New Orleans Ultimate Frisbee

On Friday, Sept 18th, 23 members from Cat 5 began their pilgrimage to Burns Park in Little Rock Arkansas. Their chosen paths varied, but the goals were the same. Return to the Gulf Coast victorious as Sectionals Champions. The team endured unscrupulous speed traps, worrisome weather, and taxing traffic before arriving in the early am. The morning would begin threatening with drops starting to fall as the team arrived at their destination.

Two Arkansas teams were already engaged in battle as Cat 5 announced their presence with a lap around the facility. That's right not around a mere field as other teams are wont to do. That little real estate would not hold the indomitable will, nor allow the other competitors to witness the glory of Cat 5. Today was the day that would be whispered about in reverent voices by mothers and fathers from around the Gulf Coast as the day that a battle-scarred veteran would once again face the threat of an eager challenger to the throne.

The first challenge was an upstart team named Classified. A flurry of activity showed that the grizzled veteran was here to play. After the dust had cleared, Cat 5 had emerged victorious without having to show any of the weapons that had been added to the arsenal. Next would be Codename which had left Cat 5 bruised and battered in an earlier skirmish outside of Chattanooga.

The second meeting of Codename and Cat 5 would once again see Codename deliver the first blows. The younger warriors of Cat 5 played hard and delivered many blows to the body of Codename, but Codename seemed unfazed. Each mistake made by the warriors of Cat 5 resulted in another strike being delivered from Codename. As the injury tally mounted, it was clear that the Cat 5 regular formations of old would not suffice to win the day against Codename. After the dust cleared and the injured were removed from the field, Codename would sit alone atop of the hill awaiting the victor of Cat 5 and Classified.

Classified proved that they were more than just a pretender by taking advantage of a Cat 5 team still reeling from the battle with Codename. During a respite in the action, Cat 5 was exhorted to dig deep by veteran warriors that were no stranger to struggles. As the two teams once again joined in contest, the Cat 5 elite began to dictate the course of the battle. No more would Classified be able to use the deep game to deal damage. A giant had emerged from the Cat 5 ranks to change the nature of the war. Once the forays by Classified into the enemy territory had been stopped, the demoralized team retired without much fight. It was almost as if the collective wind had been knocked out of the entire team at once. This battle would see Cat 5 victorious without much fanfare. Cat 5 knew that the real test lied ahead. The stage was set for the matchup that everyone had gathered to see.

Each warrior for Cat 5 was suited up and ready for battle. The cacophony of voices as the teams emitted their battle was deafening. Birds leapt into the air in fright as confused onlookers paused to bear witness to this clash of giants. Codename had already proved that they were a worthy competitor, it was just a matter of how many more blows the reigning champ could take before succumbing to the youth and vitality of the challenger. Surely Cat 5 would not be able to summon the will to overcome the warriors of Codename.

The two teams joined in battle with Codename electing to play defense first. Cat 5 would strike early and often. The female warriors of Cat 5 refused to allow their Codename counterparts to flank the embattled men of Cat 5. Instead the feared warrior Lucius found a way to outflank the bewildered and confused opponent. This is not the Cat 5 team that they had faced before. This was not the Cat 5 team that had succumbed to the youth and vitality of the fighters from Fayeteville. Deep strikes to the vitals along with precision strikes kept the opponent off balance. Whispers could be heard as the Cat 5 elite began to take advantage of the inexperience of Codename. As the battle began to draw to a close, it was clear that the athleticism of Cat 5 was somehow superior to that of Codename. Cat 5 had suffered an earlier defeat by the young upstarts, but had clearly decided that defeat would not be the bitter pill they would be worrying over like a sore tooth on the return home. No, defeat would be the meal on which Codename must try to wring sustenance over the upcoming days as they lick their wounds and prepare to make the trek to Atlanta. This day belonged to Cat 5 as the crown was once again in the hands of the warriors from the deep south.

Shane

Things did not start so well, with several key players not able to make the trip to the tournament. One benefit of the players absence was to allow players that still had not made the team to have a chance to to show what they had.

In our pool were two of the preseason contenders for Regional Champs, Codename from Arkansas and Bucket from Georgia. We won the first game pretty handily and geared up for our second game against Codename. We worked hard in the first half, but it was clear that we were not going to be able to bring our full offensive and defensive sets because of the personnel. We decided to play everyone for the tournament and let the chips fall where they may. After a tough 1st half 8-7 codename, they ran away the game in the second half 15-9. The next game against Bucket was pretty much more of the same. We had a crossover game on Saturday afternoon to still get into the A bracket. We tightened the lines a little and won this game to prepare for day 2.

Suffice it to say that Sunday showed the team a lot of things to work on. The day dawned overcast and rainy. After a half hour delay for rain, we got started. Some miscommunications among the new players along with a couple of drops and the game was decided fairly early. Ditto for the second game. Perhaps a tighter line call would have made the difference, but we wanted to make sure that every player had an opportunity to make the team.

Even though we took a skeleton team to the tournament, we learned something about our players that were trying to make the team as well as what we needed to work on to prepare for Sectionals. Hopefully a couple of the players from outside the city that were trying out will find their place on the team which will make us stronger.

Shane

Cat 5 entered into the Texas Two Finger tournament, looking to get some revenge for close games the year prior. We only had four ladies that were able to make the trip, they played like women possessed for the entire weekend.

On Saturday, Cat 5 destroyed the Coed pool and earned themselves a spot in the quarters. Sunday morning greeted Cat 5 to a rematch with the toughest challenge yet, a rematch of the Coed finals from the day before. After scoring the first six points in a row on offense, Cat 5 cruised to a dominating victory behind the stellar efforts of a determined defensive squad. The next game would see Cat 5 play against one of the Open Men teams (Plasticville) from somewhere in Texas. Cat 5 chose to play this game 5-2 to help the ladies be ready for the finals, since they would have to cover guys this game. The result was a foregone conclusion after the first few points that highlighted Mari-Kate and Jennelle running circles around the guys on the field, and Jen and Sarah repeatedly breaking the mark and basically having their way with the futile defense the other team put on the field.

This set the stage for a Cat 5 finals against another Open team, Skrilla Kings. Since we won so handily against Plasticville, our team headed over to the field-side showers to cool off and discuss strategy for the next game. Apparently this discussion of strategy was a mistake. Somewhere there was a spy lurking near the showers. Just when we had developed an unstoppable offensive strategy and a stifling defensive group, we get word that the Skrilla Kings don't want to play in the finals, so with that Cat 5 leaves undefeated with the finals of the Open B pool a forfeit. It was a great weekend, and an important step to help prepare for Shawn Adams.

Shane