We’re going to Florida! Capitals came 3rd at NE Regionals in Boston this weekend, securing a spot to Nationals in Florida at the end of October. Godiva from Boston took the first seed and Brute Squad from….I forget, somewhere out east, I suppose took 2nd. Caps had really good, tight games against both these teams. It’s nice to know that we can at worst run with those teams and at best kick their asses.
The first three games of the tourney were "warmer-uppers". I’m not sure the names or cities of the teams in our pool. I think one might have been a high school team, and I think another was the third Boston women’s team. Yes, there are three: crazy, hey? We won the first too games handily – really handily: we bagelled both teams. Normally I might not consider games like these all that useful, but since they were my first with the team, so I did find them useful. Our fourth game on Saturday was the big game, a crossover against Godiva. VY was playing for them (i.e. not Traffic, post-Worlds), as was Tracey Woo, an old Prime teammate of mine, and Wendy Sligl from Edmonton. And I didn’t think I was going to know anyone! It was a close, hard-fought game, but we ended up losing 9-11, putting Godiva in the 1-2 game, and us still uncertain of our spot.
Break for Mexican food – good times. I was early to bed, since losing to Godiva meant another 6:15 am wake-up call. The morning before I seriously considered having a hissy fit in Starbucks. I order a double Americano in an attempt to wake myself up. Instead of the super strong, piping hot coffee I was expecting, Starbucks USA handed me a double shot iced Americano. Oooo, you bastards. I’m sure I could have convinced them to make me what I wanted, but I was afraid what I pictured to be a logic, "Oh, sorry, this was a mistake" was going to turn into either the aforementioned hissy fit, or tears, be they mine or my baristas. I decided to take the path of lease resistance (and most caffeine), so I just took it and chugged it. Yuck, but at least I was awake for warm-up.
Sunday morning we were faced with the task of beating two teams, one of them good, to get into the 2-3 game and be assured a spot to Nationals. We rolled the first team, playing well. 15-5 Caps. The second team was Ambush, who I had played once before with Lotus. I heard that the version of Ambush that we playing in Boston in June was their tryouts, so I expected them to be a bit better than that, and they were. Ambush was definitely a good team. We pulled off another strong game and another win. I don’t remember the score, but closer than 15-5. I’d be surprised if Ambush didn’t take the fourth spot to Nationals, but being that I am on an airplane, I can’t confirm.
After the Ambush game, we knew were in for Florida! Now just to battle Brute Squad in the 2-3 game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t pull off a win. Brute Squad 15-11 over Capitals. We playing a solid, tough game, so it was disappointing to not take 2nd. That said, I was happy with how we (as a team) played, as well as how I played personally.
Sometime early on Saturday, I was transitioned to the country club (aka O-line). I’ll start with this: I love O-line. Awesome. I got to play with some super-skilled players, which I really appreciated. I also felt that O-line handles had established some significant connections by this point, which was great. All that said, O-line is such a catch 22. On one hand, if you do your job properly, you won’t get to play much. You’ll score, then D line will go on, get breaks, and win you the game. Anyway, obviously winning he game is way more important too me, but I’ll try and look on the bright side: O-line got to play a lot.
It was a huge weekend and there is a lot more that I could reflect on, but that’s all I’ve got for now. I think the food is coming soon.
note: I wrote this blog yesterday on the plane home, and decided to post it unaltered. I'm not sure why I ranted so much about the coffee thing but didn't even mention rolling my ankle in warm up!
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