Tuesday, March 30, 2010

EMU Home Tournament

Our home tournament couldn't have had better conditions. It was 39 degrees outside, raining, and the wind was about 20 miles and hour with gust of up to 30. It was truly a perfect day for ultimate.... PSYCH!!

Our day started off pretty scary as one of our guys had a seizure during warm-ups before our first game. This was the first time many of us had witnessed this and it was very unnerving. The ambulance would come and our friend would end up being completely fine after he went to the hospital and got checked out which all of us were very happy to hear.

After this scary beginning we still had a game to play against Oberlin College. Oberlin was equipped with a few good handlers who were able to work the disc with the wind and against it. EMU was never really able to recover and Oberlin capitalized on their chances they ended up winning the game with a final score of 12-9.

Our next game would be against Hope College. The game was tied at 8's when the hard cap blew. Hope was receiving the disk and they never gave Eastern a chance as they went right down the field for a score and the win.

The tournament would be cut short, so this next game would be our last. It would be against Michigan-B who we consider a pretty big Rival. Michigan-B is a team with a lot of intensity, but also a team who is well coached and knows how to play ultimate. The game was very sloppy because the winds had really picked up , and the fields were really getting beaten up by this time. U of M was up 8-7 when the hard cap was blown but it was in the middle of the point. The Hellfish were able to go down wind to score after a long, long point. Eastern had a great pull which Michigan-B immediately hucked to no one(they were planning on doing a huck and zone). Eastern picked up the disc in the corner of the endzone. The wind at this time was blowing at the sideline that eastern was on. So not only did the Hellfish have to go upwind for a tough point but they had to get it off the sideline in a trap zone. This is exactly what the Hellfish did though. There was a good break throw to a popper who immediately threw it to a handler, who found the other popper, who played give and go with the other popper and by this time the disc was 75 percent down the field. The Hellfish stayed calm and about 3 throws later threw the disc in the endzone for a score. Going up wind and off the sideline the Hellfish marched the disc up the field without a turn and a score. It was an absolutely brilliant point.

After a great battle against UofM-B the Hellfish finished the day with a 1-2 record.





Just a picture of Coley getting Low like no other.



Harras doing what he does best, Skying other people.



The team after a very muddy afternoon... still looking good!



A point in the game when Jamie Pidcock has a huge smile... I think this was after his huge layout catch by the endzone!


This blog was written by yours truly,

Derek "Mr. Bezeau" "Usually a minute late to work" Bezeau

Spring Break, Myrtle Beach

Spring Break 2K10 was a week that all in participation will never forget. I however was not able to participate in this glorious event, but I will try to summarize some of the main things that happened on this awesome trip.

After 16 hours of driving through snow, drifts, rain, and mostly Ohio the Hellfish finally arrived at their destination in Charleston, SC for the first game just 15 minutes late(actually one van of 7 players showed up 45 minutes late). After a long day of driving, a lack of sleep and no time to warm-up the Hellfish were forced to get on the field for their first game. The Hellfish would have to do without three of their top handlers and two of their top defenders for this tournament because they all had to stay behind in Michigan for one reason or another. Even with horrible circumstances the Hellfish were able to put on a battle but eventually fell on Universe point against Furman College with a score of 9-10.

The rest of the day would be kind of similar. The team was still exhausted from the long trip and eventually lost their next three games to Charleston,Georgia College state, and Georgia Tech-B.

Day 2

This would be a new day and the Hellfish were ready to act like it too. With a positive attitude and not ready to quit the Hellfish would win the next two games pretty smoothly. It was said by some players that the team really shined these two games and had some moments of brilliance from new guys and veteran players. The scores were 15-11 against Charleston-B and 10-6 against Mary-Washington. The last game of the day would be for the winner of the losers bracket and the Hellfish would match against Clemson-B. The final score was 11-14 Clemson-B but from what I heard it was a close game from start to finish. The Hellfish finished the tournament with a 2-5 record but had a lot of great things to look forward too. Some of these things would be the coming out of a few rookie players. One who I heard filled in especially well in a handler role was James "King James" Rafko, who hardly handled much before this tournament. I also heard much buzz about Christian "tina" Doctor, and his Excellent defensive skills. Both of these guys would go on to win our tournament Rookie of the weekend award.




Finally the relaxing part of Spring Break would begin. The team had to drive 4 hours but it was well worth it when the arrived at their destination. The team had a house picked out that was just a couple of blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean. I heard that 55-65 degree weather was common at this point in Spring Break while it was still 30's-40's back in Michigan.



The team participated in many group activities such as Catch Phrase, which sounded like it was played a lot. There was even a story about our very own Douglas See when it came to catch phrase. Before going on spring break Doug did not have a nickname, but now we all know him as Icepick because apparently he yelled icepick at a girl during catch phrase in a very loud, and inappropriate manner(there is obviously more to this story that I am no telling). But ya, now he is Icepick to us!



This picture above me just shows how tired our team looked during day one of the tournament.



Even on spring break these guys did not slack off. I believe they had a practice/conditioning work out almost everyday. And I believe many of the guys threw around a disc everyday regardless. This picture above just shows our team working hard on the beach.



It was finally about time for the team to go, so before heading out they had to take one group shot to remember the 15 guys who participated in this awesome event



Before leaving we had to take one shot of the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. It is truly something of great beauty. I know all returners and future Hellfish will be pumped to do this again for upcoming seasons.

With Much Love

Yours Truly

Derek "Mr. Bezeau" "The best 3rd grade student teacher ever" Bezeau