Tickets are booked

Truck Stop is going to nationals.

So we had a fun filled frisbee weekend. Friday night we drove down to beautiful Fredericksburg, Va. in order to maximize sleep so we would be fully prepared for Saturday morning. Prepared for what? Prepared to give up 8 points to a team of kids who just graduated from high school and then a weaker club team that didn't even play their best players because they wanted to rest up for games they thought they could win.

I have a major problem with this...as I do with any strategy that doesn't rely on the talent of a team. On my team, there is no throwing in the towel, no matter how miserable you are playing or how badly you are being beaten. I don't always agree with this, as in the finals this past weekend we got our asses kicked but played most of our top players the entire game. I thought we should have conceded around 12-5, but we kept throwing out the big guns for the majority of the final points. Perhaps this is selfish of me, because I felt I could get some quality PT in this game as a result of the score, but that's not the way we played it. I don't disagree with out mentality that we felt we could come back no matter how good Ring was playing and how bad we were playing. However, when a team intentionally doesn't play its top 3 players, I have a problem with that. I don't look at it as good strategy. It may be and it may have worked out for that team, but come on. You train all spring and summer long, giving up countless hours of time you could spend with friends, family, traveling, etc and then you get the biggest game of the year and concede it before it's even begun? Pathetic in my mind. So what if you play your big dogs and come up short...what if you don't? They scored 11 on us...imagine what may have been with their best on the field. We were not at our best at all this weekend and were down key players to injuries...we were extremely vulnerable. Oh well.

So we finished our Saturday against Pike, who we consider a team we should crush. I was slightly nervous because we were down our top D line guy. I was also slightly nervous because I got to start the game and turned it on the goal line on the first point, leading to a Pike break. Not a great start. Usually, this would mean I'm done for the game...both mentally and that I won't get to go back in. All of my teammates came over to me and told me to shake it off and one of the captains told me I was getting back in. This helped me stay positive. Later in the game, I got another shot and even scored. That's right, QP Live doing the damn score dance. Actually, no dance happened, but I did get hooked up from former g-Dub teammate Jack with a monster flick that I ran down in the back of the end zone...that's right, deep cut. My guy went to poach on a throw to Jack and I took off deep. No one picked me up and Jack just put it out in front of me for the score. I then threw a scoober as a spike, which was probably the best scoober of my life. I could feel it come out perfect. It's awesome to score in big games like that because running around after you catch it makes you feel like you are floating. I am not a goal scorer and definitely not a deep cutter (anymore) so it feels great to score on a huck for the first time in a club game, likely since I left Metal.

We ended up beating Pike in a 15-12 game. They battled pretty hard but only have about 16 guys they rely on, so we eventually just out ran them.

Sunday started with the finals against Ring and was over pretty quickly. They just owned us. We didn't force a turn on their O team until the end of the second half. They got turn after turn on our O line. Not much else to say. They were pretty pumped up...we couldn't match it.

The next game was the 2/3 game vs. Pike again. Last year at sectionals, we played Potomac for the first time in the semis. We beat them 15-14 or something like that in a close battle. Then we played them at regionals and beat the merc out of them.

We beat the merc out of Pike. They maybe scored 6 or 7. We got the first 3 points of the game. It was then 3-1, later it was 5-2 and then all of a sudden, it was 10-3. Pike then took their top dogs out and let the kids who watched most of the weekend get on the field. It was a much different experience. They were turning the disc over on dump throws and dropping easy competitions. I guess there is a large gap between their bench and their starters. I guess a lot of their bench is young, or maybe just cold from not playing all weekend. I know all about that.

This game was fun because we crushed a team while qualifying for nationals and that was excellent. I also caught a callahan, which was sweet because the guy who caught the callahan against me in my last college game was on Pike. Problem was, it was on a blatant foul and didn't count. On the off chance it did, I did a little jump slide action to make sure I was in the end zone and caught the frisbee. Jack saw me do this and started laughing at me. I realized too late I should have run around like it counted and gone crazy but I just threw it back to the thrower quickly. I'm so slow.

Later in that point, which had a bunch of turns, 1 that I was responsible for, one of the Pike players got injured and took a sub. We're up 12-5 and their subs are in. I've played more this weekend than I thought and played in the big games too, but surely I'll get to stay on the field because what does it matter at this point anyway, right? Sure enough, the guy calling subs sees me, puts a big smile on his face and calls me off. I was fucking pissed. I look at him and say, "Really?" totally dejected and slowly walk off the field. Mind you, I've been running pretty hard, had been on my man and was feeling fine. Oh, and there was a 42 year old on the field too who got to stay on. So not only was I pretty pissed, but I was also laughing on the inside about it. The guy who doesn't come to practice who is actually slower than me gets to stay on...In case you're wondering, this guy plays all the time, so it's not like he's a scrub or anything.

So I get subbed off. Kind of hilarious. As I got drunker and drunker on Sunday night, I laughed more and more about it. It didn't really matter. We qualified for nationals for a second straight season and that is excellent. We have literally nothing to lose going into nationals. Last year we finished 14th, which wasn't all that great. This year, our goal is to win nationals. That might be a little lofty, but I'd be happy not having to play on the shitbox fields at any point during the weekend. All the fields are wonderful, but there are a few way the fuck on the edge of the land where the games are played and I'd rather not have to be there again. So I'd love to make it to quarters. Top 8. That'd be a great way to go out.