What’s the best way to celebrate one’s first-ever tournament championship in his new-found sport?
Option A is to shake hands with the opposing players and then take a team picture to remember the victory.
Option B is to run around like headless chickens before ending up in a pile, yelling and screaming in excitement.
Option C is for the real “party animals.” It would include drinking heavy amounts of alcohol and trying to remember what happened when they woke up the next morning.
Answer is D: none of the above.
That individual does shake hands with his opponents and gathers up his belongings. Then he cranks up the team’s techno anthem and dances wildly in the car with a trio of his teammates.
Da Rude’s “Sandstorm” became the weekend anthem for the team better known as Annexation of Djibouti. If you’re scratching your head or your face is stuck in a “confused” expression, let me explain.
Several weeks ago, I agreed to participate in an ultimate Frisbee tournament in McPherson, called the Flatland Freezer. It was my fourth such event since picking the sport back up as a hobby in the fall of 2008.
I became part of a so-called “rag-tag” team that consisted of random players from across the Midwest, most of whom have played on a team together at some point. However, there was one guy from Nebraska, another from Wisconsin and one who hadn’t ever played.
Yet, we combined for an eight-man roster that was set on having fun and winning. Needless to say, we did plenty of both during the weekend. With only a single substitute during each game, we also got a wee bit tired playing seven games.
Our team name was partly in honor of a fallen comrade. One of guys who runs the Baker University ultimate Frisbee club injured his knee about a month ago. If he were healthy, he would have played with us last weekend.
In his honor, we borrowed his Djibouti flag and changed our team name Friday night. I can’t honestly explain the entire team name, but I loved it. Regardless, Annexation of Djibouti was born.
We took the field Saturday morning against the team we thought to be our top competitor. We were correct, as we rematched them in the championship. In the opening game, we took a 7-4 lead into halftime (13 points were needed to win).
The Wichita State team rallied and took a 9-8 lead late in the game. However, we fought back and tied the game. Next point won the match — we scored it to open the tournament with a solid 10-9 victory.
Our next three matches of the day can be summed up quickly. We dominated younger and inexperienced teams. Each contest was won in a rout, 13-1. Now it was time to eat and relax in the hot tub — our muscles needed the soak.
All I remember from Saturday night is crashing before 9 p.m. It was the first time I’ve done that in years. Exhaustion will do that to you.
Sunday morning came early, but we carried on where we left off Saturday. We won 13-2 to open the bracket round. In the semifinal round, we fell behind 2-1 before rallying to win 13-4 over the hometown team, McPherson Mudhuckers.
Then came the rematch with our opening opponent. It was a fairly close game, but we opened it up late to win 13-8. We simply had more energy and speed than our older foes.
It wasn’t just my first ultimate Frisbee tournament championship, but several others, including a few veteran players. The chilly, windy conditions were worth the battle.
Highlight of the tournament came against the Emporia State University squad. ESU turned the disc over at their own goal line. We reached deep into the playbook and called for the “cheeseburger.”
To execute, the thrower simply fakes an over the head toss (hammer), then drops the disc behind the defenders’ back. Another offensive player is standing there to catch it off the defender’s back.
We pulled it against a guy we knew from pick-up games in Olathe. He also went to high school with a few of my teammates. We loved it. He didn’t.
If you’re still wondering about our team anthem, well, that’s something I can’t reveal. It just became our song for the weekend.
All I know is we “sandstorm’d” the Flatland Freezer.
Source:signal.baldwincity.com/
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