, we got it done when it counted. Oh Boy! would head the next day to a quarterfinal game against B.O.I. The Brewhaus couldn’t come fast enough for one hungry ninja. Oh Boy! 13, Prion 8… Grade B+
Sunday had an entirely different character than the day before, with stronger winds, heavy clouds, and occasional burst of rain. Lining up for our opening match against B.O.I., Oh Boy! looked relaxed and ready. B.O.I. then led the entire field in a rousing version of the national anthem, and we got it going. For stretches of this game, we looked quite good. At other times, we looked out of sync. One thing that we might greatly benefit from is each of us dedicating ourselves to improving our zone O and D. Ninjas know the lay of the land: if you live in the Central… there will be wind, and rain and many other conditions. Learn to feel completely at ease in them, and you will go a long way. In the end, we just couldn’t put enough of a game together to pull it out. B.O.I. 13, Oh Boy! 8… Grade: C+
Which brings us to the first game in the fifth place bracket… Threat Level Midnight. The game itself was fine… Oh Boy! adapted well to the weather and the team was in control for most of this contest. At 13-7, with what we assumed would be cap going off, we lined it up, shook hands and headed off to find our next opponent. This is where it gets interesting. We are told, as we make our trek across the green, that we have to play out the round, despite the fact that two other teams are looking to use the field. After a brief and disappointing discussion with the TD, we line it back up. They promptly score the first three points after the re-start before we regain our focus and win. Ninjas… well, they kill fools for a living, but none of us went to jail needlessly, and I managed to keep my comments to the TD limited to “really unimpressive.” Oh Boy! 15, TLM 10… Grade A-, with a side note of TD grade: Epic Fail
All that nonsense over with, we had our last round opponent waiting for us. Steamboat. Again. Short-rostered or not, tired or not, we really didn’t hang with this team the way we would have liked to. Ah, well, even ninjas need fuel for the fire, and that’s what this game has to be. If you aren’t motivated to get the taste of this game out of your mouth, you have no business in our ninja circle. Think back on this when you need to get yourself going. Steamboat 12, Oh Boy! 9… Grade: C
The enduring image of this tournament for me will not be that game, however, nor our sub-optimal finish. Rather, it will be watching people from another team excitedly explaining ninja to a table of their friends at Panera as we ate before hitting the road. We are wonderful people who play a beautiful sport and touch other people’s lives in profoundly silly and joyful ways. This, my dear Oh Boy! ninja clan, is something to be treasured. Until Heavyweights!
MUDI 2009 Report Card
Posted by MattSpillum on July 30, 2009
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Back, apparently by popular demand (or self-serving special interest groups, either way, I am typing), here is the Oh Boy! Tournament Recap for MUDI 2009.
Julytober 2009 has been one for the weirdness books, and Saturday was no exception. Windy, grayish and unseasonably cool were the order of much of the day. Not that we let that dampen our moods. Oh Boy! 2009 took its inaugural team steps into the season with flair, pride and heart. Eager to improve on last season’s progress, the team warmed up for it’s first test of the year.
One of the struggles for the 2008 team was getting started on Saturday morning. Perhaps in the interests of continuity, we of the 2009 vintage had a tough time getting going against Faround. Whatever our reasons, the team came out strong to take the first three points, but then faltered as the game progressed. As time ticked away, we looked out of sync (hardly surprising for our first tournament game of the year, but that is what practices are for) before finally pulling it out at hard cap 12-11. Taking nothing away from Faround, this is not a team we need to be at universe point against. Grade: C-
Swarm, from Winnipeg, awaited us in round two. After our first round near upset, we came out in far more efficient fashion, and asserted ourselves early and often. This game was not a great measure of our team, but it was a positive step to take after a lackluster initial offering. Final Score: Oh Boy! 15, Swarm 5 Grade: B+
Our last round of pool play pitted us against Drag’n Thrust. Built from assembled parts of ACS, Peppermint Bon Bon, and anyone else who could be persuaded, Drag’n Thrust presents a significant challenge on the field. They certainly had Oh Boy! cowed for the first half. Perhaps we needed a reminder that playing tense was not an option. Oh Boy! as a team needs to remember moments like this game when we slip from the game plan. While the second half effort was respectable, we aren’t looking for respectable. We are looking for the win. Every time. Every game. Never at the cost of our prettiness, but, you get the idea. Final score: Oh Boy! 7, DT 15 Grade: C+
Finishing second in the pool brought us face to face with Plowed in the battle to sleep in Sunday morning. I missed this game for work, but from what I gather, we took care of business on our end, and earned the right to toe the line at the team dinner. I’m sure it was more fun than sleep walking through a busy bar shift. Final Score: Oh Boy! 15, Plowed 3 Grade: A-
Sunday arrived with less wind, more Sun, more heat and more ultimate. I love tournament Sundays.
Our quarterfinal match up pitted us against the YCC team, fresh off a 15-10 win over Crazy Socks. The growth in skill in youth ultimate has been astounding to watch over the last several years, and gone are the days you could just mail in an effort against a youth team. Still, for all their athleticism and tirelessness, most youth players have never had to constantly throw against a club level mark, or try to cover club level cuts every point. This was a game we needed to maintain our composure and not let our success make us lazy. Oh Boy! 2009 did just that, and put the game to rest Oh Boy! 15, YCC 3 Grade: A-
The semifinal game the reconstituted Chad Larson Experience. CLX represents the type of ultimate that most club teams strive for: hard cutting, balanced offense and excellent team D. Oh Boy! came out strong in this match, showing the Iowans that we had some polish and power as well. However, veteran teams who’ve been to the mountain before make adjustments to adversity, and CLX is a veteran team. They quickly diagnosed our work-in-progress offense, and spent the second half shutting it down completely. Unable to make adjustments ourselves, we could only watch and learn. I hope we all did. Final Score: Oh Boy! 5, CLX 15
Grade: C- (mostly for coming out loose and ready to play)
Following a tough universe point loss to Chaos in the other semifinal, DT was back for round in the 3/4 game. In fairness, we came out seemingly ready to hand them the rematch, getting ourselves into a bit of a hole (3-8 at half). Then, our lights came on. The why isn’t as important as the results, and we finished that game playing as well as I’ve seen an Oh Boy! team play. At 5-12, we went on a 7-1 run, putting us within striking distance and only falling short by virtue of time. Saved by the bell, DT backed into third as we took the last point. Final Score: Oh Boy! 12, DT 13 Grade: A-
As we look ahead to the rest of the season, let’s remember MUDI as our start point. Every game from here on out will be better, prettier and sexier than any we played this weekend. I hope each of you is as fired up as I am to see how far we can take this. Onward to the Rock!
Oh Boy! 2009
Posted by Eric on June 15, 2009
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Brenda Boden
Brit Gartner
Chris McCrory
Chris Stevenson
Dan Piotrowski
Elliott Erickson
Eric Morin
Heather Wobig
Libby Whiting
Liz Scheibel
Martha Harris
Matty Spillum
Mel Sard
Michelle Lucius
Michelle Verant
Morgan Maki
Nick Scheibel
Reed Bailey
Sarah Bennetts
Spencer Hagen
Tom Bomberg
Yeff Carroll
Late Tryouts have been offered to the following players:
Field Update #100,001
Posted by Eric on June 2, 2009
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Open Tryouts:
Wed, June 3rd - W. Minnehaha Park @ 6:30pm - northeast corner
Sun, June 7th - One Day tournament 2pm @ Maple Plaine Polo fields - information on Wednesday
Closed Tryouts:
Wed, June 10th - W. Minnehaha Park @ 6:30pm
Sun, June 14th - W. Minnehaha Park @ 3pm
Roster and other information will be completed after June 14th - additional tryouts dates TBD, if necessary
Sunday 3pm @ McMurry/Como
Posted by Eric on May 29, 2009
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Tryout number two will be at McMurry/Como fields in Saint Paul at 3pm.
Sorry for the moving around, hopefully it will be resolved soon.
Fields!
Posted by Eric on May 26, 2009
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Soo, long story short, Pearl Park is under construction.
We will try to play on the North End of Pearl Park, parking on Portland Ave or Hampshire Dr
Back up fields at Bossen Field.
See you there! 6:30pm.
Website!
Posted by Eric on May 18, 2009
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You can finally count on the right side of this website to mean something.
You’re welcome.
General Website Stuff and Upcoming Events
Posted by Eric on April 27, 2009
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The logo is changing…as soon as I figure out how. The same for the inaccurate information on the side bar. The real schedule is as follows:
Open Scrimmages: May 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. Everyone is invited, come have some fun.
Open tryouts will be May 27th, 31st, and June 3rd.
Closed tryouts will be June 7th, 10th, and as needed.
All events will be held at Pearl Park, see previous post for details. Sundays will most likely start at 3pm, Wednesdays probably at 6 or 7pm.
Field Update!
Posted by Eric on April 27, 2009
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Unless otherwise noted, all things involving scrimmage, tryouts, practice will be located at Pearl Park in Minneapolis.
http://tinyurl.com/clgqwx
Hope to see you all at the first open scrimmage this weekend, 3pm Sunday!