It was a beautiful day at Citizens this last Sunday – perhaps the most beautiful day I’ve seen in my nearly ten years in the lovely town of Gainesville. Nasty Heather was all hype and confidence after managing a W with a very depleted squad last week.
We had a good portion of our team there, including a first appearance by Alek “Mad Dawg” Hartzog, although we were without my illustrious Co-Captain, Bari Bari Kix, and Matye was off getting LIT for her BDay (Happy Bday again, Matye!!!)
Lime Shock had a nearly full squad, but, as chance would have it, was also at 50% of their female matching players, so Nasty Heather’s Emily and Emory aka EmandEm, AKA Em2X, steeled themselves for a savage war of attrition. And a war it was – shout out to Bonnie and Kay of Lime Shock for bringing the HEAT.
As the wind picked up, it whispered in my ear that we had a vicious battle in front of us, and that we were perhaps…. not the favorite. The depth of experience and sure hands of a…. slightly older Lime Shock is EXACTLY what you want on a day like yesterday when you’re either playing directly up or downwind.
First half was a series of swings that probably left everyone’s head spinning. Lime went up 2? 3? early, and then Heather got Nasty and battled back to take the lead. We then traded points for the most part, but Nasty took half 8/7 and would receive going upwind out of half.
That was when things started to come apart. Nasty got broken twice out of half and never seemed to recover. At 13-10, Nasty battled hard to close the gap, but Lime Shock was able to overwhelm us and finished the game with a final score of 15-12 (I’m pretty sure).
We then formed a spirit circle, and, after some awkward silence where we decided what we should do/talk about, Nick McGrane was dubbed the Heather of the game for his indefatigable energy and go go gadget arms (literally EVERY time I play you, I try to throw around you, thinking I have plenty of room, and you just fling those Dhalsim – look up Street Fighter if you don’t get the reference – arms out and block my throw…. I hate it… and I kinda love it too). And thus, Nick was forgiven for not recognizing the Goonies theme of our jerseys.
A few other notable moments…. I threw a desperation huck on stall 9 that actually turned out to be a perfect throw and got around Big Ben and into the hands of the up and coming ultimate star and high school senior Pranav! Sick catch and score, bruh. I think that was the only time we got the better of Big Ben. He’s very tall. And good at ultimate.
Another big shout out to the female matching players of the day. Y’all played more ultimate than anyone, and were absolutely essential for both teams’ ability to move the disc. Props to Emory specifically for a savage D and score “bookends” play! I’m certain Emily, Kay, and Bonnie did some cool ish too, but this was all my poor addled dad brain could offer up today.
All that being said, this was a SUPER fun and spirited game, and I hope, win or lose, that the rest of the season’s games are just like this one. Don’t sleep on Lime Shock, AKA AARP, AKA Old Folks Home, AKA Team Social Security, because those geriatrics can FLATBALL. See you all next week!