Tealing dealing with their first loss of the season

Wow! What a start to summer league. We had 2 weeks in a row without rainouts which has to be some kind of record. Not only did it not rain, it wasn’t sunny, so the weather was about as good as you can get for a summer night. Tealing and Dealing came out against Royal Blue unnamed team. Based on the many predictions I’ve read, people have seemingly thought low of Zach’s team already, which is a pretty big mistake.

We always start the season off strong in terms of winning flips. We are on a streak of winning 4 flips in a row, so we took the side with the wind at our back. First point of the game was a reflection of how the whole game would go. They came out in a hard zone. Careless turnovers led to us playing super hard D, getting the disc back and eventually scoring after an absolute grind of a point. The first half was super back and forth, with breaks coming on both sides with Tealing up 8-7, still on serve. I felt that we were doing an amazing job playing against the zone in the wind, being patient and working it up the middle of the field. Unfortunately, the second half was not the same. I don’t know if we got impatient or just careless, but we made a plethora of silly mistakes. Throws at the ground, throws into traffic, throws out of bounds, and throws where receivers weren’t cutting. We continued to play well through their zone, but ended up turning it over with a careless mistake. End of the game unnamed royal blue team ended up winning 15-13.

Even though we lost, there were definitely some highlights of the game and great takeaways. Joe, Fletcher, Sam, Rosie, and Vishnu were unbelievably calm handling in the zone, working it back and forth along the field, playing proper offense, which seems a little weird for a Billy and Joe team. Fletcher had some big time hucks, including a full field dime to Ellie against the zone. Liz continued right where she left off last season, scoring at will and excelling at finding space. Hayden had the play of the game with a crazy layout D on an upline. Manny was crucial to breaking the zone, finding space wherever he wanted popping in the zone. It’s hard to pick an MVP for our team, but I’d probably have to give it to Nes. She was able to be the every other throw against the zone and had some timely deep cuts when we were in trouble to bail us out. It’s been so long since I’ve played on a team with Nes that I honestly forgot how elite she is of a player. For Blue, the usual suspects shined bright. Bhagya was a menace on D, gobbling up hucks and intimidating throwers. Zach and Michelle were able to work it whenever they pleased. Ayden was super reliable in the zone.

This was definitely a tough game to lose. If we had just stayed level-headed and patient, it was definitely a game we would’ve won. Once again, we drafted one of the younger teams in the league, so I’m sure we are prone to zone defense, but we showed today we can navigate through a zone with patience and balanced throwing. Since we’re young and many of us have never played together, I definitely think there’s a lot to learn. So much talent on our team, so we just have to figure out how everyone plays and learn with each other. I do think part of our problem was our hesitation to huck in the wind. Even though they were playing a zone, I think there were quite a few huck opportunities we didn’t take. And for most teams, not hucking is usually the right play. But our team at its deepest core is just a team who loves to huck, so whoever plays us next better get ready to see some Joe and Fletcher bombs to the endzone. Even though I feel like emotions were high this game, this was an awesome start to league. Zach, Joe, and myself clearly don’t like losing very much, and this competitive spirit always makes for the best games. Even though calls were made and contested, I feel that all of the captains have a mutual respect for one another and that is what makes this league community truly great. Even though games might get a little *intense* for a recreational league setting, it’s all in good fun and competitive energy. I hope we get another chance to play Blue in the playoffs, but I guess time will see. And for Joe, DUUUUUUUUUVAL!!!!