4 for 4

So I've probably just jinxed myself but I figure that my run of good fortune will be coming to an end pretty soon anyway.

Regionals, UPAs, Vegas and now CdF in Sherbrooke; I've somehow managed to win the last four ulti tournaments that I've attended. As much as I would love to attribute it to my awesomeness, the reality has more to do with the fact that I've been afforded some great opportunities in the past few months. I got to play with the legends of DoG in the fall, was invited to play with a bunch of guys from Furious in Vegas and I'm fortunate enough to have friends in Montreal who are good enough to win a 42 team indoor tournament in Sherbrooke.

"What? You went to Vegas and didn't tell me?" Yeah, something like that. Vegas was a fun time. It's the first time I've gone south for a tournament on grass this early in the year. I'm not quite sure I know why I agreed to go but getting the chance to play with Mike Grant and some of the other Furious guys was a big draw. Those guys are so good and they just know what it takes to win. Our team was pretty strong and we managed to win the tournament against some really good teams.

The big thing about the tournament for me was it was my first time in Vegas. What an incredible place! It has no place existing, yet there it is, in the middle of the desert, rising out of the sand like a mirage... or more likely a drunken hallucination. It is everything that is great about the US and everything that is horrible about the US. It is opulent, gaudy, lavish, indulgent, run-down, excessive, beautiful, ugly, garish and tacky all at the same time. It was just too much for the senses to absorb. I have never seen hotels as big as these. They obviously spared no expense in building these behemoths; I rode a spiral escalator in Ceasar's Palace! I've never been on an escalator before where everyone was looking at the thing wondering how they manage to get it to do a nice 180 degree spiral but there I was in Vegas doing just that. And then there is the fountain at the Bellagio. That was probably the coolest thing about Vegas; a gigantic man-made lake in the middle of downtown Vegas with a massive fountain show every 15 minutes. The fountain show we saw was set to the music from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". It was absolutely amazing and was probably the highlight of my Vegas experience but you can't help walk away thinking that it's completely nuts. I want to go back as soon as I can and at the same time I never want to see that place again. However conflicted I may feel about Vegas I'll admit that it takes one heck of a place to make me feel this way.

Having played with Parinella, Mooney, The Count et al. in the fall and with Mike Grant, Kirk Savage and co. in January, what do you do next, what comes after that? Coup de Foudre in Sherbrooke of course. If you know the province of Quebec at all, you'll know that ultimate just can't be played outside from about November to May. How do Quebecers get their fix? By going indoors of course. There has been a huge growth in indoor ultimate in the province in the past few years and with the number of indoor Field-Turf facilities taking off there is ample opportunity to play. The problem with these Field-Turf complexes is that they cost a lot of money to rent. On average it costs about $350 for an hours use of a full soccer field. A full soccer field is a bit excessive so the alternative is to split a soccer field thrice and voila, you have three fields that are slightly smaller than regulation and the cost of the field has just been divided by three. Someone had the "great" idea of splitting these fields thrice again creating tiny little patches of turf on which to play. This is what CdF was, a 42 team tournament on one soccer field; 72 players running around on a space normally reserved for 14 people.

It's a bit of a strange game as normal length passes now risk flying out of bounds and speed is negated but quickness is key. It's a game that seems built for short, speedy guys (or how we like to call them, French Quebecers). My friends and I kinda look down on this type of ultimate since it isn't "real ultimate"... and because it doesn't really play to our strengths of height and speed. On the flip side I can see how these short speedy guys are taking to this version of the sport seemingly more than they are to the outdoors game; they are probably tired of getting beaten by me and my tall, fast friends. I'm not joking when I say that these players are really taking to the indoor version of the game. There is now a 4 tournament series in Quebec that ends in an 8 team championship tournament. Points are given according to the finish of teams throughout the series to establish a ranking of teams in order to decide on the top 8. This is a big deal for some players. Teams have set rosters, jerseys, practices, etc. all for these indoor tournaments. I don't get it but I think I used to be that crazy about ultimate at some point myself so who am I to judge.

The team I played on worked really hard throughout the weekend and we managed to finish first. We were hoping that our victory would give us enough points to qualify for the championships without having to attend another tournament. Alas, the person who came up with the Nascar-style points system was smart enough to reward consistency and attendance over a one time result and we won't be able to go. On the plus side we beat the number 1 and 2 ranked teams twice each at this tournament. We won't win the 4 on 4 Quebec Championship but everyone else knows that we are the best team; I don't need a stinkin' trophy to feel good about myself!

So what's next? I am going to 4C in Burlington, VT this weekend. I'll see if I can stretch out my streak to 5 but I won't hold my breathe. It will be fun I'm sure but I'm ready for a break from disc. The season hasn't even started and I'm tired of it already... that's not good. I need to make sure that I don't break myself before the summer rolls around. Well after 4C, I only have indoor league for a while. No more tournaments for me until the snow melts and the grass starts growing. With the amount of snow we have in town this year I'm hoping that will be a while yet.

I'm a bit surprised at myself for not being more obsessive of my streak but I know that I'm not going to win them all. I think a more important figure for me is 6 of 9 (completely unrelated to the Star Trek hottie 7 of 9). I've won six of the last nine tournaments I've attended. That means that the teams I'm playing with are quite strong and I've been fortunate enough to have had important roles on all of those teams. I want to keep that success rate going into this summer. Hopefully it's doable. There are some changes afoot in the Montreal ultimate scene and they should make Mephisto a much stronger team than we have ever been. I'll give you some more details of that after they become public when Mephisto has their pre-season meeting on March 2... that and an update on the streak.

DF