MONSTER gets hungry at TUF

Photography by Jim Hui

Groundhog's Weekend

When the news came that we would be starting at 9 am on Saturday as the number one seed, team spirits were fairly dejected. When that was compounded by the fact that we had to play a fourth game at the end of the day that did not matter for us, emotion turned to anger. Thankfully, we went through a deep breathing yoga session where everyone re-focused their chakras and cleared their head. (That's a lie. I was still complaining when we arrived for the 8 am warm-up and continued throughout the rest of the day. I'm normally a sprinter, but I'm a marathoner when it comes to complaining.) The major consolation was that the weather was gorgeous compared to past TUT/TUF tournaments. So we had that going for us, which was nice.

Banana Cream Pie (Toronto)

Our first game was against a very familiar team: Banana Cream Pie. A league team full of former touring players (some of whom had Nationals and Worlds experience), we knew that we would have our work cut out for us. Especially since they were the second seed in our pool. Since many teams can start slowly in their first game, we knew we had to capitalize on our numbers before their veteran savvy could get them an early lead. We went with our quick flow offense and they seemed uninterested in running with us for the most part.

Final Score: 13-4

Practice (Ottawa)

Our second game was against a casual Ottawa team of former touring players. They wanted to test themselves against other touring teams to see where they stood and hoped to make a run at Nationals if they had fun. We made few mistakes and capitalized on their's. They had several almost catches and d's, so the final score wasn't indicative of the game.

Final Score: 13-4

Glory (Brampton)

Brampton's Co-Ed team decided to get serious this year, and it definitely showed. The team was full of players who made every disc a battle, but there was a disparity with the overall athleticism and the desire. The team was a mix of older players with a few inexperienced ones. The game was tighter in the first half, but Monster eventually pulled away when we finally decided to play a more disciplined running game. We assumed they would just roll over as the sixteenth seed, but they definitely deserved our respect.

Final Score: 13-7

Crisis (Kitchener)

Waterloo's second team has moved away from any liquid or water-based names. I think this is a healthy step for a team trying to establish its own identity within a club system. It isn't healthy to solely define one's self as the younger sibling, and the team was full of excited players getting into touring Ultimate. The game didn't matter, but the captain asked us to play hard so they could see what touring level Ultimate was like, as well as to get a better estimate of individual player skill. We went up quickly against the team, but lost focus as the game went on. This is something we need to work on as a team: developing a killer instinct and not stopping until the game is over.

Sidenote: Reason #587 Not to Play a Spirit Game - During a game of butt boxing (where you match-up "cheek to cheek" and try to knock the other person over), our captain, Peyton, squared off against the tallest guy on their team (it's much better to have a low center of gravity for the game). Not only did the giant knock Peyton over, he also fell onto Peyton's throwing wrist. Peyton was okay, but the damage to our collective psyche was palpable. Luckily, Pam, our smallest (and some might say scrappiest) player was on hand to avenge Peyton in the butt boxing final by taking down the giant and restoring balance to the universe.

Final Score: 13-3

Photography by Jim Hui

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Bytown Flatball Club (Ottawa) - Quarterfinals

Ottawa's top Co-Ed team and last year's runner's up at Nationals...has seen better days. After winning last year's TUF, there was only a small number of alumni from the team. They still had some strong players and were very hungry to prove that the people who were on the team trumped the people who weren't. With a few exceptions, the team lacked the speed, size and experience of the year before, and Monster used their advantage in those categories. BFC had a few unlucky drops and the game was closer than the score indicated.

Final Score: 15-4

RIP (Montreal) - Semifinals

RIP was one of the teams that Monster could not beat last year. Quebec teams have a well-deserved reputation for being the non-stop underneath team. This year, there were several new faces on the team, but the philosophy remained the same. Several players from Montreal's second team, Les Bouettes, moved up to RIP and fit in seamlessly. They had a much closer Quarterfinals, with a 7-7 tie turning into a 15-7 win. The mental toughness they showed in that game carried into the Semis. After scoring the first point, Monster watched as RIP scored seven straight points. Thanks mostly to their up-the-line cuts and the dominance of Ray (Gender Blender's fastest man several years ago), they cut apart Monster. Monster came back before half, but the score was still 4-8. RIP's momentum carried them even further in the second half, and Monster saw the first defeat of its 2008 campaign.

Final Score: 6-14

Liquid (Waterloo) - Consolation Finals

It wouldn't be a tournament if we didn't play Liquid. The hardest running team in Ontario, they wanted to play one more game to decide third place. They are very hungry and had several additions to the team. We agreed to play a game to 9 on an unused field away from the main tournament action. There was a reason the field was unused, as it was higher and much, much windier. Several players decided to sit out the game for both teams, so we ended playing two lines (upwind and downwind). Monster scored a break, to take the first half 5-3. Something Liquid's captain said woke them up and suddenly they tied the score 5-5. Having never lost to Liquid on a Sunday last year, there was a chance to break a proud Monster streak. Monster rallied back and fought off some amazing d's and grabs from a new Liquid player, but like losing to RIP, the streak against Liquid continued.

Final Score: 9-7

Tournament Recap:

Due to the size of the tournament and the number of teams in the top bracket, the Saturday games were mostly a warm-up for the Sunday games. Sunday's games continued a trend from last year that we can address earlier this year. We did not play RIP until halfway through last season, and we didn't adjust to their type of game. This year, we have an entire season to build on what we learned and hope to advance on last year's sixth place Nationals finish. This year, no one will underestimate us and we will definitely have to come out running from the first horn.

RIP ended up winning the tournament on universe point against Big Hammers. Our only loss being to the tournament champions was very little consolation, as it also means that the Hammers get bragging rights as the top Toronto team until the next set of tournament results. Tundra had a top six showing, very promising for a group of players who had mostly not played together. They lost to a solid Mayhem team in the 5/6 game, but we'll get a chance to see them firsthand on Thursday for a scrimmage practice. Will the Beast beat the Landscape? Find out Thursday!