ECC Sunday results

After the games on Saturday we enjoyed the famous salmon dinner and slept in Andrew's massive lake house. In the morning we got up early for our 8 AM game. It was colder than on Saturday and there was less wind.

Streetgang 15 - 4

We were all late to the fields because there was some confusion about the starting time. But despite the short warmup, we still started the game ready and firing. It felt like an easy game all the way trough.

Ring of Fire 12 - 14

This was our quarter final. Ring was physical to the point that I could not chose my position where I wanted to. If I was finally in position they would just keep pushing into me. There is always some contact in American ultimate, but this was something else. They were pushing with arms and elbows, holding shirts and laying out into people.

Despite this, the O team did an OK job to keep scoring. The D had an off game, converting only once.

It was hard to play against a team like this, and I really need to figure out a better way to deal with it.

Spencer with a sick grab towards the end of the game (Scobel Wiggins)

Machine 15 - 10

Our last game was against Chicago Machine. Down at half 8-7, we finally turned it on in the second half. We had a D point were we had 5 layout bids in a row, but did not get the turn. Other highlights included Nord's grab below, and Frank's two handed block on an ex Sockeye player.

Scobel Wiggins

We did not play our final game because it was against a team we already played. This weekend was the first with the full team. I really have to get used to the scarcity of playing time. I played 75% of the O points and one or two points in D most games. This is already way less than I am used to, and this was without two injured players that play the same role.

ECC was a learning tournament for us. We experimented with different things, and winning was not the main goal. It still feels bad to lose though, especially the Ring game left a bad taste in my mouth. It did provide motivation to work harder the next couple of weeks. Labour day here we come!

ECC Saturday results

The Emerald City Classic is a three day tournament hosted near Seattle. On Friday there are some games that don't count towards the rest of the tournament. Unfortunately we did not play ourselves, but I did get to see some exciting games.

On Saturday we got up early to drive to Burlington, about an hour and a half North of Seattle. In our brand new outfits we played four games. It was a chilly day with clouds covering the sky and a slight breeze. I started the day with pain in my right hip flexor, luckily it did not keep me from playing.

This is what happened:

Urutau 15 - 1

We came out excited and firing. The Colombians seemed intimidated and did not played at their best. My favorite moment was playing 4 man cup versus their 155 cm handlers. The game was over long before the end of the round, this gave us time to see Voodoo barely loosing to Truckstop.

Ironside 10 - 13

Again we came out firing, starting of with a 5-1 lead. With two of the turns coming from the 4-man cup. They adjusted well, changing their D to force middle and giving us a hard time getting the disc off the line. Ironside is very athletic and well coached team. Even though it was frustrating to lose, it was a fun game. I'm looking forward to playing them again.

Truckstop 15 - 10

I can't remember much detail from this game. They were pretty physical, and I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary bitching going on. I had a dumb turnover, my only in the weekend.

Buzz Bullets 15 - 6

The last game of Saturday was versus the Buzz Bullets. It was really cool to play them again, because they have a very unique playing style. We stopped their flick hucks, and made them throw backhand instead. This worked very well, we got a lot of Ds on floaty hucks. I got a D on a floaty huck myself and a block in the cup.

Pictures: Scobel Wiggins.

ECC Preview

This weekend I'll be playing at Sockeye's own Emerald City Classic. On Saturday we are playing Urutau from Colombia, Boston Ironside, Truckstop from the DC area and Buzz Bullets from Japan. This will be our first chance this season to measure ourselves against the other top teams.

It's really amazing to have top teams from all over the world to come and play against you. I am really excited to battle all these teams!

We'll be updating our twitter between games, and there's a tournament twitter. Check it out!

P.S. Anybody remember Hylke Snieder? He lives in Seattle now and will be playing with us this weekend!

Finally, an update

It's been a long time since my last post. A lot of things have happened since: winning Solstice, playing Potlatch, break, playing Nexgen, tracks, lifts, practices and more track. I will write about some of those things later, but first two videos.

The first one is an introductory video of Sockeye 2011. MC put it together and it looks sweet! Look for me around 2:25.

Next is a video of our game against Nexgen. They just finished their tour winning 8 out of their 15 games.

Also, you can buy our jerseys now! Andy put together a sweet web shop, so check it out!