Hades Blades came into this week short-handed, with Nan out for a calf strain, Alek busy either programming more efficient killing machines or enjoying a nice weekend away with his wife (I can’t remember which was this weekend), Sam Stone, Elliot, Christian and Ben Schreibman possibly scared off by the rain, and Pawan hopefully out buying cleats.
Game one was against Flick of Fates. While the rain seemed to scare most of our team away, Flick of Fates naturally foresaw the rain wouldn’t be much of an issue and showed up in force. We started the game hot with a hold and a break before the game started to get sloppier. Lots of turns back and forth with our zone generating turns but us giving them right back. I tested Joe a couple of times with 50/50s (well, to be fair, probably worse than 50/50s…) to Coley and Joe ate them up. We traded points once then ended up giving back a break before holding until taking half, 6-5.
Out of half, Flick of Fates seemed to have figured out our zone and was crushing us with swings and easy completions up the middle, taking the lead with a hold followed by a break. At this point, we realized we had to just go for person matchups. And we cleaned up our play. We traded the next few points but found ourselves down 9 to 8 with hard cap approaching. I’d like to say I came up with a brilliant strategy or gave an inspiring speech, but I think we all just shrugged and agreed we were making good decisions and playing good D, but Fates were playing well too and we just needed to execute a little better.
And, we did. We held for the next point before hard-cap went off. Then, we ended up getting a turn off of a big backhand break that Switzer got off around me (I still don’t know how I let this happen when I know it’s coming every single time) to Stephen but was fortunately just barely wide enough that Stephen couldn’t make a play on it. We worked the disc back up the field with boring frisbee with swings and breaks up to the endzone where bonnie found herself with the disc on the break side. Sam came streaking across the field with Trey in good position to take away the under despite the break side cut. Bonnie cocked back, and I’ll admit that I yelled “NO!” as she released the disc, expecting Trey to challenge the shot. But, Bonnie (who I guess I should maybe trust after 17 years…) threw the disc perfectly around to the back of the endzone setting up Sam to finish the game with a catch just in-bounds at the corner.
Overall, this game had good spirit while still competing hard. There’s a good chance this ends up being the most fun game of the season, especially because I’m not sure we’ll win the next one.
Highlights from our team: Shoutout to our ladies for keeping up with the Fates who field the youngest, healthiest knees in league. Especially to Jess for her run-through D. After an unlucky drop early in the game, Sam shook it off and crushed the rest of the way through, wide open under all day, catching everything and making a couple of important Ds. A huge layout shoulder high D from Coley on a break side shot to the endzone showed why he will probably be league MVP this season.
Fates played well and gave us a spirited game. While it was league and there are always some unforced turns, Fates’ hard defense directly generated a lot of them, especially from Joe and Trey and Jared, who all face-guarded me hard in the reset and either shut me down or got a d at some point in the game. This team also has a lot of youth who are getting exponentially better every time I see them play. I suspect they will get harder to beat as the season progresses.
Alright, that’s a lot on game one. I gutted out that game through a groin strain and was out most of the next playing with a baby, so the recap here is less exciting. Unfortunately, the mighty Myrmidons’ Achilles heel was attendance, and they came in at least 50% less mighty than usual, missing a lot of their core including Naomi, Carsten and Josh. Meanwhile, we came in amped up from our close win, with everyone clicking and committed to 100% defensive effort and smooth, smart offense. We ended up winning 11 to 1, and Chris Oster told us afterward we had 2 turnovers in the whole game (which I’m sure had nothing to do with me sitting out most of the game…).
Highlights included a nice huck from Lyle and a nice sequence where Austin hucked to Sam who finished the play with a crisp shot to Clea running into the endzone. Austin and Sam also had bookends.
So, another week, two more teams sent to the underworld. We have another good matchup next week against Huckules in week 3. Looks like they already lost to Flick of Fates by a couple, so, by the transitive property, expect Blades to take the game by 3 or so.