[TFDA] Inconceivable! Summer League Tourney Wrap-up
Christian Schwoerke
schwoerkec at yahoo.com
Wed Jul 25 08:54:26 EDT 2007
Inconceivable!
Montoyas Revenge was finally complete this past Sunday, July 22, when--after nearly two months of
slogging through the regular season with a so-so record and falling victim to three successive
losses on Saturday--it finally dispatched Count Rugen and a host of other villainous sorts,
dismantled the Blue Howling Grizzlies 15-7, and seized the Gail Grail for 2007.
Inconceivable!
You keep using that word, Montoya observed. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Grant, Heather, and Lauren Gardner assembled a crew over 10 weeks ago that could bring honor to
their namesake, Montoya, and wreak revenge on the six-fingered villain whod killed his father.
With the usual ups and downs of the season, Montoyas Revenge finished in the middle of the pack,
then made additional progress by winning the pre-tourney crossover game. Inconceivable, muttered
the front-runners and odds-on favorites.
On Saturday, Montoyas Revenge did not look like a team that could avenge anything, much less the
slight of going 0-3 after pool play. Inconceivable, they all maintained, as they lined up against
Montoyas Revenge, and were, one by one, felled as surely as Montoya wielded his saber with either
hand.
Inconceivable! Surely that word must mean something else.
At the end the regular season, with each team playing all others, the standings looked like this:
1. Your Mom 5-2
2. Green 5-2
3. Mr. Jones 4-3
4. Montoyas Revenge 4-3
5. Red 3-4
6. Outcasts 3-4
7. Blue 2-5
8. Black 2-5
With a chance to shake up the standings before the tourney, each tied team played the other, with
the following results, the basis for seeding the tourney:
1. Green 6-2
2. Your Mom 5-3
3. Montoyas Revenge 5-3
4. Mr. Jones 4-4
5. Red 4-4
6. Outcasts 3-5
7. Blue 3-5
8. Black 2-6
Tourney Pools
Pool A Pool B
Green Your Mom
Mr. Jones Montoyas Revenge
Red Outcasts
Black Blue
Saturday Pool Play
The weather for the weekend was favorable, gracing the field with unseasonably cooler and dryer
conditions, with a slight breeze on both days that gave teams opportunity to play zone defense.
Some teams came into Saturday with only the expectation of having their squads concentrate on
teamwork, with little anxiety about winning, as every team would appear in at least the first of
the elimination rounds on Sunday.
Chemistry worked for the insouciant teams, especially the lower seeds, as they upset their
respective pools, each going 3-0. Black and Blue toppled their pool leaders in the 1v4 matchups
in the first round, then proceeded to bring down the 2 and 3 seeds as well. While Green continued
to plummet in Pool A, Your Mom in Pool B righted itself and won its final two games.
First round results:
Black over Green 15-12
Mr. Jones over Red 15-9
Blue over Your Mom 15-4
Outcasts over Montoya's Revenge 13-12
Second round results:
Green over Red 15-13
Black over Mr. Jones 14-13
Your Mom over Outcasts 16-15
Blue over Montoya's Revenge 15-12
Third round results:
Mr. Jones over Green 15-14
Black over Red 15-11
Your Mom over Montoya's Revenge 15-5
Blue over Outcasts 15-11
Pool Play Results/Standings:
Pool A Pool B
Black 3-0 Blue 3-0
Mr. Jones 2-1 Your Mom 2-1
Green 1-2 Outcasts 1-2
Red 0-3 Montoya's Revenge 0-3
Sunday Elimination Play
Quarters
Sunday started off just as nice as Saturday, nothing but wispy clouds in a crisp, azure sky. By
10:15am, the field of eight teams was well into the first of three rounds of elimination play.
Alison Murrays Green squad, having tumbled from #1 to #3 in Pool A, faced off against Garrett
Dyers Your Mom, which had fallen from #1 to #2. This was a rubber match for the two teams, each
having won in a previous bout, and it was Greens turn to be victorious, pressuring Your Mom till
it succumbed, 15-12. Victor Maneilly revved up his Mr. Jones squad to take on the violet-hued
Outcasts, led by Baker Pratt. Each team had lost principal players, but each battled deep into
its rotation, with Mr. Jones winning the time-capped game 14-10.
Mick Styers Black squad faced off against a seemingly downtrodden Montoya squad, but the infusion
of Brian Lang to the roster for Sundays play gave the vengeance-seeking team another weapon in
their arsenal, and the duel was hard-fought, but went, finally, to the team wearing white, 15-11.
Jessie Peed and Andy Spencers Blue Howling Grizzlies faced Jonathan Millers Red with little
trepidation, but found themselves down 1-4, then 2-6, before mounting a roaring comeback, 15-7.
Green over Your Mom 15-12
Montoya's Revenge over Black 15-11
Blue over Red 15-7
Mr. Jones over Outcasts 14-10
Semis
Montoyas Revenge faced off against Green in what ended up a routine trading of points, allowing
Green one to every two they scored, till finally, without much fanfare, it was a Montoya victory,
15-9. Meanwhile the Blue Grizzlies and Mr. Jones were trading points and runs, each taking the
lead for long stretches while the other team clawed back to tie and then surpass the other. The
swings continued up through the time cap, with Victors Mr. Jones up 11-10 when the time cap set
the shortened game goal to 13. Mr. Jones got itself another stuff-and-score to go up 12-10, game
point, but the Grizzlies then ran off three goals, not without several turnovers and several
contentious plays, to at last win 13-12.
Montoyas Revenge over Green 15-9
Blue over Mr. Jones 13-12
Finals
Montoyas Revenge and the Howling Grizzlies had faced each other on Saturday, with the ursine
squad victorious, though failing in that game to dominate as it had in its other two pool-play
games. Montoyas Revenge was riding the crest of its righteous surge while the Blue squad was
beginning to feel the effects of ceaseless hard play. Montoyas Revenge worked the disc in with
little difficulty in the first point, as the Blue squad could not contain Brian Langs long throw.
Receiving in the second point, Blue was swarmed and the initial pass, still not outside the
endzone, was swatted down by a sprinting Frances Deschenes. The Montoya score quickly ensued on a
short pass to Trey Askew. The Grizzlies succumbed in two more points, and at 0-4 called for a
time out. Whatever adjustments were made did not stop the Montoya momentum, and the score at the
end of the half was a woeful/glorious (depending on your team allegiance), very lopsided, 8-0.
The Grizzlies, which had thrived well on its zone defense through Saturday and in the quarters,
could not shut down the Montoya handlers (Grant Gardner, Lauren Gardner, Wes Hunt, Brian Lang, et
al), and they continually found sure-handed receivers behind and through the cup, and eventually
in the endzone. While trying to utilize a man-to-man defense in the second half, the Grizzlies
succeeded in a couple of turnovers, but just as often, they turned it back over to Montoyas
players. Blues Alex Trahey to Drew Sutton connection (which had worked all season for nearly 40%
of the teams goals) was stifled, and it was only with patient offense that Blue was able to find
the goal again, moving the disc from player to player for sure, short gains. Trying to rally Blue
were Mike Desnardis and Jessie Peed, bringing out the best in Rick Oelfke, Roger Lassiter, and Sam
Delp on defense and in Sophie Lehman and Missy Summerville on offense. Whites Sam Boyarsky,
Peter Linnartz, and Adam Teabag Lanka came through solidly for Montoyas Revenge with big O and
D plays. Both teams battled in the second half, but the war was done, and it was just a matter of
time before Montoyas Revenge could garner its final 7 points to win big, 15-7.
Montoyas Revenge over Blue 15-7
Congratulations to the Gardners Montoyas Revenge squad. It was a most improbable conclusion;
maybe, some would say, inconceivable.
Roster
Joelle Burleson
Frances Deschenes
Heather Gardner
Lauren Gardner
Teresa Leavens
Christina Sheedy
Trey Askew
Sam Boyarsky
Matt Burleson
Kurt Chapman
Mitch Dengler
Grant Gardner
Spencer Gee
Rob Grau
Wesley Hunt
Bill Kiether
Brian Lang
Adam Lanka
Peter Linnartz
Jason Tan
Thomas Wicker
Spirit Winners
As usual, each team had its own unique personality, with players that helped to shape the course
of the teams destiny, whether strictly on the field or in other, less tangible ways. Each
captain selected such a player to be recognized as exhibiting for his or her team the best spirit
of the game.
The captains choices, in their own words, follow:
Montoyas Revenge: Pete Linnartz - for quietly infusing the team with energy by making big plays
just when we needed them most.
Blue: Sophie Lehman and Missy Summerville played savage on Saturday without complaint. They helped
the team go 3-0 on Saturday and make it to the finals on Sunday! Thanks so much, ladies!
Red: Our spirit winner was Joe Beller because in his first season playing ultimate he showed the
absolute best hustle every point he played, and he had a great attitude throughout the season.
Our whole team could see vast improvement from him over the course of the season and can see his
potential in the near future to be a great player.
Black: Tatjana Benedict was our spirit winner. Tatjana was injured during the final points of our
first victory where we needed her to complete our roster, or we would have to play with 6 players
(against RED!). At first, she hobbled off the field and we finished the point. She came back out
on her injured ankle and finished the game. She was injured until the tourney, but showed up for
every game to cheer us on, despite our last place finish of the season. It is this spirit that
should be emulated by all ultimate players! She is truly spirited!
The Outcasts: the Outcasts award the spirit disc to Cole Lantzy for his quiet work ethic. He was
the guy who would make that important continuation cut, or who would get the "d" just when the
team needed one. His play during the tournament was excellent, even playing through a sprained
ankle.
Your Mom: Terry and Kim Nimmer. This summer was something like the 20th league in a row that I've
drafted the Nimmers. And while it's true that they both possess the best qualities as members of
our team - cheery disposition, solid play, great attendance, and even the organizing of a
post-game grill out - the true reason that they were awarded our team's MVPs is because they have
put up with their captain league after league and continue to come back for more. That's what I
call playing through pain!
Green: Team green team couldn't go with just one spirit award. We had to give it twice... to the
two shortest people on our team. Chris Pua and Jessica Richard were team green team's saving
graces at the tournament this weekend. When zone got thrown on us, Chris was laying out left and
right to help move the disc while Jessica caught all the deep throws because who would pay
attention to the little girl in the endzone in coed? Are you down with the TGT?
Mr. Jones: Ryan McCann--He never missed a game, ran all day, threw all night, and was a beacon of
light in a fog of aged cantankerousness.
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